Cashe ignored the stolen glances he was getting from the rest of the trainers in the room and focused on the ongoing matches. Or tried to. His head was a mess of frustration over his interaction with Earl Dunn and his concentration was shot because of it. His nerves were gone, but that wasn’t a good thing, the anxiety and anticipation of a difficult upcoming match gave him an edge. With his current state of mind, he would make mistakes.
Cashe took a deep breath and returned his attention to the screen, actively concentrating to keep his mind on the matches. Two rounds had been completed since he sat down, and he had yet to see a challenger win. Earl lost his match handily, fighting the same Second Circuit trainer that Gym Leader Hau was observing on Cashe’s first time in the gym. The Hariyama sized man did not use a Hariyama, instead opting for a team of fast, fragile attackers.
Cashe’s opponent, Kiana, did not fight at all in the lead up to his match. Cashe noticed several of the stronger trainers fighting multiple matches in the few hours that he watched a week prior, and he took it as a good sign that Kiana was not fighting others. It likely meant that Gym Leader Hau was less sure of her victory than he let on, at least according to the receptionist, considering he was in charge of all the match assignments. If he really believed in Kiana’s ability that strongly, she would have other matches today.
That thought alone brought back a small amount of Cashe’s lost focus, and as the time passed, he sunk deeper and deeper into the battle mindset. On the screen, in front of him, the last of the battles came to an end. Before long, a woman’s voice cut through his thoughts.
“Trainers Emerson, Brown, Cashe, and Yavine, please make your way to the staging area in preparation for your upcoming matches.”
Cashe felt a surge of nervous energy as he stood, making his way to the room’s exit with four others. On the opposite side of the door was a long corridor, a pair of metal doors. The trainers walked in silence, drawing closer to the end of the corridor as the sounds of the crowd rose.
Cashe pushed open the doors, revealing a wide room in front of them. It was bare with a low ceiling, entirely concrete, and lit by fluorescent lights, buzzing overhead. Every thirty meters was a door with a production assistant standing beside it. They were wearing headsets and holding tablets, barely even glancing up as the trainers entered the room. Above each door was a digital display with a single word on it, shining in glowing neon light. The nearest said ‘Brown’, and several doors down, Cashe spotted his own name.
“Good luck,” one of the trainers with the group said, his words sounding hollow in the huge room. Another trainer muttered something in response, but Cashe ignored it all, heading towards the door with his name on it.
The production assistant was an older man with a balding head, gut, and impressive mustache. He looked up at Cashe as he approached.
“Apollo Cashe?” He said.
Cashe nodded, “That's me,”
“Good. Looks like you're fighting,” the man glanced at his tablet and clicked his tongue, “Kiana. That’s a tough break.” He gave Cashe a sympathetic glance in his eyes and continued his spiel, “Anyway, this won’t be like the matches you see on TV. No announcer, no big introduction. You go up, you listen to the referee and you battle. There will be other battles taking place at the same time. It will be noisy. Try to ignore the others. Any questions?”
“I signed a broadcast release form,” Cashe said, “Is this not being aired?”
“Course it’s aired,” the production assistant grunted, “But no one watches Third Circuit matches if they can help it. This ain’t about spectacle, son, it’s about grind. We have fifty matches a day and guys like you lose ninety-nine percent of the time. We’re not putting in the effort for that kind of competition. Now get up there and I’ll see you next week.” He slapped Cashe on the back in what Cashe assumed was supposed to be an encouraging way, but it just hurt.
Cashe grunted in response and opened the door, finding a short corridor with a set of stairs at the end of it. He climbed them, entering the gym proper in a wash of light.
The gym was noisy, but the sound was scattered, applause mixing with chatter and the sounds of referees shouting their instructions at the trainers. To each side, Cashe could see other trainers already starting their battles, despite entering only seconds before Cashe.
From the stage, the gym appeared enormous, the stands rising into the distance and towering over him. He tried to search for Emilia and Lindon - he knew they were both in the crowd - but it was useless. The stands weren’t even half full, but there were more people in them than had ever been in the stands of the True Rookie Tournament. Cashe tried to spot the camera’s that he knew were there, but couldn’t find them either. They were probably hiding in the rafters of the gym. It was such a departure from his experience in the tournament that he ended up pausing for a moment in response to the juxtaposition.
“What are you doing? Get over here!” Cashe was pulled out of his mild shock by the shouting of the official. The referee was a short woman, wearing the standard black and white uniform of league officials, and had her hair back in a tight bun. She was waving him over, her brow furrowed in impatience as she stood in the middle of the arena.
“Sorry,” Cashe called to her. He hurried forward, stepping into the arena proper. As soon as he did, a set of nearly transparent barriers snapped into place around the stage. Cashe couldn’t even see what set the barriers up. A machine of some kind? They were always taken care of by pokemon before, but as far as he could tell there were none around. Maybe that explained why these barriers seemed to let sound through while others did not.
“Thank you,” The official rolled her eyes and raised her voice, “All right, now that Trainer Cashe has arrived, we can get started. Kiana, are you ready?”
“I am,” Kiana called out. It was the first time Cashe heard her voice, and to his ear, it suited her. She was a sturdy young woman in her late teens, wearing the orange and yellow clothes that were the gym colors. She looked like she would be right at home with the more physical sports back on earth, like rugby, and her voice was stern and to the point. Any lingering thoughts that she might underestimate him were gone.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Good,” the official turned to face Cashe, “Trainer Cashe, are you ready?”
“Would you listen if I said I was feeling a little rushed?” Cashe called out. He caught Kiana grin at the jibe, but the official only stared at him, crossing her arms. “Fine, yes, I’m ready.”
“Good,” the official stepped out of the middle of the stage and moved to the side, “The format is singles, six versus six. Trainers will be allowed two substitutions without penalty. Trainers, choose your pokemon!”
Cashe nodded and reached for his belt. The chosen rules were known to him, having been revealed with Kiana’s assignment as his opponent.
He took his luxury ball off his belt, bringing Sneasel into the battlefield. He didn’t bother looking to see what pokemon Kiana would choose. In his mind, there was only one option.
Sneasel appeared in a wash of red light that coalesced at Cashe’s feet. Sneasel shook himself as he appeared, uncomfortable in the bright sunlight that poured in through the open room of the gym. He looked around, recognizing the gym from his previous visit to it.
“Sneasel?” He asked Cashe.
“That’s right,” Cashe said, crouching beside his pokemon and giving him a comforting scratch on his head. “This is a real battle. Feeling up for it?”
Sneasel nodded, his eyes narrowing as he readied himself.
“Good,” Cashe said. He glanced up and across the battlefield. Kiana was giving terse instructions to her Hawlucha, confirming Cashe’s guess at her starting pokemon. The pokemon looked like a small bird dressed up as a luchador. It stood just under three feet tall, with an oddly shaped head and red plumage over its shoulders and back, changing to white on its chest and legs. Long feathers formed wings on a pair of humanoid arms that ended in vicious talons.
“Now, listen up. Hawlucha over there is fast. I know you’re fast too,” Cashe held up a hand before Sneasel could voice his protests, “But depending on how Hawlucha is trained, it might be even faster than you.”
“Sneas,” Sneasel nodded seriously.
“However,” Cashe continued, “I have a suspicion you might still be faster, and with your typing, that gives us a big advantage. If you can hit Hawlucha with one or two solid blows you will probably take it out. But you see that collar around Hawlucha’s neck?”
Sneasel glanced over at Hawlucha, who was ready and waiting in the arena already. He flicked the collar around his own neck. “Sneasel?”
“Yes, it’s an item, just like you have,” Cashe said, “The difference is, that item is going to be used and go away. Hawlucha has the Unburden ability, and that’s going to make it much faster than you if Hawlucha uses its item. That means as soon as you see the damn bird reach for its collar, you go all out, okay? Don’t wait for my orders, throw caution to the wind. Get in there and attack with everything you have.”
“Sneasel,” Sneasel nodded.
“The good news is I don’t think it can fly and use its arms at the same time,” Cashe said, looking closely at the opposing pokemon, “So if you can get it in the air, I think you have a major advantage with your Ice Shard.”
“Sneasel.” Sneasel nodded again and turned to face Hawlucha, entering the battlefield.
As soon as Sneasel took his place on the stage, the official spoke up, “Let’s get this thing underway. Kiana, ready? Trainer Cashe, ready? Begin!” She waved her hand through the air, signaling the start of the match.
“Ice Shard, Sneasel!” Cashe shouted as soon as the words were out of the official’s mouth, “Follow up with Quick Attack and Ice Punch!” Cashe grinned as Sneasel; moved, unveiling his first surprise of the match. Not even Ivysaur had figured out using two moves at once yet, but with the training Sneasel got from the breeders, he could pull it off.
“Hawlucha, now!” Kiana called out.
Sneasel rocketed out of his starting position at Cashe’s words, flinging a shard of jagged ice from his hands even as he shot forward. Sneasel aimed the attack at Hawlucha’s legs, trying to bait the pokemon into the air. White light glowed around Sneasel’s body as Quick Attack activated, propelling him forward almost as fast as the ice flew through the air. At the same time, pale blue energy rose from Sneasel’s clawed fist as he readied an Ice Punch.
Hawlucha’s response however, was unexpected. Instead of dodging out of the way or leaping into the air to fly, Hawlucha clawed at his collar with his talons, ripping it open and stuffing the berry that hid inside down his throat.
Sneasel’s Ice Shard hit, but as it did, Hawlucha flashed with energy, a fiery red light rising up from his body. The shard landed, but glanced off Hawlucha’s leg instead of digging in, leaving a bloody scrape and few missing feathers instead of what should have been a debilitating injury.
A moment after what could have only been the Yache berry activating, a second wave of energy cascaded out from Hawlucha, and the wrestling pokemon moved.
***
“Shit,” Emilia swore, watching as Hawlucha managed to activate its Unburden ability in the first seconds of the battle.
The gym trainer, Kiana, had managed to bait Cashe right into it. It revealed more than simple preparation on the part of the gym. Cashe had never once used Sneasel in an actual battle, only even revealing that he had the pokemon when training against her and Lindon. Kiana never should have expected an ice move, and she certainly should not have been using a berry to negate the damage of one. It meant the gym knew about all his pokemon, and it likely meant they knew about all of Emilia’s as well.
Emilia clutched at the armrest of her seat. Her heart pounded and a deep feeling of uncertainty filled her gut. Cashe already had his characteristic frown on his face, and while she found it cute most of the time, it was much too early in the battle for him to look like that. He only wore that expression when something unexpected or frustrating happened, and Hawlucha’s actions were both. What should have been a match deciding attack that leveraged Sneasel’s impressive display of simultaneous move usage, turned into a glancing blow. The attack still hit, tearing a swath of feathers from Hawlucha’s side and leaving a bloody gash where Sneasel’s claws scraped across its ribs, but it was far from what was planned.
“No! She tricked Apollo!” Lindon was on his feet, yelling as the rest of the crowd cheered around them. As he was battling one of the strongest Third Circuit trainers at the gym, many people were watching Cashe’s match. A few even seemed to be cheering for him, groaning as Hawlucha took to the air.
“Emilia!” Lindon didn’t turn from the match to speak with her, his eyes locked on the stage, “What’s he going to do? Look how fast Hawlucha is now!”
“Hawlucha’s speed is impressive,” Emilia said. It was faster than Ivysaur in the sun, by the look of it, and by a fair margin. It darted through the air as if physics didn’t matter, making hair pin turns as it harried Sneasel across the battlefield. Just like a week prior, Kiana directed Hawlucha through the air with impressive precision, boxing Cashe and Sneasel in as she prepared for a devastating attack. “But you’ve battled against Sneasel. You know how fast he is when he uses Quick Attack. Cashe will manage.” Emilia could hear the doubt in her own words, but thankfully, Lindon seemed to miss them.
“That will still leave Sneasel exhausted,” Lindon said, flopping back into his seat with a groan.
Emilia pursed her lips and said nothing, leaning forward as the battle progressed, “Come on Cashe, you can do it,” she whispered, “You can’t fall at the first hurdle. Don’t leave me alone.”
*****