“It’s too much,” Emilia said, looking down at the pair of stones in her hand. It was the sixth or seventh time she said it in the last few minutes. A Mega Stone and a Key Stone. It was too much.
“Your family took me in and you taught me nearly everything I know about pokemon,” Cashe said, “You brought me across the world and were there for me when it got bad. This is a tiny gift of thanks compared to that.”
“I didn’t do those things for gifts,” Emilia mumbled.
“Which is why you deserve one,” Cashe countered.
“Anyone would have done the same.”
“That’s not true and you know it,” Cashe said, “Even if it were, ‘anyone’ didn’t help me. You did.”
“Still,” Emilia frowned, still looking down at the stones in her hand.
“I’m starting to feel unappreciated. If I knew this was how you reacted to gifts, I wouldn’t have got you one.” Cashe sighed in dramatic fashion, "I guess next time I won't bother."
A small smile crept onto Emilia’s face. She looked up, meeting his eye, “Thank you, Apollo.”
Cashe felt himself starting to blush at her sudden sincerity. He cleared his throat, “It’s nothing.”
“I still feel kind of guilty though,” Emilia said, closing her laptop and lying down on Cashe’s bed, “Poor Lindon only has one pokemon, and it can’t Mega Evolve. He missed out on a great opportunity.”
Cashe lay down beside her and grinned, “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that.”
***
“Mega Slowbro, go!” Lindon shouted into the empty gym. Emilia covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. It was late, past midnight, but with the Hoenn trainer’s arrival, the excitement after the market, and the departure of the cruise ship, they were still up.
Lindon’s display was endearing. He was a little old to be pretending to battle pokemon, in Cashe’s opinion, but getting the Mega Stone sent him into fits of impatient imagination, and he was two and a half times Lindon’s age, so Cashe wasn’t one to judge.
Lindon had entered the training gym as soon as they got back to the ship, and had not left since. It was only after the gym cleared out that his true intentions were revealed. He was hopping around a battle arena, tossing imagined pokeballs out to fight his nonexistent opponents. Magnemite watched the display with interest. It was sitting on the side of the arena, atop a Golett pokedoll.
“Mega Slowbro?” Emilia whispered, leaning close so as not to disturb Lindon’s play.
“I was a little hesitant, but it’s his money,” Cashe whispered back, “And with the opportunity we had…”
Emilia nodded to herself, “There are a lot of Slowpoke in Alola. It makes sense. The kid made a good choice.”
They watched Lindon dance around the arena for a while until Lindon finally noticed them and froze in place. His face was already flushed from the exercise, but it turned even brighter red as he saw them.
“How long have you been there?” He squeaked.
“We just got here,” Cashe lied. No point in embarrassing him further. “Emilia wanted to see your Mega Stone.”
“Okay!” Lindon brightened up immediately and rushed over to Cashe and Emilia, Magnemite followed after him, somehow managing to balance the Golett pokedoll in its magnets. Lindon stopped in front of Emilia and pulled a small marble out of his pocket. It had a light pink swirl running through it.
“You got one, too,” Emilia smiled, “That means we will each have a Mega Evolution eventually.” She gave Lindon a serious look, “It also means you’ll have to catch a Slowpoke.”
“Slowpoke are easy to catch, I looked it up.” Lindon said, “Some don’t even fight back when you throw a pokeball.”
“It’s a good choice for your first catching attempt, unlike what this one did,” Emilia pointed to Cashe with her thumb, “But don’t take the situation lightly. Wild pokemon are still dangerous.”
Lindon nodded seriously. “Do you want to train?” Lindon said, boundless energy still leaking from his voice, “I want to be ready for Slowpoke.”
“It’s getting pretty late, kid,” Cashe said, “We came to get you before you missed too much sleep. Besides, you’re keeping others up as well.” Cashe glanced over at the Kadabra in charge of maintaining the barriers around the arena. It look weary.
Lindon’s eyes went wide and he spun around to face the psychic type pokemon, “Sorry! And thank you! I didn’t mean to keep you up.”
The Kadabra said nothing, but nodded in acknowledgement.
“I didn’t realize it was so late,” Lindon said as they exited the gym. He frowned, “Hey! I was in there for a long time. How come you didn’t come to train?”
“We were in my cabin,” Cashe said, “We had to discuss things.”
“You mean Emilia yelled at you,” Lindon narrowed his eyes at Emilia .
“I didn’t yell at him,” Emilia said, “I thought he had wasted all his money plus a lot of yours. I was discussing responsibility with him.”
“I went back to my room for a snack. I heard you shout his name.”
Emilia gave Cashe a quick glance of apology and flushed, “I may have raised my voice a little-”
“How long does it take to talk about Mega Stones,” Lindon interrupted, “A bunch of weird people started bothering me when I was alone.”
“Weird how?” Cashe said.
“I don’t know,” Lindon scrunched his face and scratched his chin as he considered the question, “They asked me all sorts of things about you and Emilia.”
“Did you tell them anything?” Emilia said.
“What kind of things did they ask?” Cashe said at the same time.
“They wanted to know about your pokemon and stuff,” Lindon said, “And how you fought and what your training was and-”
“Lindon, you didn’t answer those questions, did you?” Emilia said, concerned look on her face.
“I’m not dumb,” Lindon said, “I told them to go to your rooms and ask you.”
Emilia and Cashe exchanged a look, “Did you tell them where our rooms are?” Cashe said.
“I told them we were on the top floors with the big shots,” Lindon smiled.
Cashe returned the smile. “You’re a good kid, you know that?”
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
“I’m not a kid!”
***
With the final guests and trainers now on board the ship, the tension that was building over the past week was suddenly palpable in the atmosphere. The training gym was more crowded than ever, with even the partiers aboard finding the time to put in a few hours of work, yet it was simultaneously quieter than ever.
The mood in the trainer cafeteria could similarly be cut with a knife, and on more than one occasion fights erupted over small collisions and imagined slights. For once, Cashe’s budding reputation showed its benefits, with most people avoiding him like the plague. The attitude spread to the cruise ship as a whole, and the nightly parties evaporated. Cashe heard murmured complaints from the non-trainer passengers at the development, but no one said a thing to a trainer’s face.
With the arrival of the Hoenn trainers came the arrival of Pokemon League Officials as well. Clad in gray and black, the officials roamed the cruise, on alert for rule breakers.
The True Rookie Tournament was not a normal tournament, and had several conditions that others did not. Most revolved around the concept of trainers being True Rookies. Cashe witnessed Marcus Daye getting harassed by an official for his support pokemon that were borrowed from his father. They weren’t against the rules, so long as he didn’t use them in a battle. Emilia, too, got more than one suspicious conversation from the officials, making sure she didn’t have any secret help from her family.
None of it helped ease the tension in the air. Even Lindon was not immune to it, becoming quiet and subdued in the lead up to the tournament. With the official start of the tournament only a day away, all trainers were brought to a large theater for a pre-tournament presentation.
The theater was huge, seating over two thousand. Even then, it was not large enough for all the trainers, many being forced to stand. The cruise ship held just over ten thousand people, including the crew and staff, and trainers made up nearly a third of that.
Just like the gym and cafeteria, the theater was eerily quiet considering how crowded it was. Cashe, Emilia, and Lindon arrived late, finding themselves relegated to standing in the back. On the stage at the center of the theater, a League official was just finishing setting up. He wore the gray and black of every Pokemon League official, but had a golden armband around his right arm. He was completely bald and sported a thick, well-groomed mustache. As he finished setting up the small podium on the stage, he tapped the microphone attached to it, sending a thudding wave of sound through the packed theater.
Any noise that was present in the theater was silenced.
“I am Official Borek,” he said, his voice booming through the theater. Cashe winced. What was with the Pokemon League and loud sound systems?
“I am the head Official of the True Rookie Tournament,” Borek continued, skipping all preamble, “I will explain the rules of the tournament only once. You will not be excused for breaking the rules of the tournament by pleading ignorance. Breaking the rules in any way will result in immediate disqualification. Pay attention.”
He paused to make sure his instructions were well headed. No one made a sound.
“First, the tournament is a single elimination tournament. Lose, and you are out.” Cashe nodded. This was already known.
“Second, all pokemon must be your own. No borrowed pokemon and no last minute additions. All pokemon must have been registered for the tournament prior to boarding the SS Ambition. No outside help at all.”
More nods. This was nothing new.
“Third, no battling except for tournament matches. This includes training.” Borek gazed into the audience as murmurs rose at the third rule. Cashe agreed with them. Battling was an important part of training, even if the pokemon were taking it easy.
“Fourth,” Borek said, voice rising over the crowd’s displeasure, “All battles taking place in the main battle arena of the ship, located on the topmost deck, will be televised. Trainers will maintain a sportsmanlike decorum at all times when on television.”
“He means no swearing,” Emilia whispered into his ear at Cashe’s questioning look, “The League likes to keep a clean image.”
“Fifth, during a match, trainers will follow the instructions by all League officials immediately, as they are given. You will not complain. You will not hesitate.”
Borek glared at the trainers as if daring them to make a complaint against the rule. When no one did, he continued.
“Sixth, all battles will follow the official format rules for single battles. Teams are limited to two pokemon. Pokemon must be chosen and registered before the first match of the tournament. Pokemon cannot substitute for others after they have been registered. Choose wisely.”
That was an interesting rule, not normally seen in tournaments. Most allowed trainers to choose teams from all their available pokemon as they battled, up to the allowed limit. It let trainers use dynamic tactics and strategies, and kept things fresh for the audience since there was no guarantee on what pokemon were used.
“The details of single format battles can be found in any Trainer’s Handbook. Make sure you are familiar with them.” Borek straightened, “Finally, the prizes for the top contenders at this tournament are as follows: Fifth through Eighth place, three thousand pokedollars and automatic admittance to the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Alola Third Circuits. Third and fourth place, ten thousand pokedollars, an official battle item of your choice, and automatic admittance to the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Alola Third Circuits.”
The crowd of trainers started to murmur again. The additional prize was not normal for the tournament.
“Second place, twenty thousand pokedollars, an official battle item of your choice, one evolution stone or equivalent method, and automatic admittance to the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Alola Third Circuits.”
A few people shouted at the new item. Evolution stones were worth exorbitant prices. One could be the only prize of the entire tournament and no one would complain.
“First place, fifty thousand pokedollars, an official battle item of your choice, one evolution stone or equivalent method, automatic admittance to the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Alola Third Circuits,” Borek paused, looking up at the trainers and smirked, “and one Master Ball.”
***
“Daryl! Look what I found!” Daryl grunted and cracked open his eyes, letting the warm Alolan sun sting his retinas. He had fallen asleep while lying on the beach. That wasn’t good. He sat up, wincing in expectation of pain from the inevitable sunburn. No pain came. He glanced down. Someone had smeared his torso in a liberal layer of sunscreen while he slept, saving him a harsh sunburn. Unfortunately, they seemed to have tactically missed some spots.
Daryl squinted through his sunglasses as he tried to read the word scrawled on his chest, “What’s a HULNK?” He said.
“I couldn’t decide between hunk or hulk,” Connie said with a bright smile, not even bothering to deny responsibility for the action. She was walking along the beach towards him in a pale yellow sundress stained with mud, holding something at arms reach, aloft in her hands, “So I combined them.”
Daryl sighed. “You didn’t have to write anything, you know. You could have just put the sunscreen on me. Thank you, for that, by the way.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Connie said, beaming, “I love going the extra mile.”
Daryl suppressed another sigh. That was Connie through and through. He couldn’t get upset with her for that. Well, he could, but she didn’t get upset at him for being grumpy, so it was a fair trade in his opinion.
He squinted through his sunglasses. The light from the sun glared off the beach, the sparkling water, even Connie’s shining, silver hair. “What’s that in your hands?” Was it moving?
“A Wimpod!” It was moving! “Isn’t it cool? You should catch it!”
The thing in Connie’s hand came into focus. The small arthropod pokemon was wiggling its purple legs back and forth in a desperate attempt to be free of Connie’s grip.
“It looks like you already caught it,” Daryl said. Poor thing.
“I mean you should catch it for real,” Connie said, shaking the poor Wimpod in front of her in emphasis, “For your trainer career.”
“I don’t have a trainer career,” Darly grumbled, “I have a boss who keeps tricking me into battling gym trainers.”
“And a Golisopod will make it easier to win when I do it again!” Connie said happily.
Daryl groaned and rubbed his face, “Where did you even find a Wimpod? Aren’t they supposed to be rare?”
“They’re just scaredy cats - or bugs,” Connie said, bouncing on the sand in excitement, “I just watched all the little hidey-holes until I saw one.”
“You should put it down,” Daryl said.
“Not until you agree to catch it.” Connie said in a singsong voice.
Daryl knew not to argue with that voice by now. “Fine.” He focused on the struggling bug pokemon, “Do you want me to take you away from the mean lady?”
“Hey!”
The bug stopped struggling and looked at Daryl with obvious hope.
“I’ll make you big and strong, but it will be a lot of work, okay?” Daryl told Wimpod. Wimpod shook its entire body in an eager nod. “Okay. I’m going to put you in a ball,” Daryl said, holding up a pokeball, “You’ll be safe there. Don’t try to break out.” He pressed the ball against Wimpod and it disappeared in a flash of red light. The ball didn’t shake a single time before it flashed bright, signifying a capture.
“Yea!” Connie cheered enthusiastically, just like she had for every other pokemon he captured or trainer he defeated, “Now come on! A couple of trainers on the beach laughed at me when I got you that Wimpod and you need to defend my honor.”
Daryl groaned and rolled onto his stomach, “Remember what we said? Only one exciting thing per day until Mr Cashe gets here. That was the deal. Come back tomorrow.”
“But Daryl,” Connie complained, “My honor!”
Daryl buried his head in his towel as Connie insisted that Wimpod was lame, actually, and definitely didn’t count as exciting. He couldn’t help but smile.
*****