Mikey's hair is as annoyingly platinum blond as ever. Ves has to fight the urge not to roll his eyes at the sight of his step-brother. Of course he was there, trying to make his way up the ass of an elite 4 member. He watched as the other boyed tried discussing pokemon battles all-too-importantly. Vinnie was by his side, ever-eager to add some of her all-consuming wisdom to the conversation. Although, she's trying ti charm the shit out of Rex, instead Hercule. Steel types are her biggest problem right now, and she wants to find ways to deal with them. It didn't seem to Ves that she had any problems, considering she was gearing up to solo 4 of them last times. The worst thing is, she would've succeeded if it weren't for Joe and Henry. As if hating the fact she beat him wasn't enough, he had to watch, and even worse, listen to both her and Mikey. He had hated their little family gatherings ever since he was 9. It was no different now. And Domimic, one person that was bearable in their little circle, was nowhere to be seen.
Ves didn't care much about what either Rex or Hercule had to say, truth be told, he was only here escape Sam. He had, in fact, forgiven his teammate for getting tricked. In his opinion, the matter was settled already, so it was no use creating any further conflict over it. His urge to cave Sam's face in was a different story, it was nothing he could control. Actually, he wanted to punch all of his teammates, at all time. He did not understand this need himself, it was just there. So it was probably for the best if he stayed away, he concluded, until he managed to calm down. He still wanted to fix things with them. In his mind, there was still a chance that they would all make it through, as a team. Technically, since there are two tournaments that are classicall 1v1 battles durimg the year, all they needed was one of them to win one of those, and they had good chances of passing as a team. He hated that he was the only one that saw that as an option. Then, there was the double battle tournament in second semester as well, another thing that could help them. But it was all much easier said than done, he knew. Joe and Ace had a chance of passing alone as well, he thought, if he did as well, then they would be on the same team still. If all three of them happened to land in top 50, that might even be enough to get them all to pass. Especially if Teo could pick up some slack as well. Even if none of that happened, they still had to spend this year with each other. And he'd want to have at least somewhat better relationship. It's not that he wanted them all to be best friends. Just that, not even talking to each other felt terrible. Even arguing was better.
Unlike him, his classmates were much more excited to meet a gym leader and an elite 4 member. Back on the plane, he counted 35 of them. 7 teams overall. Surprisingly, all first years. Out of those, around 15 approached the host duo, looking to get some advice, or rather, just trying to get noticed. Most of them ended up leaving after just a few minutes. Out of those who stuck around were Dean, Mikey, Vinnie and himself, along with two other guys who were giving Mikey dirty looks at every opportunity. Ves had no idea why, he guessed they were familiar with the boy, but nevertheless, he had decided he liked the two. One looked dishelved to say at least, dressed in pants that were too wide for him, polo shirt and a ravaged grey hoodie. He had a amber Sharpedo tooth necklace, so Ves had concluded he was going for the look of either a tortured artist or the worst kind of surfer. A hipster, either way. Luka was his name, and one thing Ves quickly learned about him was that he does not shut up. The other boy balanced that out, as Ves was not sure if he had heard him utter a word. He had a dark, serious looking face, complemented with rectangular glasses and a pair of bushy brows. Dark red jumpsuit he was wearing was cool, Ves thought, making him look like a misplaced car mechanic.
"So, I had an idea", Mikey's eyes glistened in silent excitment as he talked to Hercule, "could we have a battle?".
"It wouldn't be much of a battle if I took you on", Hercule laughs, his hands planted firmly against his hips, "I appreciate the enthusiasm".
"I'd still learn something", Mikey offers.
"Tell you what", Hercule is quick to indulge him, "how about you have a battle with one of your classmates instead? Rex and I will watch, and we can give you kids some advice afterwards".
"Done deal", Mikey is quick to agree, and Ves is already one step away from challenging him. "They will be easy to beat though", Mikey adds, scratching his head.
"I'm sure it will serve its purpose", Hercule gives him a stern look, one that just doesn't work due to the amount of glitter he's wearing.
"Right, right", Mikey is quick to catch on, "what I mean is, I alredy battled 3 of them, so I wouldn't be learning much, and neither will they".
"Well, there are two guys you didn't battle", Luka chimmes in with a smile, "so, we could do a free-for-all with all 6 of us, I'm sure you'll find that challenging enough". Ves has to admit, he likes this guy's way of thinking, and more importantly, he likes the fact he obviously dislikes Mikey.
"That sounds fabulous", Hercule claps his hands at the idea, "a free-for-all is such a fun way of doing things".
"Um, actually, I'd like to abstain", Dean says, "my pokemon's not really suited for something like that, it will just get needlessly hurt".
Hercule goes to say somethinh, but Rex cuts him off: "what kind of partner do you have?".
"Um, Petilil", Dean says, a bit surprised at gym leader's interference. Rushedly, he takes out his pokeball, realeasing the small plant pokemon. As it hits the field, Petilil happily spins around, before launching itself into Dean's arms. Ves is impressed at the pokemon's jumping ability, and he's sure any NBA fan would be as well. "We trained a bit, but Petilil's still not much of a battler", Dean admits, "a 6 person free-for-all would just be too much for us right now".
"Right, that's a mature discernment on your part", Rex nods slowly, eyeing Petilil, "it's smart knowing your own limits".
"Thank you", Dean blushes a bit, "I try my best to think about things like that".
"Hope you're not avoiding battles altogether though", Rex gives him a raised eyebrow.
"No, no, um, not realy", Dean shuffles uncomfortably, "well, I guess I'm not, I just don't like rushing into them".
"So, you do take part in pokemon battles?", Rex asks him.
"When it's convenient", Dean admits, "usually, I don't really assert myself in that regard, I mean, Petilil and I are not exactly good training partners, so it's better for our opponents to find someone stronger".
"That's as sweet as it is naive", Rex laughs, "I appreciate your worry for others, but you have to work towards your own improvement as well".
"Yeah, yeah, I guess", Dean says quietly, "though, I'm just worried about Petilil as well, I don't want him hurtimg himself, especially if no one gets any experiance out of the battle".
Rex seems to think about it. "Tell you what boy", the gym leader says inconclusively, "would you like to battle me?".
"Um, battle you?", Dean says in surprise.
"I'd like to battle you", Mikey chimmes in.
"Count me in", Vinnie adds.
"I will literally send you to another dimension, if you let me battle you, I promise you out-of-body experiance", Luka says vigorously.
Rex stares down all three of them, making them fall quiet. Turning to Dean again he explains: "I would go easy on you, of course, and I have a pokemon that has hatched recently and needs training, I believe you and Petilil will be able to hold your own against me in that situation".
"Oh, a recently hatched pokemon", Dean says, "well, I guess that's managable".
"Think about it, you get to battle a gym leader", Ves nudges him, "I think you should do it".
"It just feels kind of... stupid", Dean scratches his head, "I mean, you already said you'd go easy on me, I don't... I don't really want you to let me win, I mean, I appreciate it, but that just feels wrong".
"And who told you I had any intentions of letting you win?", a sly smile appears on Rex's face. "I'm a gym leader, you know", he says, "it's normal for us to match the level of our challengers".
"Right, right, I get it", Dean nods.
"Besides, as I said, my pokemon needs training as well, so this comes in handy for me as it does for you", Rex says knowingly, "I'd say your Petilil and my Aaron would be a good match for each other right now".
"Alright then", Hercule makes the final decision, "then Rex will battle the small samurai boy".
"Name's Dean", the boy blushes at the elite 4's description of him.
"Right, Rex will fight Dean", Hercule corrects himself, "and then the 5 of you can do a free for all".
"Alright", Mikey says as if he's not completely satisfied with the conclusion. He probably wanted to fight everyone in the room.
"Alright", Dean says, building up confidence.
"Okay, you guys clear the field then, and I'll go get my Aaron", Rex says before quickly dissapearing through some kind of doors.
Cleaning the fields basically means going over to the sidelines. They can't exactly remove the platform that's blocking out a chunk of the battlefield, so they'll have to make do with what they have. Ves stands by, watching as Dean takes his place on the battlefield.
"That a buddy of yours?", Mikey's voice comes off playfull right next to him.
"Huh, I don't know this one", Vinnie scoffs, "is he another one of your little teammates".
"No, he's not", Ves says shortly.
"Too bad, I like this one much more than that other guy", Vinnie says with a sighs, "I mean, he seems sweet, oh, no, don't tell me he's with those other two?".
"It's none of your business, Vinnie", Ves rolls his eyes, "what if he is?".
"Oh, no, the poor thing", the girl's voice sounds as if she's truly sorry about it, "he's kinda cute, he doesn't deserve to be stuck with those two".
"Hey, stay away from Dean", Ves says suddenly scared for the other boy's safety, "don't you already have a boyfriend anyways?".
"I do not", Vinnie says firmly, "besides, that is not what I'm saying, I just want to say, you should take him in, actually, you I think you should trade away Joe for this one, he's much more likeable".
"Vinnie, you just like desparate art boys with strange haircuts, don't you?", Mikey sighs.
"I do not!", Vinnie sounds insulted.
"You absolutely do, you have a type", Mikey crosses his arms.
"I do not, I'm just thinking about what's best for my baby brother", Vinnie persists, "you have't met his teammates, so you wouldn't know".
"And you have?", Mikey challenges.
"Well, I did meet the psychotic one", Vinnie counters, "and we know for a fact he has a dumb one as well".
"Oh, he has one that should learn to shut up as well", Mikey adds, and Ves is not sure wheter he's talking about Ace or Teo. Then he remembers Teo mentioning he had a run in with Mikey and Dominic.
"And what's the last one?", Vinnie inquers, looking at Ves.
The one that watches way too many movies. The horrible references guy. The neat freak. The guy with a stick up his ass. "Ace", Ves says instead of all of that, "he's cool, I guess".
"Is he, though?", Vinnie raises her eyebrow at him.
"Look, we are not a TLC show, so stop analysing us like we are", Ves says.
"Who said you were a TLC show?", Vinnie laughs, "I mean, they were definitely right".
"Will you stop acting like a goth Regina George for a moment?", Ves sighs.
"Isn't that other chick in the movie goth, wouldn't I be her in that case?", Vinnie asks, "beaides, I'm not even goth, I just have a style".
"She does her best to look like count Dracula", Mikey chimmes in, laughing at his own joke.
"Oh, that was actually a good one", Luka chimmes in.
"Hey, you, don't interrupt, this is kind of a family reunion", Vinnie scoffs at him, "and you two, you are my brothers, so stop insulting me".
"Wait, y'all are related?", Luka looks at Ves in surprise.
"Good luck dude", the bushy-browed boy says.
"Luka, Mario, the two of you shouldn't interfere", Mikey says, "this is family businesses".
"We're not a family, and we don't have a business", Ves points out.
"I understand nothing", Luka says.
"It's better that way", Ves promises him.
"Ves, why do you have to be such a bitch all the damn time", Mikey rolls his eyes. He goes to say something else, but Vinnie quickly nudges him, pointing out that Rex had returned.
"Good thing this is over", Ves mumbles under his breath, as the gym leader strolls out to his side of the field.
"Oh, it's not, I'll explain a few thing to you later", Mikey whispers at him.
"Sorry for the wait", Rex yells over at Dean, cutting them off, "I misplaced Aaron's pokeball, barely found it". Ves hears Dean mumble something in the lines of: "it's alright".
"Okay, then, I will be a referee", Hercule's voice fills out the room, "if you are both ready, you can send out your pokemon".
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Petilil jumps out of Dean's arms, and Ves can't help feeling just a little bit nauseous. The small grass type seems fragile. Ves can barely remember ever seeing him battle. They stood no chance against him and Houndour. Even against Mai and Leah, it got knocked out before getting a chance to do anything. Rex swipes his hand, sending out Aaron. The metal coated pokemon looks atound itself curiously. It's definitely on the slower side, Ves thinks, looking at the pokemon's tiny legs. That's good for Dean. The bad thing, with its metal body and weight, Aaron's supposed to be tanky and hard to knock out. This will be tough.
"Alright, if you're both ready", Hercule looks at the two trainers. Rex gives him a nod of confirmation. "Let the battle begin", the man's voice spreads across the battlefield.
"Stun Spore", Dean says immediately, he's definitely thought this through beforehand. Though Ves is not sure what use it was paralyzing an already slow pokemon.
"Tackle", Rex counters calmly, deciding to run into the Stun Spore headfirst. Aaron breaks through, getting paralyzed, but landing quite a powerful Tackle.
"Quick, use Growth Petilil", Dean says decisevly, and Ves now certain the boy has some kind of a plan. He just has no idea what that plan was.
"Tackle, once again", Rex says. Ves half-expects Dean to cut the Growth short, but the boy lets Petilil take another attack. Much to his surprise, the grass types manages to withold another attack, though it looks just moments away from fainting.
"Absorb, now", Dean flies his hand through the air, and Ves realises what he was aiming at.
"Dodge it", Rex remains calm, even though Aaron's not nearly agile enough to escape the attack now. The glow of grass energy envelops the pokemon's metalic body, draining its energy. Petilil looks slightly better off then it did just moments before.
"Alright, not a bad idea", Rex says with a smile, "let's go a little bit higher then, Metal Claw, Aaron".
"Dodge it", Dean orders readily. Even though Aaron's still close by, Petilil has no trouble predicting and dodging its movements. The paralysis did come in handy, Ves realises. Both Stun Spore and Growth were just there to make sure Dean can easily dodge Rex's attacks, and lend his own, with increased power. He was aiming at healing back with absorb, what Dean wanted was a surprise turn of the table. And he had it.
"Absorb, again", Dean orders confidently.
"Aaron, just get away", Rex manages to stay calm, even though his pokemon ends up taking another attack. "Just stay out of reach right now", the gym leader says.
"Alright then, use Growth again", Dean says.
"Get up on the stairs", Rex says, confusing everyone for a brief moment. The stairs of the platform, Ves realises.
"Go for another Growth", Dean says hesitantly. He doesn't get why the gym leader is giving him a chance to set up like this. At this point, another Absorb attack is almost guaranteed to knock off Aaron.
"Alright, we're ready for you", Rex says, and Ves notices Aaron has made it all the way up to the wooden platform. "Come at us whenever you're ready". It dawns on Ves that Petilil would have to come in closer if it wanted to attack, and aiming at a target from the ground would be much harder. Rex was probably planning on defensive strategy. He probably wanted to try dealing with Petilil as it came up the stairs.
"Okay, then, Growth again", Dean says carefully. Rex doesn't react. Really? Ves can hardly believe this guy is a gym leader. Aaron was a hatchling he knew that, and he did say he was going to go easy on Dean, but this was way too much.
Dean waits a bit to see what happens, but Rex remains firm and silent on his spot. "Alright", Dean finally decides, "Petilil, get in there, jump and use Absorb".
Leaping forwards, the grass type closes the distance to the platform. Using it's jumping power he brings himself up in the air, almost at the level of the stage. Ves thinks Dean should name his Petilil LeBron.
As Petilil's body starts glowing, getting ready for an attack, Rex gives a simple command: "Head Smash".
Still paralysed Aaron manages to leap off of the platform, its head glowing white as it aims for Petilil. For a split second, Ves thinks Petilil might outspeed due to paralysis, but that doesn't matter when gravity takes over. Aaron smashes into the grass type, sending it flying backwards, knocking it out in mid-air.
With a sigh, Dean recalls his partner. "Well, it went better than I expected", the boy says.
"You did exceptionally well if you ask me", Rex approaches him slowly, recalling Aaron along the way, "the set-up was a nice little idea, honestly, I thought about letting you win for a second there".
"But you decided to crush me instead", Dean lets out a deep breath.
"I decided to teach you a few things, but I'll let you make your own discerments", Rex waves his finger, "also, I just don't really like losing to beginners".
"So, you wanted me to know that I should use my surroundings?", Dean nods towards the platform.
"Amongst other things", Rex says. "Either way kid, I liked your little plan there", the gym leader places his hand on Dean's shoulder, "so I have a little proposition"
"What proposition?", Dean raises his head.
"You take both Aaron and Petilil to get healed, one of my gym trainer's will lead you to the nursery", he says offering up the pokeball to the boy, "and then you hold on to this Aaron and train him well, what do you say?".
"Wait, you want to give me your Aaron?", Dean looks at the pokeball in surprise.
"Well, I believe you would do it justice, you'd have to work on fee things first though", Rex winks.
"But didn't you just hatch it?", Dean inquers, hesitantly putting his hand on Aaron's pokeball.
"Right, well, I did want to retire my Aggron, since she has been putting in work for like, 12 years now", Rex scratches his head, "but I guess she can hold the job just a little bit longer".
"You send your pokemon into retirement?", Dean tilts his head.
"Well, of course I do, they deserve it", Rex explains, "I mean, Aggron would be only the second pokemon I will retire, I am not that old, you know. Ah, guess I'll have to go through another breeding process with her though...".
"Wait", Dean says in surprise, "is this Aaron her child?".
"Yeah, that's her son", Rex confirms, "I mean, I want to keep my pokemon around in some way, so it's only natural". Noticing an uncomfortable look in Dean's eyes, the gym leader adds: "No worries, Aggrons don't really tie themselves to their offspring, and even if they did, sometimes leaving hope is for the best".
"Alright, but is it really okay if I take him?", Dean finally takes the pokeball from Rex.
"Only if you promise me you'll help the little guy grow strong", Rex smirks, "I'll need you to promise me a rematch as well".
"Alright, I promise", Dean nods, "I'll do my best".
"Oh, how sweet of you to do such a thing", Hercule comes in swinging at Rex's back, "I had no idea you had such kindness in you, my friend".
"Hey, I think a kid has potential, that's all", Rex has to regain balance after Hercule's congratulatory slap, "besides, I think steel types would fit him, you never know, in 4 years I might have myself a new gym trainer".
"Oh, so that's what you're aiming for", Hercule says.
"Not aiming at anything, I'm just supporting the youth", Rex sighs, "though I'm never opposed to getting some new apprentices".
"Well, if you've done with luring kids to come to your gym, may we go on to the next battle?", Hercule crosses his arms, eyeing the other five kids in expectation.
"Alright, I'm ready", Mikey all but jumps onto the battlefield.
"I'm winning today", Vinnie leisurely strolls onto the field as well.
"And just how did you meet these two?", Ves turns towards Luka and Mario, trying to asses the situation.
"We're in the same class, unfortunately?", Luka says.
"You really related to them?", Mario asks curiously.
"Unfortunately", Ves responds. He doesn't really want to get into it with these two, but he wants to know what they think of Mikey and Vinnie. Just for the sake of knowing how the battle will go. His biggest worry is that he was the only one there without a friend. It was a free-for-all, but Ves assumed alliances would be set in place, at least for the time being. Vinnie and Mikey would certainly fight together in the beginning. These two boys seemed as if they were friends, so they'd most likely team up. What worried Ves was that the four of them would decide to crowd him first and make this a 2v2 battle.
"Well, anyways, let's go", Luka steps out as well, followed closly by Mario.
Ves slowly steps out. Good news is, he and Houndour have worked on the Energy Ball, so it was now usable. It wasn't exactly the most powerful, but it would come in handy in case any of those two have a water or a ground type. He eyed the wooden platform suspiciously. Seeing how Rex had used it just moments ago, Ves concluded he needed to be weary of it. Someone here is bound to try and use a similar trick, if for nothing else, then to prove themselves in front of the gym leader and the elite 4 member. He makes sure he takes a spot opposite the platform, just too keep his eyes on it. A thought of just burning it down with Ember at the start of the battle crosses his mind, but he shakes it off quickly. That would probably get him expelled. Or even arrested. But definitely expelled. Maybe he uses it as the sort of last ditch effort, but only if he's 1v1 with Mikey, and Axew is up there. Then it's understandable he does that, right?
"Alright, everyone in their places?", Hercule asks, "you can send out your pokemon".
Ves doesn't waste time sending Houndour out. Vinnie lets out her Mimikyu, and Mikey calls on his Axew. As for the other two boys, it turns out Luka has a Ralts, and Mario has a Varoom. At least he didn't have to worry about type disatvantages, which was encouraging. He had two field-wide attacks at his disposal, Ember and Snarl. Still not knowing how this will play out, he decides Snarl was his best bet. He doesn't have to aim at a singular person, making an enemy, plus, Axew doesn't resist it.
"Okay, ready, set", Hercule yells out, "start the battle".
"Dissarming Voice", Luka yells immediately. Field move, Ves thinks.
"Protect", Mikey and Vinnie both say.
"Ember, now, Doom", Ves decides this is a better option to cancel the fairy type move.
"Get up on the platform", Mario commands, as the Dissarming Voice crushes into Protects and Ember. Great, already using that nasty strategy, Ves thinks. Who's he going to jump at. "Use Poison Gas", Marc commands as soon as its pokemon makes its way to the platform.
As the poisonous mist fills the air, Ves sees the opportunity for himself. He's the furthest from the platform. "Get back, Doom, use Nasty Plot", he yells out. As the poision hits everyone else on the field, Houndour manages to escape. Now everyone is on the clock, except for him and Mario. And Ves can surely take Mario.
"Oh, no, you won't", Vinnie yells out, "Shadow Sneak, get Houndour".
She wants to stop the set-up, Ves knows. "Don't stop", he urged Houndour".
"Metal Claw", Mikey yells out. To Ves's surprise he adds: "get Mimikyu".
Ves manages to react instantly, taking a chance right after Mimikyu slams into Houndour with Shadow Sneak. "Ember, now", he yells out. Being close by, Mimikyu can't escape, even Axew doesn't make it in time. Thankfully, Houndour doesn't flinch, getting Ember off and breaking the Disguise. Now Mikey can take care of Vinnie.
"Tackle", Mario yells, "aim at Axew".
"Confusion, Ralts, on Varoom", Luka reacts as well. Ves is surprised at the amount of backstabbing that is going on here. Varoom ends up losing colour and dropping out of mid-air, not managing to interfere with Axew, who slams his metalic-glowing claw into Mimikyu.
"Snarl, now", Ves is quick to yell, he has Mikey right where he wants him, in front of his boosted Houndour.
"Protect", Mikey reacts, and Axew listens immediately, and Ves can't help but wonder how much training he did for his pokemon to react that fast. Ember doesn't get to spread across the field.
"Dazzling Gleam, now", Vinnie yells out.
Ves realises he's in trouble. "Dodge", he orders hastily, but Mimikyu ends up blasting both Houndour and Axew with fairy-type energy.
"Now, Shadow Sneak, get Axew", Vinnie commands, surprising Ves with her choice of the target. The attack never manages to go off, as Mimikyu ends up collapsing due to the poison.
Right. Poison, Ves remembers. Axew's poisoned as well.
"Confusion, again" Luka reacts before Ves gets a chance to. Varoom is the biggest threat right now.
"Snarl, now", Ves reacts, intent on dealing with Luka as well, who still hasn't taken any damage.
"Dragon Rage", Mikey says. Before Houndour gets to fire off his attack, a ball of energy slams into him knockimg him out. Ves watches as Varoom falls to confusion as well. Just like that, it's down to Luka and Mikey. And Mikey is much more damaged.
"Metal Claw, now", the blond boy says almost instantly.
"Protect", Luka reacts in time. He's waiting for Axew to fall to poison, Ves relises. It's looking dangerously close.
"Jump", Mikey says simply, and Axew leaps into the air. Ralts sets up Protect, but it falls down before Axew comes down to the ground. Mikey waited out the protect.
"Dissarming Voice", Luka desperately tries to get the final hit in, but the flying Axew comes down before Ralts can fire off the attack. In one fell swoop, Axew sends his opponent flying, knocing it out as well. Only seconds later, the small dragon type stumbles on his feet, falling down to the effects of poison as well. But Mikey has won.
Ves catches Luka's painful groan, as they all recall their pokemon.
"What was that for?", Vinnie slaps Mikey over the head.
"Had to get you off the field", Mikey shrugs simply, "don't take it personally, I just didn't want to deal with fairy type moves".
"You could've gone for Luka first then", Vinnie whines, "now I look weak for fainting first".
"Ah, I would've gone for him if Ves didn't go for a set-up", Mikey says, "I wanted him out as well, and the two of you happened to be close to each other".
"Can't believe you did this", Vinnie sighs, "we're your family, why did you go for us first".
"I told you, you were bigger threats, that's all", Mikey says.
"Oh, should I take that as an isnult?", Luka rolls his eyes.
"Yes, absutely, please do that", Mikey scoffs, "that was underwhelming, you barely did anything, that's why I saved you for last".
"Oh, you saved me for last, huh", Luka laughs a bit too aggressively.
"Yes, I did", Mikey says flatly.
"Get over yourself", Luka rolls his eyes.
"Get under me buddy", Mikey winks at him.
"You're not as good as you migjt think", Luka responds.
"And you're not good at all", Mikey retorts.
Ves doesn't really want to say anything. For once, as much as he would like to say Mikey lucked out, he knew that was not true. Mikey read the situation well, he knew who to focus on. Ves should've known better than to aim at Luka with that last attack. If he had read the situation better, he would've gotten Mikey off the field. Even if he made a right call, he wasn't sure if he would've made it. Axew's attack, speed and reaction were all top notch. That Protect was immediate. Even if he aimed at Axew, Mikey would've gone for Dragon Rage, and would've made it in time. Most likely, both Axew and Houndour would end up knocked out in that case. Ves realises, from the moment Mikey set his eyes on him, he had no chance of winning. But he could've stopped Mikey from winning. As for the other two, he wouldn't discredit them either. Mario made a smart opening move. Luka probably just waited to see who survives the battle on the other side, and decided to deal with Mario along the way. It's a shame for him, that Mikey was the one who came out on top.
"Alright, calm down", Rex gestures for them to stop arguing, it was a good battle.
"Right, it was", Mikey says confidently, "and I won".
"Right, you won, that was certainly exceptional", Rex nods, "I have no comments to give".
"Well, I do", Hercule inserts himself, "get to attacking sooner, boy, it wouldn't be that close of a match if you went for it sooner".
"Yeah, but then my classmates wouldn't have a chance to do anything", Mikey grins.
"Oh there he goes again", Luka groans.
"What can I say, sorry for being considerate", Mikey shrugs innocently.
"You as well, boy", Hercule cuts them off, talking to Luka, "you need to be more proactive, don't just wait around to see what happens".
"I was waiting for them to tire out", Luka says.
"Well, that works sometimes", Rex says before Hercule gets a chance to talk again, "but it's usually not a great choice for a strategy in free-for-all battles".
"Roger that", Luka finally calms down.
"You as well", Rex turns to Mario, "that was a really smart opening move, but you didn't follow up well".
"Alright", Mario lowers his head.
"You picked the wrong timing and the wrong target", Hercule chimmes in, "Ralts was closer to you, it counters you well, and you decide to go for a battle on the other end of the field instead?".
"Yeah, I know", Mario says quietly.
"It's alright, you still had a solid idea", Rex reassures him, "you wanted Mimikyu to take out Houndour, right?".
"Well, yes, since it's a counter to me, it wasn't poisoned, and it set up a Nasty Plot", Marc explains, "I wanted to weaken Axew as well".
"That's not a bad way of thinking at all, you just picked the wrong timing", Rex nods. He turns towards Vinnie: "as for you little Miss., you also need to pick your targets more carefully".
"Right", Vinnie's spirits fall down.
"And, unlike these three, you have to slow your pace down a bit", Rex continues, "in free-for-all especially, you don't have enough time to follow the situation around you if you go in at that pace".
"I understand", Vinnie nods.
"Even in 1v1 battles, that kind of pace will just have your Mimikyu running out of steam quickly", Rex says.
"Okay, I get it, I'll slow down", Vinnie confirms.
"As for you", Rex turns to Ves, "your strategy and pace were good".
"Yeah, I was just unlucky", Ves nods, happy to have gotten a compliment.
"Not exactly", Rex says calmly, "your Houndour's attacks are slow".
"Um, I mean, I guess", Ves says, unsure of how to react. He knew Houndour wasn't as fast as Mikey's Axew, nor did he have priority moves like Mimikyu. "I mean, we worked on our speed, but guess we'll work more", Ves tries to explain himself.
"Oh, no, Houndour is fast on his legs, that part is fine", Rex says, "it's just that he's slow to fire off attacks, I believe you noticed that right now".
"Yeah, I did", Ves nods. He saw the difference between him and Miley clearly.
"So, do you realise what that means?", Rex raises a questioning eyebrow.
"That I should train more in that direction", Ves nods in confirmation, wanting to note that he's already been doing that.
"No", Rex cuts his defense short.
"Well, what then?", Ves says in confusion.
"Your Houndour is a physical attacker", Rex says simply, "guess it's alright if I tell you outright, since something like that is not easy for a beginner to reslise".
"Oh, so, it's a physical attacker, really?", Ves asks curiously.
"Well, it's rare that a pokemon has a natural inclination towards one way of battling, usually a trainer develops that through training, but it can happen from time to time", Rex explains.
"You sure about that?", Ves asks.
"Positive, but you can teach it one physical move, then see how it works out", the gym leader nods.
Taking a look at Houndour's pokeball, Ves feels just a little bit stupid. A physical attacker? His mind flashed back to each time he called on Houndour. It always bent its legs down in battle. Houndour was always trying to use his body in fights, but Ves didn't see it. He. Should've made a guess. "Thank you", he looks up at the gym leader.
"Don't sweat it, you came here today so you could learn something", Rex nods, "besides, beginners usually don't think about stuff like that anyways, with your reactions and way of thinking, you would've done decently against most opponents on your level anyways".
"Except for me", Mikey chimmes in.
"Right, but still, it's good I learned it early", Ves ignores his step-brother, "otherwise, I'd be pushing Houndour into the wrong direction".
"Right, it's better that you've learned it sooner rather than later", Rex agrees.
"So, the next thing for me is getting a physical move, I guess", Ves thinks about it. "And after I do", he turns towards Mikey and Vinnie, "I'm taking both of you down". He came close enough today, Ves thinks.
"Give it a go", Mikey says with an unpleasant smile.