The Trainer

  “Pendra! Megahorn!” Eira shouted, immediately her Scolipede charged forward and bashed her horn into Vayne’s Cacturne, sending him hurtling backwards. The crowd let out a deafening cheer.

  “Rango! Get up buddy! We got this!” The Kalos leader shouted. Eira flipped her hair out of her face and wiped away a bead of sweat. Down three Pokémon, this was starting to get fun. “Rango, use Sucker punch!” The Caturne leapt forward and caught Pendra with a nasty left hook, filled with dark energy.

  Pendra stumbled, regaining her footing she scuttled forward towards the Cacturne, already predicting the next order. “Quick! Poison jab!” Eira commanded, but she didn’t have to. Pendra was already doing it. She bashed her head forward, hitting nothing.

  The Caturne ducked out of the way. “Nice dodge! Needle arm!” Vayne shouted, Rango launched his spiky arm full force into Pendra’s chest, shoving her backwards. The crowd was roaring.

  “It’s unbelievable! This small town gym leader sure is giving Eira a run for her money, but she won’t go down without a fight!” The announcer shouted. Eira smirked, damn right she wasn’t. She loved the Pokémon world tournament, every four years the whole world gathered to pit the greatest trainers against each other, and that meant Eira got to finally have fun, and she certainly wasn’t going to go easy on anyone.

  “Pendra! Try again, Venom Drench!” Pendra let out an obedient screech before leaning back and spewing a blanket of thick, viscous liquid, far too much for the Cacturne to avoid, he was easily drenched in the stuff, Eira’s battle tracker reported that he was poisoned. She smirked, perfect.

  “Rango, get over here.” Vayne ordered, spraying an antidote potion onto his Cacturne.

  Fuck, Eira cursed to herself. She needed that to stick for at least two rounds. She shook her head, relax, adapt. “Pendra! Charge your solar beam!”

  “Scoli!” Pendra cried, leaning back her head and filling her pincers with solar energy.

  “Now Rango! Sucker Punch!” Rango dashed forward, slamming a dark fist into Pendra’s face, knocking her back and detonating the charging solar energy in her mouth. Pendra was launched backward, collapsing unconscious.

  “No!” Eira yelled as she held out her pokéball, “Pendra, come back.” She was letting this guy get too much ground, there was no way she would let herself lose to a gym leader. “Octavio, take over!” She threw the pokéball into the air, calling her noivern into battle.

  “Noi!!!” He screamed, shattering the air.

  “Now we’re getting into the heat of it, our prized trainer is down to her last two, could the up-and-coming Vayne actually stand a chance? Does he have a plan?” The announcer called hyping up the crowd.

  Eira pulled her goggles down over eyes, “I wouldn’t get too cocky over there! I’m just getting warmed up!” She jeered at her opponent. Admittedly, three-against-two wasn’t great odds. Her Pokémon would have to put in a bit of extra work, but Eira was certain she could pull this off. Besides, the Cacturne was low on energy after Pendra, it wouldn’t take much to knock him down. After that it was just a matter of picking off the last two.

  “Octavio! Take him out! Use boom burst!” She ordered, Octavio sucked in, then let out a shattering screech, a sonic boom focused straight forward into Vayne’s Cacturne. Rango tried to dodge, but was too slow and was thrown backwards by the powerful sound wave. He hit the ground in a roll and stopped at Vayne’s feet. KO.

  “Rango, good work.” Vayne returned Rango, selecting his next pokémon carefully. “A’tuin! Show her what we’re made of!” Vayne threw the pokéball into the air, snapping it open the Pokémon inside materialized on the field.

  “Tor!!!!” The massive Torterra cried, slamming his feet down.

  “A’tuin! Frenzy plant!” Vayne called out.

  “Tor!” A’tuin slammed the ground, sending a mass of roots towards Octavio.

  Octavio leapt into the air to avoid, but the roots shot upwards from the ground and pummeled him out of the air. “Octavio! You’re ok! Use Hurricane!”

  “Noi! Vern!” Octavio cried, hyped by his trainer, he let out a screech, one that swept up massive amounts of wind and blew hard against A’tuin, pummeling the Torterra with incredible pressure. Despite his weight, the Torterra was lifted from the ground and thrown backwards by the powerful gale.

  A’tuin hit against the wall on the far side of the arena, leaving a smashed dent where his shell made contact. Eira could tell he wasn’t done though, and that was fine by her. She hated when it ended prematurely.

  “A’tuin!” Vayne rushed to his Pokémon, “Come on buddy, we’re not down yet. Use Superpower!” A’tuin nodded, encouraged by his trainer, he charged forward, building up speed until he was blur, he hit Octavio with incredible force, but Eira knew that would drop A’tuin’s defenses, he was open to a solid attack.

  Eira checked her battle tracker. A’tuin would be down in one more hit, meanwhile Octavio could easily outlast two more. She smirked, her streak would be fine, and she wouldn’t even have to bring out the big guns.

  “Octavio! Dragon blast!” Eira shouted. Noivern recoiled well from the attack, although Eira knew it had disoriented him, still she had faith as he charged up an intense dragon breath attack.

  Letting loose with a powerful roar he pushed A’tuin away from him with the force.

  And A’tuin got back up.

  Eira felt her jaw fall slack. It was impossible. He couldn’t have possibly survived. His health was too low, his defenses were down.

  “A’tuin! Alright! Use Giga Drain!” Vayne shouted.

  No, no no. Eira panicked. This wasn’t supposed to happen. A’tuin reared on his hind legs, his body glowing with energy from his life force. Eira watched helplessly as Octavio’s own life force was drained away, filling A’tuin.

  Finally too weak, Octavio collapsed to the ground. That’s impossible.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “Things aren’t looking good for the Master of Legends. Now’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for-” Eira smiled, the announcer was right. This wasn’t near the end. She held up her own mic, looking up to the crowd.

  “I’ll take it from here big guy! You should’ve taken the easy loss, Vayne. Cause you’re not gonna like my last friend, Vayne.” She hurled her last pokéball into the air, a bright light emerging from inside as it snapped open, taking the shape of her ace, the greatest pokémon on her team, the only one of its kind to be trained. Eira caught the empty pokéball in her hand.

  “YVELTAL! I CHOOSE YOU!” The massive red bird’s wings beat against the air, swirling the dust below itself, it let out a terrifying screech of a roar. The crowd lost its mind. Vayne went pale.

  Eira dropped her mic, fitting her hair into a ponyta-tail.

  Vayne stuttered his next command. “A’tuin, u-use Frenzy plant.”

  “Torterr!” A’tuin cried, shooting forward the violent roots, they shot from the ground and made hard impact with Yveltal’s chest, it didn’t even flinch.

  Eira smirked. She knew why she was always invited to the tournament. She knew why the stadiums were packed when she battled. She was a good trainer in her own right, some would say an amazing one, but lots of trainers were amazing.

  But a legendary Pokémon? No one else trained a legendary Pokémon. Most didn’t think it was possible. Until Eira joined the League. That was what took Eira from an amazing trainer, to the greatest trainer in the world. The Master of Legends.

  “Yveltal! Oblivion wing!” Yveltal let out a screech and swooped low, its dark wings spread, carrying darkness like it was water. Yveltal came to a powerful stop before A’tuin, slamming its wings powerfully forward, thrusting the liquid darkness forward in a powerful meteor shower.

  A’tuin staggered for a moment, but there was nothing he could do but collapse in exhaustion. “A’tuin, return!” Vayne cried, distraught with the way the battle was turning. Obviously he had known Yveltal would be a factor, but somehow he thought he could handle it.

  “You’ve been a little too high and mighty for too long Eira. Time someone knocked you down! Timberline! Take em out!” Vayne threw out his final pokéball, an Abomasnow let out a roar, a cold wind whipped up, a hailstorm starting.

  “Knock me down? Be my guest! Skip turn!” Eira said, skipping her turn in the battle. She wanted to give this Abomasnow a chance to show off.

  “Timberline! Mega evolve! Use Sheer cold!” Vayne shouted. Eira felt her eyes widen slightly. That was unexpected.

  Timberline began to double in size, his body changing shape, two large spines of ice shooting from his back. He was large, but still dwarfed by Yveltal. He let out a chilling roar, the arena grew cold, a blistering wind whipped up the snow in the air, creating a heavy sheet of snowy fog. Eira could barely see anything. All she heard a roar then a beam pierce through the air. A wind swept through and cleared the snow in the air.

  The attack had missed. Yveltal still flew above the ground. “Yveltal! Use Phantom Force!” Yveltal let out a screech, and suddenly the snowy arena was covered in darkness for a brief moment. When light returned, Yveltal was gone.

  Vayne wasn’t stupid though, he wouldn’t waste a free turn. “Timberline! X defense!” He threw the small vial into the air, which the Mega Abomasnow caught in his mouth, crushing the capsule and absorbing the boost in defense.

  Then the darkness returned, followed by a flash of red as Yveltal reappeared and hit Timberline with a powerful slash. Sending the Mega Pokémon sliding backwards, his hands clutching the arena floor. Timberline was still standing though. Checking her battle tracker, Eira could tell he still had plenty of health.

  “Timberline, use Wood Hammer!” Vayne yelled, growing desperate. His Sheer cold plan hadn’t worked. He may not have had this as under control as he thought. Timberline charged towards Yveltal, his arm growing hard and sturdy, he slammed the legendary Pokémon with all his force, sending the great vulture reeling, but also taking recoil damage to himself.

  Eira gritted her teeth. This was going to be close. Too close for comfort. She had to end this. “Yveltal! OBLIVION WING!” She practically screamed! The wind had long since blown out her ponyta-tail, and her hair hadn’t recovered well.

  Yveltal swept his wings upward, catching darkness in his red feathers. With a swoop and a flip, he hurled the payload at Timberline, a shower of death raining upon him. The Mega Abomasnow let out a powerful roar, showing incredible endurance.

  It wasn’t enough. The frame of the Abomasnow shrunk down as he returned to a mass of light, which was brought back into his pokéball. Vayne fell to his knees, defeated. The crowd was wild.

  “And Eira takes the slim victory! What an amazing battle folks! How long has it been since we’ve had this kind of excitement? When will it happen again! Stay tuned.” The announcer yelled, increasing the hype.

  Eira crossed the arena, outstretching a hand to her opponent. She had her goggles pulled back onto her forehead. “You did good out there, Vayne. Had me scared for a second there. That was a good tactic with Mega Sheer cold.”

  Vayne looked up, surprised. “Really?”

  Eira laughed, “Yeah! Word of advice though, don’t rely on hopeful moves that may work. Get yourself some genuine power. Sheer cold isn’t reliable.”

  Vayne smiled weakly, “Thanks. Aren’t you gonna celebrate your victory?”

  Eira rolled her eyes. “It’s not about the win, it’s about the game. Come on, get up. Let’s go get ice cream with the other leaders.” She called Yveltal back to its pokéball.

  Vayne’s smile grew stronger. “Yeah! Ok.” He took Eira’s hand and she helped him up, then the two headed back for the locker room. The cheers of the crowd followed them in.

  Inside the locker room, they were only met with more applause. “What a battle!” Wake yelled, slapping his hand against Eira’s back. She gave a light chuckle, rubbing the spot he had hit.

  “That was incredible!” Added Elesa, “You got so close, Vayne!”

  “I’ve never seen Eira sweat so much, you really had her going there.” Laughed Maylene.

  “Oh come on, I don’t get nervous.” Eira joked back.

  “We’ll let the battle footage be the judge of that.” Clair said with a smirk. Eira playfully slugged her in the shoulder, taking a seat on the bench.

  “Was that the last of today’s fights?” She asked.

  “Yep, that’s everything.” Said Leon, “You guys did great today.”

  “Aw yeah!” Cheered Morty. With the excitement over with, regular conversation picked back up, but Eira felt herself zoning out, staring at the television on the wall. The newscaster lady was talking in front of a green screen image, but the tv was muted, so Eira was focused on the image behind her.

  It was a massive dark figure, surely the size of a skyscraper. It was standing out in the midst of a dark storm, its head so high that was inside the storm cloud. Whatever it was, Eira could see the red glow of its eyes inside the storm. She felt a chilling feeling looking at the screen.

  She glanced at the bar along the bottom of the screen. “Dangerous storm fast approaching Unova'' Eira crinkled her brow, they weren’t wrong, there was a storm. But what about the thing inside the storm?

  “-Eira! Earth to Eira!” Skyla shook her out of her thoughts.

  “Huh? Oh! Hey.” Eira shook her head clear.

  “You alright, girl?” Skyla said, laughing.

  “Yeah…” Eira glanced back at the television, they had moved on to a different story and the image was gone. “Yeah I’m alright. I should get going.”

  Skyla seemed confused, “Go where? We’re going to Vanilite’s, don’t you want to come?”

  Eira palmed her forehead, right, ice cream. She couldn’t just ignore whatever that was, though. She had to look into it. “Sorry Skyla, duty calls. I gotta go.”

  Skyla pouted, “Can’t the rangers handle it?”

  Eira shook her head, “We’ll catch up later though, okay?” She got up and headed for the exit, spinning and saying to Skyla, “I promise this time!” Skyla smiled and waved goodbye.

  Once she had left the locker room, Eira huffed. She hated ditching Skyla, but this had to be investigated. She started down the hall, but stopped as she saw someone around the corner, a press woman wearing a t-shirt with a leaping buneary and PETP’s logo on it.

  “Shit.” She muttered, backing up. Too late, the woman had seen her.

  “Miss Kindrick! If we can have just a quick interview?” She quickly bore down on Eira, a cameraman right behind her.

  “M’am please, we’ll have a press conference...tomorrow...or something. Look I can’t do this right now.” Eira said, her eyes searching for escape.

  “Something to hide then? Expected. Tell us, what are your views on capturing innocent wild Pokémon for cockfighting?” She shoved a mic in Eira’s face, physically causing Eira to step back.

  “Look lady, I really don’t have time for this.” Eira huffed.

  “People only snap when they’re hiding something, what do you really do to that Yveltal you treasure?” The woman pressed further.

  “Is someone looking for an interview? Perhaps I can be of service!” A high male voice called from the right. Eira looked over, it was Bede. She sighed in relief as the press crew rushed over to the little celebrity.

  Eira mouthed a quick “Thank you” then dashed off. She had been provided accommodations on the upper levels of the tournament building, so she headed for the elevators.

  Once the doors closed, she let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding, closing her eyes and letting the upwards feeling of the elevator relax her. That had been a surprisingly stressful fight. Vayne had a lot of potential, she wondered why he wasn’t going for a champion title, but then again, she couldn’t blame him. She herself constantly refused that title. Too many politics came with it and it all bored her. Not to mention the meetings.

  The elevator dinged on her floor and Eira stepped out. Crossing the plush red carpet to her room. She paused before opening the door.

  The paperclip she had left in her door hinge was bent.

  Someone had opened her door.

  Someone was potentially still inside.

  She took a Pokéball from her belt, carefully inching the door open.

  A quick sweep, and the room seemed as she left it. Her belongings still layed haphazardly across the room, how she liked it. She looked at the tv stand, the television was still there, as was the Nintendo Switch that came with the room. Switch was popular in Unova too.

  She heard a floorboard creak behind her and wheeled around, coming face to face with the crystal eyes of a Sableye, its hands inches from her neck.

  Eira let out a scream and stumbled backwards, throwing her pokéball. “Cyndaquil!” Cried Flindt, ready to attack. The sableye let out a noise like metal against metal as it skittered back along the arm of its owner. A tall, well built, grizzled man. He was smaller than Eira, but she could still respect his height. At six foot three, Eira tended to dwarf everyone.

  What really stuck out about him though, the thing that chilled Eira to the bone, was that Eira knew him.

  “Eira?” The man breathed quietly.

  “Keith?”