1:30 p.m. August 15th, Saturday, 106 PH (Post Hoopa Event). Day 67.
Events: Rhea won her Silver-tier Encrusted Badge after a tough battle! Now, our girls are on their way to getting their four Encrusted Badges for the League. Onward! Our girl started her journey on the 9th of June, and the end of registration for the Winter Indigo Cup is December 5th (111 days away).
Lori sat on the bench next to Rhea, legs crossed as she went through the spreadsheets they had made for the bad, worse, and worst-case scenarios that could trip them up. The pressure was squeezing the life out of her thumping heart when she looked up to see the replays of the redhead’s match.
Somehow, Janine had devised a scenario that had punched a hole right through all their planning. Still, Amber managed to clutch it out with some risky plays, and Amira helped her adapt on the fly for Serenity to make the final push.
It was more than a little close, though. If Amira was struggling and drenched in sweat after all her planning, then they were in real trouble. She’d put so much effort into Miky and beating Sabrina that her other Pokemon had lagged behind.
Over the last few weeks, they’d done everything in their power to catch up, including sneaking out to train at night whenever possible. Would it be enough? Gables had stayed close to Amber’s level, which primarily came down to the fact they were always together whenever out. Gables having an advantage over the fire fox also gave him an edge when they trained together.
Zyra and Roxie made great strides, pushing to the edge of Bronze-tier, but she wasn’t sure if the two could do a regular Gym Battle, much less an Encrusted Battle. This was Roxie’s stage, though. Rockruff resisted Poison, making it hard for her to get infected, like Amber had.
A small smile came on as she saw the moment Amber’s Heat Wave blew away the Twister and both terrains, the waves carrying further into enemy territory. Gables was sitting so close to the screen that some of the other Pokemon watching from the side asked him to move; she could feel the tension punching his chest with every highlight reel. It had been worse when the fight was still going.
Getting up with Rhea, she nudged the blonde with a grin. “What did I tell you; Amira was going to clutch it out, like always.”
“That was so intense, though,” Rhea hissed, trying to breathe and release stress. They saw the next nervous Silver Contestant walk out on stage as Amira left, a blue-haired boy a year or two older than them. “Twister and Rain Dance is insane. Plus, the Toxic Spike minefield at the center…. At least we get some time between matches. How are you doing?”
“Pfft! Me? I’m totally good, girl!” Lori laughed, reaching over to brush back Mariah’s hair as they went to meet their teammate in the hall; the mythical songstress hummed a charming song after her Trainer’s victory. “I’m lying, but yeah. No. I’m totally freaking out. I’m fine, though.”
“Uh-huh. Wha—Lulu!”
“Neeee!”
“Don’t teleport ahead!”
Lori streamed out a hot puff of air, looking down at Terri and Gables as the pair joined her. Her little battle champ of a Legendary was jabbing the air and talking excitedly to Gables; naturally, the frog was talking up his poofy-tailed girl. Apparently, Amber had grown a little self-conscious about her shiny purple fur recently, but Gabs was all over it.
Her throat went dry as Amira came into view, looking like she’d just got off a ten-kilometer run. “Yo—ack. You good, Red? Amber at the Gym’s Center?”
A tired smile lifted the redhead’s face. “Yeah. She’ll probably be there resting for a bit… I need a cold shower. Rhea?”
“Hey, Amira!” Rhea jogged past, handing off Mariah as Lulu teleported further up the hallway with laughter, and Nova exited her Poke Ball to run on ahead. “Lulu’s a bit anxious—Lulu!”
“Pwe! Pwe-pwe!”
“Ne-ne! Neee!”
Gables waved after them as they watched Lulu take a wrong turn to the left instead of right to the stadium entrance. “Gadi-froga. Fro-fro-fro!”
“Kub-Kub?”
He patted Terri’s head as she looked up at him, asking if they should help. Gables shook his head, hopping back to join Amira and her, following them to the shower area.
“Gadi.”
Lori’s attention was back on Amira, taking it slow and regaining her composure by the time they entered the locker room again; congratulations and support ensued. The redhead was graceful as always, giving short comments as she went to the locker to get her supplies. Lori didn’t have to probe to know Amira was struggling to stand; out of all of them, her Fortitude was shockingly the weakest, and it had been a demanding battle.
It wasn’t until they went to the shower area that Lori talked, sitting outside the cubical on a bench. Now in private, she asked her question while staring up at the ceiling, Amira out of sight as she unwound.
“How tapped are you? I saw how fast the poison was acting on Amber. Another weakness of the Master Balls?”
She heard the redhead throw her weight against the back wall, cold water spraying her. “Haaa. I would call it more of a double-edged sword. It makes sense that the more energy your Pokemon metabolizes, the faster they’d intake the poison. I just didn’t think of it… Amber and Serenity really went above and beyond.”
Gables jumped up to give her a sober stare, and Lori nodded with a grimace.
“Don’t sugarcoat it for us… How bad is it out there?”
She saw Amira’s arms rise above the wall as she stretched out, forcing out a laugh. “Ugh… Bad. Almost the whole Elite-4 is here, including her father. My family, Rhea’s…”
“And mine,” Lori groaned, rubbing her face. “Basically, Janine is going to pull out all the stops, and that is pumping up the crowd further… Haha! I bet she’ll make bank off it. Hey, if she used Skrelp and Mareanie on you, then she wouldn’t want to use the same Pokemon so close in a row, right? Roxie’s safe from them.”
Amira was silent for a few seconds, twisting the knife in Lori’s gut as she looked for the redhead’s advice. “Except… she is spacing out the teams now. She could use the same Pokemon against one of you and still hype up the crowd by showing something new they can do.”
“Hssss… Lie to me, girl!” Lori groaned, running her fingers through her hair as Gabs held up his fist and her other two Pokemon gave their own support. “I thought Sabrina was going to be my hardest fight, but Janine’s out here lookin’ like a whole goddess Arceus, ready to deliver divine punishment!”
“Heh.” Amira eased against the wall again, voice muffled as she rubbed her face. “It was the most intense battle I’ve had yet… All I can say is expect the same. Janine is clever, and she likes to combine her ninja lifestyle with her battles. I guarantee you she planned for Amber to be hit by those Toxic Spikes the moment we let our guard down.”
A shiver ran down Mallory’s spine, recalling the calculated stare the purple-haired woman had given Amira before smoke-bomb teleporting, or whatever she’d done, right onto the redhead’s console to speak to her.
“How? We’re in Silver-tier. She can’t give almost any advice to her Pokemon.”
“She doesn’t need to,” Amira whispered, almost too soft for Lori to hear behind the door and pattering water. “Janine oversees their training and knows the favored tactics of her Gym Pokemon. She’s calculated every angle… and she knows our Pokemon.”
“Great…” Lori got up and loosened up. “What’s the play? She’s not going to make it easy on Rhea or me, but wasn’t this your Sabrina moment? She had to really test you. It’s a fact that my team isn’t as strong as yours. We’re not too far behind, but your crew is above mine, for sure. Janine has to drop it down to our level.”
Amira sighed, shutting off the water. “You entered at Silver-tier. It will be Silver-tier. Yes, there has to be a victory condition, but there is a big difference between a five percent chance of victory… and a point-five percent.”
Lori sat in silence as Amira finished cooling off.
Tucking in her lower lip, she punched her thigh, turbulent mind returning to that giant pool of water, a slow-moving Slowpoke lazily swimming around a platform. Sabrina was supposed to help her get over that embarrassing loss, so why was her mind returning to the torment that followed her since then?
Gables reached out to hold her trembling hand, Terri taking the opposite side as they looked up at her. With no one looking, her breathing was increasing, her heart thumping with anxiety about what could happen again. Roxie and Zyra huddled around her spirit, but it was them that she was stressed about; she hated that they knew that, as well.
It wasn’t the laughter at Cerulean Gym but what happened when everyone else moved on. The trauma it left on Miky, the pain it caused her other Pokemon, and all the emotional energy it took to get through those moments when the Impidimp thought he’d be called to battle again.
Lori’s throat caught, chest knotting as she recalled going back to school again after her extended leave due to her back. All the rumors and biting comments that followed, the girls’ laughter in the bathroom, and the isolation she felt. Len had saved her from all that, getting her to skip class and go dancing to get her out and lose herself in the music.
Squeezing Terri’s hand, she strained a smile that said she would be alright and pulled out her wireless headphones to let the music steady herself. How could the heat in her chest already be making her sweat when she hadn’t even gotten on the stage yet?
Luckily, by the time Amira’s rosy cheeks exited the shower, Lori had managed to chill out enough to reapply her confident mask. “Oh! Rocking that new black summer dress, huh? Super cute, not to mention stunning, as always!”
Amira rolled her eyes and went to the mirror to bind up her damp, butt-length locks into a bun. “Classic misdirect from you to mention looks when something is eating you up inside.”
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“Haha. It works most of the time,” Mallory groaned, looking up at the ceiling as they announced the next Silver contestant’s turn; thankfully, it wasn’t her yet. “Girls like specific compliments, and it works so much better if it’s true! The black and red really stand out on you. Maybe we should get you some combat boots with the summer dress. What do you think?”
“Uh-huh. Sure.” Amira looked to be doing better as she touched up her hair and face, ruby eyes momentarily darting to her in the mirror. “I mean it, Lori. It will fall apart. Whatever we planned. Although, pieces of it will work. Don’t be afraid to do something crazy—humph…”
The redhead smirked, applying some lotion. “Who am I kidding? Isn’t that kind of your brand? You’ve thought about it a lot, which is unlike you. Now… don’t think about it. Just do. Okay?”
“Just… do,” Lori repeated, giggling as Rhea joined them, a light scowl on her face with her little troublemaker dead to the world, sleeping in her shirt front. “Goldilocks!”
“Did I miss—hmm?”
Dancing forward to bring the alarmed blonde into a tight hug, Lori lifted the smaller girl off the ground to spin in circles. “I’m so nervous! Amira thinks I should throw out all logic and just bust in there like a Mukin’ mama Kangaskhan out of a Rocket’s net.”
Amira dropped her lotion lid, flipping around. “What?”
“What?” Lori innocently repeated, setting down the dizzy blonde. “Wooh! We got this. Right, Rhea—did I squeeze too hard?”
“Uh-yeah—wait, what?” Blue eyes finding them, she stabilized. “I’m so confused! Koga found me in the hall.”
Lori froze. “He did?”
Amira turned back to the mirror, now cleaning the inside of her wet ears. “It was inevitable. The Elite-4 have probably been trying to figure out what to do about us with the Master Balls and the Pokemon your mother gave us. What new rules are there?”
Rhea held her left arm and sat down on the bench, shaking her head. “No, he told me my dad and mom got held up somewhere… They’d be here but just a bit later. Sabin was with him, and he told me everything’s fine… which means it probably isn’t, but he doesn’t want me to panic.”
Moving to sit down beside her, Lori put her arm around the conflicted blonde. “Muk… when are you going to get a break from family drama, girl? I swear, you go through more Garbidor in a week than most people in their whole lives! Anything I can do?”
Amira flipped around to lean against the sink, crossing her arms under her bust. “If it was serious, they would have canceled the battle and taken you there. Your grandparents are here, as well. All I’m saying is that whatever it is, it’s handled.”
“I… guess you’re right.”
Drawing Rhea in tighter against her side, Lori snickered as Rhea forced a grin. “When you see her later, you can tackle her and wrestle her into submission as punishment for making you worry! I do that all the time to Cass—or my mom, but, uh-yeah… I don’t win those ones,” she grumbled.
“Thanks, guys,” Rhea giggled.
Amira sat beside her and rubbed her knee. “Of course—oh, it feels like Amber’s waking up. I should go get her.”
Rhea nodded, standing with her to give the redhead a hug. Amira rose with them and gave her excited frog a smirk, accepting their embrace; she could feel the Butterfree in Gables’ belly at the mention of his girl.
“Hey, Amira,” she said as the redhead gathered her clothes in the cubical, making her turn.
“Hmm?”
“You know that moment Amber did that upward tail swipe and held that Mareanie against the post with her foot?”
Gables gave her a narrow-eyed glare as Amira’s studious stare looked between them.
“Mhm?”
“Eh-heh. I think it-uh, awoke something in Gabs. Amber was a spitfire out there, drenched and skating across the water. She’s come a long way from being skittish on your kayak, afraid to fall in… And her tail fur has really, ahem, puffed—ack, eww!”
She hopped back as Gables’ stinging tongue slid over her calf, numbing her skin and making her hop to the bench.
“Gab!”
“Froga!”
A soft smile lifted the redhead’s face as she exited, and Rhea giggled as Lori glared back at her Starter.
“Hehe. Yes, Lori, Amber has grown… Her legs are longer, her dress fur is well-trimmed, and her tail has become quite thick. Why do you think she’s always adjusting her wand and looking for the best angle on it? You should have seen her in front of the mirror the night after she first evolved.”
The redhead paused in the doorway to look back with an entertained smirk. “I’ll just say it’s not all for herself to look at and enjoy. She’s now looking for the best angle to sit on her thick tail, biting her stick. Keep an eye out, Gables; there’s a mischievous fox behind that innocent smile.”
Lori’s grin returned as Gables turned a rare shade of red for the ‘cool’ frog. “Hear that, Gabs; biting her stick, those flaming red eyes looking—” She snorted as he returned to his Poke Ball. “Hey, she’ll be awake to see the match, I think.”
Feeling better with her Frogadier’s ears probably releasing as much fire as his crush, she saw Rhea giving Gables’ Poke Ball a cute smile. Their focus was soon drawn to the ceiling as the intercom came on, breaking the adorable spell.
“Mallory Medina, please proceed to the field.”
“Haaa. Well,” she chuckled, “that’s me… Wish me luck?”
Rhea held up her thumb. “Good luck, Lori. We’ll be rooting for you.”
“Thanks.”
Butterfree returning, she put Gables’ Poke Ball back on her waist, laughing as the bundle of sunshine hugged her again. It was nice having a hugger on the team.
Leaving for the stadium, she passed by the girl that had gone before her, seeing the teary-eyed smile that resonated with Lori. She held up a fist, the girl tucking under her lip and nodding while returning the gesture. It was rare for people to pass these Encrusted Battles, and it was such a big stage that it could really leave a lasting effect; she’d learned that hard lesson from the pregnant Water Gym Leader.
The pressure mounted in her chest as she rose up the ramp to the bright light that announced her, the sound of drums pounding in the background, and standing tall atop one of the floating digital displays was the cute, purple-haired Gym Leader. The screens showed the woman’s appraising smile, a hand on her hip, and showing a perfect, poisonous look between pretty and deadly.
Laughter came from the announcer as she came on stage. “Our Ninja Goddess seems unable to keep still, moving about the stadium and keeping the camera crew on their toes! If you’re out in the woods, good luck running from Violet Shadow; to date, not one ninja from the clan has been able to so much as detect her presence. Well, excluding Grandmasters Koga and Aya! What poisonous strategy are we going to see next? Run, run, little bugs, but you can’t escape The Spider of Fuchsia!”
Lori reached down to scratch her tingling leg, where Gables licked it, and hissed as she caught sight of her family, standing at the railing; her mother had kidnapped Casey and somehow got Shauntel and her father to be here.
Muking losers didn’t even let me know they were showing up…
Her focus darted to the screen as they went wild again, looking for Janine, only to settle on her at the Gym Leader platform, and the rocky field, filled with holes and burrows, dipped into the ground. Dozens of other field types were seen below, shuffling and reorganizing.
Lori breathed, feeling a bit unsteady as she placed her three Pokemon in their slots; she drew strength by seeing Terri jump onto the console to Leer at the image of Janine above them. This was it; somehow, the twinkling, purple-eyed stare of the Ninja Goddess hit her harder than the infamous Psychic of Saffron.
In the steam and shifting gears of the shaking stadium, Janine’s soft voice bled through the speakers as she spoke just loud enough for her to hear. “I quite enjoyed your battle against Sabrina. I hope to see a different side to you… Battles can be quite toxic.”
Lori increased the sound of her song, but the weight against her chest only increased as the lights dimmed, the display lingering on Janine’s illuminated violet eyes, a hunger in them that silenced the noisy crowd. A chilling atmosphere fell across the onlookers as a new set of drones zipped out of the shadowy underbelly of the massive cavern village, and a misty forest rose from the depths to lock into place.
A hiss breathed out of the steam as the announcer spoke in the silence, the drums, onlookers, and Pokémon waiting to see what kind of battle this would be.
“This is a Single, Two Pokémon Battle. Fifteen-minute time limit. Trainers, at the ready!”
Mallory frowned as the Rank 1 Encrusted Silver Contest showed on the display. Sure, her Pokémon weren’t the strongest, but Amira’s had been Encrusted Silver Rank 3. Janine was locked into the lowest possible tier of Silver Pokémon. Would it be that bad, then?
“Three, two,” the announcer called out, the light going red, then yellow, and Lori pulled out her first pick; she caught a glance at her mother, noticing a nervous look on her face that she’d rarely seen. “One. Begin!”
The light turning green, Lori threw her Poke Ball into the sparse, misty forest. Roxie materialized before her Poke Ball shot back to her hand, and looking up at the display to catch a glimpse of what they were up against, Lori’s heart iced over.
“Mallory releases Roxie, her genetically perfect Rockruff! A strong pick with her Poison Resistance, diverse Moves, and multiple Abilities—what’s this?!”
Croagunk, Lori cried, shaking fingers pulling up Pokédex’s website on the console as it connected to her private account. Why… Why would you do that to me?! Gables…
“It’s Juliair—the Orange Cheeked Kunoichi of the Western Forest—and she is hopping today, folks! Juliair has just reached Silver-tier this month, but she’s well-known in Bronze, as many of you know. Little Roxie is in trouble now as she enters the misty forest of shadows; it will be challenging for Mallory to recall her in such a vast forest!”
Her frog would have been as white as her, had he been out of his Poke Ball, but Roxie shot into the misty terrain to find the Toxic Mouth Pokemon. Gables coached the pup as Lori looked up the female Croagunk’s info, spotting the semi-cracked skin of the poisonous toad.
No, no, no, no… Dry Skin. Gables, I can’t send you out. Roxie, you have to buy time— Amira’s advice hit her in the face. No, come back—Muk! Muk! How is this worse than my absolute worst-case scenario?!
Feeling the unease of her Pokémon, Mallory cursed and held up Roxie’s Poke Ball as the pup jumped out of the fog. Protect surrounded her from Gables’ swift call, and a streak of silvery light launched through the white, Jiliair’s Steel-wrapped figure parting the mist; she’d jumped across the entire forest in an instant.
Bullet Punch wasn’t aimed at her little girl, though; the toad cleaved through a branch, flipping in the air to kick it at the Rockruff. Red light zigzagged from her Poke Ball as the brush fell over the pup; were they going to be taken out in the first fifteen seconds? Roxie’s Protect had been baited out early. This was a nightmare.
Red energy flashed to life around the Croagunk, Fighting Energy propelling her down in a Low Kick, only for a streak of white to burst out of the brush, Roxie a beam of light that bounced off of a nearby trunk to tackle the poisonous toad. The poisonous Pokemon caught midair, Quick Attack carried Roxie up as fast as the Croagunk’s Bullet Punch to hit her target.
Juliair’s tight-eyed smile lifted in the camera, and her leg tilted, throwing her off balance in a wild flip and carrying her into a new trajectory; Roxie sailed right past the toad, momentum failing as now she was stuck in the air. Juliair’s Low Kick dispersed as she tucked under to roll. Silver light slowed her tumble as she prepared Bullet Punch to deliver a critical, super-effective Steel blow to Roxie’s chin.
The Ruckruff’s Protect shattered, making Lori’s heart cramp as it failed to form, and Juliair rocketed toward the Rock Pup. A red beam connected to Roxie just as the Croagunk passed through the afterglow; she’d bought just enough time for the rescue.
Nonetheless, Juliair used the Move to ping-pong back into the misty forest, seemingly well-accustomed to using the Priority Move for maneuvering rather than straight attacks.
Lori put a disgruntled Roxie back into the slot, trembling fingers hovering over Gables’ Poke Ball, Terri giving her a serious look.
Water Moves heal her, she resists Fighting and Rock, she has a Steel Move, is trained as a ninja, and knows this territory… This is Encrusted Rank 1?! No, no… Her matrix should be weaker than Gables’… I only have one option.
Lori looked up at the poisonous, cute smile Janine gave her, showing a testing stare that made Lori’s jaw lock.
Fine. You don’t know us… Sorry, Gables.
Taking out the Poke Ball, Lori felt the surprise of all her Pokemon as she pulled back her arm and threw it as hard as she could into the air. Zyra exited high above the field, sparking excitement as she revealed her Sergeant Flutter for the first time on a grand stage.
Ready or not, Zyra, we’re in it now. I dare her to choose something to freak us out again. She doesn’t know just how awesome you are. Tailwind! Let’s show her how toxic we can be and get rid of her fog cover!