Bringing you the soulful jams of Galar, it's Radio Pokéjaaaaam! Ohhh Yeeeaaa…
"Ladies and gentlemen, it's ya boi, Ty! I'm here with Gabby tonight with breaking news for our Galar-based Champion Challenge. Word came in today from Chatter that the increasingly popular Sikabelle duo was spotted in Hulbury, before they disappeared using Teleport. They haven't been seen since, and only a few minutes ago did Zabriko arrive in Hulbury as well, only to find themselves beaten there by their opponents. Tomorrow, Nessa and Misty will take them on in a two v two match for the next piece of their Gym Badge. It's an odd strategy, right Gabby? Disappearing from Hulbury, the fan favorite duo could be headed anywhere, since the standard order to visit the Gyms has been removed from this challenge."
"An odd strat indeed, Ty, but after that Battle they gave us, I'm sure both Champions will surprise us when they reappear. Indeed, after the Battle today, most Sikabelle fans seem to doubt that Zabriko will do better, or even win, against the water duo, and with their swapped up starters and current team composition, eking out a win might take several tries. Remember, Champions can rechallenge Gyms, but this is a contest of speed, as well as skill. If Sikandar and Isabella aren't gathering Badges, they may fall behind their rivals rather quickly. That's all for tonight, Pokéjammers. Join us in the morning for second-by-second coverage of the second Badge Battle at Hulbury Stadium! But for now, we give you the soothing tones of the one, the only, Rick Astley!"
We're no strangers to Looove
You know the rules, and so do I
A full team is what I'm dreamin' ooof
You won't find them with any other guy
I just wanna tell you how I'm feelin'
Gotta make you understand
I'm Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and release yooouuu
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie, and hurt you
We've trained together, for so long
Your affections maxed but, you're too shy to say it (say it)
Inside your ball I know what's been goin' ooon
You're training hard, and we're…gonna maaake it!
Annnd if you ask me how we're training
You know you're not gonna see
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and release you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
(Ooooh, give you up) (Ooooh, give you up) Never gonna give, never gonna give
(Give you up) Never gonna give, never gonna give (Give you up)
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PokeJaaaaa~PokeeeJAAAAAAAA-~~~~POKEJAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM! Let's do it!
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"Good morning party people, it's Gabby and Ty, with the newest news about our favorite hot topic in the Pokéverse! THE TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS! A lot of things have happened within the last twenty-four hours, and our time here is limited. So let's get to it. Ty, where do our Challengers stand?"
"Well Gabby, first of all Zabriko has successfully defeated Misty and Nessa, earning their second Badge. There were a lot of casualties within that match, namely with Zabrina's Raboot getting one-shotted by Milotic's Hydro Pump. In fact, it seemed Nessa had it out for Zabrina in particular, as BattleHistory on Chatter claims only two attacks of hers were aimed towards Mikolaj's Pokémon, and both missed, to the Leader team's detriment. In the end, Miko's Vikavolt, Vjolt, barely managed to defeat the Gigantamaxed Drednaw, but that was a very close call. The popularity polls definitely speak for Sikabelle right now. By the way… we kind of have news on those two? It's confusing."
"It really is. After defeating Misty and Nessa, Sikabelle have disappeared. We don't have a single clue where they went. And in contrast to Zabriko, none of those two ever post on Chatter. Since this one message from Sikandar calling out Raihan alongside his little Dreepy, both of their accounts have been completely silent. And last night, a few dozen posts and pictures have been showing up, with people claiming they have seen where our missing challengers went. Ty, have we been making any progress in researching the credibility of those posts?"
"I wish. Some of them have been obviously Rotoshopped, but on others, it's hard to tell whether they are real or not. Of course, everyone claims theirs is the real one. Gabby and I never had to put in so much effort into keeping track of some Trainers. The trending hashtag is #Sikabelle Gate, so please refer to that one whenever you find out something new. We'll keep looking into it, fans. Gabby-Ty promise!"
"So, while we do that, please enjoy this super cute Zabriko Selfie we shared on our Chatter account. They made it right after they won their Water Badge, and apparently Mikolaj invited his partner to some ice cream afterwards. What a cute couple." The selfie had them both smiling, but it didn't reach either Champion's eyes. Their body language suggested they were intimate, but clearly neither one was pleased with their performance.
"They are quite cute. We asked them which song they wanted to have played for our audience, to celebrate their victory. And Zabrina, with the most lovey-dovey gaze to Mikolaj, answered: The perfect song must be from none other than Galar's own Rick Astley, he inspires our training every day. Can you play them 'Never Gonna Give You Up, and Release You'?"
"Right, as Ty has said, who are we to deny them this wish? Dear audience, please enjoy this song, from our Challengers to you!"
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The Isle of Armor - Galar Region
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It wasn't a very long flight to the Isle of Armor, and thankfully, not a lot of people had an Armor Pass. As Sikandar left the station, he pondered trading out Raphael for a Galarian Slowpoke...but then remembered how bloody useful Gallade was, and while he did see Abra around in the distance, he also didn't want to hurt his partner's feelings by swapping him. Sitting at a lab, away from Kandra, would only worsen their bond.
As they walked the short trek to the Fields of Honor, he looked around, spoiled for choice. "Looks like yet another good place to build a team." He smirked at Isabella then. "Meet here in an hour or three?"
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His proposal made her smile. "I am so, so glad you're not one of those clingy people. I actually wanna check out the other side of the island, so…" She lifted her phone, waving it in the air. "Two hours, and whoever finds a nice camping spot, sends the coordinates to the other one?" It was still dark, about nine PM when they went different ways, but the darkness gave them a lot of opportunities to catch Pokémon which usually shied away from the light.
Having a little alone time with her Pokémon after such an eventful day felt like an entire week worth of relaxation exercises to Isabella. However, she did put hard work into her endeavor of catching more Pokémon and got lucky twice. The first time, she poked her head into a random den, and got surprised by a Dynamaxed Larvitar, which apparently didn't like being disturbed in its home. She named her new and rather high leveled adamant pseudo legendary Marabecca, and moved on to a sandier spot of the island.
Fully prepared to grind for a female Salandit, Isabella started to chip away their male population, until an angry roar let her turn around, and look straight in the eyes of an angry Salazzle. The Pokémon apparently didn't like having her harem decimated and burned her way through Isabella's team of new Pokémon, as she wasn't allowed to use her old ones. Finally, after almost thirty minutes of trying to paralyze it, and gradually removing the poisonous fire lizard's lifeforce, she didn't jump out of the Pokéballs anymore. "Welcome to the team, Lucrezia." She said tiredly.
With an exhausted team by her side, continuing would be stupid. A pro knew when a proper rest would be the better option, and so she looked around the island, until she found a grassy location near a river and beneath the berry trees. After sending the coordinates to Sikandar, it was time to set up her tent, and build a nice fire for the night.
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Sikandar returned late again, but also with two new balls. He also seemed damp and was in his Galar clothes again. "I finally...found...a Feebas..." His other acquisition he kept quiet, and in the ball, but the Feebas he tossed to her. "And she's modest. You're welcome." He thumbed Kuranku's ball then. "Have Bandar help you make the curry...I need a minute."
He sighed, laid still on the comfortable grass for exactly a minute, and then began stripping the damp clothes off one by one, replacing them with what he'd arrived in from Indius. Once the apes had set up the curry cauldron, he grunted to his feet, and started making dinner.
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Dropping the notebook she was writing in, Isabella caught the ball from Sikandar when he tossed it to her. Confused, she looked a few times at him and the Pokéball successively. "How did you even know I was looking for one…?" Isabella was very sure she didn't tell him about it. But immediately after asking the question, she remembered. Just before he had knocked at her mental door, she had been thinking about wanting a Milotic, and how hard it was to find them. It somehow must have leaked out of her thoughts, she guessed. He clearly had ulterior motives for wanting to impress her, but it still made her smile, at least until she saw how tired he was. "W-wait, are you alright?"
He sounded exhausted, which made her turn around to face him, as he was halfway through pulling off his hoodie. His wet abdominals made her turn away immediately, and without asking any further questions, and she busied herself in supporting Kuranku with the curry. The apes seemed to do well, and so she just sat back at the ground near the fire, holding on to the Pokéball, and waiting for him to be done with whatever he was doing. She didn't dare to open the ball yet, holding it firmly between her hands, and waiting for her partner to return.
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Sikandar changed rather quickly, but the image of his wet abs probably hung around in her mind longer than it should have. "I'm fine. I might've read your mind slightly on the train earlier. It happens, despite my best efforts. You should open it. Her name is Sirena. It'll be good to have another partner of ours taking advantage of gaining experience quicker."
He added the berries then, and the Pokémon gathered around, chanting as he fanned the flames, stirred the pot, and then infused it with love. She might notice he was using a bigger pot this time, as they had a lot of mouths to feed.
While Isabella was mostly unphased by his abs, her Salazzle Lucrezia, stared at him without any shame at all, even walking over to him to purr something which was probably her language for "Sup, handsome." Obtrusive, she kept pushing into his personal space even as he was cooking, until Isabella threatened her to ground her in her Pokéball for tonight.
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"Ahah...yes...you're very affectionate...watch out, Lucrezia." Sikandar eyed her Trainer as he passed out curry, which the Salazzle refused to take, passing the bowl instead to a nearby team member, and each time he stopped, her snout somehow found its way near his crotch. "You sure you don't want a Salandit? This one seems...set in her ways." Sikandar smirked.
Finally, Kandra gracefully stood from where she'd sat with Raphael, and then her eyes began burning with the fury of a vengeful goddess as she, in no uncertain terms, promised to bring down psychic hell on the poison type if she didn't back off. She at least took her curry after that, and Sikandar stayed friendly with her, giving her scritches when she sought them, but her attitude seemed tempered by whatever Kandra had said. Sikandar found it adorable that the Kirlia still wanted to protect him, even after he'd traded her. She'd clearly been bonding with Isabella, and while it made his heart ache a bit, he was glad his instincts had been on point. She and Isabella were an ideal pair, even if her Trainer was more of a physical attacker. A Gardevoir would bring her some much-needed ranged firepower.
Isabella smirked back at him, amused by her new fire lizard's antics. "Nah, she is awesome, and I'm dead set on training her and exactly her. Do forgive her behavior please. She owned the whole hill and had quite the harem. Her fighting power is incredible, now she'll only need to learn some manners." Lucrezia's tail lit up with pride as her new Trainer stated the facts about how strong she was. While the lizard resisted getting physical with Sikandar again, she did wink at him.
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While Sikandar was busy with handing out the curry, Isabella had found another curry pot in her backpack, filled it with water and let out Sirena. Who didn't deserve her name at all, yet. "Aaah, uhm. Aren't you… uuuh… something!" Isabella stammered. It was the first time she had ever seen a Feebas, as this fish wasn't native in her region, unless you were rich enough to be able to buy a Feebas. Although, she had seen a Milotic at a friend's lab. Said friend had jokingly told her about Feebas looking like an old piece of cheese. Well, it didn't seem too far off.
"Oh, look at that. The girl has actually grown herself a Prism Scale. You made quite a catch with her. Are you sure I can just have her like that?"
"Ahhm..." Hearing her words and knowing what happened next, he left the curry distribution to Bandar, and rushed over. "First things first...yea, you've gone and hurt her feelings." He brought the Feebas up to his eye level and smiled. "It's okay, Sirena. She just hasn't looked properly, yet. Not everyone can tell so easily, with Feebas."
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She gave a dejected "Fee..." and Sikandar sighed, then turned her around. "Next lesson, apprentice. Don't judge by appearances. The eyes are the windows to the soul, now you look this pretty girl in the eyes and tell me what you see."
She was doing alright, for being out of water, but as they made eye contact, real, deep, intimate eye contact, Isabella saw what he was talking about. Sirena's eyes were actually very pretty, but as Isabella shifted her focus away from them, she'd see that no, they were really as ugly as they superficially appeared, it was the Feebas herself who was gorgeous. The example in her Pokédex looked ragged, but Sirena's fins were less so, her scales freshly scrubbed clean of old ones and slightly polished by the local Mantyke population.
Once he saw she understood, Sikandar handed the cautious girl over. Compared to the rest of their new teams, in terms of level, she was almost forty, where the rest were pushing at most thirty-six, with Kuranku leading the newbies in terms of level after her last battle. "There it is." He said, confident she'd at least gotten a sense of her newest partner. "I willingly and legally transfer ownership of Sirena, Feebas, to Isabella Fondacaro."
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Isabella was a little annoyed with him when he started to call her an apprentice, but that feeling would be gone as soon as she realized he was genuinely just looking out for Feebas's feelings.
Taking Sirena from his hands, their fingers brushed over one another, but Isabella was busy looking her Pokémon in the eyes, focusing as hard as Sikandar had told her to. She found a gentle, caring soul in this piece of spongy Pokémon cheese. The Pokémon's soul was pretty, and very much so. However, it didn't change anything about the Pokémon's awkward exterior. It was clear she made an effort to look beautiful, but she didn't have much to work with. Yet.
"If I hurt your feelings, I apologize." Her voice was sincere, and earnest. "Beauty is a horrible, disgusting concept, and at this point I am honestly scared about Mukking up further, you see, I am not the best at putting my feelings into words. So here's an offer. Train alongside me. Let's become strong. And as soon as I figure out this weird psychic power thing, I'll let you look at my soul too, without holding anything back. Let's communicate properly without hurting each other, and without lies."
He likely picked the perfect moment to transfer ownership, and once her ball dinged with the recognition of changed ownership, Isabella stepped back and next to him and gave her a little toss. They watched her evolve into the most beautiful, elegant mermaid. Isabella grinned. Not even Cynthia's Milotic could rival Sirena, but Isabella might have been biased.
Sirena came closer after evolving and placed her snout into her trainer's outstretched hand. "We are gonna need loooots of curry for this one."
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Sirena and Sikandar had had a chat, if one could call it that, before coming, as coaxing her towards his line had taken most of the day, and when he did reel her in and seal her fate with a Quick Ball, he'd made sure that this was what she wanted. He'd also explained how some people couldn't see inner 'beauty' as it were, at least not as she was now. The fact that she evoked rotten cheese also played a part, but he hadn't mentioned that. He'd focused on talking up her Trainer, before moving on to catch his own new additions.
Despite her awkward start, Isabella did manage to do as he'd asked, and had a better time than he and Bandar had on their initial meeting. There was significantly less flaming feces being flung everywhere, and he was thoroughly glad Bandar had outgrown that habit. He brought out the smaller of his additions, an adamant Torchic male, and gave him some curry too. His feathers were fluffier than normal Torchic, and he was actually a refugee from the Crown Tundra. But the humans had no way of knowing that. There was actually another new ball on his belt, and it was fed berries while it stayed closed, though he probably had a reason.
Thunder boomed over them, and the ground hummed with electricity as a thunderstorm began forming, in Galar's ever mercurial weather. Thankfully, the rain didn't start until everyone had finished, and Sikandar was in the process of picking up the four team's worth of curry plates. His golden Arbok brought them to his Kingdra for washing, and neither paid the forming storm much heed, as the younger mons reacted poorly. Sikandar began recalling almost everyone and left it to his more experienced team to tie things down. Indius also got quite a bit of fun weather, and they'd survived many rainy seasons in the large biodiverse region.
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Thankfully, their tents were built to withstand thunder as well as storms. The Rotom which were possessing their phones were actually looking forward to absorbing as much energy from this natural phenomenon as possible. A lot of the wild, stronger electric types were out and about, enjoying the, from their perspective, perfect weather conditions.
"Alright, time to call it a day I guess!" Isabella said, while watching Sikandar's Pokémon putting in the last tent pegs. A small shadow around her tent caught her attention for a brief second, but after looking closer, she decided it must have either been her imagination, or a shadow created by the recent lightning.
She released her Ampharos from the Pokéball, which Genoa celebrated immediately after seeing the weather. "Your night shift, friend. Enjoy." After some scritches, she turned to Sikandar. "That was one successful day. Let's rock this challenge tomorrow as well. Nighty!"
A small baby Togedemaru, which had managed to sneak around everybody's attention with how weak its presence was, was now trapped in the tent with her. After sitting scared in one corner, it eventually cuddled up to the sleeping human, as it had been scared of the other huge electric types and was now happy it had found shelter from the rain.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
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The tiny spiky steel type probably wasn't the best snuggle companion, and the only thing that kept her tent from being struck thanks to its Lightning Rod was the presence of another far stronger Lightning Rod from her Ampharos.
It seemed Bandar and the others had actually linked the tents tonight, and she'd be able to make out Sikandar tossing Exp candies to his Torchic. Then, rather suddenly, the tent glowed bright white, and the Combusken down the tunnel flexed, then performed a series of Double Kicks in the cramped confines of the tent. He looked pretty strong already, and his desire to beat Bandar was motivating him to train hard.
Outside, lightning struck the Ampharos guarding their tents, and their Rotom powering their tent lights buzzed audibly as they experienced probably the closest thing to an orgasm a being composed of electricity and ghost energy could.
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Isabella was slightly annoyed at both the lights coming off his part of the tent, as well as their Pokémon connecting their two tents. That last bit annoyed her mostly because she didn't want to become a topic on the stupid Chatter forums. Turning around, putting her pillow above her head, she finally fell asleep.
When she woke up the next morning, the tiny baby hedgehog was sleeping closely to her, its spikes flat on its body and thus not poking her awake. Its body was a little cool, which was nice considering they were currently spending their time at a tropical island. Still, she didn't quite know what to do with it. Getting up slowly, she wrapped it into her still warm blanket, and left her little nest. The fresh air, still smelling of rain, woke her right up.
After staying up late, it was only natural they had to sleep in for a bit. When Isabella left the tent, it was eight thirty in the morning, and her Ampharos looked ready to rest in her Pokéball. There was still some curry left from the past day, yet not nearly enough to feed all of those hungry mouths in their camp. Since Sikandar and his Pokémon had made dinner the past evenings, she'd make it a habit to take care of their breakfast. This time, it was rather simple: She got some bread rolls from the train station, which they could eat together with the leftover curry.
The tiny Togedemaru sneaked after her, and due to its size, all of the other Pokémon did not notice its presence after it hid itself inside its new mom's backpack. It made itself right at home there. If Sikandar would already be out of his tent by the time she got back, she'd do the same move as the morning before; wordlessly tossing him a bag full of breakfast for him and his Pokémon. "They also had tea." Placing a cup-to-go into his other hand, she sat down on the ground, handing out the bread rolls from the second bag she got to her Pokémon.
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Thankfully, no one from Chatter would be on the isle, since only the serious Trainers came here, and had passes. It was this lack of people that led her to finding him floating in midair, cross-legged as she threw food at him, which hovered in the aura surrounded by his aura as it entered his orbit. He'd already made more curry while she was off, but bread was exactly what he'd needed for this particular dish. Their partners loved it, and that's what mattered.
He'd fed the Togedemaru some of the leftovers too, at least until she snuck off. She'd left an empty plate though, and he was amazed at how fast the Pikachu clones could eat, when motivated to follow after mom. He ate his food with telekinesis, as well as the tea, and enjoyed them without opening his eyes. Bandar was also meditating, and both Kuranku and Carey had joined him in this morning's exercise.
Her Milotic had become a peacekeeper of sorts, though her moves were probably still lacking, at least for the moment. All she really needed was her size, and tail strength to keep the younger mons in line.
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When she found him floating in the air like that, she kept looking a little longer, trying to make sense of this man. While feeding her own Pokémon, she had a sudden realization of what had made her so wary around him. She had confused this feeling with annoyance about the Indius Champion, who was still floating behind her. It had been a while since she'd felt it. She actually acknowledged him as an equal, just as strong as herself, but likely with a different focus, different strengths and weaknesses to his training.
The last time she had felt this… rivalry, this sense of having to stay on her toes if she didn't want to fall behind, was with her first rival, who was still a close friend. Only this time, they were a duo, and could profit off each other's experience. So far, he had genuinely been nice, and looking out not only for her, but also her Pokémon. She could forgive his crush too, as aside from a few lingering glances and compliments, he hadn't actually flirted that hard with her, compared to what she was used to. It would be stupid to not make full use of each other's talent. And so, after finishing breakfast, she walked up to Sikandar. "Tell me what you're doing. Let's train together, and make sure not a single ounce of strength gets lost on this team."
She had a few ideas on what they could do, like changing who was in charge of training each day. But for that to happen, she needed to find out if their individual strengths could cover whatever they were lacking. Togedemaru climbed atop of her head to cheer, and before the Salazzle could use this as an excuse to give Sikandar another hug, the peacekeeping Milotic held it back with her tail.
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Sikandar reached out to her, mentally, and she'd slowly realize that he and the other apes were all mentally linked. "Mental image training." He said, in her head. "It's very useful, if done right." He gestured to the spot near Carey, and the big Rillaboi pulled his Trainer close as she was brought into the mental web. She could feel his emotions clearly, and just how much he cared for her.
As he guided her into the right headspace, she'd be able to see a circular platform, floating in a void, full of random mountains and rocks to fight on. Bandar and Carey had paused their match, while Sikandar and Kuranku were having one of their own. "I tend to go with Martial Arts or energy beams in here!" Sikandar said, dodging a mental Drum Beating. "It's your mind, so the only limits are the ones you impose on yourself, just remember, you do burn energy like this."
Carey went sailing as the vastly stronger Infernape rocked him with another Fire Punch, and the Rillaboi's hair became wings, as he flew back up to continue. For about the hundredth time. In this space, Bandar was very much styling himself after Sun Wukong, a legendary Infernape from Eous that he'd been a fan of since he was a Chimchar. A much younger Sikandar had shown him the legends, and they'd made a promise to reach that level of power together.
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Isabella was overwhelmed by everything she was able to perceive in this strange world. Thus, her movements were slower than in the real world. "Heh. Martial Arts and close combat are actually some of my specialties." She grinned at him. She was known for her team's ridiculous speed and physical attack power, as a Champion. While her Pokémon's special attacks were strong too, she considered them to have a lot of flaws, and was hoping to learn from him while being here.
All of her motivation began to fade once she noticed how much trouble she had just moving in here. None of her physical speed or perfect control of her body seemed to be of any use. "Yeeeaaah… guess I start with walking, running, climbing and jumping." She left Sikandar and the apes to their battles and kept trying to get herself under control.
In the real world, Rillaboom secured her with one arm, as she had fallen over. Kandra grabbed her hand, and thus was able to join them as well. She was now simply meditating in this world, floating like Sikandar had before as she trained her mind within the mind space, which actually doubled the amount of experience such training would give her. While Isabella got faster quickly, she didn't get to a point where she could actually battle someone. Yet. She was sure, though, she'd be able to get to this point eventually, as they'd probably hang out around this place more often in the future.
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At one point, Bandar created a red bo staff out of nothing but his clenched hands, and took on both Rillaboom at once, as he continued to win handily. Sikandar helped the noobs then, as patient and friendly as always. "You have to remember that this is a nonsensical reality where you are in total control. Physical limitations don't really matter." He began walking sideways up an invisible wall in the air, and then upside down.
"I can pretty much copy a Mr. Mime. Or fly." He zipped up into the air superhero style, and then landed, cratering the ground in a three-point landing. "The only limits here are the ones you put on yourself." He said, sagely, though in reality he was simply quoting his master, who had mastered this practice of mental training.
Carey, who had watched his Trainer draw different tactics in her notebook, got an idea, which he mentally conveyed to Kuranku. He had seen a few open spots in Bandar's movements, and wanted to create an opening for her, similar to how they had worked together when battling the water gym leaders. He also conveyed the image of where she would likely be able to strike Bandar so they could get the upper hand. They rushed in to see how this plan would work out, only to get smashed by the Bo Staff… again. Bandar's reflexes were just too good, his ridiculous speed, too far above theirs.
Meanwhile, Isabella was in the middle of climbing one of the rocks, setting a hook with her heel on a boulder when Sikandar walked sideways up next to her. "Hmf, why does it look so easy when you do that?" She let go of the rock, jumping down on the ground. But no matter how hard she tried, her feet didn't want to stick to the rock. "How are you doing it?"
"You're thinking of what you're seeing as real. It isn't. If you think it, you can make it happen. It's why Bandar knows those two's plan before they're done forming it, though even without one, he'd smash them back. He's absurdly good with that staff."
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He gestured to the rocks, and then walked up them, turning his head to look at her as he stood on them sideways. "This reality is very malleable. Mold it how you wish, and you can do anything." He tapped his head. "Pokemon have Moves, we have our brains. It's our species' defining feature. Very powerful, but at the same time, potentially limiting. Don't let it tell you what's possible in here, you tell it what's possible, and then this 'reality' matters little." He floated off the rocks then and watched.
She considered his words. If it was as he said, she wouldn't even have to walk up those rocks. Most likely, it would be possible to simply get on top by thinking about… "Oh." Isabella mumbled. Suddenly, the scenery had changed completely, as she was now standing on top of the tallest rock, their Pokémon and Sikandar being a little farther away. She hadn't teleported there on purpose; it had simply happened as she was in thought about what he had said.
From her position, she raised her arm to wave at him, as she didn't know how fast he was able to see or feel where she went.
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He blinked, as she just bamfed easily, but he did sense where she was, linked as their minds were. After watching her do it, he grasped how, and then bamfed beside her, smirking. "Impressive...most impressive. Not many people can Teleport, even in here. I need to try this in reality at some point...that'd be useful to have."
In the distance, Kuranku and Carey were slammed away again by the vastly stronger leveled Bandar, and finally, Kuranku changed tactics. She got out her drums, Carey did the same, and then she used Earthquake. Seeing the move coming, Bandar leapt with the staff, only for vines to then rise up from the quaked earth to grab him and bring him into the maelstrom of ground typed damage. It hurt, a lot, but the fire ape was still up, and his Flame Charge counter hit both of the slower gorillas before they could even blink.
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"Honestly though…. I wish I could tell you something cool about how I managed to do it but… I'm afraid that was an accident." She looked down at the apes, and their plant guys finally landed a hit. "I guess all of us still have a lot to learn…"
Bits of fire landed next to her meditating Gardevoir, but it seemed like she didn't care at all. This world was a perfect fit to work on her psychic moves. She seemed determined not to fall behind Raphael, who was leveling up almost as fast as Kuranku.
"Say… I think I saw you catching another Pokémon. At least, it looked like you had another ball with you. What did you get?"
"A very grumpy hippo." Sikandar said, frowning slightly. Still, adamant nature was adamant nature, no matter his temper, the Hippowdon this 'little' one would become would be enormous, and quite strong. He'd also caught another Rhydon, and had given it a Protector. It was now in his box, with his first Rhyperior, and the two liked to battle within the alternate dimension that was the box. He liked that the Box Link had live video now. He could move anyone not getting along, and give everyone virtual scritches, and berries so they didn't feel neglected.
"Hippowdon, huh?" she scratched her cheek with her index finger while thinking about the Pokémon. "That's actually perfect. If I'm not mistaken, we're still lacking a Ground Type in our team. One of the Gym Leaders in my Region has one, and I always hate getting matched up with her. This beast is bulky… and its recovery abilities…. Oooof. Thinking about its Slack Off still gives me the chills."
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He looked her over, just impressed that she'd figured out Teleport so easily. It was a pretty common move, but he just didn't understand how to do it in reality quite yet. Theoretically it didn't need much power. Baby Ralts and Abra could use it after all, and his master had always said that it was his own fault that he couldn't understand the 'greater connection within nature' and move along it. Whatever that meant.
"I think you're ready for the next phase. Manifesting an Aura Shield. It keeps you alive against Pokémon attacks, even though most Pokémon these days only go after their trained peers. Some of them will just Hyper Beam you without warning, especially in remote areas, so having a defense always up is important for any psychic. Or wannabe Aura Guardian." He explained how then and showed her how to manifest her power throughout her body, all at once, and then condense that flow of energy into a shield that conformed to her body.
"The longer you practice this, and it's very easy to practice, the stronger the shield will be, and the easier maintaining it will be. Eventually, you won't notice it at all."
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The new information about Aura Shield sounded intriguing. Of course, Isabella had no idea about what would be hard and what wouldn't. This whole psychic business felt weird to her, and so far, her success rate was rather random. Having Sikandar as a mentor helped, though, and she was sure she'd be able to pay him back once they were going through other types of training.
She cocked her head when he told her about how to set up the shield, and as well as its perks. It sounded useful. Pokémon moves had already hit her in the past, the tattoo was actually a cover up from a severe Charizard burn and getting hit usually hurt a lot. She proceeded to do as he told her but kept failing. "I don't get why this is so hard…" It seemed like after all this time, as well as the various things she did, her concentration started to lack. Just as she was about to try it yet another time, her Gardevoir suddenly teleported to her, and put one of her green hands on her arm. She looked at Sikandar then, and just shook her head. She couldn't form words yet, but clearly communicated that Isabella needed to stop. Now. Apparently, she had used up all of her energy. In the real world, Kandra was stabilizing her unconscious self, and guarded her Trainer like a mother Swanna would protect her Ducklett.
Sikandar just chuckled at her frustration. "Did you think you'd get it on the first day? This takes time, and training until you collapse. And even with that, it may take years to master completely, but..." The red and orange aura returned, and then settled around his frame. Making it visible to the human eye took energy, but he had enough. Unlike his apprentice.
"Go rest. Kandra, hit her with some Life Dew. She'll be recovered in a few hours, with that."
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Kandra nodded and disappeared with her Trainer. Upon communicating with Sikandar, she showed deep respect to him, bowing her head slightly. She wasn't in panic, but clearly cared for her Trainer, and respected how she hadn't stopped until her lights were out completely.
As she returned with Isabella, she plucked her off Carey's shoulder. The ape was drooling while he meditated, and thus looked a little derpy. Picking up Isabella, she levitated her over to her team, telling them about the message from Sikandar, who apparently had stayed behind to train some more. A few other Pokémon came closer, including the little pest, which was Togedemaru, but Kandra allowed nobody near Isabella except for Raphael, who she trusted more deeply than any other of the Pokémon present.
Thankfully, the tents were still up and connected, which made it easy to put her back to bed, with Kandra standing guard in front of her "door". Two hours of sleep, until Isabella came back from the land of dreams, with no headache, thanks to Kandra. In fact, she felt like she was born anew. If Sikandar was still on the other side training, she'd find a Pokémon she could touch to get back there. Either way, if he hadn't left their camping spot, she'd go and find him, eager to resume learning.
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The little pest that adored his new mom went around the vigilant but naïve Gardevoir, who was still pretty young. He stayed with mom until she woke up. He'd tried leaving the tents but had returned when he saw what Sikandar had moved on to, as his partner slept.
She likely could've rested longer, but the rumbling from outside made that hard, and as she emerged, it was to a very dirt covered Sikandar, wielding his Rhyperior against the angry new hippo boi. Who had apparently evolved with only one level. Their camp was mostly clear, and most of their 'mons were in their balls before he'd tossed the Rare Candy at the hippo boi, and while he was in a mood after evolving, he'd begun to enjoy rhomping around with Gainda, his first Rhyperior.
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Standing in front of her tent, arms crossed, she watched the match, curious as to how it would end. The steel typed pest had climbed up to her shoulder and watched the match as well. "Rhyperior is… one of your veterans, right?" She slowly fed her smol mascot some sweet berries, knowing how jolly Pokémon enjoyed those. "Also… are you actually training them or is this a sudden post-evolution power outbreak?" She added a second question, while the hedgehog had smeared his face with the juice of the Nanab berry.
It was the second time now since she came to Galar, that a Pokémon with the perfect nature had simply walked into her life and refused to leave. Isabella was annoyed by the Pikachu Clone hype. To be perfectly clear, she wasn't too fond of the original electric mouse either, mostly because of how people kept holding it in everyone's face once Ash Ketchum had become World Champion with one. But, seeing as Togedemaru was still a baby, she didn't want to leave him alone out here. He was just too cute to abandon.
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Spikey mouse bab was now mom's official shouldermon, he decided. He knew she'd protect him from the quadruple weakness he had to ground types. Then, he completely forgot his worry as he got messy with some berries. Now he'd never leave her side. She'd fed him.
"Yes, he is. And it's both..." Sikandar said, as he and his Rhyperior dodged an angry shockwave from Earthquake. "Hammer Arm." The rock rhino hammered the hippo on his head, and roared at him to stop, and in response the hippo snorted sand at him. Sikandar was about to give another order, when Gainda's tail slammed the ground, and he smashed his fists together.
The display of power rippled through the ground, which the Hippowdon was naturally mostly buried in, and it offset him a little bit. Gainda kept roaring and warning him to settle down. Each time the hippo seemed ready to counter grumpily, the mace-like tail hammered the ground again.
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She watched the spectacle rather unphased, only dodging so a stray stone wouldn't hit her in the face. "He does have potential, but his attacks are very uncoordinated." She drew out her notebook again, writing down some notes for later usage. In fact, she had a few pages on most of the Pokémon from their teams, more or less depending on if, and how much, she had seen them in action. "I guess if we factor in how recently you caught him, we can think of his current state as top tier."
As the movements went into a specific pattern, she closed the book to put it back into her bag - not without giving Togedemaru a slight clap on his head with it. And he seemed to enjoy it solely for the attention he had gotten from her.
"When I caught my Salazzle, I saw a small bar at the beach. Apparently, there's one spot where tourists come in regularly, but it's mostly people from the nearby dojo who visit there. They stand out with their uniforms, so it's easy to tell. I think I'll take it slow today, so if you want, I can get us some pizza from the place. I do like your cooking, a lot, but every now and then it will be nice to get something other than curry, don't you think?"
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The happy derp-faced Pikachu-clone seemed out of place on the woman Sikandar had come to regard as a badass, and by far the best partner he could've had for this challenge. "We should probably avoid the trainees, unless you want a visit from-" He paused, and then snapped his fingers. Gainda drew back from the intimidation display and conked the Hippowdon on his nose as he tried to bite the rock rhino. "Never mind, seems they already saw you."
He turned from the ground types and bowed. "Dojo Master Mustard, I presume. Former unbeaten Champion of Galar, and the owner of the Isle of Armor's Master Dojo."
Quite quietly, and without anyone even noticing, the old man had snuck into the camp, and watched the shenanigans, hiding his presence, until he'd heard Sikandar, of course. He gestured at the angry sand hippo. "May I?"
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"Please." Sikandar said, gesturing to the angry eyed Pokémon. Mustard had to be over a hundred, with how wrinkled he was, but humans lived a lot longer these days than they ever had before, and the old man had a spry kick in his step still.
"Oho...an Adamant boy...I can see why you want to train him. But his heart is closed. He's not interested in training...or at least, he wasn't. He's admiring your Rhyperior's power. And he's hungry." The old man brought out a Figy berry, and tossed it to the hippo, whose eyes widened as he saw it, and munched it up with noises of enjoyment.
Sikandar chuckled. "Was that all you wanted? I have berries, you know." He shook his head, and sighed, then recalled the hungry 'mon into his ball so he could eat in peace. Gainda fixed the terrain around their camp by stomping on the ground, and then bringing his arms downward. The cracks and fissures sealed up, and aside from faint lines in the grass, it'd be hard to know a battle occurred here.
Seemingly approving of this Mustard turned his back to the two. "I think it past time you two came to the Master Dojo. Pip pip, come on now, you'll be just in time for dinner!" And he was off.
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Isabella stared at the old man in disbelief. It had been years since anyone was able to get past her highly trained perception and she knew for a fact that Sikandar's senses were listening to another plane of existence as well. Until a moment ago, she thought this combination would be like an unclimbable wall. And yet, the old man had just appeared there, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
She wanted to protest, when he told them to come to the dojo, but then the old man was already gone. "Tch… should we actually go there, or take our stuff and go back to the mainland?"
The mental image plane was really more of a 'exists while we're linked/meditating' type deal, rather than an omnipresent space. It took power and effort to maintain. Sikandar glanced at her, once he was sure Mustard had left. "You do remember how Victor beat Leon, right? Raihan barely got past his Aegislash, and even when he did, he never had enough left to take the Charizard. Here's what Victor did to him. Roti, call up the video."
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His Rotom Phone floated out of his bag then and played the video for her. A Galar League official was announcing the match as it happened. "After a near repeat of Galar's Darkest Day, it's finally here, folks. Challenger Victor has triumphed over Gym Leaders, and three tough rivals, to get here, the Championship Match against Leon! Our unbeatable Champion!"
The crowd roared, the lights flared, Leon did his cape drop and epic posing, and the first two Pokémon appeared on the field. "Champion Leon leads with his Aegislash, as usual, but from Victor it's...uhh...do..do we know what species that is? I've never seen it before, it looks kind of like a bear-" The announcer was cut off, as the perfectly still bear then channeled his inner fighting and dark energy in perfectly balanced amounts. An aura of darkness flared around his body in visible waves of aura, and sent Leon's Aegislash into unconsciousness with a single, perfect punch that nobody had been able to follow, thanks to its speed.
The crowd went wild, as did the announcer on the video who shouted and arched his back from the pure adrenaline rush that came from seeing one of Leon's own partners taken down in a single, perfect, critical blow.
"ONE PUUUUUUNCH! One punch to bring down the Champion's infamous ghostly sword and shield combination! Unbelievable!"
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Sikandar shut the phone off then. "Victor trained here, with Mustard, before that match. He didn't have that Pokémon before he came here. We should visit the Dojo."
"Alright then. I'm being honest with you, if I didn't trust in your knowledge, I'd think it would be a waste of time. He managed to sneak past us too, so I guess that's some proof of his skill." She freed all of her newest Pokémon at once, then. "Clear the camp. By the time we're leaving, I want it to look like we haven't been here at all."
Sikandar had his Pokémon help, and in short order the area was sporting new vegetation, and even had a small oasis. From his time in the wild, Pokémon tended to have plenty of food, since berries grew so fast, but not enough water. Obviously, some berries solved that problem too, but most did not have enough, thus the Champion tended to leave pools of fresh water, that probably wouldn't last but would likely fill the thirst of the local Pokémon. Already, some had cautiously approached, but no fighting had broken out yet.
After a brief walk, they arrived at the Master Dojo.