On a dry patch of dirt outside Floccesy Town I sat down next to my two Pokemon and made sure I had their attention before I spoke. "There's one thing you need to know about Orre trainers. One, we're not used to very many wild Pokemon. They only started coming back to the region a few decades ago, so even though I've been well trained for the wilds I don't have much experience with it. You'll need to be my lookouts just as much as bodyguards. Can you two do that?"
They both nodded their heads. The resident Starly cawed in approval, raising a wing in support. I smiled.
"Thanks. Alright, the second thing you need to know about Orre trainers is that we specialize in Double Battles. In fact, most battles with more than one Pokemon are done as Double Battles. Compared to all the other Orre trainers sent to Unova I don't have much hands-on battle experience, but we do have a reputation to uphold, so that's what we'll be focusing on today."
I stood back up. "With that, I'll be introducing you to the basics of Double Battling."
Since we didn't really have a sparring partner yet we couldn't do a lot of the more practical things yet, like coordinating attacks and navigating space with twice the amount of Pokemon involved. What I could teach them, however, is teamwork.
"So what you're going to be doing today is learn about each other." They looked at each other. Truthfully they hadn't interacted much yet, preferring to eat and train separately. It wasn't necessarily a hostile relationship, but more of a cordial work one where you didn't really feel like being friends and rather kept to yourself. Well, that would have to change.
Let's start with the familiar. Battling. "Razor here is a Starly. That means he's an aerial threat and his main space is in the air. For convenience's sake, we'll call that airspace. Styx here is an Eevee, who decidedly does not fly, although that would be really cool. Her expertise lies in ground combat, or floor space. Mostly physical for now, but we'll be adding some special moves soon. You two are lucky in the sense that, since you both occupy different spaces you won't get in the other's way that often."
I directed Starly to fly up and had them both put on their battle faces while I lay down three Pokedolls for target practice. They looked like Clefairy's. They were cute, but they could take a hit and they were meant to react like an actual Clefairy in terms of knockback, weight, feel of impact, etc. Perfect stationary Trainer tools.
"Usually when you're both occupying each other's space you'd be working in lanes. There are three." I got a stick from the ground and drew lines in between the three Clefairy dolls. "One on the left, one in the center, and one on the right. They're mostly mental, but they're to keep your brain organized in what you're doing working in a small space. The purpose of these spaces is to organize what you're doing. If you're in a 1vs1 fight with another Pokemon while in a Double Battle you have to be careful not to get entangled in what the other is doing. In the same way, you'll have to be conscious of the other fight happening at the same time."
They already looked confused, and I hadn't even explained anything more advanced yet. We're still just keeping it to segregated 1vs1 battles.
"The goal for today is to stay in one lane and make sure not to get in the way of the other." I pointed to the right lane. "I want you two, when I say 'Start!' to spar over there, but there's a catch. You're to only stay in the right and center lane. Now here's the complication. You can't touch the Clefairy in the center lane, and certainly not the ones in the left lane." I picked up the Right Clefairy and moved it to the left and then picked up the Center Clefairy. "Meanwhile, I'll be periodically throwing this Clefairy through the center lane. If you touch any of the Clefairy's you get a point." Now, to make it interesting, "The one who at the end of the training has the least points gets a Pokepuff at dinner."
Now there's one thing you need to know about Pokemon. They absolutely love food. Like loooooove food. It's their main motivation for most things and once food is in the picture it's really hard to direct them to anything else. Fortunately, it can also work in your favor.
Pokepuffs were also a classic trainer tool. Usually for incentive, since they taste heavenly to just about any Pokemon. Especially the specialized ones that are made specifically for certain Pokemon's taste buds. It gets pretty crazy.
Their eyes lit up like a carnival. I had given them a Pokepuff treat once, and they absolutely exploded in happiness. They looked at each other differently now, with a competitive edge this time. Umm, had I just made things worse? Too late to think about now, I guess.
I lined them up and got my Clefairy in position in my hands. "You ready? ….Start!"
They both activated Quick Attack at the same time. There they go.
----------------------------------------
Around three hours and several Potions later, we finished our training routine. The results were.. about as I expected. Before this I had trained them to take advantage of their space as much as possible. Now that that was limited, they had to essentially start over from one. I wasn't really ordering them either, so they were mostly on their own.
Styx ended up with the most points in the end. She wasn't fast enough to duck out of the way most of the time for the Clefairy's to not hit her. I'm far from disappointed. Progress was progress after all.
Styx didn't seem to get the memo. Even after I gave her a belly rub she was still sulking. I resorted to carrying her around for the rest of the day. I sometimes forget that she's not even a teenager yet by Eevee standards. I'd have to give her some time.
"Kweee…" Eevee mewled lightly in my chest as I made my way up the stairs towards Nate's room. I had gotten an email from the Center saying that he had finally woken up. Hopefully he'd be awake enough to be lucid so I could talk to him.
I opened the door to the room when I found another occupant in it. A brown haired girl, her hair in a bun. She was wearing an oversized red jacket.
"You're.. the girl Nate was battling when I met him. You had a Snivy?"
She turned around to look at me and nodded. "David!" That came from behind her.
"Nate!" I walked around the weird girl and came to Nate's bedside. "You're awake!"
"Yeah!" He said. He was still bandaged up to the nines, so even though he tried to do more than just smile it just came off as awkward. "What's up?"
"What's up? You've been out for three days! What's up with you?! How are you feeling?" Styx jumped down at my arms and into Nate's bed, careful not to spring on him she started sniffing curiously.
"Ehehe. I… feel okay. Say, where's Ash?"
Oh. "Umm, he left already. He told me to give something to you when he did, though."
I fished the package out from my backpack and handed it to Nate. Then I realised he probably wouldn't be able to open it with all the bandages and opened it for him.
It was a fairly small paper bag. Nothing on it. Only a decently sized circular object within, which I took out… for… display…
I was holding a mega stone.
….I was holding a mega stone! "NATE!"
He looked at it just as incredulously. Holy—what in Arceus' name—I—
Mega stones are obviously highly coveted items. No one actually knows how rare they are, but everyone agrees that there are only a finite number of them. They're not like evolution stones. They don't just occur naturally in the wild. You can't produce or replicate them.
Just one of them is worth more than a freakin house! You could sell it and live off the proceeds for years. If you're frugal, decades. And he just gave it to him…
"Nate…" A small voice next to me aired. The girl! She was still here!
I immediately shielded the stone with my body. Sensing my body language Styx squared up, showing teeth at the stranger.
"David! It's okay! She's my friend!" I glared at her. She was mostly still shocked. The most expression I'd seen on her face at this point.
Theft between trainers is disturbingly common. Most of them aren't exactly rich and trainer items are expensive. From potions to pokeballs to tools to food to— Well you get the point. As an Orre trainer, as long as I played it frugally and won most of my battles I wouldn't have to worry about money unless I was aiming to purchase something big, like say a Thunderstone or a Macho Brace.
Trainers that weren't sponsored by anyone did not have the luxury of not thinking about money. For them, every battle lost was another mark against the longevity of their journey. The principal reason for trainers dropping out of the season isn't inability to shape up, it's money. If you lose four times in a row, all at the 15% standard for bets, then you won't have enough money to buy more pokeballs, meaning you won't have anything to use to diversify your team to win more matches, meaning you'll lose more matches, which will make you lose more money.
A losing streak, especially early on, is basically a death sentence to any aspiring Trainer's journey. Half of all trainers entering the circuit run out of money before they even get their second badge. Even more before their third. It's basically a rite of passage into real trainer-hood to earn your fourth badge, considering less than 20% of people who started the season make it past that point.
Thus, anything that generates you money will keep you in the game longer, even if it means stealing and then selling items that don't belong to you. Sadly, Pokemon aren't exempt from this either. It's the reason I only keep Styx out when I'm 100% confident I can keep an eye on her at all times.
Honestly if a band of trainers came together and forced me to release my Eevee I couldn't do anything about it. Incidents like that litter the news fairly often, and there's plenty of small gangs that make a habit of this. They get routed out pretty frequently by the League, but it's profitable enough to the point where it's still a recurring problem.
So forgive me when I'm a little cautious around random trainers when it's revealed Nate got given a freakin mega stone of all things.
"You can trust her, David! I swear!" Nate pleaded. The girl was hiding her face inside the high neck of her jacket, far from enthused with the attention.
"If you say so…" I kept my eyes on her as I placed a hand on Styx's head to calm her down.
"Anyway, forget about that! Do you know what kind of mega stone it is!?"
"Sssshhhhh! Not so loud! I really don't wanna test the thickness of these walls, alright?" I handed the stone over to Nate, who held it in his good hand.
"It's like, an off white. You know when there's fog on a window? Like that." It was.
It was also very pretty. The spiral in the middle, upon closer examination, wasn't just a red and yellow affair. It mixed and turned into a sparkling orange and all the colors in between. It was mesmerizing. It felt like looking into space. Like it was something bigger than your eye could comprehend, even though this thing was barely bigger than my fist.
I looked through my Pokedex for any matching features and sure enough, "It's an Ampharosite. How considerate."
"Wow…" Nate's eyes were sparkling as he looked at it. Not too dissimilar to Razor's eyes when I gave him the Pokepuff, but I decided to keep that to myself.
"So. I'm David. Orre Trainer. You are?" I introduced myself to the girl. If she was bothered by my brusque attitude, she didn't display it. Styx kept one eye on the conversation, even if she too was mesmerized by the stone.
"Vanessa." We stared at each other.
"So Vanessa. What are you doing here?"
"I heard Nate was injured. I came." Riiight. Verbose is not what I'd use to describe this girl.
Silence.
"Hey guys! Can you store this in my PC for me? I don't think I could just casually carry this around." Nate interrupted our not conversation.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
"Alright." I took the stone and put it back in the bag. "Login info?"
He told me. When I walked back downstairs to store it I could hear Nate talking to Vanessa as soon as I was out of the room. Yup. Thin walls.
Coming back up I sat down in the chair next to Nate's bed. "So what now? You won't be able to get back to training for awhile probably."
He smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. The doctor said it'll probably be a few weeks before I'm ready to travel again."
Weeks? I… couldn't wait that long. Truthfully I had planned on skipping Roxie's gym altogether and then leaving for Castelia. There was one specific Pokemon I had my sights on that I couldn't get here. I also needed to get away from all the Orre trainers and avoid attention long enough to be able to defend myself properly.
A reputation was only a good thing when you had the strength to back it up, for the reasons I mentioned earlier.
"That's... rough."
"Yeah."
We stayed quiet for a bit. Light filtered in from the window, the wind outside blowing just forcefully enough for us to hear it. For some reason, it made time pass slower.
"David, it's okay, you know? You don't have to travel with me if you don't want to. I know you're aiming high. I can see it in your eyes."
He looked out the window. "It doesn't mean I'm giving up on the season. Far from! I'm going to keep going, and eventually, I'll see you again! And then—"
He faced me with the most serious face I've seen him produce so far. "We'll battle. And I'll win. It doesn't matter if it's some road somewhere on Route 13 or the Conference. I won't be left behind."
He raised up a fist to me with his good arm.
Now, there was only really one response I could give to that, couldn't I? "Of course. That's a promise."
I bumped his fist with a smile on my face. All these protagonisty types really like doing this huh? "Of course, you won't be winning. I bet you won't even get a knockout."
"We'll see." We were full-on grinning now.
----------------------------------------
I left Floccesy Town not long after. There wasn't much there for me to accomplish. Instead I decided to head east to Virbank. Not to challenge the gym, but to challenge the trainers heading for the gym. I hoped by now the really strong Orre trainers had gone and I'd just be left with either people like me or the resident trainers who had already beaten Cheren. Sure, I could go out and challenge Cheren right now, but I wanted to be absolutely sure that I'd win, so I thought it better to grab some experience from them first, even if I'd end up losing a few rounds.
The way over to Virbank was fairly peaceful. Aside from a few battles and a wild encounter with a creepy Watchog we came through relatively easily. I already knew the route, having navigated Route 20 a few times by now. Even more thankfully, there was no sign of an angry Sawsbuck trying to kill me either.
It didn't change my decision to have both Styx and Razor on lookout the entire time, even if it gave my battling opponents the advantage of having revealed their typings. I still won, so it didn't matter in the end.
One of them, a cocky Orre trainer with no shirt and Diglett shorts, (I didn't ask) was heading away from Virbank for the exact reason I was heading to it. Beating trainers to prepare for the gym, except he was targeting the weaker trainers still stuck at Aspertia who didn't manage to beat Cheren yet. I made a mental note to extend my stay in Virbank to wait him out as well.
Virbank itself was about as I expected. Being a large industrial sector for the less… clean parts of modern civilization the air quality wasn't all that great. On top of factories, warehouses, hangers and a port, there was also an airport and a fairly big residential area, presumably for the workers.
Having lived in the (comparative) backwater that is Orre I might have taken a few hours just to sightsee. What was interesting about the place was that there weren't just Orre trainers out here. A lot of more advanced trainers were also here. From veterans and ace trainers, to hobbyists and enthusiasts, they were all over the place. I scanned some with my Pokedex and plenty of them had more than six badges. There was an especially exclusive section in a very specific area of the city who had all eight.
Turns out Virbank is also a hotspot for tournaments. Likely inspired by several higher level trainers coming to test their mettle against Roxie's gym, they all just sort of congregated in one place. And what happens when a lot of trainers come together? Battling obviously.
There were all sorts of tournaments here. The Unova staples of Rotation and Triple Battles saw plenty of action, but there were also Little League Cups, Tag Matches, Doubles, Capture The Flag, Weightlifting, Racing, and many more.
It was a little dizzying just how much you could do here. I spent the first three days honestly just familiarizing myself with the scene. Aside from maybe the Little League, there wasn't much to do for someone just starting out like me.
There were still, to my dismay, plenty of veteran Orre trainers here. One of them recognized me and pointed me out to the rest of his group, so I decided to make myself scarce for a bit.
It didn't stop some bozo from trying to battle me.
"Eh, you the hero's kid right? Don't even try and deny it. I saw you on the boat." He had a pink mohawk, curled to the left. Somehow. He was throwing one out of a full belt of six Pokeballs in between each hand.
He cornered me in an alley in a less populated area. There weren't many people around to defend me. Naturally, due to the high trainer volume there would be Jenny's patrolling the area, but I really didn't need to be known to the other Orre veterans as a narc. It wouldn't increase my reputation any.
"And you're the sucker that traps kids in dark places are you? Please don't tell me you're gonna start tossing your pants next." I responded with bravado I didn't feel.
He stopped tossing his Pokeball and gave me a weird look. "That's disgusting, kid."
"Yeah, that's great. To be honest, not all that interested in your opinion. Or you for that matter, so can you leave now?"
He grinned. "Nah, I don't think so. I wanna know what the Hero's offspring can do in a battle. See if they're all they're cracked up to be. You ain't running this time, ya hear?"
He released the Pokemon from the ball he was holding, revealing a haughty Morgrem that didn't look like he wanted to play by the rules. Great.
"Oh I'm certainly not running." That wasn't me. The voice came from behind him.
A Sylveon jumped over both the mohawk guy and the Morgrem, coming to stand next to me.
Wait, I recognize this one. "Sasha?!" The Sylveon nodded at me.
A woman walked up to us. She was wearing a brightly colored leather jacket, painted on to display all the colors of the rainbow. In comparison to the jacket, her shirt was just a simple black and she had normal jeans for pants. Her hat was more of a cowboy hat, also painted into vibrancy.
Her most striking feature, however, was long auburn red hair flowing out of the hat and all the way to her waist.
Eyes the same as mine stared down the mohawk guy, daring him to act up.
"Mae?! What are you doing here?"
"Preventing my little brother from being force-fought, apparently."
"Shit! You're Mae Gale?! You made the semi-finals in the Lumiose Conference!"
She rolled her eyes. "Yes, naturally. Now, you said you were going to battle me? Keep in mind my usual wager's a hundred grand, and I don't tend to compromise." A hundred grand is more than twice what I have right now.
The Mohawk Guy started sweating through his clothes. "Uuumm. No thank you! My Pokemon are actually a bit tiredsoifyadon'tmindI'llbetakingthemtothecenternow!"
Aaand he ran off. The Morgrem stayed behind, confused, until he eventually realized his trainer had left him and chased after the guy.
We watched them go.
"So? Mind explaining to me what you're doing here in Unova? Wearing… whatever that is?"
She blushed and tried to cover her jacket with her arms. "It was a gift! I couldn't just refuse handmade clothing!"
"You should have." I pet Sasha in greeting and she mewled in appreciation. "Shouldn't you be in Kalos, preparing for your retry?"
"I have all the badges. Really, there's no reason for me to stay there waiting the whole season." She shrugged. "Plus, I wanted to see what my little brother was up to."
I snorted and started walking out of the alley. "What, dad doesn't trust I can make it here on my own? Not surprised."
Mae followed me, Sasha returning to her side. "No. He's honestly a lot more worried about the attack. One of ours got taken from the ship too. Her name was Sarah Joyce, from Phenac. They're catching a lot of heat for not being able to find the culprits, so I'm here to help out!"
Right. Of course. Somehow I managed not to flinch when she mentioned her name. "And you're the only one here?"
"Dad's not here if that's what you're asking." I let out a breath of relief. "So? What are we waiting for!? Show me your new Pokemon!"
I swivelled my head around for any onlookers. No one. I really was alone here, which likely means Mae was following me. Sus.
Letting both my Pokemon out of their balls my sister immediately rushed for the Eevee, clamping it into her arms. "Oh she's so cuuuuute! How old is this one!?"
Styx herself did not appreciate the sudden attack and started trying to wriggle out of her grip, to no avail. Mae was miraculously strong when it came to cute things. Hold tight, darling. It'll only be for a little while.
"Her name is Styx, and she's about twelve weeks old now. This," I pointed to the Starly on my shoulder. "Is Razor. I caught him close to two weeks ago. He's a real fierce one."
Wow. It's not even been three weeks since I started my journey. Crazy how it works like that. It all feels both longer and shorter than that.
Upon seeing my Starly she released Styx and grabbed him from my shoulder. Razor wasn't quick enough to react and ended up being the next victim to Mae's death hug. "Cuteeeeeeee~!"
"Krwaaaaaah!" Razor squealed, in the first sign of fear I had heard from him. Next to Mae, Sasha shook her head in exasperation.
Styx ran up to my back and from the side of my head glared at Mae. "I don't think my Pokemon appreciate the Maehandling."
"It's not my fault they're so adorable!" I had half a mind to return Razor to his Pokeball to save him, but I knew that when Mae got into these types of moods there really was no stopping her. She'd probably take the ball from my hand and release him again.
"So how many badges do you have now?" She asked.
"Zero. I'm taking my time training them so I can have a better foundation once things get more hectic."
"Really? You know Jack's on his way to getting his second badge?"
"What."
She released her hold on Razor, allowing him to frantically fly away from her. He settled on a nearby roof, glaring daggers at my sister. "Yeah, he's at Roxie's gym right now."
"And you think he'll actually win?" I scoffed. "It's Roxie. There's no way he's getting through with what, three Pokemon?"
"Four actually." How did he catch and train four Pokemon in less than three weeks? I was lucky with Razor. He obeyed easily and was smart enough to know how to obey my instructions. With wild Pokemon it's really a tossup on how willing they'll be to listen to you and even then you'll have a hard time communicating with them simply because of their lack of exposure to humans.
Catching three more and then trying to win three badges. "He's cheating. Someway, somehow."
"Still have no faith in him, huh. It's okay. You can say that you're jealous."
HAH! "Yeah, absolutely not. How about this? We'll go to Roxie's gym right now and watch him fail! And I'll laugh! In your face!"
I took my sister by the arm and dragged her, putting Razor back in his ball.
Roxie's gym wasn't far and we made record time getting there. The entire time she was silent, content to have that smug look on her face as if she knew anything.
I know Jack. And I know that he's cheating. "How'd you even get all this information?" Did she search for him before me? Rude.
"He actually texts me, believe it or not. Keeps me updated, unlike some people." We walked through the doors and headed for the spectators' seats. There weren't that many people in the stands. Mostly other trainers looking to see how Roxie battled real-time as opposed to recordings.
"Well would you look at that. Right in the middle of it." There Jack was, in all his muscly glory, ordering around a— Hol' up! "Is that a Riolu?!"
How the hell did he get a Riolu!? They're not anywhere in the nearby area! He had to have traded for it!
The Riolu was battling a searing Venipede, revving up like a car and launching itself repeatedly at the the little Fighting-Type.
Looking at the scoreboard it was indeed a 4vs2 fight. One of the icons for Jack's Pokemon, a Pidove (more in line with expectations) was greyed out, meaning Riolu was his second Pokemon.
He would have an Eevee, and then an unknown still. Oh look, the Riolu fainted. What a surprise.
He returned the defeated Pokemon back in his ball and got out a new one. This one he kissed and then threw out.
It revealed a Flareon.
"Kiyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
"Flareon! Use Ember!" I… won't bore you with the details. Venipede naturally ended up losing. The next Pokemon sent out, a Toxel, didn't stand much of a chance either, though it put up a valiant fight.
Jack managed to earn his Toxic Badge. Just like that.
Mae still had the same stupid smug grin on her face since we walked in. "We have to get out of here. He can't know we just watched him win against Roxie. It'll blow his ego to the moon!"
Alas, it was not to be. One look in Mae's eyes and I already knew we were doomed. "Hey Jack! Over here!"
Jack squinted at the stands just before he walked out, staring at us from afar. His mouth turned to the same stupid grin Mae was doing.
"Okay. Yeah, I'm gone." I ran for the exit, but he saw me and intercepted me as soon as he could.
"So! The little one comes to watch the big one win his second badge! In 20 days might I add. I must have set a record!"
"Hah. No. The record for getting a second badge by a newbie trainer is 7 days. You're still behind."
"Yeah. Mmhm." He took out his Pokedex, completely ignoring me. "Wow. Look at that. No badges. How interesting." I could see the condescension enter his face. Even a little disappointment. Bastard.
I scanned him too.
Jack Mesquite, Pokemon Trainer. #21,763,492 W22/L3/D0
Details
Circuit: Vertress
Origin: Orre
Sponsor: Orre General Ambassador Sponsorship
Pokemon: 4
Badges: 2
He's been in 25 battles so far. That's a little insane.
He must have been training and catching Pokemon from dusk till dawn at least. While I had been going around doing random things, Jack was out here getting things done.
I grit my teeth.
"You know, I'd offer to battle you, but honestly I don't think you have enough Pokemon to take me on. How sad." He shoved me aside. "You're not even worth my time. How about you come talk to me when you can actually do a Triple Battle."
And then he was gone. Mae came to my side. "So? What are you gonna do now?"
I raced away from the stupid gym, heading straight for the battlefields, Mae hot on my heels. "I'm going to train, and no one or anyone is going to stop me."
I'll die before I ever lose to Jack.
I pointed to some rando I scanned. He had only one badge. "You! Battle me!"
He pointed hesitantly to himself. I already lined up to my corner. "2vs2! Let's go! What are you waiting for?"
He shrieked and got into position. Our Pokedexes lit up green.
"Let's go! Razor! Styx!"
Styx jumped off of me and entered the ring while Razor streamed from light to form above her.
He sent out a Corphish and a Sewaddle.
No more lollygagging. Time to win.
"You know the drill! One!" I shouted.
----------------------------------------
I battled two more trainers after that before Razor fainted and I had to stop. Styx wasn't in much better condition, but we still eked out a victory.
That was all that mattered. Mae managed to keep the other Orre trainers away from me. They all knew who she was naturally, and no one wanted to mess with someone from the Top 1500.
We sat at the Pokemon Center, watching the other trainers filter in. It was evening and everyone had pretty much finished up their battling for the day.
"So? What did you learn today?"
My legs couldn't sit still even as I rested my arms on them. "I'm woefully behind. Time to take this training seriously."
"And?"
"I need a third Pokemon. Preferably one with ranged moves."
It was very obvious, especially in Double Battles that I over relied on rushing opponents and catching them off-guard. That's not always going to work, especially against bulkier opponents that could easily just wait until I got closer and then punish me.
"Correct. You have candidates?"
I grinned. "Of course I do. You wanna come with?"
She grinned at me too. "Sure. Why not? Finished all my business here anyway."
"Then it's decided. We'll be heading for the Virbank Complex first thing tomorrow."