As soon as Machop emerges from its Poké Ball, it radiates an intense orange glow, it's already impressive muscles bulging even more beneath its blue-gray skin. It sizes up Champ and smirks, not bothering to assume a defensive stance but rather beckoning Champ with a confident motion of its hand.
Before I can react or give a command, Champ charges forward, unleashing a Rock Smash attack right from the start. The blow lands squarely on Machop's stomach, pushing it back a few inches, but it quickly digs its feet into the ground to halt the momentum. Its body begins to emanate a deeper, vibrant orange aura as it firmly grips Champ's wrist. The aura flows into its free hand, and with a burst of power, it delivers a mighty punch straight into Champ's gut. Spit flies out of his mouth as he gasps for air while Machop readies another attack.
"Rock smash to break the hold!" I yell at Champ. He quickly recovers and swings his fist up as swiftly as he can, hitting Machop dead center with an uppercut. Machop's head flies back as it staggers a couple steps back letting go of Champ’s wrist. Unsurprisingly, the blow isn't a knockout, and Machop quickly recovers.
"Take some steps back and catch your breath!" I order Champ as my mind races on how to take this Machop down. Whatever it hit Champ with had hit him hard, as he's breathing a little ragged. Machop has a few bruises, but seems overall to be going strong. Just how resilient is this damn Machop?
"Machop, bulk up again."
Its body begins to glow as the muscles seem to cord underneath its skin giving it an even more impressively bulky look. Damn it. This is bad, like really bad. Maybe if I can have Champ match it for bulk.
"Do the same, Champ. Bulk up as much as you can."
Champ takes a deep breath as his body begins to glow causing his body to become more muscular, his muscles flexing involuntarily.
Lucas smiles, amused. "Focus energy, Machop."
Machop grins as the aura around it intensifies further. Champ spares a glance in my direction, waiting for another order. My palms begin to sweat. My mind goes blank. As hard I try to focus there is no connection, that part of me that might know how to handle this battle doesn’t come online. Champ sighs and puts up his fists, taking a defensive boxing stance.
Machop kicks off in a burst of energy, charging at Champ. The first blow is a straight punch towards Champ's face that grazes the side of his cheek as he tries to dodge. He retaliates with two quick jabs into Machop's abdomen as it brings down its hand in a hammer fist motion towards Champ's right shoulder. An audible crunch is heard as he gets hit, but he hits Machop in the solar plexus with a brilliantly white shining fist which registers in my mind as a Mega Punch. Machop flinches but immediately drops low to sweep Champ, who jumps up, narrowly dodging the leg but is met with a glowing karate chop to the same bruised shoulder. This time the audible crunch turns into a crack that echoes through the air and I wince. Champ cries out in pain before he is kicked in the chest by Machop and sent flying back to my feet.
Champ gets up cradling his right shoulder, gasping for air. I grit my teeth as my nails dig into the palms of my hand. Should I give up? I don’t know if Champ can keep going in this condition. One look at Champ’s face and I can see the sheer determination of will to keep fighting. Calling it now would piss him off, so I guess we’ll keep at it.
I look at Lucas and he's silent the entire time. He hasn’t given any orders after the buff-ups and letting Machop run wild. Is this how a one-badge trainer fights? No. I call bullshit. No way this is how they would do a fight like this. I can feel my breathing start to go shallow. My head swims from how hot and heavy it feels.
"Is this the extent of your ability, Erembour?" Lucas says, his tone sullen, almost pitying me. “You are free to forfeit whenever you’d like. I can see that your Tyrogue is in pretty bad shape.”
Rage fills me. A silent rage at the small sense of futility that's slowly encroaching on my mind through the hot haze. A flash of memory.
It's a gentle rainy day. We're outside one of the Saffron City dojos. I'm watching Champ slam his fists into several target dummies. He's been practicing Mega Punch and Rock Smash simultaneously with each hand until finally... a crack resounds through the air as one of the dummies explodes. He's mastered it. He jumps up and down with joy. Good, but there’s no cause for celebration. Not yet. "Again," I tell him with a voice full of viciousness I never heard before. He calms down immediately and destroys the next target dummy with a combination of the two moves fused together. "Again." An orange white aura surrounds his fist as another dummy is torn apart by the power of the blow.
The memory fades, and with it a trickle of battle tactics I've made for Champ flow in. A splitting headache causes my head to throb in agony, but that rage I felt... That rage I feel, I can control it. I can temper it into something that I can use. I feel like I've done it once, and I'll do it again.
Champ has engaged with Machop again, this time coming away with a bruised face. Machop is breathing a little heavily, blood trickling down from a bruised lip. I can tell Machop is now a little more wary of Champ.
"Champ," I say calmly with an undertone of viciousness to it. His body immediately stiffens, remembering the tone.
"This isn't the first Fighting-type we've gone up against. Run up to it and use the heavy special."
Champ grins as he starts to dash forward while a Rock Slide starts forming around him. Lucas smirks as Machop grins, its arms up ready to bat away the rocks.
The moment Champ closes half of the distance between them, the boulders propel straight to Machop. He lifts his still-good arm as his left fist swirls with a condensed aura of white and orange light. Machop deflects and punches the boulders as more fly towards him, some of the smaller fragments manage to hit him like shrapnel. The battlefield around them is now covered in rock debris and littered with holes.
The moment Champ finally closes the distance, he jumps up behind one of the boulders as they go to slam into Machop. Machop doesn't bother dodging the rocks and aims its right fist to intercept Champ with its own punch. Champ's fist finishes blooming with an intense white-orange hue as he comes down. Both fists connect, causing an intense flash with a resounding crack. Sand, dirt, and dust bloom upward from the intensity of the attack.
When it dissipates, there's a small crater where Machop had been standing. It's kneeling now, its right arm bloodied and hanging limply down by its side as Champ stands in front of it, panting like a madman, barely able to stand.
Lucas claps his hands with a smile. I can also hear cheers and claps explode from the sidelines as well.
"Excellent! Excellent! That's much better. Congratulations! This is your win, Erembour."
Machop stares back at Lucas with a surprised look on its face, which dissolves into anger as it stands up. Clearly upset at being told it's the loser in the bout.
"Silver." Lucas says in a stern voice. "Acknowledge that you have lost the match."
Begrudgingly, Silver bows its head toward Champ, who falls on his ass out of exhaustion. Silver then lets out an aggravated "Chop" before walking back to Lucas and letting out a tirade of angry noises that consist of parts of its name until Lucas groans and it's returned to its ball.
Lucas chuckles as he gives Silver's ball a pat and clips it back onto his belt.
"I'm sorry about her. She can be very prideful, especially considering that she's actually at a two-badge level." He grins as we both look at him dumbfounded.
"Return Tyrogue to his ball and follow me. I'll have him healed later. We have to finish getting you prepped."
I return Champ to his ball and proceed to ignore the small group that has wandered over to us. Keeping my focus on Lucas, I speed walk after him, following him away from the battlefields and back towards the main building. As we enter I can see that the inside is enormous and spacious, going up three floors. There are a few Pokémon fossil exhibits, one of which is a Tyrantrum hovering over a nest of eggs, protecting them from a group of Kabutops. Another exhibit has a beautiful Goldeen pond with a statue of the infamous Red when he was young in the center and a replica of Mt. Silver behind him on the corner of the pond, flanked by several large rubber tree plants and other indoor flora. The statue depicts him wearing his trademark red jacket, red hat and blue jeans. He has a Pikachu on his shoulder and a pokeball in his right hand, outstretched in a challenging fashion. I can hear Lucas continuing to move towards the receptionist while I linger behind, admiring the area. The statue has a plaque underneath it that reads: “Those that seek power step out from underneath my shadow and climb to the pinnacle of Mt. Silver. There you shall find what you truly desire."
Stolen novel; please report.
What an odd thing to leave on the - something immediately catches my eye behind the statue. It's some kind of map etched into the front of the Mt. Silver Replica. I'm about to start walking over to it when I hear Lucas call out for me. Hesitating, then groaning, I put it at the back of my mind as something to take a look at later and walk over to him.
The receptionist glances at me before returning to her pile of paperwork. Lucas hums happily as he beckons for me to follow down a hallway behind the receptionist. It's a decent-sized hall lined with doors on both walls. Very clinical and sparse with only numbers embroidered on the black heavy doors.
We keep walking in silence with the mellow fluorescent lighting above until we reach a door with the number 47 on it.
"Here we are." He swipes a badge across a keycard scanner on the side of the wall. There's a low hum as the door slides open with a pressurized hiss, blowing a pleasant odor out into the hall. The inside of the room looks like a small classroom. There are a few desks set up in two rows facing a whiteboard against one wall. There's a mahogany desk on the other side of the room with a large box on it. I notice a large number of bookshelves littered with encyclopedias, research books, textbooks and miniature pokemon anatomy figurines on the empty spaces of the wall.
"Welcome to my office!" Lucas cheerfully says as he goes in. I follow behind, noting that on the whiteboard he has set up several small lectures in neat cursive handwriting. I walk up and read some of it.Something about how Ditto seems to have similarities to Mew in certain portions of their DNA. After that, several formulas are introduced along with an anatomical diagram of a Ditto, and I end up getting lost and look back towards him. He has already walked towards the box and begins to pull out different items, placing them on the desk. In a line, I begin to see: a canister filled with Poké Balls, a pack of potions, a few Berry pouches that seem to be full to bursting, a backpack along with a water canteen, a box of rations, a bedroll, a first aid kit, flashlight, rope, a weird multitool gadget, and binoculars. The backpack is smooth with a sporty aesthetic to it. It's black and white with red accents and has a Poké Ball emblem embroidered in the center. The straps are made of some sturdy black material and have several different hooks and small LED screens on them, which I find odd.
"What are the small screens for?" I ask Lucas.
"This is the latest in Silph Co. Design. It's known as a Silph Satchel. Really neat piece of tech. It comes equipped with an interdimensional pocket on the inside that stores your items in several different compartments. Easily accessible via your Rotom Phone since they automatically connect."
Explaining via demonstration, he opens the backpack and begins to stuff the items in there. I watch an entire box's worth of items disappear into the small pack. My Rotom Phone flies out of my pocket and up to my face with a display of the backpack and its contents along with the quantity of each item.
"Now that your Rotom is connected, it will show what items are available, how much of each item, along with a button to release it from the inside of the pack. Go on, press the one for a Poké Ball."
I can tell he's excited about the whole thing, so I shrug and press on the Poké Ball compartment. It has the standard Poké Ball displayed on there with a counter reading 10. I press on the ball and it automatically shoots out of a side compartment on the pack and into Lucas's hand.
"Awesome! It works! Don't worry, you'll be able to set it up with a bioscanner so it only works for you."
He drops the ball back into the backpack and zips it up. Patting it and placing it to the side, he turns to look at me.
"That should be everything. Do you know where you're going? You have two options from here. Catch a ferry to Cinnabar and then head to Seafoam City for the Seafoam Gym. Or, you can head to Pewter City for the gym there."
I already know where I'm heading. Seafoam Gym and Kenneth would be a good choice to fight now and in the long term, but I can't risk it. He's still a formidable challenge from the few videos I saw in the hospital. At least with Forrest in Pewter, he's easier on fledgling trainers.
Still…
"I don't know, yet. I have to do some research and figure it out," I admit finally.
He nods his head and gives me a reassuring smile.
"Of course! How about you stay in one of the dorm rooms here for the night and figure it out before you start your journey tomorrow."
"Only for a night? That's a pretty quick send-off." My eyes narrow slightly, something in my gut telling me that’s a little odd.
Lucas lets out a small cough as he clears his throat. "I am aware that it is rather quick for a departure. The fact of the matter is that you’re two months behind the other trainers. At this point, some have already acquired their second badge while most have gotten their first. You've got ten months to make up for it and although it seems like a long stretch of time, those are two months that you are behind in training. You're better off taking the night to study up and then heading out tomorrow."
His reasoning comes off as sound and logical to me, but something in the back of my mind keeps nagging that it's still too soon for me to head out. I bite my tongue and hold back the questions. Smiling, I nod and acquiesce.
"Yeah, you're right. I'll make sure to figure out the best course of action tonight. By the way, I don't suppose there is an area where I can practice throwing Pokeballs? Without my left eye, it's going to be hard for me to catch Pokémon."
He grins and pulls a ball off of his belt.
"You don't have to worry about that anymore! The latest models released this year have an auto-assist built in. You press the activation button once."
He pushes the button and it grows to its standard size, then he pushes the button again, causing the button to blink a dull red.
"Once activated, you push the button again, and it'll trigger the auto-aim feature. This will help when you throw the ball to trigger a homing effect on the desired Pokémon, but it does not guarantee an automatic capture. Should a Pokémon still be strong enough, it can avoid capture or break out of the ball."
He deactivates the ball and places it back on his belt.
Well… I guess that settles that then. I don't have to worry about much. Except for running and distance judging.
"I see. That is definitely a nifty new feature."
We stand there looking at each other for a little bit before he grabs the backpack and hands it to me.
"Alright, well. Let me take you to your room. They should be having dinner at eight. It's usually some kind of random takeout buffet. Most of the residents that stay here are either too tired to cook or can't cook to save their lives."
I nod and follow him out of his classroom… office? I'm still not really sure at this point, and I don't think it particularly matters.
----------------------------------------
Before he shows me around, I bug him enough to let me go back to the Mt. Silver replica. When he finally relents and takes me back, I can see that the map is a beautiful rendition of both Kanto and Johto with slots for all 16 badges. I guess I would have to beat both gym circuits before knowing what the hell it means.
I sigh and walk away begrudgingly back to Lucas, who pats my shoulder sympathetically.
We leave the main building and start the tour.
After showing me how to maneuver around the grounds, taking me to the local healing center to get Champ patched up, and explaining the rest of the facilities that I would require to use, he leads me to a nice residential building at the far end of the campus. It's usually reserved for visiting family, first-year researchers, scientists, breeders, and PokéResearch grant holders.
The building itself is surprisingly inviting. It has a cream-colored rustic exterior that's covered with climbing flowering vines and large windows to allow sunlight in. The area around the building is filled with beautiful tall trees that provide coverage against the hot sun. There are also several walking garden paths off the main road leading to enclosed relaxation areas. This place is definitely geared towards providing a meditative or family experience. Family. That last thought causes something in me to roil at the idea; it's upsetting, and I don't know why. I spur my pace and almost run into the lobby. Lucas calls out to me as I walk off, but I can't stop myself. Thinking about family triggers almost a revulsive feeling in me. Why? I remember my parent's faces, but… a searing pain tears through my mind and forces me to sit down on one of the lounge chairs in the lobby.
I close my eye and just sit there in darkness. The sound of soft lounge jazz fills the lobby. I can't focus. I can't breathe. I can feel something tearing through my mind. I open my eye and can see a dark, imposing figure with a swirling void behind it standing in front of me. Piercing red eyes stare at me. No, they stare through me as if peering into my soul. It opens its mouth, and -
"This is barely the beginning. You can’t break on me yet, my prodigious child."
I come through and find myself sitting on a bed, looking at a decent-sized studio room with modern appliances and a built-in kitchen. I'm staring at a giant flat screen set-up connected to a desktop computer tower. Videos of Forrest fighting against trainers are set up for review in the browser tabs.
What… What just happened to me?