Hard Enough by Viva01

I listened in as my little brother told me all about how he'd spent the early morning going around observing the various pokemon within my reserve. I chuckled, knowing that it would only get more interesting as time went on.
Man, I couldn't wait until I had some more ancient pokemon. Huh, I still needed to follow up with Flint about that idea I'd had regarding an ancient Gym format. Then again there was no reason I couldn't just run it. It would be no different than having a tropical shirt Friday, just more Jurassic-themed with the pokemon as well.
"—and then I had Cranidos start working on his headbutts but I did it in a different way than usual!" Salvadore said.
I tilted my head. "A different way?" I said, interested in what he'd devised. I'd been working patience and power with Cranidos.
Salvadore happily regaled with his training methods and suggestions before coughing. "Then I tried a… jelly sack…"
I blinked. "I'm guessing by your reaction, that this training method did not work out so well?"
"You remember how you mention reactionary forces? Something about equal and opposite?"
"When two objects interact they apply forces of equal magnitude and opposite direction to each?" I asked.
Salvadore stared at me for a moment. "Huh, I think I actually understood that a little this time when you said it."
I blinked before coughing, recalling that Salvadore, for all that he was a smart kid, he was a kid. "Sorry, there are a few ways that I can demonstrate that to make it more understandable," I said.
I drew out a few pebbles from my pocket, searching around for the right size and weight. "Here," I said, demonstrating on a table what happened when two pebbles of equal size slammed together. I then showed what happened with one rock being faster, larger, or just heavier.
Salvadore stared. "But… when pokemon fight that doesn't always play out? Otherwise, Onix would be one of the strongest?"
I wobbled my hand. "Things get a lot more complicated when pokemon energy types or energy in general gets involved. That tends to cause a huge shift in terms of how fights play out. This is also not accounting for technique, which can utilise leverage to win out."
Salvadore looked a little lost so I elaborated. "Think martial arts versus just weight lifting," I said.
That earned me a nod.
I chuckled. "Regardless I got sidetracked there, you were talking about Cranidos and a jelly sack?" I said. Behind me, Rocko began to choke on his lunch. I glanced back in time to catch sight of Dennis swinging his palm into Rocko's back.
I grabbed Salvadore by the head and pulled him down in time to duck the chunk of sandwich that was ejected forcibly from Rocko's mouth. The piece of food slapped into the far wall and I stood back up.
Everyone gave the piece of food a morbid watch as it began streaking down the wall.
I glanced back at the two sheepish men. "I would usually have the person who threw the food clean it up, but I think you're both partly to blame there… so you're both cleaning that up."
Rocko coughed and gave a raspy, "That seems fair."
Dennis merely nodded, moving to grab a cloth.
I grunted and looked back at Salvadore. "So?"
Salvadore rubbed the back of his head and smiled at me. "So yeah I thought it would be a good idea to use something that was more like a pokemon to train against."
"Ah," I said, realising how this was going to go. With how Newton's third law was being used I had a good idea of what was going to play out with Salvadore's story.
"— and then he got launched into the air with this wobbling noise!" said Salvadore, shooting his hands up and ending his story.
I snorted. "That… sounds like it was a great lesson for Cranidos. He'll have to respect softer targets but I think you started him on a really good path there. There is potential in what you were teaching him but we can expand on it."
"Oh?" Salvadore said, interested.
"We can get him to fight pokemon like Muk and Grimer which have much softer bodies that can lead to him getting sucked in. You're right that his strong legs are a strength of his but he is also limited with his heavy head and small arms. Traps like mud or even quicksand could cause him issues," I said, thinking aloud.
I smirked. "I think otherwise? I might introduce him to football. He likes headbutting things and football is perfect for him with kicking and headbutting. Heck, the other pokemon would love it as well."
"Oooooh football!" said Salvadore. "Yeah, he'd love that sport!"
I nodded. "I'll have to look around and see what I can get as footage to show it off to him. I wonder if there's a local league?" I asked.
Dennis, now with a cleaning cloth in hand, coughed. "There's a local amateur league with eight teams," he said quickly.
I blinked at him. "Do you play in one of those teams?"
Dennis' chest shot forward. "I'm a reserve goalkeeper!" he said proudly.
Everyone stared at him. I coughed. "Uhmmm good for you?" I offered tentatively.
"Thanks! There's six of us that want that position!" he said and that caused a tidal wave of people to offer their own polite congratulations. That certainly didn't sound as bad but I didn't point out that it also didn't guarantee that they were any good, merely that there was a lot of them.
Ignoring that, I extracted a promise to get some footage from him to show to the pokemon. I toyed with the idea of setting up a game but pushed that back as Alexa moved towards me with a stack of papers.
"Anything serious?" I said taking the forms and giving them a read-over.
"Giselle," Alexa responded, which made me perk up.
"I thought she wasn't going to be until the last day? Isn't she the top student?" I asked.
"She has been growing annoyed with the other's performances and wishes to show them the error of their ways," Alexa said. "She is demanding a change from what the academy organised as well. Instead of merely being a straight match against you she wishes to run the gauntlet."
"Good," I said, pleased that she was putting words into action. "I'll approve it," I said.
"The Headmaster might not be happy that you did as it puts the 'top student' at greater risk of failure."
I shook my head. "Kid needs to live and test her boundaries sometime in her life. This is good I think. If she fails it's not the end of the world."
"It might be the end of the world for a preteen girl Brock," Alexa replied dryly.
"Hmmm," I said. I couldn't really weigh in as I had never been a girl. I might have worn some dresses as gags and for events, but that wasn't going to let me have any insight. I had a slight angle more from helping to raise Yolanda and the girls but again, it was through a different lens than the girl would use or her peers might use.
I rubbed my chin and shrugged. "It's what she wants and I'm happy to give her the challenge," I said finally.
Alexa nodded, making a mark on her tablet. "Very well, the first challenger will face you now," she said.
I made my way forward to find what had to be the most quintessential preppy, and by that, I meant he was a kid with his hair split with his hair sweeping off to the side. His uniform wore him with how it looked like it was pressed onto his body. His tie was a typical schoolboy knot and his shoes hurt to look at with how they shone under the lights of the gym.
I didn't even want to get started on how high his pants were pulled up.
It was easier to talk about his socks which were up to his knees.
Damn.
It was wrong, but this kid screamed bully bait. Even I wanted to give him a noogie to mush up his hair.
"Student Joe!" announced Dennis, who'd reprised his role as the referee, shot his hand to the walking 'kick me sign' that was the kid.
I shook my head. Repressing the weird feeling that seeing this kid brought out in me.
So what? He was an awkward kid who was mostly knees and awkward angles that he tried to cover up with good care. Give this kid a couple of years and he might be a woman magnet with how well-groomed he would be.
Of course, it would help if he put on some muscle, but that could be handled easily enough.
I made a mental note to give him some advice on how to not be a swirlie magnet as I released my pokemon. Moxy took to the stage with a firm one-two punch, her smaller arms pumping in readiness.
Joe stared at my Graveler. "Hmmm a Rock-Ground type pokemon meaning that my pokemon will be especially effective!" he said pompously. He tossed out his pokeball, weakly I noted, resulting in his pokemon landing at the back of the battlefield.
I eyed the distance between our pokemon. Typically it was only about twenty or so metres between the pokemon that started out. Now it was roughly seventy.
Hmmm that weaker throw might work out for him.
I gave a nod to Dennis and he got us underway.
Joe was quick to slash his hand forward. "Weepinbell use Razor Leaf!"
"Dig," I responded easily, allowing Moxy to dive into the earth and avoid all of Weepingbell's attack.
Joe grumbled. "Like we practised Weepinbell!" he said, snapping his fingers.
Weepinbell began to emit a faint white mist around itself with what I recognized as Sleep Powder. Joe nodded to himself. "With this, when your pokemon emerges it will fall asleep allowing me to close out this match easily!" he said while leaning back proudly.
Then he glanced to the side, where other Pewter Technical Institute kids were. Huh, that was right. This kid appeared in the cartoon didn't he? He was getting bullied over something… Having a crush for Giselle?
That didn't sound… wrong or right. It had been a minor episode that only introduced a gimmick of advancing to the end-of-circuit tournament.
Although, I knew from keeping an eye on said event there was going to be an earlier tournament to weed out the weaker trainers with only certain trainers getting to advance without the challenge.
Those would be specific to only a few trailers from Technical institutes, the highest scoring Exam takers for the Pokemon League Admissions Exam would get that.
I'd already put in some recommendations for a few trainers such as Brawly, Flannery, Roxanne, Gary, and of course Bugsy to name a few. Not that they'd need it.
I smirked at Joe. "Is that what you think is about to happen?" I said.
Joe twitched and glanced about the field sharply. "Yes? No? Yes!" He said.
I held my smirk, enjoying the way Joe was twitching and second guessing himself.
Moxy emerged from the ground, launching Weepinbell into the air with a powerful blow only for Joe's prediction of the next step to play out with Moxy passing through the Sleep Powder.
Both pokemon hit the ground roughly with Moxy snoring.
Joe relaxed. "You were bluffing, just bluffing," he said as he patted himself down. "Weepinbell, use Vine Wh—"
"Sleep talk," I said, my smirk still present.
"Whuh?" Joe said right as Moxy unleashed a powerful Bulldoze right into her foe. Weepinbell was plowed through no less than three boulders despite Moxy being asleep.
When Moxy was done she continued to snore while her foe lay still.
Joe gaped. "Eh? But… blast you had this Graveller prepared for such tactics," he said after a moment.
I nodded. "Correct. Sleep Powder is one of the strongest moves in a Grass types arsenal that I think gets underutilised." I made a show of looking him up and down. "A kid like you though? I think you're the type to do some homework for yourself."
"Didn't do me any favours," said Joe out the side of his mouth as he returned his pokemon.
"You do any homework on my pokemon?" I asked as he pulled out his second pokeball.
"Of course! Geodude, Graveler, Golem, Onix, Aron, Lairon, Lileep, and Slugma are the common pokemon that you like to use at this level."
I held in a twitch that he'd predicted my second pokemon of this match with Lileep. I didn't think many people would have predicted that. It was a good read on his part.
"Well the issue comes from pokemon also having possible moves that they can learn from a Technical Machine to broaden their capabilities."
"Urgh!" said Joe with a slump. "I'll need to do more homework in future!" he said, causing me to chuckle.
"Welcome to life, homework is what it's called in school. For us adults, it is just work," I said.
"Yeah okay old man," he said, causing me to reel. Damn, that stung.
"I'm not that old," I said.
"Okay boomer," replied the kid.
I twitched.
Ouch. Kid had snark.
He sent out his second pokemon and revealed it to be a Psyduck. Psyduck tilted its head and looked left and then right as the crowd began to cheer. The little duck pokemon glanced about before grabbing its head in pain at the noise.
I tilted my head. "Interesting choice," I said as I watched the Psyduck struggle with a headache straight out of the pokeball. That was rather telling.
"Psyduck! Water Gun!" Joe said to restart things off.
"Sleep Talk," I said and this time Moxy slammed her head into the ground to do a Defense Curl. Damn.
This time the attack hit and Moxy shuddered but she held on by a finger to her consciousness as the water wiped off the Sleep Powder and she woke up. Alright, not terrible.
"Dig, evasion" I said, getting Moxy out of there and earning ourselves some breathing room.
Joe grimaced. "Okay Psyduck, like we worked on! Amnesia!"
Psyduck glowed for a second only to stop and tilt its head, looking like it forgot what it was doing. It fell on its backside and warbled pathetically.
If someone wasn't as well versed on pokemon, I'd have thought the move failed. Psyduck, while not a psychic-water type pokemon still had a strong association with psychic moves.
To the uninitiated, the move had failed, but Psyduck as a species had an interesting quirk with their amnesia typically being too effective on it to the point that it forgets what it was actually doing beyond trying to follow a command.
It did get stronger, but it also forgot that it gets stronger. It was a very strange dynamic but it worked for the little pokemon, especially in clutch moments.
I don't even have to look at Joe to spot that he knew about this quirk. He radiated a falseness to my senses.
When I looked at him I see he's chewing his lip. "Not this time either huh?" he said.
I held back the urge to roll my eyes. Instead, I decided to do something different.
When Moxy popped back up slightly to the side instead of attacking, Joe twitched. "Water Gun!" he ordered.
"Explosion," I said, causing him to recoil.
"Psyduck use—" he started to shout only for Moxy's last attack to detonate and rock the field.
When it cleared Psyduck was shown glowing with psychic energy while around him a hexagon-styled dome had formed. I whistled.
"Don't see many willing to fork out for Protect," I said. "Or did you have your pokemon learn it organically?" I asked, referring to the longer method of having it train and study a move that it can learn via Technical Machine.
Joe tilted his head, revealing he had no idea about what I was talking about. I waved my hand and recalled Moxy as Dennis proclaimed her unable to fight. Psyduck seemed stunned by this turn of events, as though it couldn't believe it had just won.
It spun about to Joe and pointed at itself helplessly. Joe nodded, a huge smile on his face. "Yeah! You won that match Psyduck! I knew you could do it!" he said. It almost hurt to look at him with how megawatt his smile had become. I could almost feel the light glinting off his teeth.
As I reached for my second pokemon a light began to form around Psyduck and I held off as Psyduck began to evolve.
The light built up as Psyduck's form grew taller and thinner. He lost the round body and instead became a swimmer's build. The light vanished to show a pokemon with a lush feathery coat and a strong body.
I whistled. Looks like Joe was a pretty good trainer if he'd developed his pokemon to this level.
"Yes! Well done Golduck! Now let's take the fight to them!" he cheered.
"Let's go Cradily," I said with a smirk.
I wasn't going to let him have things easily and Joe's eyes snapped to the field as the evolved form of Lileep appeared.
"Urgh? This is the ultra-rare evolved ancient pokemon!" Joe announced loudly.
I coughed. I actually had three of them these days with the training I'd put the plantation of Lileep through, it was bound to result in a few evolving. It wasn't incorrect with there being only one actual recorded battle thus far.
Still, to call it ultra rare?
Yeeeeeeaaaah, not for long.
"Ingrain," I said, getting the match back underway.
Joe grimaced. "Go for Confusion! If that's the evolved form of Lileep, water attacks won't be very effective!"
I pursed my lips. Well, that was dead wrong. I flicked my eyes to the side as I caught sight of Giselle putting both hands to her face to hold in a scream. She looked incensed. Joe also glanced in Giselle's direction and he stiffened at what he saw.
On the battlefield, Confusion hurled some rocks into Cradily's prone form which he weaved around only for a few to strike home doing some damage. A portion of that damage was then negated as Cradily's Ingrain kicked in.
I smirked as I noticed that Joe was still staring at Giselle.
Well, if he was going to mess up his typings I'd hammer the weak point he'd presented. "Giga Drain!"
"Eh!?" Joe shouted, caught off guard, his head whipping back around to catch my pokemon draining his with large green orbs.
Golduck faltered and Joe hissed. "Golduck! Confusion again!" he ordered, trying to double down.
I sighed, saddened that he didn't have his pokemon dodge or try to block the attack in some manner. Golduck or rather Psyduck would have been the perfect pokemon to teach Disable to.
Instead he got himself locked into a slugging match with a type disadvantage where I could drain his pokemon.
The result was never in question but Joe floundered as Goldduck hit the ground and Dennis raised the flags in my direction. "Cradily is the winner!" he announced.
The crowd politely applauded but most eyes were on Joe as he shifted back and forth. The kid was obviously caught in a mental tailspin. I let it continue for a moment before raising my hands.
I slammed them together while infusing rock energy into them causing the clap to boom through the stadium. "Get it together Joe! Is this the best you have to present to me? You're not putting your best foot forward!" I said.
"Is this the display you want the world to remember you for?" I said, gesturing wide at the crowd.
Joe paused, taking in the watching eyes of the crowd.
Rather than rallying and straightening up, the kid crumpled, curling in on himself as snot and tears began to dribble down his face.
"Ah shit," I said, quickly hopping over the podium railing and jogging across to him. Joe flinched when I launched myself up onto the still-raised platform. I grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him in. "Hey, take a breath Joe," I said as I lowered myself to his level.
"W-huhu-whu- what? What are you doing? I'm failing?" he said.
I sighed and smiled. "So? Failing isn't the end, nor is it a beginning. It's just part of life. You haven't been failing that badly either. You've been building up your team for this match, I can tell. That Golduck was strong."
"But he wasn't strong enough."
I squeezed his shoulder. "He was, just as you were good enough. You know what stopped you from winning?"
"What?" he asked.
"Yourself. You got into your own head about what you needed to do. You were too static with what you needed to do. At the level you're challenging at to get a passing grade, you need to demonstrate that you can be more dynamic with your pokemon and your style of thinking."
"Dynamic?" he asked.
I nodded. "Able to switch it up with strategies, styles, and pokemon, you don't have to keep the same pokemon out, nor do you have to lock yourself in. Sometimes you have to change it up. That make sense?"
He nodded and I mirrored him. "Good, good, also, one other thing?" I said quietly.
"Yeah?" he said.
I flicked my eyes to the stands where Giselle and the rest of the students were watching from. "You need to not get distracted during a match. She's a nice enough girl… I'm sure," I said.
From what few interactions I'd had with her she was a bit spoilt and bratty but for her social status as a rich kid she wasn't the worst I'd dealt with.
"O-oh, yeah I guess I shouldn't, it's just she's sooo pretty," he said.
I nodded. "Yeeeeeaaaah, if you're hoping to woo her today won't have done you any favours."
Joe's breath hitched only for a small smile to play out. I frowned. Alright, what was going on in that mind of his.
"I'll need to spend more time with her for tutoring, so it's not all bad. I'll have more chances than I already do! Giselle's nice like that! She'll double down with me!" he said resolutely.
I stared. Yeah, that was… one way of increasing contact but it struck me as very… sketchy and also extremely naive.
I hardened my heart and decided to rip the bandaid off.
"She'll never date you if that's how you're hoping to interact with her. She's always going to see you as a small kid who needs her pity," I said firmly.
With my hand on Joe's shoulder, I could feel him flinch.
"You don't know her!" he said quickly, his eyes turning venomous..
I sighed at him, ignoring the glare.
I shook my head. "I don't but I know that any relationship you could hope to have? She's not going to want to date a kid that she constantly has to chase up and tutor. She's going to look for someone with confidence and potential. What you're hoping to do? It's sinking your chances just to spend time with her."
"At least I'll—" he started to say only for me to jostle his shoulder.
"Really? You're giving up on her? You don't think she's worth the effort? Feh, guess you never had a chance," I said, shaking my head.
Joe stiffened. "What?"
I locked eyes with him. "You have a chance, but it depends on what you do here and now. Your demonstration thus far? I'm not going to lie, it's been abysmal. But!" Here I made sure to pause and raise a finger into his gaze. "But, you can turn it around. Knuckle down on the studies that I get the feeling you've been slacking on. Don't just rely on the school to force-feed you what you need to know. Get out there and try things yourself. Fight with other trainers. Put in the effort and wow her with how you turn yourself around. That will be something worth recognition," I said.
"I… I don't think I can do that."
"I do, I know you have more in you Joe," I said.
Joe swallowed. "W-what do I do first?"
I sighed. "Right now? Do you think you can keep fighting with what you have left? I have one more pokemon in my roster for this match."
Joe stared up at me. "Haven't I forfeited this match?"
I snorted. "You're not the first to have a breakdown on the podium, nor are you going to be the last. Being a Gym Leader is about being a barrier for people, but also a support for the community." I squeezed him. "And young kids like you? You're the future of that community so if I say this match is still playing out then it is. The question is, do you have the spirit to fight on? I won't pull my punches."
Joe swallowed and for half a second his eyes darted to the crowd only to shoot back to me. I held in my smile. That was almost progress.
"Yes," he said and I could see a small spark of something take hold.
I nodded. "Good, now what's going to happen is probably one of the toughest things you'll have to endure, but if you can do it with your head held high and come out the other side you'll be better for it. A lot of people will respect you for that instead of just crumpling, so fight on." I smiled. "I'm not going to verbalise it, but I'm cheering for you Joe," I said as I stood up.
"We're continuing!" I announced loudly. Ignoring the way Joe was gaping at me. I gave his shoulder another single squeeze, then I winked at him as I hopped over the railing and jogged back to my own. I nodded to Dennis and my Cradily as I passed.
Dennis coughed and raised his flags. "The pause is now finished! The trainer has one minute to release their pokemon!" he said.
I smiled knowing that technically, Joe had already used up his minute, but we weren't going to penalise him. For all that Dennis preferred to stick to the rules, he knew when to bend them.
Joe took a deep breath and pulled out his next pokemon. "Let's go! Growlithe!" he said, sending out a small pokemon that barked and did a tight circle.
I nodded and restarted the match.
"Ancient Power," I said, causing rocks to lift and rocket straight into the yipping little pokemon.
Growlithe was slammed into and hurled aside only to stagger back to his feet. Joe gasped. "G-growlithe! Use Flame Wheel to get back into the fight!" he ordered.
Growlithe shot forward but I wasn't going to merely bend over and let things play out that easily. "Earthquake, " I said and Cradilly twitched before slamming his body into the ground causing it to buckle and break. Growlithe was thrown up and when it landed it didn't rise.
A flag rose and Joe quivered as the loss was announced. He looked up at me and I nodded.
He returned his pokemon and sent out the next pokemon.
I flattened it even quicker. By the time he reached his sixth pokemon he was shaking physically but he held my gaze and his pokemon registered his need.
As a Pidgey it was a terrible match up, but perhaps sensing his trainers need to keep fighting it fought hard. Dodging and diving in and around rocks that were sent its way while it fought back as hard as it could.
I watched on calmly as Joe rallied only for his pokemon to tire and take a single rock to the body.
Pidgey fell from the air and Joe slumped to the ground. I had the podiums lowered and was at Joe's side. "Hey Joe," I said "Hang in there. It's a rough feeling but you'll eventually get through it."
"Urgh," he said.
I lifted his tiny frame into my arms. "I'll take him to the medbay to rest it off. He fought hard," I announced to the watching crowd.
It started with a single person clapping and I glanced over to find that it was Salvadore standing and clapping. I smiled and nodded in thanks as others rose and applauded Joe's effort.
I shifted Joe in my arms. "Hear that? They're cheering for you, now imagine what it's going to be like when you are victorious."
"Victor…" he said sleepily.
I chuckled. "Just sleep for now," I said knowing that I'd given the kid a taste of something. I just hoped it would take root.
I deposited him with Chansey as Mrs Hooper reached me. "Oh Joe you didn't need to fight that hard," she said with a sigh as she brushed his hair back.
I shook my head. "No, I think he did. He pushed himself today, further than even he knew he was capable of."
I nodded at him. "Hopefully he takes today's lessons and applies himself a bit more."
"He's going to be rather targeted in the playground and outside school for this," Mrs Hooper murmured. "Some of the others are always rougher on him," she said.
"So give him a safe space and stop those other people from bullying him. Don't let it happen. If you have to keep him back for extra training it will suit his goal of getting stronger," I said.
Mrs Hooper nodded. "I'll try everything I can," she said.
"Have him come talk with me, I think he's got some moxy in him," I said over my shoulder as I moved back towards my next challenger.
The next challenge turned out to be much the same, except for one thing.
Interestingly, they dragged the fight out and managed to eke a win for themselves by having a six-team roster. I couldn't be sure, but I had a suspicion that if they'd gone earlier today they might have given up.
Instead, they seemed determined to cling on.
Perhaps Joe inspired them?
I began to notice that all the students that I faced all had the same gumption in their fighting styles. There was a clear break from the earlier matches this morning to now. After Joe's match, I could see a serious shift in the students getting more determined and focused. Instead of just showing up and expecting things to work out they were putting in their best efforts.
Another change that I noticed was that in the stands the waiting students and even those who had already fought were all sharing notes and talking among themselves now. Heh, it seemed they were doing a little last-minute group study.
Good, there was nothing saying they couldn't after all.
When fights were close the kids rallied and fought on. The other students even started up chants to support each other as they realised they could make a difference. More and more of the kids were willing to push themselves. Some of them until they couldn't fight anymore which was a huge difference from previous years' students as two other students joined Joe in resting in the medical bay.
I had to say I was impressed.
By the time the last student for the day rolled around three-quarters of today's students had their badges, a marked difference from yesterday.
Now it was time to see what Giselle, as the Institute's ace student could muster to finish off the day.
224
Giselle stood in the tunnel and tried not to fidget.
She couldn't. No! That wasn't right, it was more like she wouldn't fidget.
She was in control and at peace.
So what did it matter that so far only fifteen of the thirty-six students that had challenged the Gym had passed? That would change. The rest of the students, all ten of them, were going to pass after today, herself included. Then there would be twenty-five out of the forty-six students.
Which… was a passing mark. Not a great one, but still a passing mark.
So what if more people had failed than she'd expected? It wasn't the worst scenario.
She'd need to revise the club activities, reorganise funding and make sure that the slackers were motivated to pick up their act! She and the others needed them to! They also represented Pewter Technical Institute and would be linked with her. Their poor performance meant she'd be tarred with the same brush of defeat!
She was not going to be the year that was found lacking!
Giselle shook her head to dispel the thoughts. None of that mattered for now!
She was going to show them how to do it. She was going to lead the way.
Only… she wet her lips and shifted slightly. She didn't fidget. No, she just adjusted her position, that was all.
She swallowed. It was looking like it hadn't been a good idea to demand that she face a gauntlet like regular trainers did.
She'd just have to back herself now. She'd talked the talk, and now she'd need to walk the walk as her cousin liked to say. He was a rougher sort but he was amusing at times.
One of the helpers of the Gym approached her, the woman's rainbow-coloured hair catching in the lights with each step taken. When she reached Giselle she offered a wink. "Alright, so it's standard that we give trainers undergoing a normal challenge the right to be introduced. Your school didn't want that for everyone else as they just wanted to shuffle you all through. But seeing as you're going the extra effort we'll do the personalised introduction if you want it?"
"Personalised introduction?" Giselle queried as calmly as she could. What was this about the school stopping introductions? People had been introduced, hadn't they? "Do you mean my student identification number?" she asked.
The woman snorted. "What? No! Something lively! Like how the champion is introduced? We don't just leave it as 'This is Lance Third Champion of the League' do we?"
Giselle shook her head.
Rachel grinned. "People hype him up. That's what the introduction is all about, hype."
The woman swept her arm about and Giselle caught sight of a badge stating her name was Rachel. "It's all about personal brand if you would. This is one of the ways to set yourself out from the crowd. Tell people who you are!" Rachel shook her head and sent her hair bouncing. "Colour in the lines of what people know of Giselle, the student of Pewter Tech."
Rachel tilted her head. "Let's start by what your friends call you, maybe?"
Giselle stiffened. "Ah! Well, t-that is to say," Gisells said, suddenly stammering.
Rachel's grin faltered a little only to wave her hand. "No worries no worries if you don't have nicknames for each other. Let's think of something else," she said.
Giselle relaxed. It wasn't that she didn't have friends, it was just that… well they were in Johto.. Or other academies!
Yes! That's right! She thought to herself, perking up.
She turned her mind to the new assignment of creating some 'hype' around herself.
She could see the appeal. "I would like it known that I am the top student!" she said proudly, drawing herself as tall as she could. She almost stood taller than Rachel.
Giselle considered going to her tiptoes but held off.
Rachel nodded, smile still in place even as the woman looked at her more carefully now. "Alright, that's a good start, what else?"
Giselle blinked. "Oh that's…" she suddenly felt unsure. Was that really all she had to her name when asked?
She cast her mind for more options. She was the Student Council president? But that wouldn't matter here. She was the daughter of Stuart Richie entrepreneur, but that was her father's title.
She…
"Yes?" she said quietly. Was that all she had?
Rachel hummed in thought, tilting her head this way and that before shaking her head. "How about playing up your potential? You're a young woman after all, so if you wanted to announce that you were the prettiest lass of Pewter, no one would really get too hurt."
"Eh?" Giselle said. "But, what? No, I couldn't! There hasn't been an official vote!"
Rachel snorted. "I'm pretty sure if a vote happened for who's the prettiest lass, Officer Jenny would be coming down on the organisers for being so pervy."
Rahel waved her hand back and forth. "No this is all creative licence. We take something true," here Rachel indicated Giselle with an up and down sweep of her hand. "And then we stretch it for all its worth. You may or may not be, but no one's going to mind. You're a young woman who's confident, is what doing this says!" she said as she adopted a superheroine pose with her chest puffed out and her head through back.
Giselle's lips twitched. "Creative licence, hmmm?"
She considered it for a moment. She did like the sound of being seen as confident. She nodded. "Yes that would work I think," she said, deciding to commit to a little bit of bravado before she could second-guess herself too much.
Rachel nodded. "Alright, so you're going to face two trainers that will each have two to three pokemon to them. You're allowed to use items to heal up between matches and interchange any of your pokemon with the six you started with. If you send out a Rattata and it is the last out as a match ends you're not locked into using that same pokemon first next time. Does that make sense?"
Giselle nodded firmly. She was well aware of the details of the match. She'd reviewed them extensively. She had a very good idea of what sorts of styles and pokemon Brock could use along with his little Gym assistants.
She just needed to calm down and show the world her best. This was no different than another lesson in Advanced pokemon battling classes. Specifically the practical component.
If she didn't emerge victorious, what good were all the lessons that she attended? What good was all the training she put in. She wasn't the Ace of Pewter Tech for nothing.
Giselle glanced around and when she noted that Rachel was at the end of the tunnel working on her transceiver at a wall-mounted console she relaxed.
She then very quietly said.
"I am woman, and I am strong!" she whispered.
"Hear me roar!" shouted Rachel, causing Giselle to flinch, having not realised she was so vocal.
"Ah! I'm, I was just—" Giselle said, her face flushing red.
Rachel just waved her off. "Hey, there's no need to justify anything to me. I get it. Self Empowerment yo!" she said, raising her fist to the sky. "I'll give you the tunnel and five minutes before I announce you. Watch for the strobing lights, alright? I'll announce you with a roar if you want!"
Before Giselle could say anything else Rachel stepped out, leaving her alone.
Giselle put her hands to her face in mortification.
She'd have to consider silencing the woman permanently.
It was the only feasible solution at this stage.
No one could know her shame.
Perhaps a ghost pokemon in the dead of night? They were in a graveyard yes? There was one nearby.
She'd just need to break away from her minders and whip a few into shape.
Or there were always Hypno. Pokemon that were known to drain their victims with how proficient they were at eating Dreams. Where does one find a pack of Hypno to send at an unsuspecting woman?
No… that was too far.
Rachel leaned back in. "I won't do that though we'll stick with what you wanted," she said.
Giselle blinked. "Oh… good," she said mentally deescalating her plans to silence the other woman.
Rachel smiled and nodded before vanishing back down the tunnel. Giselle pushed aside thoughts of justified murder, something that her mother assured her all women spent serious time on each day.
It was why true crime stories and crime shows were so well-rated.
Or at least according to her mother, that was the case.
Giselle threw back her shoulders and stared at herself in a mirror in the tunnel.
She looked good in her Institute uniform. Like any serious trainee of the social debutant society, she had her uniforms tailored to her.
So what if they needed to be taken in fortnightly as she grew? Such was the price of being well-dressed and presented.
She gave herself a fine inspection as the tunnel lights began to pulse, signalling that it was time. Giselle turned toward the exit and met Rachel just out of sight of the crowd.
Rachel nodded and stepped forward.
"Ladies, Gentlemen and pokemon of all ages! Welcome to this afternoon's final challenge from the Pewter Technical Institute! Today we have the school's jewel! The prettiest lass in the land and the Academy's top student in academics and battling! Giselle!"
Giselle swallowed. That was a bit more than she'd been anticipating but she should have realised that Rachel was one of those sorts that when given an inch, they ran a marathon with the slack.
Giselle ignored it and advanced her head aloft. She deigned to give Rachel a nod of consideration. Then she moved past her and towards the podium as the crowd applauded for her. Sadly the numbers of said supporters were slightly diminished with a few of them whiting out.
She'd visit them before the day was done as was her duty as Ace. She needed to talk with a few of them about upping their efforts with training their pokemon and also their studies if they were faltering here.
When she reached the podium Giselle looked up as a light thrummed to life, shining down onto her opponent. Across from her another young girl stood with her arms crossed and a giant smile across her face.
Ah, they were copying their Gym Leader, if they thought that was going to intimidate her they were wrong. She'd faced down bigger men in her time.
She'd taken them all without any issues.
"—defending the Gym first! Greta Evergreen!" cheered Rachel.
Greta dropped her pose and jogged down the stairs and onto the podium she locked eyes with Giselle and Giselle felt the spark of battle ignite within her.
The referee ran through the normal prematch announcements and then raised his flags. "Trainers are you ready?" They both nodded and the man dropped his flags. "Release and begin!" he shouted.
Giselle palmed her first pokeball with a smirk coming over her features. It was time to show the Pewter Gym what she had. "Go Graveler!" she called.
"Go Graveler!" shouted Greta.
Giselle's smirk widened as her gambit paid off. Both pokemon materialised and took a moment to blink at each other. Then they flexed and shifted from foot to foot as they began taking a measure of each other.
Around her the crowd murmured in surprise at this showing. It was rare to see two of the same pokemon face off. For Giselle, it worked to underline exactly how confident she was in the work she'd put in.
"Defense Curl!" Giselle called, getting the match underway.
"Same for you Graveler!" said Greta.
Both pokemon hunkered down while keeping an eye on the other.
"Rollout!" ordered Giselle.
"Same again! Build up style!" said Greta cryptically.
Both pokemon threw themselves forward becoming tumbling boulders that caused the earth to shake underneath them. With merely their passing boulders shuddered and in a few locations they even broke up and became jagged messes of sharp rocks.
When it became clear that both pokemon were equal in their speed and Greta was happy to play keep away, Giselle decided to change things up.
Giselle shot her hand forward. "Earthquake!" she said.
Giselle's Graveler leapt into the air and as soon as it landed Giselle knew her pokemon would break the field and potentially her foe.
"Hit that boulder and soar!" called Greta. Her pokemon turned and spun straight into a boulder only to be launched up into the air.
Giselle clicked her tongue as her Earthquake missed due to this rather well-timed dodge. Still, with her foe airborne, there was some potential there. "Catch it with Bulldoze!"
"Tighten up and try to hit the ground! Earthquake!" shouted Greta.
Giselle watched with bated breath as her foe tightened up, ready to slam home her own Earthquake while her pokemon closed, attempting to tackle the falling Graveler with a Bulldoze.
Her pokemon rumbled forward and for a second it looked like she was going to be too late only for Graveler to slam home just before the other could touch the ground.
Like two pinballs hitting each other they careened off but Giselle knew her pokemon had come off the better.
Both pokemon staggered to their feet, but Greta's was obviously more unsteady on its ground. A momentary inspection revealed it was still battle-worthy as Giselle expected.
"Earthquake!" Giselle called only to have her move matched.
The field rocked and shook. On the podium, Giselle had to grab the railing as the podium bucked as a small portion of the shift was transmitted to her.
She gritted her teeth as she watched her own pokemon bounce on the roiling ground but was gratified to see Greta's pokemon knocked out.
"Gravler is unable to fight! Graveler is victorious!" announced the referee.
The crowd applauded her and Giselle nodded, pleased at this turn of events. Greta returned her pokemon and gave it a few words of encouragement before sending out her next pokemon, revealing it to be a Corsola.
Oh.
Giselle immediately returned her Graveler, not wanting to lose any early advantage she could. That would be a horrible match up for her, as while the terrain was mostly rock debris, there was a grate that circled the field, making it all too easy for water type pokemon to draw on their element of choice.
This would mean she'd need a different pokemon, but she had something ready. "Go Tangela!"
Her pokemon appeared and she opened her mouth to give a command only for rocks all around the field to rise and rocket into her pokemon.
Giselle stared, caught out by this strange shift. Part of her wanted to cry foul but her mind knew what was going on. She looked up to find Greta smirking at her, her own hand shooting forward.
"Power Gem!" called Greta.
"Tangela Use Vine Whip to destroy the rocks!" Giselle called only for the rocks to slam into her pokemon and stagger it further thanks to the speed of the attack.
Giselle grimaced. She had to give it to Greta, she'd underestimated her. She might have beaten her out with her Graveler, but her Gravler was still tipping the scales in her favour after its defeat.
"Sleep Powder!" Giselle called hoping to bait a specific response with Surf.
"Water Gun straight up!" shouted Greta causing Giselel to frown for a moment only to scowl as she quickly understood what Greta's plan was.
"Vine Whip!" She called as the silvery powder moved towards Corsola. Corsola was knocked away from the powder as well as the glob of water that would have washed off the powder in a moment anyway.
"Recover!" said Greta cheekily, her smile stretching her face.
Giselle hissed in annoyance. This match suddenly became a lot harder despite her advantage. For the Corsola to know Recover it must be extremely highly trained.
"Giga Drain!" Giselle ordered, determining that she needed to regain some health herself only for Corsola to bounce and be launched up into the air where it avoided the green orbs.
"Rock Gem!" called Greta once more.
"Vine Whip!" Giselle called.
Both pokemon unleashed their attacks and both pokemon were hammered by rock and vine resulting in them tumbling away.
When Corsola whined plaintively and collapsed Giselle took a deep breath in relief only to snap her gaze to Tangla who was struggling.
The flags went up and announced her victory but Giselle couldn't hear them, too caught up in the issue of which pokemon to heal. Graveler, or Tangela. As she did this a trio of Graveler emerged thanks to the referee, to break up the Stealth Rocks so they wouldn't impact the next match.
Giselle ignored them as she decided to stick with her Tangela in the end. "Here girl," she called and the tangle of vines trotted towards her as the podium lowered, allowing her to administer the one potion she could between rounds.
Tangela joined her on the podium as Giselle looked up to find Greta had moved off to the side where another girl her age was hugging her and waving her arms ecstatically.
Oh, she was with her friend now, Giselle realised.
How nice.
Giselle looked away, choosing to search for her next foe.
Atop the stairs stood another girl with her arms crossed in the Gym's signature pose.
Once more Giselle wasn't intimidated.
"—Yolanda!" announced Rachel and the hometown crowd cheered a little more as the girl walked her way forward.
Once again Giselle met her gaze only to not feel her heart stir in the same way.
Instead of matching her heated look, Yolanda smiled easily at her. "Ready for a fun match?" she called.
"I'm ready to win!" Giselle called back.
For some reason Yolanda smiled wider at this, nodding along as though she agreed. Giselle held back a grimace. This girl was far too casual about this entire exchange!
Yolanda tossed out her pokemon at the same time as Giselle sent out her Tangela once more. Yolanda's pokemon turned out to be a Lairon.
Giselle grimaced. Another poor match up. Her grass would only impact normally and any poison moves she had Lairon was immune to. Still, perhaps one she could work with this to win?
Her mind played through scenarios as the battlefield only to not like what she was envisioning. "Return Tangela!" called Giselle.
Yolanda nodded along and waved at her pokemon. "Sandstorm," she called casually.
Giselle cursed. She didn't have the pokemon to disrupt a weather move as she wasn't game to bring out her Fearow to this match. So she'd need something that could handle the degrading effects of a rock-type move.
Her mind locked onto her best solution. "Go! Cubone!" she called sending out the little pokemon with a deft flick of her wrist.
Cubone appeared only for the Sandstorm to almost engulf him straight away. Cubone braced stoically and looked to her for orders. Giselle couldn't order Bonemerang due to the intense winds, but she did have other options.
"Dig!" she called.
On the other side of the field, Yolanda made a chopping action and Giselle knew straight away what was coming. She grabbed the railing as yet another Earthquake was unleashed and she was forced to grit her teeth as the battlefield rocked under the impact.
Cubone still preserved for her though, fighting through the no doubt crushing pressure to emerge to slam into Lairon's underbelly.
Sadly it seemed like Yolanda had gotten off a harden as the super effective move wasn't enough to end the exchange. Lairon, now close to her much smaller pokemon suddenly leapt forward, hammering into Cubone and sending him soaring away. Giselle lost sight of him and grimaced.
"Cubone charge back with Stomping Tantrum!" Giselle shouted over the howling wind, hoping her pokemon could hear her. A moment later relief filled her as Cubone, injured, but still in the fight, charged out of the sandstorm before leaping up to slam down atop Lairon's body.
The larger pokemon buckled at the attack and groaned before rolling onto its side, indicating it had no more fight left in it.
Yolanda returned it easily while Giselle inspected her own pokemon. Cubone was limping and obviously on his last legs.
That made two pokemon now severely weakened while Tangela was no doubt tired from the earlier exchange. Giselle swallowed. She felt a wave of uncertainty run through her. Could it be that she hadn't trained enough for this match?
Brock would no doubt be the toughest fight yet.
She shook off her doubts and steadied herself. "Return Cubone!" he called. She eyed the sandstorm and held onto her pokemon, deciding to use the full minute to wait out the effect, then maybe she could send out another pokemon.
As soon as the sandstorm abated Yolanda was revealed, still smiling, pokeball in hand. "Go Graveler!" she called.
Giselle's hand shifted straight away to Tangela only to pause as she noticed something off about this Graveler. It had an awful number of black spots across its body. Usually that would be a sign of poor diet, but that couldn't be true here. So it must mean…
"Go Tangela," Giselle said. Basically the same thing for the moment.
Yolanda's smile grew. "Rachel did warn you that we had three pokemon sometimes yeah?" she said.
Giselle only had a moment to frown before Yolanda's smile turned evil. "Self Destruct!" she called and her electric-rock graveler went straight into meltdown.
Giselle ran through all her options and realised that she had nothing. She could only watch as Yolanda struck down one of her strongest pokemon for this Gym.
As the referee raised his flags to announce both pokemon were knocked out, Giselle levelled an annoyed glare at the other girl. "Does this make you feel strong?"
"Nope! It's not about me being strong, not while I'm acting as a Gym trainer, this is about you," said Yolanda.
Giselle blinked. "Whatever do you mean?"
"This is about exposing weaknesses that you have now, while you can fix them. We've only seen you fight against four pokemon now, and we already have an idea of certain matchups that would work against you and interrupt your flow. That's part of what fighting a gauntlet match is about," Yolanda said, her arms sliding into a crossed-over pose.
Giselle frowned. They'd already picked apart her fighting style from so little information?
They had to be bluffing.
Giselle returned her pokemon. "So you say!" said Giselle, pocketing her pokeball.
Yolanda's eyes dipped to Giselle's pokebelt for a second, a small frown marring her features before they dipped back up. "Hmmm," she replied cryptically as she palmed her third pokeball.
"Go Onix!" called Yolanda.
Giselle exhaled in relief. Onix, a brute of a pokemon typically but one that she could handle.
"Go Wigglytuff!" Giselle commanded, revealing her rarest pokemon. Wigglytuff appeared and locked eyes with the much larger pokemon before adopting a smirk.
"Sandstorm," announced Yolanda casually and Giselle wanted to stop her feet. She did not want to be whittled down like…
She stopped, finding herself already reaching for her pokeball.
That's what Yolanda had meant.
They'd picked up that she didn't like to take unnecessary damage, from things like Stealth Rocks, or from weather effects like Sandstorm.
She could have her pokemon weather it but it would be harder, something she tried to avoid where possible but Yolanda was forcing her hand while pointing it out to her. She would have shot the other girl an annoyed look if it weren't for the forming Sandstorm blocking sight.
She settled for a scowl while taking her hand off her pokeball for Graveler. "Wigglytuff! We're enduring this! Go in with Stockpile first off!"
Wigglytuff made a gulping action and then seemed to shake itself off as sand swept past it.
"Again!" Giselle ordered, waiting for the Onix to appear from the sandstorm.
Her Wigglytuff continued to make a gulping motion until the third time but then, from beneath them Onix emerged roaring and throwing Wigglytuff into the air.
"While you're in the air! Use Disable to stop it from digging again!" commanded Giselle.
A flash overtook Wigglytuff that lanced into Onix causing it to twitch, with that secured Giselle moved onto the next part of her plan. "Swallow!"
Wigglytuff made a huge gulping sound this time before shaking herself off as colour and strength returned to her limbs.
With this, she'd be set!
Then Onix whirled around with a gleaming tail and slammed it into Wigglytuff sending her soaring with a pained cry.
Giselle blinked in surprise only for a memory from the recent talk that Brock gave to the students of the Institute to rise up unbidden. There had been some older gentlemen who were all researchers. Some of them had mentioned Fairy typings and their weaknesses.
Steel was strong against Fairy.
Giselle stared at her struggling pokemon. Wigglytuff must be part Fairy, and not just normal typed. Damn! She hadn't been expecting that. The researchers spoke about Brock knowing more, but for him to teach his Gym trainers as well? That wasn't good. Were any other pokemon on her roster Fairy typed?
She'd need to enquire after her match.
"Wigglytuff is unable to battle!" announced the referee, prompting Giselle to return her pokemon.
Giselle stood, rooted on the spot as she realised she might have bitten off more than she could swallow. What was her next move? Did she have a move?
She realised then and there that… she didn't know. She'd never been pressured like this at the academy. Never when things mattered. They were lessons with set parameters. The tutors had controlled it and praised her before ending the session. They never spoke of being this far in over their heads.
They taught about taking strong positions and converting them into victories by closing out the match.
What did that mean for her? She'd thought she'd started in a strong position but that had turned out to be a lie. So.. what should she do?
She inhaled and considered what her mother or father would say.
So, she decided to straighten her spine and face what was coming with as much grace as she could as a member of the Bridger family.
"Giselle!" shouted a voice from the crowd.
Giselle ignored them, she needed to focus and put her best foot forward. For that she'd need to send out Graveler.
"Giselle!" shouted the voice.
Giselle spared them a glance only to blink in surprise when she spotted Joe of all people with what looked like a bandage wrapped around his head. He stood on the railing with one foot raised and his chest puffed out.
Was this Joe, the boy that she spent hours each week tutoring to help boost his grades and battling performances? Was this the boy who whimpered and cowered?
He was a twig of a boy, that most of the academy either pitied, or looked down on.
And here he was daring to put himself out there to cheer her on.
He looked ridiculous.
What was he trying to be? A one man cheer squad? Or a cheesy action hero with that pose?
Joe opened his mouth. "Giselle if I can fight on so can—"
Giselle couldn't help it, she giggled.
Joe stalled, thrown off by this reaction.
His dopey reaction only made Giselle giggle harder. Giselle crouched down to avoid the crowd's gaze as she lost control of herself, her emotions flooding out of her in a fit of giggles.
She had to struggle to breath and not wet herself with how ridiculous this entire scene had gotten. She stood, wiping the tears from her eyes. She granted Joe a nod.
"My thanks," she said as she found herself reset. She turned her attention back to Yolanda, the girl waiting patiently with her Onix. Giselle firmed her resolve and sent out Graveler.
"Go! Earthquake opening act!" she called.
Gravler landed and leapt into a powerful attack which caused the field to quake.
Onix was hurled about resulting in its quick dismissal. Giselle prepared herself for the next pokemon only for Yolanda to nod.
Giselle blinked. Wait… had she really been about to admit defeat this close from victory?
Giselle found herself stunned. She went through the motions of lowering her podium and spraying a healing potion over her Graveler before returning to her previous spot.
Before she could get too lost in her own mind the lights of the Gym shut off and revealed Brock standing at the top of the podium in his signature pose.
Giselle wasn't…
She swallowed as the darkness around Brock seemed to stare back at her. His form towered from the top of the stadium as his gaze bore into hers with those twin dark orbs.
Giselle swallowed. It had looked goofy on the girls, but when he did it… it had a very different effect.
"So, you want to prove yourself?" Brock said and Giselle could only nod.
Brock snorted. "I've seen what you have to offer so far. Time to show you how far you still have to go," said Brock as he advanced.
Giselle watched him. He didn't do anything but walk down the stairs compared to Greta's skip, and Yolanda's jog. But speed wasn't something he needed. Like a glacier he moved in a manner that was inevitable.
Giselle palmed the first pokeball of the match. She'd need to back herself with some of her … less than optimal pokemon choices but they were still strong.
She just needed to back herself and her pokemon.
Brock raised up his own pokeball. What would it be? Another Onix? A Lairon? One of his rarer pokemon like Cradily? Or even his Solrock?
"Go Persian!" Giselle said sending out a pokemon she hoped would eke out a win or two to start the match off.
Brock responded by sending out Sudowoodo.
Giselle blinked and felt her heart sink. Oh dear.
She'd forgotten about this pokemon.
Perhaps she shouldn't have laughed at Joe's twiggy form earlier.
Still, she raised her head and prepared herself to fight to the last.
225
I ignored the crowd that roared their approval at my pokemon taking to the field, just as Giselle seemed to be ignoring the cheer squad. They'd formed up around Joe, as while he'd been thrown off by Giselle laughing at him, he'd decided to commit himself to the act.
It was probably the best move he could make after having her burst out laughing like she had. Other people might have run but he'd once more proved that there was more to him.
That… or he was just way, way too smitten with this girl.
I had my version of events and I was sticking with it.
"Goooo Brock!" cheered another section of the stands which did draw my eye. On it stood a few of my siblings bar Salvadore, who had moved over to talk with a few of the still-seated Institute students.
Suzie, Cindy, Tommy, and Billy were all happily waving little flags with the Pewter Gym symbol on them which warmed my heart.
Next to them, Yolanda, Greta, and Crystal were all standing with their arms crossed and stoic expressions. I rolled my eyes and shook my head at them before turning away from their trolling.
They'd done that little intro of theirs to tease me, I had no doubt.
If it wasn't so adorable and I was a more tyrannical Gym Leader, I'd have them run laps for that sort of cheek.
Instead of doing that I'd just make them fight a gauntlet of trainers tomorrow with only two pokemon. It was time they tried having the shoe on the other foot and working on their endurance like A.J. was doing.
Still, that wasn't to be my focus in the here and now. I looked up and locked eyes with Giselle.
She took a step back before straightening up her chin lifting in defiance. I gave her a small nod of respect as A.J. acting as today's referee began to drop the flags.
"Begin!" he called.
As was customary, I allowed the Challenger the first move.
"Nasty Plot!" called Giselle and I held in a whistle. If her pokemon had learned that naturally, then that meant her Persian was very well trained. I also approved of a buff move being her first choice.
She was well-read to go for boosting special attacks in this scenario as well with Rock pokemon possessing a naturally strong defense.
Still, if she wasn't going to come to me, I'd have to force her hand. "Stone Edge," I said.
Sudowoodo swept his branch-like limb low into the ground and carved a deceptively shallow cut into the ground only to suddenly hurl a huge boulder up into Persian.
The cat-like pokemon blanched at the oncoming rock and Giselle twitched in surprise.
"Protect!" she cried out and I smirked, glad that I'd gotten that move out of her now.
"Close!" I said and Sudowoodo dashed across the intervening space, his thin limbs pumping in an exaggerated manner that made him look all too comical.
What wouldn't be comical would be if he got within close range of Persian, a normal type.
Giselle proved to be well aware of this threat as she had her pokemon get out of there with a hurried substitute. I once more held in the whistle I wanted to release. Another good move and one that was impressive for its utility.
A facsimile of Persian appeared as a blur took shape behind it only to vanish in a burst of speed a moment later. It vanished so quickly I couldn't track it. I still tried though, and I gained a general idea of the direction that Persian had moved in.
"Abort! Shift soft right!" I called. Sudowoodo, as I'd taught him and other stronger pokemon to do, veered right. Soft right was a call to move roughly thirty degrees to the side. A 'hard right' would get them to charge sixty degrees and a 'juke right' would see them turn a full ninety degrees.
Sudowoodo careened on, dropping the mocking run and instead spreading his arms wide, his smile turning sinister.
When nothing eventuated I could only click my tongue in disappointment. We'd missed our chance and now we were left with a mere illusion. One that cost Persian a portion of its health, or in this case energy, but still merely an illusion.
"Low Kick into a Sandstorm," I said annoyed at having to do this. Sudowoodo didn't work great in situations where he couldn't close with his foe and playing a game of chase in a sandstorm wasn't my ideal way of winning.
Still, it was a way to win, so I couldn't avoid it.
Sudowoodo dropped to his hands and spun, kicking out like a twiggy break dancer causing dirt and sand to be kicked up and a moment later a howl overtook the arena as Sandstorm came into effect. I leaned forward, ignoring the harsh sting of sand across my face.
My attention darted this way and that, tracking for any sign of movement.
When nothing was revealed I gained a sneaking suspicion. "Hammer Arm into the ground!" I ordered and Sudowoodo didn't question me, he threw his fist into the ground.
The earth split, sending chunks flying up and a rumble to buckle outwards.
Persian shot out of the earth with a hiss having gotten close but not close enough. If I could have seen Giselle I would have given her another nod.
That had been a good plan, she'd sequenced her moves into each other well. It seemed the title of Ace of the Institute wasn't a hollow brag on her part.
"Stone Edge!" I ordered once more, seeking to pressure her.
"M-match it with Power Gem!" ordered Giselle with a hitch. Still, she'd surprised me as she didn't try to evade by recalling her pokemon.
She'd been so hesitant to take even a smidgeon of environmental damage against Greta and Yolanda. It seemed that she'd adjusted after Yolanda called her out on her habit.
Sadly it might have created a trap situation for her as she tried to avoid dodging the environmental damage. She might have been better off sticking to swapping out her pokemon.
Ah well, it wouldn't be the first time a trainer has been put off by a stray comment I or one of my trainers had said.
I'd seen enough about that. It was time to test her in other ways while progressing this match.
"Lazy toss into a Hammer Arm," I said, giving another conditional order that had Sudowoodo smirking. He reached into the ground and grasped up another boulder making it as if he was about to use Stone Edge.
Instead, he ripped up a much larger rock and tossed it up into the air, but he did so with a slowness that made it easy for him to leap up a moment later. Both rock and rock pokemon hung in the air for a second, letting Giselle and her Persian see what was coming.
Then Sudowoodo lashed out and a scattershot of rock fired out.
"Power Gem again!" Giselle said as she tried to intercept most of the oncoming attack.
Sadly for her, the rocks didn't come at her in a straight line but instead arced resulting in a wave of rocks crashing down on Persian and eliciting a yowl of pain.
Sudowoodo landed close and once more without being prompted he charged with his arms pumping as he chanted "Su-su-su!" like he was trying to perform a world record sprint.
"P-protect!" shouted Giselle as she was once more caught out.
I leaned forward with anticipation as the dome formed up.
Would it fail?
Sudowoodo cocked back a fist and threw a powerful punch right into it only for the Protect to release a crackling noise.
I clicked my tongue as it held and Sudowoodo made a show of pulling his limb back and rolling his shoulder while glaring at the obviously fatigued Persian.
We had them on the ropes. I had a potential solution for another Substitute if she tried it, not that I thought she would with the cost being too high, but now she needed to find something else.
Another way to claw victory or some result from this exchange.
While this played out the Sandstorm continued around her pokemon, threatening a touch more damage.
Giselle's eyes darted around and she swallowed. "Persian drop the Protect and go on the attack with Metal Claw!" she ordered.
Her pokemon crouched down and then threw itself into a leap just as the Protect dropped. This might have caught another pokemon by surprise, but Sudowoodo was a pokemon that sparred constantly with some of my fastest pokemon in close-range brawls. A leap that was telegraphed? All too easy to put down.
Sudowoodo bowed like a willow branch, but unlike that flimsy tree, Sudowoodo did it to leverage his frame to multiply the force of the Hammer Arm that swung up and clocked Persian in the mouth.
Persian went soaring out of the arena and rolled a few times.
Impressively it tried to get up once before falling on its side, defeated.
A.J. shot his flag up into the air. "Persian is unable to battle!" he announced.
I nodded. "He's well trained," I said.
Giselle merely nodded as she returned her pokemon. Her hands hovered about, assessing the field.
She palmed her next choice and released it to reveal her Cubone. "Cubone! Use Earthquake!"
"Leap!" I shouted as Cubone adopted a two-handed grasp on his bone, raising it up before slamming it down into the ground to cause a quake to run the course of the field.
I felt the podium buck underneath me but a simple flex with my knees had me riding it out well enough.
You couldn't train with Rock-ground pokemon almost every day and not learn how to handle an earthquake or two.
Sudowoodo soared through the air like a javelin.
Giselle snapped her hand up. "Bonemerang!" she said and Cubone spun, swinging his bone up and around before unleashing it. It spun end over end at Sudowoodo and I clicked my tongue.
Clever girl.
"Bat it away with Wood Hammer!" I called, causing a smirk to break out over my features as Giselle gasped.
Sudowoodo swung his arm, glowing green at the oncoming attack and both attacks hit. Sudowoodo was knocked slightly off course but Cubone's bone was sent careening across the battlefield before clattering down, well out of reach of Cubone. Sorry Giselle, you're not that clever.
"Bone!" shouted the little pokemon as it twitched towards its bone.
"Hold! Don't go for it!" Giselle said making sure her pokemon didn't blind itself.
Sudowoodo landed slightly off to the side but still well within intercepting range. He shook out the hand he'd used to bat the offending ground attack away with. Apparently, he had come off with a bit of damage from pulling off that trick.
I shot my hand forward. "Close!" I said.
Sudowoodo, as he had for so much of the fights thus far charged in and Cubone was left floundering for a move. It was without one of the key pieces of its arsenal without the bone.
Giselle gritted her teeth. "Stomp your feet and use Stomping Tantrum! Gomba stomp it!" she called.
I felt a little amusement as Giselle revealed that she must have played Super Mario Bros to know that particular term.
Once more her pokemon jumped, leading with its feet as it sought to 'Gomba stomp' my pokemon.
Well, if she wanted to trade blows, I was more than happy to match her with a Shoryuken.
"Rising Wood hammer!" I shouted while doing an uppercut, getting a little into the spirit of things.
"Suuuuuuuu!" Sudowoodo roared, showing that he was affected by this fighting spirit just as much as I was.
Both pokemon came together, the Sandstorm dying away around them as they did so, allowing a perfect view for the crowd as our pokemon clashed.
Cubone fell like a descending meteor, feet emitting Ground energy as Sudowoodo rose with a glowing green fist and a roar of defiance.
Both attacks slammed into each other and a detonation of energy went off causing both pokemon to be blasted away from each other.
As they shot away I ran some mental math.
Cubone had STAB and type advantage against rock-type pokemon, while Sudowoodo had a type advantage for the move at least and was probably a higher level.
Both pokemon hit the ground.
I blinked in surprise as Sudowoodo stayed down, while Cubone rose, amusingly enough he must have angled his attack so that he'd land close to his bone as he used it to crutch into a standing position.
When it spotted its downed foe Cubone threw back its head and roared a tiny victory warble.
The crowd joined in with their applause and their own whoops of delight that only grew as Cubone began to shine with the light of Evolution.
Its form grew sturdier while rising up as the light intensified.
I'd read an interesting few theories about how Cubone are 'created' regarding Kangashkan, but none of them were entertained as much in this world from what I'd been able to pick up. Perhaps a deeper dive of the pokedexes that I'd been provided by Samuel might shed some more light on the species.
I did find it interesting that the bone also grew with Cubone, forming what appeared the perfect weapon for the pokemon with how it shifted to accommodate for the newly evolved pokemon's larger, stronger grip.
I wonder if a bone densitometry test had ever been conducted on the bones pre evolution and post evolution?
My thoughts were brushed aside as Marowak appeared with a bark. Giselle stood taller and if anything seemed more relaxed with her pokemon success, but I wasn't too worried about Sudowoodo going down like he had. He'd cost her yet another pokemon, and Marowak for all that it was riding high was obviously running low after all the fights it had taken part in along with the build up of damage.
She was two pokemon down with Graveler and Marowak already tired.
Time to increase the pressure. "Let's go! Quirrina!" I shouted, sending out my next pokemon.
The floating representation of the sun appeared and rose elegantly, his eyes locking onto Marowak who raised his own bone in challenge.
I considered the field, knowing that technically Marowak was now at a disadvantage on paper due to my Solrock being 'immune' to ground type moves. That however did not account for a very specific move which could hit hovering pokemon.
I felt a memory stir of how, in the anime, Ash had shown that Cubone's signature move wasn't without faults. I had to wonder if that lesson had been taught to Giselle in other ways?
I decided to try my hand and see.
"Quirina! Rock Polish!" I ordered, deciding to stack the deck in my favour.
"Close in!" Giselle shouted with an energy that had almost been lacking in our fight and compared to her fights against Greta and Yolanda.
Hmmm, it seems she had some of her confidence back. She had good enough poise that it had only become obvious now when she was really leaning into the match that she'd been struggling.
Must have attended a good deportment school.
Marowak charged in, bone raised in preparation to deliver what I had no doubt would be an almighty bonk to my pokemon if it could.
"Rise to me," I said and Quirina did so, turning to give me a look to which I merely winked.
In the space of time he turned and followed my command, Giselle's eyes glittered with glee. "Bonemerang! Now!" she called and Marowak followed.
Its arm pulled back before unleashing a powerful throw that saw the bone sailing through the air with a whistling howl that came and went as the bone spun end over end.
"Confusion," I said with a firmness that could hold mountains in place.
Quirina didn't have to question what my target was as he instantly locked onto the projectile that was bearing down on him.
The bone glowed with a pinkish-blue light and the whirling bone slowed until it got within touching distance of Quirina.
It halted for all of a breath, allowing everyone to witness the 'catching of the bone' that had occurred.
Then, with an ominous slowness, the bone began to whirl back the way it had come.
Only it gained speed quickly.
Before people could realise it was unleashing a deafening howl as it swept in and slammed straight into Marowak's shiny new dome, crowning the ground-typed pokemon and sending it reeling with a headshot.
Marowak fell to the ground and didn't get up.
I nodded. Hmmm it seems with Forrest's inclusion, Ash and Misty hadn't taken the road less travelled, or at least they hadn't veered off to the Institute this time around.
Which was something of a feat now that I thought about it, what with the institute episode happening after Cerulean.
Weird that.
Giselle swallowed and once more showed the poise that I was starting to expect, only this time I could see the fragility in her. The quiver in her hand as she returned her Marowak and the way she wet her lips as she reached for her next pokemon.
Only she paused and did so for a full thirty seconds.
She was starting to crumble, time to nudge her back on the path.
"Do you think this is enough to earn my badge?" I asked, cutting through her hesitation.
She then looked up sharply, her eyes dilating slightly before she could control herself.
"Pardon?" she asked politely.
I waved a hand at the battlefield. "You obviously haven't prepared as much as you thought you had. You expected this to be easier," I said by way of explanation. "Only it's not and you're coming up short. So, the big question now becomes, what are you going to do?"
I gestured behind her. "Call it in for another day?" I said before leaning in and letting out a smile full of teeth. "Or are you going to fight?" I said as I spread my arms out.
"FIGHT!!!!" called Joe only for Giselle to only have eyes for me and my grin.
Fire entered Giselle's gaze not because of the crowd but rather from something going on within her heart. It made my grin turn into an honest smile.
Giselle's eyes darted down before she wet her lips, her hand grabbing her next pokeball which turned out to be her Graveler.
I grinned and set to work on her.
"Quirina! Sunny Day!" I ordered, planning to show her how wrong it was to bring out a Graveler of all things in my gym while facing me.
"Stealth Rock!" Giselle called and I smirked. So, she thought she could still fight through.
Sadly, she was far, far too late. "Solar Beam," I said pointing at Graveler.
Quirina unleashed a powerful beam of light that cast everything around us into shadow. The roar of the beam caused everything else to be lost, however Graveler was able to react by throwing itself into the ground with a dig.
I nodded, it was a good move to dodge Solar Beam, but sadly for her, it played right into my strengths. I didn't say a word for my next command, merely pointing a finger down.
Quirrina didn't even need to look. He merely dropped like a meteor into the ground, causing an Earthquake to erupt from where he impacted the ground.
The earth once more shook and rocked with more and more rocks being turned up to cause the field to look more and more like a destroyed quarry rather than a battlefield.
Dust filled the battlefield only to be extracted quickly.
It revealed a Graveler that was just poking out of the ground. It shook itself off, revealing that it had sturdy, Giselle straightened up. "Rock throw!" she shouted and Graveler got off a close range barrage that slammed into Quirina.
It merely annoyed him as a moment later my pokemon lifted Graveler out of the ground with a telekinetic grip using Psychic. Then he slammed Gravler back into the ground, ending Graveler's momentary resistance.
Giselle's shoulders dropped minutely but her clenched jaw remained. She looked up with me defiantly as she didn't hesitate to pull out her second to last pokemon to reveal it to be a Smeargle of all things.
I blinked, having not expected that.
That was a hell of a twist for her.
"Water Gun!" She called, taking advantage of my surprise.
I waved a hand. "Solar Beam," I said, not at all bothered by the oncoming bullets of water as Quirina countered with a powerful blast of grass-type energy that tore through them and then slammed into the unprepared Smeargle.
"Recover! Now!" Giselle called before any dust had settled and I had to frown. That had come quickly.
She must not have been as confident in her pokemon if she chose to do that so quickly. Perhaps it wasn't up to the level of her other pokemon? She didn't have faith in it at any case.
"Hammer it with Earthquake!" I called, causing Quirina to once more plummet.
"Aerial Ace up high!" Giselle called before my pokemon could hit and from the dust, a flash of light emerged as Smeargle vanished from the ground to appear high in the air.
It hung there for all of a moment with its arms spread wide like it was expecting to hover only to begin falling.
"Stomping Tantrum!" Giselle called as her pokemon descended onto mine.
If she thought this was going to play the same way as it had earlier, she was fooling herself and forgetting what Quirina could do.
"Psychic," I said.
Smeargle lurched to a stop as Quirina directed his mental might against his foe, right before hurling him into the ground.
"Rest!" called Giselle desperately.
"Solar Beam!" I called quickly, my eyes darting to the fluttering orb of fire that was Sunny Day that was sputtering even now. Quirina got off a final, powerful Solar Beam that nailed the still recovering Smeargle, knocking it out of the field and out of the match.
Giselle shut her eyes and sighed before returning it as around us people began to realise the writing that was on the wall.
Giselle had a single pokemon left to my three.
She met my gaze and sent out her final pokemon.
"Furr-et!" called her final pokemon as the little Furret was revealed.
I hummed and shot her a look. She'd left this for last? Interesting.
"Fling!" called Giselle as she once more showed that she wasn't without fangs. Furret grabbed a nearby rock and with a full body flick, sent it hurtling into Quirina, who for the first time reacted with a cry of pain.
Giselle perked up but I was quick to point my hand at her pokemon. "Stone Edge!" I called unleashing a powerful wave of rock that saw Furret battered and beaten.
When it was done it struggled to rise only to collapse leaving Giselle out of pokemon and shaking slightly.
I rubbed my chin in thought. Right… I'd just beaten the Ace.
She looked like she was one stiff breeze from being knocked over and joining the other kids still in the medical bay…
So, how did I want to play this?
Giselle shook. This… this was the tremors that came in before a potential white out.
She'd read about this… but she'd never had to endure this.
She swallowed and stared at her quaking hand. She found she didn't much like it.
There was a hollowness within her that she knew in some unknowable way, represented the lack of energy in her pokemon to fight for her any more.
Giselle felt her breath hitch as the podiums slowly lowered. Desperately she grasped the rail so that she wouldn't fall and shame herself further.
She kept her eyes down and pushed all noises out of her mind as she focused on one thing.
She'd lost.
She, the Ace and pride of the Pewter Technical Institute.
She giggled deliriously and tried to pinch herself. This had to be a bad dream, right?
A shadow fell over her and without looking she knew Brock, the Gym Leader had reached her.
She kept looking down, not able to meet his gaze.
"Hey, you did great out there," he said kindly.
His mere voice caused a reaction in her, Giselle found her head rising like it was being lifted on preset railings until she found herself looking up into Brock's kind face. He met her gaze with warm eyes.
"You have a lot of potential as a trainer. You do have some rough spots to work on, but we can talk about that later when you—"
Giselle found herself unable to hear what he was saying, as instead of words she found herself staring at his smile. Damn, that was a nice smile.
Her eyes tracked down as she took in his body. Oh, hmmm yes, this was a much nicer view than what they had in the Institute.
She giggled and a worried expression appeared on the Gym Leader's face. His hand shifted to support her and she felt warm where he touched her.
Hmmm this would—
'You're being delusional because you lost all your pokemon and are in the process of whiting out.' said a voice directly to her mind.
Suddenly Giselle found her head wrenched to the side and without knowing why, she looked up to find Sabrina the Gym Leader of Saffron City.
Oh, that wasn't good. Giselle couldn't help but think.
Even from where she was standing she thought for a moment she could see Sabrina's lips quirk upwards. Don't let it bother you. I understand the appeal, but perhaps look a little closer to your own age range and not while you're in a bad headspace.'
"Really?" she said with a slur. Most of the boys in her school idolised her.
'You need to sleep,' said Sabrina into her mind. '
Brock must have thought she was speaking to him as she found herself shifting into a laying down position atop a stretcher with Brock on one end while a Chansey carried the other. At her side, the kindly Mrs Hooper was there holding her hand and telling her everything was alright.
Giselle relaxed and let herself fall to sleep.
When she woke up it was to a ceiling that was unfamiliar to her. The smells of a medbay were slightly more familiar to her but never as the patient. She'd always taken her duties seriously and gone in to visit other students. Now that she thought about it. Joe ended up there a lot from messing around during Physical activity and pokemon battling lessons, didn't he?
Giselle shifted, feeling the stiff sheets and mattress move with her.
"Oh! Shut your face she's awake!" said a girl that Giselle wasn't familiar with.
She looked to the side, expecting to see Mrs Hooper or perhaps even her secretary of the Student council but instead, she found herself looking at a trio of faces, only two of which she recognised.
"You're…. Greta and Yolanda?" she said slowly.
The girls, who'd been reading something that looked like a pokedex, looked up. The purple-haired girl smiled after a moment of inspecting Giselle.
"You've got spunk girl!" she said. "Wanna join my gang?" she said.
On either side of her Yolanda and Greta groaned. "This isn't what we agreed on when we said we'd watch over her when Rachel asked us!" Greta said.
Yolanda merely pinched the bridge of her nose. "That, and we're not a gang Crystal," she said.
Crystal ignored them, instead smiling widely at Giselle. Giselle felt an odd feeling in her chest as the girl invaded her private space, she grasped Giselle's hand in hers and said, "Come ooooon, you want to be friends with me, don't you?"
An odd longing filled Giselle and she found herself blinking back tears which caused Crystal to blanche and pull away. Giselle wouldn't let her though.
When had been the last time someone had asked her to be a friend?
"I'd like that," she said.
And perhaps it might have been the odd emotions from being knocked out after her loss, to suddenly finding herself with three people who said they wanted to be friends, but she suddenly wondered if perhaps, just maybe, maybe she hadn't gotten more out of losing than she would have from winning against Brock.