Erin

  —

  "Erin, listen, just because I would like to watch your matches doesn't mean you two need to skip out on the first step in your Journeys!" Raihan sounded exasperated, but I could tell he was also happy.

  "It's too late Raihan, it's done. Viridian Forest sucks as- badly anyways. Just be lucky Galar starts a few days later than Kanto, and you can pre-book Gym Battles here. From what I heard, the first week can get really backed up with young, impulsive trainers that think their freshly caught Poliwag will win them a badge from Brock or Flint."

  Apparently it was very common at all the gyms, in fact. Something like half of young trainers returned home within their first week of Journeying, and three-quarters of the other half returned within the first three months. It was one thing to dream of Journeying and being a powerful trainer. It was an entirely different thing to actually go into the wilds with a single Pokemon and work your way up. Or survive. Roughly three percent of all trainers wouldn't survive their first year. A much smaller percentage than I had expected, sure, but that was a lot of kids, still!

  "They get stuck on their first badge for months, sometimes!" Leaf grinned through a bite of Pidgeotto Pot Pie as we ate around the table that night.

  This world had food every bit as complex as mine, in every way except their seasonings. It's like they thought they were precious and rare, not cheaper than back on Earth! I had been hoping to make a huge pot of chili for our last dinner here, actually, but I wasn't about to pay for nasty Miltank beef, and mom had finally culled the herd of Tauros so badly the remnants had fled back to the plains areas.

  My 'Erin's Improved Pidgeotto Pot Pie' was almost as good, anyways.

  "Besides, I know you want to see Leaf's little troublemaker put some work in." He grinned at me.

  "Which one?" We all chuckled at that, Ms Greenwood's face highly amused.

  "Well, it must be Fraxure, of course! Clefairy has been so well behaved." There was a twinkle in her eye, and I choked on a piece of food as I laughed. Patricia Greenwood may not have gotten further than four badges during her Journey, but the woman had a force to her. The little fae horror'd had no idea what she was about to encounter here. It amused me greatly.

  Leaf groaned a little at the teasing.

  "No, it's going to be me and Fraxure… If he obeys me, we should be fine, right?" She looked questioning as me and Raihan nodded. He spoke up, wiping his mouth off.

  "First badges are generally very simple affairs. It's simply a power check. Is your Pokemon beyond what you would expect a house Pokemon to be capable of? Can your Pokemon pull from greater reserves of type energy? Hit hard? Do something other than just attack? That's all this is. You'd be surprised at the amount of people that bash their faces in on their first Badge for months, still. Fourth badge and onwards is where things get tricky." I nodded at his words.

  "Worst case scenario he's so dam- dang stubborn that he refuses to listen to any commands and does no damage before going down. Clefairy would still sweep Brock, easily. It's after this Gym where he'll have to actually put the work in if he wants to be able to contribute." It was true, too. Her Clefairy was powerful for a wild Pokemon, but if her Fraxure worked with her they would have absolutely no problems with Brock, either.

  "And you, dear?" I had stopped flinching at all the caring she did, because she even did it to Raihan. It was just how she was, not something she was doing to me… is what I told myself.

  "Well, Kallen could decimate Brock's first badge team, so I'm thinking about having Hecate or Seraphina start us off. They need the most experience, even if Seraphina would be at a disadvantage." Her eyes grew concerned at that.

  "Aren't they a little young, dear?" I shook my head.

  "Seraphina is fully grown, she was just… not well tolerated by her mothers harem, and she's a runt. Hopefully that can change with Evolution, though, not that I would care. With Hecate, you're close. She is almost fully grown, old enough to fight, it's her willingness that's in question. She says she's interested, though, so I'll probably let her if she's still feeling up for it tomorrow and it's not a better matchup for Seraphina. Sera's not taking on the Cerulean Gym."

  My adorable little Pokemon was nervous, especially by the prospect of an audience, but she was also determined. Tomorrow's audience should be small, at least. The first day of the Circuit? There couldn't be that many people there.

  —

  There were that many people there. It wasn't a crush of bodies, but the Gym was visibly busy as we flew over Pewter City. The city was smaller, seemingly cut into a small valley that now seemed artificially larger. I could recognize defensive fortifications at various points, however, and noticed that there were several massive, probably still used bunkers at the tops of the valley.

  The entire city seemed built around defense, in fact. The streets were both windy and tight, and wide and open in other places, and with an aerial view I could see that those areas were killing fields for invaders. The Gym was obviously set up as the fallback area, as the entire city seemed to lead to it. Overall, while small, it looked like the kind of city you would need to aerially bombard to have any hope of taking it easily, but those bunkers were huge, and no doubt absolutely packed with technology and Pokemon.

  I truly enjoyed our aerial view of Pewter City. Raihan seemed to as well, directing his phone to take a few pictures. It really was nice up here, seeing the city laid out like a grid, people as small as ants. Feeling the stiff breeze this high up. Enjoying the feeling of incredible height.

  "Okay, pictures are good! Great, even! Let's go!"

  Leaf, however, wasn't having such a great time, held in Flygons arms as we hovered over the city. The dragon was being oddly compliant, none of the 'accidental' slips that he was apparently known for. I don't know what she did, or how she did it, but I felt proud of my little protegee. She had something on the dragon, probably blackmail, and it warmed my heart to see.

  She was doing so well recently!

  "You heard her, buddy! Nice and gentle to the Gym, please." Flygon trilled and dropped, his wings suddenly still for a few seconds. Me and Leaf barely had time to scream before we were moving again, at a nice, sedate pace. I tightened my hand on his neck, but his trill of amusement only grew louder.

  I was really going to miss this dragon. The others were too scared or intimidated by me to really interact beyond saying hello. Flygon? Flygon lived to annoy that which terrified him. He was like the most personable housefly imaginable.

  We touched down in the small designated landing area at the Gym. It looked just like it had in the anime, a gargantuan, plain boulder. Somehow, it was a dilapidated looking boulder, even though the sidewalks, railing, paths, and outdoor facilities were all in good repair. The boulder just looked… sad? Old?

  There were even a series of outdoor arenas, all currently filled by a variety of children battling. I say children, but most were probably thirteen, thankfully. I know the age restriction rising had caused Leaf and those like her a lot of heartbreak, but I only had to make a fist to feel the reminder of why letting ten year olds go on Journeys was a bad idea. Thirteen was still young, still a kid, but infinitely better than a ten year old child.

  I mean, apparently Youngsters were a thing, considering that had been the stopgap measure for those kids like Leaf. She might have messed up with Fraxure, but she was smart enough to stay away from those. It was 'You can have up to a Rank 2 Pokemon, full stop, stick around your city.' That was basically it. Much better to raise your handling limit than be stuck with a Rattata for years… Not that they couldn't be powerful, and well trained, but still.

  Thankfully, I wasn't a kid! I was… fourteen…

  Fuck.

  Raihan began to steer us towards the busy entrance.

  "Let's go get you two checked in, if you're late when they call you you lose your slot. Plenty of people wait like Mandibuzz to snag empty time slots." It certainly seemed to be the case, considering the large number of trainers whose heads turned towards us as we walked in. A few moments later we had checked in, receiving our time-stamped tickets. Leaf would go first, then me.

  We stepped outside to wait, but the second the trainers outside saw us leaving the Gym so quickly after entering they pounced.

  "I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!" Leaf looked amused at the enthusiasm.

  "The wait's a few days, let's battle, green!" The girl pointing at me was about to lose her finger. Possibly the hand. Maybe just the finger…

  Hand?

  "No, battle me!" Random boy number two spoke up, this time to both of us, apparently. What was with these- Ugh.

  I clapped my hands, taking a deep breath to calm the anger that was even now building. They were kids. Being kids. As kids do.

  Which I am not.

  "No! The answer is no for all of you! We have an appointment because we're not idiots, we're just waiting for our turn! Shoo! Shoo!" Most of them turned away, disappointed, but one kid remained, glaring at me.

  His eyes widened when our eyes met, however, and he quickly turned his glare on Leaf. Raihan stood behind us, completely ignored. To be fair, Raihan was an adult, even a very young one, closely following two younger girls around. I could forgive people thinking that he was our… chaperone.

  Even in my own mind the thought was bleak.

  "I still challenge you! If you're dumb enough to challenge Brock the first day, then you're too weak to be worth his time! You haven't even trained, I bet!" I grinned at his tone. A cocky little kid, desperate to prove that he had something. He had chosen his words poorly, however.

  I glanced at Leaf. The poor girl was uncertain, but my nudge got her to firm up her shoulders. She then got a look in her eyes. I'd say she was trying to look devious, but it came out looking more adorably impish than anything else as she raised an Ultra Ball to her lips.

  "Did you hear that, baby? Someone just called you weak." The ball shook, but didn't break open. Her little troublemaker had earned himself some more privileges, mainly the ability to clearly sense the outside world when he wanted to. He still couldn't release himself, obviously, but if he kept it up, he might be releasing himself in a few months time.

  We moved to a freshly-cleared arena, and me and Raihan grabbed some of the abundant concrete blocks that served as seating. There was a constant crowd in the area, and we soon had a decent little audience as the kid and Leaf both approached the auto-referee. I had found it fascinating, but it made sense. Out on the road there were no barriers, no referees, but right next to a gym? You couldn't have unauthorized battles, and hiring that many people to act as referees would be ruinous.

  They both scanned their Trainer Cards and retreated to their respective sides. A thin barrier sprang up around the field before a scratchy, synthetic voice called out.

  "This will be a one on one battle until surrender or unconsciousness. Duncan Rhodes, please send out your Pokemon first."

  The kid, Duncan apparently, sent out a large Nidorino, the quadrupedal poison Pokemon taking a moment to let out a little cry before he settled back on its haunches. He looked healthy and happy, glancing at his trainer with obvious affection in his eyes, but my smile only grew as Leaf raised her Ultra Ball. That Nidorino's day was about to get a whole lot worse. I felt bad, but not too badly… It could be a Pidgey instead…

  Okay, I feel a little bit bad, for sure…

  "Leaf Greenwood, please send out your Pokemon."

  Leaf's Fraxure came out with a roar, and he dug his claws in the second he landed, prepared to charge. He held still though, as Leaf snapped out a sharp 'hold'. He turned back around to glare at her before hunching over, his back claws tearing at the dirt as he swung his face, and blades, around. His eyes practically shone with anger, and the Nidorino shivered as their eyes met. Poor thing…

  Oh Arceus, I should have sent Hecate out… No, he's not as bad of a murderous maniac anymore… Training him is funny…

  "The match will begin in three, two, one… Begin!"

  "Nidorino, use Poison Sting!"

  "Dragon Claw into Bite!"

  Nidorino let out a barrage of bright purple needles of poison energy from its open mouth that rushed at Fraxure, but the constant beatings- I mean, training- with Clefairy and my team had given him the reflexes necessary to dodge out of the way of the admittedly fast attack even as he maintained his charge. He practically spun sideways out of the way of the spikes even as his feet dug in without stopping. That was a well trained Nidorino with that fast, accurate Poison Sting, but he was obviously freshly-evolved. That would explain why he tripped when trying to sidestep the Dragon Claw rushing at his face. He should have been able to dodge, honestly. Fraxure was… weak for his species.

  Nidorino managed to avoid the Move with his face, eyes widening as the glowing claw flashed past his eye, but his shoulder was still struck, sending him tumbling back in an unfocused burst of purple energy. Fraxure didn't give him the time to recover, either, rushing in with a dark aura surging around his jaws. He clamped onto the front of the Nidorinos neck, right in between the spikes, and began to thrash around, savaging the poor poison Pokemon with his teeth and blades.

  Fuck, I knew it…

  The unfortunate Nidorino began to scream, and thankfully a red light absorbed him a moment later. Leaf's face was a calm mask, but she'd had her mouth open to call him off before the Nidorino was returned, along with his ball in her hand. Good. She had some control over him, but full control was still a long way off.

  The two met each other in the middle of the arena, the boy stomping his way over with a red face, and he was gone by the time we got to Leaf. She turned to us with a wide smile that was only slightly uneasy, her eyes happy but tense.

  "That was my first battle! I won! He listened! Mostly!" I gave her a wide smile and a one-armed hug, happy for her.

  "Good job, Leaf. He was easy, so don't get cocky, but your Pokemon didn't even take a hit, and followed a combo order. He needs to work on his Dragon Claw, though. That energy was way too fragile, it should have held together. We all know what he did wrong, too, but it wasn't that bad, for him. He could have torn that Nidorino's throat out if he had wanted to. It's certainly progress, still." Her smile was wide, right up until Raihan's huge hand slammed onto her head and began to twist.

  "Good job, kid. Maybe a little firmer on the orders, well, order, but he followed it. That's a good sign." He continued to ruffle her hat as she scowled at him, and I smiled.

  Leaf had needed that win, honestly, even if it had barely been a fight. She had needed to be shown that she had changed, that she wasn't the same sad, weak girl she had let herself become. She might not be confident yet, but she was learning to fake it, at least.

  The intercom crackled into life, announcing the number right before Leaf's. We took that as a sign and made our way back inside. There was no viewing area from the lobby, but there was a door to the audience area, so we left Leaf there with good wishes.

  I smiled as she stood there in front of the Challengers entrance, taking deep breaths. She looked nervous, of course, but the girl also looked determined. She looked a little like her artwork at that moment, actually… I caught Raihan watching her too and we shared a smile before entering the audience section.

  It wasn't huge, and could probably only hold a couple hundred people at most, like a high school gym. Most of the space was dominated by the boulder-strewn field ahead of us. I was suddenly very glad that I'd had Leto use Ancient Power to make our training grounds. It was extremely similar, so our Pokemon should be at least somewhat used to the field type.

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  It looked like the battle was already over, a young kid walking away, head hanging low, his face red. He looked to be doing his best not to cry, and I felt a surge of pity as we took our seats. Me and Leaf were in somewhat unique situations with our Pokemon, them being older and more trained.

  For most thirteen year olds, they had only received their starter Pokemon the day before, usually from a family member, school, Pokemon Center, Gym Leader, or for a very rare few, a Professor. Those with no support system were still able to apply for assistance. Everyone was entitled to a Pokemon, and to start a Journey, but government-issued Pokemon were… substandard. There were for sure strong Raticates out there, but starting with a Class 1 Pokemon was slow, even if you weren't restricted like Youngsters were.

  A few had gotten Pokemon early, like Leaf, but unless their parents were solid trainers, the Pokemon would probably be barely trained, and far weaker than they were expecting. Like Leaf, once again. Her Fraxure was especially weak for one of his species, due to him forcing the Evolution far earlier than even Raihan had ever heard of. He was still a Fraxure, but he should have been able to poke that Nidorino really hard and win. He had been evolved for two months! We were fixing that now, but still, it highlighted a problem that most young trainers faced.

  Most people attempting the Gym this early were overconfident, and running headfirst into the brick wall that was Brock had to hurt. The man himself looked like he was straight out of the anime, if older. He sat cross-legged on a boulder, but he wasn't meditating. He was leaning forward on his knees, watching the boy exit with a complicated expression on his face. I saw it go back to a blank mask, however, as Leaf entered to the referee's call.

  "So, you think you have what it takes to win my Badge?" His voice was hard, and despite myself, and the memories of him in the anime, I found myself a bit intimidated by him. The realization made me grin, however. Leaf straightened her shoulders before replying, her voice mostly steady.

  "I do, and I'm here to prove it!" Her smile trembled, but Brock's smile was warm at her response before he went back to doing his portrayal of a brick wall. Brock had always been a kind guy, not to mention, you know, raising too many younger siblings. Even if he could apparently turn the intensity up when he wanted to.

  The referee held up a flag and began to speak.

  "This will be a two versus two First Badge Gym Battle! As the Gym Leader, Brock will release his Pokemon first, and be unable to switch! Challenger, you will release your Pokemon second, and will have one switch available to you! The matches will continue until surrender or knockout! Are there any questions?" At their head shakes he continued.

  "Gym Leader, release your first Pokemon!" Brock smiled and tossed out a Pokeball. I was expecting the round rock with arms, since Brock always started with a Geodude in the games, but I wasn't expecting the eyebrows it had, nor the short, spiky hair. It was an Alolan Geodude, and instead of Rock/Ground, it was Rock/Electric. A nasty surprise for the beginners with their baby water Pokemon, I was sure, but not so much for Leaf.

  "Challenger, release your first Pokemon!"

  When her Fraxure came out this time he was still as a few surprised murmurs rang out. He was completely unmoving, and I grew worried, but only for a second. His eyes were going crazy looking around, and I could see the very moment he realized his audience was this large. There had been maybe a dozen people outside for his first match. There were easily fifty here, the numbers in constant flux as families left or arrived, people ate while watching, there was even what looked to be the local Bug Catchers Club on one end of the seating.

  Fraxure smiled, a wicked, dangerous smile, as he glared at the Geodude. The poor Geodude looked alarmed by the look on the other Pokemons face, and I couldn't blame him.

  Fraxure had gotten really good at breaking rocks this past week. Even if I had to stop the maniac from using his blades… Go ahead, break them off on rock before you strengthen them, dumbass. Don't come crying to me when you can't cut shit…

  "The match will begin in three, two, one… begin!"

  "Geodude, Rock Polish!"

  "Fraxure, Taunt!"

  I smiled as Leaf made the correct call. Fraxure seemed to duck down, his head swaying like a snake as he hissed out something, his face locked in a huge sneer. Whatever he said, it was bad, really bad, knowing Fraxure, because the shine beginning to build around Geodude immediately died down as it glared at Fraxure. Brock grinned and called out.

  "Spark!"

  "Bite into Dragon Claw!"

  Electricity sparked around the Geodude as it launched itself at Fraxure with its arms, the dragon meeting the rush with a dark Bite that sent shards of stone flying from the impact. The Geodude was already contracting into a Defense Curl as the jaws released it, but the Dragon Claw that followed up the Bite still knocked it back a few feet, large scratch marks clearly visible on its front. Before Leaf could even order another attack, however, Fraxure had pounced.

  He was actually doing extremely well, Dragon Claws and Slash's flying from him in a frenzy as Sparks discharged randomly, but the look on his face was bad. His blood was up at this insignificant, weak thing that had dared to try to be tough in front of him! In front of a dragon. With one final Slash the Geodude went down, overwhelmed by the rush of attacks. Brock's face was worried as he returned the Geodude, scrutinizing the angry dragon with a small frown.

  "Fraxure, that's enough! Good job, but it's time to stop. Come here." Leaf's voice was firm, despite the undercurrent of anxiety I could clearly hear, and with a growl her dragon took a deep breath before stomping back to his half of the field. He spared his trainer a short sneer before facing Brock again.

  "That's certainly an… interesting Pokemon you have, there." Leaf blushed at the man's words, stammering out her reply.

  "Y-Yeah, we're working on it right now! We've both gotten a lot better, though!" His eyes narrowed- well, he squinted harder at her for a moment before he smiled.

  "Well, don't try to rush those kinds of things. Sometimes they come around, it might just take time. Now…" He pulled another Pokeball from his belt.

  "Good job getting past Geodude, but this one's a little bit different to fight." The large, rock-snake that appeared wasn't a surprise, but I still let out an embarrassing squee at the sight that drew an amused snort from Raihan. I had always thought Onix were so cool, and they were even cooler in real life, huge and intimidating as its boulders ground together.

  Fraxure stared upwards with an open mouth for a moment before smiling. It was his usual mean smile, and I had a bad feeling suddenly.

  "Second Round, begin!"

  "Onix, Rock Polish!"

  "Fraxure, Taunt!"

  Either Brock liked to gamble, or much more likely, he correctly predicted that Leaf's rebellious Pokemon would disobey her this time when confronted with a huge challenge, because even as the giant rock snake began to twist on itself, smoothing its boulders out against each other, Fraxure let loose a Dragon Claw. The attack dug in, but only barely before the rapidly-increasing speed of the Onix pulled the small wound away. I could see Leaf's face crumple in frustration as an unannounced Tackle sent her Pokemon flying back.

  "Onix, Dragon Breath!"

  "Fraxure, Leer!"

  Imagine my surprise when I found out Leer can interrupt moves here. It just depended on the Leer-er, and Fraxure? Fraxure's happy face was the subject of small Pokemons nightmares. His Leer could actually interrupt Clefairy. Sometimes. Occasionally. I had seen it happen, just not often…

  Clefairy was too powerful, honestly.

  Fraxure was not happy to see a non-dragon use a dragon-type move, however. With a low growl he rushed forward, managing to actually dodge the Dragon Breath by a hair's breadth, only to bounce his claws off as the Onix once again pulled away from any true damage he might be able to do.

  The little dragon hissed up at the rock snake, but before he could attack again a red light swallowed him up. I saw Leaf talking to the ball, and I could lip read and estimate well enough to figure it out.

  "If you don't follow my orders, you don't fight."

  She sighed, looking up at Brock and the announcer.

  "Sorry, I'm withdrawing Fraxure from the match." Brock nodded at that.

  "He looks to be powerful, but you must have your hands full with him. A good call on your part, though. A rebellious Pokemon just gives me too much leeway, too much control over the match." She gave an embarrassed laugh and shake of her head.

  "He's… something else. That was still progress, though, so one day!" He smiled as she pulled her second Ultra Ball out.

  Clefairy bounced out with enthusiasm, looking around at the crowd with wide eyes for a moment before turning to look at Leaf. She smiled, and suddenly I was worried for an entirely different reason.

  "Fraxure was being his usual self, so it's up to you, Clefairy!" The little Pokemon gave a nod, and after glancing at both trainers the referee brought his flag back down.

  "Match Resume!"

  "Onix, Rock Polish!"

  "Clefairy, Copycat!"

  The two Pokemon shone brightly for a moment, exchanging glances as Leaf grinned.

  "Clefairy, Defense Curl!"

  "Onix, Rock Throw!"

  Clefairy shone once more, and she was hit by a number of large rocks summoned from thin air, sending her lightly flying, fae bullshit being what it was. She grinned tightly while holding her stomach, and I could almost see the shine smile. Despite myself, I felt bad for poor Onix…

  I actually liked her, quite a bit, but she was a terror.

  "Clefairy, Defense Curl!" Leaf's grin was wide now.

  "Onix, Wrap!" Brock's, on the other hand, wasn't smiling. He knew what her goal was. Not hard when she's just spamming buffs.

  Even as the large rock snake wrapped itself around the tiny Clefairy she was once again shining, and I saw a wicked smile on her face even as she was cut off from view.

  "Clefairy, Sweet Kiss!" Leaf looked so vicious right now!

  I felt so proud!

  We didn't see the Move land, but we could see the effects almost immediately as the Wrap loosened, Onix hurriedly trying to snatch the fairy as she bounced out of its suddenly-loose coils. It looked drunk, honestly, and Leaf's smile was huge as she spoke.

  "Gravity into Stored Power, Clefairy!"

  Her little horror's eyes shone as a wave of crushing power expanded over the Onix. It wasn't a damaging move, and the Gravity probably did a lot less to the rocky serpent than it did us, but it didn't need to do anything. Just stop the Confused Onix from doing anything quickly.

  Like dodging.

  Clefairy leapt into the air, letting herself be caught in her own Gravity as Psychic energy gathered. Not on her hand, or her feet, or above her head. No, she brought down a tiny elbow of pain on that giant rock snake's back. Onix roared in pain, thrashing around as it tried to dislodge the small horror.

  Clefairy just used its undulating movements to leap, and with another crushing wave of Gravity and a psychically-enhanced elbow to the face, the huge snake went down with a huge crash.

  I clapped along with the crowd, and I was proud of Leaf, but… first badge battles were boring, honestly. The trickiest thing Brock attempted was to make his rock Pokemon, stereotypically slow, faster. The rest of the match had been a slug fest.

  Not that I had really expected much different. For the average kid that came here with his Rattata, Metapod, and if he was lucky a Mankey, this Gym was a huge hurdle. Pewter was actually not a very popular first Gym here, because Rock types hit hard when they hit, and they had endurance. Trained Pokemon acted a lot differently than wild Pokemon, as well, so even those who thought themselves experienced inevitably found themselves in for a rude awakening.

  I was next, so I headed below. I passed Leaf on the way, but I barely had time for more than a brief hug with the beaming girl before she was gone, practically skipping towards the stairs.

  I walked out to the challengers podium as the announcer called my name.

  "So, think you can put up as good a fight as your friend up there?" Brock nodded up at Leaf, who had just sat back down, hugging Raihan a little too tightly if his expression was accurate. I knew that expression. He really wanted her to loosen that crushing hug, but she was a happy kid.

  I smirked at Brock. Just a bit sharply.

  "I think I'll put up a fight so good, you'll cancel the rest of your matches today." He laughed.

  "Sorry, but even if you pulled out Lance's Dragonite, I have backup Pokemon." His face grew serious. "Are you ready?" He lifted a Pokeball and I gave him a nod.

  "This will be a two versus two First Badge Gym Battle! As the Gym Leader, Brock will release his Pokemon first, and be unable to switch! Challenger, you will release your Pokemon second, and will have one switch available to you! The matches will continue until surrender or knockout! Are there any questions?" We shook our heads.

  "Gym Leader, release your first Pokemon!" A three-foot tall water hydra popped out, a Lileep. It's strange central stalk turned its face towards me, and I smiled at my luck. The next gym was water, and this gym wasn't great for her, but that was a Rock/Grass Pokemon. It was a better opponent than a water Pokemon, at least, even if fire would be useless.

  "Challenger, release your first Pokemon!"

  "Seraphina, you're up, sweetheart!" She came out with her limbs splayed, ready to dart away at a moment's notice. The marking on her back and tail was already starting to heat up, glowing softly.

  There were a few soft gasps in the audience at her appearance, and I smiled a bit wider as Brock's eyebrows rose. Still hadn't seen his eyes yet, but I assumed they existed. Somewhere. Surely…

  Was he like, a psychic that could only see with it or something?

  "The match will begin in three, two, one… begin!" The referee was professional, at least.

  "Lileep, Ingrain!"

  "Seraphina, Poison Fang!"

  My little Pokemon darted forward towards the Fossil Pokemon in a bounding run, and I could see its weird leg-things digging into the dirt and stone, holding it firmly in place. It would also start healing itself over time, though I didn't exactly know the rate here in real life.

  My gecko's Poison Fang tore into its soft-looking fronds, however, and a black discoloration began to spread from the bite. I didn't have time to be happy, however, as the fronds abruptly latched onto her! Shit, I should have figured that would happen…

  "Nice Wrap, now Mega Drain!" Brock cheered on his Pokemon.

  "Sera, light it up!" I was mildly panicking, but as long as she could pull this off we should be fine.

  'Light it up' was just a simple code phrase for 'get as hot as you possibly can.' Simple and effective if your opponent had grabbed you. Her marking suddenly flared up, and Fire type energy immunity wasn't heat immunity. My little gecko wasn't immune to her own heat either, and still took a little damage as the heat rebounded, but the Lileep reared back, flinging my determined Pokemon away. As soon as she hit the ground she began bounding for a tall boulder, going bipedal momentarily as she threw a few useless Embers at the Lileep. I should have told her poison only…

  Lileep didn't move, obviously, but Brock's cry of 'Ancient Power' was unnecessary. Floating rocks the size of my hand appeared and began shooting towards my Pokemon, and it was only thanks to her training that she was able to avoid them all in a series of jumping rolls. Now she was stuck on top of a boulder that the Lileep wouldn't approach, while the Lileep was stuck in position, badly poisoned.

  I had to imagine that eventually the poison would wear it down over the Ingrain's regeneration, but neither me nor Seraphina wanted to drag this out that long.

  "Smog Ember, Sera!" Brock's face contorted at the order and I smiled.

  See, Smog was a move that exploded in a radius, the origin being right in front of the user. You couldn't throw the Smog, it would just explode on contact with the air. Great for disengaging from melee, really. However, if you took a Smog and encased it inside an Ember, and didn't just burn the poison up, you had a smoke bomb.

  The small cloud of smoke that sprung up around the Lileep was glorious, and I couldn't help but let out a little yelp of satisfaction. We had worked so hard on that combo! Unlike Poison Fang, my little gecko wouldn't have to worry about getting close to poison, or worsen a poisoning. It was weaker than Poison Fang, for sure, and even weaker than a normal Smog as many parts of it burned up before impact, but it was far more versatile.

  Ranged poison attacks that make visual cover? Yes, please.

  I could see the Lileep frantically swaying in place, unable to resist the poisons that hung in the air around it. I let out a vicious grin at the sight.

  "Poison Fang, Sera!" My little gecko leapt from her boulder, darting through the cloud of poison with her eyes grinning more than usual. With a leap she had sunk her fangs into another frond, and by the time she had retreated back outside the fog the poor Lileep was swaying, barely conscious. An instant later it was gone, absorbed into red light. Brock gave me a smile as he shook his head.

  "That was kind of brutal, even for a poison type. What was with that move, too?" I smiled and shook my head right back at him.

  "Thanks! The Move's a trade secret, unfortunately." My grin was wide as I almost lied. It was a trade secret. My trade. It was also simple as shit, and I had found examples of similar 'combo' moves all over the PokeNet. I looked down at my little gecko. She was breathing hard, but I still asked her.

  "Want to keep going, or let Kallen have his fun?" She looked up at me and gave it serious thought, then pointed at the ball. I smiled as I recalled her, holding the ball up to my mouth to quietly speak.

  "You did so good, Sera, and you had a disadvantage. Just remember that the next time you feel bad about yourself, sweetheart." I smiled and put the ball back on my belt, pulling another off.

  "I'm withdrawing my Pokemon!" The referee nodded, then pointed at Brock.

  "As the Gym Leaders Pokemon fainted first, release your final Pokemon first, Gym Leader!" A large, quadrupedal Pokemon came out, thick plates of metal clanging off of it as it thumped into the ground. A Lairon, and Brock looked apologetic as he began to speak.

  "Normally you wouldn't see a Lairon in a first badge battle, but he just Evolved today. Remember, a loss doesn't mean no badge. Passing my test means a badge." I laughed at his words, and kept giggling as his expression grew confused. Eventually I regained enough control of myself to speak.

  "Sorry, sorry, it's just, I was going to feel bad about this, but maybe he'll have fun, now?" I smiled at his confused face and released my little buddy.

  Kallen came out with his usual flip, winking at me as he did so. Then his eyes locked onto the Lairon and he growled, a sound I had never heard from the Pokemon before, not even when that Mankey hit me in the head with a rock!

  Not sure how I feel about that, Kallen… you little shit.

  "Trainers, are you ready?" We nodded.

  "Final round, three, two, one…begin!"

  "Lairon, Roar!"

  "Kallen, Smokescreen Water Gun Barrage!"

  Brock was in for a rude awakening if he thought the Roar of a Pokemon like Lairon would even startle Kallen at this point. We had all undergone resistance training to the Move led by my mother, and would slowly add in others as well. I wouldn't like to have my head separated from my body because I froze from a Move like Roar or Screech in the future.

  Screech had already done it, once.

  He really must not have anticipated Kallen barely flinching as he took the Roar head-on, before a barrage of Water Guns came flying out at the Lairon even as Kallen exploded with smoke. We had discovered that while Kallen's accuracy did suffer from being inside his Smokescreen, it affected other Pokemon looking into the smoke even worse. Throw out three Water Guns like a shotgun blast, however, and something would hit.

  So when Brock called for a counter barrage of Rock Tombs, it was no surprise to me when Kallen still slid out of the smoke perfectly fine. Even as the Lairon turned, eyes flashing, he was once again exploding into smoke with a flip.

  Because my little kelp dragon was having fun.

  We had worked on this strategy extensively. Kallen was tougher than Seraphina or Hecate, but that wasn't saying much. He couldn't let himself act like a tank and absorb damage, so instead he made himself impossible to hit.

  The cloud of smoke was starting to dissipate now, and the Lairon roared in glee when a particularly large Rock Tomb smashed into 'Kallen'. Its roar abruptly cut off when a Water Gun slammed into its face, two Kallens now off to the side doing backflips before once again exploding into smoke.

  "Okay Kallen, that's enough playtime! Half power!"

  Brock's face fell as I said that, and the Water Gun that slammed into the Lairon was nothing like the previous ones. It was thinner and far more powerful. It pushed the Pokemon back an inch, then two, then finally sent the Lairon flying backwards to slam into the barriers. Brock recalled the unconscious, twitching Pokemon with a confused face as I smiled.

  "Nice job Kallen! Good job holding back, and good job with the Smokescreens! I told you you would be a menace, didn't I?" He slammed into my arm like usual, making little squelchy noises up at me as I stroked his head.

  "Your team is certainly well trained for your first badge." I blushed as I stopped petting Kallen and met the eyes of the Gym Leader who had come to meet me. He was smiling, but there was a bit of a frown there. I gave a weak laugh as I took the Badge he handed me.

  "Yeah, well, I have two weaker Pokemon, but I wanted to win, so…" He chuckled at me.

  "If that Salandit is your weak Pokemon, you're going to go far then. She did well against my Lileep, and your Skrelp is… enthusiastic." I laughed

  "Yeah, that's one way to put it. He was happy to put all that practice to the test."

  He stuck his hand out in front of him, and I gripped it tightly.

  "Congratulations on your Boulder Badge, Erin. I'm certain I'll see you at this year's Conference." I tried not to blush as I shook his hand.

  I failed.

  Damnit.