"Nope. You're boned."
"Come on, Barry! Don't do this to me! Tell me what happened in the fight before she gets back!"
"Hmmm..." He hums, tapping his chin while Ash hides a smile at my expense. "Zoey lost."
A deep breath hisses through my nose as teeth grind against each other. Leaning over the back of my chair, I loom over Barry, grab his shoulders and shake him up. "I can see that." It says so in thick print on the screen. Brock and Onyx win. "I need to know the details I have missed."
"Oh, sure. Brock had used the pokemon center to have Onyx sent to him from his hometown. He was being a try-hard who really wanted to win."
"From the home CITY where he used to be a gym leader?"
"Yep."
"What a try-hard. But that's not what I meant. Why are you doing this to me?"
"Remember when you had to run naked through the city because your pokemon burnt your clothes?" He points out one of the memories I tried to forget about. "It's in the newspaper, mate. And you told the lady at the hotel lobby that you're Barry Pearl, knowing that I would check in on the next day."
That was so funny. "Revenge? Really?"
"Yep."
"I can't believe you're so petty."
Barry just chuckles and rolls his eyes. "You're the petty one."
"Nah. I'm humorous."
"And you have a massive ego."
"True." Fuck. Zoey is approaching the stairs now. The post-match banter ended. "Come on, Barry. Just a little detail? Who did she fight with? Glameow?"
"Alright. It was..." He hesitates. Zoey walks along the catwalk. Her steps are cautious and careful as if every eye landing on her judges her for her fight. "Glameow." Barry whispers.
Zoey arrives, and just like with Dawn, I grab her as she passes by. She lets me do it as if she were a lifeless rag doll.
"Hey."
"Hi." She stares at her lap, past my hands that lock around her stomach like a seatbelt. "I lost."
"... How is Glameow doing?"
"I fought with Mismagius. I didn't think I'd get very far in the tournament, so I went all out on the first round. I still lost..."
Barry hides away from my scathing glare. I let out a sigh, gently blowing into her hair. "Sorry for missing your fight."
"It's alright. Thanks for caring enough to ask about it."
Sheesh. I hold her a little closer.
---
Narrator-POV:
While Swole fails to console his girlfriend, Ash leaves his seat to meet his match: Jamison. A match that promises to be disappointing - or at the very least strange.
Ash, who barely knows how to insult for the banter phase, versus Jamison, a thirty-year-old man in a teenager costume trying his best not to stand out.
"I'll show you a match, twerp!-- dude! Victreebel, let's go and thrash that punk!" Jamison throws his pokeball up in the air, and out pops...
"That's a strange-looking Victreebel." Ash comments as the yellow pitcher-plant-like pokemon appears before his Staravia.
Victreebel looks almost as if someone put a Carnivine into a yellow costume.
"Since when does Victreebel have its eyes on top of the leaf?"
"Since always! Yo! Stop asking foolish questions and let them duke it out, bro!"
At the edge of the arena, a woman's brows crease in frustration. Jupiter tries her absolute hardest not to underestimate Jamison. For she knows he is actually James from Team Rocket. Obviously her outstanding grunts managed to find the fraudulent sign-up papers of Jamison and Jessilina. A little bit of digging later and she learned the truth.
Jessie and James - Team Rocket's elite reconnaissance squad - have infiltrated this tournament.
For what purpose? With what goals?
Jupiter does not know - that alone is enough to infuriate her, but the way these two are dancing on her nose with these obvious, terrible, and amateurish costumes just irks her the wrong way.
She presses a little button sewn into the fabric of her suit. Her microphones switch, confirmed by a soft, feminine voice that speaks into her ears. "Yes, Commander?"
"Put the base on yellow alert. Team Rocket is trying to cause a distraction at the tournament."
"T-Team Rocket? Are they attacking us? Are they making their moves already? This is far ahead of schedule!"
"Calm down, Veneer. It's just a yellow alert. A precaution until we know what their plan is. Have the side entrances secured. Get me some more support in the park. I want this place crawling with undercover grunts."
"Understood. I will relay the order, madam!" The microphone cuts off, but not before rustling into Jupiter's ear when the dispatcher salutes.
The annoying noise further grates at Jupiter's thinning patience. Still, she releases the button sewn into her clothes before speaking up for all to her with an upbeat voice filled to the brim with fun and laughter. "Enough playground insults! Are you both ready for the fight?!" Trace amounts of her mood slipped out.
"Ready!"
"Yo!"
Jupiter's fingers twitch as pressure builds behind her closed eyelids. Psychic powers ready, and mind sharpened in case of an ambush, she places a hand on her hip and tightens her fingers around a pokeball.
She opens her eyes, hoping the slight shine of her powers remains unnoticed. "Begin!"
"Staravia, use Wing Attack!"
"Carnivine! Yo, I mean Victreebel! Soak Staravia in Acid! ... Spray! Use Acid Spray!"
Jupiter takes a step back as the action begins, but not out of fear of being hit in the crossfire. No; it's the fear of the unknown.
'Just what is James planning?' She thinks to herself as her eyes remain locked onto him. 'He knows he's not fooling anyone with that pathetic disguise... There's only one possibility: he knows that I know that he's in a shitty disguise.'
It is the only rational explanation, Jupiter concludes.
'It's part of their plan. With the application they sent us, they gave us days to prepare for their moves, yet no matter how hard I thought, I couldn't find out what their goal is.'
The pokemon clash together, and yellow paint chips off Victreebel.
'What could be their goal? ... The meteorites? With everyone's attention going to the tournament, they could have a squad retrieving any info we left behind at the meteorite fields. No. That's useless to them. Their satellites must have caught the beam's direction. They already know as much as we know about Spear Pillar.'
Another clash. The steel armor surrounding Carnivine lowers the effectiveness of Staravia's flying-type attacks.
"That Victreebel sure is tough!" Ash shouts.
"Thx! We've trained a lot ever since I caught him twenty-eight years ago-- I mean, 2 point 8 years ago!"
'What else is there to gain for them? They're well on their way to making a new Master Ball... Are they after the Red Chain? How do they even know it exists? Did Domino get her dirty hands on those documents?! No! That's impossible! Cyrus himself is the only one who has them!'
The emotional outburst does not last long, the battle before her consuming her attention. It is a monotonous, dragged-out match with Staravia's type advantage reversed. Ash orders to strike, and Staravia aims for the bulbous belly, mistaking it for a part of Victreebel's body.
From Jupiter's perspective, Carnivine is simply very well trained - the idea that sheer luck causes this does not cross her mind. 'Of course. An elite Team Rocket member wouldn't be easily defeated by a brat.'
With a calm mind, her thoughts return to the mission. 'Could they really be after the Red Chain? Unlikely. We didn't finish it yet, and we have both Uxie and Azelf in our possession. Unless they have somehow already captured Mesprit, they couldn't complete it on their own... Unless... what if they want to steal Uxie or Azelf? ... It takes at least two guardians to complete the chain within time - so what if they already have Mesprit, steal either guardian, and perhaps even parts of the chain? ... It would mean they could make their moves before we're ready... But... that's impossible. They couldn't. It would be too difficult... Unless..."
Another clash, and Carnivine's eyes turn into swirls.
'Unless they have already completed their Master Ball, fed agent Minerva false information, then break into our headquarters, use the Master Ball to capture Uxie or Azelf, and finally escape with the chain.'
With trembling limbs, she drags her finger to the button. 'This is the absolute worst possible case. However, for what other possible purpose could an elite Team Rocket squad be right here right now?'
While the stadium waits for her declaration to end the match, quaking fingers push a button. A nervous voice speaks into the switched microphone. "Veneer... Increase the security around the lowest levels of the basement. Hand out as much overtime pay as needed. Make it a priority."
"U-understood. Miss Jupiter? The fighters are waiting for you to end the match."
"Right." She releases the button. "Carnivine-- I mean, Victreebel is unable to fight! Staravia and Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town win the match!"
The audience gives polite applause, with some whispering among each other about this perhaps being some kind of comedic performance.
A red beam shoots out as Ash recalls his pokemon. "Good job, Staravia. And well fought, Jamison! Your Victreebel was really tough!" Ash meant sturdy. "But you might want to visit Nurse Joy with her. She looks a little sick."
"Thanks. And don't worry about Victreebel just because she looks like a Carnivine in a metal rubbish bin painted yellow; I'm sure she'll be right as rain after some rest... Yo."
Jupiter rolls her eyes. 'What a pathetic display of a fight. Clearly, James held back - meaning, he plans to be involved in the upcoming mission and doesn't want to be tied into a match in the second round.'
After a brief pause to think things over, during which the audience demands insults and vicious banter, her eyes widen in shock. 'Unless he wants me to think that he'll participate in the mission. What if he wants all of my focus to be on Jessie and James while their partners do the work in our building?'
"Commander?" The voice in her ear speaks up again. "The audience waits for you to call down the next fighters."
A strand of her meticulous hair springs out of place as Jupiter's stress surges, activating her psychic powers. 'Not a moment to think in peace and quiet!'
At this moment, she vows to torture Mars, who was originally supposed to play the hostess of the tournament.
"Would Jessilina and Akari Platinum of Rootwell Town come to the arena?"
Her eyes snap to Jessilina. Another purple strand loosens itself as the pompous, loud, and obnoxious woman steps down the stairs. A colorful dress with glitter, glass jewelry, and gaudy ruffles covers her chest, torso, and legs. She waves and riles up the audience while high-heeled feet tap against the metal grate steps - a miracle prevents the heels from slipping through any holes.
A miracle, or perhaps genuine grace? Practice makes perfect, and Jessie has practiced her routines many times. She is a serious contender for this year's Grand Festival, after all.
However, her sense of style does not suit Jupiter's palette. 'She looks like a child playing dress-up with a face caked in makeup.'
On the other side of the arena, Jessie's opponent stalks downstairs with equal grace, wearing much more subdued expressions with little to no cosmetics tarnishing her natural beauty. 'Another noble. Of Rootwell Town.'
Her black and dark blue kimono sits tight around a youthful chest. A sash around her waist hides away any curves that could be seen on her slender, yet imposing form. While Jessie puts herself on a sparkling display, Akari seems to hide away in her dress. Like a shadow stalking the night, one's gaze tends to overlook her, but once caught, attention is forced to remain on her intriguing and captivating beauty.
Her skin is smooth and free of any flaws. Her dark hair flows down her back - only a red scarf separates the colors of her hair and clothes.
She is the type of woman who turns heads wherever she goes.
'She's Mercury's special little student. Millions of pokedollar are moving from his accounts into her hands to fund their little town... That traitorous rat. He thinks we don't know about his plans.'
Mercury - Ben Solo - currently sits in his office at the Team Galactic Headquarters and sneezes all over a stack of documents.
'Smug bastard of a shit-eating harlot. I can't believe Cyrus keeps him around.' Jupiter accidentally lets out a dreamy sigh as she thinks about the man with early graying hair. 'It just means Cyrus sees an opportunity in Mercury that I'm too stupid to understand. He is just so amazing, and smart, and incredible, and manly, and ambitious, and amazing, and smart,...'
Her thoughts keep looping while Jessilina and Akari greet each other. Keeping up with her graceful act, Jessilina decides not to insult her opponent, even though the word 'twerpette' itches on the tip of her tongue.
Akari simply bows. No words threaten to escape her lips. Silent, graceful, not a hint of malice. Content. The cheering of her friends lifts her heart to greater heights, and a heart-stopping smile lifts the corners of her lips - one so cute, earnest, and endearing that even Jessilina blushes at the sight.
'There's something special about her. I can feel it.' Jupiter's eyes are pulled from Jessie by Akari's sparkling set of cold, blue orbs. 'I've only met two others who feel that way. Cyrus... and Swole Solo. Mars' not-so-little boy toy. She really messed up when messing with him. I told her to keep away from that boy, but she didn't want to listen... I'll tease her about this silly little heartbreak as punishment for making me do this.'
While Jupiter scans the viewers for Swole, Akari and Jessilina select their pokemon. Jessilina puts her hand on a ball around her waist, and a shadow around Akari's feet bubbles forebodingly.
Their eyes meet, and both fighters understand their opponent is ready.
"Seviper, my darling!" Jessilina pulls the pokeball free before planting a kiss on the top of its shell. "Let's show them a fight worthy of our skill!"
Jessilina forgot to pretend to be young. The 30-something-year-old lady fails to fool anyone as whispers grow louder among the crowd.
"Typhlosion, go." Akari's voice, enhanced by the microphone, sounds cold, stoic, and immovable. She picked up some habits from dealing with Swole's father.
Her shadow separates from her feet and dashes across the messy chalk line marking the arena.
Purple flames lick at the soil as wisps of fire ooze from the pool of darkness. One, two, and three blazing orbs emerge before the whole pool lights up in flames. As if dragging herself free from a pit of tar, Typhlosion arrives from the Distortion World.
A realm between dimensions shrouded in shadows and unreachable to most. Some say mirrors can serve as portals between the worlds, but only one human has ever crossed to the other side... The poor lad was never seen again.
Ghost pokemon begrudgingly call it their home, for danger lurks in that dimension. A threat so serious, ghosts always linger at the edge between realms, never daring to fully cross into the shattered world.
Typhlosion steps out of her little rift between worlds. Her neck is alight with colorful, purple flames, and her back is arched, fur bristling as she claws at the ground, gouging deep furrows into the soil. She yawns before stretching herself calmly.
Her half-lidded bedroom eyes glance smugly across the arena. Small patches of fur on her upper eyelids make it seem like she is a mature woman wearing eyeshadow to entrance unsuspecting victims.
Today's unsuspecting victim makes herself as big as she can, coiling her body up in a wavy pattern. Seviper hisses angrily, slapping the sharp tip of her tail against the ground as a warning.
Hisui Typhlosion grins, her lips shifting to reveal sharp canines.
Meanwhile, Swole shuffles in his seat. He feels the piercing gaze of Jupiter digging deep inside his soul - he could swear it feels like she bores open his mind to read his thoughts.
Jupiter merely wishes she could do it. Sturdy minds are impossible to read without the crutch of telepathy, but anyone would notice that intrusion. She vows to practice more. The idea that she cannot spy on the mind of the child she hates the most infuriates her.
'That little brat. The rat bastard of a rat traitor. How dare he put himself on an equal level of Cyrus-- He's not equal! Cyrus is still clearly better, but that one teeny tiny aspect... it's too similar. That vague feeling... of being chosen by something. By what? I want to know!-- I shouldn't know! What if I spy on Cyrus on accident by spying on this rat?!'
Her mind unravels in the blink of an eye. Her power surges, and blades of grass tear themselves from the ground as a shockwave spreads from her.
Jittery teeth chatter against each other as she stares at the boy she wants to murder. Her nostrils flare and eyelid twitches; a blue shine sparkles from her pupils before it ends after just another blink of an eye.
She combs her fingers through her hair, patting the messy strands back in place, and clears her throat. "Are you both ready?" Her serene voice betrays none of her twisted feelings, sounding from her microphone content, happy, and excited to be here today.
A professional smile graces her lips as both contenders give her the signal.
"Begin!"
---
"Seviper, use Dig!" - "Smokescreen!"
Typhlosion was ready for it. The moment the word left her trainer's lips, thick, heavy clouds of smoke billow from her mouth, streaming past sharp teeth and covering the whole arena.
Panicked viewers in the lowest row stand up and search for higher spots to escape a lungful of pitch-black smoke. Dense smoke lies flat on the battlefield, blanketing the area like a black lake. Thick enough to cover Jessie, Akari, and almost all of Typhlosion - only her purple flames poke out above the mist.
Jessie coughs until a little bubble of psychic powers allows her to breathe without issues.
"Infernal Parade." Akari's voice sounds muffled through the scarf covering her mouth and nose.
Purple flames appear from the shadows - vague shapes of creatures lurking in the dark. They stalk the arena searching for prey to lunge and bite and swallow their souls and drag them down into another realm. Skittering spiders with flaming bodies crawl too close to the edge of the smokescreen - a viewers screams his feminine screech.
Calm is the surface of the smoke. Like a lake set into the arena on a windless day. Purple glowing creatures stalk just inches underneath. Suddenly, one snuffs out. Its shape sinks deeper into the abyss until its light fails to breach the surface.
Akari has her eyes closed and her Aura active. She feels for Typhlosion - only her head sticks free from a hole in the ground. An order passes through their bond, and Typhlosion stops her desperate struggles, trying to escape Dig's sneak attack.
A moment later, shadows emerge from her hole, darting away from Typhlosion in search of Seviper. Like demons they travel through the thick mist - only visible by their much darker shades of black. It is as if Typhlosion summoned a realm of the dead to haunt the battlefield.
Jessie is feeling the pressure. Dark shapes, burning creatures, and a yawning abyss surround her little psychic prison. She looks at her feet, spotting a tiny sliver of green - the grass, her pocket of safety. "S-S-Seviper! Keep using Dig!" She shouts, but she is alone in the dark.
Her pokemon is somewhere deep underground, her partner and friend is beyond this lake of death, and-- "Ah!" Another shadow scratches at the psychic shield keeping her safe. Her back hits that wall, and another swipe from behind startles her forward.
She spots a burning Zebstrika inches from her prison, staring at her and scuffing the ground. Blades of grass burn to cinders wherever the flames lick.
Another set of fire emerges from Typhlosion's neck. Three orbs of flames - little wisps escape the lake and hover just above it. Like little ghosts waiting for something to rear its head and attack. The others lurk in the depths awaiting their signal.
Suddenly, Zebstrika lurches ahead, slamming itself into Jessie's barrier. "Ahhh! Seviper! Help meee!"
Akari smirks underneath her scarf. It muffles the single word she speaks. "Curse."
She feels Seviper digging through the dirt, heading for her trainer while the monsters cheer. A frenzy of flaming claws, hooves, and horns parades all around Jessie like a school of starving fish.
Then, the moment Seviper breaks through the soil, they pounce. Phantom Parade, Night Shade, Will-O-Wisp, and Curse all converge at the same time.
Seviper does not stand a chance. She slithers free from her underground hole, reaches her trainer, but falls limp against the barrier that separates them.
"Seviper! No!" Her eyes turn to swirls while Smokescreen lifts.
The audience keeps quiet as the battlefield becomes visible once more. Furrows of ashen grass litter the ground; Typhlosion sticks from a hole by just her head. Batting her eyelashes, she has a look on her face that says, "Come here and save me, valiant hero." A plea for help? Or a lure into a dangerous trap...
Seviper lies on the ground, curled up, with Jessilina on her knees fussing over her pokemon. Terror is etched into her eyes. For a few days at least, she will fear the dark.
The dispatcher on the other side of Jupiter's earpiece is the first to stir awake from the terrifying match. She complains, and Jupiter finally speaks up, "Seviper is unable to battle! Typhlosion and Akari Platinum of Rootwell Town are the winners!"
Jupiter's brain catches up with what she said, and her eyes roam across the battlefield until she meets Akari's as she removes the scarf from her face.
Akari gives a soft and polite smile before bowing to Jupiter - the referee - and Jessie - her opponent. "Well fought."
The battle is over.
Hisui Typhlosion - no longer restrained by rules - turns herself into a shadow that escapes the hole without issues and returns to her trainer's feet.
Silence fills the arena once more. Only Akari's muffled steps can be heard as she heads for the stairway. Faces turn to her as she walks up. Passing them, they begin to whisper among themselves.
It does not bother Akari as she stalks along the catwalk towards her friends. "How was I?"
---
Swole-POV:
"How was I?" Akari asks, her eyes focused on me as a pleasant smile awaits a response.
"That was so cool!" Ash nearly falls over my seat as excitement picks up. "I wish my battle had been like that..."
"That was so cool!" Barry nearly falls over my seat as... he mocks Ash? I box his arm either way. "Ouch. I hope my battle will be like that!"
Ash looks at Barry's arm and boxes it too. "Well, go down there and find out, Barry."
"Ah! You're right! It's my turn! See you later, everyone!"
Ash then looks at his clenched fist. A smile creeps on his face. He figured out the joys of messing with your friends. I'm such a bad influence.
"Have you considered becoming a coordinator?"
"Dawn's right. That looked amazing!" Zoey agrees.
Akari shakes her head without a word. Her eyes refuse to leave mine, her smile radiating patience.
"It was incredible, mistress." All heads turn to Marley. She ditched the maid parts of her goth cosplay after finding her brief obsession too creepy, but some behavior still lingers. "I-- I mean... it was a little cool." She sits back down and wraps her arms around the pokemon egg on her lap.
It's all-black with red, sharp patterns. I still don't know where she got it from.
"Congratulations on your victory." Baroness Alice chimes in, and Baron Alberto nods along to be polite. He seems really out of place as a much older guy surrounded by teens.
"You have raised your pokemon well." Brock says. "It's clear that you understand each other perfectly, and your pokemon's strength speaks volumes about your skill as a trainer."
Brock is right. But that's not all. Phantom Parade and Night Shade shouldn't be enough to defeat Seviper in a single combo of attacks. The numbers don't add up.
Jessilina is a serious trainer from the Hoenn region with quite some experience under her belt. Her Seviper is definitely far from weak.
"Was Curse the key to your victory?"
Akari nods, her smile growing a little brighter.
"It's similar to how you battled during our school tournament. Creating a spooky, scary environment allowed Cyndaquil to use Curse as a ghost-type move. By making everything even scarier, the move increased in strength; am I right?"
"You are correct."
The others murmur. Brock speaks up. "I've never heard of Curse working like that. How did you figure that out?"
"Professor Kukui asked me to do a follow-up on my research paper. And Professor Sycamore suggested the power of Curse stems from the ghost pokemon's realm - the Distortion World. By closing the gap between those worlds, Curse increases in power."
"Incredible." Genuine amazement tints my voice. "Well fought, Akari. Very impressive."
"Thank you." She does a courtly little bow before heading to her seat to the left of Dawn.
Truly an incredible fight. How many other moves have unexpected interactions like that? Is there something one of my pokemon could do to increase their power? Hmmm... perhaps Venoshock? Its power increases when the target is poisoned. Could multiple poison sources increase Venoshock's strength further?
Aura Sphere is another contender. It has nothing explicitly to do with Aura - it's just a misnomer. The attack is just fighting-type energy condensed into a sphere.
But... maybe Aura can be fused into the move?
The interactions are hidden, unknown, and possibly unintuitive, so the only way to find out... is to experiment.
Arceus, damn it. More tasks on my list.
Maybe I should get myself a maid, like Marley, to help me with all my stuff? Or, more like a secretary. Akari has loads on her plate, but she seems fine. I should ask her how she's doing that.
Although, the response is likely going to be delegating everything. Marley handles her personal matters as well as food; her workers handle all the town construction - that's the only way I imagine for her to have the spare time to focus on her pokemon.
... I can't do that. Most of my problems are personal problems that I need to deal with personally.
Barry's battle begins, and he chooses to start with Heracross against Nando's Roserade. A good choice. Heracross and his Staravia are both good options, but Heracross is better because he's sturdier. Roserade is well known for her liberal use of Solar Beam.
But that isn't what she's charging up right now. Actually, what is she planning? I didn't hear the first order, but it looks like Roserade is just standing there, looking pretty and opening up the flower petals along her hands and head... Looking pretty - did I just think that?
"She's using Attract." Brock comments.
The status move connects with its target. Heracross breaks his charge and lumbers to a slow, almost hypnotized walk. Barry shouts to break through to him, but Heracross keeps walking with his eyes on the prize: the delicious, delectable nectar betwixt the folds of Roserade's attractive flower. I want to stick my tongue inside and greedily drink from her depths--
What the fuck? I shake my head, trying to rid myself of those thoughts. But doesn't she look pretty? I'd just love to be down there in her embrace, holding her tightly while she charges up Hyper Beam...
Oof. Heracross flies across the arena; pushed along by a wide beam of concentrated power, he slams into an invisible shield just a meter away from slamming into the first row of viewers. It makes a solid thunk sound as the barrier briefly shimmers to life with a blue shine.
"Aerial Ace!"
Heracross pushes himself up to his feet and shakes his head while visions of sopping wet flower petals dripping with honey-like nectar linger in his mind.
Roserade's body twitches in the afterglow... of Hyper Beam. Electric sparks run along her slender arms and legs, preventing all movement as she recovers. Steamy, panting breaths escape her plant lips.
The next moment, Heracross disappears from sight only to ram Roserade from behind with all his might, knocking her down to the ground. The blue chitin shell on his back opens up, wings fluttering as Heracross keeps his momentum to continue his assault. He sticks his face into the flower atop Roserade's face. Giggles and moans escape her as she's being pollinated.
"It should have been me, not him." I hiss through clenched teeth-- Ouch! "Argh! What the fuck, Lopunny, don't hit me so hard."
~"Someone has to fix you." Fix me? ~"You got captivated. Rookie mistake."
Captivated? Roserade had used Attract! "Attract doesn't work on humans."
"It shouldn't." Dawn says. "But it sure looked like it worked on you."
Zoey nods, shifting uncomfortably on my lap as my stiffy rubs against her. Everyone else stares at me.
"You muttered some seriously creepy stuff. Everything alright with you now, Swole?"
"Maybe, Ash." My mind does feel clearer now. "Sorry about that."
"It's alright. It didn't seem like you were in control of your words." He shrugs and pats my shoulder. "But it's strange. Are you half pokemon or something?"
"Haha, who knows?" What else could be the reason? Not much. "Maybe some of my ancestors got a little more frisky than normal, eh? Haha."
Ash lets out a pained, cringed laugh.
Wait, he went to Eterna City, right? So he probably has seen those ancient texts about pokefuckers! Hahaha! That makes it so much funnier. "Maybe my great, great, great grandfather was struck by Attract and had some fun with Rapidash or Lapras. Although, it's usually the mother's species that continues to the next generation, so it would've been my great, great, you-know, grandmother."
"Yuck. Stop it, dude."
The others chuckle at his expense. Dawn picks up the joke. "I wonder what pokemon might have been his great, great, great grandfather?"
"Zoroark can change their appearance with illusions." Akari points out.
Zoey follows, "Maybe his great, great, great grandma chose a Mudsdale. Ya know, for certain reasons?"
"Zoey, gross."
"Yeah, you overdid it."
"Yuck."
"Come on, guys, it was funny."
"What? What reasons?"
Hearing his question, Brock whispers something to Ash.
"Oh. Zoey... did you really say that? That's... deranged."
"Oh, shuddup, ya bums."
Everyone laughs as the battle continues. Heracross snapped out of his infatuation, but Roserade refreshed Attract before attacking with another Hyper Beam.
Honestly, that's a really strong strategy. She gains time and distance while Heracross keeps taking tremendous damage. Heracross tanks everything as best as he can, but he's already much worse for wear after the second Hyper Beam.
His carapace is scuffed with some burns blackening the front of his body and cracked chitin bleeding greenish bug juice.
Instinctively, I look at my lap, expecting Swadloon to be there - it's still Zoey. Swadloon's blood is even greener than Heracross'. I presume hers contains chlorophyll.
Heracross uses Bug Bite.
Roserade is a plant and poison type, so bug attacks have normal effectiveness. But in principle, she should be a lot weaker in the defense. Of course, that depends on the training, but if things keep going like this, then Barry might lose.
But can Roserade keep using Hyper Beam? I doubt it. She's already panting from exhaustion alone.
"Roserade, my dear, bathe in the sun, quench your thirst for its radiant shine, and use Synthesis!"
Well, that's it for Barry. He's going to lose a battle of attrition.
"That's what we waited for! Now! Heracross!"
... Nothing happens.
Heracross just stares at Roserade while her wounds knit themselves closed. Her petals shine in a light green hue as she bathes in the sun, unperturbed and unmolested.
Then, almost too fast to see, Heracross steps ahead, wings buzzing to shorten their distance faster. He swings his fist and punches Roserade's stomach, sending her flying through the arena. She smacks against the invisible wall just in front of us and slides down.
The next moment, Heracross appears above her, rams his bug shoulder into her back, and smacks her into the ground. Roserade craters the soil, bouncing off and into Heracross' path. Slashing her with his horn, he sends her back towards the middle of the arena.
Leaping the moment his feet touch the ground, kicking off the side of the crater Roserade left behind, Heracross flies across the battlefield with his wings buzzing to propel him faster.
"Protect!"
A shimmering shield appears moments before they connect. Heracross bounces off, and Roserade readies her flower hands.
Her petals shine brightly; a second sun arrives in Veilstone City. "Now, use Solar Beam!"
"Protect!"
A concentrated beam of sunshine slams into a sparkling sphere, tearing at it, chipping away at it, but nothing slips past Protect.
"Pin Missile!" Barry was ready for this.
Heracross too. Immediately, he uses the last vestiges of his failed Pounce to power Pin Missile, sending dozens of small darts spraying through the air. Some miss, but enough hit.
The moment the barrage ends, Roserade falls over.
"Roserade is KO!" Jupiter's energetic voice with hints of quiet contempt blasts through the stadium while the crowd goes wild with cheering. "Heracross and Barry Pearl from Twinleaf Town have won the match!"
Barry basks in the attention with outstretched arms, enjoying the applause, the cheers, and the whistles, all like ambrosia to his ego - I know that feeling well.
---
"Did you see that, guys?!" Barry runs up the stairs and between the rows of seats. He high-fives Ash before gripping my shoulders and shaking me up. "It was all planned too, can you believe that?!"
"That was so cool!" Ash gets up and shakes Barry's shoulders.
Social pressure gets the best of me. Giving Zoey a kiss on her neck before standing up, I turn around, grab both of their shoulders, and start shaking them. "Congrats, man, it looked very epic!"
"You're saying it weirdly. Iew."
"Ew. You're right, Barry. Swole talks like an old man."
"Fuck off." I say as Barry keeps shaking me. "Really cool combo though. What moves did Heracross do?"
"It was Focus Punch into Aerial Ace into Megahorn, and then using the residual power for Pounce. I didn't plan for Protect but then figured Pin Missile should finish the job."
"Hm. Hm. Nice. And you waited for Synthesis so Roserade would be too exhausted to break out of the combo. Good thinking."
"And it gets better. I played Nando like a fiddle." A proud smile widens on his face.
Ash is the first to stop shaking Barry. "How?"
"Heracross has the Guts ability, meaning he gets stronger when poisoned. And Roserade has Poison Point, I think - or they somehow slipped an attack in - either way, at some point, he got poisoned." Barry grins, proud of his strategizing.
"Not bad. Arguably a stronger strategy than anything I've come up with for now..." It pains me to admit this. Maybe I should focus my future training on combos? "Except, Roserade definitely has Natural Cure. So it was luck."
"Arguably." He winks. "Luck." He winks twice. "Do you have a strategy against... what's-his-name... the guy who defeated Marley?"
I look at the overview screen. A timer ticks down, showing for how much longer the current break lasts. Below that are the tournament brackets for the second round of battles.
Barry vs. Brock
Ash against Akari
Dawn versus Paul
And I battle against... "Jimbob Bob Dylan... What a stupid, fake-ass, made-up name."
"Isn't that the name you made up and told Ash?" Dawn asks.
"No, that was just Jimbob. It was dumb. Just something I made up on the spot to fuck with Ash when I really didn't want to bother with him at that moment."
"You're a prick, Swole." Ashhole says.
"And you thought someone's actual name was Jimbob for what... a year? How long did it take you to get from the Kingdom of Rota to Sinnoh in your timeline?"
"It was a little less than a year. I visited the kingdom while beating the battle frontier in Kanto."
It's a good thing we've all discussed our divergent timelines beforehand and everyone understand what's going on exactly. Without it, discussing things would be impossibly complicated. I would not want to be a clueless someone listening in on our conversation, haha.
"Excuse me," Baron Alberto taps Ash's shoulder from behind. "You are from a different timeline? How is that possible?"
Oh. Alice and Alberto don't know yet. Can we even trust them enough to tell them--
"I was sent through time a whole bunch of times. One time by Celeby, another time when the Tree of Beginning was transported to Sinnoh and then turned into the Tree of Life - but until now, I've always made it back into my home timeline, so I'm not worried, haha."
His home... The timeline that has his real family and his real friends. Poor Ash.
"At some point, when I visited Sinnoh, I got transported into this universe without even noticing. I'm hoping I just traded places with this version of me, so my mom doesn't worry too much..."
He suddenly grows quiet. Despite what Barry told me, Ash still fights with the fact that his loved ones have all been replaced - except for Brock. "Brock also got transported like that." I explain. "We met for the first time in the Bewilder Forest, and Ash thought I was Jimbob - it's the name I gave him when we first met on top of the Tree of Life. Of course, for me, that event had yet to happen, so I was very surprised that Ash thought he had met me before."
Ash nods.
Barry speaks up next. "Akari is also from the distant past. She and our friend Lucas traded places."
"Not quite." Akari comments. "We have not swapped places. It is more accurate to say he went to the past, and I went to the future. We have both interacted with each other 300 years and 5 months ago. Lucas gave me hints on how to act in the present, he taught me how to raise Cyndaquil so she can learn ghost moves, and he told me where to be at what time."
That was how she managed to receive messages from her friends and Zoroark's pokeball in that restaurant in Jubilife City.
"You've been through so much already?" Tears brim in the corners of Alice's eyes as she speaks. Her voice quivers. "Despite it all, you've kept going and even saved Alamos Town... You really are heroes."
"Hehe." Dawn rubs the back of her head. "We just did what everyone would have done in our situation. And luckily, those have been all the timeline things in our lives."
... "Dawn, first of all, why would you say that? Now you're literally summoning trouble. Secondly, remember what I told you all about the haunted house?"
Dawn rolls her eyes before stopping and glaring at me. "The one where you fell in love with a maid. Instantly. You're a shameful, lecherous Lechonk."
"I am." She rolls her eyes. "But I feel like the adventure had been happening in the past. There was a man - Victor Manchineel - who obtained a sample of my--"
"Gross! What the fuck, Swole!"
"MY POTION, BARRY! It was a sample of a potion! Not my..."
"Not your coom?"
Ash follows his lead. "Not your splooge?"
"Not a sperm sample?"
"... Brock. The goal was to avoid saying the word."
Brock rolls his eyes. "It's a perfectly normal word, Barry. Doctors use it all the time."
"Brock is right." Good grief. "Stop being childish, guys." I receive a few punches for the blatant bullshit. "Haha, for real though. It wasn't my sperm. He got a potion from me to analyze, and when I researched his name later, he was credited with the invention of the potion. That psychopath even has a portrait in the lobby of the Team Galactic Headquarters."
"That..."
"It's creepy, right, Ash?" I ask. "I think I actually changed the past somehow."
"I think so too. And I did so too, and I met multiple other trainers who also changed the world through time travel..."
"Seriously?"
Ash nods silently; the implications linger in the air.
Time travel happens often. These Space-Time Convergences too. Our universe is probably more like a block of cheese full of holes at this point, so it's no wonder everything's falling apart.
Although... in the newspaper, Science Guy-- I mean Doctor Tonio Belmont said the damage is coming from outside our universe, because Dialga and Palkia are fighting and damaging the boundaries between time, space, and existence itself. "Perhaps..."
"Perhaps what?" Baron Alberto asks, his eyes wide with curious wonder. A spark of fear lingers deep behind his pupils, but hope still tugs at the corners of his lips. "Do you have an idea about this all? We need to understand as much about the world as we can if we want to hope to survive the apocalypse."
How much is he involved? I have barely heard a single word about the royalty on the topic. Every time they're on the news, they're just placating the people and saying how Team Galactic is going to save everyone.
Anyway, "Perhaps the time travels are a result of a damaged universe. Two points in space-time touched, and the people around those points had no choice but to time travel through them."
"Do you believe in fate?" Alice asks. She sits in her seat right next to Alberto with her face showing the same expression of fearful hope. "I do." She continues. "I really, really hope things will be alright because fate dictates it to be so. A divine pokemon guides our universe through the storm."
"You mean Arceus?"
Alice nods.
Many people have returned to faith in these trying times.
I... "I'm not sure. I believe we have free will, so fate can't exist... But guidance? ... Sometimes, I do feel like I'm being guided to make the right choices."
Silence picks up. People return to the stadium as the timer on the main screen ticks past the final minute.
Barry speaks up, "I can't believe we went from a stupid fake name to the fate of the universe within a single conversation."
It really was a strange conversation. But what else can be expected on Swole Solo's Strange Journey?