That voice went through him, and Akiyama's body snapped into position before his brain caught up—spine straight, chin level, textbook manners on full display.
Only then did the maid Gardevoir nod, satisfied.
"Second Sister. You came yourself?" Something cold settled in his stomach.
The head maid was Big Sister. This was Second Sister.
I came to see whether you'd gotten sloppy.
Her voice was cold and severe, the way it had always been over Telepathy, ever since he was small.
She sounded like a chaste saint holding a rulebook.
Akiyama had been afraid of her his whole life, because she was ruthless about standards.
She was in charge of teaching etiquette to the younger generation of the Miki family, and everyone his age was terrified of her.
"Sloppy? Never. Your lessons are basically carved into me," Akiyama said, wiping nonexistent sweat off his brow in the most correct manner available.
Hm. A single cold breath of a laugh. She let it go and looked around the room.
She took in Gardevoir with Comfey settled on her, nodded in approval, and stepped forward to straighten the flower crown.
"Garde!"
Better. You've changed a great deal. Second Sister smoothed her hair for her.
Then she turned to Nikozo.
The Nick family's younger son? She looked mildly surprised and inclined her head. Forgive my rudeness.
Nikozo returned the bow immediately, angling half a step aside. "It's an honor. I've heard a great deal about you."
Mostly the unflattering kind, I expect. A faint, cool smile.
She'd attended plenty of those networking banquets.
Plenty of heirs had been strung up and thrashed by her.
Watching the two of them get along so pleasantly, Akiyama let himself lean back against the wall.
An icy stare found him instantly.
"Okay. Okay, I've got it." He straightened up again, then added, "Second Sister, I'm heading to the Gym. Would you mind waiting in your ball for a bit?"
She nodded and recalled herself.
Akiyama finally exhaled.
"Garde... Garde." Gardevoir patted her own chest. She'd been a little scared too.
"That was terrifying," Nikozo said, melting into the couch.
"Why are you scared of her?"
"Her reputation is the size of a building. One of my cousins got it from her once. Middle of a banquet, crowd everywhere—she took control of him with Confusion, walked him into a side room, hung him up, and went to work for a good long while."
Nikozo remembered the state of that kid's backside and shivered.
"Yeah, that tracks." Akiyama shivered too.
At least he was the Miki family's eldest son. However badly he screwed up, nobody was going to hit him.
Nikozo got up, and the two of them set out for the Ice Gym.
"Your dad didn't step in while your cousin was getting beaten?" Akiyama asked.
"My cousin had it coming. He tried to snatch a Ralts's cake, made the Ralts cry, and then wouldn't apologize."
"Then honestly, I'd hate for her to have gone easy on him."
The kid deserved it.
"Right? I'd hate for her to have—wait. What am I saying?"
Nikozo caught himself halfway through.
Akiyama cracked up.
"You're a bad influence." Nikozo shook his head, then pulled out his phone and passed it over.
"Gym Leader's name is Minori. Her registered Gym roster is a little odd."
Akiyama scanned the file.
There was exactly one Pokémon with any connection to Ice—a Lapras. Everything else was Fire-type.
The Leader's photo sat at the bottom of the page.
Red hair like a waterfall. Loose clothing that made her look... broad?
Weird, Akiyama thought.
He handed the phone back and said, "Her roster's about as on-theme as the Dragon Gym's."
Charizard, Seadra, Gyarados, Aerodactyl, Ampharos, Rhyperior.
They reached the Ice Gym shortly after.
Akiyama proved he was carrying six Pokémon and went in through the front entrance.
Nikozo took the side door up to the spectator seats.
"A new challenger?" Minori stood up from the Leader's platform.
Akiyama looked up, and immediately understood why the woman in that file had looked broad.
Minori was wearing almost nothing. Up top there was a single strip of fabric, stretched so tight it was like a longan peeled down to its last shred of skin, leaving a person to wonder whether what was underneath was pale or some other color entirely.
Below that, a skirt slit high on both sides, and a pair of legs that caught the Gym lights and gave a little of it back.
"You've gone somewhere on me. That won't do." Minori spoke again.
Akiyama snapped back. "My name's Akiyama. From Greenleaf Town."
"Ohhh." Her lips parted and touched again, glossy, and her eyes went to the broken heart on Gardevoir's chest. "I've heard about you."
"So. Shall we?"
"Go, Growlithe!"
Minori whipped a Poké Ball out, and the band across her chest looked ready to give up entirely.
Up in the spectator seats, Nikozo went wide-eyed and then very deliberately looked somewhere else.
Akiyama recalled the Comfey from around Gardevoir's neck and gave her a nod.
Gardevoir walked out onto the field.
The field wasn't like any other Gym's. Like the rest of the building, it was ice.
Gardevoir tested it with one foot. Slick.
She'd never dealt with this before.
The referee lifted his flag. "Battle—begin!"
"Growlithe, Quick Attack!"
Growlithe took off like a streak of white light. The ice didn't slow him down in the slightest.
"Gardevoir, dodge, then Thunder Punch!"
Gardevoir watched him come and threw herself sideways, and the ice nearly put her on the ground. She landed the Thunder Punch anyway.
Akiyama's brow furrowed.
This is a problem.
On a surface like this, Gardevoir couldn't use the close-range brawling she was best at.
Growlithe hit the ice, skidded, and shook his ringing head clear.
"Growlithe, Ember."
Growlithe spat a spray of flame.
"Hyper Beam," Akiyama said.
Gardevoir brought both hands to her chest and released a beam of dead, silent light.
The flames vanished inside it.
Boom.
Growlithe flew backward on the Hyper Beam and didn't get up.
The progress bar surfaced and ticked from 3 to 2.
"Growlithe is unable to battle! The winner is Gardevoir!"
The referee's flag came down.
Minori recalled Growlithe and sent out her second Pokémon.
"Ninetales! Go on out."
A golden fox with nine tails appeared on the field, each tail tipped in orange-red.
"Ninetales, Sunny Day."
Ninetales threw her head back and cried out, and a faint, half-real sun bloomed overhead.
"Come back, Ninetales. Your turn, Cyndaquil, sweetheart."
Gardevoir was still locked in the recharge from Hyper Beam when Cyndaquil took Ninetales's place.
Under Sunny Day, the flames on Cyndaquil's back burned twice as bright.
"Cyndaquil, Smokescreen, then Quick Attack."
Black smoke swallowed the field, and Gardevoir lost her sight.
Cyndaquil moved across the ice without making a sound.
By the time she found him again, he was already in her face.
"Gardevoir, Focus Blast!"
Power surged up through her whole body.
"Flame Wheel."
Cyndaquil cut sideways in midair, wrapped himself in the fire off his back, and came in spinning.
The Focus Blast went wide.
And Gardevoir, watching Cyndaquil close in, smiled.
~~
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