Chapter 99

Chapter 99

CHAPTER 99

My eyes widened at Craig’s proposal. A Pokemon’s owner needed a license to fly, and if they were caught without one, there’d be severe penalties. In the most severe cases, depending on what happened, you could even be banned from ever flying, have your trainer ID revoked forever, or your Pokemon could even be taken, but those were only reserved for accidents that caused deaths. Most of the time, for first offenders, you would only have to pay a hefty fine. Still, so long as the Pokemon’s owner had a license, you were allowed to ride with them, just like a car driver.

“Um... that would certainly help a lot,” Denzel said. “But can Salamence support all of us and our bags?”

“Roxie’s a tough girl, don’t worry,” Craig said. “She’s carried five people before, and you guys are kids, so you’re lighter.”

“You said it benefits us both,” Cecilia started, crossing her arms. “How?”

“Well, you’re going to Eterna, right?” He asked. We responded with a nod. “Now that I’ve beaten Candice, I need to beat Gardenia too, so we’re going in the same direction, but that’s not it. It might be temporary, but you guys are the hottest thing in the news right now— you’re getting more coverage than any trainers in the Circuit. This might seem a bit cynical, so sorry if it comes out meaner than I want it to, but if I bring you back, I get a lot of positive coverage too. Just make sure to put in a good word for me. It’ll reflect badly on you, since trainers will think that it’s unfair— especially the other first years, but honestly, after what you’ve been through, I think the criticism will be pretty muted.”

Denzel rubbed his chin. “I mean, I don’t see why not—”

“I’m going to Celestic, not Eterna,” Chase interrupted. “I’ll pass.”

“Are you sure?” Craig asked. “It’ll take you a long time to get to your next gym battle. By the time you make it to Hearthome, or wherever you’re going, some first years might have five badges already. You’ll fall behind.”

Chase clicked his tongue and thought for a few seconds. “Fuck it,” he groaned. “Fine, I’ll get to Eterna. I’ll visit Celestic later in the year.”

“Any reason why you want to go to Celestic in particular?” I asked. His need to go to the small town was intriguing to me. It was mostly famous for being Cynthia’s hometown, and where she had started her Journey when she was fifteen, and the Celestic Ruins, but other than that, it was rather barren.

“Nah,” he sighed. I had been with him long enough to suspect that he was lying. “It’ll be fine.”

“That works then,” Craig smiled.

“How long does it take to fly there?” I asked.

“Three to four days. More, depending on the weather— if there’s a blizzard or the wind’s blowing against us. Roxie also has to take a break every ten hours or so.”

“Only three days?” Cece said in awe.

“She’s a pretty fast flier. But there are a few things we need to go over. Chase and Denzel, your clothes aren’t warm enough to fly. It gets cold up there. You also need to buy some goggles to protect your eyes. We’ll be going fast, and you don’t want anything getting in your eyes. Plus, the wind makes it almost impossible to keep ‘em open without them anyway.”

“Won’t we fall off?” I asked.

Craig laughed. “Obviously not. I have a saddle that has seats for five, and you’ll be attached to it. There’d be no way to hold on otherwise. Not everyone is as crazy as Cynthia. Did you know she just manually holds on to her Garchomp? It’s a wonder she’s never fallen off.”

I gave a hesitant nod. I wasn’t scared of heights, but flying on a Pokemon for the first time would make anyone uneasy.

“Let me give you all my number so that you can call me when you’re ready,” the older trainer said. “Don’t take too long. I’ve spent too much time here already.”

“What, you don’t want to see me?” Candice pouted.

“I like my doses of Candice in moderation.”

“Um, Chase,” I started. “Now that you’re going to Eterna, will you travel with us?”

“No, I’m still going to Hearthome on my own,” he said. “But now we’ll definitely meet in the city.”

“Right,” I grinned. “How about we battle there? Cece, Denzel, and I were already planning on doing so, but now that you’ll be there, we can add you to the plan.”

“I don’t see why not,” he said confidently.

“Alright!” I cheered. “Maybe we can do a two on two or something.”

“Hey! Don’t start picking already, we’ll figure it out when we get there,” Denzel said.

“Okay, I’m taking Obel then,” he said right away.

“What if I refuse?” She teased.

“Your loss.”

“You kids are so cute,” Candice said, resting her head against her hands. “Makes me miss being a trainer. I’m gonna miss you guys.”

“We can always come back,” Denzel said. “I doubt it’s the last time we’ll be here, especially since our friends still need to battle you.”

“It’s going to take months,” she complained. “I want to stick you all in little jars and keep you.”

Lastly, there was Frillish’s fight against Darmanitan. There wasn’t much to say there. He almost went down to an Avalanche, but we managed to salvage the situation with an Acid Armor. After he managed to Recover, I’d say that we were in the clear.

Not revealing Recover had actually been the key to my victory. If Candice had known that Frillish knew the move, I doubted that she still would have used Belly Drum, which caused Darmanitan to damage itself to the point of collapse. She probably believed that all she would have to do to win was take down an already-injured Frillish.

“Ahhh,” I groaned, stretching my arms and legs. Frillish placed a tentacle on my shoulder, and I gently held it. “I know you want me to rest, but I’m not done quite yet. Plus, I actually feel fantastic. No joke.”

“Fri...”

“I’m not lying, I swear!” I exclaimed. “I have a few more things to think about, and I’ll get back to bed, alright? I’ve got to be well rested for the trip tomorrow.”

Since I felt fine today, we were going to start flying back south tomorrow morning. I felt anxious at the fact that I was only going to get three days to prepare to tackle my newfound fame, but... blegh. We wouldn’t stay in Eterna long anyway, but I dreaded the swarms of trainers, reporters, and people who just recognized me from T.V. I did feel good about the fact that we would maybe make it in time for Pauline’s birthday in three days. We hadn’t told the others we were traveling on a dragon, and I couldn’t wait to see the look on their faces when we arrived.

I turned to Larvitar, who was running against one of Tangela’s vines while the grass type was preoccupied by standing by a window and soaking up sunlight. When we got on the road again after Eterna, I would begin teaching her new moves and start getting her to battle the wild Pokemon on route 207. It was one of the most frequented routes, especially near the cycling road, so the wild Pokemon there were often weak. If I met trainers with one badge or less, I’d let her battle them too. She was almost at her normal weight of 158 pounds, and she was almost fully grown now, so it was time for her to start battling. I’d break the news to her later though.

I turned off the battle videos and started typing something on my Poketch.

‘Fire types available in Sinnoh.’

Due to how cold the region was, in the past, there weren’t many fire types native to the region at all. Thankfully— or unfortunately, depending on if you were talking to a ranger— globalization had brought all the regions closer together, and that meant that contamination happened. Paras, for example, were native to Kanto, but like that ranger had explained before we entered Eterna Forest, all it took was for a few trainers to bring Paras there and abandon them for whatever reason, and now they were infesting the forest. Of course, not every Pokemon could be found in Sinnoh, but there were enough fire types for me to work with.

I needed a certain type of Pokemon to fill a role in my team that was still empty. That gaping hole had been felt during the battle against Candice. Heavy artillery, I had called it. Something that could deal a lot of damage from afar, but also take a lot of hits. After narrowing my choices, I was left with a few candidates.

First, the Rolycoly line. I knew they could be found in caves, and we were going to travel through Mount Coronet again to get to Hearthome. Coalossal was great at filling the role I needed, and they learned a lot of powerful fire and rock type moves, but they weren’t the best long distance fighters, and a rock and fire type had a lot of weaknesses, which could be exploited by how slow the Pokemon was. Plus, I already had a rock type with Larvitar. It wouldn’t be my first choice, but the rarity of the next two might mean that I’d have to catch one anyway.

Next up was Torkoal, which was a slightly better choice. From what I could see, they were also found in Mount Coronet, but they were way rarer than Rolycoly. They were also found deep in the Oreburgh mines, since they sustained themselves off of coal, which was funny enough, since Rolycoly was made out of coal. Did Torkoal eat Rolycoly?

I preferred not to think about that.

Torkoal unfortunately came with its drawbacks as well, though. It was adept at resisting physical attacks thanks to its tough shell, but it sometimes floundered against special attacks, and it was even slower than Coalossal. Plus, the Pokemon was too defensive-minded for what I wanted exactly, but I wouldn’t let perfect be the enemy of good. It was still an excellent battler, and the strongest ones could learn Eruption, one of the most powerful fire type moves in the world.

Lastly, there was the Numel line. Camerupt was the most offensive-minded Pokemon of the three, and it could also learn Eruption. The ground typing would also help with rounding out my team. But those offensive capabilities came with a drawback. It was the least bulky Pokemon of the three, and it couldn’t take as many hits. Numel were also rare, however, it didn’t live on Mount Coronet, but around it and other mountainous areas. It was most common around Stark Mountain, and so were Torkoal, but routes and facilities on the Battle Frontier were restricted to trainers with eight badges, so I wasn’t going to get there any time soon.

Rolycoly, Torkoal, Numel. All came with advantages and disadvantages I’d find a way to work around, but one of these three would be my final team member for the foreseeable future, and I’d have to catch it before I was out of Mount Coronet.

If I had to pick one between the three, though? I would choose Numel.

“Well, I’m done,” I said with a satisfied smile. “Time to get some rest.”

——

I watched in awe as Roxie just let Craig install the enormous saddle on her back. He pulled on it firmly and asked Salamence to move around a bit with it to make sure it was on tight. We were on the outskirts of Snowpoint, since Pokemon as dangerous as Salamence weren’t allowed to be out inside of cities or specifically designated areas, and the sun was just rising.

“Now let me repeat this again,” Craig said. “Keep your Pokeballs inside of your bag and not on your belt. We don’t want any accidents. Then we’d be forced to turn back to look for it, and most of the time, we won’t be flying over routes. Everybody go to the bathroom? Everybody eat and drink? We’ll be in the air for almost ten hours straight, and Roxie doesn’t like it when I interrupt her flying, so I’d rather avoid it.”

We all nodded, and he motioned us to step forward. He quickly lifted us on top of Salamence and we attached ourselves to the saddle. There were four seats on her back and one right below her neck, which was where Craig would sit, and they were angled away from Salamence’s body so that our legs could hang off the... edge. Cece sat next to me, on Roxie’s left, and Chase and Denzel were on the other side. Craig turned back and made sure we were all attached correctly, and he had to tighten Chase’s harness. I zipped my coat up to my neck and put on my goggles.

“I’m so fucking nervous,” I said, trembling slightly.

“Come on, grow up,” Chase complained.

“We’ll be fine,” Denzel said. “People do this every day.”

“That doesn’t help whatsoever,” I said. “And Chase, don’t act like you aren’t scared. I see you bouncing your leg.”

“Wha— Shut it!”

“Personally, I can’t wait,” Cecilia grinned. “I’m looking forward to doing this with Zweilous when they evolve into Hydreigon. Talonflame could as well, but they’re often too small to lift a person. It depends on how big she is when she evolves.”

Craig climbed on Salamence’s back.

“Ready? It’s going to be really sudden, and you might feel a bit nauseous, but when we get to cruising altitude, you’ll barely be able to tell.”

I froze. Nauseous?

“Let’s go, Roxie,” Craig said as he tapped her neck.

Salamence flapped her giant wings and took flight.

I screamed.