Chapter 148

Chapter 148

CHAPTER 148

Louis had improved a whole lot since the last time I'd seen him. He had no secret evolutions, no extravagant tricks to win. He had just used pure unmitigated skill, and he kind of reminded me of a slower version of Denzel with a dash of Justin. Someone who was cautious and liked to be patient, but who was quick to shut someone down as soon as the opportunity arose. I might not have been a fan since the strategy required to react and take damage before finding an opening, but I couldn't deny that it had worked well despite a lot of mistakes that he had made during the battle. Sacrificing Vulpix was an odd choice, but he probably couldn't figure out a way to use her and decided to move on to a new tactic. Still, once his Pokemon evolved, he'd be a force to be reckoned with. Vulpix just needed a stone, but I had no idea when he'd buy her one. I didn't know enough about her to know if she was ready or not.

I was a lot more familiar with Justin's Growlithe, and I felt like he was close to ready, at least. Arcanine didn't share Ninetales' long lifespans or the potential danger with curses if you offended one, but they could be just as dangerous, especially with how quick they were. You could blink, and it would be gone, having run off without a trace. Needless to say, fighting one would be a puzzle in and of itself.

"Good job out there," Denzel grinned at Louis. He'd completely avoided any questions from the press.

"You kicked ass, my man!" Mira said.

"I wouldn't have done it without you," the blond man smiled. "You've been a good teacher to me and my team."

Cecilia smiled. "Louis, your Gible—"

"There is still a lot to work on, but Sylveon put the fear of Arceus into him. He realized that he isn't anywhere close to the strongest he could be, but with my help, he could get there."

"I'm happy you managed to get him to be reasonable, at least," I sighed. "And what was that reaction when Prinplup went down?"

"Let's just say he's been growing a bit attached," he said. "Not to Vulpix though. She dislikes his antics, and he doesn't exactly care about her. It's something I'm trying to fix."

"Well, at least you won," Maeve smiled. "Should we go see Justin? He should be fighting his battle, right?"

"We won't make it if we walk, we should just watch the livestream. They've got cameras set up twenty-four seven... hold on."

Denzel grabbed his phone and went on the tournament website. His eyes widened in surprise.

"Looks like Justin already won."

"Woah," I said.

"I thought he'd be slower. I wonder how he did it," he mused.

Denzel sent him a text message to see if we could all meet, but Pauline decided to go and train now that she'd seen her rival battle. His performance had apparently motivated the hell out of her. I wasn't sure how her battle this evening would go with that Vigoroth of hers, but I had no idea who her opponent was other that he had three badges, so it wasn't like I'd be able to figure it out unless I looked it up, and unless it was for my match or she asked me for advice, I didn't exactly see a reason. Plus, she'd probably go to Cecilia if she needed any help anyway.

"I'm off to train too," Maeve said before shuddering. "I've got to figure out how to battle on the Water Field."

"You got the water field? Damn," Denzel said.

"Unlucky, right? I'm gonna grab a bunch of comfort food and get my Starmie up to speed..."

We split up after that. Louis went to heal his team and decided to stay back to rest due to Combee keeping him awake all night. Apparently, the bug type hated to be kept in its Pokeball. There were a few Pokemon like that in the world, but its incessant buzzing had made it impossible for him to sleep, which made his victory a lot more impressive. Justin joined us after bringing his team back to the Center. Cecilia's battle was in an hour, but she didn't seem like she wanted to do some last-minute training. Apparently, Justin's opponent had completely floundered his start order, and Audino and Lombre made quick work of the opposing Dolliv and Sealeo. The poor trainer had probably expected Justin to start with his Krokorok and Growlithe, but he'd gotten it completely wrong.

One mistake led to another, and he unraveled quickly enough to give Justin his victory. He seemed a lot more confident than he'd been before now that he had gotten at least one win, and we were all proud of his progress. As we walked toward Cecilia's battle, which would take place on the Desert Field, I asked Justin the question.

"When are you evolving Growlithe?"

It was quick and straight to the point. So much so that he almost flinched.

"Grace, some tact please," Cece sighed.

"My bad, I'm just curious. Indulge me?"

"Very well," Justin exhaled. "I was thinking of doing so before my battle with Maylene. I want to wait for us to get to Veilstone to get the best Fire Stone possible so I don't stunt his growth."

"Wait, low-quality stones can stunt a Pokemon's growth?" I asked worryingly. "What about Maeve's Starmie? She bought a cheap Water Stone."

The others all looked on, waiting for him to answer the question. It looked like I wasn't the only clueless one for once, although Mira just looked uninterested. I was suspecting that she was a lot smarter than she acted, Kadabra or not.

"In a manner of speaking," he nodded. "A Pokemon that evolves with a low-quality stone will reach its full potential a lot slower than one that does so with a high-quality stone. With the money I have, I could have Growlithe at his top form just a few days after evolving instead of months."

"Okay, so it was what I thought," Denzel said. "Fire Stones are a bitch to get here too. I originally told you I looked at Vulpix for my team, right?"

"Yeah, a while ago," I nodded. "You also said you stopped when you saw how dangerous they could be."

"That was part of it. High-quality Fire Stones are almost as expensive as Shiny Stones in Sinnoh because they're all imported from Hoenn, straight from Mount Chimney."

"Hoenn's far away, so that makes sense," I shrugged. Sinnoh was far up north, and Hoenn was down at the equator. Kanto and Johto were in between us, and we shared a single island. Galar, Unova, Kalos, Paldea and Orre were all overseas— although Unova and Orre were neighbors, and so were Kalos and Paldea.

There was also Fione, Almia and Oblivia, but I didn't know much about those. They were all hermit countries that never opened their borders to the outside or even sent a diplomatic delegation. There were no embassies, no contact, just radio silence. Ransei, meanwhile, was a hellish place where the Great War had never stopped, and it had devolved into permanent civil wars instead. I vaguely remembered learning that different regions backed different factions there in proxy wars, and with the geopolitical context I had gotten from Josephine, I knew now that it was just a way for them to fight without starting a real war.

"Good luck Cece," Denzel said. Her battle was about to start.

"Thank you."

We sat in the bleachers, and I observed the Desert Field in all of its glory. It had been artificially created by multiple Hippowdon owned by the Hunters, and it showed. It was indistinguishable from a real desert. There were tall dunes that obscured the view somewhat, along with two oases on each side of the field for any water types that couldn't battle on land. I knew next to nothing about the girl that Cecilia was battling, but Denzel filled me in. Valery Graham owned four badges and was a rock-ground type specialist, which meant that she was at home in this terrain. She sort of sported this goth, punk look and had piercings all over her ears, along with one on her nose and eyebrow.

"This is a battle between Cecilia Obel and Valery Graham. Trainers, send out your Pokemon."

I was surprised to see that Cece sent out both her Fletchinder and her Golett. I had expected her to use the latter, but in combination with Slowking or Zweilous to support her weaker teammates. The golem slowly hummed as its rune and eyes lit up, while Fletchinder immediately took flight with a squawk. For her part, Valery sent out a Hippowdon and a huge Onix that was only slightly smaller than Roark's. Cecilia certainly was going to have a tough time here, but I was also silently thanking the legendaries. Seeing a Hippowdon in action before my own battle was going to be a huge advantage. Sand constantly leaked from the holes on its body, which explained how it could survive in Sinnoh's terrain and how it had built this arena in the first place.

Now, how would Cecilia counter this? She didn't seem that alarmed, more like annoyed at that Onix. Hippowdon sank slightly into the sandy dunes and whipped up a thin Sandstorm, allowing us to see what was going on still.

"Fletchinder, Agility and Tailwind. Golett, Iron Defense."

"Don't let them set up!" Valery said. "Hippowdon, Dig and get that Golett! Onix, Rock Polish and Iron Head it!"

Right as Fletchinder beat her wings, creating a permanent, strong gust toward the enemy, Onix shimmered and rushed toward Golett, its huge body displacing massive amounts of sand. Hippowdon lazily sank into the desert and disappeared from view. There was no way Fletchinder was powerful enough to stand up to Onix, but I had no idea what Golett was capable of.

"Stomping Tantrum! Force it back up. Fletchinder, Heat Wave!"

The ghost type mechanically lifted a foot and stomped down into the soft sands. The ground split apart, revealing Hippowdon, who floundered and stared up in complete surprise. Onix wasn't so shaken by the attack and ignored the superheated winds created by Fletchinder. It rammed directly into Golett, but the ground type wasn't even sent away. The Onix's eyes narrowed, and Cecilia grinned.

"Hammer Arm."

"How nice," I said. "I thought you'd be more of the competitive type."

"Meh, I don't exactly care that much about winning the tournament. I just want to have some fun," Mira shrugged.

My eyes narrowed at that statement. I was beginning to wonder why Mira had become a trainer in the first place. We all had different reasons for wanting to make it to the Conference. What was hers? I tried racking my brain for the answer as we started to walk off toward the Center, but I couldn't find any clues from our previous interactions aside from a hidden side of her that she never showed.

Maybe I'd just ask her.

Cecilia had proved once again that she dealt in power. Surf and Heatwave alone were enough to overwhelm most opponents. I was actually starting to wonder if Talonflame wasn't going to be more useful than Zweilous for the tournament. In a singles format, the dragon would probably still be king, but in doubles? Wide-ranging attacks like Heat Wave and Surf ruled. I'd have to start creating a counter now. Princess wasn't powerful enough to shield two moving Pokemon at once. Despite her incredible skill with Psychic and Extrasensory, she was no psychic type. Talonflame had also shown that she was capable of using the attack for an extremely long time, so if Princess was ever too distracted to send some drills at her and we let the heat build up for too long, we would be in big trouble.

Buddy would be the key. He'd be able to resist the Heat Wave while Princess focused on shielding herself. After a twenty-minute walk, we stepped into the Center and Cecilia gave her Slowking, Talonflame, and Golett to Nurse Joy.

"It's a bummer that everyone's training," Mira said. "I want us all to hang out again. I wish the day of our battles all lined up."

"You trained too," I laughed. "Anyway, most of their battles are this evening... what do you say we go watch Lauren fight?"

"I thought that was a given," Cecilia said. "We can go after a short break? I need to get my team healed and eat something."

"I'll come with!" I said.

"I wish I could, but I've got to train with Milotic," Denzel shrugged. "I'll join you guys to watch Lauren though."

"Pauline wanted me to find her when I was free, so I'm out too," Justin said.

"You guys are all flaking. Mira, you should come," I smiled.

"What?! I don't want to be a third wheel," Mira groaned.

"Come on, it won't be that bad," I said.

"And see you flirt and be all over each other the entire time? No thanks. I don't want to be reminded of how single I am."

"There's more to life than relationships," Denzel said. "You could just hang out with them as friends. They cling to each other, but they won't let you feel lonely, I promise."

"Way to speak about us like we aren't there," Cecilia rolled her eyes.

"Hm... fine, I'll hang."

—

The three of us sat at a table in the same restaurant we went to before. I had to admit, eating out this much did make me feel guilty about how much I was spending, but damn their food was good. Mira constantly swung her legs around in her seat like a kid, and we all watched the tournament on a silent TV. Right now, the two trainers were down to their last two Pokemon. On one side, a Sneasel and a Makuhita were bruised, but not finished. On the other, a Scyther and a Simisear were sneering mockingly at their opponents. Sneasel got on all fours, and an arc of ice hit Scyther in the leg.

"Ouch, that's a nasty Ice Beam," Mira said. "Gotta hand it to that Sneasel, it's pretty vicious."

"But its trainer will lose the battle anyway," I sighed. "Her Pokemon are a lot more wounded than the others, and Makuhita's too slow to dodge most attacks. When it falls, they'll gang up on Sneasel and finish it off."

"Cold, but true," Mira nodded. "Man, I really want to fight on this Desert Field. It seems like a lot of fun."

"Say, Mira..." I said. "If you don't mind me asking, where do you come from?"

Maybe I'd be able to lead with this question first and segway into her reasons for joining the Circuit. I refused to believe that it was simply to get stronger.

"Jubilife!" She excitedly answered. "Born and raised. It's the best city in Sinnoh."

"Well, I'd say that's Sunyshore—"

"Excuse me?" I said, looking at Cece with an amused smile. "You're going up against two Jubilifers here."

"No way, you're from Jubilife too?!" Mira exclaimed. "I knew we were meant to be friends."

"I wanted to learn more about you," I explained. "I know a lot about everyone else... even Maeve. Why'd you join the Circuit?"

To be honest, that had been a pretty bad pivot, but I figured it was better to just be honest instead of dancing around the topic. I noticed that her eyes had narrowed at my first question anyway, so she probably knew something was up.

"Cause I want to be the very best! Isn't that what it's all about?" Mira exclaimed.

I restrained a frown. Another lie.

But I wouldn't push it. If she didn't want to tell me, well, who was I to know? Maybe she would once we grew closer.

"Fair enough," I said. "Mine is similar anyway."

"Any goal is valid, so long as it helps to motivate you," Cecilia nodded.

"You girls are cool," Mira said. "Sorry for being reluctant to come. I'm not used to people wanting to hang out with me. Until I started traveling with Louis and Maeve, I usually had to beg for people to talk to me, so... yeah. I got a little suspicious and started throwing any excuse I thought would stick. I didn't really care about being a third wheel."

"I think you're a good person," Cece said. "Ignorant people will judge you for past events, but they don't know the real you."

"Thanks," she exhaled. Like a weight was lifted off of her shoulders. "Wait, are we like best friends now?"

"Sure?" Cecilia said. "You can call me Cece if you want."

"That wasn't that convincing, but I'll let it go, Cece," Mira giggled. "Oh man, this is great."

"I thought Maeve was your best friend," I raised an eyebrow.

"She is, and so are you guys. I can have multiple best friends, can't I? Oh, and by the way Cece, now that I have you here, can you help me? I need you to set me up with Chase— don't look at me like that, your girlfriend's already agreed! And so did Denzel!"

"Oh, legendaries."