Chapter 221

Chapter 221

CHAPTER 221

There had been a few wake-up calls in my short career so far. When I fought Gardenia and realized that every Gym Battle was going to be an incredible hurdle to clear from there on out. When I'd caught Sunshine and found out that I could not just figure things out without consequences when plans fell through. When I realized sometime in Hearthome that there was simply no way I was going to win the Conference this year.

This was another one of those. Craig and Jasmine had gotten my full attention, and I was wide awake now, and so were my Pokemon. Sunshine's destructive power didn't look that powerful next to Typhlosion's continuous eruptions. All of their Pokemon were faster and stronger, but the trainers themselves were also better. The entire family had been in awe for the entire battle, each for different reasons.

Honey's high from learning Thunder had been stymied when watching Gyarados use a Thunderbolt packing a bigger punch than the move and with so many Zap Cannons thrown around. Sweetheart's uncontainable excitement when she'd seen Salamence, Gyarados and Steelix duke it out with their respective opponents. Princess' awe at Metagross masterful control of everything around themselves, and every other Pokemon as well. Typhlosion had controlled lava like it had been a part of her body.

What had fascinated Angel was how Eelektross had beaten a monster like Metagross through overwhelming determination, sticking to their body through her suction cups like a parasite and taking them down one attack at a time. Buddy had been impressed at all of that as well, but he'd been the only one leaving the battle with a sense of something lacking. Gyarados hadn't used that many water type attacks and there had been no ghosts involved, after all.

As for me?

There were numerous moves and techniques I was dying to know and learn about that had gone on during the battle.

"Good battle, Craig," Jasmine said with an outstretched hand.

The pale man gripped it tightly, shaking it. Jasmine didn't seem to care about the fact that he was so sweaty it was like he'd been in a storm.

"I'm wiped," he sighed. "Dot, could you bring us back to the hotel, please?"

The Orbeetle nodded, and after I recalled my Pokemon, we were back to Sunyshore as quickly as we'd left. Craig shambled to his bed and dropped on it like a log, mumbling something to Dot before passing out. I bit down on the thousands of questions I was going to ask and turned to Jasmine instead. She raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"You look like you're dying for answers," she said.

"I am."

The Gym Leader turned toward the passed-out Craig and pursed her lips. "Let's leave him to it, then. You'll take care of him, Dot?"

If I must, the psychic type said. I have to drop the rest of the team to the Center as well. Feel free to be on your way.

I thanked Orbeetle again with a slight bow before we left, and we rode the luxurious elevator down while I texted Cecilia that I was back and that the battle had been super duper cool. She answered right away, as if she'd been waiting with her phone in hand the entire time, and I told her I'd talk to her about it this evening when we met. The elevator doors opened with a ding when we made our way through the hundreds of tourists and their luggage in the lobby.

"Want to go back to that bar?" Jasmine asked.

"Um... should you still be drinking?" I hesitated.

"Probably not," she shrugged. "But I'd like it. Maybe I'd talk more over a drink."

"Well, okay," I said after a short pause.

Jasmine grinned like she was the happiest woman in the world for an instant. I hadn't known she loved drinking so much, and I supposed she didn't want to do it alone. I tried to pester her for answers while on the boardwalk, but she kept telling me to have some patience in that same soft voice that made it impossible to get frustrated at her. On the way there, Jasmine passed by a Pokemon Center and gave away her six wounded Pokemon. She did have eleven in total, so five still remained around her waist. We both sat in a booth opposite each other this time, which I honestly preferred because my feet could actually touch the floor.

"Can I ask? Yeah?" I hungrily said.

Jasmine nodded as she called out to a waiter. When she turned back to me, she spoke, "You've got potential."

I frowned despite the pride I instantly felt swell in my chest. "How do you know? You've never seen me battle. Is it just the fact that I have five badges in my first year?"

"No, no. I don't even know what your team's like except for Turtonator," she shrugged. "It's your mindset. You just saw destruction that only a select number of people in the world have access to in the palm of their hands. We're known and tracked by every government. Even good old Galar and Unova, despite them espousing their rights. Do you know why?"

"Well, it's like you said, right?" I probed. "The power you hold is too dangerous to let you slip through the cracks."

"Correct. Only a few trainers at our level are off grid and off the radar. You wouldn't believe how much the Indigo League panicked when Red went missing," she smiled fondly. "But yes. Craig alone would be able to destroy a good chunk of Sunyshore before anyone could stop him. You saw it, and yet you push forward instead of worrying about what would happen if one of us went rogue. You smiled at every explosion, every display of power and destruction. Why?"

"Because I want that power for myself," I answered right away.

"One beer please," Jasmine said. "Amber."

I turned toward the waiter. "Cranberry juice, please."

Jasmine waited for the man to leave before she started speaking again. "It takes a special kind of person to see that and keep going. Trainers at the top, they're all a kind of unhinged, some more than others."

"I don't see how someone could call Craig unhinged," I muttered.

"That's because you don't know him well yet," Jasmine said. "It'll slip through at some point, but he's good at pretending to be normal. Notice how I called you unhinged and you didn't say anything? You don't care, right?"

"Well, no, not exactly. I mean, I do think you're wrong," I said. "I'm just a normal girl."

"Trust me when I say this, you will never meet a trainer at the top that's normal, and that's a fact."

"What about you?" I asked. "You know what, don't answer that."

Jasmine smirked. "Go ahead and ask your questions, but I can't guarantee I know the answer to all of Craig's tricks."

I beamed. "Yes! Okay, uh, I'd like to start with something that you did, actually. That invisible force pushing against Gyarados when you used Magnezone. What was it?"

"Magnetism. The same thing he did when stopping himself from being knocked away," Jasmine explained nonchalantly. "I see how confused you are already."

"Well, I'm working through a physics textbook right now and I don't think that should be... possible? I mean, he's no steel type."

"And yet it is. There are a lot of metallic content in a Pokemon like Gyarados. Hemoglobin and Ferritin, mostly. Magnezone can push and pull on those. It works a lot better on steel and electric types, obviously, but he can do it on a lot of others, including himself. Gyarados would have ended up breaking through anyway, though. There isn't enough magnetic material to hold him for long."

I licked my lips and furiously typed on my phone. This information could end up being useful against Byron.

"Uh, next I have something related to Craig," I said. "Typhlosion managed to stop Zap Cannon... using heat? Is that possible?"

Jasmine ignored my question and nearly snatched the beer out of the poor waiter's hand while he gently placed my juice down. She threw her head back and nearly downed half of the mug before she exhaled like she was in pure bliss.

"Jasmine?" I asked.

"Right. Sorry. It's a little trick trainers with powerful fire types love to use. Blaine loved it," she said with a fond smile. "I don't really know the specifics of it. It's not the heat that weakens the attack or just makes it miss completely, but a sudden change in atmospheric conditions. To be honest, it all sounds foreign to me."

"But could I potentially use it with Sunshine— my Turtonator?"

Jasmine shook her head. "Not hot enough. And even if you did reach the temperatures needed, you'd do it too slowly."

My lips went flat. "I'll keep a tab on it for future uses."

That had been a shame. I'd wanted to use the tactic against Volkner, but it looked like that would be impossible at our current level. I sipped on my cranberry juice and moved on to the next question.

"What the hell is a Miracle Eye?" I asked. "I couldn't even look at it."

"No one can. It's wrong," Jasmine explained. "It allows Metagross to peer through the world's veil and influence dark types and dark type energy with psychic moves."

"Lava? Oh. Oh. Did Cecilia tell you— oh, I'm sorry," Erin said with a slight dip of her head. "I was just worried. I mean, with that title—"

"No worries," I said. "You just keep working on what you know for now, and I'll be with you in a bit."

I released Princess first and let her go with Gardevoir after soothing her worries about Erin. I'd spoken about her, but it was their first time actually meeting. Erin called her cute, which assuaged her fears some. The fact that Princess had been that easily convinced forced me to restrain a laugh, and the flying type told me that she approved of this new friend.

The rest of the team knew what they had to work on. Buddy was on the cusp of mastering Water Spout, while Low Kick and Screech were already dealt with. Now, it was just a matter of actually getting them to a more powerful level. Now that Sweetheart knew how to draw upon Dragon Pulse, she'd moved on to Stone Edge, but it would be a bit for her to learn the move when the closest thing she had to work with was Rock Slide. She essentially needed to combine the control she had over Rock Slide with Smack Down's incredible speed. Angel, meanwhile, was still working on Solar Beam. Drawing upon the sun was one thing, but concentrating all of that power into one giant laser was another. I was sure he'd get there for Volkner's Gym Battle, but probably not for the fight with Denzel.

Needless to say, Erin was immediately terrified of Buddy. Sat's hair stood on end as she hissed at him while Comet ground his teeth together to create a cute, threatening sound. Of course, Buddy ignored them and moved onto his training. I did ask him not to do his usual shapeless horror thing in front of her.

I was a little way away now, and I unclipped Sunshine's Pokeball from my belt. When I released him, he did not hesitate to let his disappointment be heard. He seemed to love the beach very much, even if he relentlessly trash-talked it every time we were here. It was the closest thing that reminded him of Alola, no doubt.

"You ready to start?" I asked.

His expression grew serious and he instantly agreed. We both knew what we were here to do. We were attempting to have him fly— or at least jump in the air for a few seconds. If we solved his mobility issues, he'd be a huge threat on the battlefield.

"Give it your best try right now," I said. "I'll take cover— actually, that's stupid. I'll just stand really far."

The dragon disagreed and told me it'd be best to have Princess raise a wall for me. He wasn't worried about the temperature as much as the debris the Shell Trap would cause.

"I can't see how you're moving if I have a wall in front of me," I sighed. "But fine, if you're so worried. I'll have Princess take a little break and create a barrier instead. Princess!"

Gardevoir frowned at me from afar for interrupting Togetic's focus, but she was too far to speak into my mind. I apologetically raised a hand at her and Princess quickly floated toward me.

"Sunshine's going to use Shell Trap in an attempt to move himself around. I'd like a barrier, please."

The fairy type acquiesced right away and wished Sunshine good luck. The dragon thanked her under his breath, and it was at times like these that I could appreciate how close they'd gotten.

Turtonator's shell glowed with a sinister red, then his tail shone bright white as he slammed it against himself. The subsequent explosion was as impressive as always. Even after seeing Jasmine and Craig battle, I could appreciate the power my family brought to the table. Chunks of rocks flew and slammed against Princess' barrier and I felt hot wind slam into my face.

And I facepalmed as I heard Erin scream in the background. I had told her no lava, but I hadn't told her about explosions.

"What the hell was that?!" She yelled.

"Sorry about that, Erin! It's just a Shell Trap, don't worry about it!"

I returned my attention to Sunshine and noticed that the wind had been less hot than I'd expected. I patted Princess on the back and congratulated her on her progress with barriers.

My eyes had been on Sunshine's feet, and he'd only slid around a foot. A far cry from the flight we'd been hoping to achieve like that old arch-rival of his on Mount Wela. Normally, he would steady and square himself in order not to slide, but since he'd been trying to move, he wasn't doing so.

"That was a good first attempt—"

Sunshine interrupted with a grunt and told me not to patronize him. This was where he'd been stuck at for the last two years.

"I'm serious. It's a good base to build up from. We'll figure it out," I said, approaching to pat him on the arm.

Turtonator's shell was angled slightly downward, so the force from the explosion pushed him against the ground. There was also the fact that the explosion itself could be more powerful, but it would damage his shell, so we needed to make his shell more sturdy if we took that angle. Iron Defense was a way of doing that, and he knew the move, but that would weigh him down way too much.

"Let's start by angling yourself more toward the sky," I said. "Princess, another barrier please—"

"Grace! Grace help!"

My head spun toward Erin so quickly my neck hurt, but I remembered that Gardevoir was here and that she was in no danger. I ran up to her with Princess while Sunshine complained about wasting time and saw what she'd been screaming at.

I couldn't tell her he was harmless, or I would have given her a headache, Gardevoir said.

"No problem. This is what you're screaming about?" I sighed. "He's a little cutie."

I crouched, ignoring Comet and Sat's worried selves and held out a hand toward the Pokemon in front of us. He was only three feet tall and walked around like he was drunk all the time. I didn't know much about Spinda, but it was true what they said about their eyes. They really did look like they'd been drawn on there with permanent marker, and if I stared for too long it looked like they were spinning.

"He just wants to say hi," I said. "Look. Come here."

Erin blinked. "Are you— are you sure?"

"Erin, I'm literally petting him right now."

Angel had joined us and was rubbing the little guy's head with a few vines, and Erin finally did the same. Her hand had been trembling at first, but she was smiling from ear to ear soon enough.

"He likes you," I said.

"How do you know?" Erin asked.

"I can tell."

Not only just because of Mesprit's blessing, but also because the normal type kept holding onto Erin's sleeves anytime she stopped touching him. He was rather young, if I had to guess. Maybe Honey's age? Spinda stumbled forward and grabbed onto Erin's leg, and her Bidoof seemed to now trust him while Sat just stared with an ample amount of suspicion. I could almost hear her silent disapproval.

"Why don't you catch him? Would you like that, Spinda?"

Spinda answered with a small grunt. Even his voice sounded... swirly, somehow. I turned to Honey and remembered our first encounter fondly. It was almost a mirror of what had happened back then, except he'd been louder and more bombastic.

"I've never actually caught a wild Pokemon before," Erin muttered as she grabbed an empty Pokeball. "This is so exciting. It's like I'm the real deal, now. Are you ready?"

Spinda nodded, although due to how much he moved all the times it was barely recognizable. Erin tapped the normal type's head with the Pokeball and he was absorbed into the device, which dinged instantly.

"I wonder what his deal is," Erin said. "I didn't know wild Pokemon just did that."

"Learn to know him, and one day he might tell you why," I said. "Why don't you release him, and you two can start bonding? Oh, and by the way, do you want to come to Cece and I's birthday party?"

"W—what? The one with all of your famous friends?"

"Yeah. You're lending us your club building, and we're friends, so I thought it'd be nice," I said. "Why don't you come over? Meet the others?"

Erin drew a short breath. "Yes! Sure! I'll be there! I'll even be an hour early! Do you need cookies? Because I can help my mom make some! What about the cake? And what sort of gift would you both like?!"

Of course, I answered each question right away and we kept speaking until she froze and teared up. Sat and Comet began to hiss, but their bravado melted away in seconds.

When I turned around, Sunshine was looming over me with flames in his snout.

"Sorry, he just does that sometimes," I said. "Stop it. How did you even get here without me noticing?"

The dragon huffed and told me to get a move on.

"Sorry, Erin," I smiled. "Duty calls."