Chapter 229

Chapter 229

CHAPTER 229

"His name is Lehmhart?" I muttered. "He's... so big now, it's kind of incredible."

I stared up at the massive Golurk before me, and Cecilia could barely contain her excitement. As soon as today's training with Jasmine had finished, she'd called me over and plastered my face with kisses because of how happy she was. She was so excited to show me in fact, that she had released him in the middle of route 222 because we were waiting for Erin here and Golurk flying in a city wasn't allowed. So we were on route 222 In the middle of the afternoon. This meant that numerous trainers were either keeping with distance and glancing at the golem in fear or watching in awe. The ghost type waved at me in a motion more fluid than I remembered and touched my head with a single finger.

"He evolved as soon as I gave him the name," she said. "He's been very vocal ever since. Could you help me translate?"

"Sure thing," I nodded. "Lehmhart? Anything you've ever wanted to say to Cece, feel free to say it through me."

He immediately let out a deep, humming sound that took a bit for me to decipher.

"He loves you and your team," I said. "And he's happy you taught him how to live."

Cece gently caressed the golem's body, and he let out a pleasant sound at the touch.

"I wanted to see if we could try out his flying..." Cecilia muttered. "Maybe just his arms for now? Lehmhart, do you think you can do it?"

Golurk answered with a thumbs-up and a few low-pitched beeps.

"He's saying it's like second nature now," I said. "The act of retracting his arms and legs, not the flying bit, I mean. He's got no idea how to fly."

"It would be better if we get him acquainted with flying before entering Flight School," Cece said. "Go ahead, Lehmhart."

The process of retracting his arms into his body was slow, and it seemed he couldn't even do both at the same time yet. After two minutes, his forearms were gone, having been replaced by a gaping void. Lehmhart told us to get back while Slowking raised a barrier around us, and jets of flames spewed out from the hole in his arms. Cece had his Pokeball in hand, ready to recall him before any accidents could take place.

The earth rumbled as the ground type slowly rose from the ground and into the air. The sound of his engines sounded like a jet engine on an airplane—

And Lehmhart lost his balance, going off into the distance and toward the sea before Cece hurriedly recalled him. It would have been very ugly had he crashed on the poor trainers.

"Yeah, I definitely shouldn't practice this here," Cece said. "But it's still great! I can't believe I'll be able to fly soon."

"He looks really goofy when he flies, by the way," I snorted. "Anyway, where's Erin? She's usually never late."

We stayed there and waited, and Cece told me she had some kind of surprise for me that I'd love. The answer to my question came soon enough, however. Erin strode up to us fifteen minutes later and dropped an absolute bombshell.

"My Gym Battle is in two hours."

I blinked, thinking it had been a joke at first, but she was dead serious.

"Why didn't you tell us?" I stammered. "I mean, I think you're ready, but—"

"I signed up yesterday on a whim and they said they could slot me in today," she interrupted. "I thought that if I didn't do it now, I never would because I'm so afraid of failure... it was like ripping off a band-aid. Now I'm scared, but I'm confident I can do it. I know I can."

"You can," Cece reassured, looking at the time on her phone. "You said... two hours? That leaves us one hour to train. Nothing straining, of course."

Erin beamed. "Thank you. I— I actually had a question about Comet's Rollout..."

—

As I'd seen on video, Volkner's battlefield didn't appear that different at first, but when you looked closer and focused on the ground and rocks, a particular red tint revealed itself— or maybe more of a reddish-brown. That was because of all the iron he'd placed inside of the rocks and ground. I had no idea how he went about replenishing it, but there was probably a steel type capable of doing so when combined with the usual ground type that fixed up destroyed arenas.

I felt pride swell in my chest when Erin confidently stepped onto her podium, her Pokeball already in hand. She had come looking her best, her hair stylized in a complex-looking bun and wearing a beautiful yellow dress I'd never seen her wearing before. She'd definitely taken after Cece, who always did the same thing whenever she had an important battle. The Gym Trainer facing her was a young-looking girl who actually looked very happy to be there. It probably wasn't often that she got any experience battling on the big field. Gym Trainers mostly battled each other to improve with the more experienced ones giving them pointers. Sometimes, the Gym Leader would even lead a training session if they had the time, but Volkner definitely wasn't the type of guy to do that—

I blinked and leaned forward. I thought I was imagining things at first, but Volkner had stepped out of the waiting room and he slowly trudged toward the Gym Trainer, dragging his feet on the ground. He yawned, placing a hand over his mouth. The Gym Leader was wearing sandals, joggers, and a plain white T-shirt as if he'd just gotten out of bed.

Murmurs and gossip ran through the bleachers as Volkner grabbed his Gym Trainer's shoulder, pulling her back slightly.

"Volkner, what's—"

Her microphone cut out, and I didn't hear the rest of what was said. What was happening was obvious, however. Volkner was taking her place for this particular battle when he hadn't battled all day. I honestly thought he'd be hanging out with Jasmine right now, but here he was. My eyes narrowed at the Gym Leader and a smile stretched across my face. This was only a first badge battle, but it'd still help seeing him battle in person at least a little, and I knew Cece was thinking the same. Then, my vision drifted toward Erin, who was trembling like a leaf. Her battles with the Gym Trainers had been relatively close, even if she had lost, but Volkner had crushed her completely.

I thought back to my Gym Battle with Roark. If he had won a dominating victory and sent me packing, then I definitely would have been nervous the second time, especially since I had self-esteem issues with my skill as a trainer back then. It was the same with Erin.

"She will prevail," Cecilia declared. I felt her hand wrap around mine, the coldness of her ring clinging to my skin.

"You say that, yet you're as scared for her as I am," I teased. "I believe in her. We trained her well."

"I know, I know, it's just..."

"I get it," I said. "She'll be fine."

Volkner sent the Gym Trainer packing, stealing her microphone in the process. He had the worst posture I'd ever seen, slouching forward and with a permanent half-crouch where his legs were never stretched to their full extent. He shoved his hands in his pockets, testing the microphone with a few words and then sighed.

"Three-on-three. One switch. Understood?" Volkner listed.

That was it? Where were the rules about no killing or him being able to use whatever Pokemon he wanted? He really was slacking off.

Erin clenched a fist around her dress and nodded. "Yes."

"Good. That was firm," Cecilia said. "She'll keep that up for the battle."

Volkner called out for Erin to send out her Pokemon, and she did so with trembling hands. Her Bidoof appeared in a flash of red, and he was immediately alert and grinding his teeth together threateningly as he stared Volkner down. Volkner sent out a Pichu with a little bow on one of her ears, and a bunch of awww's echoed through the arena. The referee, who looked to be used to Volkner's antics by now, simply shrugged and started the battle.

"C—Comet, use Rollout!" Erin snapped, pointing at Pichu.

Comet pushed himself forward, jumping a foot in the air before bunching up into a ball. He began rolling and picked up speed as he approached Pichu.

"Thundershock," Volkner said.

Tiny sparks of electricity sparkled around Pichu before surging forward and hitting Comet. The normal type grunted in pain, but he kept rolling and speeding up.

"Nuzzle."

"Growl!" Erin yelled.

Pichu resigned to taking the hit, but more electricity surrounded her, this time jumping in a pattern instead of erratically. A scream from Bidoof made her waver for a second, and he rammed into her at full force. The electric type cried out as she crashed against one of the many raised spires of Volkner's gym, creating a small indent in the rock. Bidoof hadn't gotten off scot-free either, however. I had warned Erin about Nuzzle, but she seemed to have wanted to deal damage to Pichu regardless of the danger of paralysis. The normal type's Rollout stopped as he struggled to move.

Pichu slowly got back on her feet, sporting a scowl I never thought I'd see on such a cute Pokemon. She wiped her dirtied ribbon as she awaited Volkner's next order.Yôur favorite stories at novelhall.com

"Keep using Thundershock, but stay far away," the Gym Leader said.

Pichu began her assault, although it was severely weakened due to the Rollout she'd taken. Multiple rays of electricity flew at Bidoof, who countered them as best he could by either dodging or kicking up Mud Slaps to weaken the attack, but the majority of them hit. Erin needed to either attack or switch, not play on the defensive—

"Yawn!" She yelled.

Bidoof opened his mouth, and Pichu blinked as she wobbled and struggled to stay up. Yawn was the move they'd trained the most, and I knew Erin had wanted to keep it hidden for Volkner's second Pokemon. Another two Thundershocks rocked Comet, but he was Erin's most resistant Pokemon for a reason. His fur smoked, and he struggled through the paralysis, but he still stood.

Pichu fell to the ground and started to snore.

"Now, Tackle and Bite! You've got all the time in the world!" Erin said.

I could see in Volkner's eyes that he resigned to his loss immediately, although he obviously didn't care one bit. I would have done the same. Swapping out a sleeping Pichu would be a waste, and this was probably his weakest of the three Pokemon he'd use. Comet took twenty seconds to reach Pichu, but once he did, he rammed into her and bit her arm. Volkner still waited, not pulling her out of her fight on the off-chance that Pichu would wake up, but the electric type fainted soon after.

The Gym Leader recalled her with a fondness I hadn't expected from him and sent out an Emolga right after. Erin's shoulders sagged. She had already lost a battle to this Emolga, and defeatist thoughts were already swarming her mind. The girl slapped her two cheeks until they were red and smiled.

"Yawn, Comet!"

"Gust."

Emolga beat his wings, summoning a small tornado around Bidoof that stopped him from using Yawn.

"Now Charge and Thundershock," he continued.

"Tackle to dodge!" Erin barked out.

Emolga took five seconds to charge up his Thundershock, and that meant Comet had ample time to react. He pushed himself to the left, and the electricity only grazed his tail.

"Water Sport!" Erin yelled.

Bidoof's fur dampened, and the normal type flew, ejecting as much water from his mouth as he could. Volkner didn't even flinch. Emolga lowered himself, easily dodging the last-ditch attempt to hit him and finished Comet off with another Thundershock.

Water Sport to propel a Pokemon? She hadn't told me about this, nor had she told Cece. I placed a hand on my chest and smiled. I could almost cry with how proud of her I was.

"Erin, you're amazing," I muttered.

"Remember when I told you we were going to break into Volkner's Gym so Honey could try out magnetic manipulation there?"

I paused for a few seconds, registering her words.

"That's tonight?!" I scoffed. "Why?"

"No time like the present. You want something done, you do it," Jasmine said. "It'll be fine. We won't get caught. I did plenty of sneaking around back in my day."

"Don't say back in my day like you're seventy."

"I know I dragged you away from your girlfriend, so we'll make it quick and not go by foot like I originally planned. I feel bad for her," Jasmine quietly said. She grabbed Metagross' Pokeball and released the steel type. "Hello, my loves. I'd like for you to Teleport us in front of Volkner's Gym. We're going to break in."

For a second, I swore that I heard Metagross sigh and roll their eyes.

Do you have a plan for the cameras? The Gym Trainers patrolling the place twenty-four seven? Do you have a route planned to break in and back out? Teleporting inside of a Gym when it's closed is impossible, as you know. Dark type interference.

"Don't sweat the details. Volkner never checks the camera feed anyway and I'll silence any Gym Trainers on camera duty."

Silence? We certainly hope you don't mean kill or threaten. It would be in the Indigo League's best interest if you did not commit a drunken murder and embroil us into a diplomatic incident.

"Relax, Arceus! No, not murder. I just mean... you know, tell 'em to keep quiet as a favor. They love me at the Gym."

They hate you. Only Volkner loves you, and the fact that you're there distracting him by copulating and making eyes at each other has increased the average Gym Trainer's workload by 18%. They want you gone as fast as possible.

"Just Teleport us," Jasmine sighed.

Fine. Don't say I did not warn you.

"What's the worst that can happen? The word gets out that I was trying to break a trainer in, Volkner gets angry at me and I bring up the dozens of times he dropped the ball," Jasmine shrugged. While she spoke, we'd been Teleported in front of Volkner's Gym. "You know, you need to ease up a little and learn to—"

Metagross' eyes shone, and they entered their Pokeball.

"Did they— did they just recall themselves?" I stammered.

"They do that when they get tired of me," Jasmine smirked. "Let's go in."

A Gym at night wasn't something I'd ever seen from up close. Bright lights shone down on the small path that led to the entrance, but the lobby itself was completely dark. Jasmine slid a keycard in front of a sensor, and the glass doors unlocked for us.

"Girlfriend privilege," she said, sliding the card back into a pocket. "Come on, get in there."

"This feels so wrong," I muttered.

Jasmine sipped on her...

"What are you drinking, by the way?" I asked in a whisper.

"Vodka."

I nearly choked, but I stopped myself from making any noise.

"Doesn't that taste really bad?" I asked as we slowly walked through the lobby. "My dad says it does."

"Oh, it's awful," she laughed. "But if you want to get shitfaced, it's great. Don't worry though, I'm not going to get drunk while I'm teaching you. I'm just sipping. Vodka tastes great when mixed with other stuff if you ever fancy starting to drink."

"Whatever you say," I whispered.

We snuck through the lobby with no incidents, although I did see a hint of a flashlight before Jasmine pushed me toward a corridor. We circled what felt like the entire Gym, easily avoiding all patrols. We were lucky no one here had an electric type that was also psychic, or we would have been busted instantly. Jasmine gently opened a door I didn't recognize and my eyes bulged when I realized it was the camera room. The Gym Trainer dropped the phone she'd been looking at instead of the screens and nearly fell off her chair.

"Leader Jasmine? What are you doing here? Who is this—"

"Shhhh," Jasmine said. "Grace, close the door."

I listened to her and gently pushed it back.

"We're going to use the arena for a bit," Jasmine said. "It'd be great if you didn't tell anyone you saw us break in."

"Uh, I'm kind of obligated to report that trainer's presence—"

"Come on, Nancy. I'll talk to Volkner about that promotion you wanted. Isn't looking at cameras boring? You want to be an actual trainer, don't you? You weren't even paying attention to the footage."

The girl bit her lip, and after deliberating for a few seconds, she nodded.

"Fine, get out of here," she snapped, picking up her phone. "But don't tell him I said yes to this, or he'll fire me."

"I won't. I promise," Jasmine firmly said. "Thank you for your time."

We left her alone, and I was certain her eyes would stay glued to the camera footage for the rest of her shift now that she'd been caught off-guard. We kept circling around the inside of the stadium until we reached the waiting room— Volkner's waiting room. There were eight lockers here labeled 'FIRST BADGE' to 'EIGHT BADGE' with what must have been dozens of Pokemon in each. My eyes lingered on the six badge locker until Jasmine pressed a couple of light switches. A loud, industrial hum started as the ceiling lights wooshed to life. It felt weird to see the spectating area so empty.

"I hope nobody heard that," I muttered.

"Get Honey out of his ball," Jasmine said. "It'll just be him today."

I released the electric type and brought him up to speed. The fact that we were here illegally made him extremely nervous, but he pressed on. Honey getting a feel for the rocks here would prove invaluable during the actual battle. Instead of using Thunder or Thunderbolt to rip up some rocks from the earth, he used Thunder Punch to be as quiet as he could while Jasmine observed.

And she'd been right. It was easier here for him. We'd barely made any progress on the mountain on route 205 because of the low contents of magnetic materials, but all of the training he'd done showed himself here. The rocks floated around him and clumsily collided with each other as electricity coiled around him and crackled in his fur. He accidentally dropped some of them or pushed them away from his influence, but he managed to throw some away at a respectable speed. Not anywhere near what we needed to be, but we were at least halfway to the move being usable in battle.

"See how much easier it is?" Jasmine asked the electric type. "It's like going on a jog after trying to win in a triathlon. Much more manageable."

Honey nodded, but he didn't speak to keep up his concentration and tried again.

"We'll stick around for thirty minutes or so. Then we'll slip out. If another opportunity provides itself, then I'll bring you, but the experience he gains here will be crucial for your battle."

"Thank you," I said.

"Don't sweat it," Jasmine said. "This brings back memories. I used to sneak around the Gym when I was a kid and my father ran it."

"Really?" Why?" I asked. "Weren't you allowed to be there?"

The only reason she was hiding right now was because I was here, after all. I assumed that she'd been allowed to be in her father's Gym whenever she wanted just like this one.

"It was... complicated," Jasmine muttered. "And it's not something I'd like to get into tonight."

The conversation paused, and Jasmine took another swig of her bottle while Honey kept training.

"He had this liquor cabinet in his office that I'd steal bottles out of," she continued.

I scoffed. "How old were you, exactly?"

"Eh, twelve, thirteen or so," Jasmine said. "You know what he said when he figured it out?"

"He screamed at you and grounded you?" I scoffed, crossing my arms.

Jasmine snorted. "No. He said he was proud that I'd outsmarted him, but that when I wanted to do something, I had to make sure the job was finished. One of the Gym Trainers had ratted me out, and he said that I should have threatened him with Magneton and Onix, or said I'd get him to fire him if he tattled. Even if it had been a lie, it would have worked."

"Working at your Gym doesn't sound like a fun time," I said.

"Oh, that was back in the old days. My dad was raised by a generation that was molded by the Great War. He was a kid during the fighting," Jasmine muttered. "He used to tell me all about how Olivine kept getting bombed to oblivion by enemy naval forces and Pokemon. That even the bunkers weren't enough and sometimes collapsed in on the people taking refuge there because of the Onix that our enemies would send underground to collapse our more resistant buildings. That fishermen were hunted and our crops were destroyed by swarms of enemy Rattata so the entire region could starve. That sites of great battles were never cleared of their bodies so that ghosts could form, and how there'd be a second battle atop the corpses to capture the damn things. And a third. And a fourth. Over and over until the entire place was a sea of rotten bodies where the smell clung to your throat. We did it too, of course. All of it."

I stayed silent, not knowing what to say.

"But Olivine was not destroyed to smithereens. We weren't put down, nor were we captured by enemy forces. They bypassed us in hopes of capturing Goldenrod," Jasmine said. "We rose back from the ashes because they didn't finish us off. Growing up like that, it fucks up a human. My father's fucked and my grandpa was even more so when he was alive. He's old, bitter, and he keeps ranting about how he hates Kantoans and their allies for what they did to us and that we should never have united, but he's the greatest man I know despite... everything. He's the one that taught me to always finish the job. No loose ends. If you want to finish something, you go for the throat."

I didn't exactly know what this was alluding to, but I knew it was a lesson of some sort, so I nodded.

"I will."

The steel Gym Leader smiled. "Great. You're learning—"

"Jasmine...?"

I flinched, turning toward the source of the voice.

It was Volkner in some shorts, slippers, and a T-Shirt.

"I was working and I saw the lights turn on from my office. What's going on here?"

"I should have gone for the throat," Jasmine muttered under her breath. She pursed her lips and spoke up as she lifted her bottle. "Hey Volkner. Want some Vodka?"