Chapter 239

Chapter 239

CHAPTER 239

"Take it easy... uh, yeah, like that! Don't go too high yet, you'll hurt yourself! Arceus!"

It was hard to not feel nervous when your kid was learning to fly all over again.

Princess slowly hovered around twenty feet in the air, and she struggled to keep her balance. She'd nearly flipped over five times already (my heart had dropped to my stomach every single time), and we were all trying to hide our nervousness while encouraging her. It wasn't working very well, though, since apparently her evolution had made her a lot better at sensing feelings and she had complained that we should believe in her more because all of our doubt was making her slip up. Angel had prepared a bed of vines below her in case she lost balance and fell while Buddy hovered in the sky with her.

"Now you know what she was like when she just turned into a Togetic," I whispered to Angel, Sunshine and Sweetheart.

The dragon snorted, and a pebble burst from the ground, smashing into his arm. Harmless, but annoying nonetheless. A glow fainted from Princess' eyes as she huffed.

"See? You can already use Ancient Power while flying," I cheered. "Keep it up."

The fairy type smiled, satisfied with herself while Sunshine cursed at her.

The main problem we had with just hovering was that even if Princess only had to use fairy Type Energy to float, she still had to apply it in a careful balance throughout her body to not tip over, and now that she'd drastically changed, she would have to learn how to do it all over again. Princess was a smart girl, though, so I was sure that it would only take a week at most. Then, we'd be able to move on to real flight. Combine the two along with manipulating the wind to speed herself up, and that was a Togekiss' true potential.

Arceus, I couldn't wait to fly around the sky with her. Traveling had a charm of its own, but flying across the region with the wind blowing past my ears sounded awesome too. There was freedom there. No forest, mountain, river or swamp would be able to stop me.

I bit my lip as soon as I thought about swamps. I still hadn't forgotten about those poachers. Hopefully they'd be dealt with soon.

We ended up sticking around for as long as possible, but we needed to leave before the Flight School I had found closed for the day. After calling Alakazam, he Teleported me back to Sunyshore and I made my way to the establishment. I would have had Princess practice on the way there, but I didn't want her to accidentally fall on someone or even worse, in the middle of a busy road. When we got back to the Center, she'd be able to practice more.

Flight School was situated south of the city, where there was still enough space for a huge fenced yard to give students an appropriate area to practice. The building was similarly themed to every other in Sunyshore, but a lot bigger. I supposed government facilities didn't have to conform to the building code around here.

And it was government-run. Cecilia had told me that you could get flying lessons in Unova through private enterprises— although they were approved by the Unovan government and kept up with their standards. Even the theoretical and practical tests could be taken through private businesses.

Not in Sinnoh. Only the government could hand out licenses. Some people called government-run things inefficient, and I had no way of knowing if that was true or not, but at least it was free. I needed to save money for TMs, and there were also items for the Conference to think about, but I'd delve all into that after I finished up Pastoria and traveled throughout the region. It wasn't like I had the money to do anything anyway.

I'd need to buy a saddle for Princess soon enough.

A crowd of trainers were leaving the building as I entered. I assumed they were the last class of the day and hurried up to the front desk, which for some reason was incredibly difficult to find and not actually next to the entrance. Instead, it was in an office in the middle of a hallway to the left of the building. The man behind the desk looked exasperated when he saw me enter. He'd been in the middle of packing and had been about to leave for the evening.

"Good evening. Sorry for being late, uh I wanted to sign up for a license? So I'll have both theoretical and practical lessons, please."

"Sure thing," he exhaled. "Trainer ID, please."

The employee scanned it through a machine next to his computer and nodded.

"Togekiss. Alright, I'll put you down for lessons. You'll start with theoretical classes and then move on to the practical ones. Five of them, the first one tomorrow at..."

I quickly wrote all of the classes on my phone along with the classroom numbers. A few of them fell when my friends were battling, so I'd have to miss those battles, starting with Mira's tomorrow. Once my five classes were done, I'd take the theoretical test and move on to five practical classes that I didn't have the date for yet. I thanked the man for his time and left.

The next five days would be full of lessons, it seemed. Five days to get Princess able to float? I wasn't too worried, especially since it would take another day for the exam. Theoretically, all we needed to be able to do to pass my test was be able to sit on her while she floated around the sky.

Soon, I'd be able to fly. I felt giddy as I left the building.

—

The remainder of the evening had passed quickly, and it was morning now. Denzel's battle was first and we all sat to spectate. It felt odd to be here and not have to furiously analyze the battle for my own. I couldn't help but put myself in that mindset before remembering I already had my badge and I could relax. There was no pressure to perform. I didn't know when I'd take on Crasher Wake, but maybe not going last all the time could be a good idea.

It felt nice.

Of course, all of my other friends were focused on Volkner as he and Denzel approached their respective platforms. My best friend didn't look nervous, but it was easy to tell that he was with his clenched fist. I understood him completely. After getting tutoring from one of the best trainers in the region, what if you lost? You'd feel horribly inadequate. Not only would you potentially disappoint your teacher, but other people without the tools we had gotten who would win would make you feel inferior through no fault of their own. In a way, battling after getting a teacher was even more nerve-wracking than doing so without.

But I believed that he'd be able to get into the flow of battle like I had after a few minutes.

I figured I'd focus on Denzel today to see what he learned from his time with Craig instead of Volkner. His battle would be the standard 5 on 5 with three switches, and Denzel led with Lopunny. The normal type flexed her arms and anchored herself onto the floor with her feet. I had never seen her this determined. It was like she wanted to prove something.

I didn't know if it had to do with her unfortunate reputation online or something with Sylveon. Maybe it was both.

Volkner released his Luxray. Unlike the one on his personal team, this one was more like a jack-of-all-trades that didn't excel in anything, but could do everything well. It was a Pokemon Volkner liked to lead with a lot for his sixth-badge battles to see what his opponents would do when going against a 'blank slate' so he could better test them. The electric type's eyes shone as he stared down his opponent.

The referee counted down, and the battle began.

Denzel barked out an order, and like usual, Lopunny's ears, fists and feet all activated Power-Up Punch as she rushed toward Luxray. What was unusual was her speed— or maybe it was her footing? She had always combined her attacks with Quick Attack, so that was normal, but every step carried her just a little further.

Luxray's teeth glimmered with electricity as he opened his mouth and waited for Lopunny to reach him, and more electricity spread from his feet and onto the entire field. Lopunny grunted when she stepped onto the Electric Terrain, but she didn't hesitate.

Luxray struck as soon as she got close enough, and the normal type leaned into the attack. Luxray bit into her arm, and electricity burst out of the attack like a mini-explosion. Lopunny pulled him toward her and clapped his head with her two ears before she slammed a glowing green fist into the electric type's nose.

Drain Punch, I mused. Maylene had given us the TM, but it was notoriously difficult to master. Luxray kept trying to bite at Lopunny with Crunch and Thunder Fang, and while the Electric Terrain was hurting the normal type and speeding him up, he was still far slower than her, and she was growing stronger. Lopunny's stance was different as well. Small shifts that made a world's difference. Keeping her fists up to protect her face and throat from Luxray's biting attacks, squaring herself and digging her feet into the ground to stay grounded and stable. Punching Luxray in the muzzle, jaw or throat— targeting its weak points.

Volkner called out to Luxray, and the electric type began to run. Fighting Lopunny up close was growing more and more difficult, especially when Drain Punch was keeping her somewhat healthy. Lopunny followed as best she could, but with the Electric Terrain fueling Luxray, he was able to outrun her. Spires collapsed and turned to rubble as Lopunny destroyed them in an attempt to hit Luxray.

"Thunder."

"Mirror Coat!"

A thin barrier surrounded Lopunny, but the Thunder was too powerful. It stabbed through like a hot knife through butter and hit Lopunny right in the chest before growing and overtaking her completely. The normal type shook off the pain—

I saw a glimpse of panic slip in both Denzel and Milotic, and this time Jolteon bit through Milotic's water bubble with a Thunder Fang that pierced through his scales. Another Thunderbolt cooked Milotic, and he cried out in pain as he desperately tried to shake off the electric type.

Denzel barked out an order, and Milotic's water bubble dispersed. Milotic and Jolteon fell to the floor and Milotic crushed the electric type with his full weight upon impact. Jolteon snarled as he let loose a Thunder now that he had enough time to charge the attack. Milotic fanned his beautiful tail as draconic energy wrapped around it and he slammed Jolteon away, but the damage was already done.

Jolteon had been so ruthless that he'd easily torn through Milotic's regeneration, and the water type had fainted quicker than even I had expected, and suddenly Denzel wasn't in such a dominant position any longer. Sure, Jolteon had gotten hit and he was poisoned, but with how quickly he could finish each fight, did it really matter?

This was Volkner's test. What would Denzel do in the face of overwhelming offense?

My best friend released Sylveon next, and the fairy type curiously eyed Jolteon.

The battle between the two began, and it was easy to see that Sylveon had improved the least out of all of Denzel's Pokemon. I bit my lip as the fairy type resorted to the same old tricks. Sylveon managed to wrap ribbons around Jolteon's neck, but he turned into electricity and freed himself before ramming into Sylveon—

Whose glamour barrier collapsed in a mere five hits. And it hadn't even been Thunder.

Sylveon slammed a glowing paw on Jolteon's head and kicked him away with Play Rough, but this was a problem. It wasn't that Sylveon was weak, even though he had only improved slightly. It was that his belief was lacking.

And I knew why.

Jolteon was slowing, but that didn't matter when he could turn into pure electricity that instantly zipped around the arena. Sylveon fought back, of course, but Jolteon took him out.

Denzel was losing.

Lopunny was his last Pokemon, and she was healthy thanks to Drain Punch. She immediately flexed when her trainer told her that she was the last line of defense. Volkner recalled Jolteon, using his first switch of the battle and sent out Zebstrika instead. Another Pokemon with overwhelming speed and offense. A Rising Voltage immediately snapped into place and leaked through the ice.

The electric type was slower than Jolteon, but she was faster than anything Lopunny could hope to achieve at her level. Zebstrika rammed into the normal type at full speed with a Wild Charge, but Lopunny stood her ground. Her feet dug into the ice, her ears blocked the worst of the attack and she immediately countered with a combined Drain and Power Up Punch to Zebstrika's neck.

Zebstrika neighed, rising on her hind legs, and she kicked Lopunny in the head— but the normal type twisted, dodging the attack by a hair as she bent backwards. Her ears wrapped around Zebstrika's feet and she slammed her face-first against the ice, ignoring the raging Thunderbolts as she punched her with another Drain Punch.

Lopunny was keeping Zebstrika close enough to regenerate but blocking or dodging most attacks, and it was working.

If she could sustain herself enough...

Lopunny cried out as Zebstrike kicked her in the thigh and her leg buckled, but before another kick could get her in the head, a point-blank Shadow Ball struck at Zebstrika's flank, leaving her an opening to regain the advantage. The fighting was so simple and yet so brutal.

But the tides turned when Lopunny let loose a flurry of punches that finished off Zebstrika. She thrived in long fights, and she was stronger now than she'd been thanks to Power-Up Punch. Every inch of her body was bulging muscle, and she looked like she'd grown a few inches.

Lopunny stood victorious over Zebstrika's body and wheezed. She was bruised, battered, burned, but not defeated.

Next came Jolteon. Had he been at full strength, the battle wouldn't even have been close, but it was. There was no way to duck out of Jolteon's way like Zebstrika, but Lopunny always punched back for every hit she suffered. The battle did not end with some grand technique. Both Pokemon were too tired to even hope to use anything but the simplest moves. Elemental Punches, Thunder Fang, Thunderbolt, Quick Attack... it was a slugfest.

It ended with a simple Fire Punch.

Lopunny raised a fist and screamed.

Denzel had won by a hair.

—

Beyond the usual celebration, I was the only one who knew Sylveon well enough to understand that there was a difference between a disappointing performance and a psychological block. Sylveon couldn't even bring himself to pull on glamour any longer. When our friends cleared the way and Denzel got his team back to the Center, I pulled him away to speak.

"Listen. When your team is healed, we need to speak to Sylveon. Both you and I."

My friend clenched a fist, but he nodded. He knew Sylveon better than all.

"He was doing well when we trained with Craig, but he completely collapsed during the actual fight. I don't..."

Denzel sighed. He couldn't even finish the sentence.

"He was doing well during training because you hung out with him more than Emi and Pauline," I explained. "You have to talk to him about this. And yes, before you panic—"

"You know?"

"I do know," I nodded. I wasn't about to throw Lopunny to the wolves, though. "I'm sorry, but Sylveon needs an intervention. Did you even talk to him about it at length?"

"I didn't."

"We can come to an understanding. I'll just be here to mediate and make it easier for you to understand him and your team. You need to speak. All of you. Ignoring the problem will only make it worse. Sylveon's a lot more sad than he looks."

"Okay," he exhaled. "We'll do it."

"Three days," I nodded.

Three days for his Pokemon to get healed.

—

Flight School had finally ended, and I already had ten pages of notes. It felt weird to be in a school-like environment after so long, but so long as it had to do with Pokemon, I had no problem paying attention. I hummed as I walked across Sunyshore's streets and decided to go out and train Princess again, since Mira's Gym Battle was over anyway.

"I wonder what the score was," I mused as I grabbed my phone.

The score was 4-5 in Volkner's favor.

Mira had lost.