Chapter 38

Chapter 38

With the roar of the crowd, I slowly unclench my hands from the bar I was holding. For some reason the bar no longer feels round. I looked down at it and found the bar twisted and crushed where I was just holding it. I blink in surprise before reminding to grab my pokeball for Zephyr and recall her from the slowly dissipating blizzard. Once she is back in her ball, I notice Misty leaving her platform and walking towards me, so I quickly but gracefully step down from my platform and walk to meet her in the middle.

“Congratulations on your victory Frost.” Misty said to me as she held out her hand.

“Thank you Leader Misty. You gave me a run for my money and I nearly lost. If not for the last minute evolution I wouldn't be standing here.” I replied as I shook her hand.

“Speaking of your pokemon's evolution, I was aware that you had a variant Fletchinder but this evolution seems different. Please make sure you get it checked over by an expert before your next battle.”

“I plan on calling my Grandpa while I wait for my friends.”

“Good, Professor Oak will surely take care of everything for you. On that note, I am aware that using custom moves is a good way to break the flow, but if properly trained a pokemon's base moves can be extremely powerful. Custom moves can also have unknown lethality. I warned you earlier about the spear you used but if it was used by a more powerful pokemon or was allowed to grow further it could easily kill a pokemon. If you plan on using custom moves in the future, please make sure you test them thoroughly so accidents do not happen.”

I hang my head a little at the reprimand but I make sure to internalize her words. “I understand. I will keep that in mind for future battles.”

“Good. Once again, congratulations Frost Oak on winning the Cascade Badge. I hope you can make it to the end.” With that Misty hands me a teardrop shaped badge.

I thank her while taking the badge as the arena roars with cheers. I turn on my heel and start walking back to the corridor. My music player takes this time to turn itself up with every step I take away from Misty while playing “Finish Line” by Skillet. A smile threatens to break my mask as my steps feel light as I disappear into the corridor.

I follow the signs for the exit and get my winnings deposited into my account. I look around for a place where I can wait for Bea and Flannery while watching their matches. Unfortunately, I don't have enough time to make it to the stands. I find a room off to the side with a TV on the wall that is currently displaying the gym. It looks like all the damage from my match has been taken care of already so I sit down to wait for my friends on a Wailmer bean bag chair that makes me sink in comfortably.

“Frost! Congrats on winning!” Bea says as she finds me and walks into the room.

“Congrats yourself. You pulled off a flawless victory.” I reply with a big smile on my face.

“I wouldn’t call it flawless, there is a lot I could have done better.” Bea responds as she makes her way over to the Wailmer chair I am sitting on and flops onto it beside me, causing me to burst out in a fit of giggles. I throw an arm around her shoulder and give her a friendly hug.

“We are all improving, but three-nothing? Comeon, you must be happy about that!”

“Oh don’t get me wrong, I am super happy I won.” Bea gives me a cheeky grin before continuing. “I was just saying it wasn’t flawless. Oh and Congrats on Zephyr’s evolution. Did she evolve into a new breed? The screen in the waiting room didn’t have any information as your pokemon was already unique before the fight.”

“Ah, yeah... I haven’t checked yet as she is resting in her pokeball and from what I could tell earlier, she is quite large now so I didn’t want to release her while still at the gym.” I answer sheepishly. “Speaking of evolutions, I see you now have a Hitmontop. Is that what you were going for with Tyrogue?”

“I would have been happy with any of the evolutions so I let Tyrogue train how he wanted to and this is the result. Now we just need to get into some heavy training again.”

“I’m with you on the whole needing to train part.” I sigh and lean back into the beanbag more. “I nearly lost. If it wasn’t for Zephyr’s early evolution I would have to fight Misty again, but this time I wouldn’t be able to catch her off guard with my moves.”

Bea makes a sound in agreement before turning to the screen. “Looks like Flannery is up now, I hope she can win, she is at a total disadvantage here.”

I look at the screen to see my flame haired friend move to the platform and listen to the rules for the match. “I believe in her, she will dominate the fight just like you did.”

“I hope she does! This is going to be a great fight.”