PoV:
1: Rhea (Our nervous golden girl!)
2: Mystery Pokemon (Not really >.> by the title)!
3: Rhea
I loosely follow this map as a visual guide; the creator made it in paint?!?! It’s insane! Some errors here and there, but I follow its design for the most part. Areas can be further apart, some cities are in the wrong places or not listed, and the regions aren’t nearly so close. The best map I’ve found, though!
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2:38 p.m. August 15th, Saturday, 106 PH (Post Hoopa Event). Day 67.
Events: Rhea won her Silver-tier Encrusted Badge after a tough battle! Now, our girls are on their way to getting their four Encrusted Badges for the League. Onward! Our girl started her journey on the 9th of June, and the end of registration for the Winter Indigo Cup is December 5th (111 days away).
Walking through the hallway, Rhea sharpened her focus, and even Lulu wore a serious face; she could feel the support from her Pokemon inside their Poke Balls. She’d studied what she could of her teammates’ battles, which wasn’t much, but it was enough to see Janine wasn’t holding back. It wouldn’t be like Pewter, though; they’d grown from their mistakes.
The lights of the vast ninja stadium centered on her as Rhea walked out of the tunnel to the frenzy of drums and flutes. Squinting as the roar of the crowd deafened her, she set her resolve. If she wanted to step into the shadow of Legends, then she couldn’t do the minimum; all of the Legends had beaten every single Gym Leader before entering the League: four Encrusted Badges was a cop-out.
Ascending the ramp to the console, her Pokemon resonated with her as she looked above the giant hologram displaying her entrance, where Janine stood tall. The Poison Gym Leader was like a giant in Rhea’s vision, and the thumps and yells of the throng faded to the blood pumping in her ears.
Janine’s frayed and tattered scarf fluttered to the right with the shift in air pressure of the ninja cavern village, a host of Ariados spinning their webs near the cave ceiling in preparations for something involving Gold-tier.
Rhea could feel the pressure rise as she put each of her three Pokemon into the machine to read their levels, and when she looked up, the Poisonous Gym Leader had her arms folded against her console, wearing a sad smile. The crowd went wild at her ninjutsu feats, but the girl’s voice was soft and understanding while ignoring the hype the announcer was building.
“I’m sorry to hear about what happened to your mother. I’m told Brock is with her now, and Doctor Anna is flying in from Johto to offer her expertise.”
Trying to maintain her resolve, Rhea nodded stiffly. “Thank you for giving me some time with her… I know you aren’t going to go easy on me. I told my mom if she remained in the hospital with our family, I’d win.”
A hum rumbled in Janine’s throat as she pushed herself up. “I’m glad to see you’ve found your poison… just make sure you don’t prick yourself with it. I am rooting for you.”
Shrill cries made her look up, and a swarm of Zubat flew overhead. When she looked down again, Janine was gone, yet her voice rang out across the stadium, and none a second later, a smoke bomb exploded at the Gym Leader box, where the woman appeared.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” she cooly stated, hand on her hip and looking over her audience. “As a ninja, we often have to adapt to the unexpected and carry out impossible missions that make it unlikely we will see home again. We walk through the shadow of the moon, disguise ourselves in broad daylight, and might just be your new neighbor or a friendly face at the store.”
Her smile drifted to Rhea, making her fingers tighten. What challenge was she going to receive?
“Sometimes… we are given all the information needed, and sometimes we are not. Today, we have seen the discipline of many young men and women, from Bronze to Silver, who have come to sample my poison. Now, at the close of this bracket, there are things I wish to teach future challengers: learn from those that have gone before you.”
Rhea’s gut knotted as the gears of the stadium spun, and steam hissed, cycling the stages until an old pyramid-like structure rose out of the dark abyss. Pillars were erect along its length, displaying various poisonous Pokemon, and stairs led up to the flat battleground at its summit.
She just wanted it to start already, tingles prickling her arms as she stared at the smiling purple-haired woman across from her. They were in Silver-tier, and it would only get progressively harder for her; they had to go above and beyond.
Her hand moved without a quiver as a red light centered on Janine and her, yet unlike the announcer before, a new referee appeared out of smoke at the center of the stadium, sitting at the edge of a Weezing fountain, spewing toxins.
“Select your Pokemon.” The masked man’s voice was a raspy hiss. “Poison and berries are hidden throughout the stage.”
Rhea’s hand, hovering over Nova, swapped to Mya; this was her stage. We’re going to give it our all.
The light flipped yellow, and her Pokemon settled in for a brawl. Plucking out Mya’s Poke Ball, Rhea pulled back her arm as the ninja’s snake-like voice hissed, “Start.”
Green bathed Rhea before the stadium exploded with light, and the ninja vanished in a puff of smoke. Feeding as much strength as she could muster into her arm, she launched it as hard as she could to land near the top of the pyramid to give her access to it; the Pokemon on top would be out of recall range, but so long as she stayed off of it then it would be fine.
Rhea accessed her Pokedex, looking toward the screen to see what Janine chose, and a wry chuckle shook her chest as the familiar toad Pokemon materialized, his skin flaky dry. It was deadly to Nova and Alice, but Mya could easily handle the toxic toad.
“Gym Leader Janine releases Tarn, our poisonous Croagunk fighter, ladies and gentlemen, and Rhea—what is this?!”
A red beam connected to Tarn as Mya hopped up the stone steps of the pyramid to reach the top, making Rhea’s fingers pause over the Pokemon’s face to search its profile. Janine wore an impish smile that said this was the plan from the start, slotting Tarn mere seconds after the battle started and plucking out her second.
Lost as to what the Gym Leader was doing, Rhea instructed Mya to halt, watching Janine select a new Pokemon from a box that opened under the six that had initially activated. The woman’s voice silenced the audience and announcer alike as she tossed the Pokemon all the way to the top of the pyramid, showing incredible accuracy and power.
“What do you do when there is no good option?”
Rhea’s mouth went dry as a wicked-eyed, white-bodied salamander hopped out, licking his black jowls as the pattern running down his lower back to the tip of his slim tail illuminated a bright red, and Rhea knew how much trouble they were in as the announcer went wild.
“Salan the Salandit, ladies and gentlemen! Look at this speedy lizard crawling across the arena; our Steely girl is about to learn what Poison tastes like!”
Corrosion, Mya—return! Now!
♦ — ♦ — ♦ — ♦ — ♦
Alice’s ears pulled back in her Poke Ball as Rhea’s serenity faltered, examining the data sheet for the Salandit that had replaced the Croagunk. Mya’s eyes went big as the black-headed Pokemon peeked over the edge and released a wide spray of ominous purple gas that cascaded down the steps, corroding the stone into pools of liquid poison.
“Son of a biscuit!” Mya snarled. “This is like the WORST! I dropped his Attack—”
“Fairy Wind!” Rhea ordered. “Push it away!”
“On it!”
Jumping down the steps with the advancing smog, Mya spun in a sharp circle, gust cleaving through it and dispersing the gas outward, yet Salan simply pulled back over the edge to escape the attack.
“Send m—” Nova barked, but Rhea shot her down.
“Can’t.”
“Why?!”
“Salan is deadly against Steel and Ice—Mya’s not fast enough to keep away from him in this environment.” The red beam connected to Mya before further poison could overwhelm her Fairy Wind. “Croagunk’s Fighting-Type, which counters Normal and Ice, and Dry Skin counters your Vaporeon,” Rhea mumbled, her emotions settling down. “Amira and I talked about it.”
“They counter ALL of my transformations?!” Nova asked in dismay. “That’s cheating! What do we even do then?!”
A short chuckle shook Rhea’s chest, and Alice shivered as their Trainer’s fingers slid over the surface of her Poke Ball. “If there is no good option, then we work with what we have. Alice, you have the counters and speed… Don’t let Sala get back to his side! It’s on you, little bun. You’ve got the Evolution boost to close the distance in power.”
Huh?! Really? It’s my turn in a Silver battle?!
Nova nudged her, sending positive vibes. “You got this, Alice!”
“Weren’t you freaking out a second ago?” Mya snorted, lightly punching Alice’s spirit.
“Well, if Rhea thinks Alice has it, then I have total faith. She’s worked really hard to catch up to us.”
“True. Knock that fire lizard out for me, Speedy. Show ‘em that tail you’re proud of.”
Excitement bubbling up in her chest, Alice could hardly contain her excitement as her Poke Ball left Rhea’s hand. It was her turn to shine.
Rhea’s voice echoed within her chest, trust she hadn’t experienced yet from her Trainer flooding her with a wealth of energy she never had full access to. “He’s trying to escape; use the new Move you just learned to beat him back. You’ve got this, Alice. Show them what you’ve got.”
Materializing on the steps, Alice hopped up and down for a second, her bright pink eyes looking up at the top of the pyramid as she took in Rhea’s fortitude. Fur bristling, time seemed to slow as all of her training flashed across her mind, and a white glow illuminated her frame.
“Rhea retaliates with Alice, her Lopunny, and you know, the bunnies are a terror in the Bronze and Silver Bracket, and we all know this sweet thing is a destroyer by that unique white and black fur color!”
You have no idea! Alice snickered to herself.
Knees bending, she rocketed into the sky, sailing over the swirling smog to crest the top of the pyramid and spot the crawling away lizard. Bright twinkling stars materialized around her, and shooting stars shot toward Salan.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you!” she chimed, greeting him as she landed and broke into a sprint.
“I’ll be a Mankey’s uncle,” the lizard hissed, trying to dodge the projectiles. “A fast beaut’, ain’t—ack!”
The stars wouldn’t be denied, bowing around to intercept and pepper the Pokemon. A pink streak followed her eyes with her rapid maneuvers, Foresight showing her where the Pokemon would move, and Rhea’s suggestion made her giggle.
Tumbling back toward her, Salan flipped up and breathed out a sickly sweet mist. “Not bad, fluffy ears! Ain’t no wa—wooh, how can you be so… pretty?”
Alice winked at the lizard, offering a cute smile and wink that sent an arrow through the Pokemon’s heart. “Can’t you let me be the star today, big daddy?”
“Ack-ack!” he choked, mist catching in his throat as his thin eyes went wide with infatuation. “I-uh-I…”
“You like getting hit, right, poison cheeks? You wouldn’t hurt me, though?”
“I-I don’t—”
Charging her next Move in quick succession with her superior speed, Alice jumped forward, snickering inside at how ridiculous she must look in the lizard’s mind, likely skipping toward him. He shyly offered his own hand as she came to a stop in front of him, making her ears tilt left with her head.
“I-I’ll provide all the food you could ever eat!”
“Aww, that’s so sweet; you’re Mya’s perfect man!”
“Who—whaaa!”
Retracted claws coming out to latch onto his held hand, Alice giggled as a bright orange aura surrounded her, and she spun him in a sharp circle to throw him into the sky.
“Sorry to tell you, big daddy,” Alice sang, gathering Fighting Energy into her left fist, “but I’m just playing!”
Bending down, she watched the spinning Pokemon descend before catching him under the chin with the powerful uppercut, taking them both back into the air just as Rhea’s warning came.
“He resists Fighting Moves, Alice! Use your elemental punches—well, Thunder Punch is the only one he doesn’t resist—and disorient him with Status.”
Got it…
Her brow furrowed as his energy matrix didn’t shatter, and she supposed it was due to his higher level and resistance; usually, fights were long over by the time she’d landed this many clean-cut Moves on an opponent, but she’d never fought strong Silver Pokemon. Still, she was on the offensive, as always. All she needed to do was keep up the momentum.
Orange light gathered at her leg as she did a front twist upon evening out, aiming the Low Kick to take him back to the ground; it would be a waste to just dispense of the Move since it was already being formed. The lizard’s eyes rolled back, and it struck her that the Pokemon was asleep after the last hit.
Yes, I can end th—
“Huh?!” Alice’s vision went wide as a giant greenish glow encased Salan’s tail to the shock of her internal cheerleaders, and slammed against her illuminated leg, breaking her attack and throwing her into a spiral. “Eck!”
Grunting at the weight and sudden acceleration, Alice cursed herself for not using Protect, as nearly 40% of her matrix took the brunt of the surprise blow. Throwing out her arms and legs to stabilize herself, sparkling water spun out with Splash, using the showy Move to get back into alignment.
Alice just managed to slow her spiral to see the edge of the stadium nearing, making her mind go wild. Using Defense Curl as a Quick Move, she broke most of her fall with the extra support, yet the leg the lizard struck gave way, making her wince.
Ears and arms slowing her in her acrobatic deceleration, Alice winced, drawing in her bottom lip as she came to a stop. Breathing heavily, she studied her slightly sprained leg in disbelief as the announcer and audience went wild.
“Just when you thought it was over, folks, a Sleep Talk Dragon Tail sends Alice into a nearly thirty-meter drop! Haha. It looks like our sleeping lizard isn’t done making trouble yet!”
Vision rising, Alice cursed as the lizard choked out poisonous clouds, dropping onto his back in a tangled heap and groaning in his sleep as if in a nightmare. Soon, the top of the pyramid was covered in the toxic smog.
How did it hurt me past my matrix? Alice growled, rubbing her stinging leg.
Rhea breathed out a long stream of air. “I messed up… I should have been ready to bring you back into your Poke Ball; Dragon Tail’s damage needs to be mitigated before the energy sinks in. Ugh. Sorry, Alice.”
“Is this even legal?!” Nova huffed. “That’s a TM Move, and so is Sleep Talk. How many can they have?”
“A lot, apparently,” Mya mumbled. “We are unorthodox Pokemon, so I guess that loosens the rules a lot, and Alice has a ton of Moves. What about that, umm, one Ability you’ve been trying to do?”
I don’t know how to make it work properly yet, Alice groaned. Uh-oh, I think he’s waking up. I need to get back up there!
Gritting her teeth, Alice ran for the stairs; luckily, her ankle didn’t actually seem to be sprained, but her thigh was heavily bruised. She should have just Copycat the Move and sent it right back at him, but it was too late now.
Stars shone around her body, and she launched them at the salamander, jumping to the pillars to evade the poisonous fog and angling the attack to hit him out of the side. It struck, sending the dazed Pokemon tumbling down the layers. A white aura followed Alice’s dance, yet for the first time, it failed.
Not feeling so alive and flying after having her momentum utterly demolished, Alice’s gut cramped as Salan blinked and popped his head up in confusion, looking around to orient himself. Swift woke him up, but Teeter Dance failed to entangle his brain.
Preparing another Attract as she hopped down to meet him, her mouth tightened when he refused to meet her gaze, forcing her to swap tactics; he was learning about all her tricks and countering them.
“Hey! Sorry about all that—”
“Eh-heh. You do have pretty fur and eyes, but a man’s not a sucker twice,” he said, spewing out more toxic fog to hide in. Foresight widened her vision and helped her spot the lizard, building up something big within the smog.
She sniffed at him hiding inside his cloud; it would be easy enough to kick him out of it, but Rhea had a good idea to get back the swagger in her tail. Her Fighting Moves weren’t effective against him, which meant she had to swap up her tactics.
Stopping on the steps outside of the purple mist, she sat on a step and massaged her leg, working out the knot in it. If he was going to give her time, then she needed to use it to get her leg in better shape.
“What are you doing in there, and why were you hiding that ridiculously strong Dragon Move? It hurt—eek!”
Rhea’s warning sent her diving to the right as the smog exploded outward, flames pushing it in all directions with a superheated wind that ignited the toxic fumes. Finding cover behind a pillar, her heart beat like a drum against her ribs as the eruption passed by, the fire burning out the poison and scorching the stone.
A little scared to get close after that explosive show, Alice fought through the discomfort, breathing in deeply and holding it. Darting out, she skipped past the pockets of blazing fire to see the lizard coughing and recovering from the attack that would most certainly have taken her out if she hadn’t found cover.
Time slowed with her shimmering eyes, showing her where the Pokemon would go, but it didn’t matter at this range. Alice stopped right in front of the surprised salamander, making Salan lean back and brandish his tail for another draconic burst, expecting a slap, punch, or kick.
Yet, all Alice did was chapped her hands and say with an upbeat voice, “Encore!”
Salan froze as lights shone over him with a spray of party decorations; Dragon Tail failed as he was locked into Heat Wave, his last Move.
An evil twinkle lit in Alice’s eyes as she drew back her fist, electricity sparking through her wrist fluff and across her fingers. “Lights out!”
Slamming it against his face, lightning erupted on contact, jolting the Salandit into the air, and right into a red beam, making Alice’s ears droop; she’d gotten him too close to Janine.
“Come back, Alice!”
Almost instantly, a Croagunk materialized a distance away; Alice jumped to a pillar as he drew back his fist and struck the air. In the next instant, Alice was off-balance, confused as nothing had hit her, yet her ears were now ringing, and a sudden gravitational pull sucked all the momentum out of her, carrying her toward the toad.
“Tarn hits Alice with a Super Effective Vacuum Wave, bringing the poor bun away from her side!”
Flipping around, Alice tucked into a ball, a blue light surrounding her as a light orange aura enclosed Tarn’s fist, and the glowing fist broke right through to connect with her jaw.
“Rock Smash?!” Rhea cried as Alice was sent flying away again. “
It didn’t hurt all that much since her barrier took the brunt of it, but it still wasn’t supposed to happen. He was predicting her based on how she’d fought his teammate.
Tucking into a ball, cosmic rays cycled around her, further increasing her Defense and pushing her Special Defense up. Feet touching the ground, she sprung into a back flip, seeing the impact with Foresight moments before feeling the invisible force fracture the ground. Still, it tried to pull her back to the spot, even though she dodged it; it was better than toward Tarn, at least.
Alice’s face softened as she looked up, rosy eyes going big as she locked vision with the Croagunk. “Stop! Please…”
“I—ugh…”
Yes!
He made the mistake of making eye contact, befuddling his heart as her visual-projected energy seeped into his body, twisting him up inside. Gaining a moment to breathe, she recalled the exact way the toad had gathered his energy, and Copycat activated.
Punching the air, a wave emitted from her fist at the struggling Croagunk, yet her blow barely made him flinch; luckily, he was still pulled forward her, and fire ignited her fur. She did it! Fist racing at the accelerating toad, Alice could taste victory, and then the toad became transparent red.
“No! No, no, no! Ahhh!”
Seething in frustration, her Fire Punch met empty air as Janine saved the infatuated toad, and the salamander jumped back out; fighting on the opponent’s side of a field this big was cursed!
Salan breathed a stream of sickly, sweet mist to disorient her like Mya used to do before she’d discovered that she could counter it. Colorful light embraced her as she ran at the lizard, leg feeling slightly better after some time, but again, Janine pulled the paralyzed Pokemon away from her attack!
Gnashing her teeth, claws flexing, she looked up at the smiling Gym Leader as she tossed out the toad again, but this was Mya’s opponent, and she managed to get a pillar between them this time.
Alice danced back, Foresight helping her stay ahead of the rather fast Croagunk, and she managed to make it back to Rhea’s side of the field with 17% of her matrix in-tact, but her Trainer threw her a strange order once in range to return for a rest.
“Endure!”
Jumping into the air, from the pyramid’s side, the shell of offensive energy her Trainer gave her encompassed Alice just as the beam of red light connected, and abruptly, a surge of dark power slammed against her body, making her wince. Had it not been for Rhea’s quick thinking, her matrix would have shattered.
♦ — ♦ — ♦ — ♦ — ♦
Yes! Rhea cheered as her gamble worked, and the mid-return Endure guarded Alice from getting taken out by the Pursuit. We’re going to have to thank Lori for helping us see that return tactic coming.
Leaving Alice to rest, Rhea took out Mya’s Poke Ball, raring to go; Salan was still a problem, but Alice had discovered some of their trump cards and done enough damage for the Steely girl to clean up.
Seeing Janine protect her Pokemon by swapping them out and repositioning them made her realize how needed Moves like Pursuit were.
We really need that Move! Mya, she’s probably going to swap back. Are you good?
Her Mawile’s confidence was through the roof, yet there was a healthy degree of caution.
Good. We’re going to win this! Wait, are you kidding me?! Hahaha.
Rhea’s fingers pressed on the console as she lightly tossed Mya onto her side of the field, near the edge under her, the announcer roaring with mirth.
“It seems our little Salan has been poking around for food and found himself a Cheri and Lum Berry! He’s back and ready for a fight!”
Alice was rocking back and forth with anger at the toxic Pokemon and their tactics. It was a good test for them, though.
Mya… Buff up. Use that smell of yours to find some Berries yourself. And let’s finish this battle! And don’t be salty, Alice. You did wonderful! We know what we’re up against now, and that’s all thanks to you.
After all the pain and heartache she’d gone through with her mother, feeling her Pokemon rally together around her bun helped to mitigate the depression and anger she felt. Yes, she had to release this tension somehow when this was over, but this kind of match that made her use her head and heart was just what she needed.
Lulu was also an adorable bundle of energy still, puffy hands acting as pom-poms as she cheered them on, and Rhea reached up to put her on the console so she could dance around more.
“Nee! Nee! Nee!”
Rhea couldn’t help but giggle at the cosmic cloud’s unique dance moves she’d learned from Zyra, meant for a bird, while Mya came out of her Poke ball and began to sniff the air, looking for what tasty snacks were in the surrounding foliage; if there was one thing the girl was spot-on about, it was food.
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