PokéLove

I breathe in, smelling that stale, rocky air. Strangely, it reminds me of freshly paved asphalt. Not exactly the kind of imagery one wants in their head before a match.

 

I’ve recalled all of my pokémon to their balls, and I’ve hoisted the egg under my left arm. My appointment for the gym battle is in 10 minutes, but it never hurts to arrive early.

 

The staff at the entrance greets me, “Hello, are you here for the challenge?”

 

“Yes,” I nod, “it should be under Nicole Bellerose?” I stand on my tippy toes a little higher, not that it’s needed. I can see his console just fine.

 

However, the staff is an elderly man who apparently forgot his glasses judging by the constant squint he adorns. Also, arthritis in his hands from the constant shape his hand makes. “Ah,” he exclaims after a solid minute. “Found you.” He turns back to me, eyes falling on the shape of an egg in my arms.

 

“Normally, we encourage challengers such as yourself to attempt the rock climb, as a way to promote concentration, of course. However, we have an elevator for those that are unwilling or unable to do the climb. We prioritize the safety of all people and pokémon that enter our gym.”

 

I refrain from wincing at that last point, but I school myself. “I think I’ll do the rock climb.”

 

“W-wha?” He sputters. “But! Your egg?!”

 

“It’ll be fine,” I say, hopefully assuaging him. His expression says otherwise. “I have…equipment to help me climb.”

 

He grimaces, resigned. “If you say so.” He gestures to the mountain inside the mountain. “Gym Leader Grant is waiting at the top.”

 

Casually strutting up to the challenge, I flourish my trench coat, releasing my working Octillery Arms! This time with a new upgrade!

 

Using a compressor, some actuators, and other doohickies, I’ve made an attachment for the arms. It goes inside of the claw and extends into a spike with enough force to go through a human and the wall behind them. Of course, since it’s inside the arm, I lose a little flexibility, so I made it detachable.

 

It’s only on two arms.

 

Using a normal arm, the tri-tipped claw latches onto the stone, gouging out an imprint in the sandstone. See, the website says that any damage caused to a gym under a challenge will be handed by the League. Which means, I’m not paying for this.

 

And, while this rock has rebar, some of it leads to points of focused structural integrity. Some points are on the surface which I crush with the regular claws. Others are deeper into the rockface which I use the spike for.

 

Don’t worry. This will all make sense later.

 

Using the points on the rockface I carefully mapped out, I strike every weak point I can on the way up.

 

Heh heh. I was so worried about this challenge. That there was no way of cheesing it. I’ve studied enough to know how to deal with someone in a casual battle, but in a challenge? No, I’m pulling no punches. Every single rule will be trodden about that fine line between legal and a lawsuit.

 

I will make every leader either fear me, hate me, or respect me.

 

Probably could’ve worded that better, but who cares? I’m at the top!

 

Grant frowns as I swing myself over the top. I stare at him as I sway in my approach, each arm striking down with a heavy and sickening crunch of stone. Intimidation tactics, right?

 

“Challenger Nicole,” he says, but his voice carries over the arena. “I’ve heard about you from Viola.”

 

“Only good things, I hope?” I smile, wide enough to make my cheeks hurt.

 

“She said that you’re an unconventional fighter. One that thinks outside the box and doesn’t battle like a normal challenger would. You don’t fight with brawns…but with brains.” He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and opens his eyes wide. He’s meeting my stare. “It’s that sort of challenger who challenges me to become a greater gym leader!”

 

I tilt my head—or rather, my entire body—as I ponder his words. “That doesn’t sound like Viola.”

 

Unflinching, he replies, “It was my interpretation.”

 

I straighten myself. “Then we’ll see how that interpretation plays against reality.”

 

“You sat in the stands for the better part of yesterday. I’m sure you understand how the challenges here work?” I nod, and Grant nods to the ref standing on the side.

 

“Challenger Nicole vs. Gym Leader Grant. Nicole is allowed to use all of her pokémon, and Gym Leader Grant is limited to two pokémon. Ready…go!” I quickly grab the egg with an arm and poise myself for what’s coming.

 

Thankfully, Grant doesn’t ruin my day and sends out Tyrunt. Against anyone’s greater judgement, I send out my little Dratini named Robin.

 

“A Dratini?” Grant shouts, determination plain to see in his eyes. “Now I really want to know what you’re doing!”

 

I don’t deign him with an answer as he’ll know soon enough. “Dratini! Dragon Breath!” Hopefully, despite her lackadaisical nature, she remembers the plan.

 

Robin inhales, charging up a beam of plasma before firing it. However, unlike when we trained in the forest, her beam is wild, haphazard. The wrath of a dragon strikes everywhere except the opposing dragon-type pokémon.

 

I look down in shame, rubbing my forehead with my right hand. I already saw Grant’s face, and he really looks like he’s struggling to find words right now.

 

“I- Uh…” He coughs. “As a Gym Leader, I would advise you to use moves your pokémon is familiar with…especially in high-stakes events.”

 

I slowly look up, glaring at him with extreme annoyance. Is this how those uppity noblemen felt?

 

*PSHHH* A torrent rains on the battlefield for a solid minute, drenching Grant, Tyrunt, Dratini, the ref, and me. I inhale slowly and return to my stoic, resting face.

 

No. You’re imagining things. There’s no murder behind these eyes.

 

“Don’t worry about that. Your Dratini may have hit the sprinklers, but it’s fine.” Grant has shifted from serious Gym Leader to a kinder man who is having compassion on a girl who is having a no-good-time right now.

 

“Okay,” I say, not letting my emotions show. “Let’s continue.”

 

Grant nods. “Tyrunt! Use Rock Tomb!”

 

“Dratini. Please, for the love of all that is holy, dodge!”

 

A bevel of rocks, as tall as me with my arms active, appear in the air, and begin striking down on the field. Robin expertly weaves through all of them, not letting them deter her movements.

 

“Twister,” I command. The little dragon snake begins coiling and spinning, kicking up air around her as she strikes…a rock. Not Tyrunt, but one of the rocks from Rock Tomb. At least the rock is eaten up by the twister, leaving a nice gash in the ground that fills with the sprinkler water on the field.

 

“Bite!” Grant shouts, and Tyrunt’s jaws begin darkening. Ooh, how ominous.

 

“Robin! Dragon Breath on the throat, now!” Much faster than before, Dratini charges and fires a Dragon Breath, sending it down the maw of the rampaging Tyrunt. The dino stops in its tracks; its own bite coming crashing down. Unfortunately, that energy has to go somewhere, and it just met charged plasma.

 

Tyrunt effectively explodes, and Robin seeks cover behind one of the rocks.

 

When the dust clears, Tyrunt is laying prone on the ground, gently breathing. So unlike the beast it was just mere moments ago.

 

The ref takes a moment to respond. “Tyrunt is unable to battle!”

 

Grant recalls his Tyrunt with a smirk. “You know,” he says, quite casually, “you could give Diantha a run for her money with acting like that.”

 

I grimace. “Ew. No. I don’t want to get involved in that.”

 

He shrugs. “That’s fine. Though, I have to admit. You fooled me with what your Dratini did. That, however, ends now.” To punctuate himself, he sends his next pokémon out: Amaura.

 

“Challenger Nicole, would you like to substitute your pokémon?” The ref asks, almost expecting my answer.

 

“Yeah. Robin, return.” With the flash of energy that comes from matter conversion, she returns to her pokéball. Next, I send out the tried and true Ferroseed: Hazel.

 

Grant smirks. “I won’t let a repeat of Viola happen to me! Amaura, Rock Tomb!” Once again, pillars begin striking down.

 

“Pin Missile.”

 

With the guided accuracy of knowing where it’s going by knowing where it has been, the missiles weave between the rocks, striking the only ones that pose a threat to Hazel.

 

Oh, I taught her so well. She can even identify with multi-ton earthen spear as a threat.

 

“Ferroseed. Go take a bath.” She complies rolling herself towards and into the water, letting out a…contented noise as she does so.

 

“Really?” Grant narrows his eyes, but he doesn’t see it. He knows there’s a trap because he knows me like I know him. However, he can’t think like me. He can’t see like me. He can’t memorize construction techniques like me.

 

“Amaura…Aurora Beam on the water.” Amaura does so, taking a hot second to charge the energy needed to instantly freeze ice. However, I do nothing. I don’t utter a single word, and Hazel is content to just sit there.

 

The second the last of the water freezes over I shout, “Pin Missile to free yourself, then Rollout repeatedly downwards!” Funnily enough, she isn’t completely aware of this part of the plan. She slept through it this morning as I was explaining it. She’s just going along with me at this point.

 

Grant, not making the same mistake twice, shouts with desperation leaking through, “Take Down! Now!” Amaura does it, striking Hazel, but her work is done.

 

“Hazel, get near me.” She rolls towards me, ignoring her wounds like the tough girl she is.

 

*CRK* The crack in the ground that was flooded, iced, then repeatedly pounded audibly expands. The branches reach towards the other rocks buried in the ground, even crawling underground past the metal barrier of the arena. They meet with the stone I gouged out of the ground, expanding further.

 

I snake some arms upwards, towards the water main sneaking across the roof. “Did you know, Grant, that I don’t like playing Chess?”

 

Grant looks around, eyes frantic, but only a frown on his face. “What did you do?”

 

“It became too easy once I memorized the common strategies, and even more so once I shoved a computer into my neck. I did find a way to enjoy it, however. Instead of trying to win, to beat my opponent into submission, I try and make my opponent squirm. I push them into a corner in which they have no choice but to concede the fight. I don’t play for a win. I play for a draw.”

 

I begin pulling myself upwards, towards the safety of the pipes. “You should really hire a better contractor. I mean, a sprinkler system in a gym with almost nothing flammable. You could use air vents for the dust and be done with the issue. Plus, your little rock challenge is made of limestone, sandstone, and granite. Sedimentary and igneous rocks, which I believe you know. Really adds to the authenticity of the whole thing.”

 

“T-Time out!” The ref shouts, avoiding the growing cracks at his feet. The entire structure is cracking now.

 

“Hey, Grant. Recall your pokémon,” I advise, doing the same. Once he does, I pick him and the ref up with some spare arms. “Those rocks perform really poorly under shear stress, such as ice growing in a crack. The engineers put rebar in the structure to prevent that, but your staff only replace the rock, not the steel. That puts weak points in your structure.”

 

As if to demonstrate my point, an entire cliff face on the east slide tumbles. We all watch with rapt attention as it crashes into the floor, sending dust flying. In fact, we remain silent throughout the entire gym collapsing. Chunk by chunk, the cliff face that Grant was so proud of comes crumbling down. His metaphor and symbol for concentration and determination is quite literally falling before his eyes.

 

It takes two minutes. The dust hasn’t settled.

 

I set us down on the only remaining piece of the arena that fell. It’s only a mere fifth of its original size, but it’ll work.

 

“Let us continue,” I state, simply.

 

Grant…looks distraught for a moment. Then he chuckles. That chuckle grows until he’s laughing a laugh that comes from deep in his belly. A laugh that forces this man to rest on his knees in this dust-filled air.

 

“Alright,” he shrugs. “Sure.”

 

He looks to the ref. “You’re getting compensation, by the way.”

 

The ref nods. “Continue!”

 

I send out my Combee, Cecilia. He sends out Amaura.

 

“Gust,” I command the bee.

 

“Aurora Beam!” Grant shouts, the mask of a Gym Leader, Grand Duke, and man shattered. Only desperation left now.

 

Cecilia’s Gust sends dust flying, and specifically, away from her. Something about Ice-type moves is that all the heat has to go somewhere in a temperature change. In creatures with enough fat, they internalize it.

 

And…it’s quite a lot of heat.

 

Amaura effectively explodes. The dust in their lungs and around their body is superheated by the energy inefficient move. It only takes a moment.

 

“Amaura is no longer able to battle! Challenger Nicole wins!”

 

———————————————————————————————————————

 

Grant had us meet again outside, as he deemed the gym no longer safe.

 

“Nicole, I have not had a battle quite as invigorating as that for quite a while. Neither have I had a battle teach me so much about structural engineering.” He glances back inside the gym, whatever staff on hand sweeping up the place.

 

“This may surprise you, but it is with great pride and joy that I award you the Cliff Badge, for showing an indomitable spirit that was even stronger than mine. Though, I may ask for a different engineer this time.”

 

I take the proffered badge. “Thank you, Grant. I’ll be honest…I half-expected you to try and kill me right now.”

 

He laughs but cuts himself off. “Ahh, don’t worry. We have different parts of the budget for different types of repairs. This money has been sitting in the bank for longer than you’ve been alive! Plus, with pokémon to help, the gym will likely be fixed within the next three to seven days. Give or take a few.”

 

“That’s a relief. I’m…sorry about it all though. This wouldn’t have happened if I decided to, you know, learn to battle like a normal person.”

 

He grasps my shoulders, looking me straight in the eyes. “Nicole, don’t ever tell yourself that. You won…on your terms. Yes, knowing to battle is important, especially when you’re in a pokémon battle, but knowing how to outsmart your opponent to such a degree is a more powerful tool than you know.”

 

“Huh,” I slump. “I never thought of it that way.”

 

“On the other hand,” he says, drawling a little, “I must inform you that you are banned from the Cyllage Gym…for life…until I or the champion deem otherwise.”

 

I nod. “That’s completely understandable.”