Ryan whistled. Well, that was a lot of things to happen all at once. A number of people had come and gone, a small argument had broken out. Someone with an inflated ego called themselves the Champion of some region or other, Ryan didn’t catch which. Still, he rolled his eyes at that, people made ridiculous claims like that all the time, and this dick really didn’t have the decorum necessary to be a Champion.
Still, one of the two people Ryan had actually attempted to talk to - the woman - got overwhelmed and fled the scene, heading for the Pokemon Center. Another girl, who Ryan hadn’t originally noticed due to the Charizard hiding her from sight where Ryan was standing, followed a man identified as Cheren into the Trainer School. Presumably, that man was the Gym Leader then, Cheren wasn’t exactly a common name.
Ryan looked over at the man with the Charizard, who was also taking his leave, and shrugged to Dodger. “Where’s everyone going, bingo?”
It seemed like Cheren was in fact taking challengers right now. It seemed pointless to Ryan to wait outside, so he entered the Trainer School. He found Cheren near the back of the building, staring at, and being stared at, by the girl. They both looked to be about Ryan’s age, maybe a little younger. She had the most horribly garish hair color - he wondered how she found time to dye it if she was a traveling trainer - and had a Houndoom by her side.
“Am I interrupting something?” Ryan asked, this whole thing was getting kind of weird.
Cheren blinked, then looked over at him, “No, of course not. Were you looking for a battle?”
Cheren was dressed proper, in a white dress shirt and blue slacks. He had a rather large orange ascot around his neck, and shoulder length black hair. So this was the man who replaced Lenora. He looked a little young to be a teacher, the fact that he was probably spoke volumes about his skill as a Trainer.
“I was, yes,” Ryan said.
Cheren nodded. He glanced back at the girl for a moment, then back to Ryan. “At what level are you competing?”
“Well, I’ve got the original set of eight badges from a couple years ago, and two of my strongest Pokemon. I was hoping for a match against some of your stronger Pokemon, to test my skills.”
The Gym Leader motioned for Ryan to follow him out the door, “I have just the thing in mind. If you’ll follow me, we can get started.”
The arena was a simple dirt training field behind the school. There were several such arenas throughout the field, and the two men took their positions at either end of the one closest to the building. Ryan could see some of Cheren’s students watching from the school windows, hanging around to watch their teacher fight even though they had been dismissed. Once they were all a little older, they’d be doing this too.
“The terms of this battle are simple,” Cheren explained, “It’ll be a two-on-two double battle with no outside help. We continue until both Pokemon on a side have been knocked out, or until one of us forfeits. Do you find this acceptable?”
Cheren was a no-nonsense sort, Ryan appreciated that. He nodded, “Sounds good.”
The Gym Leader grabbed two of the Pokeballs off his belt. Ryan took one of his own and nodded at his Dewott.
“Go! Stoutland, Watchog!”
“Let’s give them a show, Dodger, Roger!”
Three flashes of red light, and between the trainers stood Cheren’s two Normal Types and Ryan’s Scrafty. Dodger moved from Ryan’s side to take his own place on the battlefield. From his side of the battlefield, Cheren laughed.
“If you think you’ll overwhelm me with a simple Type Advantage, you’ve got another thing coming. Stoutland, Work Up. Watchog, Super Fang.”
The Stoutland held back, and was enveloped in a red glow, while the Watchog rushed forward. Was his plan to keep Ryan busy with the latter until it was time for the former to come clean up, then? Well, two could play at that game.
“Dodger, Swords Dance. Roger, Low Kick.”
The Dewott drew both of his scalchops, extending the blue razor shell blades from them. He rested them together, then focused. Meanwhile, the Scrafty rushed forward to meet his approaching opponent, dropping into a slide as their distance closed.
“Detect.”
The Watchog leaped over Roger’s attack with ease, then tucked into a roll on the landing. They’d both swapped places, Roger tried scrambling to his feet, but the Watchog was faster.
“Now, Confuse Ray.”
The Watchog locked its glowing eyes with Roger’s. Ryan cursed himself as his Pokemon’s eyes turned red, he’d underestimated his opponent.
“Dammit! Dodger, Water Pulse!”
“Detect.”
The Watchog rolled again, easily evading the ring of water the Dewott sent its way. Cheren was toying with him, and meanwhile the Stoutland was continuing to work itself up. If he was going to have any chance at landing a hit, he would have to close distance, and fast.
Luckily, Dodger had just the move, “Aqua Jet!”
The Dewott rushed his opponent, propelled by a jet of water. There was no detecting its way out of this one, the Watchog took the hit and was sent sprawling. Now, he just had to press the advantage-
Unfortunately for him, by now Roger had found his footing, eyes still red as he suffered under the effects of confusion. Before Ryan had the chance to give his next order, the Scrafty ran over and slugged the Dewott in the face, mistaking him for his opponent. Ryan groaned inwardly, the Dewott stumbled from the sudden blow, and the Watchog was standing again.
Cheren smiled, “Better luck next time. Slam!”
The Watchog whipped its tail around, and smashed it into Dodger. The Water Type crashed into the ground at the Normal Type’s feet, his scalchops went skidding across the battlefield.
“Revenge!”
Climbing back into a kneeling position, the Dewott’s body was surrounded by an orange aura. Then he punched the Watchog in the gut. The Normal Type doubled over, winded, and easily in range of another punch. An uppercut to the jaw knocked it on its rear, after which Dodger stood up fully.
Roger lurched at the Dewott again, but the Water Type wasn’t having it. Dodging around the punch, he grabbed the Scrafty by the arm and molted skin pants and used the Fighting Type’s momentum to pick him up and toss him to the ground. Then it was back to the Watchog, still sitting.
“Sand Attack.”
And then it grabbed a fistfull of dirt and tossed it in Dodger’s eyes. This was going embarrassingly bad. Every time it seemed like Ryan was getting somewhere Cheren revealed he had just the counter strategy. The Dewott was left futilely trying to wipe dirt out of his eyes while the the Watchog stood over him. Then Roger blinked, and the red light cleared from his eyes. Huh, maybe things weren’t so bad after all.
“Roger, Low Kick!”
The Scrafty lifted himself on his hands and swung himself around, sweeping the Watchog’s feet out from under him. The Pokemon landed on its back.
“Brick Break!”
And Roger was on top of it in an instant, one hand on its chest to hold it down. He raised his fist, and then punched the Pokemon in the head. And then again because he was still ticked about the whole confusion thing. And then a third time.
“Hyper Fang!”
Or it would have been a third time, had the Watchog not bit down on the Scrafty’s hand. Roger shouted in pain.
“Payback!”
The Scrafty’s other hand came up, enveloped in a dark aura. One final punch, and the Watchog went slack, letting go of Roger’s hand in the process. The Scrafty rubbed his injured limb, and Dodger was only finally using his water to get some of the gunk out of his eyes, but the momentum was finally in Ryan’s court. All that was left was Stoutland.
“You’re doing well so far. Stoutland, Play Rough.”
The only way Ryan could think of to describe what happened next was a body check. The Stoutland rammed into Roger full force, then bit down on the Scrafty’s shoulder and tossed him across the battlefield like a ragdoll. Once he hit the ground, he did not get back up. The Pokemon was down for the count, Cheren had leveled the playing field once again. Only now Dodger was hurt, and the Stoutland in perfect health.
“Retaliate!”
The Stoutland hadn’t moved from where Roger had been standing yet, and Dodger was more than close enough to strike it. The Dewott spun, smacking his tail into the Normal Type’s head. It didn’t even flinch.
“Thunder Fang.”
The Stoutland bit down on Dodger’s tail, electricity coursing through its teeth and into the Water Type’s body. To add insult to injury, it then tossed him as well. Thankfully, unlike Roger, the Dewott was able to get back to his feet.
“Take Down.”
The Stoutland charged. Ryan wasn’t sure if Dodger could take this hit. Suddenly though, everything clicked.
“Dodge it with Aqua Jet!”
Another jet of water propelled the Dewott out of harm’s way. He landed near his shells had wound up, and grabbed them. Good, Dodger was armed again, maybe they still had a chance.
“Now, Focus Energy!” Ryan ordered.
Dodger extended his Razor Shells once more. He’d barely had the chance to assume his normal fighting stance, but they were too far along now for him to only use one of his weapons. By now Torrent was surely active, and combined with his focused damage and the first Swords Dance, Ryan knew how he could win this. Dodger carefully watched his opponent.
“That was clever, and I have to give this little guy credit, he’s a lot sturdier than he looks,” Cheren said, “But it’s time to end this now. Giga Impact!”
Faster than Ryan thought possible, the Stoutland shot off at the Dewott. It was now or never, they’d practiced this before, time to see if they could pull it off in action.
“I’d say we’ve reached our Limit!” Ryan called out, knowing his Pokemon would understand.
The Dewott shot out a Water Pulse. It wasn’t much, just enough to make the changing Pokemon stumble. It’s attack interrupted, the Dewott launched forward on an Aqua Jet, into the air above Stoutland. Next came an Aqua Tail, using the force of the attack to turn the Stoutland into a springboard, launching him higher.
If the Stoutland hadn’t been fully driven into the ground, the Hydro Pump that came next surely did the trick. Finally, after all this gained upward momentum, Dodger started to fall back to earth. Translating the fall into extra force for his final attack, he brought down both his Razor Shells into the Normal Type, before collapsing onto his hands and knees, the watery blades disappearing from his shells once again. Now for the moment of truth, the Stoutland…
Did not get up. Cheren clapped, “Congratulations, you did very well.”
Ryan breathed a sigh of relief, “We got lucky, more like.”
The two returned their fainted Pokemon, and Ryan pulled a super potion from his bag for Dodger. It would hold the Dewott over at least until they got to the Pokemon Center. The two Trainers approached one another, and Ryan knelt down to start caring for his Pokemon.
“Luck may have played a part in it, but your Pokemon are strong, and they trust you implicitly,” Cheren said, “Some of your moves were outright inspired. You’re clever, and can think on your feet. I can certainly see that you deserve those eight badges you already carry, and that includes the Basic Badge Lenora gave you.”
The Gym Leader held up a finger, “However, your tactics need work. You’re headstrong, and you rush into danger too easily. Your Pokemon are powerful, and you understand the ins and outs of a battle, but without a better appreciation of strategy, you’ll never make it any further than you already have.”
Ryan stood again, having done all he could for Dodger. Cheren’s words stung, but he could see the truth in them. Over reliance on brute force had been one of the things that ruined his last attempt at the Championship, and even after a few years traveling, he still hadn’t fully given up that habit. Cheren extended a hand for him to shake.
“Don’t look so sour, you won!” the Leader smiled, “You have the makings of a truly great trainer. You’re already good at thinking on the fly, now it’s just a matter of learning to plan ahead.”
Ryan nodded, allowing a smile of his own. He grasped Cheren’s hand, and shook it. “You’re right, thank you. It’s been an honor facing you today.”
“Two towns over is Virbank City. It’s a port town, so you can take a ferry to Castelia City from there,” Cheren explained, “Before you go, though, you should try and face Roxie. She’s the Gym Leader at Virbank, and I think you could learn a thing or two from challenging her.”
Ryan chuckled, “Thanks, I plan to!”
Roxie’s badge, unlike Cheren’s, was entirely new. Ryan had intended to fight her anyway, simply for the novelty of eventually having ten out of eight badges for the Unova League. Cheren was right though, he could learn a lot from facing the Gym Leaders as something closer to their peak strength, rather than them having to hold themselves back for less experienced Trainers. Heck, if Cheren thought it would be a good experience for him, who was Ryan to deny it?
Ryan took a moment to help Dodger to his feet. The Pokemon took a few staggered steps, but soon found his footing. The Trainer felt bad, but the Dewott was far too proud to allow Ryan to carry him. They followed the Leader back into the school, where Ryan was surprised to find the girl still waiting. No time to wonder about that though, they needed to head to the Pokemon Center. Roger needed rest, and Dodger’s Super Potion was only a temporary fix. As Ryan left, Cheren looked back at the girl.
“Were you also looking for a battle, miss?”
Back outside, Ryan made his way to the Pokemon Center. He passed the man and woman from before on his way, again making sure to give them extra space. He didn’t want to make the woman feel overwhelmed again, after all! Then it was back into the Pokemon Center, where he’d started this whole mess.
The nurse bowed a tad as he approached the counter, “Welcome, how can we help you today?”
“My boys are in need of some healing,” the Trainer explained. He took Roger’s pokeball off his belt and handed it to her, then helped Dodger up onto the counter.
She accepted the Dewott as is with a smile and a nod, “It’ll just be a few minutes, may I have a name to call when they’re ready?”
Ryan gave her his name, and thanked her for her help. He then went over to the small waiting area and had a seat, to think about what Cheren had told him.
