Soren Rivers
I had defeated all the trainers in the gym and now all I had to do was defeat Oris in battle. I was slightly annoyed that Jay had already beaten me to the punch by sneaking out early this morning on her own to challenge him before rubbing the badge in my face first thing in the morning- literally, she woke me up and showed it to me before I was even awake enough to clearly make it out. But everything was working out for me so far and then I could go back and show my badge to her. I had already taken out all his other pokémon, even his Aerodactyl and Steelix that could've mega evolved but hadn't, and now Oris was down to his last pokémon. I wasn't sure if I should be nervous or not to see what it was.
"Alright, ready to see if you can defeat me once and for all?" He grinned and held up his pokéball.
I returned Finn, giving him a break after the long chain of fights he'd been in before taking out my next best pokémon I had been saving just for this moment. "Yeah, Hoodini, let's finish this!"
Hoodini burst from the ball and turned his head back to look for me a second before facing the aggron Oris released onto the battlefield. A steel and ground type, and judging by the looks of the collar it wore Oris could mega evolve it... I should've tried toughing it out with Finn.
"Row!" Hoodini fluttered his wings, seeming unintimidated by the stronger pokémon, before glowing as he began to evolve.
I watched in amazement as my pokémon evolved; the light fading to reveal a dartrix in Hoodini's place. "Nice. Alright then, you ready to fight Hoodini?"
"Dar!" He spread his wings and glared towards the aggron.
"Great, then start this off with razor leaf!"
"Take down!" Oris commanded.
Aggron took the razor leaf like it was nothing before ramming into Hoodini and making him skid across the rocky ground. I knew aggron in general had good defense and judging by how it took the recoil right after razor leaf without slowing down... I knew this was going to be a long fight. Oris didn't seem concerned either at the moment, not even bothering to mega evolve yet.
"Hoodini, get up and use another razor leaf!" I couldn't use his other attacks, they weren't as effective and if razor leaf wasn't a problem for Aggron then I wasn't going to use them on him.
"Take down." Oris didn't seem concerned his pokémon was taking damage at all.
It didn't matter, he wasn't going to hit me the same way twice. "Dodge it and use razor leaf from above!"
Hoodini flew up and over Aggron's head but Oris wasn't about to get hit with another attack either it seemed. "Iron tail!"
Hoodini didn't dodge the new attack in time as Aggron's tail glowed and it swung its tail towards him. I winced as my pokémon crashed into a boulder lining the walls before falling limply to the ground: unconscious. I returned Hoodini and sighed, Finn was injured but he was my next best bet. "Alright Finn, use mud shot!"
Finn hit Aggron in the face before the other pokémon could move but the surprise attack didn't last long and it gave a roar of challenge as it awaited a command. Oris gave a nod to his pokémon before mega evolving it. "Alright, Aggron, time to use your power to its full potential, use take down and follow up with iron tail!"
"Mud shot again!" I ordered.
Aggron was slower now but with the new armor its defense would be boosted, not that it mattered. Finn could win this, he had the advantage with typing now. The two pokémon went at each other again, the mud shot blinding the mega aggron and giving Finn the advantage of sight and speed. He couldn't dodge everything though and I froze momentarily as a take down rammed Finn into the wall, cracking it. Mega Aggron staggered back, the damage it had been taking finally showing.
"F-Finn?" I couldn't lose him, I needed him to win the battle and to complete my journey.
"Marsh..." I was relieved to see him get up, though I knew he wouldn't be able to handle another attack.
"Use water gun on the ground!" I commanded, a plan starting to form. "Slow it down more with the mud then use mud shot on its weak points!"
"Finish it with iron tail!" Oris shouted before glancing at me. "It's been a good battle kid but I'm afraid it's all over now."
"Don't doubt us, we're tougher than we look."
I prayed to Arceus I wouldn't fail and watched as our pokémon took their last stands against each other. Finn was barely able to stand but Aggron was on the ground where he'd fallen after taking a mud shot to the legs and was about to take another one to the face. The only attacks it could use now were defensive ones if I was guessing right because Finn was smart enough to avoid being in range of an iron tail.
"Metal sound! Get back up Aggron!" Oris was giving me a look I didn't quite like as his mega evolved pokémon let out an ear splitting sound that caused both Finn and me to cover our ears.
The aggron recovered his footing and used take down while Finn's defense was lowered. He gave a cry of pain a moment later as Aggron hit him and i returned Finn to his ball, knowing he was knocked out before he'd landed on the ground. The mega evolution wore off and the aggron collapsed to the ground unconscious as well after taking the recoil damage. Oris returned his pokémon and walked across the destroyed battle field to speak with me.
"Congratulations on winning." Oris took out a badge and held it out for me.
I was surprised for a moment and glanced over at the holographic board along the wall behind where Oris had been standing. All of my team was knocked out except two: Jay, who I had used in the prior battles, and Foxy, who's picture wasn't up but his pokéball symbol was glowing because I hadn't wanted to use the weak pokémon yet after what he'd been through. I turned my attention back to Oris and took the badge. "Thanks."
"I knew you'd win from the start kid." Oris shrugged and I realized he had let Aggron lose just to shorten our battle, though I was sure he could've beaten Jay if he had used metal sound and iron tail instead. Steel beat fairy types... had he just given up?
"I see." I was disappointed he hadn't been actually trying, not wonder dog fighting was still around in Iron Well; probably throughout Burned Islet honestly.
"Good luck on your next gym." Oris turned away to go heal his pokémon in his personal machine similar to the ones at the Pokémon Center.
I walked out of the gym half wanting to confront him on what he'd done. A gym leader who was too lazy, too selfish, too stupid... The list could've gone on. How could a powerful trainer, well one strong enough to be a gym leader, ever just give up like this? I should've been thrilled to have the badge but now that I had won it... it felt like a joke. Had he gone easy on Jay when she battled him too? She hadn't cared apparently if he had.
I gave my pokémon to the nurse before turning away to find the other two, who were bent over slightly and talking to something hiding behind the door to Jay's room. "Hey."
"Shut up, Soren." Freya glanced back at me. "We're trying to get Kirlia to stop hiding."
"He's just embarrassed because he thinks he looks like a girl." Jay sighed before turning away and giving up. "So, how'd the battle go?"
"I won." I scowled. "Oris didn't even care for the battle though, he let me win in the end. Hoodini evolved though, I'd like to see Torracat torment him now."
Jay smirked and glanced behind me at the couch where the cat like pokémon was staring at us. "Don't tempt him..."
"Freaking cat." I glared over at Torracat, he was plotting something, I could tell. "So, I'm guessing your ralts evolved then?"
"Yeah, he did around the time I got back here and had the team healed up." Jay shrugged. "He isn't so shy about fighting anymore luckily but he doesn't seem to want people to see him as a kirlia."
"Tarot gave you a dawn stone, you could use it on him." I reminded her.
Jay nodded. "Yeah, but I shouldn't evolve him just because he doesn't like his current stage. Kirlia needs to learn power doesn't come from looks before I evolve him."
"You're missing out on a stronger pokémon." I shrugged before walking away to get my own pokémon back and letting them out. "Maybe my kirlia can help him out with that."
"Kir?" My pokémon looked up at me as I mentioned her.
I nodded at her and crouched down to her eye level. "You here that, Jay? Think you can help out Jay's kirlia?"
"Lia." My kirlia nodded and made her way over to the room where the male kirlia was hiding, though there was something on her face that hinted it might not go as well as I had asked.
I started getting up again when heavy weight rolled into me; I could guess who that was. I heard Hoodini give an undignified cry as Torracat continued to tussle with him, rolling back off of me and onto the floor. I hated that fire type. It had done that on purpose. "Jay! What did I tell you about that cat?"
Jay glanced away from the two pokémon to look down at me. "Hey, he's just playing."
"He tried eating Hoodini once. Remember that time on the boat to Segro and I found Hoodini in Torracat's mouth!"
"Does it look like he could fit Hoodini in his mouth now?"
I glared at her slightly and got up. "You are encouraging him, aren't you? I thought you loved me."
"Now you're just being a baby." Freya commented as she listened to us.
"Okay, you said Torracat wasn't behaving well either."
Freya nodded. "Yeah, but at the moment he isn't trying to eat you pokémon... He is getting a little rough though."
Jay sighed. "Torracat, stop that!"
The fire type swatted at Hoodini's green feather that hung in his face a few more times before obeying. Hoodini began fixing his feathers, preening them to perfection, before leaving the room before Torracat could attack him again. Playing or not, I wasn't amused at how Torracat kept tormenting Hoodini. Yeah, I got the cat and bird thing but that didn't mean Jay's pokémon had to keep doing that. I was about to go check on Hoodini just to be sure he wasn't hurt, minus his pride of course, but Jay's kirlia ran out of the room and hid behind her while my pokémon, Jay, came out laughing at it.
"Now who's pokémon is being a bully?" Jay challenged me before picking up Kirlia. "It's fine, alright? You can use your look to your advantage. You'll be stronger and better in a fight than you look; you'll show them not to mess with you."
I sighed and glanced down at my kirlia. "I said make him feel better."
"Kir." Jay laughed. "Irlia!"
I bent down again to face her before whispering so the human Jay wouldn't hear. "Look, I love her and I have a hard enough time trying to show it with Torracat messing things up. I don't need you making me look bad now too. Please don't make things worse."
My pokémon was silent before nodding in agreement. "Lia."
I gave a sigh of relief and stood back up, Jay had left the room with her pokémon, which left me with mine and Freya. I wanted to complain some more about Oris now that our pokémon weren't messing around trying to hurt each other but Freya seemed in deep concentration on whatever was on her computer screen and I didn't think it would be wise to disturb her. I decided to risk another attack from Jay's wretched Torracat and went into her rented room, finding her on the bed reading something on her own computer while absentmindedly petting Torracat- who much to my annoyance was lying on her torso and making a rumbling purr sound. He glanced over victoriously and stretched out even more once he saw me enter, even going so far as to squirm under the laptop to rub his face against her shoulder.
"Hey, I'm trying t-" Jay noticed me as she went about fixing her laptop into an upright position again. "Soren, what's up?"
I didn't take my eyes off Torracat. "Not much. Just thinking about how one of us should make sure Oris is taken out of his position as gym leader once we become champion."
I got on the bed beside her, glancing at the screen to see the latest news on what was happening about Valhalla. Jay closed her laptop before I could read anything but continued petting Torracat. "Yeah, he was kind of... boring to take on. But at least we're one step closer to challenging Tarot right?"
"I guess." It sounded like a good thing but how was I going to become champion if the gym leaders just handed over their badges without a fight? Tarot would wipe the floor with my blood probably because I wouldn't be strong enough.
Jay didn't respond and instead started paying attention to Torracat again as he gave a mewl for more affection. "Yeah, I know you want constantly petted but my hand is getting tired."
"Tor..." He got up and pressed against her before jumping off, landing on my stomach with most of his paws while letting one get dangerously close to something lower.
The glance he gave me was all I needed to know he did that on purpose. I wanted to shove him off but he was on the floor waking Curse up before I could... I also was pretty sure Jay wouldn't appreciate me shoving her pokémon around. Looking back at her I saw her staring at me expectantly, probably thinking I was going to keep talking, but she ended up speaking instead.
"You know, I bet Glaze will be more to your liking battle wise. He's the next gym we're going to remember? That should be fun."
Yeah, it would be fun as long as Glaze actually battled like a real gym leader, though, people did say he liked to heat things up with a good battle despite being an ice type gym leader. "True. How long will it take to get there?"
"We're taking a short cut tomorrow around Ethereal Isle on a boat to Saltview where Freya said we'd walk to Risen and take a plane to Xelen." Jay said as she opened her laptop and pulled up a map of Drucan to get a better idea. "Shipwreck Passage and Restless Passage will take the longest because of the whirlpools and currents but after that the way to Risen shouldn't take long and flying will take a half day at most."
"Great." I sighed and leaned back, making myself at home as I leaned against her shoulder to stare at the screen as she went back to reading the news. I wasn't concerned about Valhalla at the moment but considering Torracat wasn't being a dick I wasn't going to do anything to change that.