The Eon Academy [S.S. Wishmaker Side-Story]

[[Desolate Divine]]

It's been nearly three weeks since I put up an episode. A mixture of being distracted by Spiritwater and this being one of the few I didn't have a decent idea about going forward. But here it is. Next one should be very soon (if not tonight depending on tiredness and motivation).

Episode 8: Sincerity

Spoiler:

“So 5:45pm we leave,” Jon asked. “Any questions?”

“Do I need to bring anything?” Charlotte asked, taking a mental note.

“Nothing in particular. If you wanted to bring a notebook to write down what you notice, that may be beneficial. Heck, Steven probably wouldn’t mind if you brought something to film it if you really wanted to,” Jon explained. “But really, this isn’t a class. None of the others have, but I know you like to go that extra mile.”

It was Thursday of the eighth week of summer, and Jon was trying for what felt like the twentieth time to arrange for Charlotte to tag along to his practice battle with Steven. So far all the other students had at some point or another, however every time they arranged for Charlotte to come along, something came up. First it was the threats on the Eon Academy, then it was Luxray getting injured.

Luxray sat on the couch next to Charlotte in the lounge of the common area, snoozing on his right side, as to not lay on his bound left foreleg. He had only returned back to Charlotte on Sunday, and was only going to be able to start walking on that leg near the end of the summer, and was not going to be able to battle again for another few months. Charlotte however was just glad he was going to recover, and didn’t harbour any resentment for her ill-informed instructions.

Whilst Charlotte’s one-on-one session with Jon was at 2pm that afternoon, Jon had come to the lodge to find Dylan. Chris was supposed to be doing one-on-one training before Charlotte, however had swapped with Dylan’s session from the day before, as there was something in Mossdeep he and Justin wanted to check out. Dylan however, seemed to have forgotten.

Jon said goodbye to Charlotte, before heading up the stairs towards the students' bedrooms to extract Dylan from his, greeting Chris as he walked down. As Chris turned into the lounge, he made his way to the other couch, collapsing with an almighty groan. After a moment, he realized he wasn’t alone in the room, spying Charlotte on the other couch, before grabbing a magazine off the coffee table and attempting to casually flick it open.

They had hardly spoken in the last week since Luxray’s accident, and this was the first time they had been alone together. Dylan was about to go out to training, Abbee had offered to help Alyssa prepare dinner for that night, and Justin was…

“Justin not with you?” Charlotte asked, trying to break the tension.

“He is supposed to be, but he got a migraine…” Chris said flatly. “He is in his room with all the lights out, puking his guts up…”

“Goddamn, should we try and help him?” Charlotte asked. Whilst she wasn’t overly close with Justin, and had never had a migraine herself, her older brother was susceptible to them, and she saw how much it knocked him down.

“I think it best we leave him,” Chris explained. “Once the vomiting stops, he will be able to sleep it off. That’s what he said usually happens…”

“So your plans are out the window?” Charlotte asked.

“Yeah, and I was looking forward to it too…” Chris sighed as he rested his head against the back of the couch, looking up at the roof. “Wallace, the Sootopolis City Gym Leader, is running a workshop on the Mossdeep beach this afternoon, on Water Types using their environment to their advantage. Since I can rarely battle with Kingdra here, I figured it would be good to get out.”

“You don’t think Jon would let you go alone?” Charlotte asked. “I mean, it’s something educational? It’s not like you’re loitering at the shopping center or something…”

“Maybe, but I won’t try my luck considering last time I left here on my own, Jon had to drag my hypothermic a** out of Shoal Cave…” Chris laughed weakly, still feeling embarrassed about the whole situation.

Charlotte thought it over. She did have her own training with Jon this afternoon, however…

“If you don’t mind the company, I could possibly come?”

“Wait, you have a Water Type?” Chris asked, shocked at the revelation. “How did I not know this?”

“Because she won’t last five minutes in the sorts of battles we do until she evolves,” Charlotte explained. “I only caught her recently, and like you with Kingdra there hasn’t been much of an opportunity to train her here… Occasionally Abbee and I would go to the beach to train, but we haven’t for a while.”

“Don’t you have training this afternoon though?”

“I have an idea, but we gotta have a chat to Jon…”

Charlotte got up, leaving Luxray where he lay, content with his snooze. Chris followed, as the pair left the lodge, making their way to the battlefield, where Dylan had his Metang pitted against Jon’s Absol. Jon noticed them approaching, whistling to get Absol’s attention before holding up his hand, signalling a pause in the battle.

“Everything okay?” Jon asked, slightly surprised to see Chris and Charlotte in the same place.

“Yeah everything’s fine, just got a favor to ask of Dylan…” Charlotte asked, as Dylan’s expression shifted, having a hunch he knew where this was going…

“Justin was supposed to go with Chris to a Water Type workshop run by Wallace of Sootopoolis this afternoon, but is stuck in his room with a migraine. I’ve got a Water Type that needs training, especially since I am now down a Pokemon for the summer, and Chris can’t go on his own,” Charlotte explained casually, as Dylan’s hunch proved to be correct. “Dylan, would it be cool if I swapped my afternoon session with yours tomorrow?”

Jon grinned at the suggestion, partially curious to see Dylan’s response.

“You mean two straight hours of this…” Dylan said quietly, before sighing. Jon actually felt it a good idea. The reason he ran two separate one hour sessions for each person per week, as opposed to a single two hour session, was to prevent week long gaps between sessions, however it did come with its faults, and there were things he’d love to cover had he more time, especially with Dylan who still wasn’t overly confident battling.

“I think it could be good…” Jon said. “For all of you. Think of it this way Dylan, you do another hour with me today, while you’re already warmed up, in the zone and probably battling better than usual, and then you have every day off until next Wednesday…”

“Please Dylan…” Charlotte pleaded. “You’d really be doing me a solid…”

Dylan sighed, before speaking again.

“Fine, I’ll swap with you. But I get to dictate a swap next time it would be convenient for me. With both of you.”

“But you barely leave the property…” Chris said, not realizing how tactless he was, as Charlotte gave him a decent nudge.

“Deal, just let me know when you want to swap again,” Charlotte replied. “Thanks Dylan! We owe you one! Actually, one more favor…”

Dylan groaned, as Charlotte continued.

“I don’t want to leave Luxray in his Pokeball when I can avoid it. He is resting in the lounge. He should be fine by himself until training is over, but between then and when I get back, can you keep an eye on him? He might just need to be carried outside, or given some water. Even just some attention.”

Whilst Dylan was not particularly in a generous mood, the idea of taking care of Luxray and learning more about the Pokemon did appeal to him.

“Sure.”

As the pair left after Charlotte tossed Dylan Luxray’s Pokeball, Jon said quietly to Dylan, “What do you think? Something happening there?”

Dylan rolled his eyes.

“Is this seriously what all teachers do with their students…” Dylan asked.

“Hey, at least by my theory you won’t be the bachelor of the group…”

Dylan took a second to process what Jon said, before turning red, and responded by sending Metang to launch a surprise attack on Absol.

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Within an hour, Chris and Charlotte found themselves barefoot on Mossdeep beach, standing at the back of a crowd of two dozen or so people all watching Wallace, who commanded five Pokemon in the water, all performing major feats of dexterity. Whilst it was very showy, it was a demonstration of how quick and nimble well trained Water Types can be in their natural habitat.

“So what Water Type did you bring…” Chris asked, trying to whisper, but being too loud, as he was quickly shushed by someone in front of him.

“You’ll see…” Charlotte whispered, transfixed on what they were watching.

“Come on, at least give me a hint…”

Chris was quickly shushed again, much to his dismay, as Charlotte grinned hearing him beg.

“It will evolve into one of these Pokemon, but you only get one guess…”

Chris watched the five Pokemon, launching themselves through and out of the ocean water. There was a Gyarados, Ludicolo, Tentacruel, Whiscash and Milotic. Chris knew that Charlotte’s Pokemon would be near useless in battle until it evolved, however Magikarp, Lotad, Tentacool, Barboach and Feebas were all pretty useless. However one seemed more useless…

“Magikarp?”

Chris was promptly shushed again, resulting in him flipping off the shusher once their back was turned.

“Wrong… You will have to wait and see...”

Wallace spent the next hour or so explaining different training exercises to increase speed and agility in the water, as well as a few simple strategies to make use of this speed and agility in battle. Before long, they were escorted to the pier where they were loaded onto a large boat, which took them out to the various platforms that stood out above the water, designed for trainers to conduct battles with Pokemon in the water. The trainers were put into pairs, where they were to practice some of the exercises and strategies Wallace had demonstrated. Chris quickly sent out his Kingdra, as he awaited for Charlotte to reveal the water type she had been hiding from him until now.

Charlotte grinned as she sent out her Pokemon, and Chris started to understand her reasons for not using it so far when a Feebas appeared in front of her.

“Of course…” Chris muttered, as Charlotte called out the first attack.

“Substitute!”

Feebas flashed, before being replaced with a copy of itself that looked like a now waterlogged stuffed toy. Chris cursed, knowing he was wasting time having to dispose of this, with Kingdra darting forward, taking out the substitute with a water gun attack, as Feebas reappeared, though not as far as she would have liked to hope.

“Endure!” She called out, feigning panic, as Chris ordered Kingdra to launch a Dragon Breath attack.

As the pair battled, Wallace approached alongside his Miloltic, watching the pair battle with intrigue.

Feebas took the attack, before Feebas launched a counter attack, Flail, which was at its most powerful now due to Feebas being barely able to battle, but wasn’t enough to have a major impact on Kingdra.

Before the battle could continue, Wallace spoke up.

“Do you two mind if I interject?” Wallace asked, as both trainers looked over, calling off their Pokemon.

“Sure…” Chris said, though slightly confused, and hoping this wasn’t going to be criticism.

“You there, what’s your name?” Wallace asked, gesturing to Charlotte.

“Charlotte.”

“If I may ask, why is your Feebas not evolved?” Wallace asked. “A lot of Pokemon learn powerful moves earlier if they don’t evolve first, but Feebas is quite the opposite. It struggles to learn any new moves on its own until it evolves, in which it only needs an item. Why disadvantage yourself like this?”

The question wasn’t pointed or agitated, simply curious.

“I guess that I didn’t want Feebas to feel like I just caught her for the sake of evolving her. If she wants to evolve, then brilliant, I will help make that happen, but until then, if she’d rather battle using the strength she has now, then I will support her in that,” Charlotte explained. “I heard in a movie once, the weak man knows the value of strength. And thinking about it, Feebas seems to want to prove herself before she evolves.”

Wallace grinned at the sentiment.

“And what of a Prism Scale?” Wallace asked. “Do you have one ready?”

“No, I intentionally didn’t get one,” Charlotte explained. “If Feebas wants to evolve, I will find one then, but not before. I don’t want that pressure on her.”

“Well, what if one were given to you?” Wallace asked, before turning to his own Milotic. “Do you mind?”

The Milotic cried out happily, as Wallace plucked a scale from its tail.

“What if someone were to say that your Feebas has shown its strength, by going toe to toe with a fully evolved Pokemon, and being able to land some good hits?” Wallace asked. “You haven’t sought it out, but earnt it…”

“I suppose that would be okay…” Charlotte said, looking down at Feebas who stared intently at the scale.

Wallace tossed the scale up towards Charlotte, who leant out to catch it, being just shy of Feebas who had leapt out of the water, before catching it herself in her mouth.

“What, now?” Charlotte asked, as Feebas landed back in the water, turning to face her happily, before beginning to glow. There was a flash of light, and where Feebas originally swam, now swam a Milotic.

“Recover!” Charlotte called out quickly, taking advantage of Chris’ distraction. Now they were on more even ground, there were other tricks to use, that would be better than her Endure/Flail combination before.

“Hey, that’s dirty!” Chris called out, before sending Kingdra forward, as the two Pokemon continued their battle.

Whilst Kingdra did eventually beat Milotic, Kingdra only had one or two more hits before it would have gone down as well. Had the battle started with both Pokemon being fully evolved, it would have been much closer of a match…

Surprisingly to both herself and Chris, Charlotte was okay with it. Whilst she would have liked to have won, she was okay losing today. As the pair walked through the streets of Mossdeep, busy with the traffic of those heading home from their day jobs, Chris and Charlotte were both quiet, neither really knowing what to say. For as long as they knew each other, they had been rivals, and not the friendly type. Whilst they were civil for the most part, they would never have considered each other friends, and were quick to antagonize one-another. This was the first time they had done anything together that wasn’t competitive, and both had no clue what to say about it. Finally, Charlotte spoke up.

“When I got back from the Pokemon Center last week, Abbee was waiting up for me,” Charlotte said quietly. “She told me about the conversation you two had.”

“Of course she did…” Chris chuckled quietly, halting to a stop, trying to hide how awkward and uncomfortable he felt.

“Did you mean what you said?” Charlotte asked as she stopped as well, looking back at him. “Like actually mean it, not just saying it in the heat of the moment?”

“I meant it…” Chris said, before taking a breath and continuing walking. “I only beat you the other week because I saw how hard you worked, and realized how lazy I was being, and eventually that would catch up with me. That I needed to work as hard as you do if I want to stand a chance.”

“Working as hard as I did nearly killed one of my Pokemon…” Charlotte retorted quietly.

“And me trying to take a shortcut and do the bare minimum almost got me and Garchomp killed,” Chris said. “If Dylan didn’t rat me out to Jon, and Justin didn’t cave and tell him where I was, I’d have left that cave in a body bag. Everybody screws up at some point. If you let that get in the way of trying to move forward and improve, you will always be taking one step forward and two steps back.”

Charlotte kept walking quietly, as cars rushed past, as Chris quickened his pace to catch up.

“Truth is that regardless of whether you win or lose, I think you should be proud. If you win, be proud of that,” Chris continued. “And if you lose to me, be proud that your attitude and drive motivated someone to better themself. In some ways, I’d even say that’s better. So many people win every day, but how many of them actually inspire people?”

Charlotte quickly glanced back as Chris realized what he had said.

“I inspire you?”

Chris went red, as he fumbled over words, before scowling at himself.

“F**k it, yeah you do,” Chris said. “Don’t read too much into it…”

Charlotte struggled to hide a grin.

“Thanks…” she said quietly. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad we’re both here. Would have made for a boring summer if one of us missed it.”

“I’m glad you’re here too…”