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

[[Desolate Divine]]

Season 2 Episode 7: Initiative (Part 2)

Spoiler:

“F**k…” Justin groaned in pain as he felt his nose get pushed back into place. His eyes watered for a moment from the pain. Even with the anaesthetic, the pain was still there.

“You’re lucky it wasn’t any worse,” the doctor said, as he began getting materials to place the splint over Justin’s nose. “You said you got hit?”

“Yeah, a guy sucker-punched me,” Justin replied.

“Well based on the bruising patterns, it seems like he needs to work on his aim,” the doctor explained. “He only grazed your nose, so it wasn’t broken too badly, but it looks like the hit mostly slid off your face, otherwise you’d have a smashed eye-socket as well.”

“This is mostly news to me,” Justin explained. “I wasn’t really paying that much attention when he punched me in the face.”

The doctor chuckled as he continued working on Justin’s nose as he lay in the chair in the centre of the office.

“Well, take this good luck as a message to not get into any more fights,” the doctor retorted. “Because next time you might not get so lucky, and it might need surgery.”

Justin sighed. He hadn’t been picking a fight with the guy. Justin just wanted him to leave the waitress alone, and the guy was unreasonable. Really unreasonable, as the pain in his face reminded him.

Once the doctor was done, Justin was escorted to the lobby, with instructions about the dressing and splint over his nose, as well as a prescription for some painkillers. Jon waited for him in one of the seats, reading one of the magazines that were there for those waiting.

“Check this out,” Jon said to Justin when he noticed him approaching. Jon held up the magazine, which Justin saw to be a battling magazine. Justin took the magazine, reading the page it was open to.

S.S. Wishmaker Incident. Two Years On~

Justin browsed through the article, which was a mixture of text and photos. Most of the photos were either of Jon, or the Diamond Ladies, with a couple showing holes in the S.S. Wishmaker that seemed very much to be shaped like Latios, as well as images of a torched cabin in Johto, and a few of other competitors, such as Avery Miller and Ethan Caldwell.

“Do you mind that stuff like this is being published?” Justin asked, noticing that a lot of the images of Jon were less than flattering. A mobile phone camera’s photo of Jon standing over Ethan Caldwell during their altercation after their match, with a photo of Jolteon’s stray electric attack hitting the arena light. Not far off was a screenshot from some CCTV footage of Jon beating Lance in the private booth. “Could this cause problems for the Academy?”

“I doubt it,” Jon explained. “This is pretty scathing, but in this case, it’s good because opinions are so mixed. It helps that my wife works in media, but even without that, there were a lot of these sorts of publications defending me. If everyone hated me, it would be a problem, but because these are so polarized, people are looking into it a lot to inform their own opinions. Which means they will inevitably find out about the Eon Academy, and it’s kind of hard to slander that when it is endorsed by the League, and actively involved with a Hoenn Champion. It’s easy for them to slander me, but they wouldn’t risk slandering the Academy and Steven by extension. So this is free advertising…”

“But it doesn’t bother you?” Justin asked, before reading out part of the piece.

”Some of the more prevalent rumours indicate that Jon Drake was affiliated with the Diamond Ladies before the S.S. Wishmaker incident in 2017, and intentionally became involved with the investigation to sabotage it, though the League has denied any of these claims. Even more widely believed is that Jon Drake is indirectly responsible for the death of the Diamond Ladies, with his use of violent force against Indigo Champion Lance setting the precedent for the vigilante arson attack that resulted in their deaths in late 2017.”

“Not really,” Jon shrugged. “The thing with these sorts of stories is the more direct and vicious they are, the more obvious it is that they are full of s**t. For example, that last claim, about me being indirectly responsible. If you google the incident, some of the earliest footage to come up is the interview I made after my battle, telling anyone who is tearing into them online that wasn’t a victim of their crimes themself, to go f**k themselves.”

Justin cringed a little at the sudden curse, and the woman nearby who shot Jon a dirty glare.

“Basically, when you’re going to these lengths, and stretching the truth this much to slander a person, it becomes obvious,” Jon explained. “The only people who are liable to believe this level of s**t are the ones who wouldn’t change their mind even if it was all proven wrong. At which point, who gives a s**t?”

Justin put down the magazine, as the pair left, making their way to Jon’s car. It was 5pm, with dinner in an hour, as Jon started the car.

“I know you’ve got a girlfriend back at the Academy, but we have time to kill,” Jon said as Justin rolled his eyes at him. “Sorry, a friend. Point being, is there anything in town you wanted to do before we headed back?”

“Nothing in particular?” Justin replied. “Is there anything you need to arrange for next week that we could do now?”

Jon’s eyes widened at the thought.

“Good thinking,” Jon explained. “I do need to arrange Pokeballs for you guys, and get them registered to the Academy…”

There was a Pokemart nearby, so Jon drove into the carpark. Justin couldn’t remember the last time he was in a Pokemart. He tended to be pretty conservative with Pokeballs, trying not to throw them absentmindedly and risk losing them. Additionally, he tried to purchase them in bulk to get them cheaper, and now he had Regieleki, if he caught others, one of his Pokemon would not be able to be used in battles, so hadn’t needed to use Pokeballs. He had considered catching a Pokemon to be more of a pet than a battler, but decided against it.

“Hey, you got any Pokeballs in stock?” Jon asked.

“Sir, this is a Pokemart,” the clerk said, not in a disrespectful tone. “We’d be pretty terrible if we didn’t.”

Justin grinned at the remark, as Jon smirked at the clerk.

“Let me rephrase that. How many Pokeballs do you have in stock, and what varieties?” Jon asked. “I’m going to need a fair few.”

“We have Standard, Great, Ultra and Dive Balls in stock,” the clerk explained. “However if the order is large enough to justify it, we can get stock from Lilycove within twenty-four hours, and they have nearly every variety in stock…”

“Oh, it will be…” Jon said knowingly, before asking for a catalogue and a notepad. Justin watched as he began scrawling down a list of different Pokeballs and how many of each he was ordering, wondering when he would stop...

As Jon handed the order sheet to the clerk, her eyes widened.

“Is this enough to justify transferring stock?” Jon asked with a grin.

“If it isn’t, then I need to stop mentioning that we can…” the clerk replied. “I have never processed an order this big…”

The clerk spent a few minutes typing the order into her computer.

“So we have Pokeballs, Great Balls, Ultra Balls and Quick Balls at thirty of each, then twenty-five Dusk Balls,” the clerk read out to make sure she hadn’t missed anything. “Fast Balls, Level Balls, Net Balls, Timer Balls, and Luxury Balls at twenty of each, and then five Master Balls?”

“That’s correct…”

“That will come to…” the clerk said, as she pressed the button to bring up the price. “$2400…”

“Are you sure we need that much?” Justin asked, feeling a little embarrassed at the attention.

“There are about a hundred evolution families in Hoenn, five of which are branched, and even those that aren’t we will want a couple of doubles,” Jon explained. “And having such a variety means you can ideally spend less time capturing each Pokemon, because you should have the best Pokeball for any circumstances. It’s not cheap, but it will save us time.”

“But five Master Balls?” Justin asked. “They’re $90 each… You could literally buy fifty Pokeballs for that price…”

“You’d rather be looking at it than looking for it,” Jon retorted. “You might find yourself face to face with a Pokemon and only one chance to capture it. That’s what you save the Master Balls for.”

“Still…”

“It’s fine,” Jon said. “Whatever you guys don’t use, Dylan will use when he goes off on his own after summer…”

“Still, $2400…” Justin muttered. “I’m looking at buying a car that costs less than that…”


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

The clock read 5:30pm when Abbee found herself sitting alone in the rec-room, with the exception of Victini who sat on her lap, playing around on Abbee’s phone. Abbee had let him use YouTube, and typed in a few searches. However Victini had been content going from one suggested video to the next, and had been entertaining himself for a while whilst Abbee attempted to finish the novel she had been reading.

“Do you mind if I join you?”

Abbee looked up to see Candice had approached, surprised that she hadn’t noticed her enter the room, and paying that to being engrossed in the book.

“Of course not,” Abbee said. “Feel free.”

“I just came from the arena…” Candice laughed. “It is getting a bit crazy in there.”

“I could imagine,” Abbee said with a grin.

From what Abbee had heard, there had been a little bit of friendly, yet heated rivalry between Chris and Charlotte during their Practical Training session that morning. And whilst their normal response to that would be a battle, neither trainer wanted to battle one-another directly yet, given their string of ties, and wanted to wait until the end of summer before seeing which trainer would win in a battle. So instead, they came up with another contest of skill.

Capture The Flag.

It started with Chris and Charlotte and their two teams, however Justin’s team was in the room when the idea was pitched and wanted in. By the end of lunch, nearly all of the students at the Academy wanted to join in the contest. Having spent a lot of her free time in the afternoons with her group to make up for the fact she was helping Chris in the evenings, Abbee had opted to give the event a miss herself, taking the opportunity to have some time to herself, though didn’t mind Candice’s company during that time.

”And he’s down with a single hit! This sort of result is the last thing we expected!”

The sound came from Abbee’s phone which sat on Victini’s lap, seeming huge compared to the small Mythical Pokemon.

“What’re you watching?” Candice asked, surprising Abbee slightly when she addressed Victini directly, instead of asking Abbee on his behalf. Abbee knew that Victini liked that, and that Candice had just earned some brownie points from him.

”One of my more embarrassing moments…” Victini said telepathically, tuning Abbee in as well. He fumbled the comically large phone around to show Candice the screen. The video he was watching was the recording of Jon and Cassandra’s grand final match in the High Seas Tournament. ”This showed up as a suggested video, because it just passed two years since.”

Candice looked at the screen and recognized the battle, having watched the televised match live two years earlier. It was the moment in the match that shocked everyone. Jon’s Scizor, despite having a double disadvantage to fire attacks, defeating Victini with a single, well placed hit. This was the moment that put Jon’s skill as a trainer in the spotlight, and also revealed just how much of Cassandra’s own apparent skill was built on deception. Two nights earlier, the sheer ferocity of her battle was being applauded, with the majority of the people there completely unaware that there was anything dishonest going on.

“So you’re the same Victini that battled alongside Cassandra?” Candice asked. “I had a hunch that was the case.”

Victini nodded.

”The one and only…”

“For what it’s worth, I’m really sorry to hear what happened to your last trainer,” Candice said. “Regardless of the cheating, and I say this as a friend and colleague of Cynthia’s, nobody deserves what happened to the Diamond Ladies.”

Victini nodded awkwardly, which anyone else would have thought was from it still being a sensitive subject, though Abbee knew it was more that Victini knew that Cassandra was still alive, and had to pretend that wasn’t the case. Even herself, having been told the truth by Victini, found it slightly difficult to constantly be forcing the belief that they had all died. And in this case, Cassandra and Victini were the ones to take Cynthia’s title illegitimately.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how did you two end up partnered up?” Candice asked.

“Victini had been wanting to find a new partner, and knew Jon was teaching a few of us, so he visited last year,” Abbee explained.

“You didn’t mind asking Jon for help with that?” Candice asked. “I’m impressed. It takes a lot of humility to be able to do that.”

“It helped that I really wanted another crack at that Scizor…” Victini said. ”But before we even battled on the S.S. Wishmaker, Jon was a friend, so it was easy to ask. Though we have Latios to thank for that. Jon himself said that if Latios hadn’t asked him to try and help the Diamond Ladies, he would have just handed them over and wiped his hands of the matter.”

“I can understand that,” Abbee said. “I mean, if anyone is able to get me to change my mind about something, it’d probably be you Victini.”

Victini began to grin mischievously.

”In that case, can we talk about that diet you’ve put me on?”

Abbee laughed, as Candice grinned at the pair. At times like this, part of her wished she had a Pokemon capable of communication like Victini and Latios. She did have her Medicham, however it was still young, and compared to the Legendary and Mythical Latios and Victini, didn’t find telepathic communication with her as easy as these two did.

Suddenly, Abbee had a thought.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how did you become a Gym Leader?” Abbee said to Candice. “Is it the sort of job anybody can apply for?”

“Anybody can, but it is definitely a case-by-case scenario in terms of who gets the role,” Candice explained. “Are you considering becoming one?”

“I’m not too sure.” Abbee explained. “I want to battle competitively, like my dad and brother, but that being said, I am not sure I want to jump straight into the world of tournament battling. I couldn’t deal with the stress of the chance of waiting ages for a tournament to not place high enough to earn a living. I know Jon battled the gyms in Kanto and Hoenn before he did, which could be an option. But he left school early to do that, and I still want to graduate. And I’m not sure I want to graduate and spend that much time not working, so I can train. So maybe being involved with a League Gym could be a good compromise. Being able to have a stable job, that lets me battle against new trainers.”

Candice nodded, understanding Abbee’s logic behind it.

“So becoming a Gym Leader relies on there being an opening. Each region with a Gym Challenge has eight gyms, no more or less. And when a Gym Leader quits, that means there is an opening to be filled,” Candice explains. “However there isn’t really a clear cut process, since there are different ways people become Gym Leaders.”

“You don’t just apply for the job?”

“You can. When there is an opening, they do take applications, however the application is more to have the league consider appointing you, and even if nobody were to apply, the league would already have a list of people they are considering,” Candice explained. “They try to make a point of giving the role to people who live in the city with the gym, and also people who already have a specific type they specialize in. The candidate also needs to understand the level of challenge they need to offer, and be able to consistently give that level of challenge.”

“In terms of how I became the Gym Leader, there was an opening, and the League thought I fit the job description best,” Candice explained. “I moved to Sinnoh from Kanto during my first few years of school. Except I skipped a grade in Kanto, and they start a year earlier than Sinnoh anyway. So when I graduated, my classmates were seventeen and I was only fifteen. My classmates were going off to college, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I enjoyed battling, and was decent enough at it that I landed a job as a Gym Trainer in the Snowpoint Gym, back when Eugene was the Gym Leader. Most of my Pokemon I had caught near Snowpoint City, so they were mostly Ice-Types, which was the Gym’s speciality.”

“So what does a Gym Trainer do?”

“Some gyms force trainers to battle the Gym Trainers first before they can battle the Gym Leader, though that is saved for the gyms with too many challengers for the Gym Leader to reasonably handle. The logic is that if the challenger can’t beat a Gym Trainer, they won’t beat the Gym Leader,” Candice explained. “Snowpoint had few enough challengers, that we allowed them to battle Eugene without beating us. However we would act as training partners for trainers who had arrived in Snowpoint, but weren’t yet able to beat Eugene. By getting practise against us, they could get used to battling Ice-Type Pokemon, and by the time they are able to beat all of us, usually they are able to beat Eugene without too much difficulty.”

“Then when I was seventeen, Eugene retired. He was in mid sixties, and was ready to let someone else lead the gym. So the League offered me the position. I was battling at an appropriate level, was local, which in Snowpoint is important because they don’t stand much of a chance convincing someone to move there, and was already battling with a team of Ice-Types and knew how the gym ran,” Candice explained. “The fact I was as young as I was also helped. Most of the other gym trainers who were strong enough to take the position were nearly as old as Eugene, and the league didn’t want to find themselves in this position again too soon.”

“And you enjoy being the Gym Leader?”

“I do, but I understand it’s not for everyone,” Candice explained. “I can find ways to fill my time during the quieter seasons, and am not that interested in travelling. I’m glad to be here, and love being in Hoenn right now, but if I weren’t wanting to visit Justin, I’d quite happily have not left Snowpoint this year. And thankfully things are changing in the Sinnoh League which will make it a bit easier for me to leave Snowpoint a bit more, but that is a pretty unique situation. Most Gym Leaders aren’t as lucky in that respect.”

Abbee took a moment to think over what Candice said as Candice’s eyes widened.

“I haven’t scared you off the idea, have I?” Candice asked, “It really is a great job, but there is just a lot that happens behind the scenes that people aren’t usually thinking about.”

“No, you’re fine,” Abbee laughed. “I still have another year to figure out what I want to do. And even if I am restricted in terms of travel though, maybe being a Gym Leader would be a good place to start. Long term I do want to compete in actual tournaments, but Gym Leading could be a good way to make a name for myself whilst actually having some consistent work.”

“Then here’s my advice. Whilst you’re still in school, and have the chance, try and catch at least two Pokemon from every type, and have them trained well enough to put up a decent battle, and once you finish high school, start applying to become a Gym Trainer. If you’re as good as Justin, you’re already skilled enough to be a Gym Leader, so if these Pokemon aren’t as strong as your current team, it’s not a big deal, since Gym Trainers shouldn’t be beating every challenger. Their role is to push challengers to be strong enough to beat the Gym Leader, and if a challenger is already strong enough to beat the Gym Leader, you don’t need to go to drastic lengths to try and beat them,” Candice explained. “A lot of Gym trainers only use two Pokemon, so if you have two well trained Pokemon that fit the Gym’s type well, you should be a shoe-in for the job. Once you get it, you want to catch a few more Pokemon that fit the Gym’s theme, and train them, that way you are ready to take the job if the Gym Leader quits. But you don’t just want to apply for any gym…”

Abbee had taken a notepad from the table nearby and a pen, writing down what Candice was saying.

“Firstly, make sure the Gym is in a place that you actually would like to live, because you’re probably not gonna be able to get away very often. Do your research into the Gym Leaders. Particularly how old they are, and how long they have been leading for,” Candice continued. “Try to avoid Gym’s where the Gym Leader is in their thirties or forties, because chances are they are going to remain in that position for years, unless the League wants to make them Elite Four. Look for Gyms with leaders either in their mid to late twenties, or their fifties, but make sure they have been there at least five years.”

“Why five years?”

“Most younger Gym Leaders tend to stick around for seven or eight years,” Candice explained. “Being a Gym Leader takes up a big chunk of your time, and they get to an age where they don’t want to give that much time anymore. They might meet someone in another city, and want to leave to be with them, or maybe they want to have kids. Some of them just want to live a life eventually outside of being a Gym Leader, and decide to move on, just so they know they won’t be a Gym Leader the rest of their lives.”

Abbee took notes, and in the back of her mind wondered if Candice might be making a similar decision in a few years, especially if she and Justin are together.

“So if I end up finding a Gym in a place I like, with a younger leader who is in a long-term relationship…” Abbee began, as Candice grinned.

“It’s not a guarantee, but it does give reason for them to consider moving on, and leaving an opening,” Candice explained. “But if you want to battle competitively at some point, this is definitely a good start. If people already know your name from being Gym Leader, and you decided to leave the Gym and compete in the bigger tournaments yourself, you’d probably be the centre of attention. Even if you don’t win every tournament, the fact you have a following would make it easy to get sponsorships, or do guest appearances. And the fact that you might be using Pokemon that people haven’t seen through your work in the Gym would also drive the fans crazy.”

Abbee grinned hearing this.

“Thanks heaps for the advice,” Abbee said. “When Dad passed away last year, I found out after his funeral that he retired so he could be with me and my brother when Mum passed away. Before then I didn’t know what I wanted to do after graduating, but after learning that, I wanted to battle like he did, to continue his legacy. But figuring out where to start has been weighing on me. Now, I finally feel like I have some direction with that…”

Candice grinned. Justin had mentioned taking someone’s phone last summer, and them not getting the call that their father had passed away. When she had returned to Snowpoint City after the trip to Galar, she had watched the Eon Academy livestream, and realized that Richard Strauss’ daughter had attended during the summer when he passed away, so Abbee mentioning this didn’t take her by surprise.

“Glad to help,” Candice replied, as Abbee looked out the nearby window to the arena, where Chris and Charlotte were coordinating their respective teams.

“Feel like checking out the end of the game?”

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

“One round left…” Charlotte said to Chris with a grin. So far the score was three points each way, with this round being the tie-breaker. “Want to get in on this ourselves?”

“I thought you’d never ask…”

They had been in the arena since Jon finished his last team training season at 3pm. The first half hour was dividing the thirty-five students there into fourteen squads. Seven for Chris and Seven for Charlotte. With the odd amount of students, there was one student who was in a squad on each side. Four squads of three and three squads of two on each side. Currently all but the last two pairs had done battle, leaving the tie breaker they faced now.

Joining their respective pairs at the ends of the battlefield, six Pokemon were sent out of their Pokeballs. Chris sent out Charizard, and his teammates sent out a Crobat and a Gallade, whilst Charlotte sent out Roserade, and her teammates sent out a Bisharp and Froslass.

Chris pulled Beth and Noah into a huddle, having now seen the opposing teams Pokemon.

“Our best bet is to focus purely on knocking out the three Pokemon, and taking the flag with no resistance,” Chris explained to his teammates. “We have enough of an advantage to keep them on the defensive, but we need to be quick about beating them, because I don’t think we can win in an endurance match, when they have Roserade able to poison our Pokemon and continually sap their energy…”

Chris glanced over at Melissa’s Froslass, having a rough idea of what the opposite team will do.

“We will be at a disadvantage as well, because I bet anything they will use Aurora Veil to reduce the amount of damage we can deal and buy time to wear us down,” Chris continued. “Charlotte is probably going to expect me to send Charizard right towards Roserade, but it would be better to make a point of getting Froslass out of the picture…”

Looking at his two teammates and their Pokemon, Chris asked them a question.

“What abilities do your Pokemon have?”

“Gallade has Justified. When he takes damage from a Dark-Type move, his physical attacks get stronger,” Noah answered.

“Crobat has infiltrator,” Beth added. “It can bypass barriers like Reflect and Light-Screen.”

Chris grinned hearing this.

“More than that, it can bypass Aurora Veil,” Chris explained, realizing how big of an advantage his team had. “Beth, you focus on dealing with Roserade. If it comes down to the wire and we are against Roserade we will be at a disadvantage. And Noah…”

Chris looked over at Tommy, one of the younger trainers from his own team, who was siding with Charlotte, battling with his Bisharp.

“Get Gallade in Bisharp’s face,” Chris explained, “Maybe slow it down, just don’t let Bisharp battle anyone else, and string it along. Try and make best use of Justified, and when Gallade is buffed enough, start knocking out their Pokemon.”

“Crobat is probably the fastest Pokemon here,” Beth mentioned. “I can’t poison Roserade, but what if I have Crobat use Toxic as soon as the battle starts on Froslass?”

Chris grinned.

“Charlotte has taught you well…”

Meanwhile, Charlotte briefed Tommy and Melissa, her two teammates for the round. She saw Beth, one of her own team, and her Crobat, remembering Crobat’s ability from training.

“Off the mark, they have us beat in type advantages,” Charlotte explained. “They also have a way to get around Aurora Veil. But we can make this work. Chris will have definitely seen this opening, and I know he is going to take it. Which makes him predictable…”

“I know Chris, and I know he wouldn’t let an advantage like this slip, so this is what I think he will do…” Charlotte said. “Charizard is going to come after Froslass, because he will want to make knocking her out a priority, and will trust that role most to himself if the team are disadvantaged by Aurora Veil. And Crobat will be coming after Roserade, since it will stand the best chance at knocking it out.”

Charlotte looked over at the three Pokemon.

“The only one I don’t know much about is Noah and Gallade,” Charlotte said. “My guess is that they will go after Bisharp and try and take it out in one hit with something like Close Combat…

“Noah trains under Justin, and tends to try and be unpredictable,” Tommy said. “I don’t know much about his Gallade, but I know that Tommy has had Gallade training Focus Blast, so it isn't relying so heavily on Close Combat, which should work to our advantage…”

“How so?” Melissa asked.

“Focus Blast will be weaker, as Gallade are more suited to physical attackers, but it would be preferable for Noah compared to Close Combat, because it won’t weaken Gallade as well,” Charlotte explained. “It would still take down Bisharp in one move though…”

“Not if Bisharp uses Protect,” Tommy explained. “Even if the bulk of the damage is stopped, Focus Blast may still reduce Bisharp’s resilience to special attacks, which in this case is a good thing…”

“How?” Charlotte asked.

“Bisharp’s ability raises its attack power when other attributes are lowered.”

Charlotte thought over what Tommy was saying. Turn Gallade’s predictable attack into their benefit.

“It’s too risky to focus on that, so I have an adjustment,” Charlotte explained. “If you’re going to have Bisharp use Protect, Melissa, get Froslass behind it, and Tommy, have Bisharp take the first hit that they will try and land on Froslass to buy us time.”

“What will you have Roserade doing?” Melissa asked.

“This is still capture the flag, however we aren’t in a position to go on the offensive instantly. Our best bet is to whittle down their team over a long game, and take the flag unresisted when their last Pokemon falls,” Charlotte explained. “I will have Roserade protecting our flag, and getting ready to outlast their Pokemon. I just need you two to keep them occupied as best you can. And just remember to watch each other’s back...”

As the two teams readied themselves, Chris noticed the door to outside open, and Candice reenter the building, this time with Abbee, who had Victini sitting on her shoulder. He flashed her a grin, to which she responded with a wave, before one of the students called for the battle to start.

“Begin!”

Crobat darted forward towards Roserade who remained at the rear, guarding the flag, and getting in range to attack, however instead, regurgitated a thick stream of purple sludge, sending the projectile towards Froslass turned back, hitting the Pokemon directly, as the sludge permeated into Froslass. Bisharp moved towards the centre of the stadium, and whilst it was the slowest Pokemon there, Froslass’ own speed made up for it, getting behind Bisharp who used Protect, blocking both Charizard’s Fire Fang that was directed towards Froslass, as well as the Low Sweep attack that Gallade had used. The damage was blocked, however Bisharp’s speed fell, and unbeknownst to Noah and Gallade, Bisharp’s attack power increased. Meanwhile, Roserade used Ingrain, planting itself in the ground, and tapping into a slow but unlimited supply of energy, whilst Froslass had used Hail, creating a miniature snowstorm in the arena, dealing minor damage to all Pokemon but itself, and also reducing visibility and blending in, though just starting to show signs of the poison.

Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief that Tommy’s gambit had started to pay off. Whilst it wasn’t game breaking, it did level the playing field, and made the matchup between Gallade and Bisharp a little less one-sided.

“Air Slash on Roserade!” Beth commanded, as Crobat lunged forward, slashing at Roserade with sharp air currents created by its wings.

“Aurora Veil!” Melissa called out to Froslass, as above the mild snowstorm, vibrant blue and purple lights lit the air, and her teammates now had a minor protective barrier around them, however would not protect Froslass from the poison that was going to eat away at her.

“Flare Blitz!”

Froslass didn’t have time to dodge when a fiery glow appeared in the sandstorm, before darting through, and Charizard hitting her directly whilst encased in its own flames. Froslass cried out, however remained standing, albeit, a little shaken, before attempting to flee elsewhere into the snowstorm.

“Synthesis!” Charlotte called out, as Roserade tapped more so into the roots system, and restored its own energy. Right now, Roserade wasn’t going to be able to do enough damage to Crobat to prevent Crobat from beating it, so instead, Charlotte focused on keeping Roserade standing, hoping one of her teammates could deal with Crobat.

“Power-Up Punch!” Noah called out to Gallade, as the Pokemon used a weaker punch on Bisharp. Charlotte felt something nagging at the back of her mind. Gallade was a somewhat uncommon Pokemon used in competitive battling, but still had its own niche uses, so she had learnt about it during her time at the Academy. She just couldn’t remember what was worrying her about it.

Gallade became encased in an aura as its physical power rose, before Tommy responded.

“Beat Up!”

Bisharp launched three quick attacks, and Charlotte realized their mistake when the aura around Gallade grew with each hit.

“Dark moves make Gallade stronger!” Charlotte called out to Tommy, who swore to himself, a trait that Charlotte was disappointed he had picked up from Chris as his team leader…

“Protect!” Tommy shouted desperately.

“Feint!”

Gallade darted towards Bisharp with a blade extended, as Bisharp raised a protect barrier, however darted past the Pokemon, before pivoting on one foot to turn, and smashing the blade into the back of Bisharp’s neck, knocking the Pokemon to the ground, as Chris cheered.

“Air Slash again!”

Crobat hit Roserade with another Air Slash, as Charlotte felt the pressure. They were now at a disadvantage, and had an opposing Pokemon with a dangerous amount of buffs.

“Ice Beam!” Melissa called out. “On Crobat!”

Out of the mess of snow and ice, a pale blue beam of light struck Crobat, freezing it solid, and knocking it to the ground. Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thanks Melissa!” she called out. “Now Roserade, Shadow Ball against Gallade!”

As powered up as Gallade was, its resilience was the same, and Shadow Ball still hit with the double type advantage, as hard as any other day. Not having to worry about Crobat knocking out Roserade was the opportunity Charlotte needed to avenge Bisharp, and prevent their team being decimated. Gallade took the hit, being thrown back towards where his trainer stood, knocked out cold.

“Flamethrower!” Chris called out. Froslass noticed the light glow of Charizard’s jaws, before darting sidewards, and missing the attack. Charizard darted through the snowstorm, before catching a glimpse of the Pokemon.

“Inferno!” Chris commanded.

“Protect!” Melissa countered.

There was a flash as an intense flame flew from Charizard towards Froslass, who erected a protect barrier in an instant, blocking the jet of fire and dispersing it. Melissa noticed how much Froslass was struggling due to the consistent effects of the poison, as well as Charizard seeming weakened from the constant hail. Finally she noticed Crobat beginning to stir and thaw out.

“Synthesis!” Charlotte commanded, as Roserade restored its own health, ready to continue taking a beating whilst Crobat and Charizard wore themselves out.

“Thunderbolt on Golbat!” Melissa called out, as Charlotte’s eyes widened. She watched as Froslass cried out, summoning a lightning bolt to strike down on Crobat, knocking it out, before Charizard emerged from the storm behind her.

“Flare Blitz!”

Charizard lunged forward, encased in flame, and slamming into Froslass, knocking it out, leaving the only two Pokemon on the battlefield being Charizard and Roserade. The spectators watched in anticipation, as the final, tiebreaking match came down to the two trainers who had the most to prove with it.

“Grassy Terrain!” Charlotte called out, hoping that the snowstorm would provide enough cover for her plan to work. Whilst Roserade had improved with the combination move since Charlotte met Jack whilst practicing it, Roserade still had a lot of ground to cover before using it flawlessly. Seed shot out from Roserade, hitting the ground, and causing it to erupt in lush green grass, which lightly froze over.

“Fire Fang!” Chris called out, as Charizard roared, before darting towards Roserade. Before it could make contact however, there was a flash of green light, as thorny green vines exploded from the ground underneath Charizard, wrapping themselves around the pseudo-dragon, stopping it dead in its tracks and beginning to drain its energy.

“Toxic!”

Roserade launched from the roses on its arms, a purple sludge, which made contact with Charizard, poisoning it, as it struggled against the vines.

“Flare Blitz!” Chris called out. Charizard became encased in flames, burning away the vines that held it, in place as it darted towards Roserade.

“Protect!”

Charizard slammed hard into a barrier, as the poison started to sap its strength, and Roserade’s own was restored from both the roots it had planted, and the grassy terrain.

Chris saw how exhausted Charizard was from the recoil, the constant hail damage, and now the poison and the Leech Seed. It had one move left before it would fall, and Roserade had already used Protect.

“Blast Burn!”

Charizard roared as it became encased in intense flames, much stronger than Charlotte had ever seen from the Pokemon. As it’s roar reached its peak, the flames darted out, burning up the grassy terrain, evaporating the snowstorm, and causing all nearby to avert their gaze from the heat and the steam.

When the steam cleared, both Pokemon were unconscious…

“Wait!” Chris called out. “Did anybody see which one went down first?”

“No, how could they?” Charlotte retorted. “I think you knew that would be the case…”

“Honest to god I didn’t!” Chris said, “I knew that Charizard couldn’t handle another turn of hail and poison damage, so went all out…”

Charlotte looked over at both teams flags, now both on fire, much to the amusement of those spectating.

“So we have another draw…”

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

The beach was surprisingly crowded, though Justin felt like he should have expected it. It was Hoenn in summer. Spending his summer at another form of school, which in this case was now work, made it easy to forget that this was the time of year a lot of people were making a point of getting down to the beach. He stood waist deep in the water, wearing his swimming shorts, and looking out at all the people there, having not seen so many people in one place in his time at Mossdeep City.

“Anyone home?” Justin heard Candice call out to him, as he realized he had zoned out. He turned towards where she stood, a few meters away, wearing a pale blue bikini, and a pair of white-rimmed sunglasses, the lenses of which were mirror-like, with a light blue tinge.

“Sorry, I zoned out a little,” Justin said. “Just surprised at how many people are here.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty busy, though I definitely get why,” Candice replied, as she looked down the beach as well. “It’s gorgeous here. The only decent beach in Sinnoh is on an island off the mainland, and it doesn’t hold a candle to this...”

“So beach days don’t happen often?”

“They gotta be beach weeks,” Candice laughed, as she started to swim out a little further. “By the time you get on the boat, from Sinnoh to the resort, then off the boat again, it’s the good part of a day gone.”

Justin stifled a laugh, a small breath of air escaping from his healing nose, before he cringed a little in pain. Whilst the doctors had said he could swim, they recommended he replace the dressing around the splint if he did. Just had tried swimming before, however the force of the waves, as well as the saltwater made his nose sting, so he didn’t spend long trying to swim properly, instead wading around the area he was in, watching Candice enjoy moving further out, before timing a small jump and letting the waves carry her back towards him.

Justin lightly fumbled around his nose, trying to figure out what spot was being so sensitive, before he heard Candice again.

“Look out!”

Justin turned to see Candice had found a wave, however this one was bigger than those earlier, and was propelling her towards him faster than she had expected, directly towards him. He took a few steps back, and tried to brace himself as the wave crashed towards him, attempting to catch Candice before she was thrown face-first into the sand beneath them. At first it seemed to work. He had positioned himself well, managing to catch her with a hug around her midriff, right before the wave would have tipped her forward. However he had severely underestimated just how much force there was in a rolling wave, and just how strong he’d have to be to catch Candice from it without getting thrown around by it himself.

Justin was thrown down just under the water, still holding onto Candice, before letting go once the wave had passed, the pair both standing up and surfacing. Candice burst into laughter, as Justin found himself feeling slightly embarrassed, surprising himself, as that was something he thought he didn’t really feel around Candice anymore.

“Whilst we didn’t stick the landing, thanks for stopping me from face-planting,” Candice laughed, as she pulled her sunglasses off her face, which had surprisingly remained there, and inspected them for damage. “If you had pulled that off, that would have been really smooth.”

Justin laughed, before feeling a sharp pain in his nose, and wincing. Candice heard the sound, and put her sunglasses back on before looking over at Justin.

“Damn, your nose is bleeding…” Candice said, her voice now sounding worried, before looking around. “Let’s head back to shore and dry off there.”

“I can handle it,” Justin said, as he wiped the blood away with his hand. “Keep swimming if you want to.”

“I think if I do, I may just bite off a bit more than I can chew again,” Candice said with a smile, “And this time you won’t be there to save me.”

Justin felt his face go red, and could tell Candice knew that would happen, and had worded it the way she did for that very purpose.

The pair began walking towards the shore, where a few meters away was a pair of beach towels and two bags. Justin approached his bag, removing a small packet of tissues he had brought in case this happened, and began soaking up the blood. He and Candice sat on their beach towels, as the bleeding began to slow down.

“I wish I could stay longer…” Candice said. “If I hadn’t gotten the email to say someone had beaten Byron in Canalave City, I’d be pushing my flight back until Sunday, if Jon didn’t mind me staying a few extra days.”

“He wouldn’t have minded,” Justin replied, as he made sure the bleeding had stopped, before disposing of the tissue in a plastic bag he had brought for rubbish. “You really impressed him when you beat me the other day.”

“What can I say?” Candice asked lightly. “Gym Leader for a reason.”

Justin laughed, before speaking.

“Yeah… I really wish you could stay a bit longer as well…”

Justin looked out into the distance, where he could see the rocky outcrop of Sootopolis city, as Candice remained silent, and he started wondering if he had come off as creepy.

In his peripheral vision, Justin noticed Candice’s hand move across, to gently touch him on the cheek, and turn his head so he was looking at her. She smiled lightly, before leaning in to kiss him. He let her for a moment, before sighing and pulling away.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I do like you, really. And I do want to but…”

“If someone sees us…” Candice said quietly with a sigh. “I know. But look, I’m in a completely different region from the one I work in, and it’s not like I’m one of those Gym Leaders that does those calendar shoots. Nobody would be expecting to see Candice from Sinnoh in a swimsuit on a Hoenn beach…”

Justin chuckled at the calendar remark.

“I know chances are nobody will recognize you,” Justin said quietly, so nobody would overhear. “But I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if someone did and it reflected badly on you…”

Candice was silent, as Justin tried to think how to word it.

“When Jon was waiting for me at the hospital yesterday, he was reading through one of the magazines in the waiting room, and there was a piece on the S.S. Wishmaker incident, and a lot of it was just tearing into him, and most of it was just lies,” Justin said, trying to make it clear that his worry wasn’t anything to do with her. “You probably already know this, but these people are disgusting. They will take anything they think can get them some attention, and spin it in the worst possible way. And I don’t want that happening to you…”

Candice sighed before smiling at him.

“It’s lucky that I like you as much as I do,” Candice teased. “I’ll wait. Until you visit Snowpoint over Christmas. But not a moment longer…”

Justin laughed.

“No arguments there…”

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

The clock in the under-construction storage room read 6:50, as Dylan prepared to press the power button on the sleek black desktop PC that sat on a small desk by the window. The parts for it had arrived earlier that day, and Dylan had spent the afternoon putting the computer together, hoping that it would start.

“You hungry?” came a voice from the door.

Dylan turned to see Abbee standing in the doorway, holding a plate with a generous serve of lasagne and salad.

“You skipped dinner again…” Abbee said, as she walked in.

“Didn’t realize you were keeping track?”

Abbee chuckled at the comment, before walking in, and placing the plate on the desk next to the PC.

“I wasn’t at first. I just figured you were getting stuff done for the trip next week,” Abbee said quietly. “Then I was talking to Candice yesterday, and realized I had spent more time with her since she got here than you, and she’s not even here to visit me…”

Dylan held back a sigh, hating how quickly Charlotte was being proven right.

”Abbee will realize something is up,” was essentially what Charlotte had said.

“Is everything alright?” Abbee asked softly. “Last time you were isolating yourself like this, it was after you came back from your stepdads place after he-”

“I’m fine,” Dylan said quickly. “I’m not isolating myself. I just have some work to get done for this project.”

Abbee looked at the box full of Pokeballs that had arrived that afternoon, as well as the shelves Dylan had installed. Justin had told them about how large the order was, and how many Pokeballs they would be taking. On both sides, there were six rows of floating shelves that spanned the entire wall, with indents for Pokeballs roughly half a foot apart from one another.

“How many Pokeballs can this room house?” Abbee asked.

“Currently a little over three-hundred.”

“Jon ordered 250 Pokeballs, and expects us to catch less than half that amount…” Abbee said. “If you’re spending all your time in here, it isn’t because getting this room completed must be done before next week. Even if you had half the shelves set up, Jon would be okay with it…”

Dylan didn’t know how to respond to that. She was right. The room didn’t need to be completed before they left. It could function with half the shelves, or even none, as long as they put a tub in there to hold all the Pokeballs.

“Have I done something to upset you?” Abbee asked.

“No,” Dylan said quickly, before catching himself. “You’re fine.”

“Then why are you spending every waking moment working here?”

Dylan quickly tried to think of a lie that Abbee would buy.

“I guess I’ve been working on this idea for months, and want to make sure it works flawlessly,” Dylan said, making a point of trying to sound a little guilty. “Even if it means skipping a few meals and working late a few nights.”

Abbee sighed, before pulling out the power cable from the PC Dylan had spent the afternoon building.

“I’ll give this back when I’ve seen you eat your dinner,” Abbee said, half jokingly. “After that, you can tell me what you’re working on here, since it feels like we haven’t talked in ages…”

Dylan let out an intentionally exasperated sigh, causing Abbee to laugh to herself, before he took a seat at the desk, and began eating the meal Abbee had brought for him.

“So what are these holes for?” Abbee asked, as she pointed at a screw hole on the corner of the front face of one of the shelves, before looking at the one on the opposite corner. “I think your ruler’s broken because this one is a lot lower…”

“It’s intentional. I want this room to be automated eventually. Until it is, if people from outside the Academy want to borrow a Pokemon, or store their Pokemon here, they have to wait for somebody to transfer their Pokemon across,” Dylan explained, before moving to stand, only stopping because Abbee glared at him and nodded towards his food. He remained seated, having another bite, before continuing. “I’ll cut a PVC pipe in half and mount it at a slight angle on the front. In each of the recesses for the Pokeballs, I will install a little piston to push the Pokeball forward out of its slot, and into the pipe. It will roll down, and find its way to the transporter.”

“I still can’t believe they figured out how to transport Pokeballs like that…” Abbee muttered.

“Something to do with light,” Dylan explained. “I know Pokeballs work by converting Pokemon into light, and storing them that way, however, I don’t quite understand how they convert the Pokeballs themselves into light, and send it through a fibre-optic cable.”

Dylan finished his meal, leaving the plate on the table, before glancing over at Abbee and holding his hand out.

Abbee sighed, before handing back the cable.

“I should have asked for more before giving it back,” she muttered.

“Well it’s a standard cable that I have six of floating around in the lodge…” Dylan retorted, causing Abbee to roll her eyes as he plugged it in.

“So why go to the effort of building the computer instead of buying one?”

“This computer will probably be running twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. I’ll schedule it to restart every morning so it isn’t riddled with errors, but even then, I’m asking a lot of it,” Dylan explained. “I figured if I build it myself, I can make sure the components which will struggle running that often can be server-grade and more suited to it so that I’m not having to pull this apart in six months because something is wrong with it.”

Abbee nodded as Dylan pressed the power button on the PC and it began to make noises. Fans span, and the screen flickered to a simple user interface.

“I haven’t got the operating system installed yet,” Dylan explained. “So I will do that now, just as soon as I’ve made sure the computer is detecting everything it needs to.”

Abbee spoke up as Dylan clicked through the different pages.

“Had you built a computer before?” Abbee asked.

“First time,” Dylan replied. “I wanted to for years, but if I had one back at Bill’s he would have sold it for next to nothing to buy more to drink. I could have built one this year, but was more focused on saving for a car.”

“Was it difficult?”

“A little,” Dylan explained. “I had spent enough of my free time researching it that it didn’t take too long to put it together. It was more the little things that I didn’t know, like whether the plug I was using was the right one, just a weird proprietary version, or whether I had the wrong one. I’d waste hours trying to find the answer to a question, before plugging the CPU power cable in, or something like that.”

Abbee nodded, pretending she had a clue what Dylan meant, as Dylan plugged in a flash drive containing the operating system, and set the computer to install it. She looked up at the clock, seeing it now read 7:25.

“I’d better go.”

“Got plans?”

“Chris and I figured we’d start our session for that event a little early,” Abbee explained. “Last night when we tried playing, there was a glitch that the developer had patched, and he had to update the game, except the cable he was using to use the data-points went missing, so the internet was slow. Started half an hour later than we would have liked.”

“Hmm,” Dylan said, not mentioning the fact that he had removed all of the ethernet cables from the lodge to prevent Chris from using all their bandwidth, and feeling a little guilty that he was kind of glad their time was wasted last night. Granted, it did little good as it just meant she was leaving him to go meet with Chris even earlier.

“Well, good luck with this,” Abbee said, nodding to the setup Dylan was running. “I’m sure it will be great when it’s ready. Just try to look after yourself a little better.”

“Sure.”

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

It was nearing 5pm on Friday afternoon when Justin and Candice found themselves sitting at a table outside the cafe that Justin had his nose broken at. He hadn’t intended to bring Candice here, however they had time to waste before the ferry arrived to take her back to Lilycove, where a plane would then take her back to Sinnoh. This cafe was the closest to the ferry depot, and had a clear view of it. It was also a perk that Justin’s next visit there was free.

“I’m sorry me not minding my own business got in the way of your trip,” Justin said after a few moments of silence. “Having to put off going to the beach, and then me not being able to swim with you…”

Candice looked at him with a hint of surprise.

“Don’t apologize. You did the right thing,” Candice said. “I think if I heard you had been there and not done something, I would have been a little disappointed…”

Justin smirked slightly, before Candice reiterated.

“Don’t take that as reason to go picking fights,” Candice warned. “I won’t be happy if you show up on Christmas with some other injury.”

“I’ll try my best.”

The ferry was becoming larger over the horizon, and moving more into view. Justin settled the bill, though he still felt bad leaving without paying for the drinks and desserts that he and Candice had, before the pair slowly walked towards the ferry depot. The silence was reminiscent of when they said goodbye at the airport in Galar. It was quiet, with neither knowing just what to say. They tried to make small talk, but it just fizzled, overshadowed by the fact that this was goodbye for now.

As the ferry docked, and unloaded its passengers, people started lining up to board. As they did, Justin felt Candice’s hand grab his own. She held on as the passengers lining up started to board. She squeezed his hand tighter, the shorter the line got, and the closer the ferry was to departing, before she finally sighed.

“I guess this is goodbye…” Candice said, as her grip loosened, and Justin had a sense of deja vu. “I will see you at Christmas.”

“I will see you then…”

Candice hugged him, before giving him one last smile, and turning towards the ramp to board the ferry. Justin watched as she walked closer to the ferry, every step one less before he wouldn’t see her again for nearly six months. When she was a step away from stepping onto the ferry, Justin began praying that he wasn’t about to make a mistake here, for Candice’s sake more than anything.

“F**k it…” he muttered, before walking forward.

“Wait!” Justin called out. Candice stopped, and turned, slightly surprised to hear him call out. He reached her, before speaking up. “I’m not waiting ‘til Christmas…”

It took Candice a moment to realize what Justin was talking about, before he kissed her. He held her for a moment, before knowing they were out of time. If they held up the ferry, it was more likely to put attention on Candice, and cause her problems. He sighed as he noticed Candice smiling widely at him, before she spoke.

“I’m glad you couldn’t wait.”

Candice said goodbye again, before boarding the ferry, which left soon after. Justin considered catching the bus back, but decided to walk, the trip being quieter and making it easy to process his thoughts.

He had received a message from Abbee asking if he wanted to join the others for a movie that night. He said he’d join them, and let them know when he’d be back. It was nearly 8pm when Justin wandered into the lounge of the lodge, where Abbee, Charlotte, Chris and Dylan waited for him. Justin was a little surprised to see Dylan had decided to join them, having barely seen him leave the storage room he was working on.

Chris stared at Justin, with a strange grin on his face. Justin had a hunch why, and it was confirmed when Chris opened his mouth.

“Took you long enough!” Chris said boisterous, “We want to watch this movie with you, but we’re not waiting ‘til Christmas.”

Charlotte nudged Chris hard as Abbee struggled to contain a laugh, and even Dylan’s lips curled into a smile.

“Spying on me now?” Justin asked, rolling his eyes, as he sat on the couch next to Dylan.

“Surprisingly, no.” Chris retorted. “A certain telepathic Pokemon capable of going invisible was curious when he saw Candice leaving, and followed you. When he came back here, he wanted to share what he saw…”

“And now you’re a snitch too…” Justin said, making a mental note to try and track down Latios to teach him some etiquette without Jon hearing about it all, before realizing that Latios probably would have shown Jon as well. Justin sighed, resting his head back against the headrest of the couch, as Chris laughed even more.

“Aren’t you supposed to be doing this event?” Justin asked, “It finishes tonight doesn’t it?”

“With you maybe,” Chris replied. “Abbee and I got it finished in four days, so have tonight off. She might have even replaced you for the next one.”

Dylan tensed a little hearing Chris refer to Abbee and I and talk of them spending more time together. He tensed a little more, though tried to hide it, when he saw Abbee smile at the comment.

“I mean, you’re such a ladies man now, I’m probably just holding you back…” Chris said sarcastically, causing Justin to laugh.

“I think you might be so vocal about it because deep down you’re a little jealous,” Justin retorted, causing Charlotte to laugh. Surprisingly, Chris said nothing. Just shrugged his shoulders with a slight grin, before turning to Abbee who sat on the other side of him.

“So what’re we watching?”