"Onix, return." That was his third pokemon. We won the match! "Good job, buddy."
Lopunny plops to the ground. I find my own legs shaking as they take me closer to her.
The crowd goes wild.
She still looks at the spot where Onix used to be just a few seconds earlier. Her gaze looks empty, unfocused, and her fur has become unkempt. Her body slumps forward. Her torso rests on her knees. Her entire body is slack. She looks wild; Like an untamed beast. Like an exhausted animal whose mind is still on the hunt but whose focus is gone.
Suddenly, her eyes find me, they become sharper, they track my approach from the edge of her vision. Her pupils dilate, and a grin spreads on her face. But she doesn't turn to look in my direction. It almost looks scary. As if she's waiting for me to walk into her trap.
But if she has a trap for me, it's one I'm all too happy to walk into.
When I get closer, she pushes herself up. Her limbs shake and almost collapse on their own again. The adrenaline is gone. She is done.
I move the final distance and help her standing before she hugs me tightly. As tightly as her weary arms can hold me.
"You are incredible. You beat all three of them. I'm so proud of you."
~"Fuck me." Her head falls limp against my neck, and her body feels heavy in my arms.
She passed out.
Maybe I shouldn't curse around her so much. She clearly takes that habit from me.
"Take a good, long rest, Lopunny." I squeeze her once more before I press the button of her premier ball, into which she disappears.
I really hope the premier ball has some benefits for my pokemon besides being pretty. Lopunny proved that she only deserves the best because she really is the best.
The noise of the audience reminds me of the role I have to play. After wiping off the insane grin from my face, I replace it with a confident smirk instead.
Roark already waits for me at the center of the arena. Sand Tomb managed to clean all the debris away. None of it blocks my way as I head over to shake his hand.
"Congratulations on your victory. It was a very impressive display." He places one hand on my shoulder. "You definitely deserve the Coal Badge." And with the other hand, he pulls out his gym badge.
A small, metallic brooch that resembles a piece of coal inside a cave.
"Thanks. It was rather easy, though, in the end, wouldn't you say so? I didn't even have to switch out my pokemon."
Ha! For the first time, I actually managed to get under his skin! His scowl is priceless.
"Well, Onix is my newest member, and I haven't polished our strategy yet. Admittedly, I never expected Weak Armor to lower his defenses so much." And then his grin reappears. "But if it's a challenge you want, then you don't worry. Gardenia will be notified to be ready for you. You're still far from ready for the platinum league. Don't forget that."
I couldn't keep my damn mouth shut! Was it worth it, Swole!? You got to own him. But for what cost? Now you get another way too difficult fight!
He motions for the cameras to turn away. The Rotom drone takes it as instruction to film the audience instead. "I was going to tell her either way. You're driving up the ticket sales. And you did a damn good job on the battle, man."
"Heh, thanks. And it was honestly so difficult... Oh man, the whole time I was wrecking my mind on how to finish off Lunatone. My other pokemon wouldn't have stood a chance against it because of the typing and Stealth Rocks! And then Onix came out, I had no idea how to win this for sure!"
"Hahaha! Calm down! Heh, you might look and battle like a man, but in the end, you're still just a boy. Ha! You even pout when someone calls you that!"
I can't help it. I can't help the grin pushing its way back into my face either. My blood still pumps harshly, filled with dopamine from the win. It's an incredible feeling. The ultimate satisfaction.
And on second thought, an even greater challenge against Gardenia in Eterna City will be even more satisfying!
I need to prepare for it. Train more, maybe buy some more equipment, lots of berries...
"Ah! Before I forget it! The TM I owe you. Here you go. It's Stealth Rock. It might not help you out right now, but who knows what the future might have in store for you? I can tell you're going to be a great trainer." The hand on his shoulder pats me a couple of times. "Now, I bet you want to start celebrating; Go on. The show is over."
"What about the prize money?"
He waves me off. "It's going to be on your banking account by the weekend. Anything else?"
"No, nothing. Thanks for the battle. We managed to learn a lot from it."
"Glad to be of help. Now go and have fun. And don't let Officer Jenny spot you having fun, deal?"
"Haha! Alright, deal."
And so I get going. Back to the tunnel, and--
"You can take the same elevator the audience is using. It's faster."
I turn around and start joining the stream of people trying to leave the arena.
There, I spot Dawn and Zoey waiting for me.
---
Dawn rushes the final few steps between us and slams her lips into mine.
"You were amazing!" The kiss didn't last nearly as long as it should have. "It looked almost like the fights on TV! And congratulations on Buneary's evolution!"
"Heh, thanks." I find that my hand has moved itself to rub the back of my head.
I'm not usually so bashful, but I can't help it. I'm still just way too happy!
Zoey then arrives and sneaks herself into the hug. Her hands sneak around my body and grab at my ass, so I do the same to her. "Congratulations." She says before giving me a deep kiss.
Dawn's face exudes conflict as she watches us. But a smile crosses her face again when I stick one hand out for her to hold on to. Life sure is amazing.
A nearby stranger watches in jealousy. I track his eyes and see they travel to my belt of pokemon before I hear him mutter. "I want to be a pokemon trainer too..."
Another person, female, talks to herself in a not-so-quiet voice, "In public? Do they have no shame?"
And as great as it is to mog on them, she's right. So I stop battling Zoey's tongue and start walking while holding both of their hands.
There is a line at the lift for public use to get out. A few people actually step out of our way when they see us approach.
When the lift arrives and its doors opens, I am briefly stunned at the difference of luxury. The rickety, old service shaft elevator doesn't stand a candle against this. We step inside the spacious cabin.
Here too, people are keeping some distance from us. Fear? Respect? Either way, it's an incredible feeling.
A lot of people follow into the elevator before a ding rings out, the doors shut, and the cabin begins to rise. Despite the space restrictions, none of these strangers dare to get into our personal space.
Man, I love being a pokemon trainer.
"You were sooo cool, Swole." Dawn fawns as we exit the elevator and walk into the gym's surface building. She leans against my shoulder and seems to love the attention that the people are giving us.
And I, in turn, put my arm around her shoulder to bask in their jealous stares some more.
"Ya know, I watched a couple of kiddie-league matches before." Zoey comments as I wrap my other arm around her shoulder. "You were cheated out of an easy victory."
"I don't mind." I accidentally shrug my shoulders and bump both their heads. "Sorry." I give them kisses on their foreheads. "I actually prefer it like that. I don't think I ever had so much fun before, and it was the push that Buneary needed to evolve. Oh, speaking of my pokemon."
Dawn pouts as I remove my hand from her for a bit and press the buttons on Salandit's luxury ball and Riolu's love ball. The both of them just look around confusedly, so I pick them up and put them on my shoulders.
~"Hey, where'ss the battle? And where are we?"
~"Yeah." Riolu follows up. ~"I wanted to finally prove myself! And where is Buneary?"
"The fight is over already. We're on our way to the pokemon center. Buneary evolved and won all three battles."
~"She evolved?" Is that a hint of worry in Salandit's voice?
"Yeah. Are you... scared?"
~"N-no." She's scared. ~"It must have been an easier gym battle."
I will show her the recordings later. Scare her some more.
We left the crowd of the arena behind and have entered the stream of people going to and fro in the city center. Now we're just another group of faces in the masses. People have stopped treating us with reverence already.
Sad.
But the pokemon center quickly comes into view, causing me to hurry up just a little so I can get Lopunny her treatment earlier.
The glass doors slide open, and a couple of trainers turn their heads to look at us. They raise their mugs of ale and cheer for our victorious return from a daunting quest. A barmaid, dressed in a dirndls dress, has to calm the crowd down before they could damage something...
Wait. What?
None of that happened. Weird. I'm seeing things again.
Nurse Joy greets me as we approach, and we talk about the gym battle for a moment before she accepts Lopunny's pokeball. She, with Chansey following closely, heads into the surgery room.
I wonder why they can't just use healing moves out in the open. For some reason, pokemon centers always pretend that every wound needs the surgery room.
The girls sit down at a table to talk. Meanwhile, I check my phone and settle down on a chair to wait.
A missed call by Barry...
He left me a message after failing to reach me.
Barry: "Hey man, I watched your fight on TV! Good job, dude! You got to fight Roark and even battle against his PP (personal pokemon)! His massive Onix! That's so sick! And Ash is totally seething because of it. He says he's not, but he's so pissed xD"
Haha! I write him back. He should tell Ash to 'git gud'. And please, for the love of Arceus, never call it PP again.
---
Narrator-POV:
Much later that day, our hero had his pokemon returned with the strict order to let Lopunny sleep for the rest of the day and to prepare a hearty, energy-rich meal for her as soon as he could.
He does that during his job. He prepares her meal and the meals for his employer. It was a quick job as always.
Just as he expects to be told to leave, the same way it has happened every day, Mr Gump tells him to stay instead.
"Wheel me into the study, will ya?" He says. "I have something you're going to like."
Intrigued, in addition to being paid to do it it, Swole does as told. They move from the kitchen, through the long hallway, past his shrine of badges, into his study.
On the desk, next to an assortment of books, quils and bottles of ink, is a letter. Mr Gump instructs Swole to open it.
Inside, he finds a quest notice. The same print on paper that would find itself on the pokemon center's quest board tomorrow morning.
"I held my feelers out and asked my friends what they might need a talented young trainer for."
Swole wants to say that it wasn't necessary. However, he stops himself when sees the numbers involved.
"8000₽ on sign-up. 7000₽ on completion. And 1200₽ for each relocated pokemon." Mr Gump lists the numbers from memory. "The rangers are overloaded with work in the mines. The workers can't continue digging. Money is going down the drain every second. Currently, the job still needs approval before it can be posted to the pokemon center. But the pencil pushers are being paid overtime to get it done today."
Swole looks up at Mr Gump. ₽-signs briefly appear in his eyes. Only his natural risk-aversion kicking in prevents him from agreeing on the spot.
"Because of an unknown reason, a large horde of Diglett and Dugtrio have appeared. They want to remove them as soon as possible because wasting time could risk another Diglett's Cave, like they have in Kanto. Your job would be to capture as many as you can and deliver them to the Team Galactic officials overlooking the project."
"1000₽ profit per Diglett, assuming I capture on the first attempt..." Swole mumbles. This time, he mumbles for real and not just using aura. "No monetary investment is necessary because of the huge sign-up bonus... 15 captures will be as much profit as both my gym battles combined..."
The phone call with Akari this morning is still fresh in his mind. His fear of risk. The terror at the thought of another traumatic experience. They occupy his mind; they control his thoughts.
"2 gym badges... 15 captures... That's more than enough for Lopunny's mega stone."
A mega stone, in addition to a key stone bracelet, allows a trainer's pokemon to access mega evolutions. Temporary evolutions that increase the power of a pokemon tremendously.
"And a good chunk into Riolu's as well..."
The mega evolution is exclusive to trainers who share a tremendous bond with their pokemon. And only to a few specific pokemon species. Lopunny and Riolu are some of the ones who can mega evolve.
Their souls effectively become one and the same for the duration of the effect. Some even believe it might be possible to achieve this state without a mega stone, but whether it is true or not does not matter once you already have a stone.
"Alright! I'll do it!"
"That's the spirit!" Mr Gump makes a gesture for Lurantis, who takes it as the sign to begin moving. "I would have been surprised if you didn't accept the offer after the show you pulled off in the gym. And speaking of your victory, why aren't you out there drinking with your friends!?"
"Oh! Uhm, my friends said they wanted to train some more after they saw my fight. To keep up. And after Lopunny was healed, it was already time for my job here."
"Well. Consider yourself fired from now on."
"What!?"
"And since I'm not your employer anymore..." He waits for his pokemon to take the hint. After a long pause, Lurantis moves the final distance back to her trainer and presents to him what she has been carrying. "I can offer you alcohol now!"
He cannot. Everyone in this room knows that. There is not even a law against giving employees alcohol. Only against giving alcohol to minors. But they silently agree to forget what the real laws are and continue with their made-up version of them.
"Look at this beaut'." Mr Gump moves the bottle in his hands, causing the dark blue liquid inside to slosh back and forth. "A 20-year old ballonlea, made from fermented, sweet mushrooms that grow near the Galar city of the same name."
Gourgeist brings glasses for the humans, Salandit, Lurantis, herself, and even for Riolu. But Swole quickly nubs that in the bud by filling her glass with Moomoo milk instead.
"Riolu..." She claims that she is mature enough. Lurantis and Gourgeist can only find her childish insistence endearing.
All the adults in the room fill their glasses with the foreign mushroom wine.
The first thing Swole notices about it is the sharp smell of alcohol wafting into his nose and the dark blue color, reminiscent of a midnight sky.
"Describe it." Mr Gump challenges Swole, who brings his nose closer for a more accurate sniff.
"It has an earthy smell. A little bit like a wet puddle of mud."
"Oi! Say it more nicely!"
"Like the mushrooms it is made of, I can tell they grow underground."
"They do."
"It smells a little bit of... Licorice? And burnt sugar."
"Burnt sugar? You're hopeless. Taste it."
Swole takes a sip, fully expecting the worst. The deep-ocean-colored liquid hits the tip of his tongue.
At first, it does not taste like anything. But then the liquid spreads around his mouth. He tastes the sweetness of it. He swishes the drops around in his mouth and is surprised at how little bitterness he notices.
A pleasant, refreshing taste, a hints of anise.
He smiles and eventually swallows the sip. But then the aftertaste strikes. Long-repressed memories of drinking his mom's nail polish remover as a little child come to the forefront of his mind.
His head shakes in denial, as if that could un-swallow the disgusting brew.
"Ahaha! Too strong?" Mr Gump asks. "Tough it out and just take the next sip. It helps."
It did not help.
No matter how many sips he took, the back of his throat would always burn. Every time he swallowed, bile would threaten to join the men in their evening of fun.
Only after his nerves had been drowned and killed in liquor did the pain recede and his drinking speed increase.
All too soon, the men and their pokemon finished off the expensive bottle and moved on to the next wine.
A little past sunset, Swole begins his drunken march back to his hotel.
---
Disgusted looks are thrown across the hotel lobby as a young man, too tall for his age, stumbles through the front door.
A lizard pokemon hangs from his shoulder with just a single claw. His other shoulder is occupied by Riolu, who has taken up the responsibility of navigation. She lets out a sigh when her ride-human almost trips over his feet once more.
The man finally remembers where he is and where he wanted to be. He searches and finds the elevator on his own. Without any help, he would later claim, even though it was all Riolu's doing.
He is still proud of that achievement.
Once again, Swole Solo drank too much.
After a long time, he remembers to press the elevator's button, its doors close, and he travels up.
After another long time, he realizes that he went to the wrong level and tries again.
Eventually, he finds himself in front of the door leading to Dawn's room.
He remembers what he managed to disturb the last time he was in that situation and raises his hopes as he enters her room.
"Swole?"
Dawn lies on her bed. Looking through a model magazine. The normal kind. Not Pokemon Pals.
"What are you doing?" She asks as he lumbers closer. "Did you drink again? You smell, you know?"
She tries to back away when he does not stop his approach. She forgot, when faced with a predator, running away often triggers the chase. The moment she retreated was when he pounced.
"Ahhh!" Dawn screeches when he jumps the rest of the way. His hands wrap around her waist. Dawn wrestles and resists for a moment. But even a drunk Swole has no problem lifting her up, placing her on his shoulder, and carrying her out of the room.
Dawn screeches the whole time. "Let me down!" And "Don't you dare make that pun again!"
Her voice fades away. Meanwhile, Prinplup places down a 7 of hearts. He looks expectantly at Burmy to make her move.
Mawile can only shake her head before she begins to clean up. She takes their cards away - Prinplup pretends not to be bothered by it - and then leads the gaggle of pokemon over into Zoey's room, where her trainer was forcefully relocated to.
Inside, Dawn screeches once more time when Swole rudely throws on the bed before climbing in as well.
Zoey simply accepts the new normal and locks the doors after everyone is where they belong. A smile graces her lips as light snoring fills her ears. "Hi, Dawn."
"... Hi, Zoey." She is stuck in his hold and cannot even turn to look around.
Zoey shrugs, changes into her pajamas, and joins the cuddle pile. She lies down next to Dawn, hugging her boyfriend's arm between the girls. Initially, she tried to snuggle on his other side, but Riolu and Salandit would not budge. Ultimately, she had no choice but to settle where she is. Still, she feels content. She has his arm to hug and enjoys the closeness to Dawn.
It is definitely a win in her books. "Goodnight, Dawn."
"... Goodnight, Zoey."
"Goodnight, Swole."
"Snore"
And so another day comes to an end in the world of pokemon.
The rising star of the industry has secured another badge and completed his second step on his way to becoming a legendary pokemon champion.
After a long, fruitful but difficult day, he sleeps soundly.
But another adventure is already on its way. The coal mines of Lego City-- Ahem. The coal mines of Oreburgh City have been taken over by Diglett and Dugtrio! The economy needs him to continue operations!
"This is a real mess." Pokemon ranger Solana mutters under her breath as she sneaks through the tunnels. Her team, consisting of Charizard and Plusle, is not suited for the task. They specialize in forest missions.
A cave, crammed to the brim with agitated ground pokemon, is her worst nightmare.
"Plusle." Her pokemon suggests.
"You're right. We should get out and wait for support. This mission is too dangerous, but I swear, I will get to the bottom of this."
She turns around and leaves as carefully as she arrived.
A horde of Diglett happily continues their feast on a Machop's bony remains. The pokemon stayed behind and chose to protect his coworkers when the flood arrived at their section of the tunnel.
He paid the ultimate price for his heroism.