Roxanne is impressed. Impressed is not a word that she would use lightly when describing novice trainers.
She had to admit that she underestimated Velda, even for just a little. And that at that beginning of their battle, she had been "playing with her food", so to speak. She wasn't being 100% serious. But then again, no novice trainers would survive in a battle against her if she was 100% serious, even if the pokemon she used is not from her main team.
Roxanne actually knew the name of Velda Vera about a year ago, before having to meet her in person. As a newly appointed gym leader back then, she was busy trying to adjust to her hectic schedule. Her Trainer's School is able to run properly by itself by then without much interference on her part, but she still makes it a point to do something for the school every now and then.
She was grading the exam papers for those who applied for exemption from the school, there weren't many applicants, so it was a relatively easy job.
As usual, only a few passed.
She was halfway through in grading a paper when she noted that the script she's been marking did not have a single mistake yet.
She continued to grade the paper and soon arrived at the open-ended portion. What she saw astounded her.
Every single answer on the script is correct.
Upon scrutiny, some of the answers were actually knowledge of pokemon on the intermediate or Elite trainer level. Heck, Roxanne didn't know some of these facts until she was a member of the Ranger forces.
Roxanne had no qualms in giving that particular script full marks. This child even managed to find time to doodle on the back the exam paper. Cheeky brat.
Flipping over to the front of the paper, she saw that the owner of this exam script belongs to a girl named Velda Vera.
A child from the Vera family. That explains certain things. She could tell that some of Velda's answers were from practical hands-on experience with handling pokemon. A child who lived on a pokemon breeding farm would certainly have the experience.
She would file her thoughts on Velda Vera away for another day, she still has a stack of papers to grade.
The days passed, and she had pretty much forget about Velda Vera. So it was a surprise that one year later, she suddenly found herself facing the same child in a gym battle.
She finally had a face to match the name.
Roxanne didn't know at first glance that this blond-haired child was the same child who had impressed her while grading exam scripts a year ago. Not until when the gym's computer system had finished the registration with the child's Pokedex to register the upcoming battle as an official gym leader battle.
She did not manage to keep the brief look of surprise from showing on her face when the digital panel in front of her displayed the name of the challenger as Velda Vera. She stole a glance at her challenger standing across the arena facing her. Well, now she's not so surprised that the challenger, now known as Velda Vera, actually managed to get all the questions in the maze wrong on purpose.
Velda sent out a mudkip. Roxanne can't help but raise an eyebrow. Mudkips were rare. Her mind habitually went through about the various facts that she knows about the mudkip species. This particular mudkip couldn't be more than a few months old at most. Its water typing would definitely help in a battle against her, someone who is well known for her preference for rock type pokemon. Maybe Velda is a sponsored trainer? Roxanne wouldn't be surprised if that's the case, Velda certainly has the smarts to successfully apply for it.
Roxanne herself had sent out a nosepass. This nosepass is an offspring of Stonebeak. Rock type pokemon age slowly, and this nosepass is still relatively young at one year old. Weak enough to be used in a novice trainer gym battle, but strong enough to give novice trainers a good challenge.
Roxanne tried not to cringe when she heard Velda calling out on the nickname of her mudkip, Bigblue. She didn't have the right to comment, considering that she named her starter Stonebeak. Besides, she had heard worse nicknames. A particular memorable name belonged to a blastoise in the hands of a Kanto trainer, who came to Hoenn to complete Hoenn's gym circuit on an Elite trainer level of difficulty.
He named his blastoise 'Superturtle '.
If the name was meant to be a distraction for her, it worked. She was so undecided on falling into peals of laughter or remaining shocked that someone named a blastoise Superturtle that the Kanto Trainer got the first move in with his blastoise.
Not that it changed the outcome of the battle. Superturtle laid on the ground in a sizzling heap after Stonebeak zapped it with a Zap Cannon.
She still awarded that trainer with a Stone Badge. Bad naming sense aside, he did show the qualities that an Elite trainer should possess.
It didn't stop her from sharing a recording of the battle to her boyfriend and Dewford's gym leader, Brawly, that very same night though. And they both bonded that night by laughing at that trainer's bad naming sense over their xtransceiver in the privacy of their own rooms.
He sent her a video recording of his battle a few days later, showing how his hariyama pummeled Superturtle to the ground.
That Kanto trainer didn't manage to earn the Knuckle Badge from Brawly.
Roxanne brought her thoughts back to reality when Velda's mudkip fired the opening salvo. True to its nature, the young mud fish pokemon is extremely slippery and nosepass had a hard time keeping up with it. She knew that Velda was planning something when her mudkip started to throw mud everywhere, and her plan certainly would not stop at simply making the battlefield extremely slippery for nosepass. Roxanne is willing to wait and see how the battle would develop.
Nosepass begin retaliating by dishing out its own attacks, ripping out chunks of stone from the arena and sending them hurtling towards mudkip. As expected, none of the rocks hit. But that is ok. Nosepass had more than a few tricks that it learnt from Stonebeak when it comes to dealing with slippery opponents.
The battle continued in this way for a short while, and just when Roxanne decided to amp up the intensity of the battle and send out a command to her nosepass, Velda shouted her next command to mudkip.
What happened next was the most brilliant move she ever saw that was pulled off by a novice trainer. Mudkip actually pulled off a Whirlpool off all things. It is definitely an egg move, no mudkip at that age have the experience and knowledge to learn such a move unless it knows the move instinctively since birth. Having a pokemon that knows such a move is an advantage for a novice trainer. An advantage that Velda knew she had and made full use of.
What made the move truly brilliant, in Roxanne's opinion, is that it turned the entire arena into a swamp. The best terrain for mudkip to fight in, and one of the worst for her nosepass. A very classic and perfect textbook example of turning the environment into your advantage, and by extension, controlling the flow of the battle in your favour.
Roxanne have to remember to ask Velda later if she would mind if she use the video recording of this battle for education purposes. The kids at her school can learn many things by simply watching this battle up to this point.
She also noted that nosepass might have dug its own literal grave with his liberal use of rock techniques. It made the ground around him too loose. Loose enough for mudkip to successfully trap him in a swamp after encompassing the area with a Whirlpool.
By this point Roxanne would have given the Stone Badge to Velda no matter what the outcome of the battle is. Velda's skill as a trainer is clearly beyond novice level if this is anything to go by. She would be the first novice trainer that she faced to earn her Stone Badge with just 2 pokemon.
Still, she has to do something to get her nosepass out of that swamp.
"Nosepass, use Spark! "
Despite being a rock type pokemon, nosepass and its evolutionary line is capable of learning some pretty decent electric type moves. Researchers have speculated that the reason for this is due to nosepass's ability to produce its own magnetism. Through the laws of electromagnetism, it is entirely possible for nosepass to produce its own electricity, depending on how adept it is in controlling its own magnetic field.
Stonebeak is entirely capable of supplying her entire gym with electricity for an hour. An achievement not many non-electric type pokemon can boast. Nosepass still has a long way to go in this regard.
Nevertheless, the Spark attack did manage to lift nosepass out of the swamp and propel itself towards mudkip. Roxanne half-expected mudkip to dodge out of the way. Dodging would not do any good for mudkip, the area is too full of moisture, and nosepass can easily conduct the electricity to mudkip even if Spark didn't make contact. It is the downside of this strategy. Any pokemon with a decent electric move can turn the tables around back on mudkip in this environment. The disadvantage of this strategy would disappear when mudkip evolves into a marshtomp and gain a partial ground type typing, which will be carried over when it eventually evolves into a swampert. Roxanne can already see the beauty of this strategy in the higher levels of pokemon battles.
Just her luck that nosepass knows an electric move and mudkip has no form of resistance to it. She thought. Velda had done well, but Roxanne would win this battle either way.
Or at least that's what she thought.
Roxanne certainly didn't expect Velda to command mudkip to brace itself for a counter attack. And as nosepass gets closer and closer to mudkip like a sharpedo gunning for its prey, she cannot recall any moves at a moment's notice that a young mudkip would know to get it out of this situation.
Nosepass's Spark attack did connect, and Roxanne thought that whatever plan Velda has conjured probably didn't went through. And when she was about to stop the battle, she witnessed one of the biggest turnaround in pokemon battles that she ever experienced.
The Counter that mudkip used totally took her by surprise. It is an advanced egg move, and for a very good reason. An advanced egg move is usually too dangerous for a young pokemon to use properly and safely. Hence, any pokemon that was given by the league to novice trainers as a starter pokemon, like those given out at pokemon gyms or by Professor Birch, were checked by the league to ensure that they do not know any of these egg moves. Young pokemon with advanced egg moves are only given to experienced trainers.
Of course, the league cannot interfere if novice trainers are able to somehow obtain a starter pokemon with advanced egg moves outside of the league's help. Such trainers usually got their starters from a pokemon breeding farm or from other experienced trainers, whose pokemon have offsprings of their own.
At least she now knows that Velda Vera is not a sponsored trainer.
In the case for the move Counter, it is dangerous to young pokemon due to the fact that the move requires the user to first take damage, before reflecting double the damage it received back to the opponent. The condition to use Counter is very specific as well, for the user has to receive physical damage for Counter to work. It is not a move preferred by most trainers, even among the Elite trainers. There is too much judgement involved on both the trainer's and pokemon's part in pulling off this move, although it can be very rewarding. Velda and her mudkip was playing a very dangerous game. Mudkip is still too young and unable to take too much damage. In this battle, taking too little damage before using Counter would not be able to take nosepass down, and mudkip would be too weak after receiving the Spark attack to finish the job. On the other hand, taking too much damage before using Counter would put mudkip out of commission and possibly in life threatening condition. Thus, there's only a very small window of opportunity for mudkip to use Counter and defeat nosepass in one clean hit.
Velda and mudkip had both managed to grasp that small window of opportunity.
Roxanne can't help but remain awestruck as she recalled her nosepass back to its pokeball. Velda is the first trainer she had ever heard to not only successfully complete her first gym challenge with only 2 pokemon, but to also defeat the gym leader in an official match. She may need to check the Hoenn League databases later to see if Velda had set a new record in the Hoenn gym circuit since its founding.
Velda's ponyta even had a type disadvantage.
Roxanne can't keep the smile off her face as she saw Velda and her mudkip celebrating their victory down below at the arena. She might just be the next Steven Stone, she mused. She remembered the kind teenage boy with fondness, who wasn't even a trainer yet at that time. He appeared at her clan compound in person at the time when she needed help the most in building the school. That same boy then proceeded to take the world by storm, ended up defeating Wallace, and is now preparing himself to take over the job of being the next Hoenn Champion.
Roxanne can see the same potential in Velda. She suddenly felt the urge to take Velda under her wing, to teach her everything she knew, just as what Aaron had once did for her. As a gym leader, Roxanne is more than qualified to take on an official apprentice. Too bad Velda didn't seem the type to be interested in being a Rock Specialist. Roxanne would have to ask Velda about that later.
She walked down the stairs towards the arena where Velda is, where she is busy chattering to her mudkip.
"Congratulations," Roxanne said sincerely, succeeding in grabbing Velda's attention "I certainly wasn't expecting your mudkip to be able to use Counter. And so effectively at that. It was beautiful." She took out the Stone Badge and a TM from her pocket, and pressed it into Velda's palm. "I don't think I have to explain to you what these are. I don't usually give out TMs to challengers, and only give them out to those who I deem worthy. You have earned it. This is a reusable TM that contains the move Rock Tomb, a simple move that is suitable to introduce most non-rock type pokemon into learning how to use rock type moves. Use it well. As for your prize money, it will be transferred to your bank account by the end of the week."
Velda's jaw visibly dropped and Roxanne watched in great amusement in watching her trying to form coherent sentences. She can understand why. Reusable TMs are valuable, simply because they can be used repeatedly. They have only been invented two years ago and are currently very expensive, even more so for a novice trainer. The PWL had planned to find ways to reduce the cost of reusable TMs, and to slowly phase out the old type of TMs that can only be used once with the reusable TMs. The old type of TMs creates a huge wastage and numerous pollution problems when the discs are disposed due to the unique metal used in its production. Industries have tried to design a recycling process of TMs, or find a suitable substitute material to the unique metal used in creating TMs. But none of them are efficient enough to be useful. Thus, the concept of reusable TMs remain as the best solution.
Currently, the PWL hoped to replace all the single-use TMs within 5 years. Personally, Roxanne thinks that it will take a little longer than that.
"Th-Thank you so much." Velda stuttered while trying to keep the paws of a very curious mudkip away from the TM. She shifted uneasily on her feet, trying to find something to say.
Roxanne realised that despite her bright mind, Velda might have been a social recluse. She had seen such children when she was teaching at the school, and quite a number of them are the smartest kids she ever had the honour to teach. Most of the time, because these children are too smart and mature for their peers, they often find themselves unable to connect to them. These children tend to prefer to do things alone, things that other children their age would not be interested in. After time, their lack of any social interaction often resulted in displays of awkwardness around strangers. Most likely, Velda is either home-schooled by her parents, or had a private tutor to teach her. Judging from her impression of Velda, she is more inclined to think it's the former. She took a look at the clock hung on the wall at the side of the arena. It's currently 2.30 pm in the afternoon. The gym would close and have a short break from 3 to 4 pm and resume it's activities from 4 to 7pm before closing for the day. There probably would not be anymore challengers from now till 3.
With her decision made, she turned and asked, "Do you like to have tea with me?"
Roxanne strolled through the streets of Rustboro together with Velda, who seemed amazed at almost everything she sees and asked questions incessantly. "Why are the buildings here so short? The tallest building here is only 8 stories high. Are they built like that on purpose?" "Is it normal for rock type pokemon to stay immobile like that geodude over there without moving? How long do they remain like that anyway?" "How many challengers did you face every day?" "Why..."
By the time they deposited their injured pokemon at the pokemon center for treatment, Roxanne had heard at least 10 different questions and only managed to answer 3 of them. Roxanne had also secretly gave Velda the nickname of 'chatterbox' in the confines of her mind because Velda just won't stop talking. Velda's inquisitive nature is probably why she is so well-learned at her age. She does not mind the chattering, it is a nice change of pace. Ever since she became a gym leader, she became a highly respected figure. People tend to shy away from her because she is a gym leader, and they are afraid to act naturally around her. She sometimes find herself wishing to be a normal pokemon trainer again, when everything is simpler. Wake up, study, eat, train, sleep, rinse and repeat. She crushed that thought immediately. She is a gym leader now, the leader and protector of Rustboro, and one of the Thirteen Pillars of Hoenn. She has a job to do and duties to fulfill.
Roxanne had long since gotten used to the way how people's heads turned in her direction, although there seems to be more than usual today. It's probably because Velda is by her side chattering away faster than a chatot. They do make an odd sight together. Despite being an accomplished trainer and teacher, Roxanne is known to the locals as a loner. She is good with children and they loved her, but outside of school and the gym she tends to be by herself. Walking side by side with an 11 year old child (who looks a lot more like a 9 year old given how small she is), who is unafraid of her gym leader status chattering away while Roxanne answered the child's questions is indeed a very different image compared to what the locals are used to seeing.
After depositing their pokemon at the pokemon center for treatment, they eventually found their way to Chansey's Cafe, a cafe located right beside the pokemon center. She came to this cafe regularly during her breaks. Roxanne brought Velda to her favourite spot, a table at a small corner at the back of the room. Both Roxanne and Velda had ordered a slice of cake together with tea and ate comfortably while conversing. It wasn't long before she asked the question that she had been thinking of asking Velda even before they arrived at the cafe.
"Have you ever thought of what type of trainer you wanted to be in the future? You would have to make a choice sometime around getting your fourth or fifth gym badge."
Velda continued eating her slice of cheese cake in small bites while replying, "I don't really care, to be honest." She took a sip of tea before looking at her, "I don't really care about being the strongest trainer or to be the very best that no one ever was. That is not I want in life."
Roxanne felt her eyebrows rose. "Why are you challenging the gym circuit then? No offense, but the whole purpose of challenging the gym circuit is to aim to be the strongest trainer."
"I just want to travel the world." Velda admitted, a wispy look in her eyes. "Don't you feel that the world is just so vast? There is so much the world has to offer for us. So many different places, so many cultures, so many different things to learn. So many pokemons out there to see and understand. So many things to do. I always had a weak body, you know?" Velda said, her hold on her tea cup tightening visibly. "During the time when I was 5 to 8 years old, half of my time was spent on bed rest. For someone whose dream is to explore the world, it's frickin' torture." She took another sip of tea, obviously trying very hard to calm herself. "And so, I read. Everything that I could not see or do I try to learn it from books. I would go crazy otherwise." She took another pause. "Don't let her out of the house, make sure she stays in her bed, Dr. Grimlock said. I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do. She's just unlucky to be born with a weak immunity system, she would probably never to be able to travel anywhere further than Petalburg with the way her body is, Dr. Northlight said." Velda spat, her voice raised in a mocking tone, and Roxanne can taste the bitterness that Velda is feeling. "Even better, there's a doctor who, I quote, 'She will be lucky if she can live past her 15th birthday'. That inconsiderate jerk." Velda raised a hand to wipe the wetness away from her eyes. "They didn't say this in front of me of course, they thought I was asleep. They thought they can disrespect my dream and will to live." Velda took another pause, taking in larger amounts of air. She then laughed. "Do you know that my Mum nearly had a fit when I said that I plan to challenge the gym circuit. Dad was the only one in my family that did not doubt that I can, and will travel the world. That's why he gave me Flamel on my ninth birthday, so that Flamel can carry me around the world and I would not have to put too much stress on my body while travelling. Mum and Vance, my older brother by the way, just want to keep me in the house. They think that I am some kind of glass doll that would break upon contact. Almost the entirety of my childhood is spent at home or within the fence of our farm." Roxanne could only listen in silence at this point, what Velda needs now is not words of comfort or reassurance, all she needs is a listening ear. "Not like keeping me locked in the house would have worked, I would just walked out of the house and challenge the gym circuit with or without their consent. The moment we registered as a pokemon trainer at 11 years old, we are already considered as adults in the eyes of the law. I think they just realised that it would be easier for all of us if they just let me go. I love my family, I really do. But sometimes, they just dont understand." Velda sighed. "As for why I challenge the gym circuit, the world is still a very dangerous place, you know? Many people simply dismiss the danger lurking in the corner simply because they do not see it. Challenging the gym circuit is just a way for me to learn how to get stronger so that I can defend myself if I ever find myself in danger, and it can satisfy my desire to travel at the same time. I wanted to know more about pokemon beyond the ones in my family's farm. But I do not want to force pokemon to come with me against their will with a pokeball. I know that most pokemon will grow to love their trainer in the end, but the whole concept just feels wrong to me. Humans just don't give pokemon enough credit for their intelligence. They may not be able to speak our language, but they are smart enough to understand us. They can be reasoned. Trainers think that it's perfectly normal and within their right to be able to choose the pokemon they want, but I feel that it is equally important for the pokemon to be able to choose its trainer, because they have a right to choose as well. I know this is a stupid ideology to follow since I plan to compete in the Ever Grande Conference, and it's also why I only have 2 pokemon with me now." She then smirked. "My brother called me crazy when I told him that I plan to challenge your gym with only 2 pokemon, even made a bet of 1,000 pokedollars that I would get destroyed by you. But yeah, that's why I said I don't know, and frankly I don't care about the type of trainer that I would be in the future. It does not matter to me in the long run, since all I want is to travel." Velda's voice had quietened down to a whisper towards the end. "Sorry about that outburst, it's just...there's no one that I could speak to about this at home. I'm truly sorry for my...loss of control." Velda said before giving a short bow of her head as a show of apology.
"There's no need to apologise. In fact, I should be the one who apologise for my insensitive question." Roxanne replied calmly. "I won't say I can fully understand your plight, because I can't. I never had a sick body so I would never understand. But I do understand the hurt you feel from the lack of support of your family, especially when it comes to your dream and when you needed support the most. In my clan, being a pokemon trainer is heavily frowned upon. I'm the only pokemon trainer in my clan for more than 5 generations. It's not easy trying to achieve your dream when it felt like the whole world is against you. I experienced it, and I hate it that you felt this way as well." Roxanne whispered. "I would not say that I am sorry for your plight, because I don't think that's what you need." She took the receipt she received from the cashier that was lying by the side of her teacup, and used a pen that she always bring around with her to scribble down her personal contact number on the back of it before passing it to Velda. "What I can do, is to provide advice if you ever need it. Just give me a call. It does not have to be pokemon related. I may not always be available, but I will try to reply asap." She placed both her elbows on the table, leaning forward while resting her chin on the back of her hands. "I initially wanted to see if you ever wanted to be a Rock Specialist, or if you wanted to be my apprentice. But now that I know what your dream is, I won't press on the issue. I just want to let you know that if you ever change your mind and decide to pursue a career further as a pokemon trainer, the doors to my gym are always open to you." She quickly continued before Velda can reply. "You have potential, Velda. For a moment back there, towards the end of the battle, I genuinely felt that you can be the next Steven Stone. I am being serious here. But I will respect your decision." She paused before sighing dramatically. "I really, really wanted to take you on as my apprentice though."
"Wha-I mean, I.." Velda spluttered so hard that Roxanne worried that she might have broke Velda with the bombshell she landed on her. Getting an apprenticeship offer by a gym leader a few days after starting your pokemon journey would do that to you.
"Relax. The purpose of this tea session is to relax and to get to know each other better." She took her teacup and leaned back against her chair, taking a small sip of tea. "You did mention something about a bet with your brother. Do you want me to give him a call personally?" Yeah, she would take pleasure in that. She can understand his concern for his sister, but keeping her locked up at home is not an appropriate expression of love. She did not have anything against him, but if it would lift Velda's spirit or make her smile again, then he is a necessary sacrifice. She did vaguely remember that Brawly talked about a Vera who is high up in the chain of command in ACE, and a very skilled trainer. That trainer is probably her brother.
Velda looked at her with a stunned expression. A grin then stretched across her face and there is a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "Better yet, do you mind if we use my xtransceiver to make a video call? He used to have a small crush on you when you first became gym leader. I really want to see his expression when he sees me together with you."
Vance ended the video call on his xtransceiver and skipped into the staff lounge in his office at ACE headquarters. His baby sister had just completed her first gym battle and won against a gym leader.
He has no idea on how strong Roxanne is or what kind of person she is, since she only took the position after he finished his Hoenn gym circuit. He haven't had the time to do it again on the Elite trainer level of difficulty. But from how close his sister and Roxanne sat together, he can only assume that for some reason, the two of them had hit it off pretty well.
Roxanne is even prettier in the video call than the photos of her which he saw on the internet. He used to have a silly crush on her when he first saw her picture on the news, when the news reporter was announcing the changing of gym leaders in Rustboro. He knew that Roxanne is 3 years older than he is, which is not an issue for him, and can't help but wonder if she is romantically attached to another guy. He had the sudden urge to fly to Rustboro to try to woo her after the video call.
But that's not the main point.
His baby sister won against a gym leader with only 2 pokemon in her very first gym battle.
Vance is almost sure that it is a new record in the Hoenn League's history.
He plopped himself down on the sofa fiddling his fingers in the staff lounge, where several of his colleagues who are off-duty are playing a game of poker. They must have caught on to his cheery mood from the way they look at him.
"Alright. Out with it. What did your sister do this time? You are too happy." Larry, who was sitting beside him, asked.
"What makes you thing it has anything to do with my sister? Is it a crime to be happy just because I am?" Vance retorted.
"Yeah, right. You received a call on your xtransceiver, and you came back in a happy man smiling like an idiot. Besides, the only person who will call you on a regular basis is your sister. You have no social life whatsoever." Patricia, who is sitting across Larry, rebuked. "Out with it siscon, what did your sister do this time?"
"I am not a siscon-"
"Hey guys, do you know that Velda managed to teach her ponyta Flamethrower? She's only 9 years old! Hey guys, do you know that my baby sister managed to befriended a herd of nidokings and nidoqueens in my family's farm? She even managed to convince them to let her play with their nidorans! Hey guys, do you know that my baby sister made me a scarf for my birthday?" Melvin, who is sitting on a couch on his right, spoke with a purposefully high-pitched nasal voice while waving his hands dramatically in the air. He stood up, and continued speaking in that annoying nasal voice, "And then you will prance around the office like this-" and Melvin went to do a silly dance around the staff lounge, causing a roar of laughter among Vance's colleagues.
"I do not prance around the office like-"
"Yes, you do." his colleagues chorused, effectively shutting him up.
"I can't believe I know so many things about your sister even though I never saw her once." Patricia chimed in.
"Seriously though, what did she do this time." Larry questioned.
Vance beamed, he really couldn't wait to share his joy with his colleagues.
"Hey guys." Vance said mockingly, imitating Melvin's annoying high-pitched nasal voice "Do you know that my baby sister managed to complete her very first gym challenge by defeating the gym leader? With only 2 pokemon? And that one of them is of a type disadvantage to the type specialty of that gym?"
Cue the silence.
3...2...1...
"WHAT!" was the collective reply.
There it is.
"Holy Arceus-"
"What in Groudon's name-"
"Are you serious-"
"Only two pokemon? Oh my-"
The staff lounge exploded into temporary chaos, before settling back down and looked at Vance in disbelief.
Larry raised an eyebrow, "You aren't pulling our legs, are you?"
"Nope." Vance replied, popping the 'p' sound. Sometimes it is just too fun to mess with his colleagues, he should do this more often.
"Unbelievable." Maurice, who is sitting beside Patricia, muttered.
"Hey guys." Terence, who has been silent all this while, spoke up. "I suddenly feel that we should change Vance's call sign to SISCON. Are we all in agreement? I can put in a request to Wallace."
"HEY!"
Roxanne is cool, period.
Before meeting her, I thought she would be one of those nerdy type of people given how she was portrayed in the pokemon franchise in my previous life. I was once again reminded that pokemon is no longer a fictional story. It is real to me now. People will not always be what they appeared to be.
Things are different here. The most glaring and obvious difference would be that pokemon are actually capable of using more than four moves in battle. Pokemon have fantastic memory when it comes to battling and would very rarely forget moves. They just have a few preferred moves that they will use more often than the others. How can a lapras for example, forget how to use Water Gun when it can use Hydro Pump?
Eat that, Game Freak.
From my interaction with Roxanne, I found out that she is actually a very likeable person. After the heart-to-heart talk in the cafe, I actually stayed for a few days in Rustboro to help out in the Trainer's School as a volunteer. I already knew most of the knowledge that was taught there, but she still managed to teach me things that I never knew existed or thought of.
The people of Hoenn only knew that Roxanne is a gym leader and an extremely powerful trainer. They often forget that she is a teacher as well. A damn good one at that.
She caught me off guard with her offer of an apprenticeship with her, and I feel like a jerk for refusing it, even when she insists that it is a one-sided wish on her part and I have every right to refuse.
It was an offer that numerous trainers wouldn't even dare to dream of, and I turned it down.
It's official, I'm a jerk.
I was really touched when she gave me her personal number so that I can contact her if I ever need help in anything, even if it is just for a little chat. On hindsight, I realised that she is actually my first friend in the pokemon world since I am constantly stuck at home back at Petalburg. A friend with an age difference of a decade (not including my previous life) but a friend nonetheless.
I also saw an evil side to her when she suggested calling Vance. The idea was so evil that I loved it. I recorded the entire video call we had with Vance. The expression on his face is priceless. I plan to take screenshots of the various expressions he made on his face during the video call and make a set of memes when I had the time to do so. No one in Hoenn, or in the pokemon world has invented the idea of memes yet. Maybe I can be a trend-setter and introduce the pokemon world to the wonderful world of memes.
Velda Vera, the creator of memes. A worthy title for someone as awesome as me.
After earning the Stone Badge, I need to travel to Dewford, an island southwest of Hoenn. I could do this by employing the services of a psychic pokemon that knows teleport from a company that specialises in teleportation services, or travel back to Petalburg to take a ferry at the Petalburg harbour to Dewford. The journey by sea would take about a week, give or take. I can also take the opportunity to pop by my house at Petalburg to say hi to my parents.
I took the second option, teleportation services cost a bomb. I had an extra 3,000 pokedollars after my victory at the Rustboro gym, which is a lot for a novice trainer like me. 2,000 pokedollars as prize money (Roxanne has explained that the reason I earned so much is because the league rewards challengers who had managed to defeat a gym leader in battle with extra money) and 1,000 pokedollars from my bet with Vance. But I am unwilling to splurge on the teleportation services. Besides, I want to travel and see the world, taking the sea route sounds like a nice idea.
Or it would be a nice idea, if I wasn't seasick half the time I'm on the ferry. The other half of the time when I wasn't seasick was spent in boredom as I had absolutely nothing to do on the ferry. The excitement and novelty of travelling across the sea wore off after the first day and the ferry offered nothing much to explore. I cannot train my pokemon on the boat, for obvious reasons, although they are allowed to roam around if they do not exceed a certain weight limit and do not cause any trouble.
I did manage to get some sort of training in, which is also my only source of entertainment, by the second day of my journey at sea. Bigblue and Flamel will sit at the back of the ferry with me and have target practice at the flock of wingulls flying overhead (there are so many of them that I'm surprised that the sky isn't raining with bird shits). I had them tone down their power, as I do not want to hurt the wingulls anymore than strictly necessary. Their Water Gun and Ember attack is only enough to knock them off balance for a short while.
Mr Briney, the captain of the ferry, is not amused when we mistook Peeko for a wild wingull and use him for target practice. Personally, I feel that Peeko is the perfect target practice as it is the only wingull that actually managed to evade Bigblue's and Flamel's attack for a short while, which is actually pretty impressive since Peeko is not a pokemon used for battling.
Mr Briney also have a gyarados named Flappy (Really? Why would you name a gyarados Flappy?) that swims alongside our ferry during the week that we were at sea. Flappy keeps the wild tentacool and tentacruel population away from our boat and is the main reason why we had such a smooth journey.
I reached Dewford sometime before noon after a long and arduous of 7 days at sea. Judging from the way the other passengers disembarked the moment we docked, I am not the only one who had found the journey torturous.
The atmosphere at Dewford can only be described as relaxing. I can lie down at the beach all day, enjoy hearing the seawater crashing onto the beach, enjoy the nice ocean breeze and enjoy the sunlight on my skin. There's nothing as therapeutic as this.
Judging by the way Flamel and Bigblue curl up around me, they felt the same way too.
Alas, no matter how nice the beach is, I cannot lie here forever.
"Come on guys. We need to book a room at the pokemon center before it's too late. We need to get something for lunch too." I stood up, brushing the fine, white sand away from my clothes. Flamel gave a little whine, and Bigblue grumbled a little, but they stood up and followed me anyway.
After booking a room and having a quick lunch, I began exploring Dewford, while keeping an eye out for areas that I can possibly use for training my pokemon. The whole town exudes a kind of lazy atmosphere that will slowly draw you in. Like Slateport city and Pacifidlog Town, Dewford town is known for its fishery due to their close proximity to the sea.
What makes Dewford stand out from the rest of the cities and towns in Hoenn, is that Dewford is where the only prison in Hoenn is situated.
The Dewford prison is located a few kilometers behind Granite Cave, far away from the town populace, and is under one of the most heavily guarded facilities in Hoenn. Something which is absolutely necessary given that some of the inmates are very dangerous and notorious criminals. It is under the jurisdiction of the LSDF and the Dewford gym. The current Dewford gym leader is Brawly, a Fighting Specialist, who is said to have once trained alongside Bruno of the Indigo Elite Four.
It is kind of scary, since there are many rumours claiming that Bruno can do superhuman stuffs like breaking rocks with his fist. Makes you wonder just what kind of training Brawly had to endure.
Glancing at Bigblue and Flamel, I bring my thoughts back to our gym challenge at Rustboro. We are actually lucky to be able to defeat Roxanne's nosepass. I have no delusions that we can beat Brawly as of now. I only managed to win against Roxanne mostly because Bigblue had the type advantage. We need to get stronger, and there is one goal in mind that I have to achieve during my stay in Dewford, if we want to win against Brawly.
I need Bigblue to evolve into a marshtomp.
Bigblue is going to be my heavy-hitter and tank, considering his evolutionary line. He needs to grow into that role, the sooner the better. Being fast and nimble would not help if he does not have the power to take his foe down. Not like I expect him to be fast and nimble when he evolves. He is just not built for it. I need to start training him in how to properly defend himself, and to increase the power behind his attacks.
While my focus would be on Bigblue, it does not mean that I would be neglecting Flamel's training. It's just that Flamel would naturally take a longer time to accumulate the required energy and power required to evolve. By my estimation, Flamel would evolve into a rapidash before we challenge our fifth gym, probably somewhere between our third and fourth gym. For now, I will need him to continue his speed and evasion training, brush him up on his physical attacks in the event his fire attacks does not work for whatever reason, and to train him to increase the intensity of his flames.
Hmm, that clearing over there seems like a good spot to train. Time to get to work.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to explore Granite Cave as it was closed off to the public for an indeterminate period of time due to a recent rock slide.
It was 8 o'clock in the evening by the time we got back to Dewford pokemon center after training. I recalled my pokemon back to their pokeballs, handed them over to the nurses for a quick medical check up, took a quick bath in my room located on the second floor, and rushed back down to collect my pokemon.
"Oh Ms Vera, there you are!" A nurse in her forties called out to me. "Your pokemon is ready for collection." I walked briskly towards the counter, eager to have my companions back with me.
I was at the counter where the nurse was, hands stretched out and ready to collect my pokemon. All of a sudden, a small figure in gray with large eyes that comprises of light-blue sclera, dark-blue iris and eerie yellow pupils burst out from behind the counter. It landed right in front of my face just when I was about to touch Flamel's and Bigblue's pokeballs and gave a ear-splitting scream.
I fell on my ass and gave an even bigger scream.
The commotion successfully attracted all the occupants in the pokemon center on the first floor, but to my surprise, all they did was to roar with laughter.
"You are the 12th victim this week, kiddo." A middle-aged, balding man with a protruding belly called out from across the room from where he was sitting. "Don't worry, it is harmless, it just loves a good prank every now and then. If it makes you feel better, most of us here in this room were his victims at one point. Jacob here," he pointed to a skinny, lanky man to his right with his right thumb, "actually threw a vase at the little prankster over there. He was its first victim."
The occupants of the room continued to roar with laughter. Most of them are Dewford locals, I realised. I turned back to the source of the commotion and found the culprit, who had lowered itself down onto the floor beside me and it sniggered.
A shuppet. That 'little prankster' that the middle-aged man was referring to is a shuppet.
"The prank is actually pretty good." I said dryly, eyeing the shuppet with amusement. "If the victim of the prank isn't me, it would be better."
Shuppet began laughing uncontrollably in its hollow, ghostly laugh, and began flying loop de loops around me in excitement.
"I'm so sorry about shuppet." The nurse, who was behind the counter, had made her way to me and began to help me up. "Shuppet here just appeared out of nowhere 3 months ago. She loves being here for some reason and no one here has the heart to drive her away." She crossed her arms around her chest and sighed. "We kept her around because she does not cause any trouble apart from the occasional pranks every now and then. You do not have to worry about her bothering you in your room. We made it very clear that the occupants on the second floor are out-of-bounds."
By now, shuppet is hovering around me in curiosity, observing me with her big eyes (the nurse had said that shuppet's a female) and made some sort of clicking noise.
Me being me, I did the immature thing and tried to imitate the clicking noise shuppet is making.
Shuppet gave another hoot of laughter and proceeded to snuggle up in my chest. I hesitantly placed my right hand on the back of her head, and began to stroke it slowly.
Holy molly, I had read before that ghost-type pokemon can make themselves solid if they wished it, but this is the first time I had experienced it in person. Most ghost pokemon will just phase through your hand. Shuppet's skin? (what do you even call it?) feels good to the touch. It is like touching smooth, cold silk. I found myself enjoying stroking and petting her head.
"This is a first." The nurse stated, eyes wide. "Shuppet has never allowed herself to be touched before, not even by the nurses here." Shuppet replied with a gurgle, and I found myself to be at the centre of attention once again.
"I think shuppet just needs someone to play with her. She seems lonely." I stated, stroking her head absentmindedly. An idea flashed through my mind, and before I could think through it and weigh the pros and cons of the idea, the words have already left my mouth.
"Hey shuppet." Shuppet looked up at me. Crap. I'm not sure if this is a good idea considering this is a wild ghost type pokemon I am dealing with. "Do you want to come with me? I am currently challenging the gym circuit, and I will be competing in the Ever Grande Conference some time in the future. But my goal isn't trying to be the strongest trainer around, though I would want both my team and I to be capable of defending ourselves." I paused for a short while, trying to think of the correct words to say. "You don't need to battle if you don't want to, although I would appreciate it if you can help out a little every now and then in our gym circuit. I only have two companions with me now, and I really need more companions to help us out." Shuppet is still listening attentively. That is a good sign. "My dream is to travel the world. After completing the Hoenn gym circuit, I plan to explore the other regions as well. We can go see the world together." I gulped. "However, if you join me, and do not mind battling for me, I would have to enlist your help in the Dewford gym battle that I am planning to challenge soon, and possibly for other gyms as well. And there are places and people that you will not be allowed to pull your pranks on." Shuppet gave a sad whine. "No, really. I don't mind the occasional pranks. But there is a time and place for everything. You should know by now that there are consequences for every action. I cannot protect you from everything. If you pulled your prank on someone or something that we do not have the strength to defend ourselves from, we are screwed. I am not perfect, and the only thing I can promise you is that I will try to be the best trainer that I can be for you. After knowing all these, do you still want to travel with me?"
Shuppet floated away from my touch, and gave me a long, hard look of consideration. After what seemed like an eternity, she gave a hoot and hovered around me at my waist level. She used her head to bump against the release button of one of my empty pokeballs attached to the belt around my waist and allowed herself to be sucked into the pokeball.
I caught my first wild pokemon.