It took five days for me to travel from Dewford to Slateport city.
I had left Dewford the moment I received the Knuckle Badge from Brawly. The rooms in the pokemon center were only free to trainers for the first seven days and trainers have to pay to continue to use the rooms. The rooms are priced at a discounted price, but I had stayed in Dewford for a month and it had put a little dent in my wallet. I had also bought a reusable TM from the pokemart in my stay there. Even with the prize money I had earned from the Rustboro gym and winning some money from the bet with Vance, it is still a sizable amount of money.
Thankfully, I earned quite a bit of money from the trainer battles in Dewford, and the prize money from winning the Dewford's gym challenge is even more lucrative than winning the challenge at Rustboro. I suspect that the prize money that you earned from successfully completing gym challenges increase accordingly with the number of badges you earned in the gym circuit, but I cannot be sure until I had completed a few more gym challenges.
Prize money from trainer battles is a system that most trainers use to earn the majority of their income when challenging the gym circuit. And before you ask, no, contrary to popular beliefs, it does not start at the very first moment you made eye contact with another trainer. Both trainers must give their consent for a trainer battle to happen. To better monitor the trainers in the respective region, the PWL had mandated that every trainer have to register their trainer battles with their Pokedexes. The process is simple and straightforward. All trainers have to do is to link their Pokedex. It is a bit like using your phone's bluetooth or wifi function where the Pokedex searches for a nearby device to pair with. The trainers can also agree on the prize money before the start of the battle, and key in the agreed amount into the Pokedex. The market rate for novice trainers (trainers with 1 to 3 badges) ranges from 50 to 100 pokedollars, 100 to 500 pokedollars for intermediate trainers (trainers with 4 to 5 badges), 500 to 2,000 pokedollars (trainers with 6 to 8 badges) for advanced trainers. Battle with Elite trainers, who are trainers who have earned all 8 badges and have at least participated once in a Pokemon League Tournament, can be anywhere upwards from 2,000 pokedollars. Vance had told me that Wallace had forfeited 13,000 pokedollars to Steven when Steven defeated Wallace to earn the title of Hoenn Champion from him. After battle, the prize money would be transferred using the Pokedex from the loser to the victor through their bank accounts. Trainers can also opt out of any prize money if all they want is a friendly battle.
The definition of Elite trainers is rather loose. Technically, any trainers with 8 badges and participated at least once in a Pokemon League Tournament can be called an Elite trainer. Realistically, the difference in skill between Elite trainers can be really big. For example, a trainer who earned all 8 badges only by getting the gym leaders' recognition would definitely be a lot less skilled than a trainer who earned at least a few badges by defeating the gym leaders in battle. Thus, not all trainers with the "Elite trainer" title are truly "Elite". It is not uncommon for a skilled advanced trainer to defeat an Elite trainer who is at the bottom of the Elite trainer community. Most of the truly skilled Elite trainers often found employment in the league forces. In Hoenn, only the best of the best among Elite trainers is accepted into ACE, although a number of them also chose to enlist in the Ranger forces or the LSDF. These trainers usually finished as one of the top 10 of the Ever Grande Conference that they participated in. Dad used to be an Elite trainer until he retired from training. Vance himself had also earned his right to be referred to as an Elite trainer when he was accepted into ACE.
Speaking of Vance, where is he?
Vance had called me while I was on the ship from Dewford to Slateport, saying that his squad had been granted two weeks of leave after an exceptionally hard mission, starting on the same day I am scheduled to reach Slateport. He planned to spend one week with me and the other week back home with our parents in Petalburg. We agreed to meet at Slateport's pokemon center the moment I reached Slateport.
I had been waiting for an hour in the lobby of Slateport's pokemon center.
At least the wait wasn't boring, my team and I were waiting at a table near the entrance. I was hugging Dolly to my chest, where she is playing dead and acting like a real doll.
You would be surprised at the number of people who thought that Dolly is really a doll.
The reactions of these people when Dolly suddenly moved and hooted at them were hilarious. They were not expecting it as most ghost type pokemon tend to phase through other objects and living things, rarely making physical contact with anything out of combat. Most ghost type pokemon did not even allow their trainers to touch them.
I can see why Dolly love her pranks now.
I spotted the owner of a messy mop of brown hair from afar, making his way here to where I was. I grinned. I quickly told Dolly to hide in my shadows for our next prank.
Vance deserved it, it is rude to keep a lady waiting.
Macky and Vance had been together for as long as he could remember ever since he arrived into this world.
Before Macky became Macky, he was part of the chaos. The chaos was where all ghosts originated from, although most of them cannot remember their time there. Macky only had a vague impression of it. All ghosts in the chaos instinctively look forward to travelling to the world beyond the chaos. The world in the chaos is not that exciting, and it is near impossible to grow stronger there. There are ghosts who managed to return to the chaos after travelling to the other world. Some of them were of his species. They are ghosts who achieved the pinnacle of their power and are one of the few ghosts who can freely travel between the world of the chaos and the other world. They brought back information from the other world. From what he knew from these ghosts, members of the same species tend to end up together in the same area when they managed to travel to the other side. Something about the difference in the power they wield would mean that different species would usually end up in a different location from another species. He didn't really care about the why. He just knew that most of his species tend to end up arriving in a particular tower filled with death, or in a basement of a burnt tower when they first traveled from the chaos into the new world. The ghosts who can travel freely between worlds have used their powers to share bits of their memories with him. He knew for a fact that the powers his species wield will usually bring them to one of these two places.
It wasn't long before future-Macky decided to make a trip to the other world. Ghosts cannot return to the world of chaos from the other world unless they reached the pinnacle of their power, something that most ghosts would not reach. Going to the other world is a gamble, a gamble that most ghosts will take and lose anyway. But staying in the chaos is boring, and it was the deciding factor for future-Macky to make his possibly one-way trip to the other world.
The first thought that came to his mind when he first opened his eyes in the new world was that he must have screwed up the travelling process somehow.
There were no signs of a death-filled tower, or a burnt tower. There were no signs of any tower.
He is floating aimlessly in a flat open field filled with grass and flowers. The sun was shining (too damn bright, in Macky's opinion), and there were several pokemon nearby who were looking at him quizzically as to them, he had appeared out of nowhere. None of them know of any tower when future-Macky asked, but they directed him to where they knew a small family of humans lived. A family of three. It is the nearest building that they knew of, but they also warned future-Macky from going too close. These humans have a void canine and a mind-reader who is constantly at their side and can be extremely protective of their humans. The pokemon who had warned future-Macky also warned him that if he ever harm these humans, they themselves would come after him. To them, these humans are nice humans who have provided food and shelter for their kind for generations.
And so future-Macky began his long trek to the nearest building he knew of.
By the time he saw the building, future-Macky is exhausted. He wanted to enter the building immediately, but the warnings he received from the pokemons he just met still rang in his head. He spotted a much smaller wooden building that could probably fit one or two humans, not far from the buildings he knew the humans are resting in. Future-Macky is exhausted. Travelling into this world from the chaos took a lot out of him.
He made his decision and entered the small wooden building. It is crammed with a weird assortment of tools that probably belonged to the humans. The lack of space in the building would not be a problem for a ghost like him. He found the darkest corner and slept there.
He was not expecting a pair of curious green eyes looking at him face-to-face the moment he opened his eyes again. He must have been really tired if he did not sense the human until he was up close.
It was how he met Vance, and how he became Vance's Macky.
He also met the other humans, who were his parents, and the void canine and mind-reader. The void canine and mind-reader were initially distrustful of him due to him being a ghost, but they worked out their differences privately not long after. The humans are happy to have him around as long as he did not create any trouble.
As it turns out, Vance's parents were relieved at having him around. Vance was the source of all trouble in the Vera house, and Macky had already lost count on how many times he had to get Vance out of trouble within his first moon cycle in this world. Vance would wander off the moment no one is looking, and Macky have no choice but to sigh before following him to keep an eye out for him. More often than not, he would have to use his other-worldly powers to rescue him from things such as, and not limited to, falling knives, a fast moving car, a stray Thunderbolt, and a rampaging rhydon.
Vance's parents were simply glad that there is now someone to watch over Vance when they are not around.
Many more moon cycles passed, and Macky had enjoyed his stay with the family of three. Soon, the family of three turned into a family of four.
Velda had his immediate attention when Vance's parents brought her home from the healing building (he thinks the humans called it a 'hospital') into their home.
Death. Velda is filled with the aura of death. She is dead, she should be dead from the way the aura fluctuates around her. But she is alive.
Macky spent the next moon cycle watching her from the shadows, contemplating the possibility of her existence.
He gave up thinking about it after a single moon cycle.
Velda is Velda, and after watching her grow up before he left with Vance for their journey, he had grown to love the child. The meaning and possibility of her existence does not matter to him anymore. Velda often helped him in keeping Vance out of trouble, and she loves to sneak food to him when no one is looking.
Food that is sneakily eaten tasted the best.
To the humans and pokemon of the Vera house, Velda is Velda Vera. A member of the Vera house just like them. For Macky, that is enough.
Besides, Vance simply adores her.
Although Macky had to admit that his first official meeting with Velda could have gone a lot better. He felt so guilty for scaring the poor child.
But then again it is Vance's fault. It is always Vance's fault when these kind of things happened in the Vera house. It is his fault that Macky's status in the Vera house got reduced to Vance's unofficial babysitter. He is a powerful ghost capable of wanton destruction for giratina's sake!
Macky the ghost, aka the babysitter. Sometimes he wished that the legendaries would hear his plea and give him an answer on how all this happened in the first place.
Macky did not see Velda again for a long time after he set out on his journey with Vance. Together with Vance, they gathered more comrades and friends who shared the same dream of being the strongest team and ultimately competed in the Ever Grande Conference. He had also reached the final stage of his evolution, a step closer in achieving the pinnacle of his full power.
He still had this weird nagging thought at the back of his mind that he can somehow evolve further, and isn't that a weird thought in itself?
After Vance joined ACE, Macky saw less and less of Velda due to the constant stream of missions they are on. The last time he saw her was about a moon cycle ago, when Velda is preparing to start her own journey.
And now, he and Vance are on their way to meeting her in a pokemon center. Vance had been looking forward to this meeting, and so is Macky.
As usual, Macky stayed hidden in Vance's shadow. The sun is blindingly bright. Macky had no problems with sunlight, but he didn't like to be in the middle of it. He saw the signature red and white building in the distance, and felt rather than saw Velda's unique aura. There were 3 pokemons close to her, and one of them is a ghost like him. Interesting.
He didn't have to wait long for Vance and Velda to meet.
"Vel! Do you miss- GAH!"
Ah. So that's what they were planning when the other ghost disappeared into Velda's shadow. Macky have to admit that it was a good prank.
He subtly eyed Velda's ghost from his place in Vance's shadows. The ghost had appeared suddenly from Velda's shadow when Vance got near, giving him a scare. The same ghost is now flying excitedly around Velda.
"What's that for!"
Macky inwardly sighed and closed his eyes. Oh great, here comes the whining.
"You deserve it. Don't you know it's rude to keep a lady waiting? It has been an hour, Vance. One. Hour."
"It's only an hour." Vance retorted, sitting down on the couch beside Velda. "Besides, you are not even a lady ye-"
His trainer's sudden silence prompted Macky to reopen his eyes. He saw Velda giving Vance a stink eye with a scowl on her face. Vance wisely shut up. Good, guess his trainer had finally grown a brain.
He also saw Velda's marshtomp and shuppet looking at their trainers' interaction with poorly concealed curiosity. He reminded himself that it is probably their first time witnessing it. He and Flamel had long gotten use to their relationship. (And Vance's antics).
He saw Velda glancing around. "Where's Macky? I know he doesn't like to stay in his pokeball."
There's his cue.
Feeling inspired by the prank, Macky decided to rose from Vance's shadow very slowly and dramatically in all his ghostly glory. He heard the gasps and felt the widening of the eyes of the other humans around them. Humans have a tendency to stay far away from him.
It's fun, he should try it again sometime.
"Macky!" Velda held out her arms and Macky temporarily allowed himself to be physically touched so that she can give him a hug. Velda always gives the best hug and her aura makes him feel very comfortable around her. After releasing him, Velda dug through the pockets of her backpack and fished it out a pecha berry and placed it into his waiting paws. She remembered his favourite food.
Vance would often forget to feed him 2 meals out of 3 if Macky didn't remind him personally.
Very slowly, Macky carefully took a small bite out of his pecha berry. Ah, the sweet, sweet, taste. The soft and fluffy goodness. Oh Arceus, why can't his trainer feed him with this every single day?
"Hey, you didn't ask for my permission before you feed Macky. I'm his trainer. He will get fat if he eats too many of those."
Macky's eye visibly twitched. He isn't fat. He is a little big for a Gengar, but he isn't fat. He is a ghost, a near weightless being.
"Macky's a ghost, brother dear. Ghosts don't get fat." Macky continued to slowly munch on his pecha berry, at least someone knows their stuff. "According to The origin and explanation to the existence of Ghost type pokemon written by Professor Birch, they are a mass of chaotic energy given sentience. Scientists have theorised that they are other-worldly creatures from a parallel plane that-"
"Alright, alright, I get it." Vance held out a hand to put a stop to Velda's speech. Macky was slightly disappointed. What Velda said isn't too far from the truth, and he was a little curious to find out how much humans have learnt about their kind. "How's your journey so far? Your body giving you any problems?"
"I'm fine, brother dear. Stop being such a worrywart." Velda said dryly. "What about you? How many times did Macky have to save your ass in the one month that we didn't meet? Macky's a pretty good babysitter for you but sometimes I think it's an impossible job, even for him."
"Language, young lady. What would Mum say if she hears you?"
"Oh? Suddenly I'm a lady now? Mum will scold you for introducing me to the world of swear words in the first place. You will deny and Mum will ask Macky for the truth, and he will agree with me anyway."
That particular scenario had happened more times than Macky could count. It doesn't matter who is in the wrong. The policy of the Vera house is that when something goes wrong, point to Vance, and he would be the one in the wrong. Works every single time.
"Fine. But for the record Macky does not babysit me-"
Macky promptly smacked Vance upside on the back of his head with one paw while slowly munching on his berry with the other. Vance would have died in an unmarked grave somewhere long before he started on his journey without Macky pulling Vance out of dangerous situations. Ungrateful brat.
"See, Macky agrees with me." She produced another pecha berry and handed it to Macky. Oh, sweet, sweet, Arceus.
"I do not get into trouble as often as you think." Vance gritted out.
Macky simply showed his disapproval once more by smacking Vance upside on the back of his head again, informing Velda, that no. Vance still managed to get into trouble far more times than you would think is realistically possible.
"Really?" Velda rose an eyebrow, and began to count off her fingers. "How about the time when you nearly got your eyebrows burnt off because you keep poking at the shell of a sleeping torkoal? Or the time when you think using lotad as a hat is a good idea? Or how about that time you got yourselves nearly skewered by a rhydon because you went too close when it is mating? Or how about-"
"Fine." Vance throw his hands up in the air. "I'm a certified trouble magnet and an idiot. Happy now?"
"Very." Velda crossed her arms against her chest, nodding her head in approval. "Where are we staying anyway? You did tell me that I do not need to book a room at the pokemon center."
Vance gave a grin. "Well then, sister dear, follow me."
Vance is rich. The "I'm loaded with money" kind of rich.
I only realised this when I found out that he booked a suite for the both of us in a (5 star? or is it 7 star?) hotel. The suite he booked is a three-room suite usually reserved for VIPs, with one room reserved for the use of the guest's pokemon, if he/she had any.
Given our family's financial wealth, staying in a suite like this for an entire month would hardly place a noticeable dent in our wallet. But no one in our family loves to spend money frivolously and we are all rather frugal with our money. Vance and I did not ask our parents for extra money during our journey, the only time we had financial aid from our parents is when they insist on us taking the extra 1,000 pokedollars from them when we both first started our journey.
But Vance had booked the suite with his own money, and he casually said that he could stay in the suite for an entire month and it would not cost him enough to visibly notice the difference in his bank account.
I know that Vance earned a lot as an Elite trainer, and that the pay of being an ACE operative is even more lucrative. I did not expect it to be...this lucrative. Although the fact that Vance hardly had the time to spend his money anyway due to him being constantly assigned to missions might have been a reason too.
At least now I know I can spend his money however I want without guilt. Like he said, he won't notice the difference anyway.
The first thing I did after depositing our stuffs in the hotel is to drag him to go shopping with me. I now had a portable ATM which comes with the function of being able to help me carry my stuffs. I would be an idiot to let this chance go to waste.
And that's how we spent our first day together in Slateport. Vance may be a goofy idiot, but he is a damn good older brother to his evil little sister. We may argue with each other most of the time but we love each other anyway.
The following six days passed by quickly as me and Vance had our fun. We explored the Slateport Market, which is an open-air bazaar that often feature items that cannot be found anywhere else. I bought a new set of boots for Vance. I bought a shirt for Dad and some knitting cloth for Mum, which Vance will help me to bring back home to our parents. I also bought a pair of matching keychains, one for Roxanne and another for Brawly, and employed the services of the Taillow Post to send it to them, along with a cheeky note to remind them to consider me as a potential candidate for godmother to their first-born child.
Who knew that Brawly and Roxanne were together? But I ship them together anyway. Brawxanne ftw.
Speaking of Brawly, I accepted his apology when Brawly called me that night to apologise for his behaviour after our gym battle, much to Roxanne's delight. I did not manage to stifle my laughter when he explained that the reason for his behaviour was because he was jealous of me. No wonder that battle felt so much harder than facing Roxanne.
I still find Brawly's reaction extremely cute after hearing his apology.
He was even nice enough to warn me of the dangers of possessing a ghost type pokemon at this stage of the journey, considering that I am a novice trainer. Regardless, we both agreed that it is highly improbable that Dolly will turn on me seeing her behaviour, but it is the thought that counts. How sweet of him.
If Dolly truly wished to harm me, she would have already done so in the past month that she's with me.
Vance was merely surprised that I had the personal contact numbers of two gym leaders.
We also visited the Oceanic Museum, the Pokemon Fan Club, the Shipyard and the Slateport Harbor. We went to witness battles in the Battle Tent and watched performances in the Contest Hall. We also had our fun on the beach, something that I previously did not have the luxury of doing in my second life due to my sickly body.
I had a very fun week with Vance.
We also spend some time doing light training on the outskirts of Slateport. Although I know the pokemons that Vance's team consist of, I have never been up close and personal with them other than Macky. Vance rarely let his pokemon near our house when he is back home, only letting them far out on the farm away from us. He said that they can be a little destructive, and he would often leave the house again after a few days of rest to resume his ACE duties. As I stood beside him while he introduced his team to me, I can see why he is currently one of the best operatives in ACE.
His pokemon practically radiated power.
Macky, sceptile, salamence, metagross (where did he find a beldum?), gallade, walrein, electivire and a weavile. The lineup of pokemon in his team is really goddamn impressive. Even back in my previous world where pokemon is just a game, facing any one of those can give you a headache.
Imagine the power they collectively wield if they are all real and on the same team under the command of a single trainer. No wonder Vance didn't let any of his pokemon other than Macky in the house.
Vance's pokemon aside, I was fascinated with the history of Slateport. Due to its geographical location, it is the perfect location to set up a harbor for trade to take place. In the early days after the PWL is formed, Slateport is one of the most financially and economically developed city in Hoenn simply because it is the only place where all of Hoenn can trade their stuffs for goods that can only be found from the other regions. Items like the Reaper Cloth, which is essential for Dusclops to evolve into a Dusknoir, can only be found in the Sinnoh region. It is highly sought after whenever the trading ships from Sinnoh brought cartons of those items here. The trading volume soon became more than what the city could handle, and thus another harbor was built at Lilycove city, to meet the increasing demands for trade, although Slateport remains the first choice for many traders and trainers alike when it comes to purchasing or trading goods even till today.
It was this reason that Slateport is one of the most heavily guarded cities in Hoenn, even if you cannot visibly tell from the bustling activities of the city.
Vance had to leave for Petalburg after our fun week together. After we said our goodbyes, I left Slateport on Flamel's back and made my way to continue my journey on Route 110.
Route 110 does have a beautiful scenery, but it has nothing noteworthy to see. I just spend most of my time there travelling comfortably on Flamel's back.
We had quite a number of pokemon battles. Most of the trainers there are on their way to challenging the Mauville gym so our skill levels are similar enough for a fair fight. My team and I won most of our battles, which means more spending money for me and my team.
We also passed by the entrance to the Seaside Cycling Road, which I cannot use since I do not have a bike of my own. I did the stupid thing of trying to convince the staff at the entrance to let me travel on the cycling road by stating that Flamel can serve as a bike to me since he have no problem reaching the top speed that most bikes can reach.
The staff there merely raised an eyebrow, and booted me out of there.
Not my brightest moment, and I'm so not letting Vance find out about this.
After three days of travelling, we stopped by the trick house and visited the Trick Master, much to Dolly's delight. They hit it off immediately, and we spent the entire day trying to solve the maze-like puzzle at the back of his house.
We also spent a day exploring Route 103. Dolly and Bigblue found a natural garden full of wild berry trees hidden far out back, away from the route. I only took what I needed. The wild pokemon there needs the berries more than I do.
We back-tracked to the T-junction between Route 103 and Route 110 and continued our journey northwards to Mauville city. The population of wild electric pokemon visibly increased as we got closer to Mauville and I was wondering if I should try and find one to add to my team.
Oh well, whatever happens, happens. It will not do any good to think too much about it.
Mauville has a pleasant atmosphere.
It is does not have the bustling activities of Slateport, nor does it have the lazy feel like Dewford. It does not have the ancient and elaborate architecture that Rustboro boasts and definitely lacks the homely feel of Petalburg.
But it is still pleasant, nonetheless.
It took me 9 days to travel from Slateport to Mauville since I decided to take the long route and stopped by Route 103. It was nearing noon when we arrived and I decided to treat my pokemon and myself to a nice lunch at a pokemon eatery at the center of town, near a bike shop. We had earned a small sum of money for ourselves from the trainer battles along Route 110 and they deserve the fruits of their labours.
We were just starting on our meal when a booming laughter sounded across the eatery from the entrance.
"WAHAHA! HELLO EVERYONE, HOW'S YOUR DAY?"
Oh god, this person's voice is loud.
I turned my head to the source of the voice. I could not really make out who it was. Most of the customers in the eatery had already made their way closer to the owner of the booming voice to exchange greetings with whoever it was, and they blocked my vision. It wasn't until the owner of said voice walked closer towards the center of the eatery did I see who the celebrity was.
Wattson. The only person I know who dress and look this way is Wattson, Mauville's gym leader for almost 40 years, and is currently the most elderly and experienced gym leader in Hoenn. Even Juan gives him a lot of respect.
That is saying something since Juan was said to be the strongest of the Hoenn gym leaders, something which I heard from my father five years ago. The power dynamics had shifted since then, as there was a major change in Hoenn's gym leaders starting about two years back, with trainers like Roxanne and Brawly filling in the role, along with many others.
No one is sure about the current power ranking between the Hoenn gym leaders. Each of them is strong in their own right. That includes Tate and Liza, even if they are only around my age. Even Vance had no idea of the power ranking too, and he is high up in the chain of command in ACE.
My curiosity sated, my pokemon and I turned our attention back to our food.
The eatery is a little crowded, but there still a few seats available dotted across the eatery, including an empty one beside me.
One guess as to which seat Wattson chose to sit in.
"WAHAHA! HI THERE, LITTLE LADY, NAME'S WATTSON! HOW DO YOU DO?"
I winced. I really hated it when people call me little, and I am starting to wish that Wattson can use his indoor voice. Still, he chose to greet me instead of the numerous customers around me, and it would simply be impolite to ignore him.
"Hi there Mr Wattson, I am Velda Vera. Pleased to meet your acquaintance. Do you mind if you lower your volume a little? I have sensitive ears."
"Oops." Watson scratched the back of his head with a sheepish expression. "Sorry about that. I tend to get a little carried away." He held out a hand to me, which I accepted and shook. "You are from the Vera family? Are you related to a Vance Vera by any chance?"
"He is my older brother." I replied, blinking in surprise. What did Vance do this time? "Did he cause any trouble for you? He can be quite a trouble magnet if I do say so myself."
"WAHAHA! Nothing like that, Ms Vera, he just gave me a very memorable gym battle a few years back, that's all! His haunter won the gym battle by spinning my voltorb like a top! Most interesting battle I had! Most interesting indeed!"
I cannot help but laugh. That sounded like what Macky would do.
"Velda. Call me Velda."
"Then I insist that you remove the Mister from my name and call me Wattson, dear Velda."
Wattson's food had arrived, and he started to dig in.
"I'm assuming you are here for a gym battle too?" Wattson asked, and I nodded in confirmation. "Hmm..." He eyed my pokemon with an appraising look, who were also watching him throughout our conversation. "They seem like a good enough challenge. Maybe you can give me a shocking battle. Get it? I'm an Electric Specialist looking forward to a shocking battle. WAHAHA!"
Oh god, someone save me from bad puns.
"It would be unfair if I knew your pokemons beforehand though." Wattson mused, stroking his short and neatly trimmed beard with his right hand. "Tell you what, I will face your ponyta, marshtomp, and shuppet with a voltorb, magneton and a... let me see... ah ha! A manectric! How does that sound?"
"It sounds great, Wattson." I furrowed my brows. "Are you sure it is not against the rules to know about the pokemon you are going to use beforehand?"
"WAHAHA! Don't think so much about it! Besides, I am a gym leader. You would have to work really hard to earn the Dynamo Badge from me! Roxanne and Brawly had high expectations of you, you know that? I have been looking to this for ages! Remember to make sure you are fully charged before you come for my gym challenge! I want to face you in an electrifying battle! Get it? WAHAHA!"
Stupid me, why did I think that I have it easy even if I know the pokemon Wattson is going to use beforehand? Wattson's right. He is a gym leader, and currently the most experienced gym leader to boot. But something he said just now caught my attention.
"Roxanne and Brawly talked to you about me?"
"Why, yes! They were most impressed with your performance during your gym battles! In fact, they both shared the videos of your battles among the current gym leaders in our very own chat group! Even the usually silent Norman is impressed! He actually typed a message in the group praising you, something which he normally doesn't do! Norman and Normal. Get it? WAHAHA!"
I covered my face with my palms. Oh god, why? Why, Roxanne, why are you doing this to me? I can understand if it is Brawly. But. Why? Life is difficult enough as it is! Is she expecting me to complete the gym circuit on legendary-hardcore-insane mode? Now all the gym leaders will know what to expect from me in battle!
"WAHAHA! Don't worry about it, young Velda!" He patted me on my back that almost sent me falling off my chair. "It is not like the pokemon we gym leaders use is a big secret among trainers who are competing in the gym circuit! You will have a chance if you do your homework! C'mon! Cheer up! Life's good!"
No, life is not good. Not right now. The last thing I need is publicity and fame. I already have some of it thanks to my family name. I don't blame my family for it, I love them. But sometimes the significance and the weight of my family name does bring some unneeded attention, especially when other trainers found out about my name. There was one who actually wanted my autograph. Really?
Dolly, probably sensing my negative thoughts, gently bumped me in the shoulder.
"I'm fine, Dolly." I said, petting her on the head, much to Wattson's visible surprise. "Just taken by surprise, that's all."
And isn't that the understatement of the century?
Wattson and I finished our meal, and I took the opportunity to consult Wattson on some questions regarding electric type pokemon and electric type moves.
It was mainly for Dolly's benefit, seeing as how she knew moves like Charge Beam and Thunderbolt, and I do not know how knowing such moves will affect her. There were cases of pokemon (although such cases were rare) that have learnt moves too advanced for their age and resulted in some pretty disastrous incidents. A pokemon possibly being able to learn advanced moves does not mean that they should learn advanced moves. It is always recommended to take things slow and steady in regards to this issue when the pokemon is more mature. Even the kids at the Trainer's School understand this.
Dolly's previous trainer is a jerk and an even bigger idiot.
Wattson was taken aback at learning Dolly's previous predicament when he asked why I was so interested in letting Dolly learn electric type moves at this point. I explained that I do not have a choice since Dolly already knew those moves, and I had to do something about it.
The advice he gave me was similar to what Vance told me as well, that it shouldn't affect Dolly too much at this point so long as she do not use these moves too often. It would be best to not use them at all at this stage. Dolly does not have the power yet to utilise it properly. The only solution is to wait, until Dolly evolves into a banette, then we can try to master the electric type moves.
All in all, it was a very enriching conversation.
After my meal with Wattson, he went back to his gym to do his job, while I set off to find a nice training spot for my pokemon.
Wattson wanted a shocking battle, and I will give him one.
AN: A short chapter since I really need to take a short break from writing. I have been sleeping at around 3.30 am everyday consecutively for the past 4 days, trying to successfully publish a chapter a day. It is affecting the quality of my writing, especially with all the grammatical and spelling errors that I would not usually make. I will try and see if I have the time to correct the mistakes I made in the previous chapters, as I had already spotted a few.
I saw the reviews. And I would like to say a big THANK YOU for even taking the time to comment. I will take your comments into consideration, as I think I need a second opinion. I will try not to disappoint, it is my first time writing a fanfiction. It is my first time writing a story on this level and scale, really.
Lastly, I hoped you enjoyed the story thus far.
Character and Pokemon List:
Velda Vera, Age: 11, Female, Pokemon Trainer, Reincarnated Soul (to be kept a secret until the day she dies again)
Pokemon on hand:
1) Ponyta (Flamel), male
2) Marshtomp (Bigblue), male
3) Shuppet (Dolly), female
Vance Vera, Age: 18, Male, ACE operative and second-in-command to his ACE squad, older brother to Velda Vera
Pokemon on hand:
1) Gengar (Macky), male
2) Sceptile
3) Salamence
4) Metagross
5) Gallade
6) Walrein
7) Electivire
8) Weavile
Watson, Age:? (it's rude to ask an elder for his age), Male, Gym leader of Mauville City
1) Voltorb
2) Magneton
3) Manectric