Finally, a worthy opponent for his stature. An opponent worthy for a King to crush.
Kratos watched on as his sand swept the void dragon down and bury it. He's not foolish enough to think that the void dragon will go down with just that one move, Vel had made sure to beat out all sense of stupidity and arrogance out of him even before he reached the apex of his evolution. He still prefers to annihilate his foes with overwhelming force if possible, but he now knows the importance of planning and strategizing under Vel's tutelage.
If anyone told him that he will one day be able to wield the power to control even the smallest grain of sand, he would have no doubt called that person crazy and then attempt to eat them alive. It's just not possible. Moving rocks and pebbles? Yes, that is not a problem. But to use the power he has over rocks to move only a single grain of sand? Impossible. That would require too much concentration, concentration that would be impossible to achieve in battle.
But Vel had made it possible for him.
He had help, of course. Bigblue, Lily, and Snap all came together with Vel and helped him think of ways to make Vel's vision of him a reality, what he could and managed to become shortly after he became a tyranitar. Vel had envisioned him to be able to not only bring the desert with him, but to move and control the very desert itself. Vel had said that if Kratos's dream is to be truly strong and stand at the pinnacle of all pokemon, then he needs something overwhelmingly strong and unique. He needs a power that only he can wield. She reasoned that if his ability was Sand Stream, then he ought to have some semblance of control of sand to even be able to summon it in the first place. She did a lot of guesswork and came up with even more theories on how and why the Sand Stream ability came about in the first place. Most of it got over his head and he don't understand even half of what Vel said. His ability over sand is just… there. Even he doesn't know how he called upon it in the first place, just that he can.
What he did know, is that the conclusion Vel had arrived at after many days and nights is that Kratos's power over sand probably had a link to his power over rocks. According to her, only three species of pokemon wield the same ability as him. His species, a ground type called hippowdon, and a rock type named gigalith. Two out of the three known species of pokemon that wield the power of Sand Stream are rock types, and there must be a reason why.
So, the first order of business is to improve his mastery of rocks even further. Kratos still thinks Vel is a mixture of genius and madness, but he welcomed the madness in this case. Kratos still wants to be King, and he will take any opportunity to get stronger with glee. Vel helped him through the entire duration, and after many days and nights, they finally figured it out. The key to controlling sand.
As it turns out, the key to mastering what Vel had envisioned for him is actually very simple. It's what they had been doing since day one.
It's all in the mindset.
When Lily first taught him to proper way to use rock type techniques, she had stressed that it doesn't matter how absurd it seems. If he can will it, it will happen, as long as he has the required power and finesse to pull it off in the first place. The moment Kratos evolved into a tyranitar, he got the power part down pat. The finesse is his proficiency in his rock type techniques, the things that he had been practicing ever since he joined the team, and he got that part down too. Bigblue, Lily, and Snap will never hit the power threshold that is the minimum requirement for them to control sand, Vel had explained that their species is not one that will ever hit that level of power. They are not pseudo-legendaries like him. At that moment, Kratos realised what it means to be called a pseudo-legendary. Pseudo-legendaries are species with the potential to hit levels of strength that no other species of pokemon will, and thus able to do feats that no other pokemon can. Among the pseudo-legendaries, only his species have to potential to control the sands, it is what makes him unique. The fact that his ability is Sand Stream had made it a lot easier to control the sands as well.
Kratos likes being unique if it means being strong.
After establishing the requirements that is needed to wield sand, what Kratos needs is the ability to will it. The ability and mindset that he can do it. The ability to believe that he can make the sands move to his every command.
Kratos never felt a greater sense of achievement the moment he reached that realisation, even defeating that blue reptile as a larvitar did not bring as much satisfaction as this. Vel herself looked ecstatic too when she first saw what he had finally achieved. Their entire team shared in his joy and celebrated the joyous moment as well. Vel had gave him a pat and told him that he is now the 'Gaara' of the team, whatever a 'Gaara' is. Is it a pokemon that he never heard of? Kratos would like to challenge one if he ever had a chance. If that species of pokemon had managed to even earn Vel's praise, then it ought to be strong. Maybe Vel can get one into the team in the future? Kratos wouldn't mind having more pokemons that loves a good challenge join their team, battling with Snap and Toothless is fun but fighting the same few opponents all the time can get a little dull after a while. Rena wouldn't want that though, and she is their translator. There's no way to get his point across to Vel without Rena's approval. That stupid stuck-up psychic feline. To her, no matter what he did, he will always be the 'brute'.
In return, Kratos followed Toothless's example and called her a stuck-up.
The void dragon burst out of the compressed sand and roared its challenge before firing a mixture of attacks at him. Kratos spotted a Dragon Pulse, a Flash Cannon, and a Signal Beam. A worthy foe indeed, if it is able to fire off so many attacks at once without looking winded. This is Chewy's final form, ain't it? Maybe he should challenge Chewy when he finally reaches the final stage of his evolution?
Kratos calmly raised a huge and thick wall of stone that withstood the attack from the void dragon. This void dragon is a pseudo-legendary like him, and he will crush it with his power to make a statement.
It's time to announce the birth of a King to the entire world.
The sands moved once more as Kratos sent it surging like a tidal wave from below the void dragon in an attempt to wrap around the dragon and then crush it. The void dragon moved out of the way with speed that is uncharacteristic of its size and blasted whatever sand that is too near to it with a Dragon Pulse. It bought enough time for Kratos.
Kratos charged in to engage the void dragon in close combat with speed that was enhanced with Rock Polish. This dragon is obviously a long-ranged attacker, fighting it at a distance will just be wasting time and energy. Kratos had always preferred getting up close and personal anyway.
The void dragon looked a little taken back from Kratos's sudden move, but managed to defend itself with a Dragon Tail when Kratos hit it with a Dragon Claw. The void dragon tried to distance itself as it unleashed a massive Flash Cannon, but Kratos merely commanded the sand to surround himself as he continued to brave through the attack, not letting the void dragon have the chance to get away from him. The Flash Cannon broke through his sand, but Kratos's thick armour defended him from the worst of the attack and Kratos chomped down on the dragon with an Ice Fang.
The void dragon screeched in pain and immediately uses it three heads to blast all sorts of attacks on him. Kratos defended himself with a Protect and then sent a Stone Edge at the dragon. The dragon anticipated the attack and one of his mini heads destroyed his attack with a Dragon Breath while the other two fired Dragon Pulses at him. Kratos roared his defiance and he fired a Dark Pulse so huge that it might be as well be a Hyper Beam, the beam so dark that it seemed to be the very night itself.
The resulting explosion shook the entire battlefield and Kratos grinned savagely. This is what he was looking for, a foe that is strong enough to give him a challenge, a strong foe other than those from his team.
The void dragon took the opportunity to fly higher in the sky and Kratos snarled in annoyance. The void dragon thinks it is so damn clever, huh? It thinks that flying high up in the sky and then sniping his attacks from there would bring him down?
Kratos sucked in a breath and took control of the sands that covered the entire battlefield, his Sand Stream had brought enough sand for the arena to be turned into a mini desert that would have made Snap absolutely delighted. Since the void dragon had so generously gave him the control of the entire ground, he might as well take it graciously.
The sands rose like a tidal wave once more and Kratos rode it like a true emperor of the sands. If Fuzzy can ride waves of rocks without any mastery of rock type techniques, he can definitely do it too. The sands carried Kratos higher and higher into the air at a rapid speed and Kratos can hear the shocked screams and shouts from the puny humans watching from the sides. Yes, that's right. Revel and look on in awe at the glory of a King. They should be grateful to be able to bask in his presence. And in Vel's presence too. She is his trainer and mentor after all, she needs to get some credit for this.
Kratos's altitude soon overtook the void dragon's. Kratos reached the maximum height of the psychic shield and broke it casually with a Brutal Swing. This space is too damn small for an aerial battle with the void dragon. He charges up a Hyper Beam and-
"Kratos! I didn't give you permission to break the barrier! You might accidentally kill someone if your attacks went astray! Get the hydreigon down on the ground and finish your battle down there!"
Kratos gave a look of disbelief at Vel while still maintaining his hold on the Hyper Beam. This is his debut! Why can't he just make things more exciting?! Who cares about the rest of the puny humans anyway? It's not like there are anyone that they knew down there! If these humans don't have the brains to run, then who cares if they die?
"Get. Down. Here. This. Instance."
Kratos rolled his eyes and grumbled under his breath. He gave the void dragon the stink eye. Vel's command just took out some fun in this battle and he needs to let out his frustration on something.
Like a particular void dragon, for instance.
Kratos jumped off his sand with a burst of speed, the Hyper Beam still forming at the front of his opened jaws and getting bigger and bigger by the second. The void dragon tried to move out of the way, but Kratos fired it before it can do so.
The Hyper Beam blasted the void dragon down deep into the ground and Kratos simultaneously let the huge wave of sand fall from the sky and pelted the void dragon with pellets of sand the size of pebbles. The void dragon roared and got back up. Kratos had to give it credit, it actually managed to get back up immediately without flinching and start to use Roost to heal itself.
Can't have that happening now.
Kratos used a Taunt to prevent the dragon from healing and immediately sent a Thunderbolt its way. The dragon seemed to finally give in to its rage and bloodlust and started to blast attacks at Kratos without any sense of self-preservation. Kratos can hear the dragon's trainer trying to call out to it and rein in its temper, but the dragon isn't listening. It's too blind in its rage to even listen to the words of its trainer.
Kratos roared back in excitement and glee. This battle just got a lot more fun!
'I will kill you!'
The dragon finally spoke. Kratos narrowed his eyes. This is no way for a subject to address its King. The only ones who can speak to him in anything less than absolute respect are Vel and the team, or anyone related to Vel, like Vance and Vel's parents for instance. This dragon doesn't fall into any one of the aforementioned categories, the dragon's behaviour needs to be corrected. Immediately.
Kratos charged in as he sent waves of sharp, jagged rocks at the same time. His rocks met the beams of attacks from the dragon and exploded into shrapnel as they cancelled each other out. Kratos broke through without so much as a scratch on his thick armour and immediately started to claw and bite at the dragon. The dragon's two mini heads spat out huge amounts of flames as the main head started to charge up a huge amount of draconic power at the front of its maw.
Kratos recognised the attack immediately. The dragon is planning to use Draco Meteor to take it down.
Kratos got through the flames and smashed the dragon with a Brick Break, hoping to break its concentration enough to disrupt the Draco Meteor. He had been on the receiving end of a Draco Meteor from Vance's Salamence once. This time, he will not be so foolish as to try and take it head on like what he did during that battle. It was what cost him that battle. He had overestimated the durability of his armour. There are a few attacks that are strong enough to get through his armour, Draco Meteor is one of them.
Surprisingly, the void dragon managed to hold its concentration even after receiving the Brick Break.
The Draco Meteor was unleashed at point blank and Kratos only barely managed to escape with a quick application of Double Team and proceeded to surround himself with layers upon layers of thick rocks as the meteors rained down the arena. His rocks were crushed and battered and Kratos had to keep on raising more layers of rocks to replace the ones that were destroyed. Maybe it will be better to hide underground? At least he won't have to bother trying to raise rocks to defend himself and wait until the Draco Meteor died down.
Kratos quickly burrowed deep into the ground with Dig, leaving the bunker of rocks there to mislead the dragon in thinking that it had got him good with the Draco Meteor. Kratos took this time to quickly replay the battle thus far in his mind. Like him, the void dragon had lots of power, no doubt about it, but the power level of each individual beam of attack that was sent out from each of its three mouths is not as strong as he thought. It might be the key to bring the void dragon down. So why did each attack from the dragon felt weaker than it should be? Kratos felt like he is missing something here, Vel might have already pieced the information by now since she is Vel, but Kratos knew that he is not the smartest in the team and he might need the help in figuring out this issue.
'HAHAHA! I KILLED IT! I KILLED IT!'
This dragon is not sanest one out there, is it? Thank Arceus he didn't turn out this way when he evolved. Kratos had heard from Kel about dark types that gave into the madness that comes with the power of evolution. Such occurrences are rare, but it usually happens when a dark type somehow evolved when it is not yet ready to handle the increase of power that comes with evolution. Kratos isn't sure if this is the case for the void dragon, or it just lost its mind temporarily in a fit of blind rage, but he doesn't care. All he cares about now is to give the void dragon a proper beatdown to teach it how to respect him as a King.
Kratos burst out of the ground from right underneath the void dragon, grabbed it by its tail, and proceeded to slam him down on the ground with a Smack Down. Kratos followed up with an Earthquake and watched in dark satisfaction as the dragon roared in pain from the attack.
The dragon fired off beams of attacks at Kratos from where it lay on the ground and Kratos defended himself expertly with Dragon Claws and Shadow Claws as he pressed a foot on the dragon, not allowing it to move. One of the void dragon's mini head used a Thunder Fang and bit on his foot, but Kratos barely felt that attack. It might as well be a tickle. Even Fuzzy's fangs did more pain.
The dragon tried to rise and fly up in the air once more but every attempt to do so was interrupted with Kratos punching it back into the ground in a brutal manner. Kratos stood over the dragon as he relished in the joy of beating the dragon senseless with his claws.
'I WILL KILL YOU! I WILL KILL YOU! I WILL KILL YOU, THEN I WILL KILL YOUR HUMAN, THEN I WILL KILL EVERYONE ELSE HERE!'
Kratos roared in rage as he punched the dragon with an Ice Punch this time. He can take it if the dragon insults him, it's the King's job to keep his rowdy subjects in line and to beat them into submission if they defy him. But to insult Vel? The one human who he respects and the one who made him into who he is today?
Kratos made his decision. He doesn't need such a subject in his kingdom. As a King, he thereby sentence this dragon to-
Death
Kratos sent another Ice Punch after Ice Punch at the void dragon with more force than usual.
'You can insult me! You can try and usurp my authority as many times as you want and I won't give a shit, because you will never beat me! But I will never accept it if you insult my trainer! She is what made me into what I am today!'
Kratos snarled out his words as he increased his powers with a Dragon Dance, and then slashed repeatedly at the main head of the void dragon with a Dragon Claw, causing it to scream in pain.
'Remember this, dragon! The era where dragons reign supreme is over! I am Kratos! The one who will eventually rule over the mountain of Mount Silver!'
Kratos tossed the helpless dragon into the air and he jumped up after his prey and cocked his arm back, which is now brimming in energy from a Giga Impact ready to be unleashed.
'Sear this into the three heads of yours! My name is Kratos, the strongest tyranitar! And I am-'
Kratos let loose the strongest punch he had ever thrown out in his life and sent the dragon crashing into the psychic barrier, which was re-erected after Vel told him to come back down. The force which the dragon crashed into the barrier caused the barrier to shatter once more and the dragon crashed into the walls that surrounded the arena. It will not be getting up.
'THE KING OF THE MOUNTAIN!'
Impossible.
Max Boyer watched with wide eyes as he saw how his hydreigon was taken out by that tyranitar. His hydreigon may be uncontrollable at times, but it is by no means weak. His hydreigon is the cornerstone of his team, it is through hydreigon's powers that his team managed to earn all eight badges with relative ease.
And the tyranitar took his hydreigon out without any problems. There are a few scratches and burns on its armour, but that's it. It still looks capable of fighting another five more of his hydreigons.
Why?! He admitted that he was shocked that his opponent owns a tyranitar, but he was confident that his hydreigon can take it down even if it may result in a violent battle. Both the hydreigon and tyranitar are pseudo-legendaries and they are both dark types! Hydreigon is a dragon type too, a pokemon with superior species and typing! How did it lose to a rock type?!
Max Boyer took in deep breaths to calm himself down as he recalled his downed hydreigon. The injuries that his hydreigon suffered were brutal, that Giga Impact was strong enough to actually break through the psychic barrier. He can understand if the tyranitar can break through the psychic barrier with Brutal Swing since it is a dark type move, and psychic barriers are naturally a lot less resistant to dark type moves. But to break it with a single Giga Impact?
This tyranitar is trouble. Thankfully, he still has contingency plans for cases like these.
Max took out the pokeball that houses another member of his team and held it in front of him. It was then he realised.
Why are his hands shaking?
The tyranitar gave another booming roar from where it is on the ground as it glared at him defiantly, as if telling him to get on with it already.
Max clutched the pokeball in his hand tightly. Is that tyranitar looking down on him?!
"Go Pangoro!"
He will teach that tyranitar a lesson.
"Arm Thrust!"
Pangoro took off with a burst of speed and prepare itself to unleash a flurry of straight-arm punches. Tyranitar stood there motionlessly and Pangoro tried to get closer to make sure its attack connected, but instead it found its arms stuck in a huge wall of sand the moment Pangoro striked out with its arms for the first time. Max immediately barked out his next command.
"Focus Blast!"
Pangoro wasted no time in blasting its way out of the sand that was about to envelop it. Tyranitar bellowed and rained down Thunderbolts at Pangoro, who dodged the attacks.
"Hyper Voice!"
Pangoro let out a loud booming noise that sent shock waves at tyranitar, who tried to shake off the noise.
"Kratos, Uproar!"
Max was suddenly reminded that this is the first time that the tyranitar's trainer finally gave her orders to her pokemon. This tyranitar had been fighting its own battle without instructions until now.
The tyranitar repelled Pangoro's noise with his own and the terrible din produced by the two echoed throughout the entire stadium. Most of the audiences are crouching down and covering their ears in pain.
"Iron Defense and Rock Polish!"
Tyranitar obeyed its trainer and begun to power up. Max gritted his teeth. He absolutely cannot allow tyranitar to power up further. It is already hard enough to take it down as it is.
"Pangoro, Grass Knot!"
Long tendrils of grass shot out from the ground in an attempt to interrupt tyranitar, but tyranitar merely raised a foot and used a Stomp to squash it with accurate timing.
"Flamethrower!"
The tyranitar let loose a stream of hot flames at Pangoro and forced Pangoro to be on the run.
"Pangoro, Swords Dance and get close to the tyranitar!"
Pangoro watched with pride as his Pangoro weaved its way through tyranitar's attack and charged towards the tyranitar, a Hammer Arm at the ready. Max grinned. No matter how it tries to defend itself, the tyranitar will be going down the moment the Hammer Arm makes contact. The strength of his Pangoro is no laughing matter and fighting type moves are very, very effective on the tyranitar species due to its dual typing.
Pangoro swing one of its mighty arms at tyranitar at close range and Max can already see the tyranitar going down in his mind's eye.
His dream was shattered as tyranitar somehow pulled off a Protect right at the last second. Pangoro howled in pain at the contact with the unbreakable shield and took a few steps back. The arm that it had used to attacked tyranitar was also broken from the backlash of the force from the Hammer Arm.
"Giga Impact!"
Max watched once more as his second pokemon was taken out in the exact same way as his first. The psychic barrier around the arena was broken for the third time that day.
Max started to despair as he recalled Pangoro. Even Pangoro didn't managed to come close in inflicting any damage on tyranitar, and Pangoro was his best bet in taking out that behemoth after hydreigon fell.
He shook his head. No, he cannot falter now. No pokemon is truly invincible. That tyranitar is going down.
If he cannot win this battle with power, then he will win it through other means.
A krookodile now, huh? It's not a bad choice, krookodiles made their homes in the desert. Kratos's Sand Stream had basically turned the entire arena into a desert by now, so sending krookodile out to face Kratos is indeed a good choice. They can both fight in an environment that suits them best.
"Focus Blast!"
The krookodile charged up a massive Focus Blast and sent it towards Kratos, who destroyed it before the attack can reach him with an overpowered Dark Pulse. Kratos probably didn't even feel winded from unleashing that massive Dark Pulse. He has tons of powers at his disposal once he became a tyranitar.
A Grass Knot tried to trip Kratos but he burned it off with a Flamethrower before sending the flames at the krookodile once more. The krookodile responded with beams of Dark Pulse, each one stronger than the next. Did the krookodile powered up somehow? I wasn't aware that krookodile knew moves that can power up ranged attacks. In fact, if my memory serves me right, krookodile are pretty abysmal in ranged attacks and prefer to finish their foes by crushing them with their huge jaws, yet this krookodile went against its instincts and decided to shoot Focus Blasts and Dark Pulses instead, even without orders from its trainer.
A huge Incinerate was belched out from the krookodile as it attempted to burn Kratos, but Kratos merely snuffed out the flames with his sand. Something is very wrong here. This krookodile had many chances to attack Kratos with its ground type moves, yet it didn't do so. Why? It's like this krookodile isn't even a krookodile. It simply doesn't fight like one.
"Kratos, Earthquake! Destroy the entire area!"
If my opponent doesn't want to show his hand, I will force him to.
Kratos smashed his foot down onto the ground and immediately the entire stadium shook from the impact. Even I have to hold onto the handrails to prevent myself from falling down onto the ground.
The krookodile yelped from the attack and tried to get back up. Kratos charged towards the krookodile, his claws brimming with the fighting type energy needed to utilise Brick Break.
In an unexpected show of agility, the krookodile ducked and jumped over each of Kratos's attacks. One swipe of Kratos's claws got too close to it, and the krookodile deflected it with a Night Slash.
No, that's not right. The krookodile species cannot learn Night Slash despite being a dark type. Whatever this pokemon is, it is not a krookodile. No wonder there are so many discrepancies.
"Watch out, Kratos! That pokemon is not a krookodile! Keep up the pressure, force it to show its true self!"
Kratos kept up with the ferocity of his attack and finally managed to get a glancing blow onto the 'krookodile', who was pushed back and skidded backwards from the impact.
A fox-like pokemon with sleek black fur revealed itself and snarled at Kratos as it fired off huge blasts of Focus Blasts that is too powerful to be possible. It must have powered up with a Calm Mind or Nasty Plot several times for this to happen.
I watched as Kratos defended himself from the Focus Blasts with another Protect before charging back in with a Stone Edge. A zoroark, now everything makes sense. We had been fighting with a zoroark all along. Zororarks are unable to learn any ground type moves other than Dig, so it was unable to properly imitate a krookodile, and hence that weird style of fighting. Now that its cover is busted, it gives me an advantage. I now know what pokemon I can possibly expect to face after this.
Kratos's Stone Edge nailed the zoroark squarely in its chest as it gave a pained howl. The zoroark tried to use Payback, but Kratos simply pushed it back with overwhelming force by using another Giga Impact.
Kratos really loves that move for some reason.
Kratos commanded the sands to wrap around zoroark and attempted to crush the illusion fox pokemon into paste. Seeing that his zoroark has no way of getting out of there, Max was forced to give up this fight, making this the third fight we won for this battle.
From what I can see, it looks like none of Max's pokemon can truly pose a threat to Kratos once his hydreigon is down. He was too confident in his hydreigon's abilities and he rely too much on his hydreigon for difficult battles.
Kratos roared in victory as he took in the applause and cheers that the crowd is giving him. I scratched my chin in thought. On one hand, I want to let Kratos continue rampaging until all six of my opponent's pokemons are down. It's obvious that my opponent for this battle doesn't have any more pokemons that are on his hydreigon's level. On the other hand, Toothless will get so very grumpy when he learnt that Kratos had managed to get himself into a battle even before he did. But if I sent out Toothless, I will be showing my hand unnecessarily early. Do I want to deal with a grumpy Toothless? Is the secrecy worth it?
A real krookodile appeared for battle this time. It may be another zoroark, but I doubt that this is the case. Zoroarks are rare. Kratos looked happy to face the real deal in battle, but I gave him a clap to get his attention on me.
"Sorry, Kratos, but Toothless needs to get his own share of fun too."
Kratos gave me a look that makes it seem as if I just did an act of betrayal.
"You had your fun. It's Toothless's turn now."
Kratos grumbled as he kicked up some sand childishly with his foot in a display of tantrum. The krookodile had took this time to close the distance, jaws snapping and his claws charging with power as it tried to bring Kratos down with what is undoubtedly a Brick Break.
"Fine. One attack. Then you are going back into your pokeball, deal?"
Kratos begrudgingly turned back to face krookodile, who is now dangerously near him, but Kratos doesn't even seem to register its presence.
At the very last second, Kratos suddenly twisted his body and proceeded to send the krookodile flying backwards with a powerful swing of Aqua Tail.
I rolled my eyes as Kratos had the satisfied look on his face for punting krookodile halfway across the arena and sent out Toothless, who took to the skies immediately and the sunlight got harsh with his use of Sunny Day. I shouted to Toothless, hoping he can hear me from where he is high up in the air.
"Have fun, Toothless! Kratos already took out three of them! The last three are yours!"
I heard Toothless giving a loud roar in acknowledgement before diving back into the arena like a flaming meteor as he cloaked himself in flames, ramming into krookodile with a Flare Blitz, who used its arms to block and defend itself from Toothless's attacks.
Toothless roared and unleashed an Inferno at point blank, bathing krookodile with his hot flames. Krookodile tried to get Toothless with a Smack Down, but Toothless was faster and punched him with a powerful Fire Punch that got the krookodile stumbling. Krookodile jumped backwards and tried to cage Toothless with a Rock Tomb. Toothless spread out his wings and it glowed a metallic sheen as he destroyed the rocks with Steel Wing from where he is standing on the ground.
Krookodile shot out a Dark Pulse before heading back in with a Foul Play upon the commands from his trainer. Toothless destroyed the Dark Pulse with a Flamethrower and waited for krookodile to come to him as he spread his wings and braced himself.
Toothless caught onto krookodile's arms and they began to wrestle in a contest of strength. Krookodile tried to bite Toothless with Crunch, but Toothless spat his flames at krookodile's face instead. Another Fire Punch from Toothless had krookodile's head snapping upwards from the blow as Toothless punched its jaws from below. Toothless grabbed onto krookodile's tail and proceeded to drag it upwards into the sky with him.
I really shouldn't have taught Toothless Sky Drop. Now all he does in battle is to try and pull this move off on whoever he is facing, simply because he thinks it is fun to do so. Kratos wasn't very happy at being pulled into the air with Toothless during their spars.
Krookodile was sent speeding down into the ground like a missile and a large cloud of dust was kicked up from the impact. Toothless remained in the air as he quickly charged up a Solar Beam and fired it at the location where krookodile landed, snatching us our fourth win for this battle.
Toothless's next foe is a massive drapion that immediately belched out massive waves of Sludge Bombs at Toothless, who either dodged them or burned them down even before they reached him. Toothless roared in delight as he used a Flame Burst that caused the ground below drapion to violently erupt in flames.
Rocks suddenly appeared in the air around Toothless and rained down on his location. Toothless used an Iron Tail to destroy the waves of Rock Tomb, but was caught by surprise when the drapion jumped into the air from the ground and knocked Toothless down into the ground with a Brutal Swing using its tail.
Toothless roared in pain upon landing and it was then I realised that drapion had set up Toxic Spikes in the short moment our vision of it was obscured from Toothless flames.
"Toothless, Façade!"
Toothless slashed at drapion which caused it to take a few steps back and hissed in pain. Drapion recovered quickly and slashed back at Toothless with Cross Poison, who unleashed a Fire Blast just at that exact moment and pushed drapion back from the impact.
Waves of Air Slashes bombard drapion as Toothless took into the air again. Toothless did a Swords Dance in the sky and cloaked himself in flames once more before diving back in.
Toothless homed in at drapion with Flare Blitz, who is trying very hard to prevent Toothless's charge with any ranged attacks it can throw out at the moment, but any attacks were burnt off by the heat around Toothless even before they reached him.
The resulting explosion when Toothless finally made contact with drapion is beautiful. Even the rocks and sands around the area melted from the heat and the red-hot flames from Toothless's Flare Blitz flickered lazily around the surrounding area. Toothless stood over his fallen foe, roaring his victory for the entire stadium to hear.
I smiled. This battle really showcased the strength of the powerhouses of my team. Everyone will be wary of me now. It's pretty clear by now that I am a Generalist, and not only will the other remaining participants have to think of ways to deal with Dolly, who they used to think is the main threat to their team, they now have to think of ways to deal with Kratos and Toothless.
I haven't even introduced Snap to the conference. There is also Bigblue and Lily, and none of them are pushovers.
The last pokemon Max sent out gave me a slight chill in my bones the moment it appeared for battle.
A spiritomb howled a ghostly cry as it faced Toothless and immediately used a Nasty Plot followed by shooting off Dark Pulses at him. Toothless flew into the air and destroyed the attacks with Air Slash.
"Toothless, Fire Spin!"
Toothless's flames wrapped around the ghost pokemon, but the spiritomb got out of its confinement with a Shadow Sneak and Shadow Balls flew out of its opened mouth towards Toothless. Toothless detonated all of them prematurely with a Heat Wave and flew towards spiritomb, flames burning within his mouth and waiting to be unleashed.
Spiritomb tried to get away with a Shadow Sneak, but Toothless is much faster than Spiritomb and cut off its escape with a Shadow Claw. Toothless opened his mouth wide, and unleashed a Blast Burn in close proximity to spiritomb, much to my horror.
I screamed and crouched down while covering my head with my hands together with the rest of the crowd as the huge explosion from the attack not only caused the psychic barrier to fizzle out and the stadium to shake for the umpteenth time that day, but it also partially melted the protective walls around the arena, the last defense for the audiences against any stray attacks that might broke through the psychic barrier.
The sound of the mighty flap of wings prompted me to look up, and I saw Toothless landing beside me on the challenger's box. The space is just big enough to accommodate the both of us and the battle is obviously over.
But my scolding to Toothless had only just started.
"Toothless! I didn't give you permission to use Blast Burn! I told you many times, didn't I?! No using of such destructive attacks until I give you the all clear or unless it's a life and death situation! First Kratos have to purposely break the barrier twice, and now you! I swear, I am going to get grey hairs even before I reach fifteen! I still have Snap's Draco Meteor to look out for! Can you guys just give me a break?!"
Toothless looked a little sheepish, but he is definitely unapologetic about it as he scratched behind his ears with his hind legs like how Fang does and dig his ears with one of his claws. He even has the cheek to yawn. I scowled, and continue to berate him for his reckless behaviour.
"I know you have been waiting a long time to battle, but this is too much! You need to learn how to control yourself in your excitement! What if your Blast Burn didn't make contact with the spiritomb? You will be a sitting duck down there!"
Toothless just shrugged and pointed to arena, which now have a deep trench in the shape of a massive cone gouged out from the Blast Burn. It's like he is saying, 'I got the job done, didn't I?'
"Now look here, Toothless. This-"
"You killed my spiritomb."
"Huh?"
I turned around and saw my opponent, Max, crouching down in the middle of the arena and holding spiritomb's keystone with trembling hands. Tears streamed down his face and he pointed an accusing at me from down below in the arena.
"Your charizard killed my spiritomb! That Blast Burn was uncalled for! My… my spiritomb…. It's gone! Return me my spiritomb!"
"Uh… hold on… I mean…" How do I explain this? Ghosts don't die from anything short of a dark type or ghost type moves according to Agatha. Blast Burn is a fire type move, there's no way the spiritomb is dead. It's physical form is temporarily destroyed and dissipated, but in no way is it dead.
Max marched up to me and gripped me by my shoulders and shook me violently.
"Give me back my spiritomb!"
Toothless roared and grabbed Max with his claws, pulling him away from me.
"Toothless! Put him down!" I quickly ordered Toothless to drop Max. I don't need Toothless to murder someone in his protective rage.
The shock from being grabbed by Toothless seemed to snap Max back to reality. I glared at Toothless, who very reluctantly dropped Max down onto the floor, before I turn my attention back to Max.
"Look. You obviously have very little understanding about ghosts." I said as I glared at Max. I don't appreciate being physically shaken like that. "The only way a ghost can die is if it was hit by a fatal dark type or ghost type move, and Blast Burn does not fall into any of the two categories. Your spiritomb isn't dead. It's physical form is merely destroyed and dissipated, that's all. Give it some time to reform its body. So long as that keystone is with you, it should come back to you someday. The stronger the ghost, the shorter the time a ghost needs to reform its body. Your spiritomb isn't weak by any means, so you probably don't need to wait for very long. Got it?"
Max just stared at me with his jaws hanging, I think he is still in a state of shock. I mentally sighed and used my hand to close his mouth shut, put my hands on the side of his head, and make him nod his head with my hands.
"This is the time that you should say: I got it now, Velda. Sorry for shaking you like that."
I dropped my hands from his head and walked off to exit the stadium. I think I can now understand Agatha's frustration regarding the public's lack of knowledge about ghosts. It's annoying as hell. Maybe I should suggest to her to write a textbook about ghosts and publish it for the entire world to read. It might cure the world of its ignorance about ghosts.
Toothless picked me up and let me sit on one of his arms.
"Are you ok? You were poisoned by drapion's Toxic Spikes."
Toothless just snorted and carry on walking.
"That way, Toothless." I said as I pointed to our left. "Both you and Kratos need to get yourselves checked at the pokemon centre."
Toothless tried to ignore me and carry on walking to wherever he wants to go and escape the medical checkup from the nurses there.
"I will ban your marshmallows. I'm still mad at you for that Blast Burn."
I grinned as Toothless immediately changed his direction and walked towards where the pokemon centre is. The crowd around us made way for us as Toothless's big size easily parted the sea of people.
Glad to know that I still have it in me to handle Toothless's misbehaviour.
25
A prompt from Rena's telepathy caused me to look up from where I am sitting on a chair in an isolated corner of the pokemon centre while waiting for the nurses there to check up on Dolly, Toothless and Kratos. A familiar mop of messy brown hair walked through the crowd before the owner of said hair plopped himself down beside me.
"Vance? What are you doing here?"
"Can't I just come here to cheer my little sister on?" Vance said as he ruffled my hair with a single hand which I quickly batted away. I just got my hair nicely combed!
"Pretty sure that you said you were busy with duties." I replied as I tried to straighten my hair which Vance had just messed up.
"Well, I am on duty. But nobody said that I cannot be cheering my sister on at the same time."
I stared at Vance for a short while before my brain clicked in realisation.
ACE is protecting Ever Grande City while the Ever Grande Conference is ongoing. They don't want a repeat of what happened to Lilycove.
"Seems like you got it. Keep it to yourself, yeah? Wallace was kind enough to assign me here so that I can watch your battles while going about doing patrols and searching for any suspicious people. I am taking a short break at the moment. Great job with the battle, by the way. Kratos was awesome, and so was Toothless."
"Thanks." I said absentmindedly before my eyes looked from the top of Vance's head down to his feet before going back up to his head again.
"Aren't you supposed to be in uniform or something?"
"Eh, it's better for us to be in plain clothes for this kind of situations. Don't want to freak people out needlessly from the paranoia if they see people from ACE walking about in their uniforms. The Lilycove incident is still fresh for most people out there. The public presence of the LSDF is enough to reassure the public for now. ACE will do its job from the shadow."
"You make it sound as if you are a ninja or something."
"Hey, I am a cool ninja." Vance retorted. "I get myself in all sorts of cool situations in ACE all the time to do my job. Did you know that I just returned from infiltrating an underground illegal betting ring in this city to gather information about the underworld? How cool is that?" He rummaged through his pocket before fishing out a large wad of cash with an even larger smile on his face.
"Everyone there were betting on who would win for every battle. The best part of it is that I won so much too! Thanks, Vel! You sure know how to make your brother happy!" Vance said giddily as he waved the wad of cash happily in front of my face.
I gave Vance a disbelieving stare.
"You… You went to gamble while on duty?! Illegally?! And you betted on me?"
"How else am I supposed to gather information from that kind of place there? You can't possibly walk in there and expect to get out without placing a bet or two. The people there will get suspicious. At least we now know from the thugs there that they didn't see any other suspicious activities or suspicious people that entered Ever Grande for now. That gives us a peace of mind. We were afraid that the magmas or aquas will try to collude with some of the underworld forces." He then turned serious before speaking again.
"Make sure at least one of your pokemon is by your side at all times, ok? Things should be safe throughout the entire duration of the conference and with the amount of LSDF and ACE here, but just in case."
"I got it." I reassured my brother as I stroke Rena's sleek fur, who is currently resting on my lap.
"Good." Vance looked satisfied by my answer as he went to put back that fat wad of cash into his pocket, only to pause his action when I held out my palm in front of him.
"What?"
"Half." I said as I beckoned with my fingers with my palm still held in front of him. "I want half of your winnings."
"No way!" Vance exclaimed comically as he clutched the money close to his chest in a protective manner. "That's my hard-earned money!"
"Money that you won because I win my battle. I did all the work. Need I say that the money that you won is won through illegal betting? I wonder what Mum will say?"
Vance visibly paled in horror at my words.
"This is blackmail and outright extortion!"
"This is just me claiming what is rightfully mine." I replied cheekily and suddenly moved to snatch the cash out of his hand. Vance moved to grab it back, but Rena put up a small shield of Reflect that bounced his hand away from me.
"Vel! Have mercy!"
I purposely hummed a merry tune under my breath as I quickly counted the money with my fingers. Satisfied with the amount I withdraw for myself, I returned the balance back to Vance.
Vance's expression dropped even more when he recounted the money that he received back from me.
"This is only about 30% of what I won!"
"The extra 20% is for the extra service and admin charges that I deducted from your share." I replied with no sense of shame as I pocketed the 70% into my own pocket. "Be glad that I only charge you 20%."
Vance sputtered at the outright unreasonableness.
"What service and admin charge?! Vel! My money!"
Nope. Not returning it back to him. Vance is already loaded with money anyway. Surely he can spare some cash for his cute and adorable little sister, right?
[LizaXD]: Hey anyone just watched Vel's battle?
[LizaXD]: Hello?
[LizaXD]: Anyone thereeeeeeeeee
[LizaXD]: Am I the only one who is watching it ಥ_ಥ
[Wattsup]: WAHAHA I just watched that battle too! Vel is amazing!
[Wattsup]: (ง°ل͜°)ง
[Wattsup]: Did you see the battle with her pachirisu? I taught her how to train her pachirisu to use magnet rise to fly!
[Wattsup]: Still can't believe that she actually managed to do it though
[Wattsup]: Should I catch a pachirisu to try it out?
[Wattsup]: Hmmm
[Flan]: You should see how Toothless destroy the spiritomb with that blast burn. I taught her that move
[FTWinona]: I taught Vel how to teach her charizard how to fly.
[Flan]: The blast burn was more epic
[FTWinona]: So was the aerial manoeuvres that I taught her
[LizaXD]: Hey her espeon was gd too! Tate and I taught Vel how to train psychics!
[LizaXD]: ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿'̿'\̵͇̿̿\з= ( ▀ ͜͞ʖ▀) =ε/̵͇̿̿/'̿'̿ ̿ ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿̿
[Rockxanne]: Stop fighting children
[Rockxanne]: No one can argue that the most epic pokemon was her tyranitar. I helped her come up with the idea to control the sands
[Rockxanne]: (｡◕‿‿◕｡)
[Flan]: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
[Flan]: Can't argue with you about that one
[FTWinona]: ﴾͡๏̯͡๏﴿ O'RLY?
[Rockxanne]: Really
[FTWinona]: Can't believe that pupitar got so strong. It's been like only half a year or so since I saw it
[Rockxanne]: She got the best rock type teacher teaching her
[Rockxanne]: (¬‿¬)
[Wattsup]: Did everyone just ignore the fact that her PACHIRISU can FLY
[Wattsup]: (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
[Juanism]: Young ppl these days
[Juanism]: Just wait till Vel's swampert comes out. She got the best water type teacher teaching her
[Juanism]: ¯\(°_o)/¯
[Juanism]: addqwead
[Juanism]: Sry I am still figuring out how to use it
[Juanism]: How do you use these things?
[Juanism]: The emoji thing
[LizaXD]: Hello Juan! Just select the one that you want to use!
[LizaXD]: We totally should start our own sticker pack!
[LizaXD]: ｡◕‿◕｡
[LizaXD]: (˚▽˚)
[TaTe]: Liza. Stop spamming
[TaTe]: My phone won't stop buzzing and I am in the middle of a meeting with the town mayor right now
[LizaXD]: I know
[TaTe]: ==
[LizaXD]: :3
[LizaXD]: ~(˘▾˘~)
[Juanism]: How did you get so many of the emoji things
[Juanism]: Why can't I find them?
[Juanism]: I only have this one ¯\(°_o)/¯
[LizaXD]: O.O
[LizaXD]: Old people these days
[LizaXD]: Sigh
[Wattsup]: OI
[Wattsup]: I AM NOT OLD YET
[FTWinona]: Your hair's already white
[Flan]: You are about the same age as my grandpa
[Rockxanne]: What they said
[Wattsup]: ◉_◉
[Juanism]: ٩◔̯◔۶
[Juanism]: Something like this?
[Juanism]: OH
[Juanism]: I get it now
[Rockxanne]: FINALLY
(TaTe had just left the group)
[Flan]: Whats wrong with your brother
[LizaXD]: He said we were too noisy
[Rockxanne]: Quick! Just add him back in!
[Wattsup]: Whos the admin?
[FTWinona]: Norman
[LizaXD]: WAIT
[LizaXD]: Norman is the admin all along?!
[LizaXD]: Legasp
[Flan]: Our chat group name is Hoenn Gym Leaders Chat Group
[Flan]: Who else is able to come up with such a boring name
[Flan]: Even his username is boring
[Wattsup]: His username is as normal as his name!
[Wattsup]: Get it? HAHAHAHA
[Flan]: …
[Flan]: Ok
[LizaXD]: I want to be admin!
[LizaXD]: Norman
[LizaXD]: Norman
[LizaXD]: Norman
[LizaXD]: Norman
[LizaXD]: Norman
(LizaXD has been promoted to admin)
[LizaXD]: YAY
[LizaXD]: Ty Norman
[LizaXD]: (◕‿◕✿)
[Norman]: Np
[Wattsup]: HE SPEAKS
[FTWinona]: The balance god has spoken
[Flan]: Maybe that is his wife using his phone?
[Rockxanne]: The world is ending
[Juanism]: This is indeed a rare occurrence
[Norman]: You guys are insufferable
[Norman]: And I taught Vel for eight months
[Norman]: I deserve most of the credit in training her
[Wattsup]: HE SPEAKS AGAIN
[Wattsup]: TODAY IS A LUCKY DAY I NEED TO GO AND BUY A LOTTERY TICKET
[Wattsup]: BRB
[Flan]: LOL
[FTWinona]: XD
(TaTe has been added to the group)
(The group name has been changed to ' (ﾟヮﾟ )BEST GYM LEADERS EVERヾ(⌐■_■)ノ ')
[LizaXD]: Tate
[LizaXD]: Tate
[LizaXD]: Tate
[LizaXD]: Tate
(TaTe had just left the group)
(TaTe has been added to the group)
[Rockxanne]: Lol Liza
[LizaXD]: Tate ignored me…
[LizaXD]: He says that he will throw my phone away when he comes back
[LizaXD]: Sobs TT
[LizaXD]: Why can't I have a brother as caring as Vel
[Flan]: I tht he is at a meeting right now
[Flan]: How did he talk to you
[FTWinona]: They are psychics lol. Telepathy
[FTWinona]: #psychics
[Rockxanne]: It always kinda slip my mind that they can do that
[Flan]: ^
[LizaXD]: Muahaha you guys will never be as cool as me and tate
[LizaXD]: Btw
[LizaXD]: We should totally have a meetup!
[LizaXD]: A gym leaders gathering!
[LizaXD]: (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
[Juanism]: That sounds like a nice idea
[Flan]: If we do have the time
[FTWinona]: The gym circuit is temporarily closed for now anyway thanks to the EGC
[FTWinona]: How about sometime next week? Just some nice R&R
[Rockxanne]: Sure
[Flan]: Ok!
[Wattsup]: I got my lottery ticket wahaha!
[Wattsup]: Im fine with a meetup wahahaha!
[Norman]: I should be free as well
[Juanism]: I can host
[Juanism]: ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ
[Juanism]: Oh I get it now
[Juanism]: (ᵔᴥᵔ)
[Juanism]: ~ ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ
[LizaXD]: Welcome to the wonderful world of emojis!
[LizaXD]: Tate and I will be there too. Thanks Juan for hosting!
[Juanism]: I will confirm the date again. Will get back to everyone asap.
[LizaXD]: Ok :D
[LizaXD]: Wheres Brawly anyway?
[LizaXD]: BRAWLYYYYYYYYY
Roxanne turned to her boyfriend, who is lying next to her on his bed. The period where the annual Ever Grande Conference is being held is the only downtime where the both of them can spend some quality time together without the burden of their duties as gym leaders.
Brawly had been watching the entire conversation all along like she did, and he quickly typed to confirm his attendance for the meetup Liza proposed.
"Something on your mind?"
Roxanne asked as she leaned in closer to Brawly. The both of them were having a movie marathon in his room until the chat group started buzzing with messages. Brawly isn't usually so quiet in the chat group.
"Uh…" Brawly rubbed the side of his neck sheepishly, but quickly answered his girlfriend's question upon seeing the look she is giving him.
"It's just that… How do I put it?" He ran a hand through his messy hair. "It's like everyone has a role to play in helping Vel while I… you know…"
Roxanne blinked in surprise. She wasn't expecting that Brawly is still feeling a little bad over how he treated Vel during their initial meeting.
"She was already very capable when she started her circuit. More capable than most novice trainers out there." Roxanne said to Brawly to ease his guilt. "She didn't really need much help from us in the first place."
"I know, but she still turned to you guys for help for training tips and stuffs right? I am the second gym leader of the gym circuit, my job is supposed to help novice trainers with their pokemon journey and look I what I did to Vel. So many trainers come to me for tips on how to train their pokemon but she didn't come to me. I must have messed up so badly."
"Everyone makes mistakes." Roxanne tapped his nose playfully with a single finger. "At least you learnt from it and you were a great help to many trainers after her. As for why Vel never approached you for training tips, it's likely because she does not have a fighting type on her team."
Brawly looked at her as if he had just heard the most unbelievable thing ever.
"How can anyone not have a fighting type on their team?! Every Generalist should at least have a fighting type on their team!"
Brawly began to furrow his brows and start to murmur under his breath.
"Maybe I can give her one of the fighting types I have? I have too many on hand right now and need to give some away anyway. I wonder what fighting type is more suitable for her team? A meditite? Maybe a shroomish? Makuhita maybe? Or maybe if I should ask my friends to see if they have more exotic fighting types?"
"Uh… Brawly." Roxanne cut off her boyfriend's train of thoughts before it went on and on. "I'm not sure if you knew about it, but do you remember that Vel was involved in the Lilycove invasion?"
"Yeah, I do. Why?"
"She was nearly killed by a machamp. Maybe that is why she didn't get a fighting type on her team. I won't be surprised if she developed some form of PTSD after experiencing that attack."
Brawly froze before his jaws dropped in realisation.
"Oh."
"I'm not too sure either, it is just a guess." Roxanne quickly supplied. "It can also be that she never thought of getting one before. Maybe you could ask her after the conference is over? If she is working to be a Generalist, then it will help if she at least own one pokemon of each type. It's what most Generalists do. Maybe you could help her with choosing a suitable fighting type for her if she needs one."
Brawly quickly brightened up and Roxanne mentally breathed out a sigh of relief. Crisis averted. Brawly would sulk for the rest of the day otherwise if he cannot get over his guilt.
Still, Roxanne cannot help but feel a sense of pride swelling within her. She still remembered how excited she was when she first watched Vel's latest battle through the TV.
Her tyranitar was amazing. What Vel's tyranitar managed to do is a result of many phone calls from Vel to Roxanne which led to many discussions on various theories and speculations about rock type techniques, the move Sandstorm, and the Sand Stream ability. Sand Stream allows the user to summon Sandstorm with their presence alone, and since Sandstorm is classified as a rock type move, Vel had come to her for help.
Vel is like her little protégé at this point and as Vel's mentor, she is very proud of Vel's progress.
She can't wait to see what else Vel has in store for her upcoming matches.
"Dad? Mum?"
"Yes, honey, it's us. Why are you so surprised?"
I quickly let my parents into the room where I am temporarily staying at for the entire duration of the conference. They weren't supposed to be here yet until sometime later.
"I thought you guys were only free much later."
"We managed to arrange our schedule so that we can make it." Dad replied as he sat down on my bed. "Wouldn't miss our baby girl's first conference for anything in the world."
"Your Dad and I will be staying in a hotel until the whole conference is over. Just come find us whenever you are free." Mum said as she handed me a name card with the hotel's name and contact details on it.
"Actually, I am free now." I admitted. "Just let me get dressed and we can go find something fun to do."
Five minutes later, the three of us are walking down the streets of Ever Grande City and taking in the sights. There is a temporary bazaar nearby where things are being sold and there are also stalls which serves Hoenn's famous delicacies. There are some from other regions as well, which we are more interested in. I got myself a Cinnabar Volcanic Milkshake while Mum got herself some Snowpoint Ice Cream. Rena walked by my side as Fuzzy perched on my shoulder as always. Dolly chose to reside in my shadow, although she pokes her head out every now and then if something interesting catches her eye.
"So how high are you aiming for?" Dad asked as we found a bench to sit and rest after walking for an hour.
"At least the top 4." I replied absentmindedly as I munched on some Goldenrod Miltank Cream Puffs. "I don't know if I can go any higher beyond that. Actually, I don't even know if I can win my next battle. My next opponent is going to be a tough one from what I found out."
"I'm sure you will do just fine." Mum reassured me as she tore a small piece of her waffle to feed it to Fuzzy, who took it gratefully.
"Don't keep feeding Fuzzy, Mum. He's getting fatter. Look." I used a finger to poke at Fuzzy's bulging tummy, who squeaked in indignation at my words.
"You keep feeding Macky."
"Macky's a ghost. Ghosts don't get fat."
A sudden buzzing of my xtransceiver caught out attention and I looked to see who had sent me a message.
"Who is it?" Dad asked as he sipped on his drink.
"Agatha. I only just realised from my previous match that there is a really huge knowledge vacuum among the training populace regarding ghosts in general. Ignorance is a really dangerous thing, Dad. So I decided to see if Agatha is willing to make a textbook out of her knowledge about ghosts. I think doing something like that may help save lives if anyone ever run into a vicious ghost. I didn't have her contact number, so I asked Roxanne to help me ask around. Turns out Brawly had her number since we went to Kanto to train under Bruno a few years back."
"And what did Agatha say?"
"Let me see." I said as I opened up the message, and then groan after reading it.
"She wants me to help her, saying that she is too old for this shit." I facepalmed as I continue reading. "She says that if she has to write a textbook for dummies about ghosts, then she will handle the complicated and advanced stuffs, and that I can help her by writing about the basic stuffs about ghosts."
"That isn't a bad thing, Vel." Mum said as she read the message from the cranky old woman. "At least she has confidence in you to at least get the basic knowledge about ghosts right. To be recognised by someone as esteemed as her is something to be proud of."
"You haven't met her in the flesh." I muttered as I continue to munch on my next cream puff. "She can be really cranky, and she kept hitting the top of my head with her cane whenever I got something wrong when she was teaching me. I only spent one day with her and already I'm more afraid of her cane than anything else." My free hand went up to massage my head. I can already imagine the phantom pains from her cane hitting my head just by thinking about it.
"A textbook about ghosts for trainers, written by Agatha. This is bound to create a massive reaction from the world." Dad mused. "Not many Pokemon Masters bothered to share their knowledge with the public, and most of the available textbooks are long since outdated. It is time for a change."
"I am already regretting my decision." I stated as I let my imagination run wild. "I can already imagine handing her my first draft and she will take a red pen before circling every single mistake that I made. Her two gengars will be beside her while using Explosion just for fun with that typical gengar-ish laughter."
"That is oddly specific. And using Explosion just for fun?" Mum asked with a confused expression on her face.
"They are ghosts." I replied with a shrug. "They have a very different definition of fun. Just ask Dolly." My shadow moved in acknowledgement at my words as Dolly cackled from within it.
"Just don't tell Macky to explode for fun." Dad shuddered before continuing. "I don't want Macky or Vance to think that using Explosion anytime they want is a fun thing to do if they learn about it. Vance will probably somehow turn it into a training regiment for Macky to learn how to chain Explosions repeatedly without rest."
Mum and I paused and tried to imagine what Dad just said. The worst part is that it is very likely that this is exactly what the both of them would do if they knew about it.
I think my parents and I just came to a unanimous decision that we are definitely not letting Vance and Macky meet Agatha's gengars no matter what.