"So… this is it?" Yoake said as he looks at the building in front of them. Beside him was Kirlia, who was also looking at the building with a mesmerizing stare. The building overshadows the two as Yoake once remembered that this gym used to have an army-themed stye but now, it has that 80's night clubs.
"Right, let's go to the Pokemon center so you three are in perfect condition while I might ask some information about this new gym- I mean, specialist." Yoake corrected himself before he utters the word 'gym leader since Erika already told him about the change, and he has to adapt to this term more often than the old calling.
Kirlia agreed with his statement, the two went to the nearby center, which was a few blocks away from the gym. Upon entering, they were greeted by the lavishness and grandness of the Pokemon center. It was big as an average hospital for humans, but since there were many residents in Vermillion city, it is a no-brainer on why this hospital is big. He walked up to the counter, where a nurse was on standby. She quickly noticed him as he walked to the counter, and greeted him as she does to others.
"Guten Tag, Welcome to the Pokemon center, how may I help you?" The nurse greeted the usual memo. She noticed that Kirlia was outside of her Pokeball and was clinging to the trainer's shoulder.
"Hi, I'm here to heal my Pokemon please," Yoake said.
"Okay, here please put your Pokeballs on this tray." She instructed the trainer as she takes out a tray with six holes that can hold variations of Pokeballs. Yoake followed her instructions, took the three Pokeballs from his belt, and placed them in the tray.
"Hmm, may I ask why is your Kirlia not on her Pokeball?" The curious Nurse asked him.
"Oh, well, she pretty much insisted that she wanted to stay outside of her Pokeball." Yoake briefly explained to the nurse, Kirlia nodded to his explanation.
"I see, that's a very rare case, but oh well." While she was talking to the trainer, a Chansey appeared and she was pushing a platform trolley towards her.
"Here, your Kirlia should sit on this trolley." She said as the Chansey rotates a gear, and slowly, the platform rises from the floor to a more reasonable height for Kirlia, a height that is enough for her to look around.
"Okay then," Yoake said as Kirlia hopped to the platform, the nurse puts the tray on the platform, and Chansey pushed the cart to the nearby door, where she and the rest of Yoake's Pokemon can be healed.
"Hmm… Can I ask something?" Yoake asked the nurse.
"Sure." The nurse allowed the trainer to ask.
"So, I was told that there's a new specialist for the gym, and I am wondering if there is any information about them? So I can do some preparation?" Yoake asked her. She quickly noticed that she was talking to a new Pokemon trainer, and it seems that he's new to the entire thing even though he took on two gyms earlier.
"You must be the new trainer that the other nurses are talking about." The nurse stated.
"Well, I'm not the only new trainer to say," Yoake said since he knows that he wasn't the only trainer that is competing in the league. For now, he only knows that Ren is the other trainer, while it is pretty unclear if there are still trainers out there.
"Huh? Are you sure? I've heard that you're the only trainer that is registered for the entire Indigo League. Must be pretty lonely to be the only one." The nurse stated this cause some confusion to the trainer. He is pretty aware that Ren is also a trainer since she showed her training card, but it shocked him the words from the nurse.
"What do you mean? There's two of us." Yoake said in disbelief.
"Hmm, maybe I'm too late from the news since I rarely talk to other nurses but anyway. Here is a card number where we will call you once your Pokemon are fully healed, you can ask the guy on the counter for some gym assistance." The Nurse said as she hands a card to the trainer with the number 0825, and pointed to a man on the near counter with the word "Assistance' on top.
"Okay, thanks." Yoake thanked the nurse as he took the card and walked to the man to ask for some information.
'That's weird.' Yoake thought as he walked to the counter.
'I'm just gonna hope that Ren has some explanation regarding this.' Yoake thought to himself as he was in disbelief from the nurse but from what she said, being late to the news can pass on some misinformation, so he rest assure to himself that he wasn't the only trainer out there.
"Hi, I was told that I can ask for some assistance or information about the new specialist in the Vermillon gym." Yoake formally said to the man.
"I see, you've come to the right place, what kind of info do you want, tips? Background? Specialty? Or the usual gossips?" The man asked as he gives some choices to the trainer.
"I think I'll go with the tips, background, and specialty." Yoake chose his options to the man, he wasn't keen on gossips but he chose the background just to get some idea of the changes in the gym.
"Okay then. You see, this gym used to be run by Lieutenant Surge, a proud soldier of Kanto. The gym used to have military-themed and focuses more on the strength of the Pokemon with his Raichu but as time goes on, the downfall of Pokemon training was inevitable with the rise of Video games." The man stated.
"Well, he decided to retire and focus more on the military, you may never if we'll a get a war, so yeah, he prepared for that." The man continued. Yoake was confused with the man's assumption of war but he brushed it off and asked.
"I see, so who's the new guy then?" Yoake asked him.
"The new specialist or Gym leader is his nephew from Unova, he also uses electric-based Pokemon but the key difference is this bad boy." The man looks down, took something from a shelf, and places it on top of the counter. It was a disk with a tape on top of it labeled as 'Earthquake'
"Earthquake?" Yoake uttered the words from the label.
"Yup. This bad boy is one of the most powerful and effective Ground-type moves against electric and fire types. Surge and his Pokemon is no match to this, but his nephew though, He can brush this thing off like the move Splash from Magikarp." He said. Yoake began to think about the reason and he decided to assume that the Pokemon are either a combination of an electric and flying type or an ability of some sort.
"Ever heard of Emolgas? Those flying squirrels can drive any trainer nuts since ground-type moves are ineffective to it." The man began describing the said variant of Pikachu, Yoake was familiar with the Pokemon since he played a lot of games regarding them, but has never fought on in real life.
"He and his Emolga are enough to tarnish the new trainers that tried to fight him a year ago. Many were culturally shocked due to the big change in mechanics in the battle, and some, can't even pass his Emolga. Since he has two more Pokemon under his belt, we aren't sure what Pokemon does he have."
"Due to many trainers failed to fight him, the Indigo league decided to open up some assistance desk for trainers who want to be prepared for the gyms they're gonna face. So you're pretty much lucky that the failure of the trainers before you is a tone of advice." The man complimented him after explaining about the specialist he will face later on.
"I see, what tips do you have for me then?" Yoake asked him after listening to the background about the gym.
"Right, a Tank Rock-type Pokemon is probably what you need, and do you have a Pokemon like that?" The man asked him if he has the suggested Pokemon, but knowing he only has a psychic, grass, and flying, he knows things would come in very badly.
"No..." Yoake answered. The man sighed and look into the shelves below the desk.
"Here, you might need this." The man said as he hands a pointy rock with different edges to the trainer. Yoake noticed how familiar this rock is, and realized that he was given a max revive.
"A max revive?" Yoake stated the name of the rock as he looked at the man with utter confusion.
"Yup. I may not know what Pokemon you have but you might use it along with your battle or journey." The man said. Yoake smiled and thanked the man.
"Danke." He said as he walks to the nurse's counter and waited for his Pokemon to be healed and be prepared for the later battle.
After waiting, the Chansey showed up from the door, pushing the silver cart back to the counter. On top of the cart was an active Kirlia, and three Pokeballs on top of a holder. The nurse then showed the number 0825 on the screen, Yoake noticed the number and headed to the counter to take the Pokemon.
"Here you go, we hope we see you again." The nurse chanted as Yoake took the Pokeballs and places them on his belt. Kirlia on the other hand quickly went to his shoulder, clung there, and waited for the Yoake to leave.
"Thanks." Yoake thanked the nurse as he leaves the center and went ahead to the gym.
As soon as he looked at the building in front of him, he gulped in fear. He knows that he is far from prepared, in his standards. Without a ground-type or something effective against electric-type, this battle would be a bumpy one and probably drain his patience and resources in the battle later on.
He took a deep breath and calmed down his mind. He was getting a bit distressed and feels something wrong was rushing in his veins, something that bothers him the most, he continues to pacify himself before the battle, and when he is ready, he can walk into the gym's doors and challenge the specialist.
"I can do this, two of my strategies worked against Misty and Brock, and I might win this here as well," Yoake said to himself as he challenges himself to ensure a victory for later. He looked at Kirlia with full confidence, she notices the determination of the trainer, knowing that he is unequip for the challenge ahead, he was still steaded strong.
She gave a quick signal, and so, it begins.
"Right, Let's do this." He ushered as he walks to the doors of the gym.
To be continued in, Shock
A/N: Hello everyone, long time no update. I noticed how bad I ended this chapter, so I decided to do some tweaking to it and improve. In the meantime, I will be releasing a new chapter next week, probably on Monday, (August 16) so watch out! I was busy for the past few days, so, apologize for the lack of a chapter but don't worry, things are now getting good, and I might fix my schedule soon. Thanks for reading and the support, see you all in the next chapter.
Upon entering the gym, Yoake noticed that there was front desk assistance. He looked around and saw two different stairways leading up to a second floor, the place has an atmosphere of what you see and feel in a bar or those nightclubs. The assistant from the Pokemon center was right, there was a big change in the place, from a military-themed into a more party-themed.
Not knowing where he could find the specialist, he decided to walk up to the front desk and ask for some assistance.
The trainer walked to the counter and noticed the front desk assistant was busy. All of a sudden, he felt anxious about talking to them, he doesn't know why he's feeling this way, he knows that he can just ask them with ease but something stops him from asking a simple question.
Kirlia noticed the trainer slowly began to sweat, and her first response was to use her white small hand and wipe the sweat from the trainer's forehead. The trainer noticed what she was doing, and instead of wondering why she's doing it, he decided to thank the Pokemon for helping him slowly calm down.
"Thanks, Kirlia." He thanked the Pokemon. He looked around and saw a bell. He was hesitant to ring it so he could get the assistant's attention, and like earlier, he was getting anxious. Knowing that if he rings this bell, and asks his question, he will go to an impromptu battle against a specialist that he was warned about.
Unprepared, nervous, and stubborn to lose, he rang the bell. One single ring and the assistant noticed him.
"Hi… How may I help you?" the assistant asked.
"Yes… I mean, Hi, I'm here to challenge the Vermillion City Specialist." Yoake stuttered.
"Hm, You must be the new Pokemon trainer, right?" The assistant asked as they noticed Yoake had a Pokemon near him. The trainer nodded as an answer.
"Okay then, the specialist is just in the party room, take the right staircase to get there, and you know, talk to them if you want. The guy hasn't talked to anyone besides his sister for the past months, help the guy out I guess." The assistant suggested.
"Will do," Yoake said as he went to the right staircase.
The trainer and his Pokemon went upstairs and headed to the party room that the assistant told them. In the end, he saw the party room, it was your typical dance floor surrounded with tables for patrons to either join the dance and eat and drink some rounds. Yoake looks around as he tries to find the Specialist to challenge upon, even if he barely knows how to compete with them.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" A man shouted behind him. Yoake turned around and saw a young man carrying a parcel filled with DVDs and such. He was blonde and had a side-swept quiff as his hairstyle. He was wearing a yellow jacket with black stripes in it, your typical blue jeans and sneakers.
In a quick reaction, Yoake introduced himself to the man.
"I ughh… My name is Yoake Katsuragi, and I'm from Pallet City, and I'm here to compete as a Vermillion City Specialist." Yoake introduced himself. The man sighed in relief.
"What a relief, I thought you're some random kid, if you weren't a Pokemon trainer, I could have kicked you out. You know the rules, right?" The man asked him.
"Yeah, kids are not allowed to enter nightclubs." Yoake stated the rule. This rule was common everywhere in the world, children being protected from alcohol, drugs, and the other stuff you see in bars. But since it's still the middle of the afternoon, they were preparing for the later event.
"Right, so may I ask where the Vermillion city specialist is?" Yoake asked the man. The man chuckled and began to formally introduce himself.
"Well, you're looking at him right now, the name's Ellix, you've probably heard about me from the Pokemon center assistant, right?" The man stated, Yoake nodded.
"There's an important event later, and we're still preparing half of it, so our battle might be cut short. So what do you say?" The man asked the trainer.
Yoake decided to give an option to Ellix since they still have a lot of things to do, and doing a battle might stop them from preparing for an important event.
"We can do it tomorrow I guess, I'm not in a hurry…" Yoake uttered.
"You sure? I received news about a trainer managing to defeat two specialists within two days, and I'm guessing that trainer is you." Ellix was a bit confused with the kid's option, he understands that he has to prepare for an event but he has longed for a Pokemon battle.
"We can do it now to be honest." Ellix suggested.
"You sure? You're still preparing for an event, right? I might as well wait for the next day." Yoake respectfully told him. Ellix began to think of an alternative, and boom, he had an idea.
"How about we do a one-on-one battle, afterwards, you can help us prepare, what do you think?" Ellix suggested to the trainer. Yoake thought for a moment and decided to agree on his option.
"Hmm sure." He said.
"Good, follow me then." Ellix told the trainer. He nodded and followed Ellix, they left the party room, went downstairs and headed to the left staircase that leads to the field where they will battle.
While walking towards there, Ellix decided to strike up a conversation so he can get to know better about the trainer.
"It's been a while since I haven't fought any single trainer for what, a year or so. Just to give some heads-up, I haven't trained any of my Pokemon for awhile, so I guess you'll get some advantage on me." He started as he talked to the trainer while walking to the hallway.
"Hmmm Yoake Katsuragi….. wait…. aren't you the guy that became a Pokemon champion two days ago?" Ellix realized that the trainer with him was the famous champion, Yoake chuckled nervously and nodded.
"Not bad, taking on against the best of the best at a young age, that's impressive. I'm guessing you have something to be inspired by?" Ellix asked him. Yoake took a deep breath for a moment, looked at his scarf and said.
"Yeah, a promise to say." Yoake answered his question. He remembers that Ellix was from Unova and decided to ask him about Unova.
"You're from Unova right? I have something to ask." Yoake told Ellix, He was about to ask something related to the scarf but he realised that he might not know about it, so he shrugged it off and talked about something else, mainly about his connections to the former specialist, Lieutenant Surge.
"Yup, have you visited there?" Ellix answered the trainer's question.
"No, but I'm planning to once I'm old enough to reach the minimum age for partaking in the league there." Yoake stated his plan.
"Yeah, sixteen years old is the minimum there, and how old are you again?" Ellix looked at him.
"Twelve but becoming thirteen in December." Yoake stated.
"I see, so three months left huh?" Ellix continued to look at Yoake while holding the box with DvDs, the trainer nodded.
"While waiting to be sixteen, what are you going to do then?" Ellix asked him in morbid curiosity. Yoake paused for a moment, and stopped walking. Kirlia was confused by this but she stayed under silence as she was listening to the two having their conversation.
"I haven't thought of that." Yoake uttered the phrase. He realized that his fast paced way of getting to the top of the league would open him empty schedules for the years to come, boredom, emptiness and nothing much. At that point, he doesn't want to return to his old style of living, playing games in his room and doing nothing. He promised himself that he will never return to that part in life but the gates of his actions seem to open this path for him.
Trying to stop his brain from thinking of random thoughts, he decided to find an alternative to it, and he was guessing a lot of stuff for it.
"Find a new hobby, compete with other tournaments or hang out with friends." He realized that his last option is obsolete since he doesn't have any friends or colleagues, and his only thing that he can call a friend is his Pokemon, mainly Kirlia, but their bond is still at a questionable rate. Realizing that he was getting distress, he decided to skip and continued to the main topic but before they could continue their conversation, Ellix told him that they finally got to the main field where they will battle.
"Here we are, the party floor." Ellix introduced the place. They were on a platform, a few meters above the party floor. These platforms are on the side so that patrons can view the floor at a good distance, at the far end of these platforms are stairs that descend them from the platform to the floor.
"Right, so I was wondering about something…." Yoake cutted him off as he tries to ask his question to Ellix.
"You're related to Lieutenant Surge, right?" Yoake asked his question, and Ellix nodded as an answer.
"So… does being an electric-type specialist run in your family or?" Yoake asked in curiosity.
"Yup, my sister was planning to apply as a specialist in Unova but she's more concerned with her side gig for the moment, which is modeling and being a fashionista." Ellix groaned. Yoake can see the mere resemblance of his relationship with his sister to Ellix's.
"Well, it seems that my sister would go along with yours." Yoake stated.
"I see, and her gig is?" Ellix asked him in curiosity.
"She's an idol but planning to become a rockstar someday." Yoake said. Ellix was impressed with the trainer's sister's ambitions, while he finds him to be annoying and acted like a brat sometimes, he wonders how the relationship of the two often goes but little did he know that both have a sibling rivalry.
"Now, a one on one battle, I'm assuming that by now you already know what Pokemon I'll be using today." Ellix looked at the trainer, on which he nodded.
"Emolga huh?" Yoake remembers the warning from the assistant earlier, he knows that he will be going on a ride with this one.
"Yup, damn, this is the longest conversation I ever had for years, thanks mister Katsuragi." Ellix thanked him. Yoake smiled and welcomed him.
"Now, let's start the battle then." Ellix started to walk to a table, placed the box on top of the table, looked at his belt and took out one Pokeball. Yoake walked to the opposite side of Ellix and prepared.
'Who should I choose?' Yoake thought as he looked at his belt and began to prepare, he was thinking if he should use Kirlia or not, he knew that Bellsprout and Spearow would be crushed by Emolga, and Kirlia was at neutral protection.
He looked at Kirlia for a moment and decided to use her for this battle, even though she was weak and didn't have the main move that Yoake needed, Psychic, he hoped that Confusion and Calm Mind is enough to take down Emolga.
"We'll continue our conversation later. So, are you ready?" Ellix asked him as the two looked at each other with confidence.
"Born ready."
"POKEMON GO!"
A/N: Well, that was cut short…. This will be the first time I will cut a chapter in half due to how long it is. Don't worry, the next chapter will be done in the same week, probably Friday. So as always, thanks for reading this chapter, vote for the book if you like it and see you all in the next chapter.
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