章 1225: 19
When Viserion landed, he was bombarded not by my attention and interest, but by the affection of Flanney, who stared up at him with a reverence I had never seen before.
And Viserion, he loved the attention.
Please don't tell me his personality shifted from being a docile puppy to an appearance obsessed snob. I don't think I'd be able to handle the change.
Trying my best to ignore the pair, I turned to Luana, who approached me with an awkward sort of smile on her face.
"It seems that we're done," she began, rummaging through the pockets of her casual dress. "You've earned this."
In her outstretched hand was a purple pin, shaped like a shell with a small green and gold star decorating its center. The Jade Star, the badge that proved I had beaten Luana.
I took it from her hand and pinned it to the inside of my fanny pack, next to where my other badges were. I now had all four of the badges that were offered by the Orange Crew.
Luana noticed as well, it seemed. "And I'm your forth? Are you planning on challenging Drake?"
"As soon as possible." I told her, firm and resolved.
Her smile turned wan, and she put her hand under her chin as her eyes closed. Her face screwed up in thought. "Well, I don't know Drake's schedule, but I can look it up for you and hopefully get you a match within the week."
Considering today was a Monday, that was quite a good thing.
I swallowed audibly. "If you could, that'd be amazing."
Really, it would be. I had no idea how the final challenge worked, save for that I needed the four badges of the Crew. My original plan was to just go to Pummelo Island and bug people until they sent me Drake's way.
"Well, let's head to my office then. I need to return your Pokémon in any case."
I hadn't planned on leaving I got them back anyways. It felt weird, only have four Poké Balls strapped to my sides. I didn't like it.
I grabbed Viserions ball and returned him as Luana started walking me out without looking, though our attention was caught when a yelp and thump echoed throughout the stadium. I craned my neck and saw Flannery sitting down, rubbing her ass with a pouting expression. Her grandfather looked ready to bust a gut, so I didn't feel too bad.
Luana just shook her head and continued to move. I followed. It was a short trip to her office, just through the door of her side of the arena, similar to where Cissy's apartment was in the Mikan Gym.
She sat down in an office chair and offered me a seat in front of her desk. I took it and saw in my peripherals that Flannery had taken the seat next to my own, staring mulishly at me. How did she even get here that quickly?
Anime logic, I guess.
Luana was slow to type, but we were lucky in that she only had to type a little bit. She just moved her mouse around and then moved her computer screen so that it was facing me. I could see a calendar that was well decorated with markings.
"This is Drake's schedule." She explained. "As you can see, he's pretty busy. February is the last month we have before Spring starts up, when our biggest group of trainers start up. He spends most of this time trying to gather funds."
That was understandable.
"Anyways, there are a few openings. The soonest one would be in five days' time, the 23rd at 11:00am. After that would be the 28th at 3:30pm. Then there is-"
"-There's no need," I interrupted. She shot me a look, but I wasn't her kid so I moseyed on forward with my words. "If you can, I'd like to schedule the match for that first time you mentioned. On the 23rd."
Her look lessened in severity, though it was still apparent. Yeesh, the overbearing parent vibes coming off of this woman are serious. "Well, if you're sure… I'll just send him a message then. He reads his mail at least five times a day, so he'll be prepared."
Just before she started to type, she blinked rapidly. Then she dug through a drawer and offered me a disk. Not just any disk, a TM.
"It's not well advertised, but when a trainer intends on battling Drake, the last member of the Orange Crew that they beat will give them a TM. This is because, by intending to battle Drake, we get some funds with the televised show. It's like a verbal contract."
I looked over the TM, twisting it around. It was white, meaning it held a Normal type move, but there was no label on it.
"That holds Protect." How does my luck hold up? "All of the Crew have their own TM's to offer. Danny gives Ice Beam, Cissy gives Hydro Pump and Robyn will give you a move based on the Pokémon you battled with. I like defensive moves a lot, which you would have seen if you didn't knock my Marowak out so quick, which is why I give out Protect."
I carefully placed the TM in my backpack. Damn, but I should have kept my TM case. Who cares if it was bulky and useless without any TM's? I could have always gotten more.
Too late for that now. I'd need to figure out who to give this to. Certainly, with my line up, that'd be a challenge to figure out.
As Luana typed at the pace of a snail, she asked a question. "Do you have anybody you'd like to call? Let them know that you are going to be challenging Drake, I mean. The match'll be streamed through the Pokénet, so anybody that knows the website should be able to watch."
I didn't even know streaming was a thing here.
"Um… Yeah. My aunt, maybe Professor Oak, some people back on Shamouti. A couple friends too." Liza and Jasmine and Johnny came to mind. I didn't have many friends, and I was fine with that. Quality over quantity and all that rot.
"Well, go ahead and call them up." Luana said, glaring down at her keyboard. "This is… yeah, this is gonna take a little while."
"What's the website?"
"Just the Orange Crew base site. There'll be a link that leads to our streaming page from there."
With a shrug I gave her my thanks and walked out of the room. The Moore's stayed in, either to spend time with Luana or to give me privacy. It didn't matter.
I pulled out my Pokégear and began to dig through my contacts.
"Alright Jon, I've got it. Good luck!"
"Thanks. Later Auntie."
The line went dead and Claire Blackthorn let loose a small sigh. She had expected Jon to call her much earlier, him having left the Gym six weeks ago. Still, she was just happy he remembered to call. Lance was bad about that too. Claire was sure she'd go grey early if the both of them kept at it.
Still, she was happy. Not only because he called but moreso due to the reason for his call.
He would be entering in his first League!
Well, no. Claire understood the Orange League wasn't a proper League at all, but it was still a significant achievement. Apparently, he hadn't lost any of his Gym Battles. He was turning into a proper trainer, one that was worthy of his father's legacy.
"Val!" Claire called out, catching the attention of an elderly woman on the far side of the room. Val was her assistant, the wife of one of the clan elders and a woman with a heavy background in management affairs. She kept Claire up to date with all manners involving the Gym and the Dragons Den.
"Yes, Miss Claire?"
If only she weren't so deferential. It got old being called miss all the time.
"What's my schedule for the 23rd?"
With a queer look, Val checked her tablet. A minute later, she answered. "You don't have anything scheduled for that Saturday, though knowing the trainers that stop by you'll be having a battle or two."
Claire grimaced. Three days ago, she had to deal with a trainer that came by without an appointment too. It was a kid, so she didn't get mad, but because she was bound to accept all challenges, she missed an appointment at the spa.
Claire had been looking forward to that spa day. And she didn't even get a refund!
It was acknowledged that it was her own fault, though. Claire shouldn't have scheduled a spa right before the Gym closed. Trainers could be random and showed up at all hours of activity.
She hummed. "Good, put a sign up saying that the Gym will be closed on the 23rd. I'm going to be out that day."
Traveling to the Orange Islands, even one of the northern ones like Pummelo, took time. Luckily, it would be a comfortable trip. Claire had trained her Altaria specifically for transportation, and there was nothing more relaxing than flying atop those clouded wings.
"Miss," Val tutted, brown eyes disapproving. "You cannot just skip out on the Gym whenever you want. Especially not now, the season ends in less than two months."
"I'm not skipping out on anything," Claire said, rolling her eyes. "I'm taking a day. If it'll make you feel better, we can have the sign say that I'll be in on Monday and open the Gym for six days next week."
Normally speaking, the Blackthorn Gym opened its doors to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00am – 6:00pm. Taking off a Saturday just meant that she had to add a Monday. Easy enough.
Val hummed, poking at her tablet. "If you're certain."
"I am."
"Very well, Miss Claire." Val demurred. "Will that be all?"
"It will."
Val left then, returning to her duties. Claire licked at her lip, thinking on what else she could do. The match was in five days' time, meaning that Claire had plenty to do in between then and now.
She fiddled with her Pokégear, and then stilled. Though she intended to just set some calendar reminders, there were other things she could do. Things she should do.
She dug through her contact list, went into a private room, and tapped the screen. The projector of her hologram blared blue as the ringer went off.
It rang two times. On the third, a sound bustled through the line, her hologram showing the inner ear of her brother. "Yeah?"
"Lance? You busy?"
The wind rustled. He shifted his own Pokégear so she could see him. He was astride one of his Dragonites, streaking through the air at impossible speeds.
"Sorta? I can't really concentrate right now. I'm heading to Hoenn, have to meet up with the new champion. You remember Steven? The one that said no? It's him!"
Claire hadn't even known Hoenn had a new champion.
Though she could see Steven taking that role. When Lance became the champion, he attempted to have Steven Stone become a member of his Elite Four as the Steel Master. He'd known Steven for a while at that point, his shiny behemoth of a Metagross being one of the few Pokémon able to go toe to toe with his own starter, so the opportunity was well earned. The Hoenn native rejected this offer, however, leading to a power imbalance that Lorelei picked up the slack for.
But Claire didn't call Lance to talk about Steven Stone.
She called to talk about her nephew, his son.
"I'm just calling to let you know that Jon is going to be battling in a televised stadium on Saturday. Thought you might be interested in watching."
His face went through a myriad of emotions, she could see. Confusion, fear, the hint of elation and then his jaw set in stubbornness. Great. The one trait Claire wished Jon and Lance wouldn't share was the most prominent one.
"I would if I could…" He said. Claire knew this to be a lie. "But I'll be in Hoenn till the end of the month and I'll be busy all the while."
He sounded apologetic at least. Better than before, though Jon would have been furious if he'd learned she tried to convince Lance to publicly acknowledge the boy while he was training in the Dragon's Den.
Claire was a firm believer in asking forgiveness as opposed to permission, especially with regards to bettering her family.
"There's a stream of it happening. The match happens at eleven in the morning, on Johto time." It was easy to forget the differences in time zones and how the Orange Islands took on both temporal frames. Pummelo Island was on the western side of the Archipelago, and so used the same time zone as the region west of Kanto. "I could record it for you, and you could watch it later."
He sighed, eyes holding a glimmer of humor. "That'll be, like, five in the morning Hoenn time. If it matters that much, fine. I'll watch the recording."
"Perfect!" Claire smiled. Her smile had Lance grimace. He knew she was up to something. "Oh, and one more thing. You're coming home on the 4th, right?"
Her words were innocent and innocuous in nature, but her tone and demeanor held the promise of pain. Lance knew this tone all too well, especially after he shunted her with a Gym at twelve.
He shuddered. Claire held back a smug smile. I've still got it.
"Yeah, yeah." He grumbled. "I'll still be coming back home for your birthday."
He didn't say goodbye. Just hung up on her.
Claire stared at the phone, seriously questioning his doing that. Then she huffed, pocketing her Pokégear.
Hang up on her, would he? Alright, she could play that game.
It shouldn't be too hard to convince the child he was so afraid of to come as well.
He loved his Auntie, after all. Just as she loved him.
"Goodbye Jon, thank you for the update." Tobias Brinks said, pressing the end button on his cell phone.
Rubbing a hand through his beard, a grin began to sprout over his wrinkled visage.
Jon Snow would be challenging Drake, leader of the Orange Crew.
It had been some time since Tobias went to one of those battles. The tickets were 50 a piece, and Pummelo was a distance. Not terribly far, but it was still a five-hour long boat ride.
Tobias had every intention on watching this battle, however. There hadn't been a trainer from Shamouti that had any promise in a long time, certainly before his own time. Jon's single-minded determination to be a Flying Master was encouraging, and this battle would let Tobias see what the boy had learned in his time away.
It was a shame that Tobias and his granddaughters were out when the boy visited. But this, this would make up for the loss of time.
"Carol!" He called from his office. It was amusing to hear his granddaughter curse in such a way, especially when he fondly remembered how she used to call him gambi.
Carol entered the room, her brown hair unkempt and green eyes bleary. She'd been napping on the lobby couch. "What's up grampa?"
Tobias still missed being gambi.
"I'd like you and Melody to start packing, we're going out of town for the weekend."
She looked lost. "What do you mean?"
"Our dear boy Jon will be challenging Drake this Saturday! I thought the three of us could head to Pummelo on Friday, stay the night in a hotel, then watch the battle in person."
Her eyes lit up and she let out a small squeal. Saul was thankful for his old age in that moment, for his hearing wasn't what it used to be, meaning the glass-breaking sound his granddaughter made didn't affect him nearly as much as it could have. It still brought forth a wince, however.
"Oh, this'll be so much fun!" She laughed, a wide and white smile stretching over her face. "Melody'll get to see her man in action!"
Tobias twitched. While he was supportive of his granddaughters and had already resigned himself to the fact that they would one day have husbands of their own, he did not want to let go just yet. Carol was an adult in her own right and he'd already dealt with his emotions regarding her. Melody was his baby girl however, the youngest daughter of his deceased son. If he could, he would give her the world.
Alas, she did not want the world. She wanted a boy that was more trouble than anything. Oh, Tobias quite liked Jon and certainly approved of his work ethic, but when he spun that story in the Zapdos aftermath, he found it difficult to trust the boy. To lie so easily and clearly, while impressive, was certainly not something to aspire towards. He would help influence the island later on in life, but as a grandson-in-law? Tobias was skeptical.
A skeptical Tobias was a difficult one to please.
But Carol had been insistent, and Melody interested. Her attention was still being given towards Jon, even though months had passed since the two interacted with one another. She'd even begun to pester him for one of his Fearow's eggs so that she could become a trainer too!
Melody wanted to leave her gampi!
Perhaps he and Jon needed some private time.
To… talk.
Jon Snow had just picked up his Pokémon from Luana's staff and left the Kumquat Gym, giving thanks to Luana herself and wishing Travis all the best on his fast approaching Journey. A nice lad, Brent thought. Though he needed to find a proper focus.
"So, what now, Uncle?" Luana asked. Travis was by his side, watching Jon walk down towards the beach with a contemplative expression. His Pikachu rubbed the lad, cheek to cheek.
"I'm not certain," Brent admitted. Jon had just released a Pidgeot, quite the large one, and was speaking to it with wild enthusiasm, rubbing at its chest. The large bird trilled loud enough to be heard from their position, nearly preening his hair.
"You're out of the job," Luana bluntly stated. "It might be best to return to the Lavaridge Gym, to help Flannery out with the conversion process."
"Perhaps later," Brent mused. "We're still on vacation."
It wasn't as if he could do much. At best, he would be designated as Flannery's mentor. He was forbidden from ever becoming a Gym Leader again, courtesy of being a former member of the Elite Four.
And wasn't that just a disappointment? Blaine Moore had been one of Champion Drake's Elite Four up until last week, when Steven Stone defeated the Dragon Master and took the titles of Steel Master and Champion for his own.
Brent had nothing but respect for the boy, but he hadn't been ready to retire yet. Drake was even older than Brent was, and was allowed to remain on as a member of Steven's Elite Four, as were Glacia and Phoebe. And yet, Brent had been told that he would be replaced by a Dark type trainer named Sidney.
Furious at first, Brent challenge Sidney for the title, and the boy had accepted. It was a tense, emotional battle that pitted Master against Master; private save for the other members of the Hoenn Elite Four. Both Brent and Sidney had been down to their final Pokémon, which also happened to be their strongest Pokémon: Brent's Typhlosion and Sidney's Absol. The only reason Brent lost was due to being caught off guard by the emergence of Mega Evolution, something he'd never heard of up until that moment.
The battle ended with his loss, and Blaine found his fury cooling. To lose his position in battle was a far better end than losing it in a forced retirement. He was still receiving a League induced stipend and would for the remainder of his days, so his family could remain comfortable for a while longer.
Steven Stone had even been kind enough to explain Mega Evolution. It was rediscovered by Professor Sycamore in Kalos, who Steven interned under for a few years. According to him, it brought certain Pokémon to their species peak, allowing them to access powers normally outside of their ability. The Absolute that Sidney used was a coincidental find, and the only other one that he had that was useable was a Metagrossite, for his shiny behemoth.
Steven then gave him a small spherical stone, known as a Key Stone, and said that all Elites should have one, even one not in the Four.
For that simple acknowledgement, Brent walked away without a hint of complaint.
"We could always watch Jon's match." Flannery joined in, eyes locked on Jon flying away. "Pummelo's not all that far away, right?"
"It's not," Luana assured. "From the beachfront, it's only about seventy miles to the west. Maybe a couple hours by boat."
Brent stared at his granddaughter. "I thought you didn't much like the boy."
And wasn't that a surprise? Flannery was a bubbly girl, full of life and born with beauty. She made friends far easier than enemies.
"Huh? She sounded, looking confused. "What gave you that idea?"
"You were glaring at him the entire time we were in Luana's office." And staring at him outside of that. In this case, Brent knew her thoughts quite easily. She wanted to see the lad's Charmeleon once more.
"Of course, I was mad." Flannery huffed, rolling her ruby red eyes. "He made me fall on my butt. And I wanted to spend more time with his Pokémon. But that doesn't mean I don't like him. We traded numbers, grandad."
Brent blinked. "Why would you do that?" Flannery, energetic and outgoing as she might be, was quite private. Her contact information was rarely given out.
There was a fire burning in her eyes. "I'll find a way to get that Charmeleon."
Ah, there it was.
Brent hummed, considering. He had only taken this vacation in hopes of finding something to do, a hobby or a passion or a young woman that might have recognized him from his glory days. Anything to keep his mind away from the League. Quality time with his granddaughter was a bonus.
And, well. That made his decision relatively easy.
"If that is what you want, then that is what we'll do." Brent allowed, offering a smile to Flannery, a smile that was easily eclipsed by her joyful grin.
Winter/Pidgeot – Male
Moves: Tackle, Gust, Sand Attack, Agility, Double Team, Whirlwind, Quick Attack, Wing Attack, Steel Wing, Twister, Fly, Hyper Beam, Sunny Day, Heat Wave, Attract, Rest, Sky Attack, Aerial Ace
Ability: Keen Eye
Valyrian/Skarmory – Female
Moves: Steel Wing, Wing Attack, Fly, Cut, Peck, Screech, Metal Claw, Metal Sound, Slash, Night Shade, Steel Wing, Icy Wing, Sky Attack, Iron Head, Attract, Dark Pulse, Aerial Ace, Iron Defense
Ability: Sturdy
Thoros/Gliscor – Male
Moves: Sludge Bomb, Slash, Poison Sting, Metal Claw, Dark Pulse, Dig, Guano, Attract, Steel Wing, Iron Tail, Sandstorm, Ice Fang, Crunch
Ability: Sand Veil
Drogon/Charmeleon – Male(Shiny)
Moves: Growl, Scratch, Ember, Ancient Power, Attract, Iron Tail, Metal Claw, Sunny Day, Bite, Flamethrower, Dragon Rage, Dragon Claw, Dig
Ability: Blaze
Rhaegal/Shelgon – Female
Moves: Rage, Headbutt, Ember, Dragon Rush, Attract, Skull Bash, Protect
Ability: Rock Head
Viserion/Dragonair – Male
Moves: Leer, Wrap, Thunder Wave, Water Pulse, Attract, Water Gun, Fly
Ability: Shed Skin
Baelish/Nate – Male
Moves: Peck, Leer, Night Shade, Calm Mind, Protect, Teleport, Flash, Confuse Ray
Ability: Synchronize
Nagga/Gyarados – Male
Moves: Splash, Tackle, Bite, Leer, Thunderbolt, Thunder Wave, Ice Fang, Crunch, Body Slam, Headbutt, Iron Head, Twister, Dragon Rage
Ability: Intimidate
Jon Snow – Male
Date: Feb 18
Badges: Sea Ruby Badge, Spike Shell Badge, Coral Eye Badge, Jade Star Badge
Held Pokémon: Pidgeot, Skarmory, Gliscor, Charmeleon, Shelgon, Dragonair, Natu, Gyarados
Stored Pokémon: Delibird, Onix
Currency: 12,840
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