Chapter 83 – Water vs Fire

Chapter 83 – Water vs Fire

After recalling Relicanth back inside its ball Roxanne wasted no time changing back to her typical schoolgirl uniform while I was stuck waiting in the lobby. The notion that any Nurse Joy could find out that a Regirock recently checked in at the Sootopolis City Pokémon center seemed to have unnerved the girl. Although members of the Joy clan are trustworthy, having such information digitally stored was sure to lead to her being exposed by a particularly skilled Porygon sooner than later. 

“Sorry for making you wait. I am ready now.”

“It’s not a problem. Do you mind having just a simple meal at the center’s cafeteria? That way we can go over our strategies to win that Rain badge.”

“Hmm, Okay.”

I guided her back over to the Pokémon Center, the building opposite to the one where we just came from while watching Roxanne fidgeting about. The revelation that other people might already know about Regirock had clearly unsettled the girl. It didn’t take long before we reached my intended destination. A dinette tucked away in the corner of the center removed from anyone who might be listening in on the conversation we were about to have.

“So how have your own preparations been coming along? Still losing money battling against those gym trainers?”

“…We’ve slowly been getting better. Now we only lose around half our battles. Relicanth was already an experienced underwater battler before I caught him.”

“That’s quite fortuitous. Bottom feeder species like Relicanth would usually rather avoid battling. Yours must be at an age advanced enough to be a seasoned battler despite their inherent skittish nature.”

Which wouldn’t be a problem at all when taking into account that Pokémon professors everywhere projected that the oldest living Relicanth was somewhere around five hundred forty years old. The species was well known for its longevity which was also probably the reason why relicanth haven’t changed much over the millenniums.

“Relicanth can hold his own and recently we’ve begun adapting a new strategy by using Rock Slide to displace water into the pool’s draining vents giving my team more solid ground to work with.”

“That’s brilliant! Rocks formed from Pokémon moves don’t last very long. To make it through an entire battle…”

“Sorry Egon, that is our secret strategy we can’t have Juan knowing about it beforehand.”

“It’s fine, we have developed some new tricks of our own. We’ll have an easier time of it because this will only be our sixth badge battle. The Pokémon Juan can field against us are of a manageable strength.”

Sixth badge level Pokémon usually tended to be well trained but not yet at their physical peaks. The gym leaders also restrict themselves to simpler battle stratagems. For Roxanne this would not be the case, and she could expect Juan to battle her at near full strength, maybe even field one or two Pokémon from his personal team. That Kingdra of his was well known for crushing many challengers’ hopes and dreams.

“Hmm with fifty-fifty odds against the gym trainers facing off against Juan himself will be a near hopeless endeavor. Unless you field your newly caught partner.”

“Egon…”

“Just hear me out, okay? It’s only a matter of time until people find out about Regirock now that he is in the system. You might as well bring him out in the open to get him used to modern age people and Pokémon. Only being able to let Regirock out of his ball at select times must have been a major hindrance.”

“That’s true, but what about you and Tini?”

“Tini has the benefit of being able to turn invisible at will, letting her experience everything our world has to offer without hindrance. Also, she’s more than just an extra strong psychic type. Powerful figures looking to kidnap her would do so for her more unique ability.”

“Unique ability?”

“…You know when she gave my Darmanitan that boost?”

“That wasn’t Helping Hand?”

“No, but never mind that. I figured that If Brandon can openly walk around with his Regirock there’s little stopping you from doing the same.”

“Brandon is the Pyramid King!”

“That title doesn’t make him vigilant enough to stop any and all attempts at his ball belt. Thieves and poachers know that selling a known trainer partnered legendary Pokémon is nearly impossible. Those rich collectors that buy from them would have to forgo bragging rights in fear of repercussions all the while keeping such a strong Pokémon under control. No, their preferred targets will always be those rare Pokémon who are too young to understand what is going on around them.”

“…I’ll think about it”

After finishing up our dinner conversation we parted ways with the mutual promise of coming to spectate each other’s battles. Roxanne’s final bid for that Rain badge would be the day after tomorrow early in the morning. Giving me enough time to come and watch before having to go back to Rustburo City.

“Do you think we’ll win?”

‘…We’ll make for a good showing at a minimum. It’s not every day you see a fire type specialist take on the region’s strongest water type gym.’

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The following morning*

“Young Egon, it is a pleasure to see you again. Please follow me, Master Juan is waiting.”

Just like that both me and Roxanne found ourselves past the gym’s front entrance where Sebastian the butler was ready and waiting to receive all challengers seeking to earn a Rain Badge. We hadn’t come across Marlon yet, but the guy knew when my challenge was taking place since he was the one who slotted me in for today. Roxanne had chosen to accompany us and watch from the sidelines partly to satisfy her curiosity but also to gain more insight into Juan’s battling style against someone with a marked disadvantage against him.

Yesterday evening I had spent most of my time in a Pokémon center’s PC booth trying to memorize Juan’s strategies for sixth badge level challenges. His lineup for those challenges was varied but there are a few Pokémon Juan would always use. Notably a sealeo and one of his seadra all of them with their abilities trained up and ready to use. 

“Will Miss. Roxanne be joining you as your plus one?”

“That is correct Sebastian. She’s eager to watch leader Juan’s battling skills in person.”

It didn’t take us long to reach the battlefield which was reserved for sixth level battles. Unlike in all of my previous gym battles the stands were packed with spectators. Most of them kids who got dropped off by their parents to watch their city’s gym leader in action. There seated on the front row was Marlon surrounded by distinctly feminine third parties. His tanned swimmer’s body drawing in the attention of the more adventurous mothers.

‘Should I start working out?’

“Jealous?”

‘Shut it you! Marlon’s seventeen and in phenomenal shape. The guy doesn’t even wear shirts most of the time. Of course he’s drowning in the attention of the ladies. In a couple of years’ time that will be me getting the same treatment.’

“Are you sure? Flannery and Phoebe seem to think that…”

‘Lalalala! I can’t hear you!’

I wasn’t about to discuss the pidgeys and the combees with Victini. A hundred years and some change was still too young to start talking about egg making especially with a Pokémon as mischievous as her. Despite fully knowing that the information stored inside my gray matter was freely available to the psychic type I hoped that would afford me that bit of privacy.

While I was busy attempting to put up imaginary privacy shields around certain memories Roxanne parted ways with us and joined the other spectators on the stands. At the same time Sebastian motioned for me to go stand in the challenger’s box. 

“Young trainer, are you ready to face off against our esteemed gym leader?”

‘Focus Egon, you have a badge to win.’

“Ahem yes! We are ready.”

As soon as I gave Sebastian the okay sign Juan who hadn’t made an appearance yet walked down from the large staircase prop which I hadn’t noticed until now. The crowd of school age children and their caretakers gave the man a standing ovation as he took a stand on the battlefield square opposite to my own.

‘This is it! The defining moment of my career.’

“This gym battle between the gym leader Juan and his challenger Egon from Lavaridge Town will now begin! Each will use four Pokémon the match will be over when all of either participants’ Pokémon are unable to continue battling. During the match only the challenger will be allowed to substitute their Pokémon.”

“Sealeo, front and center!”

“Rena you’re up!”

The moment Rena was called out onto the drifting platform her ability went into effect. The ambient temperature of our surroundings skyrocketed as the sun’s rays intensified. This caught most of the audience off guard as they quickly scrambled to remove any excess pieces of clothing. Juan on the other hand acted as cool as a cucumber not minding the change in temperature in the least.

“What a rarity to come across a Ninetales with the drought ability. I look forward to seeing what this lovely lady can do in battle!”

“Ehem… Sealeo is very… cuddly looking. I like its flippers.”

“Why thank you. I like his flippers too. Sebastian will sound us off.”

It was at this moment that Sebastian who had stepped into the role of our battle judge saw it fit to commence the match.

“Begin!”

‘First to arrest its movement.’

“Extrasensory!”

“Dive!”

Ninetales acted faster than Sealeo and before long the mustached Pokémon was enveloped by a pale golden light. The move Extrasensory could sometimes catch the opponent unprepared but we weren’t so lucky this time. Resisting the move’s effects Sealeo muscled on through and shoved its pudgy body off into the depths off this thematic battlefield.

‘Dive, a move we will be seeing a lot of in this match. It’s useless to try and guess when our opponent will strike. The best use of our time is to rally our strength.’

“Calm Mind!”

Tucking her tails back in Rena focused her mental energies in exactly the way Glove had taught her to do so. Of course this provoked an immediate response from Juan. 

“Whirlpool”

The waters churned as the platform Rena was standing on got taken along for a spindrift ride. I had seen this before in one of the videos we watched. A standard tactic Juan used to force non-swim capable Pokémon into the water where his water types could easily finish them off. Luckily we had just the right move in our arsenal to put a stop to it.

“Disable!”

Rena’s eyes glowed blue and a wave of red aura found itself enveloping the eye of the aggressing whirlpool which was also where Sealeo was held up. Immediately the waters calmed down and the platform my Ninetales was standing on slowly moved back to its original position. Each of these floating platforms were held in position with a single underwater chain so as to make it harder for them to be flipped over and giving challengers a sporting chance.

“Surf!”

‘Perfect! We can catch them off guard with this.’ “Wait for it…”

Sealeo’s chubby form emerged from the surface of the water having spontaneously formed and now riding atop a medium sized tidal wave. 

“Fire the Solar Beam!”

“Nineeee!”

The tips of Rena’s nine tails lit up as she instantaneously absorbed the ambient abundance of solar energy and fired off a laser of light. The walrus Pokémon had become a sitting ducklett with nowhere to escape to as the beam of condensed grass type energy collided into him. 

“Leooooo!”

Sealeo, who had just received the full brunt of the super effective attack fell off its perch atop the wave and cratered into the side of the battlefield completely spaced out.

“Sealeo is unable to continue battling, Ninetales is the winner! Leader Juan, please select your next Pokémon.”

The crowd of school age children went wild when realizing what had happened. Not being educated enough to understand how intense sunlight hastened the charge time of a Solar Beam they came to wild conclusions of their own.

“No way! Can fire types even learn grass type moves?!” “There’s no way a Solar Beam could be charged up so fast!”

Juan must have had this strategy be used against him many a time over the course of his career because the man didn’t look surprised in the least. My guess would be that the man just didn’t expect an eleven year old like myself to come up with more advanced strategies. After returning Sealeo into his ball Juan was quick to call out his next Pokémon.

“Show off your splendor! Gorebyss!”

Out of one of the many Dive Balls he kept on his person materialized a pink serpentine looking Pokémon with seashells adorning its midsection and sporting a long pointed mouth. Gorebyss were hardy creatures that live on the ocean floor. Not one of his usual choices but I’ve seen Juan use them against opponents who had proved their mettle. 

‘I’ll have to preserve Rena’s strength if I want to keep our advantage going.’

“Rena return! Go Raven!”

After recalling Rena I wasted no time calling out my trusty pooch. Raven materialized on the nearest platform ready to contribute to our victory.

“Rain Dance!”

‘I don’t think so!’ “Taunt!”

Gorebyss who had been in the middle of performing a Rain Dance was halted due to the effects that Taunt had on her psyche. I had a vague understanding that whatever Raven had conveyed through her incessant barking wasn’t G-rated in the least.

“Aqua Tail”

‘At that range and this battlefield Raven won’t be able to shine. The sun’s still up, she might be able to withstand a direct blow without being shoved into the water…!’

“Dodge! Then jump onto the other platforms!”

“Awooo!”

During our trainer sessions the word dodge had taken on another meaning. We couldn’t have our opponents be wary of our true stratagem. Even if we would only be able to take them by surprise, the one time. As Gorebyss jumped out of the water, her seashell tail forming a small water tornado ready to whack Raven senseless, my goodest girl glowed an intense orange. 

“Gorebyss halt your action!”

Juan’s warning came too late, as Raven desperately held on to not be swept away by the force behind Gorebyss’ move. Following the initial blow the attack redirected back to its origins with twice the power launching Gorebyss away from Raven and back into water. 

‘Was that enough?’ 

Gorebyss emerged from the water clearly fatigued but with a determined look in its eyes still ready to follow Juan’s orders. Raven seemed to be similarly exhausted, and it took a brief moment before she grew cognizant of her surroundings once again.

“Can you still hold on?”

“Arf!”

“Solar Beam!”

“Dive!”

The finisher we had been building towards was dodged effortlessly as Juan grew wary of our strategy. Gorebyss had enough time to dive underwater. The surface lit up in a yellowish glow for a brief spell before returning back to its normal coloration as the Solar Beam ran its course.

‘Tch! I figured Gorebyss would be too tired to dodge in time. Now that our secret strategy has been seen through, Juan will avoid any physical contact.’

“Hydro Pump!”

Gorebyss sprang out from one of the battlefield’s four corners while launching a sneak attack from Raven’s blindspot. The lightshow coupled with her exhaustion had finally taken its toll as the Jetstream of water slammed into her, rocketing the fire type off the platform and into waters. Acting quickly, I activated the return mechanism of her green colored safari ball not wanting to give the onlookers a showing of an embarrassed Raven desperately paddling trying to keep her head above water. The league had rulings regarding the substituting of Pokémon in precarious situations and it almost always counted as a knockout but I'd be an even worse trainer for not doing so in this situation.

“Return! Good job Raven, you did your best.” 

“Challenger! Please bring out your next Pokémon.” 

This Gorebyss was proving to be the bane to my strategies. Unlike Sealeo she was too fast in the water for Raven to do anything more than land glancing blows. 

‘Let’s go with our wildcard and maybe put Juan on the backfoot that way.’

“Glove, I choose you!”

Taking Raven’s place was our team’s heavy hitter. The Blaze Pokémon made for an impressive sight especially to those who were unfamiliar with the Unovan native species listings. 

“Dive!”

“Rock Slide, close it in!”

Gorebyss once again tried to employ the same tactics and succeeded. Glove’s conjured rocks didn’t have the momentum required to do more than the pink fish as she glided her way across the maze of stones we left behind. 

 “Wait it out! Calm Mind!”

“Let us oblige you. Consecutive Water Pulses!”

I knew Glove couldn’t bring his physicality to bear against Gorebyss in the water so I opted to go for a different route. My Darmanitan closed its eyes while focusing his mental energies while enduring a barrage of Water Pulses. 

‘Just a little bit more…!’

Both me and Juan watched on as Glove’s form began to change. What was once vibrant red hair turned a pale blue as its exterior became more and more stonelike. Until finally Glove’s form had fully changed. The spectators were taken aback by this and even Juan was sporting a puzzled expression on his face. Disregarding the childlike voices asking for clarifications I kept fully focused on our gym battle. 

“It is time! Psychic!”

Gorebyss who had up until now swimming around unimpeded was lifted out of the water while struggling against its invisible bindings. Before being slammed down head first onto one of the vacant platforms whereupon Gorebyss fainted immediately.

“Gorebyss is unable to battle! Darmanitan is the winner!”

“A shrewd tactic, and to witness a form change in person! This has been an exciting battle so far challenger Egon. I wonder how you will handle my next choice of Pokémon. Crawdaunt dazzle the crowd!”

What materialized onto the battlefield was another Pokémon the gym leader rarely ever used. The red colored crustacean’s gaunt looking face was quite menacing and its same species cousins are widely known for bullying other lake or pond dwelling Pokémon.  From what I had learned while preparing for this battle he only ever called on this one to present a challenge to trainers who fielded their psychic type partners.

‘A dark type and water type Pokémon. Juan seems to have already figured out Glove’s secondary typing. The effects of Sunny Day are almost over. We'll have to make the most out of this time window. I won’t allow it to dive underwater!’

“Begin!”

“Grass Knot! Tie it down!”

“Protect!”

Strong blades of grass moved to tie down the lobster Pokémon but before Glove had the chance to do so, an all too familiar turquoise barrier blocked them from grabbing hold of their target. Once this had happened the grass harmlessly dissipated back into the platform.

‘Crawdaunt aren’t known for being mobile. Once the Protect lets up we’ll blast them full force.’

“Solar Beam!”

“Endure!”

Crawdaunt held its ground as the Solar Beam impacted its exoskeleton. Endure was a tricky move that allowed its user to disregard one blow no matter how powerful. I could see this happening in real time as Crawdaunt who should have been blown away by the Solar Beam, stood its ground. As it was happening the sun’s rays started dying out returning the battlefield conditions to their earlier state.

‘This is bad, they’re going to…!’

“Aqua Jet!”

Without the hindrance of the intense heat Juan decided to take full advantage of my Pokémon’s major weakness. Crawdaunt enveloped itself in a cocoon of water speeding above the water’s surface in Glove’s direction. Before Glove could put up any form of defense he’d already suffered the finishing blow. Glove returned to his original form before promptly passing out with Crawdaunt looming over his sprawling body.  

“Darmanitan is no longer able to battle, Crawdaunt is the winner! Challenger, please send out your next Pokémon.” 

“Glove Return! You did good. Rena go!”

My Ninetales rematerialized on top of the farthest platform. As soon as she did so the sun’s ray intensified once again basking our surroundings in a warm glow. The audience having experienced this once already didn’t make as much of a ruckus this time.

‘Two on two, come on Egon you can do this.’

“Begin!”

“Dive!”

“Don’t let Crawdaunt catch you, Double Team!”

Rena jumped from platform to platform gaining speed as she did until eventually afterimages of herself were left behind. With Crawdaunt back in the water it was only a matter of time before the water type would resurface in an attempt to drag her into the water’s depths. Crossing my fingers I hoped that producing the afterimages would confuse the lobster Pokémon enough to allow for a counterattack.

“Vice Grip! Drag Ninetales into the water!”

Crawdaunt sprang forth out of the water and somehow knew exactly which Rena was real going straight for the one closest to my own challenger’s box. However, the crustacean didn’t manage to get a headlock and had to do with grabbing a clawful of tails. With her head free to turn around the misplaced grab offered us a unique opportunity.

“Hypnosis!”

“…! Daunt…”

At this range the hypnotic waves spawned from Rena’s eyes had great odds of actually putting her opponent to sleep. Juan did his level best to keep Crawdaunt from falling asleep but the tailpulling struggle slowly grinded to a halt as the water type finally let go of Rena’s tails and fell asleep. Juan, seeing no point in dragging this out, calmly recalled his napping battler.

“A Marvelous effort! To think a fire type specialist like yourself managed to defeat three of my Pokémon. However, I will have to put in a bit more effort into this match now. Dewgong center stage!”

Juan’s last competitor made its appearance, the Sealion Pokémon seemed excited to join the battle judging by its pudginess I would surmise that this one had the Thick Fat ability which gave it another layer of protection from fire and ice type moves. Not that such moves would prove effective anyway in this type of environment anyway.

‘His last isn’t Seadra?! Dewgong hasn’t even once appeared in any of the videos we watched. We will be going into this blind.’

“Confuse Ray!”

“Dive!”

Before we had a chance to stupefy our opponent Dewgong dodged by diving headfirst into the depths of the water. I had anticipated a return to Juan’s diving strategy, but it wouldn’t hurt to try and catch them off-guard with a quick flash.

‘Dewgong doesn’t have claws like Crawdaunt those flippers, while adorable aren’t much of a threat. If Juan is going to push us off into the water Dewgong will have to go in headfirst.’

“Drill Run!”

“Protect!”

Hearing Juan’s command, I expected Dewgong to jump out of the water but that is not what was happening. Cracks started forming across the platform Rena was standing on while dampened drilling sounds could be heard echoing throughout the battlefield chamber until suddenly Rena who had been busy protecting herself from a potential attack sank into the water as the platform split in half.

‘Destroying his own gym’s battlefield equipment?! Is that even allowed?’

“Ninee!”

Rena let out a startled cry as her footing gave way and she plummeted down into the water. Like all of my other Pokémon, Rena did not enjoy getting her fleece wet. We actually did some experimenting with having her swim and came to find out that her fur draws in water like a sponge. The process made her sluggish and lethargic. Knowing that I decided that her role in this match was over and made the tough decision to recall her from the fight.

“Return!”

The red light emanating from my raised poké ball hit the panicking fox Pokémon just as Dewgong positioned itself to take advantage of this moment of weakness. 

“The challenger Egon has chosen to withdraw his Pokémon from the battle! Challenger, please send forth your final Pokémon.”

‘There’s only really one choice left available to me. Orin and Halo aren’t at this level yet.’

“Numsy I need your assistance!”

Activating the release mechanism of my oldest poké ball my long-time partner materialized on one of the remaining platforms. When his entire weight settled down upon said platform, I could estimate that it was just buoyant enough to hold his weight as long as Numsy didn’t make any sudden moves. 

“Rain Dance!”

‘Numsy can’t use mind affecting moves to stop them! We have to use this opportunity to attack!’

“Don’t let Dewgong slip away! Rock Slide!”

Dewgong was forced to stay above the water’s surface to execute the move. Taking this as our final chance to inflict any significant amount of damage Numsy unleashed an avalanche of stones on his target. I could see Dewgong being visibly shaken as it kept being pelted but the determination to execute its trainer’s orders won out and it kept going despite the hurt, we put it through.

Miniature rain clouds started forming and soon I found my clothes soaked in rainwater. Numsy’s coat of fur was much the same. I know how much he hated being out in the rain, but my oldest partner didn’t even flinch as he stared down his opponent knowing that he was my last hope to earn that badge. 

“Hydro Pump!”

“Protect!”   

Without the sun’s protection and the now favorable environment Dewgong’s hydro pump was far larger than normal. However, the initial blast was kept at bay by a shimmering conjured up by my own Pokémon. 

‘I can’t stall forever. Let’s go down in a blaze of glory!’

“Numsy dive down into the pool! FISSURE!”

“RUUUPT!”

Numsy fighting all of his basic instincts bombed down into the water. Stunning both the audience and Juan and what followed afterwards was hard to describe. The entire battlefield shook as the waters parted with Dewgong right dab in the middle separated from its aquatic advantage. This lasted for a brief second before the mechanical tearing sound informed me that the fissure went deeper than just surface level and the pool’s water started draining into said crack. Before long we were greeted by the sight of an emptied pool coupled with a passed out mass of fur that had both of its volcanoes filled with water. Dewgong had made it through but not unscathed, its body balanced upon a thin layer of ice which had prevented it from falling deeper into said crack. 

‘It must have used an Ice Beam to save itself.’

“Camerupt is unable to battle Dewgong is the winner. The victor of this match is the gym leader Juan!”

It took a while, but Sebastian finally processed what had happened and completed his duty as a battle judge by declaring Juan the winner. Meanwhile I was quick to jump down the now empty pool to give my long time partner all the attention he richly deserved. His coat had become a clumped up mess from being soaked in water. Something I was sure to fix as soon as we returned to the Pokémon center. 

“Are you okay there buddy?”

“Rupt…”

“It’s fine, even though we lost I couldn’t be prouder of you. You even overcame your fear of deep water for my sake.”

Not minding the wet fur smell I gave the orange lug a big hug to commemorate his achievement. Numsy wasn’t the biggest fan of public displays of affection, but he accepted my candor with a silent dignity. It was at that moment that Juan, who had been keeping a respectful distance, jumped down to meet us face to face with Dewgong following closely behind. 

“An excellent battle! You have impressed both me and the audience. It isn’t everyday one of our battlefields gets destroyed so thoroughly.”

“We’re sorry for the damages leader Juan! I couldn’t think of another strategy.”

“My gym will bear the cost of the repairs, this small matter is of no concern to me. I myself had commanded Dewgong here to destroy one of our platforms, have I not? Blaming you for doing the same would be the height of hypocrisy. No, the reason I am speaking to you now is for a different matter. This is the very first time a fire type specialist has come this close to defeating me.”

The man revealed a triangle shaped azure colored badge taking the form of three droplets superimposed on each other and presenting the badge for me to take.

“But… we lost?”

“Not all gym leaders require their challengers to actually beat them in battle. As long as the trainer in question impresses us enough, we are free to award them the badge regardless of outcome. You young trainer have demonstrated sufficient skill that’s why I am honored to present you this Rain Badge congratulations.”

I quickly grabbed a hold of the badge before the man had time to reconsider his decision. As a matter of fact, I knew about this ruling but I hadn’t expected to be a beneficiary to it myself. The odds of this happening to any of the hundreds of trainers participating in this year’s circuit was miniscule. Far above us up on the stands the people who had by this point found out what was happening started giving both me and Juan a clamoring ovation. The school children especially seemed fired up by seeing me win my sixth badge.

“Great going! Fire types aren’t so bad after all!” 

“Did you see Juan’s Dewgong break the platform? And it’s so cute too!!”

Somehow becoming soaked by rainwater hadn’t put a damper on the audience’s spirit. On the contrary it seemed like they enjoyed the cooling effects of Rain Dance after being exposed to the effects of Sunny Day twice in a row. The only exception to this rule was Roxanne who had somehow found the opportunity to don a generic yellow raincoat to keep herself dry.

Both me and Juan hoisted ourselves out of the now emptied water battlefield with a retractable pool ladder which was helpfully thrown down by the ever dutiful Sebastian. Once I found myself back on higher ground Juan saw fit to continue our conversation with Marlon and Roxanne sitting close enough to overhear what was being said.

“In exchange for satisfying battles like this one the gym customarily sets aside one technical machine from our collection as a reward. Although I am quite sure you will find no use for them considering your specialization. Marlon will guide you to our storage room where you may choose any one item to take with you.”

‘Any one item!? From the fanciest gym in all of Hoenn? Rich people really are a different breed!’

“Thanks a lot leader Juan!”