“I have witnessed the return of a long lost Emperor of the earth, and heavens willing I shall bear witness as he ascends his rightful throne once more,” Rocky intoned, as the Rhyhorn surrounded us in a half circle, all eyes on the brown tyrannosaur. “We wish you good fortune in your journey, young ones, and shall keep an ear to the pebbles for your accomplishments.”
Gaston gave a regal nod, acknowledging their tribute and blessing. “Thank you, brothers of the quartz, sisters of the granite, friends of the marble. I shall perform to my utmost to attain the mantle of rock, and ascend to my rightful place. Rock and stone!”
“ROCK AND STONE!” The group shouted in unison, before heading on their way back to the ravine.
Chad waited for them to clear the town limit before motioning to his two companions to follow. “Going a little overkill on the whole ‘Reincarnated King’ bit aren’t you?” He asked, as the three trudged toward the pokecenter.
“If thou did not wish to recruit my illustrious self, then thou shalt not have unearthed my tomb amongst my people.” Gaston rebuked, somehow managing to walk with an ingrained regality.
Leaning in towards Chad, with a hand to cover her mouth, Ginette whispered in Chad’s ear. “Is he going to talk like this the whole time?”
“How would that even make a difference? Didn’t you Galarians adopt that pompous way of speaking as your primary dialect?”
Gaston, visibly frustrated, halted his march to stink-eye the frog. “Is she always like this?” He inquired, his speech now absent the pageantry. “I know the Galarians can be oddballs, but in my time they were rather pleasant folk; especially my counterpart across the channel.”
Chad chuckled as he walked past. “Sometimes; would you believe we met at her poetry recital? Since then she has been a consistent source of chaos and mischief .”
Chad was the first to enter the iconic red and white building, with Gaston close behind, and Ginette trailing in third while loudly arguing the intrinsic cultural value that came with overthrowing an established monarchy. Her image was not helped by the fact that nobody outside their party could hear any counter-arguments.
The nurse manning the counter, in the spirit of a true professional, didn’t even blink when Chad placed his trainer ID on the counter. Nor flinch when his speech device buzzed: [ROOM, FOR, NIGHT]. With a nod, a swipe of the card, and several keystrokes, she slid his ID back and smiled. “Luckily we have a room available, 214. I trust you know the rules?” She supplied, returning the fire type’s nod with her own. “Then have a pleasant evening, and come visit the desk if any members of your team require medical care.”
Ginette and Gaston were up the stairs before Chad could even react, as he slowly ascended behind them. “Finally, a decent night’s sleep,” he prayed to himself.
Ginette lost her balance slightly, leaning against Chad for support. Gaston fell over completely and puked, earning a mirthful laugh from the frog before she reflexively covered her own mouth. Reassuringly, Chad rubbed gentle circles on her back, until Ginette was standing upright on her own. Chad chuckled lightly, “At least these are only small ones; I wouldn’t wish that two year one on either–”.
“TWO YEARS?!” Ginette yelled right in his ear, as Chad shoved her away from him to let his hearing recover.
“Ow,” Chad huffed as he gently held his head, covering both ears from possible oncoming auditory attacks. “Yea, two years. Thankfully the worst you’ll have to deal with is probably a single day or two. Though I’m interested to see how you two handle the loops and resets.” Both looked at him inquisitively from the ground, as both steadily found their footing and attempted to shake off the phantom pains from the day.
“Why do you hate cyclists?” Chad asked, as they approached the pokemon center. “Let me guess, did one of them slam into your car while you were parked in a bike lane?” Chad jested, the context seemingly lost on his two compatriots.
“Must we stay with the peasants? For someone of my stature surely more lavish accommodations would be available, no?” Gaston asked his team leader, drawing a weird eye from a few of the nearby pokemon. Chad kept his eyes forward, as if he hadn’t heard anything.
“Votre Altesse, if these lodgings are not to your standards, allow me to escort you to your own private, luxury room,” Ginette flourished with her dignified response, a small bow in deference to the Tyrunt. Gaston’s smile was beaming, broadcasting the appreciation she showed for his plight. There was a click, as she smirked and aimed the pokeball at the shocked dinosaur; she laughed as he collapsed into a red light and vanished into his storage capsule. “Please enjoy your stay here, we will notify you via room service when it is dinner time.”
Once the duo reached the front of the line, Chad offered his trainer ID and hit the ‘speak’ button on his trusty device. [ROOM, OPEN] it buzzed, as a few nearby trainers took notice of the odd sight.
<”Unfortunately we are fully booked for tonight, but we do still have some storage space for any pokemon in need of medical attention,” the nurse offered, swiping the ID in his computer.>
Ginette gave a two-fingered salute before returning to her own ball, allowing Chad to hand both hers and Gaston’s to the waiting nurse. [COLLECT, FOR, DINNER] his device buzzed, as the nurse nodded and returned his ID. He did his best to ignore the outright stares, moving to the center’s computer bank to secure an open one. The whispers and discussion were getting increasingly louder, as he navigated to the gym’s online portal to register for a match, with the soonest opening being in three days. A quick check of his email account found the confirmation of the appointment, but no emails from Emeric. Typing up another report on the fantastical device, Chad could feel the burning attention on him and kept the message quick.
“No, it’s fine. At some point you’ll need to stop covering for me,” Chad whispered, logging out of the computer. With a deep exhale, he spun the chair around to face the room. Greeted by a crowd of young trainers and pokemon, a bead of sweat began to form behind his head. “Though maybe take over if they get too pushy-” he remarked, before the onslaught began.
“Where’d you learn to do that?” / “Can you read?” / “What else does that thing do?” / “Can you teach my Ratatta to type?” / “Where’s your trainer?” / “Who’s his trainer?” / “I challenge you to a battle!” / “Why are you acting like a human?”
The last one was higher-pitched than the others, coming from a small hermit-crab with a rock for a shell on its back, standing beneath the crowd of trainers. Leaning forward, Chad addressed the Dwebble first. “Why is what I’m doing only for humans? I’ve met pokemon who like to dance, pokemon who love to sing, and pokemon who love to create works of art. Humans do those too, but that doesn’t make those things just for humans.” He leaned back with a shrug, both hands raised and palms facing the sky. “Just because you’ve only seen a human do something, doesn’t mean only they can do it,” he supplied, as the revelation seemed to blow the small bug’s mind.
Sliding off the chair, Chad slung a strap of his backpack over his shoulder, attempting to do the cool walk-off towards the front desk as the incessant questions followed behind him.
Entering the crowded cafeteria, dozens of sets of eyes found their way to staring at Chad again, as he made his way to the community fridge. Gaston, perturbed, voiced the invasive question at the fore-front of his tongue. “Must we dine with this lot? Can’t I just eat in my room?”
Ginette held her gut laughing, as the pokemon in the room went from watching Chad in fascination, to glaring at Gaston in disgust and anger. “Oh, my petit empereur, you are as quick to isolate your allies as you are to speak your mind.” With an apologetic wave to the crowd, and a smile that read as ‘please forgive my grandfather, he was raised in a different time’, Ginette forcibly guided her teammate towards the cooking area.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Any preference on dinner?” Chad asked, taking stock of the available ingredients. Gaston opened his maw to respond, only for his request to be muffled into grunting when Ginette quickly closed it for him, while shaking her head ‘no’ to the chef. “Great, meat and salad it is then,” the lizard exclaimed, pulling a large pan from the shelf, and several vegetables alongside three sizable cuts of raw red animal protein.
“Oh for the love of– Again?!” The lizard complained, as a confident Grant stood across the field.
Chad slid off his backpack and called out Gaston inside the trainer box. “OK, listen, all I want you to do for this first attempt is just watch and learn, then start planning because next attempt you’ll be going first,” he explained to the dinosaur, who was caught flat-footed as Chad rolled his shoulders while walking forwards onto the field. The standard-size battle field was a flat top of dirt, with several rocks and boulders strategically placed around at irregular intervals.
“First, let’s see how hard he hits,” Chad whispered calmly, slowly walking towards his foe.
Chad kept walking, determined, right up until the boulder hit his face head-on, with a massive bone-breaking crack echoing through the stadium. The rock, having transferred all of its kinetic energy into the target, fell to the side. Chad fell forward, as his smashed-in face decorated a head that seemed to dangle from his neck in the wrong way. Several audience members screamed, Grant went pale in fright.
Shit.. shit, SHIT! FIX IT! FIX IT! FIX IT!
“Fucking– Did you just kill me?!”
Chad, still holding Gaston’s ball, tightened his grip and nodded to the referee.
<“Then on the count of three, please send out your first pokemon and start; one, two, three, begin!” Chad and Grant tossed their pokeballs out, as a mirror match of Tyrunts appeared on the field.>
Gaston glanced back at Chad, his eyes wide in abject terror. “No time, explain later; Haka!” Chad shouted, spurring Gaston to face his opponent and begin replicating the movements he had learned. Coated in an energy best described as ‘royal purple’, the mini-tyrannosaurus rhythmically stomped the ground around him.
<”Don’t think I’ll let you set up just because you only have one badge. Tyrunt, go for a Bite!” Grant shouted, as his partner was closing the gap with black energy dripping from its fangs.>
“Wait for it, then Uppies!” Chad shouted at his own dinosaur, as the comment broke Gaston out of the dance.
Glaring at Chad, Gaston completely took his eyes off the encroaching enemy, raising his own left foot. “For the final time, I refuse to call it that!” He punctuated the emphasis by slamming his foot down, as a spire of earth shot up with perfect timing to punch the oncoming Tyrunt high into the air, the dark energy vanishing from the sudden ascension.
“Fine,” Chad scoffed as he crossed his arms, turning his head to face the audience instead of Gaston. “You can solo the first attempt, as far as you can. Good luck!” With a ‘harumpf’, Gaston slammed the ground again, forcing several stone slabs to rise up and create a protective barrier around him.
After what felt like a whole minute (but in reality was mere seconds), a slab at the front of the pile slid downwards into the earth, revealing an entrance to the makeshift cave with a grinding groan. Within, a pair of eerie golden orbs shone from the darkness, along with the occasional puff of purple flames.
<”Can only hide so long before you get disqualified for inactivity, remember that.” Grant informed them, before raising a fist and clenching it in a pump. “Now, Tyrunt, show him your jaws!”>
Grant’s dinosaur charged headfirst towards the darkness, but just as it entered, Gaston came flying out in a gentle arc over his opponent. Before the enemy Tyrunt could stop and change course, the stone ‘door’ shot up again, locking them inside. “It appears my abilities have not yet flushed out since my revival. We shall work to remedy that in due time, I suppose.” He mused, performing the near-impossible task of snapping his two-fingered hand. The stadium shook as the earth structure slowly sank down into the ground, taking Grant’s Tyrunt with it.
“Do you want me to switch you for Ginette now?” Chad asked his teammate, who snarled at him in response.
“Dare you imply I am invalid or lacking in any such way that I–!”
Gaston barely was able to summon a shield in time, as the rainbow beam of energy collided with the solid rock, coating it in ice. There was a sharp ‘crack’ as a fissure appeared in the monolith. “Now that I am better informed, I believe it would be prudent to give the lass her time in the spotlight.” Gaston admitted, clearly unnerved by his opponent’s ice attack. Chad signaled the ref, and returned the dinosaur.
<”Challenger Chad is using his switch. Challenger, please send out your second pokemon!” The ref announced, earning some light applause from the audience, and mild discussion.>
“Alright Ginette, your turn to shine!” Chad called, as he threw the pokeball into the arena. The blue Frogadier appeared with a flash behind the frozen rock. “Ice and Rock type, don’t get frozen!” He called, as she gave him a thumbs up.
<”Resume!” The ref called again, as the quadrupedal blue dino ran to the side to get a visual on their opponent. “Amaura, destroy their cover before moving in,” Grant commanded, as his teammate summoned several rocks to burst from the ground and fall onto the spire, shattering it.>
Ginette wasted no time, and completed a little jig before zipping off in a blur. As the dust settled from her opponent’s assault, the clouds darkened in the air and rain began to fall over the field. The dirt soaked up the water greedily, becoming a slushy mud; the droplets clung to the exposed rock faces, making them slippery. Rather than just run circles around her foe, Ginette took advantage of the mud, sliding along while performing a variety of graceful poses, as the white normal energy began to condense around the edges of her forearms.
<”Rain is certainly a choice, but also why Amaura is here. Give us a skating rink!” Grant shouted with gusto. His blue dino responded with a yell, the frosty cold energy sweeping the field and freezing the mud into a flat hard surface.>
Without breaking her momentum, Ginette leapt into a spin before coming back down to slide on the ice like a professional skater. Following the display of grace, she gathered a ball of water on the tip of her finger; the ball bubbled and hissed a plume of steam. With a playful wink, the water lanced across the ice, striking the long-neck dead-center.
Ginette, continuing her routine with a beautiful display by leaving after-images during a jump, artfully evaded the electrical shock. With another outstretched arm towards her opponent, three baubles of water gathered at her fingertips. With a flick of the wrist, she rotated her hand to drag the spheres into a torus, gathering power into the compressed shape. “Thank you for letting me shine, petit bleu.” With a blown kiss gesture, the ring flew across the field, oscillating outward and inwards in a pulse.
Working her way across the ice, Ginette closed the distance, another Water Pulse prepared in-hand. “Merci d'avoir participé.” With the words of thanks offered, she blasted her foe with the final attack at close-range. Seeing her opponent down for the count, Ginette turned to the crowd and took a bow.
<”Amaura is unable to battle! Challenger Chad wins!” The ref declared, unleashing a wave of applause and cheers for the artful finish to the battle. With a satisfied smirk, Grant recalled his pokemon, then stepped towards the audience side of the field, walking to meet with the ref and challenger.>
Ginette, skating back towards her team, earned a smile and thumbs up from Chad before he recalled her. Grabbing his bag, the Charmeleon had to hustle over to keep pace with the human’s large legs. The comical sight earned a few laughs, but lots of enthusiasm for his effort.
<“In addition, for your fine display of trust and skill, I present to you this fancy geode to remind you of just how beautiful something can be given the right time and pressure.” From his fanny pack, the gym leader pulled out a pokeball-sized orb, with a smooth shiny surface, and a swirl of colors inside that seemed to move as you watched. The mixture of purple, silver, red, white, and gold was mesmerizing.>
With a bow of thanks, the spectators gave one final round of cheers as Grant led Chad towards the exit of the arena. “Not sure where you found that Tyrunt, but I’ll certainly be watching out for videos of him in the future,” he commented just loud enough for the lizard to hear. “Though, from what Viola sent me I was secretly hoping to see you take the field.” He lamented, as the two passed through a hallway and into the front lobby. Chad opted not to respond. “Thanks for the match, Chad. With your historic showing, I would be amazed if you didn’t place highly in the conference at the season’s end. Keep climbing!” His parting words were supportive, and on-brand, as the hiker returned back to the arena deeper within.
Releasing his two teammates, Ginette was bouncing with excitement and glee, while Gaston appeared pleased but still worried from earlier. “Alright, congratulations on your win you two! You managed a perfect sweep; nobody feinted on our side, and we only had to reset that time I went first. Great job!” Chad gushed as he pulled them both in for a hug.
“I would’ve preferred to face the barbare, but a girl has to make do sometimes. Also, I tried doing that dance you taught me, with the blades? But while I felt stronger, it didn’t seem to carry into my attacks?” Ginette bubbled with energy, leading up to her question which belied a misunderstanding.
“Ah yea, Swords Dance only affects physical moves. You’ll want to get into practice using it in case you pick up any physical moves in the future. The water dance at the beginning, that boosts all your water moves; but you can only really do it once,” Chad explained, likely parroting those details from the pokedex. Nodding as a child would, Ginette then returned to practicing elegant poses, shooting around the area.
Gaston looked to the ground, chewing over something in his head while Chad simply waited. Scrunching his eyes in resignation, Gaston bore the weight of his attention upon his team leader. “You died.” He stated as a fact, to which Chad nodded. “I watched you die, right in front of me, and then suddenly I was back in my ‘room’, as if the past minute hadn’t happened.” He rattled off, using air quotes for emphasis. Chad nodded again, silent and patient, Gaston’s jaw going up and down as it sought the words he wanted to speak. “Can I die? Can we… die?” The brown dino asked, horrified at the implications.
Raising a finger to the sky, Chad nodded sagely. “Lesson learned, loud and clear.” He intoned before dropping his arm. “Any other questions, Gaston? We can cover what I know, who I am, or a myriad of other subjects.” Chad offered, as Ginette returned with opportune timing.
“Ooh, how about more ‘secret moves’? Or what the next gym is like? OH! Can we stop for a spa day at some point!?” She launched her rapid-fire inquiry, earning a belly laugh from her team leader.
Fire Fang
Bubble, Quick Attack, Water Pulse, Rain Dance, Swords Dance, Water Gun, Double Team, Scald
Bite, Stomp, Rock Tomb, Dragon Dance, Hone Claws