Chad immediately frowns in disgust. “No.”
Lucario, confused, looks towards the fire type mid-bite. “No, what?”
Chad grumbles, pulling up his talk box and attempting to gain the female trainer’s attention. [ALLERGIES, ANY] the device buzzed, to which the gym leader shook her head. “Good, I’ll make us something more appropriate. You two can socialize.” Chad remarked flippantly, as he yanked open the fridge and began to collect various items from within.
Sensing the opportunity, Gaston and Ginette clambered onto the table’s seating, with Ginette softly shoving the dinosaur over to the seat opposite Korrina while she claimed the one facing Lucario. Giving her best expression and pose from practicing yesterday, Ginette made her move. “Bonjour mon amour. Truly fate is kind, for her to arrange that we cross paths again so soon.”
Lucario choked slightly at the sentence, before quickly composing herself into a short chuckle. “Oh, fate was it? I find that sometimes fate and coincidence can be one and the same.” She rationalized, taking another bite of the protein bar.
“And yet, as I prayed to meet the beautiful lass who stole my heart that wondrous day, I now find myself in her presence once more.”
Korrina eyed the pair before glancing to Gaston for clarification. The Tyrunt rolled his eyes before making a kissy face. Korrina tried not to laugh, a small splatter of milk flying out her nose in a puff. Now covered in air-propelled food and liquids, Gaston departed from the table to clean up the mess. Behind them all, Chad continued to work at the provided cooking station, as several omelets began to take shape on five separate pans.
“I will admit, you have definitely gotten stronger since then, but can you truly have gotten much stronger in just under two weeks?” Lucario asked, pointing the mostly-eaten affront to food at the frog.
Ginette, flexing her muscles slightly, beamed at the blue jackal. “Compared to how I was? I would call myself an entirely different woman. Stronger than you? I couldn’t say without a point of reference. But…” she trailed off, letting the sentiment linger a moment to draw in her target audience. “Maybe after breakfast, we can réparer that?”
With a smirk, Lucario shoved the remainder of her ‘breakfast’ into her jaws and swallowed after a minimal amount of chewing. “Done; shall we?”
“Tut, tut, tut!” Ginette wagged a finger back and forth in time to the sounds. “I would hardly call that a breakfast. While we may both be désireuse, believe me when I say it is worth waiting for this.”
With astute timing, Chad serves the first two plates to the table’s waiting blue ladies. The steaming golden pillows complimented with a side of gently toasted hash browns, with speckles of salt and pepper decorating the still sizzling potatoes.
“You needn’t have intervened; I am certain I could have dissuaded her from such an uncivilized action on my own, merci.” Ginette commented dryly, as Chad placed the next two plates before Gaston and Korrina.
“Forgive my eagerness for our spar, Princess. Though after that comment it appears I should teach you what it truly means to be ‘uncivilized’.” The jackal warned, as Chad finally pulled up to the table with his own plate.
Gaston, despite having only his jaw to displace anything, still managed to eat his food with an unusual level of regal grace and composure. Korrina, after battling with her own inner emotions (and sampling a bite of the plate placed before her) had shoved the cereal aside and quickly dug in. Chad ate slowly, his eyes always scanning the room, seemingly weary of any other trainers showing up to interrupt them.
“Now, with that taken care of, I would be naive to think you did all this for charity, or a match with my Lucario.” Korrina began, leaving the question unsaid as she stared down the fire type. Hands on her hips and a few feet taller than him, the gym leader was using her imposing stature to extract a confession.
A few quick button presses, and Chad’s trusty device buzzed an answer. [NEED, HELP, WITH, KI] he inquired, holding up his left hand and letting the brown energy flare to life before he released it immediately after.
Korrina laughed. “Coming to the fighting gym leader for tips on fighting moves, it’s so normal I didn’t see it coming!” Chad seemed to relax a bit more as his shoulders fell at the comment. “Sure thing, let me make a call to borrow a pokemon to help out.”
“What is it you hope to learn?” Gaston asked once the woman was out of earshot. “While the martial warriors indeed have a large swathe of various attacks, I doubt all will be available to you.”
“We,” Chad stressed, “would be served well if she can teach us Bulk Up and Detect. Another setup move would be good for the two of us as physical brawlers, and the defensive option would be helpful in avoiding extremely dangerous assaults.”
Gaston thought over the words, watching as Korrina made a call on one of the pokecenter’s public kiosks. “You are still thinking so far ahead, I worry you may have blinded yourself to the immediate situation.”
The short call ended with the human retrieving a pokeball from the device, and carrying it over to the waiting reptiles. “Alright, this is Luca, he should be able to help with whatever questions you may have.” Her statement is punctuated by the flash and formation of another Lucario, this one seemingly more experienced than the other.
He crossed his arms with a confident smirk. “So, you kids managed to earn a personal tutoring session? Props, though depending on what you want to learn, I may decline.” His attitude was cocksure and unwavering; almost enough to make the duo falter.
Psyching himself up, Chad stepped forward. “We each need to learn something different. Gaston would benefit from some coaching on Bulk Up. I would appreciate it if you could help me with Detect.” The blue canine sized them up with a nod.
“Solid choices. You sure you wouldn’t rather try for a Force Palm or Aura Sphere?” He teased, generating the sky blue orb in an open palm.
Chad shook his head. “We only have an afternoon, so I wanted to keep it simple.” Releasing the Aura Sphere, Luca shrugged before glancing back at Korrina to give her a thumbs up.
Leading the way towards the exit, their temporary mentor began to outline a plan. “Bulk Up is pretty straightforward, you just have to surge your muscles with Ki and flex so hard they get bigger. Detect is going to require a more hands-on approach.” He explained, as the four strode out onto an open practice field.
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Off on another field, the original Lucario was also providing some hands-on guidance, helping Ginette into a better fighting stance. The field around them already had markings of battle damage, but it was unclear of the outcome. The two gals were quietly whispering questions and answers as the amphibian slowly made minute alterations to her posture.
“Aston, why don’t you go practice off on the right with Korrina; that way Chaz and I can focus on his request.” Luca waved dismissively to his right, leading Chad towards the other side of the rectangle.
Loosening up his muscles, the blue dog boy bounced in place while warming up. Chad began to try and do the same, keeping an eye out for any sudden moves. “So, what do I need to do?”
“It’s simple, Chet—“ / “Chad.” / “—you just need to flood your senses with Ki and let your body react without you thinking about it. And during that time, I’ll throw some probing attacks your way until you can dodge them on instinct.”
Chad, weary, began to concentrate, as the brown energy flickered. First forming on his hands, before eventually shifting to his head. It seemed overkill, but with his whole head coated in the light brown energy, Chad watched Luca intently. “Like this?”
With a surge of speed, Luca leapt forward, his right arm shooting forward in a punch aimed at Chad’s head. The lizard didn’t even have time to react, but his head shifted to his right, narrowly avoiding the attack. His eyes widened in surprise, as Luca slowly retreated. “Good. A little excessive on the usage, but it seems to have the basics at least. Now, Chris, let’s see how long you can keep that up.”
While Chad continued to play the “Let's not get punched in the face” game with Luca, Gaston was receiving several tips from Korrina’s observations of his attempts. “You’re getting the hang of this really quickly, just keep doing small amounts so you don’t tear anything by going too hard.” She supplied, as the dinosaur seemingly iterated through increasing amounts of Ki and flexing across his whole body. “Now, as for the third–” Korrina cut off, as her head spun around seeking the blue duo. They seemed to have vanished from the field somewhere, thus she could only shrug.
“I suppose that’s as far as you’ll go in an afternoon,” Luca began dismissively, not even breathing very hard from the exercise. “You still have a long way to go to catch up to myself, so don’t stop practicing, Chuck!” Chad gave a thumbs up, panting heavily while sprawled out on the ground nearby.
Gaston, despite being worn out, soldiered on as he and Korrina rejoined the others. The small dino offered Chad back his speech device, while also helping the lizard to stand up. “For not being fighting types, I will admit you three have the spirit of it. You’ll be challenging my gym next, right?” Korrina asked, with Chad now sitting upright to face her. With a slowed series of taps, the black rectangle buzzes a response, [YES, SOON].
His eyes wide open, Luca snatches the device from Chad’s hands. “Oh, and what is this?” Chad, exhausted from the training session struggles to stand up; his face fraught with terror. “Hmm, does it make sounds when I press–” Luca begins, pressing on a button and immediately cratering the device before it splits in half. Plastic and electronics fall from the two pieces, as a puff of blue smoke escapes from the shell. “Oh, it seems it wasn’t very strong; shame. But it’s for the best; only a Lucario should be able to communicate with humans–”
Korrina quickly recalls Luca to his pokeball, slowly casting her gaze to Chad. The Charmeleon was completely frozen in shock, barely moving enough to gather the fragments and pieces from the dirt. Out of guilt, she attempted to help gather up the pieces, biting her lip while a flurry of thoughts clearly flew through her mind. Chad, seemingly desperate, whispered softly. “Narrator, please… please tell me you can undo that…”
“But you rewound time, all the time! All my fights, whenever things didn’t go our way–!”
Ginette’s shoulders drooped, her voice despondent after the rapid series of events. “I guess that’s the end of my warm showers for a long time, huh?”
“Sorry,” the remaining Lucario apologized. “I know my boyfriend is a bit self-centered, but generally–”
“Wait, tenir bon! He’s your BOYFRIEND?” Ginette shouted, glaring at Lucario accusingly. “You lied to me?” The burgeoning argument attracted Korrina’s attention from the cleanup, her face scrunched in worry. “So, what, est-ce que tout ce que tu m'as dit était un mensonge?!”
“No! No, I really meant everything I said. We just, we aren’t really like… you know?”
Ginette moved away from the blue jackal, towards her teammates. “Expliquez-moi, car je dois être un idiot colossal pour ne pas avoir remarqué les signes.” She was facing the pokecenter, her back to both groups as she shrunk in on herself.
“Look, we had our fun. I loved it; you’re a competent battler, you’re entertaining, but unless you become one of Korrina’s gym pokemon we weren’t really going to be seeing each other more than once or twice. Did you really think we could be anything more?”
Ginette said nothing, her true feelings suppressed and inaudible below the gusts of blowing wind through the nearby trees. “Gaston, J'ai besoin d'un peu de temps seul, s'il te pla?t.” She requested, as the brown dinosaur nodded. Fiddling around with the belt to detach the ball, he returned her and re-attached the ball to their belt, gently laying it atop the rest of their belongings over on the side of the field. Lucario looked crestfallen, before her own trainer recalled her as well.
“This… was not what I was planning– or even thinking could happen.” Korrina said, as Chad simply sat on the ground with the remnants of his miracle device in his claws. “Can it be repaired, or replaced?” Without looking away, Chad scratched out a phone number in the nearby dirt.
Korrina dialed it using her holo caster, listening as it rang three times before the other side answered. “Hello?” The male voice responded, uncertain and hesitant.
“Hi, this is Gym Leader Korrina of Shalour City. One of my pokemon broke a device, and its owner gave me this number to call about fixing it?” She responded, eyes darting to Chad who was now leaning against Gaston for physical support. “It was a medium-sized black rectangle that they could type on and produce words..?”
The voice on the other end of the line was quiet, though she could hear background noise; maybe they were having a conversation with someone in the room? “Miss Korrina, I regret to inform you that the device in question was a one of one prototype. It cannot be replaced and, depending on how it was broken, may be unrepairable.” A silence hung both in the air and over the call. “From your lack of response I take it the device was severely damaged. Short of giving him a psychic pokemon capable of telepathy with humans, I do not believe there is any way you can make this up to him. Please convey my condolences to Chad; it really was a revolutionary device.” Korrina promised to convey the message before ending the call.
Turning towards the two pokemon, she takes a deep breath, and exhales. One seems concerned, the other practically frozen in existential crisis. “I am deeply sorry. I will try to make this right, somehow…” Gaston nudges Chad, breaking him from the stupor. There’s a moment where she waits, while the two have a hushed conversation, before she watches Chad dig through the bag and pull out… his badge case?
The orange lizard points at it, at the empty third slot where her badge would go. “No, I can’t just give you the gym badge. Even if you probably would earn it based on what I saw today…” Chad shakes his head, then points at the case again, and two fingers at her belt. “You… want me to use Lucario and Luca for your badge challenge?” A nod. “They’re a little strong for a third badge challenge; are you sure?” Another nod.
She seemed to consider the idea, cognizant of both the oddity of the request, as well as just how badly Luca had made the situation. “OK, I think I can agree to that. And to sweeten the pot, if you defeat them, I’ll teach you about Mega Evolution. Deal?” Chad tilted his head in confusion, eyeing her expectantly. “Oh, guess it isn’t very common yet. Mega Evolution allows a trainer to supply extra power to a pokemon, letting them take on a temporary form. This form often has more power, and sometimes changes the pokemon’s types.” She explained in the simplest terms.
After a moment, Chad nodded, holding out a claw which Korrina promptly shook. “I’ll make you an appointment when you arrive. See you soon!” She waved, hurrying off on her roller skates to escape the situation her pokemon had created.
After she was out of sight, Chad reached for Ginette’s pokeball and forcibly brought her out. “So, let’s talk revenge.” He started, as Gaston perked up and Ginette pretended to still be brooding. “If our opponents are Luca and the other Lucario, we can plan for that, plan how to beat them, and feel better in the process.”
“I have a feeling that you two will be handling this?” Gaston floated, as neither of his teammates denied the suggestion.
“I think we need to share notes a bit,” Chad started, eyeing his two teammates. “Gaston, I’ll need you to tutor me in Bulk Up. Ginette, I’ll try to give you a crash course in Detect. Did you learn anything we can use?”
“I learned that I still had enough of a heart left to have it broken, again.” She responded immediately, bringing the mood down even further. “Je suis désolé, that… I learned Protect.” Her eyes were red as she wiped something away, turning to face her two teammates.
Chad nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder in reassurance. “That’ll help all three of us. With that in mind; lets try and spend the rest of the day training these new moves, and set out for Route 11 tomorrow?” Gaston and Ginette nodded in agreement.
I feel like I let them down with this…
Ember, Dragon Rage, Blazing Charge, Sunny Day, Dragon Dance, Rest, Agility, Calm Mind, Rock Smash, Fire Fang, Detect, Protect, Bulk Up, Hone Claws, Flamethrower
Protect, Detect, Substitute, Dark Pulse
Bite, Stomp, Rock Tomb, Dragon Dance, Hone Claws, Rock Smash, Bulk Up, Detect, Protect, Dragon Tail, Ancient Power, Stone Edge, Rock Slide