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    There were plenty of power lines hanging from transmission towers on the way to Stahlotoh City. Rotom had been trained to carry out information much more efficiently over in Blawsth than back home, zipping throughout. There were mines too, dug into the high hills with carts running rampant. Machoke and gurdurr carried tools for the miners working a sweat, as they wore black rubber body suits with masks hung low around their necks. It was bizarre to see–Miley and Jake had told me that in this part of Blawsth, stones carrying high electric energy could be found on the route, deep underground! They were called elego ore, but the fieldwork was dangerous…the gasses seeping through crevices below were hazardous enough to send you to the hospital if you stood there for over a minute, so that's why some of the miners wore masks.

    Those weird masks reminded me of a Phanpy with its trunk split in half. They filtered the air and used high forensic lenses to help detect the rocks…but they also looked a little creepy! Just the other night, we came back from dealing with a trainer who was looking for the Pikachu Guy everyone kept talking about (spoiler alert, it wasn't me!) and needed to find a place to set up camp. Some girl came out from one of those mines, a little farther than mainland operations though, and she had the mask on. I thought it was a new pokémon, but it looked a little tall and too humanoid, so it scared the heck out of me! She laughed and told me it was just a mask…then she asked me to battle.

    They say that Shafter wore the same mask, but mostly to hide his face. Some say that he was just shy, and few said he hid a scar. Years ago, he worked as a technician in a war, so most likely at some point, he ended up getting exposed to combat and that's what happened (they commissioned him for the rubber suit anyways…). And some claimed that since then, they never really saw his face. Others say that it was way worse than that, and since most likely he was working with other scientists outside of his field, he might have accidentally got exposed to dangerous pokémon toxins before (and as that one guy from a Pokémon Center put it, "It's actually a virus and it spreads every year, taking more of his body as he slowly turns into a Pokémon one day, and soon he'll be like a Parasect and will scatter this disease to everyone in the whole world!)...

    That theory was soo farfetch'd that I'd eat my hat off if it was true! These days, he occasionally oversaw mining operations in Stahlotoh, so many believed instead that there was an incident a couple years back involving his Pokémon, a Dyakord, getting exposed to one of those stones they mined and it went supercharged! He tried calming it down, but they had to put him in the hospital alongside Dyakord as one of his sons had to go run the gym. So despite him being an extremely skillful electric-type trainer (some say one of the best in his field when not testing league opponents), this event probably ended up being so bad that it did leave some damage across his face. Gosh…I could never imagine a Pokémon like Pikachu shocking me that badly…so it was best that we stood clear from the mines, for now.

    Toshinmac, though…he may not have been an electric-type Pokémon, but man, didn't I feel like a Wheezing while training him. I almost felt like vomiting sometimes after a heavy battle–why me? I hoped those rumors about the Pikachu trainer didn't escalate to Toshinmac too, because that last trainer I had to fight was terrified. Though, there hadn't been a battle he lost yet under me, it was all double V's like a Wingull's wings under the sunset. Mostly because I never forfeited since coming to the region–besides, I didn't find a good work around for why I had to end a fight. Sucking it up was all just part of the training, right? I just had to endure…ugh.

    What the hay! I had to keep my spirits up, I couldn't let this whole thing run around my brain, zipping along by. We rested by a few boulders, just outside the city gates as Doragin hopped up to peck me out of my daze (and hat!). That little bird, Doradin, already evolved and was ready for battle, but it was weird having to plan this one out. I hadn't bothered to catch another Pokémon while traveling. I didn't know why, but I just never felt the need to. Besides, I thought it's best to let my match play out and see what I was working with; watch if it went out with a bang or not (otherwise, I would consider some things).

    Once we entered the city and checked out a hotel though, we had to take a rank placement test first to see what sort of trainers gym leaders had to challenge. They were ranked from H to A, with an additional S for star ranked trainers. This was all tested privately and as complete newbies, Jake and Miley were placed on beginner H, but the letter could step up if they got another badge. They tested me next, but specifically Pikachu, who had flanked the competition and stayed consistently strong while in Blawsth. They did a background check on me…and I got goosebumps as they pulled out a laptop and typed my name out.

    At first they were going to bump me all the way to B, or even an A, but then I tried explaining that my Doragin wasn't experienced enough to be ranked so high and that I had another Pokémon with me who was around the same, strength-wise. They tried pressuring me into admitting what Pokémon this was, but then I tried explaining that it was an Institute secret that can only be trained within gyms, which they understood and placed me in an E rank instead. Not that bad…not that good either.

    There was really a weird power balance here…and this was all so exhausting to think about too. I laid across a bed in our hotel room while Miley and Jake were out with Shinji, trying to find a Pokémon nearby before we could schedule a gym appointment. Blawsth's league was just so organized, you couldn't fight them up front, ugh…

    I was surprised though. "Hey Pikachu," I said, cheerfully in a quiet tone. "Can't believe we finally made it here."

    He was on the coffee table, drawing some dumb doodles on a few complementary notes with Doragin. I couldn't believe those two were slowly finding peace together–I thought the peck battles would never end. "Pika-pi," he said excitingly as they both ran up with their paper!

    I sat up to look at what they drew. Haha, they both made little drawings of me! "Wow, I love you guys!" I was pretty impressed with Doragin's–so many colors…Pikachu's was good too, since when could he draw?

    "Door-ah!" Doragin said promptly as it held its drawing up.

    "Pika, pika!" Pikachu tried emphasizing, holding the drawing even higher.

    "Dori, dory!" They both started shoving each other, trying to get my attention…

    I stood up, and took both of their drawings. "I think they both look great! I gotta hang this up on the fridge back home…" They finally shook paw and wing as I put the drawings into my bag.

    Somebody just zipped his way back into the room though. "Ooh, we're drawing trainers today?" the Reaper asked, closing the door.

    "Yeah, they drew me. Why're you back so soon, Shinji?"

    "Jake's taking too long, kid–he's been at that Ausgabby for ages! And, well, I can't stick around in one place for so long." He zipped away and started doodling. "Anyways, speaking of–since we finally have a moment to talk alone, I need to bring up something I forgot to discuss at the mall."

    "Mall?" Hm…when was that again?

    "Over at et Grimoire, ammani. Remember the cards you each pulled?" He grabbed another note, sketching some more.

    "Hm…" Clover, heart, star, oh no… "Yeah, what of it?" I continued.

    "I think once you link the two and two together, we both know where that Dragon Pokémon flew to, ammani." he said as he finished doodling what felt like his fifth drawing.

    "And, man…I think you might be paranoid." He did that zippy thing again, grabbing a magazine from under the TV cabinet and rolled it–zipping all the way back to me just to hit my head with it… "Ow. What the heck was that for?"

    "I'm serious. It'll only be a matter of time until he finally admits to it, and like I said, shinevok, we're going to need all the training we can get."

    "Shinji, for one day, can I not worry about this?"

    He zipped back to the other bed as he pulled another magazine from the shelf. "Of course, amanni. I'm just warning you. And we all love a little warning. Time just flies right by when we're having fun." He flipped a page, and showed me an advert for a circus act in Blawsth for me. They all looked like a bunch of gloomy clowns… "And I bet that's what you lost before you came here, correct?"

    "What did you say?"

    He went back to his magazine. "What I'm saying is that you and I aren't that different. We both wanted something to end, correct? Boredom, we kill time to end it."

    "Huh?"

    "One day you'll learn. I hope you learn…Those were some scary things you said to Jake that day, be careful…"

    I got out of my bed and put my hood and cap on, I didn't have time for this cryptid crap! "I'm going to see the others." I said as I put the rest of my gear on.

    "Have fun, then!" Shinji went back to drawing with the pokémon, disturbingly well.

    I walked out of the hotel, and I gotta say, this city was pretty noisy. All I heard as I went about was the clank and clatter of the machinery, horns howlering as factory workers tried working overtime, and a whole crowd in front of the gym, which happened to be right next to one of those factories! They were all chattering about…something.

    "What's going on?" I asked one of the trainers there.

    She turned around. "You just missed it! That guy with the Pikachu just walked out…They said he beat Shafter three times in a row!"

    "Against his full team too! Getzoot, getzoot!" another added.

    "Wait, is he still around town?" I asked quickly.

    "Oh, no! He just went off on his motorbike, that beautiful thing…"

    "Ugh!" Well, there went my freaking chance…again. In another town I passed by on the way to Stahlotoh, they all said the Pikachu guy wiped a high ranking C trainer so bad, that he quit the league challenge altogether! And I still missed him!

    I continued my way towards the city gates, hopping off the rocks towards the duo. Jake was still battling that small Blawsth reptilian pokémon… "Yeah, Jake! Make Looney plummet that thing to the ground, whoo-hoo!" Miley cheered on with Gothita.

    "Miley, chill out! I'm throwing the ball at it now!" He launched it, and it teetered once, twice, stopped for a second... "Come on…" Jake begged, and the pokéball closed! He ran to pick it up, almost stumbling onto some gravel. "Yes, yes, ye-heh-es! I've been trying to get that thing for the last hour! " He ran up to show it to me. "See, see! Ashy, what do you think of it?"

    "Cool! I bet you want to show Shafter a thing or two about using electric Pokémon, ey?"

    "Uh-huh!" He stood there for a second then turned around to put his ball away. He started scratching his neck then turned around. "Um…So, Miley! Where's your Pokémon?"

    "Eh? I don't need one!" It was like her plans completely changed within the course of a week, like she scrapped the idea of catching something entirely.

    Usually, I'd be all in for a trainer willing to uphold standards, but…this wasn't one of those times. "Miley," I replied back. "You do need one–I mean, unless you want to place the match with Shafter another time. You read Cianna's message: Narwahmmie's not going to like his pokémon."

    "Pssh, and what of it? I got that horn trick down, Ashy! Besides, you've seen how Gothita's been training? We're gonna win this!" She raised a fist into the air, already acting like a rockstar…

    "You got bigger guts than me, that for sure…" As we walked back to the gates there was a Murkrow flying around again… "Hey, is that thing following us?" I pointed out.

    "I dunno…" She had her arms crossed behind her neck as she turned to Jake. "Hey, isn't it too early for murkrow to be up?"

    "Yeah, you're right. What's the deal with this guy?" Jake pulled out a ball and tried throwing it at the building the bird stood still on. He missed and missed again, as it flew onto another building… "Gosh darn it!"

    We headed back to rest, awaiting our match...

    The moment arrived. I woke up earlier than the others and decided that it was about time that I took a shower. I needed to freshen up, be lively, and be ready for Shafter when I beat him!

    I stepped inside the shower as I forgot to set the temperature a little higher, so the water felt like a freaking blizzard running down my back! Gosh, I hadn't felt this sort of shiver in a long time...freaking inconvenience. As I adjusted the key, that stupid freaking laughter was kicking back up again!

    "Shut up. I can't see you, so I can't hear you." I was about to get the shampoo into my hair as I saw something written over the vapor collected on the glass! 

YOU'RE THE ONE?

    I shuddered a little as I wiped it off. "‘Course I am…" I muttered.

    I got out of the bathroom quick, put on a fresh set of clothes and applied those damn bandages onto my arm. No amount of soap could ever scrub those marks off…Sincerely screw November fifteenth!

    I decided to fully rub this entire mood off by making breakfast for the others. "Rise and shine!" I announced.

    "Ugh, already?" Jake babbled in his drowsiness. He got up and sniffed the air. "Ey, Ash? What are you making?" he asked, queasy.

    "Just some eggs with rice, why? My mom makes it all the time–got a problem with it?"

    "Well I certainly do…" Miley said as her face squirmed. "That smells like a Dyakord's fire waiting to, happen…" She got out of her bed to handle it.

    Well, at least it got them up! Even after eating breakfast though, Jake kept acting as wimpy as usual, holding his pokéballs in his hand as we got ready for the big day. "Ash…you think I can win it?"

    I patted his back. "You won't know if you don't try…"

    "Yeah. but…what if my Pokémon aren't powerful enough?"

    "Jake," I sat on the desk. "We've been practicing for days. It's not about power–it's about how you play." I should've known this better than anyone else… "You see Miley? She might be acting a little clueless, but you know what? So was I when I was younger. People did not expect me to win. But, I somehow did it anyway. With really crappy type match-ups and everything! Even then, I still grew from it, learned that some strategies worked better than others, and that I couldn't keep up the exact same challenge forever. So, hopefully, Miley can grow from it too."

    "I think you should say it straight into her face that she will not win this, like, at all." He put the balls onto his belt.

    "We'll wait and see if she does…Besides, if she's not willing to listen to freaking Cianna of all people, then I guess this will be a harsh lesson for her…"

    We went to the gym, all pumped up for some action! It was Jake's turn first and as expected, he jumped slightly at the sight of Shafter. The two bright yellow lights from his mask poke through the dark abyss of his gym. He was wearing one of those rubber suits, like, he just got back from the mines. The battlefield he stood across from was made of only steel with long caution marks laid along the walls as the lights finally flickered.

    The referee, who was actually a robot that analyzed everything through the motion sensors placed on the battlefield, spoke through a megaphone placed over us. "Get into your spots! Any trainer observing must step at least a meter away from the battle field, that includes all Pokémon. The gym match is about to begin…"

    Shafter stepped into place. His mask's filter made his voice sound like he was speaking through an old radio. "You must be Jacob Meyer of Whabick City, correct?"

    "Yes sir."

    "I had a pretty rotten day yesterday, so I aim not to repeat it." He pulled out a pokéball from his pocket. "Let's begin."

    "Commencing random selection…Shafter, it's your draw." the robot announced.

    He threw his pokéball. "Go, Elekid–start the storm!"

    "Go, Ausgabby!" Jake shouted back. The little lizard saw the taller pokémon and hissed back as it scuttled about. Elekid began whirring its arms in response.

    "Daring, aren't we?" Shafter chuckled again. "If you think you can outshock me, I'd like to see you try!" Heh, Jake really thought he had him there with a type advantage? If we knew anything about Shafter, it's that he'd been standing guard of the gym for a long time! Every gym leader's a pro when it comes to what type they chose to focus on, so naturally they knew about every roadblock.

    In this case, it was electricity. Sure, it may have been a difficult matchup for Shafter, but y'know, Pikachu had destroyed countless rock pokémon before. He knew Ausgabby's weakness well…It tried launching a set of rocks towards his Pokémon, with Jake putting on his usual facade of confidence in battles. "How's that, Shafter? Did a Dyakitty scorch the jolt off that sharp tongue of your's?"

    "And did you forget that Ausgabby's not completely impossible?" Elekid cancelled the lizard's next attack, trying to avoid shocking Ausgabby as it sent the rocks back at it!

    They hit each other back and forth like a ping-pong game. Elekid knew some fighting moves too, so it relied on some of those for close combat and destroyed any boulders that were too large to handle. A true master of the offense, Shafter seemed seamless at it! "Don't forget that I've been in the darkest of mines and worst of combat, Meyer!" the gym leader advised.

    "Wow, incredible!" Miley said as she kept snapping pictures with her Dex. "They weren't kidding when they said to go after Shafter first. I bet he's impossible at any other rank!"

    That's when Elekid grabbed Ausgabby by the tail, shocking it profusely. It was too much electricity to contain, rendering the lizard paralyzed. "What!" Jake shouted as he almost pulled his hair out.

    "Ey! What did I say? Impossible!" Miley commented as she snapped as many pics as she could.

    "Believe me, Miley, you haven't been in enough battles." I inputted. "Shafter knows that Jake's not as tough as he thinks he is…" Oh, man…and he was already freaking out too…

    Jake launched a cheri berry at Ausgabby, but he shouldn't waste such items already. Any reasonable trainer would let their Pokémon keep pulling through, but Jake just had to get his Pokémon into a ball before it fainted. It was his biggest flaw. Even with practice battles against me, I could always see the desperation on his face whenever Pikachu managed to knock his team out. I didn't blame him, I guessed some people weren't used to it.

    He swapped Ausgabby out for Ponyta before it could finish that round. It got a good burn on Elekid, but in return, it got paralyzed. Jake hesitated on swapping out again as Shafter sent out a Plusle, but thankfully, Jake let Ponyta pull through. However, Shafter noticed this pattern, taking a cue from the young trainer's face.

    "What's wrong, boy? Can't let your pokémon handle all this static?" he heckled. "If you can't handle this match, you can not handle the rest of the competition. Do you not have enough confidence left in whatever is inside those balls?"

    Jake growled as he said those last words. "Destroy him, Looney!" he shouted, sending his last Pokémon out.

    "Glad you've made up your mind! Go, Klinswarda!"

    Kilnswarda was like an Octillery strapped into a suit of armor. It wielded its hammer all around but failed to get over Drifloon's loftiness. Jake got a little creative as he thought back to when we had to run those Poocheynas off. He got Looney to merge that gust of wind into a full on thunderstorm, brushing it back to Shafter's side as they successfully got Klinswarda stuck in its own attack, getting it paralyzed!

    This was it, and I was hoping that he'd figure out a strategy for himself! Jake smiled at this. "Now, use Hex!" Oh, he'd been waiting for the perfect time to use it! The move to end all moves, taking advantage of Klinswarda's paralysis.

    The robot analyzed it all. "Klinswarda is unable to battle, making Drifloon and its trainer, Jacob Meyer, winners against Stahlotoh's gym challenge!"

    Shafter simply shook his head as he dug into his pocket, and walked towards him. "Good call, here you go."

    Jake returned Looney and held onto his pokéball tightly, mumbling something under his breath. He looked up at the man as he gave him the badge. "Oh! Mi grati," He smiled back. "Hope you don't mind another challenge, though!" he said, putting his hands on Miley's shoulders as they traded spots!

    "Um…Hi!" she greeted, nervously.

    "Actually, I was planning on sending my Pokémon to rest for a bit before I challenge her. I suggest that you do the same thing, boy."

    We made a quick visit to the Pokémon Center. While Miley and I ate chips we bought from a nearby vending machine, Jake looked at his Pokémon being strolled away by Nurse Joy. He sighed as he slumped down on a chair beside Miley, laying his palms against his head as he leaned against the table. A Chansy rubbed his back.

    "Tough day, ey?" a Nurse nearby asked. Jake took notice.

    "Yeah…Hey, Nurse Joy, do you ever get any severely injured Pokémon you can't heal?"

    "How injured?"

    "Like…Barely left standing…"

    "Oh…How injured were your Pokémon?"

    "Just some paralysis, but I'm worried about letting them fight any longer…" he irked.

    "Hey, I've been through tough moments over the operation table myself, but if I can tell you one thing, it's that the average Pokémon is extremely durable! Most shouldn't worry about a thing, but if there is something you should know about, we'll notify you." she reassured him in high hopes.

    Another Nurse ran past her. "Quick, it's the news! Jensen might be on!" she informed her.

    "Well, duty calls!" She pulled a lollipop from her pocket and left it on the table. "I hope you have a great rest of your day!" Nurse Joy ran off with Chansy, trying to keep up.

    Jake unwrapped the candy. "Well, I guess today isn't so bad…" He smiled a little before putting the lollipop into his mouth.

    "Why didn't she give us lollies?" Miley complained as Gothita tried hard to nab that thing from Jake.

    "Well…I guess we'll ask again once all of your Pokémon go down too!"

    Miley sighed. Then she felt a beep from her Dex. "Ah-ha! We'll see Jakey. We'll see!"

    We ran back to the gym as Miley got the message. Shafter was there, down at the factory waiting for us. "Mila Storm of Mahtverin City, howdy. I hope you're prepared, that was quite the shocking face you had on the sidelines."

    "Hwah? No, I–I was just so astounded by how stupid Jakey was!" She looked back at him, rubbing a heaping pile of dirt and trubbish towards his foot. "You really thought he hadn't seen that Ausgabby trick? Come on…And Looney at the last second too? Be happy you didn't squawk along like a little Torchic, shinevok…"

    "Torai, torai! Shut up! You're less prepared than I am!" Jake got his hand on the fencing, shouting, "Hey, Shafter! This girl only has two pokémon, one being a one-trick pony! I bet this will be easy pickings for you!"

    "Eh?" Miley lowered her voice. "Jake, you just have to ruin everything!" She held her fists and started speed walking towards him and I swore her braids would come alive to choke him at any moment.

    Thankfully, Shafter stepped in. "Hey, no fighting on the sidelines. You can plummet him outside the gym, in a pokémon battle, of course." He pulled out his pokéball. "Though, he does make a good point! Brace yourself, Mila!"

    The computer operated. "Commencing random selection…Mila, it's your draw."

    She already had the ball in her hand. "Go, Gothita!"

    I bet Shafter smirked under that mask as he said, "I hope it knows how to bend steel! Go, Magnemite!"

    "Argh…" Miley growled.

    Ever since that match with Orkasha, Gothita did nothing but make sure it brought out the best out of its psychic abilities. In its freetime, it would try its very best to pick up a pebble with its mind, even if it's just a little! I asked Shinji his opinion on it, and despite not being able to get a full answer, he knew deep down that Gothita seeked a special sort of power.

    It had this power within too, and it was up to Miley to find the trigger for it. "Now, short circuit it!" she commanded.

    The Pokémon managed to briefly pause the static with its psychic abilities, which went the extra mile! Only briefly, it won that round, in critical condition. Still, it was a massive victory for both Miley and Gothita–it worked!

    As it went to the sidelines for a quick potion spritz, Shinji was having a casual conversation with it, without getting Shafter's suspicions. Gothita was determined to win the whole thing. "Hm, worried about Narwhammie too, ey?" Shinji whispered to it.

    "Goth!"

    "Go play your cards then…" Hm, play cards…he always said that exact phrase to all our other Pokémon. What were they all on about? Or was it just his favorite saying to do well, just plainly wishing luck?

    Shafter wasn't so kind in the next round as his Voltorb rolled all over Gothita. It was a horrible matchup and no amount of psychic energy, at least currently, could stop it. The rolling that was–Gothita could still play mind games with it as it secured this round with a perfect Confusion hit! Voltorb imploded on itself, rolling into its own Self-Destruction!

    Shafter was left impressed again, but he wasn't done testing Miley! "Go, Dyakord!" he sent out. Out came a Pokémon that looked like a Meowth covered in soot! The cord on its tail was all fired up…

    Miley's Pokémon tethered a little until it tried getting back in place. "Gothita, try your best…" she pleaded.

    "Aye…" Jake muttered. "Gothita's gonna flank at any moment. Miley's doomed if she has to use that pony."

    "Oh, but I doubt she's going to have that tough of a time with Narwhammie," Shinji tried adding. "If she manages to play her cards right…"

    "Huh? How's that gonna work? Narwhammie's gonna turn into ash before Ash does…"

    "You think I want to go into a jar someday?" I questioned, seeing past his crude joke.

    "Well, must be better than being that skeleton seeing Mr. Colt each day…" He chuckled.

    "Hm…Good point."

    "That's odd, kid. I thought you'd be the type of guy to return to Tortera's earth," Shinji thought about it a little. "That is, unless somebody manages to throw that urn outside…"

    I couldn't believe that even though we were joking, we were literally talking about how I'd realistically end things! Ugh…and my turn was going to come up soon. As Gothita fell before the first attack could hit it, the time to use Narwhammie arrived.

    Shinji put a lot of faith into that Regenerative Horn shtick while Miley…not so much anymore. She gulped as she sent it out. Shafter was laughing under that mask as Narwhammie was sent out. "It may be a little too early to call my bluff, depending if you've mastered the Regenerative Horn ability! This will be interesting!"

    "You know, if she could get it to step into a puddle of water, she could definitely have the upperhand at it." I suggested.

    "Oh, I bet you're waiting to get into that ring, ey?" Jacob remarked.

    "Hm, I guess so!" It had been so long…The first major match of the season! I was already stretching in preparation alongside Pikachu–being psyched wasn't enough of a word to use…I felt exactly like those jolts of lighting on the battlefield! I just needed to get this Toshinmac-and-Arhemigku-Spade-Game nonsense out of my head!

    And bless her luck as it seemed that Miley read my mind and got that cat soaking wet. She even made Narwhammie use the puddle as a quick trip up as Dyakord slipped across and knocked itself upside down! Shafter was a little more prepared than what we all anticipated and avoided using electric attacks as Dyakord bit into Narwhammie's torso!

    "Hah!" he laughed.

    It wouldn't let go as it threw the Pokémon onto a wall, and we all thought that'd be the end of it…That was until Narwhammie lit blue! Its limbs grew long as it resembled its fire type counterpart a little more…

    "Prewhammie?" Miley said in glee! The tables had indeed turned on Shafter…

    "Ya' see, kid? Nothing to worry about, I knew that guy was going to grow up soon a long time ago!" Shinji explained to us.

    "Trample that cat, now!" Miley demanded as her newly evolved Prewhammie launched its horn towards Dyakord, jabbing it upwards as it jumped high to trample it, making it paralyzed! One more stomp under the hoof and it was begging for mercy!

    "Dy! Dy! Dy!" Prewhammie stopped as soon as it started talking.

    "Dyakord is unable to battle, making Prewhammie and its trainer, Storm, winners against Stahlotoh's gym challenge!"

    Miley ran towards the battlefield. "Yay! Prewhammie, I couldn't believe it!" She hugged it tight. "Thank you, Gothita would be proud!"

    Shafter shook his head and pulled out the badge. "Here, I was not expecting all of that."

    "Thanks, Shafter!" She swiped it off his hand.

    "Now, if you could just let my Pokémon rest a little...I'll finally deal with them." He pointed at me, then at Pikachu. "Ash Ketchum, ey? You know, I had to deal with another trainer with a Pikachu recently too…I heard so much about you from some Kanto colleagues of mine, and I have to say, it's impressive how a trainer as sky-high as you are managed to squirm his way into Blawsth's E-rank. I wouldn't be surprised if you've raised these trainers yourself, am I correct?"

    No way… "You're spot on."

    "Hm, very impressive. Rookies usually aren't that prepared when they step into my gym. I see a bright future for those two." Jake and Miley got giddy over that comment, and I was morbidly curious as to what Shafter had left to say. "I've adjusted my team especially for that pesky Pikachu of your's…So be ready. I'll be too–from what I've heard, you're quite unpredictable." He walked back into the shadows.

    I thought about what he said back there, sky-high to E-rank. He didn't know anything about me, did he? With the way he spoke to us, he should've been using psychic-type pokémon…As we went back into the Pokémon Center again, Jake's pokémon were already fully healed. Ponyta was surprised to see Prewhammie, looking at it head to toe!

    "Ponyta, it's really starting to look a lot like you!" Miley pointed out. The two Pokémon nuzzled each other.

    "Hm, yeah. Except it still has that stupidly huge horn…" Jake replied back.

    "Well, I think the horn only adds to the charm."

    "Better watch out, Miley…That horn isn't going to last long…" Shinji warned.

    "Oh yeah? We'll see. Besides, I bet it'll actually make for a pretty majestic Marwhammie next!"

    My Dex beeped and Shafter was ready again! I sighed. "Already?"

    "What's wrong, Ashy? I thought you were all fired up like a Moltress for this one…" Jake asked.

    "I am, I just didn't expect him to answer so quickly!"

    "Ah, must be because he dug into your past a little…That Pikachu is pretty powerful and it'd be super unfair if all the Gym Leaders thought that you were just some newbie passing through…" Yeah, the word rookie hadn't come across my mind in a long time…We went to the Gym for one last time, and I couldn't be any less psyched. Shafter was already there at the elevator door, waiting for us.

    "Ashy, Ashy, Ashy…tsk, tsk, tsk…" He shook his head. "From what I've calculated, you'd actually be a rank B, or even close to an A here…Let's make this quick."

    "Oh, you bet it'll be quick! Show me what you got!" I demanded, as I got into my place and stretched my arm a little as I picked up Doragin's pokéball.

    "Computer, I'll let my opponent take this one."

    "You got it, Shafter!" it replied back.

    I took a deep breath before I threw my pokéball. "Doragin, I choose you!"

    "Hm, Doragin, an excellent choice. Go, Rotom!"

Geez…it was hard getting a scratch on that thing. It zipped over and under Doragin, all around before even a single leaf could cut it. Even then, it'd pulse out some electricity to cancel the attack!

    We practiced this scenario against Pikachu before, but at least Doragin had a chance of catching up to him! But this thing? Small, sporadic, simply jolting with energy. Doragin's legs couldn't outrun it, and even without it being a flying type, Rotom could still shock it with enough vigor to put it down.

    Doragin wanted to finish the fight though, to make up for all those hours of training. It saw Pikachu watching from my shoulder, wanting to prove that it could be the best like no one ever was. I never had a Pokémon dedicate so much effort into this in such a short time. It proved to those testers that it was a cut above the rest, but I guess in Shafter's gym, the only thing getting cut was its leaves into a million different pieces.

    One last shock, and it was over.

    "Doragin is unable to battle! Please select your next Pokémon." determined the computer.

    Shafter snorted out a chuckle. "Eh? What was that? I expected better from you. Well, whatever…I bet that Pikachu of yours can handle my Rotom in one go, ey?"

    I looked down at my partner, who already charged straight into the battlefield. "Yeah, finish that thing! Show me what you're made of, Shafter!"

    He smirked. "Are you sure about that? How much do you want to bet, boy?"

He took the challenge. At this point, my ranking became obsolete as Rotom decided to zip faster than Shinji ever could. It moved in a flash–I swore my eyes were going to fly off! No more play fighting, though. Pikachu only got more frustrated, and serious! He put Rotom's little shockwaves to shame, over-fuelling the zippy ghost until it was bouncing off walls like crazy! Pikachu managed to hit an Iron Tail at the right moment, timed perfectly as Rotom hit the floor, fainting.

    "Well, well, well…" Shafter clapped his hands. "Well done. Barely anyone can hit my Rotom when it starts acting like that. Except that other freaking kid and his stupid rat. Anyways, I won't stall…Klinswarda, hit ‘em good!" He threw that ball hard as Klinswarda came with that massive shockwave again, but…only harder! "I'll admit, this isn't the same one I used on Jacob. It's one of my own personal aces… "

    Both Pokémon jumped about, trying to dodge one attack after the other! Just as they met face-to-face against one another, Klinswarda grabbed Pikachu's ear and dragged him down as it hit its hammer against his body! He was paralyzed on impact as Klinswarda hopped onto a wall, and started spinning like a Sharkpedo towards him! Oh, and its hammer, this was going to be way harder than I thought.

    "Quick, Volt Tackle!" I managed to get him to speed up before that hammer could hit him! The paralysis took control again, but at least he was safe while the hammer viciously hit the wall instead.

    Klinswarda accidently drilled the hammer against and struggled to pull it out. Shafter creased his eyes under that mask and shook his head again. "Overshot…"

    While the hammer was still stuck to the wall, Pikachu got up, and tried zapping out as much electricity as he could out of his body. It was important that he never got overcharged…so it was better if all that energy attacked the enemy instead! While Klinswarda tried pulling its hammer out, a sneaky shot was set. It got zapped as it fell to the floor, leaving the hammer free for anyone to pull.

    I thought quick. "Grab the hammer!" I shouted!

    It was an odd command…but Pikachu agreed to it anyway. He ran as fast as he could, hitting Klinswarda with an Iron Tail as it tried getting back up, launching it to the other side as he pulled the hammer out and held it high! Now…how could we use it?

    Charging the hammer didn't work, neither did holding it in a specific position. And that Pokémon got furious as it supercharged towards Pikachu!

    "Just throw it already!" I commanded, hoping it'd knock Klinswarda out or something!

    Pikachu launched it back, and it did scratch it. Klinswarda still had a grip though, and as the hammer returned to its master, that mallet was bouncing with so much energy that it couldn't contain itself…Klinswarda presented the shockwaves to end all shockwaves. Pikachu was fried as the battlefield flashed a bright yellow, almost blinding me!

    "Pi-Pikachu…" I stuttered.

    "Pika…pikachu!" he said as he charged and launched in for one last Volt Tackle, sending Klinswarda out of bounds! The mouse suddenly shook to his knees, and fell onto the steel floor.

    "Pikachu!" I yelled, running in as I held him in my arms.

"...Pika…Pi…"

    Klinswarda fainted with its mallet rolling off its arm, just before Pikachu shut his eyes. "Klinswarda and Pikachu are unable to battle. Please select your next pokémon."

    "Eh…" Shafter tried determining. "Technically, you win this round?"

    I ran back to the others. "Quick, somebody take him to the Pokémon Center!"

    "I'll take him!" Shinji volunteered. I looked back at him, then back to Shafter.

    "…You wait here for a second!" I instructed him. I ran back to the arena to plead. "Please, can you hold up the match a little longer? I'll be back soon, I promise!"

    "Hm, I will…Come back in fifteen though." he answered.

    "Thank you!" I ran right alongside Shinji and told him explicitly, "Don't use your powers right now. We need them for later."

    "Oh, you're planning on using me?" he asked, as he shoved the doors of the elevator open.

    "...Yes. Shafter has one more Pokémon left…we'll have to endure."

    "Endure?"

    "I'm an E-rank trainer, I don't think he'd expect more from me after that one." I gripped my fists. "At least, I hope he won't. Either way, he doesn't know what I got left," I smirked. "So you're perfect for whatever he has next, you can bet on it!"

    "Hm, seems like a plan I can agree on, if all goes well." He saluted me, as we were back to surface level. "I will not fail you, ammani." He lifted a brow. "Just make sure that you know that you're doing the right thing, because–"

    "Yeah, I know, I know. You can't tell me anything in your real form. You can trust me though!"

    He looked a little nervous as I said. We kept running down the street and we barged into the doors of the Pokémon Center, sending Pikachu and Doragin to the front desk. "Please take care of them, especially Pikachu!" Shinji begged. "He took a real dirty hit in battle! Anyways, we gotta go, grati en buh-bye!" We ran back, hoping the timer wouldn't fail us, but then stopped for a bit as I tried catching my breath. He turned back at me, oddly cautious as he asked, "Kid, you really want to do this?"

    I wiped the sweat off my face. "Positive. I won't let Shafter dig any deeper than he already has! Now, get behind that alleyway!" I was going to win this.

    After he morphed, we entered the building again. Jake and Miley looked back at us, with their brows creased before one whispered something to the other.

    Shafter stood there with his arms behind his back. "Oh, so you were bringing another one! What kind of Pokémon is that?"

    I answered this like how I would with anyone else who asked this question. "Just a buddy. Where's your's?"

    "In here," he said, pulling out his last Pokémon. "Anyways, perhaps I've gone too harsh at you, and you really are just an E-ranker after all. I'll be honest, Ketchum, I just wanted Pikachu out of the way…So, here's a stalemate! If the Pokémon you've brought in here can defeat this one I have next, you can have the badge. If you're not satisfied, then we can always set up another battle."

    Hm, nice change of heart! "I'll take it! Who's up next?"

    "Dyakord."

    "Alright, get on the battlefield!" Okay, this should go smoothly.

    My heart started beating already as the kitten made the first move, charging forwards to grab onto one of Toshinmac's white ribbons! Too slow! The Jester slipped by and did his Acrobatics around the little cat, reaching in for a strike!

    He pulled out the scythe in his back as Shafter's eyes widened. "It has a weapon!" he shouted hysterically! Dyakord's tail sparked up, but it got its paw stuck to the point of the scythe! "Toroklin!" he commanded…

    Toroklin…That word was a quick method of letting your pokémon know to find an opening in times of dire danger–any sort of advantage counted too. It also meant evacuate. There was a news report we watched the other week about a small hut burning near the Yujoh mountains and firefighters kept shouting all that and "evok". It was actually a pretty recent word added to the Blawsth Regional Dictionary a few decades back, evolving from the word "torai", which meant to shut up these days, but also to never look back at the battlefield. The reason for this was that in a few wars back, near the homeland, they needed an easier way of getting the message across to fight back but still be left standing.

    Which meant Shafter viewed Toshinmac as a threat. Heh. Dyakord decided to move its paw, scratching itself from under the scythe and tried grabbing its claws onto the small ridges of the weapon instead! Toshinmac tried waving it around, which made it fall off midair.

    "Dig deep!" I demanded.

    While still in the air, the Vicious Imp of Blawsth swiped up for his signature combo attack! One, two, three, four swipes in a row! He crawled backwards as the little kitten fell splat onto the floor!

    Ough! Toshinmac stared at me. What? Are you worried? Sure, I felt like a mess and wanted to throw up, but I was fine. I hadn't felt this excited since my last real match. "Now, finish it!" I shouted.

    I spoke too soon. Dyakord got up and started running, charging! I didn't get it–Toshinmac could try dodging with ease if he wanted to, but he wouldn't budge. Dyakord ran straight to his face. It got its claws on him and shocked and shocked. This wasn't good, this wasn't good at all! "Throw it!" I demanded. I could feel my energy slowly wane, but the fight, it was just getting started!

    He struggled to get it off, with his face twitching in multiple crooked zigzags. When he finally did, we effectively decided that Dyakord was getting sent back to the pound! Shafter had other plans. "Dyakord, that Pokémon is nothing without its scythe! Get rid of the scythe!"

    He figured it out. Shafter was up to something again, and I intended to foil this plan of his! I could already feel the sweat collect in my palms as I gritted my teeth. He was going to get Dyakord on the scythe again, and either event after wouldn't be good, on me! Toshinmac was about to pull out the scythe again and test our luck.

    "Drag it into the ground!" I shouted the moment the cat made contact with the weapon.

    Dyakord couldn't get off the edge of the blade as Toshinmac dragged it across the floor with it and into a wall! The Pokémon, a little dizzy, struggled to land on all fours as the Twisted Jester held his scythe and shot the kitten onto the other wall, leaving a dent too! The battle, against Dyakord at least, was through…

    The computer made its draw. "Dyakord is unable to battle, making undetected Pokémon and its trainer, Ash Ketchum, winners against Stahlotoh's electrifying gym challenge!"

    "Now I really want to know what that thing is!" Shafter asked. "Dyakord, return!"

    "...Like I said…Just a little friend." I thought for a quick second until I decided to open my mouth again. "Hey, Shafter!" I shouted as he was about to search his pockets. "Don't give me the badge until I beat another Pokémon of yours!" This battle went way too quick, just when the fun was about to get started…

    "Right now?" he asked, a little nervous…

    "Hey! Like I said, give me everything you got." Toshinmac looked back at me and that grin looked more like a sad, pathetic frown… "Come on!" I challenged him. "Just one more round!"

    "Alright, if you insist. Computer, extend play to one more round." He stood back in his place.

    "You got it Shafter! Commencing…Bonus Round!"

    "Ash, you don't have to do this!" Jake shouted from behind.

    I turned my head back at him. "Just let me have this one."

    As Shafter held the pokéball in his hand, I spotted that eye underneath the right lens of his mask. He didn't just sound nervous, he was nervous! I chuckled under my breath as I taunted. "Hey, Shafter! You wanna know what Pokémon I have?"

    "What?" his voice cracked under that filter.

    "To-shin-mac." I grinned.

    "Toshinmac!"

▶TO BE CONTINUED

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