Chương 28: Chapter 23

Instead of asking Drake to drop me off at home, like I had yesterday, I got him to bring me to Alyssa's apartment. Honestly, I could barely muster up the concentration to ascend the stairs to my best friend's two-room rental, but I'd promised Pikachu that she'd get to see her partner after a long day's training, and I wasn't about to break that sort of oath. As I knocked on the door, I could practically feel the sparky Electric-type vibrating on my shoulder.

Sure enough, as soon as Alyssa's aging housekeeper opened the door, Pikachu was off like a shot, blasting past the old woman towards her partner's bedroom.

"Mrs. Peters, it's good to see you," I said with a genuine smile. Wilma Peters was one of the few members of Alyssa's old household that she didn't hate with a passion. To hear my best friend tell it, she had practically been raced by the beneficent woman. She was getting on in the years, but the housekeeper wore them well. Deep laugh lines and a certain wiry strength spoke to a life well-lived, and while her hair was starting to thin, I hadn't seen any signs of the woman slowing down.

"It's good to see you too dearie," she told me, her voice warm and inviting.

"I hope that rambunctious Pikachu didn't give you too much trouble."

"I think she was as well-behaved as could reasonably be expected," I said diplomatically. Judging by the way the gray-haired woman winced, she understood what I meant.

"Well please, come in, dearie. There's some food leftover from dinner, if you're hungry," she gestured for me to enter inside, but I hesitated.

"I wouldn't want to impose," I told her, politeness warring with the knowledge that there'd be no food waiting for me at home except what I prepared myself.

"Plus, I need to feed my partners." Mrs. Peters's expression grew shrewd.

"Well what a coincidence, you see, I made far, far too much food for poor, recovering Alyssa and her partner. It would really help me if a strapping young woman and her Pokémon made sure none of it went to waste." The ploy was as transparent as it was effective.

"If you really don't mind," I finally conceded, following the chuckling housekeeper into the apartment. Not much had changed since I was last here, six odd months ago. The foyer and living room were mostly bare, save a few coats hanging limply from some wall pegs and a small flat screen TV resting atop a media station, tinier even than our place's aging CRT. A comfortable recliner that I knew only Mrs. Peters sat in faced the device, which was currently showing what looked like some sort of Kantonian soap opera.

The whole space was clean, almost obsessively so. Some part of that was Alyssa, who I knew to be fastidious in her own right, and the rest was maintained by Mrs. Peters' expert hand, scoured such that it was impossible to find even the barest hint of dust. The beige walls were bare of any pictures or posters, though a small corner had been set aside for what looked like a steadily growing collection of ribbons and trophies from small-time tournaments and events.

Past that was the kitchen, from which wafted a medley of delectable scents.

"Would you mind helping me dearie?" I heard Mrs. Peters call out from her domain. I found the aging woman pulling a pair of pie tins out of a warming drawer, beneath the oven, cementing my suspicion that we had been expected.

"The young miss hasn't eaten yet. She said that she wanted to wait until her partner was here," the housekeeper sliced a few pieces of pie, causing the delectable scents to magnify dramatically. She placed the steaming pastry atop a pair of plates, and held them out to me.

"Would you mind ever so much bringing these in for her?" I took the two proffered plates, admiring the glistening helpings of pie atop them. They looked incredible. A collection of perfectly roasted vegetables and slow-cooked synth meat all contained within a delightfully crumbly crust.

"And after you've done that, feel free to come back and get some for you and yours," Mrs. Peters told me with a knowing grin. I checked to make sure I wasn't drooling.

"Thanks Mrs. Peters. It smells amazing."

"You flatter me dearie," the aging housekeeper said with entirely false modesty. She knew exactly how good she was at cooking.

"Now go on. The young miss has been waiting all this time, she's probably getting rather peckish." - The door to Alyssa's room was closed, which made no sense because I knew Pikachu had just gone in there. Did the spunky Electric-type close the door behind her? I wouldn't put it past the little rat. A few quick raps with an elbow elicited a, "Come in," from the room's inhabitant, but I didn't have the hand free to work the door knob.

"Can I get some help guys?" I directed down at one of the Poké Balls on my belt. The sphere opened with that characteristic snap/crackle as my knights forced their way out, coalescing into physical space inside the suddenly-cramped corridor. They looked up at me in askance, so I nodded at the door, and then waggled the plates I was holding to demonstrate my current inability. They turned back to the closed door, and Lance barked a couple of orders. They quickly had a stack going, with Lance at the top.

A bit of fiddling, and the door cracked open, allowing me to push the rest of the way inside. Alyssa's room was much as I remember last seeing it. Unadorned, yellow-painted walls were cast in the fading dregs of sunlight coming in from a set of big bay windows. A tidy desk sat tucked in the alcove created by the room's hexagonal aperture, with a silent PC and monitor adorning it. Along with the advanced device were a few notebooks, journals, and pens, all tucked away with pinpoint precision.

Two bookshelves lined one of the remaining walls, inhabited by various titles, knick knacks, and decorations. I knew from prior experience perusing that most of the books were training material and most of the non-books were gifts from friends and school art projects. The other wall was dominated by a huge bed, at least a queen, smothered in lace bedsheets and a half-dozen pillows.

The massive four poster currently had its sheer curtains opened to reveal the bed's inhabitants: one brunette girl, one obnoxious Pikachu, and a veritable army of Poké Dolls in an absolutely dizzying array of styles. One of the bed's inhabitants spoke up, as I pushed my way into the room holding the plates.

"That's funny, I don't remember hiring a new maid," the brunette snarked from her supine position.

"And such a handsome set of butlers," she complimented my knights, as they filed into the bedroom after me.

"The pay was too good to resist," I retorted.

"I'd do worse with more effort for a chance to eat some of Mrs. Peters Meat and Veg Pie." Alyssa nodded, "Understandable. Give me just a second," she started to climb free from her four-poster, only for her partner and I to both object.

"I thought the doctors told you to get out of bed as little as possible," I scolded her, even as Pikachu did the same. I think the Electric-type's argument was the more persuasive, considering she delivered it from atop my best friend's chest, pinning the brunette girl down both with logic and the weight of her own body.

"What do you need?"

"Wilma bought a tray so I can eat without getting up," Alyssa replied with a put-upon sigh.

"It's tucked under the bed. I was just going to go get it." Pikachu did a bit more scolding, and then dipped underneath the four-poster. She reemerged moments later, dragging a wooden tray out into the room. I set the plates down on the proffered tray, and then lifted the whole thing up, setting it on the bed so my best friend could access it. She sighed, but accepted the help, pushing herself up against the headboard so she could sit up and eat.

"Be right back," I told her, before all but sprinting towards the kitchen to get slices for my partners and I. - For the first fifteen minutes, the only sounds in Alyssa's bedroom were the ten of us eating. Mrs. Peters' food was delicious to the point of distraction, and conversation only really started after we'd finished most of the pie. And had seconds.

"So how was training with Drake today?" Alyssa asked.

"Complicated."

"Pikachu." Her partner and I answered at the same time. We both paused, looking at one another. After a few moments, I gestured for her to go ahead.

"Pika, Pik PIkachu, Pika!" She went on for a few moments, with Alyssa nodding along. I wasn't too familiar with Alyssa's partner, even after a day spent training together, and the most I got out of the monologue was a sense of frustration. Alyssa had a much better grasp on her partner's intentions, however.

"Really? Things were that one sided? Even when Mr. Genji wasn't using any of his actual team?" I had to suppress a laugh, "Just call him Drake. I'm positive he wouldn't mind. And don't trust that little liar. I took a few wins off the old man." The spunky Electric-type made a so-so gesture, and nattered on for a few more moments, before I interjected.

"Look, she's not giving you all of the context. Let me explain how the training went." - As I had expected, Drake didn't have any problems with letting Pikachu join us for training, even if the spunky Electric-type was a bit of a handful. She hated being in her Poké Ball, but she didn't seem to enjoy being out on Cutter's back while the massive dragon flew either, so she kept getting me to release and recall her as the moods took her. Still, once we arrived at our destination, she settled down a bit.

The contrary little rat tried to hide it, but I knew she was just as stunned by the sweeping vistas of the Dragon's nest as my knights and I had been. (Yes you were! You have to admit, it's an incredible place). Like yesterday, Marin took Mana aside for independent training with water manipulation. My new teammate was improving in leaps and bounds, and could now keep her little plastic sphere filled with water floating for minutes at a time.

She still needed some more practice though, and I was betting that it'd be a while yet before she was ready to battle. My knights were under no such restrictions, and two attitudes prevailed between the six of them. Tristan, Bers, and Kay were excited for another day of training. They were the three most willing to throw themselves unbeatable opponents with gusto. Lance, Percy, and Galad were more sullen.

They were sick of losing and a bit frustrated by what they seemed to think were the unfair scenarios Drake was putting us in. I did my best to quash that sort of discontent before it could fester into full on insubordination, but I knew I'd need to put in a better showing today than we did yesterday. Warmups went as usual (and don't think I didn't see you struggling to keep up with my knights Pikachu) while Drake quizzed me a bit more on 'basic' battling knowledge.

Things like status conditions, weather/terrain moves, stat changing moves, and Pokémon abilities play a much greater part in standard battles than they do in Ferrum battles, and my general knowledge on all of those topics was sorely lacking. More notes scribbled, more things to research. After that, we went into the practice battles. The first couple put a focus on status conditions.

A wild Drakloak demonstrated how terrifying a burn was for physical attackers, running loops around my knights after striking them with a Will-O-Wisp. In the next fight, the same Sliggoo from yesterday brutalized Pikachu by hitting her with a nasty Toxic and then Wartortling up under Protect and Acid Armor until Alyssa's partner fainted from the poison. We were able to get revenge on the next fight.

I had to do a lot of cajoling and convincing, but eventually I was able to convince Pikachu to use a 'dishonorable strategy,' utilizing Thunderwave and Nuzzle to slow down the same Drakloak with Paralysis to keep it at a manageable speed level. In the end, I think she only listened to me because before she did, the infuriating Ghost kept making fun of her, and her need to win overcame her natural contrariness, but at that point, I was taking what I could get.

Drake retaliated in the next match, however, by directing a familiar Swablu to sing poor Cutter to sleep. From there, the little bird was free to Peck the plucky dragon into unconsciousness. My notebook was almost filled with hastily scribbled observations and barely-legible notes, and I had to break out a new one after lunch, when we went into the next set of battles, where Drake demonstrated the power of some abilities.

As it turned out, most Pokémon had at least two abilities, and with enough training and effort, could learn to display some or all of them. They could also improve the power and efficacy of these abilities with practice and training. The difference was obvious, when comparing the wild Swablu's Natural Cure to the same ability displayed by Drake's Altaria.

While the diminutive bird needed a few minutes to free itself from status conditions, the more powerful dragon could do the same in mere moments, breaking free of Pikachu's paralysis with only a minor effort. A Noivern demonstrated Telepathy, in spite of not being a psychic, which explained how it had been so easily able to communicate with her yesterday.

I hadn't even realized at the time what she was doing, the powerful Pokémon expertly weaving the use of her ability in with her speech to make her intentions clear. Stolen story; please report. I resolved to find out from Abigail what abilities my knights could learn, and to focus on training them to be as effective as possible. I wasn't sure how I was going to do the same for Yowashi, but we'd cross that bridge when we came to it. The final set of matches put an emphasis on stat changing moves.

I did a bit better here, getting my knights to boost their power up enough to break through a wild Shelgon's defenses. Pikachu didn't know any stat changing moves, and had to sit on the sideline (I know that they're not useful for Ferrum battles, but it might be good to have one, just in case you get into a situation where you have to fight and you can't synergize, okay?), but Cutter was quite adept at using Leer to weaken an opponent's defenses, and Scary Face to slow them down, which almost let us overcome an uphill battle against a tricky Noibat, who made so many illusory copies with Double Team that we couldn't land the one move we needed to finish the fight. By the end of the day, I was exhausted, Pikachu was even more tired, and my knights were practically insensate. At least Mana was in a good mood, though she too was pretty out of it after training with Marin all day.

And that brings us to now, where I'm explaining all of this to Alyssa, who's nodding along with my story with surprising intensity.

"I wouldn't have expected you to be so interested in what I'm learning from Drake," I told my friend honestly," most of it isn't very applicable to Ferrum battles." Alyssa shook her head.

"True, but you're getting training from a master Fe. It's the sort of instruction most people can only dream of. Any wisdom I can get from him, even second-hand, could be huge for Pikachu and I's progress." That was– true. It was even a thought I'd had before. I guess after getting to know Drake for a few days, it had sort of slipped my mind. It was amazing, how familiarity could change the incredible and the awesome into something mundane and expected.

"Well maybe you can help me a bit then," I went digging around in my bag, before pulling out the packets of practice questions Drake had given me yesterday.

"These are test questions from some sort of Hoenn trainer exam, for people who are going to work for their Pokémon league, I think. I tried a few of them late last night, and also on the way back from training, and they're tough. Want to go over them together?" We really were two Cherubi on a stem, because at the prospect of difficult homework questions, Alyssa's whole face lit up.

- We spent a couple of hours going over the test questions, flexing our collective knowledge against the scenarios envisaged within the pages of the homework packet. Eventually though, it was late enough that we were both tired, and it was time for me to head home. Before I left though, Alyssa had one final question for me.

"Pikachu wasn't too much trouble was she? I asked her to behave, but I know she can be a handful." My best friend was serenely running her fingers through the aforementioned partners' soft, yellow fur, having apparently lulled the little terror into a relaxing rest. I considered the questions, trying to figure out how best to respond. With full honesty? Or a white falsehood. As I was mulling it over, I noticed a small bit of movement. One of the Electric-type's ears, perking up just a bit.

Maybe the sneaky little rat wasn't quite as asleep as she appeared. I decided to err on the side of generosity.

"She was a bit of a handful," I told Alyssa, truthfully. I'd gotten shocked at least once today, and the spunky Electric-type had never really opened up to me. Still, that wasn't the whole story.

"But when it came down to it, she listened to instructions, even when she thought she knew better, and she put up with some hard training. You've got a good partner Alyssa, and I know you two will go far together." My best friend smiled fondly down at her partner.

"Thanks Fe. We're going to go all the way. I just know it. Nothing's going to stop us." I nodded. After all, I knew Alyssa. When she said it, I knew she meant it. And I believed it too. -"Well you look like six kinds of hell," my best friend laughed as I dragged myself into her room, once again roped into carrying in today's dinner. Pikachu peered up from her position of honor on the brunette's lap, before disdainfully turning up her nose.

I resisted the urge to make a rude gesture at the rat, mostly because I couldn't while carrying two plates.

"I spent some more time last night going over those practice questions, so I didn't get much sleep," And sure enough, I had to suppress a yawn as I got the bed tray set up and put the two plates atop it, "and every time I think I'm starting to get the hang of these standard battles, Drake throws something new into the mix."

"What did he introduce you to today?" Alyssa asked, curiosity obvious in her voice.

"Codes," I groaned.

"Codes? Like, code phrases?"

"Right," I nodded.

"Imagine this: you hear your- - -opponent call for their Pokémon to fire off a Hyper Beam, what do you do?"

"Well, you tell your partner to dodge, or defend themselves, right? Maybe with a Dig, or Protect?" I postulated.

"Right. Of course you do," Drake nodded. He turned to the battlefield, and called out, "Cruiser, use Hyper Beam. Silvette, defend." I turned to stare at the intimidating Salamence, who was currently squaring off against Silvette, Drake's Altaria. I expected to see the colossal Dragon-type charging a massive laser, and for his opponent to be readying some sort of defensive maneuver, but to my surprise, both Pokémon were instead just floating sedately, apparently doing nothing. I turned back to my mentor.

"Uh, Drake, I don't think he hea-" I was cut off by the distinctive, terrifying roar of a Hyper Beam. I whipped back around to watch as an absolutely awesome stream of energy flowed out of Cruiser's maw, a jet-purple beam of pure energy that slammed into a Protect put up by Silvette. The attack bathed the entire mountain peak in a violet hue, and I could feel the heat of the move slamming against my face, as if I was staring right into the sun on a hot summer's day.

After a solid ten seconds of monstrous power, Cruiser let up. The beam didn't peter out or decay, instead stopping all at once as the massive dragon simply closed his mouth. He didn't even look winded. Silvette bore more signs of the intense struggle that had just taken place. She was breathing heavily, and I could see her feathers sagging. My knights, Mana, Pikachu, and the wild Pokémon that had already shown up were all staring, distracted from training and warming up by the awesome display of power.

I turned back to Drake, and I could feel the confusion knit into my brow, but I banished it as quickly as I could when I noticed that he was staring back at me with an infuriatingly quirked eyebrow. Right. Another test. Drake had called for a Hyper Beam, but Cruiser had held off on the move, only using it after maybe five seconds had passed. If Silvette had started using her Protect right after Drake ordered that attack, she probably wouldn't have been able to hold it for the duration of Cruiser's Hyper Beam.

So, 'use Hyper Beam' didn't mean use Hyper Beam. Or maybe it did, but only after five seconds. The idea hit me upside the head. It was a code. Maybe in the specific semantics Drake had used, or maybe in his tone or intonation, something about the order had communicated to Cruiser to hold his attack, and only use it after a bit of time had passed. It was obvious in hindsight. If you knew what your opponent was planning, you could react appropriately, directing your partner to counter their maneuvers.

Using coded phrases, you could prevent your foe from getting advance knowledge on your strategy by listening in on your commands. In fact, I'd thought about using codes myself to help my knights with their maneuvering, but I'd only ever considered it from the angle of getting my knights to follow orders. To battle optimally, every order, every command should utilize some sort of code, some way of obscuring your intention. I felt my face screw up, as I considered the implications.

What it meant for battling in general, and for our future training. I heard guffawing laughter, and turned to look at Drake, who was shaking with unconstrained mirth.

"I never get tired of seeing that expression," the former champion explained between chuckles.

"Every trainer makes it at least once. When they first find some part of battling that they realize is going to be a pain in the ass." I felt my face color, but I couldn't refute the statement. Everything Drake had explained before this had seemed interesting and cool. Things to learn and research to conduct.

Figuring it all out was going to be a lot of work, but it would be fascinating work, learning about Pokémon and their capabilities, and then testing those parameters against each other in an infinite variety of ways. This code thing though– it just sounded like suffering. It sounded like hours and hours of work, sweat, and tears to carve out just a small, miniscule advantage over your opponents. After all, it was already hard enough to react to the other trainer's commands in the heat of battle.

Unfortunately, to be the best, apparently you had to iron out even that minute vulnerability.

"And everyone uses codes in high level battles?" I asked, frustrated. I got a shrug in response.

"Nothing is universal. Shirona doesn't use codes, but she does give her commands in Ancient Hisuian, which is a dead language today. Rei uses telepathy to communicate with her Pokémon, like most psychic specialists, and Mustard barely bothers with commands at all. The crazy bastard mostly just lets his Pokémon go wild." My glare was unamused.

"Those are all just different versions of codes," I accused. Drake had the temerity to pretend to be thinking.

"Huh, I guess they are," he concluded dryly after a few seconds. I was able to keep myself from groaning, barely.

"So what's the counterplay to coded commands?" I asked. I realized as I was asking the question that there was no way I was going to get a straight answer out of my mentor. Still, any small, tiny embers of hope I might have had at getting a clear, straightforward response were quashed by the cruel glint in Drake's eye.

"Maybe, if you're clever, you'll figure it out before the day is done." -"And you didn't figure it out," Alyssa concluded, probably based on my expression.

"No," I growled, "he kicked our asses all day." A frown overtook my best friend's face.

"Hold on, I thought you said that Drake wasn't battling with any of his main team. How did he have codes prepared for the wild Pokémon he was battling you with?"

"That's the Tauros-shit part," I threw up my hands.

"All he needed was like ten minutes with any random wild Pokémon we were training with, and he had at least five coded commands ready for use in a battle. And it's not even like he was using the same ones over and over, they were all different!" Alyssa's face took on a thoughtful cast.

"Well I wouldn't be surprised if Drake has a head for codes. He was a naval officer in the war, after all. Coded messages were probably a huge part of his job," her face screwed up in concentration.

"But that doesn't really explain how he got all of those wild Pokémon to go along with it."

"He was using his syn," I growled irritably.

"That, and a bunch of intent." Alyssa blinked a couple of times, uncharacteristically nonplussed.

"He was using his syn?" she asked, confused. With a start, I realized that Alyssa didn't know about the other applications of syn I'd been learning at the ranger station. For a second, I considered not explaining, but there was no way I could keep this sort of information from my best friend. Besides, if there was anyone responsible enough to use the knowledge wisely, it was Alyssa.

"Yep," I nodded.

"You know syn is an integral part of the bond formed with synergy stones, right? And how it buffers humans and Pokémon from harm?" Alyssa nodded, because of course she knew that. It was common knowledge.

"As it turns out, you can use syn for a whole bunch of other things too," I confirmed.

"Powerful trainers can use it to communicate with their partners even without a synergy stone, and supposedly, some people can use it to make themselves stronger or faster. A rare few can even express it in a way similar to type energy." Alyssa blinked a few times, and I got an inordinate amount of joy from watching her flummoxed expression.

"Seriously?" She asked me, after a few moments.

"One-hundred percent," I confirmed.

"I watched a coworker dull a knife on her arm a few weeks ago. It's not like she breathed fire or anything, but if a mid-level ranger can do that, what can a champion level trainer do?" We both fell silent for a few moments as we considered the implications.

"And intent?" Alyssa addressed the other part of my statement.

"Right. So you know how all Pokémon can understand each other perfectly, even though they're not speaking the same language? Not to mention understanding various human languages?" I saw consideration, confusion, and then realization cross my best friend's face in quick succession.

"Of course I knew that," Alyssa said, almost dreamily, before groaning.

"But somehow I never thought about the mechanics of it. Or about the implications." I nodded.

"I was the same way. As it turns out, Pokémon communicate primarily through intent. The exact sounds they make matter less compared to the meaning they inject them with."

"And people can learn to understand and speak in the same way?" Alyssa asked, cutting right to the heart of it.

"To an extent," I confirmed.

"Though apparently the level varies. Supposedly, some people can communicate perfectly, one to one with Pokémon, though I don't know if that's actually true." Alyssa took a deep breath.

"Wow, okay, that's sort of a lot. But doesn't it also give you your answer right there? If you can understand the other trainer's intent, you can still guess their moves ahead of time as if they're giving normal commands."

"It's not that easy," I groaned.

"Humans aren't nearly as good at understanding intent as Pokémon. Maybe in a few years, if I keep practicing, I'd be able to do that, but there's no way I could learn it overnight, and Drake knows that, so it's not the answer he's looking for."

"I see…" We both fell silent again, sinking into thought.

"What about the Pokémon?" Alyssa asked after a bit. My expression must have been confused, because she immediately elaborated.

"If you can't figure out what they're going to do based on the trainer's commands, can't you watch the Pokémon's body language to figure it out? Like in a Ferrum battle. There's no commands there, so the only way to know what your opponent is going to do is to watch how they move."

"I hadn't thought of that," I said quietly.

"I mean, Pokémon are all so different. How are you supposed to read the body language when it varies so much between species?"

"Experience and research," Alyssa said, grimly.

"The same way you know what moves a Pokémon might have at its disposal, or abilities, or strategies." I nodded slowly.

"So, if I watched a bunch of battles involving the Pokémon we're training with, I might be able to get a sense of how they move before they act in certain ways?" My best friend nodded.

"It wouldn't be easy, but we have a few hours before you should get some sleep. I bet we can find Ferrum battles involving most of the Pokémon you've been training with." We sat staring at each other for a few moments, before scrambling for the PC. - As it turned out, the bed tray was sturdy enough for the weighty PC monitor, though it was going to leave an impression in Alyssa's mattress for a few days. I'd called my mom and told her I'd be sleeping over at Alyssa's.

I felt a bit bad for Yowashi, but Alyssa's room had an attached full bath, so we filled her tub with water to make an improvised tank, and she seemed quite content with that. We spent hours watching a parade of battles involving Swablu, Noibat, Sliggoo, and a whole bunch of other dragons, going over the fights frame by frame, trying to learn the minute tells in their movements. It was just like old times.

I couldn't count the number of times Alyssa and I had marathoned recordings of Ferrum battles over the years, leaning in close to take in every single detail of the displayed spectacle. There was one difference now, though. We weren't watching these battles as kids, imagining our participation with star-struck eyes. No, we were viewing them as battlers, looking for weakness in the competition. I liked the new paradigm far, far more. I could tell Alyssa did too. Tomorrow, I'd have an answer for Drake.

We'd have to see if it was good enough.