Chương 236: Chapter 203

I ignored Pauline's squeals of joy as I leaned back against my seat with an intrigued hum. I'd paid more attention here than Maylene's battle with Maeve because she was actually using Pokemon of my level, and I had learned a decent amount of information from this battle.

Beyond the fact that her muscles tensed or loosened with her mood, the minute microexpressions her face made at different stages of her battles and the fact that she was very emotional when picking a Pokemon to counter yours, there was also the fact that Maylene spoke whenever she was about to go all in and ruin your day. If I knew to anticipate it, I could potentially react to it. And since I knew all of her Pokemon's moves, it'd be feasible to create a counter.

Of course, there was always the possibility of her having hidden techniques I didn't know about, but I couldn't account for those until I was battling. The key approach would be to have my Pokemon survive through one of these tantrums. I already knew that it'd throw her off. After all, she explicitly expected these 'counters' to finish off her opponents in a single hit. She'd told Blaziken to 'finish' off Froslass. She didn't always say it out loud, but it was still obvious.

She'd be rattled and potentially slip up. I was surprised that none of her Pokemon had used Aura at first, but the only ones she'd used in the battle capable of drawing on the power was Poliwrath, and, well, he hadn't exactly been in a state to use it when she released him against Milotic. He'd been affected by every status move under the sun and was unable to move.

Blaziken, Toxicroak, Pangoro and Emboar were monsters in their own right, but they weren't adept with Aura like her Throh, Machoke or some of her other Pokemon were. Still, it's not like she explicitly needed to use it to be a threat, but I knew that if I was going to go all in on frustrating her during the battle, she'd pull out all the stops.

The key was to last long enough to make her realize that I was good enough to compete at that level, and then her thoughts would start to fray and she would start making mistakes. Or at least that's the conclusion I had reached. Gym Leader or not, Maylene was only fifteen.

The pressures of being the youngest Gym Leader, all of the people flaming her online, wanting to be able to stand on equal footing with the rest of her colleagues, expectations from her father who had raised her for the role in mind and selected her for the position, the job of helping run the city— or at least standing in the meetings, possibly information about Team Galactic that I wasn't privy to. I finally understood now. All of that was getting to her.

Her smile after Pauline's battle or when she fought with other people that conformed to her battle style. It was because battling this way was fun for her. It was her only outlet, her only way of exerting a modicum of control in her life and relieving ever-mounting stress, and whenever someone battled in a way she disapproved of, Maylene didn't have fun. That was why she tried to shut it down immediately every time. Not battling as she liked effectively took one of the few joys she had in the world.

Part of me asked what difference would a few battles make, but Maylene knew that the more she was like this, the less likely people were to try to go against the grain. Oh, I did feel kind of bad for her, even if her problems didn't warrant her retaliating against other trainers that simply wanted to improve and get a badge. But what kind of person thought that putting a teenager under so much pressure was a good idea? So much responsibility? Her father was an idiot.

I'd be a fool not to take advantage of her stress by using every tool at my disposal. All I needed was a little push, and she'd break—"... Grace. Grace!" I turned toward Emilia and saw that they were all already up.

"We're going," she said.

"Oh. Sorry."

"Remember to blink," Cecilia smirked. I did so, realizing that my eyes felt incredibly dry as I stood. Getting out of the aisle was easy since it was so early in the morning. Denzel hadn't been lucky scheduling-wise, but he made the most of it with a relatively dominant victory. Milotic had improved leaps and bounds since the Solaceon tournament and I was glad to see that Denzel had adapted to switching up the field to his advantage like Cece or I had.

"When's your battle, Cece?" Emilia asked.

"Tomorrow at two in the afternoon," she said.

"I need to do some last-minute adjustments with Zweilous… but I think I'm ready. He's the lynchpin of my strategy." I raised an eyebrow at that. Typing wasn't everything, but she was bold to use a dark type as her anchor in a fighting gym when she had Talonflame or Slowking available. Hell, even Golett would have been more intuitive. I knew that she had a plan, however. Cecilia wasn't one to not know what she was doing.

Pauline scuttled toward Denzel to congratulate him and he looked more tired than I'd ever seen him after a battle. He was known for his stamina in battle, but it felt like he could barely walk straight.

"She put me through the wringer," he exhaled.

"A lot more planning went into this than I'm used to, and I had to work with her to win."

"Work with her?" Pauline asked.

"You know. Carefully walking the tightrope of not having her decide to wipe out my Pokemon because I used a move she didn't like," he said irritatingly.

"I am not looking forward to battling her next year." I nodded.

"She'll come at you without pulling any stops." I wondered what they'd say if they knew I was planning on ignoring her mood completely. Probably panic and tell me that it was a terrible idea.

"Anyway, I'm gonna get my team to the Center. Keep an eye out for Justin. There's been no videos of him, so he hasn't fought her yet."

"What if he asked for it not to be recorded? Like Lauren used to do?" I asked.

"Well, then we're fucked and he's already gone, but let's keep a positive spin on things." We split up soon after that. Pauline went to her practical flight lessons, and she'd decided to practice with both Charizard and Braviary. Emi went with her to see what flying was all about. Denzel went to the Center and then would get back to gambling, where he'd spend most of his time now that he'd gotten his badge. Cece went off to train like she'd said. As for me? Well, route 214 it was, as usual.

I had a decent amount of time before my media training. —"Guys! Come take a look at this!" I motioned to my team and they all shuffled toward me. Sunshine was taking it easy after his tough fight against that Drudiggon, and he was keeping me warm since today was a particularly cold day. I'd scratch his scales until he fell asleep, and despite him pretending otherwise, I knew he liked it. Electabuzz stood behind me and Princess craned her neck around Angel. Sweetheart yelled that she couldn't see my laptop screen.

"Angel, scooch over— yeah, there you go. Princess, you get on my lap. Leave some space for Buddy. Sunshine, you watch too. You aren't fighting, but it should be of interest to you." The fire type sighed as he opened an eye. I had hastily drawn a rectangle on Paint that mirrored Maylene's battlefield and placed a set of labeled circles at different intervals. There were 36 in total, so seven sets of four and four sets of two.

They were our pillars, and they were all labeled using the letters A to G and the numbers 1 through 4. For the sets of two, I used the letters H to K and the letters 1 through 2. As I'd said, Maylene's side of the field would have plenty of pillars, but mine would have fewer, and it would still leave me with an unobstructed view of the Gym Leader.

"Princess, you're the one that's got to memorize it the most due to your Air Cutter, but it's important for all of you— well, except you, Sunshine. I'll be seeing less than usual, and Maylene's Pokemon will be hidden from me at different points. By using these letters and numbers, you can tell me exactly where they are at every moment, and I can also use them as well. We're a team, so we'll be using two pair of eyes to track her Pokemon. This is the only way this'll work." They all let out affirmative grunts.

"Good, good," I smiled. I clicked a key and the layer with the labeling disappeared.

"So if our opponent's behind this pillar," I said, pointing at E2.

"What do you say to me? Honey, let's start with you." With each Pokemon, I changed which pillar I'd pointed to. Electabuzz and Jellicent got the right answer right away. Togetic got it, but she had to think about it for a few seconds while Tangrowth and Pupitar… well, there was a lot to work on. Not only that, but since the grass type was mute, we'd need to come up with a way for him to communicate. His sign language and blinks wouldn't work in the midst of battle.

I'd also come to the conclusion that I would keep Sweetheart for last instead of first, only for the fact that she'd grown enough in strength to collapse the pillars with Stomping Tantrum, so there were some opportunities there.

"Princess, could you give me an Air Cutter? Pick the direction, I just want to see your progress." The fairy type nodded, not even moving from my lap as the air in front of me sharpened and sliced horizontally across the ground. It was now one of her most powerful and versatile moves, which was a far cry from what she'd been capable of before. Now, if I could get her to redirect Moonblast… This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Good," I smiled.

"Keep working on that control." Hydro Pump had been mastered, Angel's powder moves were better than ever and he'd give a heavy dose of it to any fighting type that approached him. Thunder was a ways off, but Thunderbolt was stronger than it had ever been.

"You guys can go back to training," I said.

"We'll study the pillar layout when we get back to the Center." I scratched the underside of Turtonator's shell as they left, although Sweetheart demanded some pets of her own before she went back to train. I cracked my knuckles and closed my Paint application, opening my browser instead. It was time to go further in-depth than I'd ever gone before. I knew Maylene's Pokemon, their moves, but I did not know Maylene herself. The planning phase was half the fun of the battle, after all.

To see a strategy you'd spent weeks working on come to fruition brought me a feeling unlike any other. I began to type. Hesitantly at first. It felt like I was intruding on someone's life, and I was. But if I managed to pull off what I had in mind? Arceus, would it feel good. And it probably would do her some good to be knocked down a peg too. I couldn't be too harsh on her.

The Poketch Company would get on my back, and since I was going to renegotiate my contract next month to get enough money for Princess' Shiny Stone, I needed them to view me favorably (which was why I was so damn nervous for that interview). I could, however, easily do what I wanted while acting like I had Maylene's best interests at heart, knowing that she would get furious anyway while my image was unaffected. Ruthless as it might have seemed, she was my opponent.

I would come at her with everything I had, both in and out of battle. My eyes scanned my laptop screen as I looked up everything I could on Maylene with my Notes application open on the other half of the screen. Click. Press conference with Cynthia a day ago talking about the recent Team Galactic raids, and another one set for next week. Rising anxiety? Cynthia spoke the entire Conference and Maylene only confirmed her statements. No agency outside of her gym. Click.

Does not appear to have any friends outside of other Gym Leaders, and cannot see them often due to work. Lived a sheltered life away from the media until she was suddenly thrust into the limelight ahead of time when she ascended to her position early after her father remarried and retired. Click. Father has been in Alola with his new wife for the past two months celebrating their three-year anniversary and is coming back in March. Closed down her gym on the day of his departure. Close bond. Wants to impress.

Rumors of her fighting with her stepmother on numerous occasions. Click. Was battling eight hours per day at the start of the Circuit. Has now moved up to ten hours. Since battling is her only outlet, I expect it to be because she needed to blow off more steam. Is continuously working outside one-hour lunches. Mentally fatigued. Click. Complaints about retired/fired Gym Trainers regarding Maylene's attitude.

Despises delegating tasks and tries to work more than she can handle, possibly to impress her Father/other Gym Leaders. Is hotheaded and impossible to work with, leading to an incredibly high turnover rate at her gym. Click. Tends to retaliate by using a Pokemon with the type advantage when she gets angry. Tougher to beat, but easier to predict. Could manipulate into using certain Pokemon. Click — — This was terribly, terribly bad. Denzel's mood had made a complete 180 since he'd won at his gym battle this morning.

It was now later in the afternoon, and he'd spent the entire day at this Arceus-forsaken Game Corner. He was getting tired of the place, but he was still only sixty percent of the way toward his Dratini. The clutch of eggs had hatched two days ago, and he'd seen one in person for the first time yesterday thanks to Ashley finally managing to get hers. The problem was that when she finally got her Dratini, the casino told her that only two of them remained. Two. That had been yesterday.

There was only one left now that some filthy rich Pokemon collector who wasn't even a trainer showed up, converted all of his money into coins and bought the second-to-last Dratini. and he was nowhere near the amount of money he needed"You've got to go big," Ashley said.

"It sucks, but there's no other choice."

"Go big? After every precaution I took to stay safe? I can't just spend it all on one battle!" He said with a hissing whisper. He didn't want others to know that only a single Dratini was left.

"Maybe they'll bring another clutch of eggs—""It took six months for this one to arrive. The Conference will be over by then!"

"Oh Legendaries, I have a stomachache…" he muttered, clenching at his gut.

"Who's battling next?"

"It's on the screen, dude. Sammy and Gabe. You're not going to get a better setup than this." Denzel took a deep breath. None of them were known to throw battle, but Samuel was such a terrible trainer that he lost almost all of the fights he was in. He'd made plenty of money off of him, and he was a relatively safe bet.

"I'd give you the money if I had any left, but you've got to take a risk. Unless you're giving up and you're buying something else? They give Clefairy, Porygon, Vulpix, Growlithe, S—""No. I'll get my Dratini," he said with a clenched fist. Denzel walked up to the Counter and placed the majority of his current coins on Samuel losing. He clenched his fists around his armrests when he sat on one of the sprawling couches and anxiously awaited for the battle to start.

It would be a Sammy with a Beedrill against Gabe with an Azumarill. He'd seen the Azumarill in other trainers' hands a few times, but it was his first time seeing that Beedrill. That was a good sign and meant that it probably wouldn't cooperate with its temporary trainer since it was new at the Game Corner. Denzel could barely bare to look at the screen as an ever-consuming gutwrenching pain consumed him. He couldn't hear the commands or the voices in the television, nor the people crowding around him.

When he opened his eyes around two minutes later, the battle was in full swing. Beedrill's eyes were consumed by an incredible rage as it continuously attacked Azumarill with its glowing stingers, and the water type struggled to dodge the hits due to its awkward shape. When hit, however, it hit hard. Its springy tail slammed against Beedrill and sent the bug type crashing against the steel walls of the arena. Denzel felt his heart sing as Beedrill struggled to get back in the air.

"Water Gun!" The order was crystal clear on the television, and Azumarill spat out the stream of water to finish off Beedrill, who crawled to dodge the attack. That would leave a horrifying image in Denzel's mind for months. The poison type took flight once more and tiny sharpened darts flew out of its stingers and stabbed into Azumarill's round body. Blood seeped out of the gash when Beedrill pulled out its stinger. Samuel stared with a blank expression.

"Shit…" Ashley muttered. That wound was… a lot more serious than something you'd expect for a small-scale betting battle. Gabe fumbled around for his Pokeball and quickly recalled the fallen Azumarill, and the TV cut to black. It never cut to black. When the footage came back, Samuel and Beedrill were announced as the winners as if nothing had happened. Denzel's ears started to ring as he stared at the screen in disbelief.

He still had around 800, 000 Pokedollars to his name, but almost everything he'd made here had just gone up in smoke. All of the sleepless nights, the long hours, the strategizing had been reduced to ash. He only had enough coins for cheap rewards.

"Denzel…" Ashley said. He didn't answer. There was no way he was getting his Dratini now. Not unless he spent the money he'd said he wouldn't spend on coins and splurged it all on the next few fights. A part of him was tempted. After all, Mira had gotten lucky with her Porygon, so why not him? And yet he knew better. Roselia had been waiting to evolve for months now, and he owed her that Shiny Stone. He had enough money to buy it today, if he wished. But his list, everything he'd worked toward was gone.

His lips quivered, and he bit them in order not to cry. His nails dug into his palms and the teenager inhaled as best he could. The deep breath helped calm him, but it didn't help with him feeling like absolute shit.

"Look, it's not the end—""I'm alright," he interrupted. It was a lie, but he felt the need to say it out loud, if only to convince himself.

"I've got a few tens of thousands of coins left. I guess I can try to go from there and play risky, but I doubt it'd be enough. That Dratini's probably going to be gone by tonight." The girl placed a hand on his arm and softly caressed him.

"Look. You've helped me a lot, and I won my battle with Maylene thanks to you. If you really want to, I can give you my Dratini—""Leave it," he said.

"You wanted it just as much as I did. You were so happy when you got him, Ashley. I can't take that away from you." Fuck, Denzel thought. He couldn't deny that little part of him that screamed at him for refusing her. He had a problem. Denzel stood up and stretched.

"This place is fucking with my head. The lights, the atmosphere, the people— well, you're a good person, but it's all fucking with me," he sniffled.

"I'm gonna go, and I don't think I'm ever coming back."

"You still have coins left but that's… fair. I was only here for you now, so I don't think I'll come back either," she said.

"Thanks. I appreciate that." It itched. An unexplainable itch at the back of his head that couldn't go away. Denzel nearly fell as he walked down the stairs. Since the Game Corner was designed to maximize their income, he passed by the reward counter. He almost bumped into an older man. He recognized his face. He was there almost every day to play slots, and he was more zombie than man.

He had to twist his body around not to knock down the smaller, thinner man and his eyes glimpsed on something in the reward section. The itch was ever present and made him unable to focus, so he had to read it over three times to understand what he was looking at. SWABLU - 65, 000 COINS Hadn't he wanted one a few months ago? Well, wanted was a strong word. More like he had mulled over it as an option and figured he didn't like it enough to stick with it.

"You have 61, 754 coins," Ashley said.

"I have 5, 300 leftover. I can give them to you if you want."

"No need. Even if I wanted Swablu, I could just convert some of the real money I have—""But you won't. So take it," she forcefully said as she pulled out her phone. Denzel barely had time to react before the notification came. It read 'TRANSFER REQUEST'.

"There's a part of you that considered it. That's why you looked so long." Denzel sighed and scratched his head.

"Have I told you that you're kind of like my best friend?"

"You have. Ten times, at least." Denzel's finger hovered over the bright green 'ACCEPT' as he mulled his options. Buying Swablu would maybe solve the itch that had grown into his head and grew stronger by the minute. Dissatisfaction. He'd finally placed a word on what he felt. Like he was leaving something undone. Something that he'd set out to do, and that was fundamentally wrong to him. It meant that he didn't have what it took. That he was weak. Maybe this would be a way to get over that feeling.

But was this fair to Swablu? Would he treat it fairly and stop himself from imagining what could have been instead of what was?

"This fucking sucks," he sighed as he clicked accept. He bought Swablu right after that and vowed never to step foot inside of the Game Corner again. VIP zone? Corruption? Denzel didn't care. Sometimes, it was better to leave the skeletons in the closet. He released it as soon as he stepped outside, and the little bird softly cooed at him. Denzel ignored Ashley's attempt to poke it and scanned it with his Pokedex. His friend yelped as the bird ferociously bit her finger until it turned beet red.

Swablu, the Cotton Bird Pokemon. Swablu has light and fluffy wings that are like cottony clouds. This Pokemon is not frightened of people. It lands on the heads of people and sits there like a cotton-fluff hat. Swablu loves to make things clean. If it spots something dirty, it will wipe and polish it with its cottony wings. If its wings become dirty, this Pokemon will find a stream and shower itself. Sex: Female Moves: Growl, Disarming Voice, Peck, Round, Roost The feeling of dissatisfaction was still there.

But it wasn't as strong as it had been a few minutes ago. Maybe it wasn't as bad as he'd thought. Maybe he could learn to live with sudden changes.

"Like jumping in a cold pool," he muttered.

"Thank you, Ashley. Swablu, welcome to the team." Now, to buy that Shiny Stone for Roselia so she could stop screaming at him every day.