Chương 90: Chapter 88

I quickly received the data download for my Pokédex (it just consisted of a quick download from Professor Rowan's personal database), and I headed off after a quick thank you. I might have stuck around if I had a reason to, but now, I had a much more pressing task to do. First off, I needed to call Steven about the changes to the information I told him. Second off, I needed to figure out how the heck my team was going to beat multiple Legendary Pokémon.

Tobias was a huge threat, and he only needed to use Darkrai to win every battle during the Conference. From that, it seemed like the rest of his team would be weak, but no, he also had a Latios. The bright side was that my team had the Type advantage over both of them, and that Misty Terrain would counter Darkrai's attempts to put my team to sleep. The bad side was that Darkrai and Latios were Legendary Pokémon, and had more than enough power to back up anything my team tried to shut down.

I rushed into the Pokémon Center I had stayed the night before, and thankfully, the room I had rented was still available. This place had already mostly cleared out due to the start of the League, which meant my team and I would almost have the entire place to ourselves. I practically ran upstairs to hide in the bedroom and paced back and forth. My team, now released, stared at me worriedly.

"Per League rules I can only use a single Mega Evolution per battle, meaning that only one of my team can go toe-to-toe with one of his Legendary Pokémon at once." I mumbled. My team stiffened. Most of them were distinctly aware of how strong a Legendary Pokémon was. Scratch that, all of them did. Dedenne had watched Xerneas attack everyone else, and Carbink was close with Diancie. Wait, Diancie? I turned to face Carbink.

"I don't suppose Diancie wants to join us on our journey?" Carbink looked shocked but that expression quickly turned into hesitancy. They shook their head, and I bit my lip in response.

"Yeah, that makes sense. Diancie has a duty to her people after all, she can't really leave for very long outside of emergencies." I resumed my pacing as my train of thought went back to the topic of Tobias. Not only did he have two Legendary Pokémon, but he had an entire team to support them as well. I had no clue what else he could pull out, which meant that strategies involving more than one of my Pokémon would put my team at a significant disadvantage.

It was a difficult situation that I probably would need to spend the entire season thinking about. I walked over to the free chair in the room and collapsed into it. My Pokémon stared at me as if expecting me to explain. I sighed and rubbed my temples.

"Basically, I know that in the Conference coming up, there's going to be a trainer with two different Legendary Pokémon and a full team behind them. I have no clue how we're going to beat him." My team glanced around at each other, but I wasn't done.

"Additionally, there's a trainer in this region whose presence marks the potential for great trouble. It isn't him that causes it, he just has the misfortune of being around when it happens. I guess he's almost like an Absol, in that manner. Or maybe an Ashbsol?" I tried to chuckle at my own joke, but ended up just stopping after a moment and grimacing. Carbink floated forward and stared me directly in the eye.

"Carbink. Carbink car, carbink car carbink. Carbink bink?" Carbink turned around to face my team.

"Carbink, carbink car car carbink. Carbink! Carbink bink carbink. Carbink."

"... What?" I mumbled. With Carbink's speech finished, Ninetales stepped forward as well to sit next to Carbink, and turned to face my team as well. She barked her name a few times, but she was nowhere near as dramatic as Carbink was. She had a glint in her eye, and from my familiarity with her, I was starting to get a better idea of what was going on. Ponyta was next to go up, and he sat down next to Ninetales. Mawile followed him, and Dedenne ran forward to sit on Ninetales's head.

Whimsicott floated forward as well, and with him, my entire team was now right in front of me. They turned around to face me and I saw a look of determination on every one of their faces. I smiled.

"You're all right. Just because something seems difficult, doesn't mean we can't do it." I stood up and crossed my arms dramatically.

"We might have to face Legendaries, we might have to deal with whatever nonsense Ash is involved with, and heck, we might end up fighting even more criminals, but you know what? This time, we know it's coming. We have time to prepare, and we have time to train ourselves up! Look out Sinnoh, because we're coming for you!" My team cheered and I felt my heart surge with pride. I tried to avoid being in the same region as Ash in the past, but just because he was here at the moment, didn't mean I had to freak out.

My team would support me, and I would support them right back. Ash's presence had implications, but it had implications that I was actually aware of. With everything we'd gone through, I knew we could handle basically anything thrown our way. Except one. A thought came to mind, and I paused.

"So who's going to tell Azumarill we're going to fight a Legendary Pokémon?" Everyone on my team froze.

"So not only was your estimate off by a year, but the trainer you mentioned being involved with numerous major conflicts is currently in the region, the infamous Pokémon thief Hunter J hasn't been defeated yet, and there's going to be a trainer with at least two different Legendary Pokémon in the Conference?" Steven asked incredulously. I nodded.

I was using my Holo Caster so I was staring at a blue hologram of the ex-Champion on the call I was making, and in return, he was able to see my reaction on the screen of his prototype PokéNav he had from his connections to the Devon Corporation.

"Don't forget the trainer I mentioned potentially mistreating his team members. He may or may not violate proper releasing procedures in the future, but he hasn't technically done so yet." Steven ran a hand through his hair and let out a long sigh.

"Alex, it hasn't even been a full day since we entered Sinnoh," he said. I gave him a sad smile.

"At least you don't have to rush here from another region this time?" Steven gave me a look, and I was forced to turn away.

"I'll see what I can do. Most of what you gave us is still helpful, but this does change a few things.... So much for my vacation."

"You can still have it!" I interrupted.

"The Underground stretches across the entire region, right? Just stick close to Ash Ketchum and be ready to step in when things go south. Most of the time they work out anyway, so you probably won't even need to step in!"

"... You're asking me to stalk an unsuspecting trainer? I've met Ash before back in Hoenn, when I had a few days off. He's a good kid. I've read his file, too. He's been involved in a few different significant events, but nothing that major."

"Nothing that major?"

"Well, he didn't personally change our understanding of an entire phenomenon overnight," Steven pointed out.

"He did stop a trio of rampaging Legendary birds by waking up Lugia, though," I countered. Steven paused.

"Touché." He then sighed for a second time, and resumed speaking.

"I have a few ideas in mind for potential solutions to these problems you brought up. I'll alert Cynthia and the rest of Sinnoh's Elite Four just in case. In addition, I'll make sure there's a note on Paul's file to have the nurses check on his Pokémon's emotional states whenever they're healed. Is there anything else you need to share?"

"Yeah, if you do follow Ash, don't arrest the Team Rocket members following him."

"What?"

"They've helped save the world in the past, and they might do so again in the future."

"You really don't make this easy, do you?" Steven asked. I grimaced and couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. Steven had been stuck dealing with everything I told him these past few months, and now that he had time to take a break, it had started right back up. I couldn't blame him for being a bit annoyed. I would be, too.

"Despite it being nothing but bad news, I appreciate the update you've given me, Alex," he said.

"I also appreciate that none of it is as world-threatening as what you've told me before. Now then, I need to get a start on solving this. I hope you do well in your upcoming battles." Steven hung up the call, leaving me alone in the Sandgem Pokémon Center bedroom. Everyone looked up at me now that I was off the call.

"So, should we continue to train?" They all immediately got up, still feeling their determination from the conversation we had before. Like a train, they followed me outside. The nurse at the counter laughed to herself when she saw us go. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. I didn't need to go over training goals with everyone since they already knew what to work on.

Whimsicott was trying to turn Poison Powder and Tailwind into Toxic and Hurricane respectively, Ponyta was trying to learn Heal Pulse and practice his Psychic Type powers, Carbink was practicing Dazzling Gleam, and Dedenne was trying to turn Discharge into a more directed Electric Type move. At the same time, Mawile was running around to see if she could figure out a way to fix her lack of movement options, and Ninetales was preparing for the Contest with me.

"How are you feeling?" I asked her softly. Ninetales said her name happily, but I could tell there was the slightest bit of hesitancy there. She was no longer suffering from any injuries, but her lack of practice recently meant she wasn't at full power. I scratched my head.

"We can put this off if you—" Ninetales barked, interrupting me. She really wanted this. I gave her a smile.

"Okay, we'll go through with it. You won't be participating in the battle stage if we get there, however. That'll be Florges's job, and she already is working on her own practice back in Sycamore's ranch." Ninetales gave me a nod, so we began.

"So, Pokémon Contests," I said.

"They're not just about making a bunch of sparkles." Ninetales gave me an accusing look. I turned away sheepishly.

"Okay, okay. Making sparkles is a legitimate strategy, but it's still not the main point! Pokémon Contests are about showing off Pokémon and demonstrating how well trained they are. They consist of two rounds, a performance stage and a battle stage, and they end after a miniature tournament between everyone who battled. Only one Coordinator will win the ribbon, and I want that to be us." She nodded.

"You'll be competing in the performance stage, which means it's finally time to show everybody what you can do that isn't just limited to just your moves. How much can you do with your cryokinesis?" At my question, Ninetales used Ice Beam to create a large chunk of ice next to us. It immediately started to melt in the afternoon sun, but the brisk Sinnoh air suddenly felt much cooler with its presence.

Focusing her eyes, I watched as Ninetales reshaped the chunk into vague, geometric figures such as a cube, a wonky sphere, and a cylinder. She then stretched out a piece of ice that snapped like it was rubber, and once she refocused on the much smaller piece, the shifting of the shape became much more fluid and detailed. It took her a while, but she was able to turn the small chunk of ice into a doll-sized model of me. It even included the long coat and scarf I was currently wearing. My eyebrows rose, impressed.

"That was really good. From what I can see, the larger the area, the harder it is to modify the small details, right?" She barked affirmatively.

"Great. Give me a Blizzard, then." Not unlike using her Snow Warning, a cloud of snow was conjured around her that grew then flung forward. It looked like a miniature cloud of ice that spun around itself and sailed into the distance. It didn't travel too far as it eventually collapsed to the floor without Ninetales controlling it"How much can you change its direction?" She wobbled her head to signify not much at all, so I had her try again, this time with Hail up.

I pulled my coat tight around me to keep warm, and for what felt like the tenth time since I arrived in the region, I internally thanked Valerie for the outfits she made for me. Low-lying clouds formed above us as snow and ice fell from above. Ninetales purposely stopped the heavier, more painful chunks from falling, but I was still chilled to the bone. Sent out from her was a similar Blizzard, but this one seemed to incorporate itself into the storm around it.

Ice falling from above boosted its power, and using the cold environment to her benefit, Ninetales was able to control the Blizzard to turn roughly thirty degrees after it was launched. I smiled.

"What if you made it smaller?" I asked. She gave me a curious look, then tried again but with a smaller Blizzard. It was roughly two-thirds the original size, but when she controlled it through the weather, it turned roughly forty-five degrees instead. Ninetales snapped her head to face me, and her tails immediately started wagging. Smaller meant more control. Already, thinking about her moves from a different context was paying off.

"I think we can definitely work with this," I said. I had plenty of time to spare in my schedule. As it stood, my first show battle for Sycamore was scheduled in three weeks in Oreburgh, against the Rock Type Gym Leader Roark. I had the option of allowing those show battles to also count for my Gym Challenge, but for the first one in particular, I wanted to use Ponyta, Carbink, and Dedenne to earn it instead.

Their training would prepare them for that, and while they had more moves they could learn, their true focus was just to get in shape. Before my Gym Challenge, however, was the first Contest I wanted to do with Ninetales and Florges. Contests were held roughly every two weeks in major cities, and every month in towns located off of the main routes. However, people were only allowed to participate in a city's Contest once per season.

Additionally, sometimes Contests would be delayed if not enough people had signed up for one, as, while Contests were extremely popular, there were significantly less participants than there were for the Gym Challenge. People who competed in Contests, called Pokémon Coordinators, needed to earn five ribbons by winning Contests to compete in the Grand Festival at the end of the year. While the Grand Festival happened before the Conference itself, it wasn't my goal to compete in it.

Contests were just a way for me to try new experiences to help me as a trainer. I knew some Coordinators would absolutely despise me for that mindset, so I promised to never share it. I was aware of several different lessons regarding Contests from the anime. For example, I knew they were about the Pokémon and not the trainer, and I knew that moves that obscured the Pokémon was a bad idea since the judges needed to actually see the Pokémon to rate them.

A brief moment of being hidden was alright, but having Ninetales hide in the snow the entire time would be a complete mistake. Since Jubilife City was so close to Sandgem town, I stayed in the small Pokémon Center for an extra day before heading out. One of the reasons Altaria wasn't with me was because I wanted to resort to walking rather than flying, as it was peaceful to travel through routes on foot. Between Sandgem town and Jubilife was Route 202.

It consisted of rolling hills and pockets of forest and was filled to the brim with weak Pokémon. Bidoof and Starly were omnipresent here, and at night I could hear the sounds of Kriketot's music echoing around us. I knew Shinx were around as well, but they tended to stay in large groups that I purposely avoided. I even saw the occasional Sentret running between patches of tall grass to hide from us as we walked. Ninetales, Whimsicott, and Dedenne tended to stay out of their balls as I traveled.

Ninetales walked beside me, Dedenne rode on either my shoulder or on Ninetales, and Whimsicott floated far above us, moving in circles and doing various flips just for fun. At breaks, the rest of my team would release themselves, and I tried my best to cook meals for them. I was still getting a handle on not relying on pre-made food as often, but I was no Brock, so my cooking was only alright and not amazing.

We trained and practiced in the mornings, and I purposely traveled slowly just because I was enjoying being on such a peaceful route so much. It normally took two days to get to Jubilife on foot, but I ended up taking an extra third. It was nice to decompress after my entire day of freaking out after meeting Ash. Speaking of Ash, I knew he was traveling this way but I never saw him. I was actually fine with moving in the same direction as him because I knew his group was awful with directions.

Take Bewilder Forest, for example. That was a location that appeared in the early episodes of the Sinnoh anime that Ash and his friends visited. Most likely, Ash would be visiting it around now, but I had looked it up on the map, and it wasn't anywhere near Route 202. It was so far off-route it was ridiculous that he had even visited in the first place. It made me wonder if Dawn would even be competing in the same first Contest in Jubilife City that I planned to.

However, my plans remained unchanged as my team and I eventually returned to Jubilife, which meant after a few more days of practice at a local Pokémon Center's training grounds, there was only one thing I wanted to do before the Contest began. Azumarill was with me today. When I called her back to the team, as her trainer, it was my duty to inform her about Tobias.

I almost became crippled with how much she hugged me after finding out about our potential future opponents, and I knew her motivation to train had just skyrocketed tenfold. I had swapped Azumarill out for Mawile, who I purposely sent back to separate from Ponyta. While she was close with him, I had started to notice she barely spent time with the rest of my team.

I wanted the two of them to make closer connections to everyone else, and while it might have been cruel of me to do so, I hoped she would get closer to Florges and Altaria while she was away. I made sure to pass along a message to Florges to make sure Mawile wouldn't go off on her own too much while she was in the ranch. Azumarill walked by my side with a friendly scowl on her face as I entered the short, domed building located within Jubilife.

Dedenne sat on my shoulder and looked around with amazement while Azumarill looked less than impressed. There was no front counter, but rather there was just one large room with several massive tanks of water that looked to be about two stories tall each. A splash caught my attention, and looking up, I saw a woman with neatly trimmed dark hair leaning on the side of the tank looking down at me.

"Hello. Can I help you?" I nodded.

"Yes, I was looking for the B-Button League?"

"You've found the right place," she replied. She swam over to the edge, where there was a ladder she used to climb out, then dried herself off with a towel. Making her way down a tall staircase on the side, she threw on a long shirt and approached me on the ground floor.

"How can I help you today?" she asked.

"Are you interested in joining?"

"Sorry," I said, shaking my head, "I don't have any Pokémon who don't want to evolve, but I did want to challenge you to a battle." The woman blinked as I said that.

"Really? We're primarily Coordinators, but a battle would be a good practice anyway. I plan to use Magikarp, are you going to use your Azumarill?"

"Yup. It should be a good challenge for her," I responded. At that, Azumarill sent me an absolutely incredulous look, and the woman just laughed.

"Ah, I see you haven't explained what the B-Button League is to your Pokémon. Would you like to explain, or should I?"

"You're the expert, you should go ahead." She laughed again.

"My name is Oralie, and I'm a member of the B-Button League. We're a group of coordinators who believe that evolution isn't necessary for Pokémon to be strong. My partner is Magikarp and I believe we can be the strongest there is without Magikarp becoming a Gyarados." She paused.

"We don't get many challenges, especially from trainers with evolved Pokémon. Is there a reason you sought us out in particular?"

"Yup, does your Magikarp use Splash?" I asked. Azumarill's glare narrowed, and Oralie chuckled to herself.

"I see. I assume Azumarill uses the move, too? Well come on, let's start this." Oralie climbed back up the side of the tank, and I climbed a staircase on the opposite side. Now that I was up here, I could see the tank was roughly the size of a battlefield, and the ladders located at each side were next to small balconies that overlooked the water. Azumarill jumped out in front of me, and Oralie let out a loud whistle to cause a bright red Magikarp to emerge in front of her.

It was just a normal Magikarp, although this one's scales were polished to reflect even the smallest glimmer of light, and its overall size was bigger than usual. Neither of us were betting on this match, nor were we putting in place any special rules. As a result, the battle began without much fanfare. To start, Magikarp shot through the water while I hurriedly called for Azumarill to redirect it. When it moved, Magikarp simply flicked its tail once to be launched forward.

Azumarill shifted over to grab it with a Play Rough, and she tried to use its forward momentum to spin and throw it elsewhere. However, her aim was off due to the fish Pokémon's surprising speed, meaning it landed closer than she wanted to. Oralie grinned.

"You better not underestimate us just because he's a Magikarp!" she shouted. As Magikarp was thrown a distance into the water, it skipped along the surface before righting itself then slamming down on its side. It flexed its body so hard that when it slammed into the surface, it flopped forward as if it was flopping on concrete. However, while it looked to just be a simple but forceful flop of a flip, it was launched with such force it practically sailed through the air. I grinned.

"That's exactly why we're here, Azumarill!" I yelled.

"Keep an eye on how it's Splashing about!" Magikarp didn't launch itself into Azumarill this time, but purposely landed in the water near her. It used Splash a few more times to hop into the air every which way, causing Azumarill to struggle to track it. Eventually, it seemed as if it was finally launching an attack, upon which Azumarill lunged forward to hit it with a Liquidation. However, it was actually just a feint.

Azumarill's attack went wide, causing her to lose her balance as the momentum of the attack shifted her forward in the water, and Magikarp Splashed into the air to land a Tackle on her side.

"That's it, Magikarp! Keep it up!" The surprising power of the move caused Azumarill to be pushed back, and Magikarp bounced off to land in the water once more. Azumarill grit her teeth as I saw the bruise already forming on her side, but rather than getting upset, she just grinned. I knew she would enjoy this battle, even if it was just against a Magikarp.

"Don't forget, you have moves other than melee attacks!" I yelled. Azumarill stalled for just a moment at the unexpected command, which had the unfortunate result of letting Magikarp bounce around her and land a second Tackle from the other side. However, my advice did not go unheeded as she used the water around her to form a massive wave with Surf that threatened to crash down on Magikarp.

"Magikarp, Flail!" Oralie called out. The wave hurtled downwards, and instead of taking the easy way out and diving underwater, Magikarp purposely jumped up into the air to slam into the wave while wiggling its body every which way. It took a decent amount of damage from the impact, but the Flail let it almost burrow through the water and pop out of the other side. Oralie was definitely using this to train just like we were against her. However, she had just ordered her Magikarp to put itself in a very bad spot.

"It's out of position, use Splash to jump up! Just like Magikarp did!" I yelled. Azumarill, using the natural buoyancy provided by her tail, tried to mimic Magikarp's long jumps with Splash. She raised it up and slammed down in the water while flexing her body like a fish to try to move her much further than usual, but she just didn't have the practice to do so. Her hop on the water's surface was quick but short-ranged, and Magikarp landed right on her face with yet another Tackle.

She seemed to have grasped the basics, at least, which meant my goal for visiting this place was achieved. While the Tackle seemed to have hurt, Azumarill grabbed the offending fish before it could slide off and get away. Her face was now bright red from both the previous attack and the heat of the battle. With it in hand, she flailed Magikarp around while it Flailed to try to escape her grasp, but her Huge Power meant it received no quarter.

Eventually, Oralie was forced to return her Magikarp just to free it, which meant she had essentially just forfeited the battle. In the end, Azumarill had suffered significantly more damage than she dealt, but Magikarp was put into a position where it couldn't escape. She won, but it was a tough fight against what was generally considered one of the weakest Pokémon. Oralie smiled as she released her Magikarp back in the water. She knelt down to pet its head as it made happy gurgles.

"That was good, but it's clear we still need some work," Oralie commented.

"Nice job with your Azumarill." I couldn't hide the complete disagreement from my face.

"Need some work? Your Magikarp is incredible! It stood up to Azumarill for longer than most of her evolved opponents could. It would have won if she didn't grab it!" She smiled as her Magikarp dived back down underwater, and I returned Azumarill. I hoped that seeing Magikarp move such long distances with Splash would give her ideas to use the move in different ways in the future. It wasn't that her current usage of the move was bad, I just felt it was rather one note.

To improve it, what other Pokémon was an expert in Splash as much as Magikarp?

"Thank you for letting me battle you," I said to Oralie once we returned to the ground floor.

"Do you have any tips for Azumarill before we leave?" She tapped a finger to her chin and hummed.

"She can definitely Splash a decent distance without the need of using her whole body like Magikarp does. Her tail should be strong enough for that initial impact for the hop. I think moving as she did was why her attempt to enter the air didn't work out?"

"Hm. Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it." Oralie and I exchanged goodbyes, and I headed out. It was just a quick battle with a Magikarp, but one I knew would benefit Azumarill. I rarely went out of my way to search for specific trainers, but I had remembered this place from the anime, and wanted to see it in person. With Ash in the region, my mind had been turning to the anime a lot. A few things were different, yet a lot was surprisingly the same.

I wondered how much I had missed in Hoenn by not relying on what I knew as much, but at the same time, if I had acted differently, I might have not met everyone currently on my team. As I walked back towards the Pokémon Center, a large smile bloomed onto my face. Tomorrow, I had a Contest to compete in. Most likely, I would be up against Dawn and a few other characters from the anime, but I couldn't let that get to me.

I might be inserting myself into whatever I had seen on Saturday morning cartoons in the past, but this was my world too, now. I was allowed to compete in what I wanted even if I changed things, and plus, I really wanted to see if I could properly pull off that strange, fourth outfit Valerie had made for me. I had a lot to look forward to in Sinnoh.