Good day everyone reading here. This time I separated the chapter in three acts, it can be used to break from reading. From now on, the next chapters will contain acts to make this a little easier on the eyes.
Without nothing to add, have a good day.
Chapter 2: Knowing the competition. Act 1: Getting ready for training.
Tess was waiting at the Pokémon Center, he saw some familiar faces, in fact, those people were at some point his classmates. When his mother became single, she needed a full-time job to take care of his son. Tess knew that and he started to worry about her health because no one who could take care of her and the house, so he dropped out school to be a full time ‘househusband’. Many people think that he doesn’t want to study or work, so that’s why they think he is a bad influence for many children, but he doesn’t
care, especially in his spare time when he stares at the people in the bus station and mock them.
His thoughts were interrupted by one nurse who came to the teenager to ask him what he want. The boy said that he needs some advice to get his journey started, that this will be the first time leaving Oldale on his own, so knowing places around the place to spend the night was the best for him.
“Well… The service of the Pokémon Center is free to use, but only to recover slightly damaged or fainted Pokémon,” explained the nurse in charge. “If the Pokémon suffers from a sickness or have to be in emergencies, you have to pay a fee, also… The Pokémon Centers have rooms for trainers to spend the night but has a very low fee.”
“It makes sense…” said the boy with a low tone. “Thank you… Umm… What I need to do to be in the APL tournament?”
“Take a number in the machine near the PC,” the nurse pointed at the main hall of the Pokémon Center. “Then one of my coworkers will guide you, Ok?”
The teenager thanked again the nurse and walked to the place she mentioned. After some time, a doctor came to attend Tess and guide him to a backroom of the Pokémon Center. The doctor told the young one about the difference between the Trainers ID, the basic one is free of charge, but to register in the tournament is way more bureaucratic. Then he presented the new one created by the Association, which, in words of the doctor, have mini robots inside to update everything that the trainer does. The novice trainer rolled his eyes hearing that.
“So… If I want the free version, more papers to enter, if I pay, I enter without complicated things?” questioned the young one and the doctor answered with a simple yes. “Shit bro… that’s all you gotta say”
“All right then… here is the price of the ID,” the doctor gave Tess the bill.
The teenager looked at his wallet and sighed, he knew why children got one for free thanks to the registration of the APL, just wait the line for months and that was it. He can pay for it but doing it will leave him without a lot of options on his expenses.
“Fine…” sighed Tess leaving the bill with the money.
After signed the dedicated papers, the doctor took the photo of the young one and told him that the ID will be ready in 30 minutes. Without many options, Tess returned to the waiting room in the Pokémon Center.
He looked around to see new faces around the place, he thought that these people are novice as him, maybe meeting with someone it’s the best, maybe he can get some advice on his journey.
“So is a yes!” shouted Joseph with joy behind Tess making him jump out of scare. “Phew… for a moment I believed you didn’t want to do it…”
“I just need it another push,” responded the boy.
“I see…”
The doctor who took the photo of the young one called him to come for his ID, Joseph stopped Tess and walked towards the man to talk to him. After some time, he returned with the bill and the money that Tess payed for it with the Trainer ID.
“The APL doesn’t charge for this, hold this,” the champion gave the bill to the teenager and took a picture with his tablet. “I’m going to report this… Can you wait for me a few moments? Maybe other trainers fell for the same.”
Joseph asked everyone in this place for their Trainer ID and the bill if they decided to buy the APL ID card. After hearing that many people felled for this scam, he takes out a flip phone which have the logo of the Association. With a press of one button he started to call someone from the Association.
He only said the place and the name of the people in charge of this Center, he added some minor details, but he reiterated the important things about this scam. He finished the call and walked towards the boy and sighed in disappointment.
“Maybe I need more time to see what happened with all the trainers who bought this…” said Joseph in a low tone as he puts his hands in his pockets.
“If the Trainer ID is free… How the Association have income?”
“Sponsorship, the entrance fee, for trainers and for spectators, also the income of the major tournaments and sponsorship,” answered the champion. “Did you have any idea how many companies wants a single spot on their tournaments, it’s like the Super Bowl for the Unova region, but this is bigger.”
“So… how much we have to wait to see this problem solved?
“Not much, we can have a breakfast around here to pass the time, come.”
They went to the nearest convenience store to buy a drink, a handmade sandwich and some potato chips, but Tess took the opportunity to buy supplies for his journey. After leaving the store, they sat in the sidewalk of the street waiting for one of the workers of the APL to take charge of this situation. The teenager took another glance at the champion and saw how he was hiding a silver ring in the pocket of his coat. It was strange that Tess didn’t see that ring yesterday, he thought it was a gift from someone and kept it to avoid losing it or robbed it.
Knowing that this situation will take some time, the teenager opted to release his Pokémon and let them explore a little bit around the Pokémon Center, he thought that having some fresh air will help them from time to time. The penguin Pokémon was doing what he can do best, looking at everything wondering why is there, almost to no expression. On the other hand, Trapinch was just happy walking around his partner and grabbing the potato chips that Tess was giving him.
Joseph seeing how the young one is treating his partners, he decided to release his Pokémon, finally Tess was able to know the team that the champion was carrying with himself. First came out his Typhlosion, the creature has similarities with a hedgehog, having fire around its neck resembles the quills on its back, but he is very calm Pokémon for being a fire type creature, at his side was Gardevoir trying to annoy his partner.
A famous battle cry sounded in the roof of the convenience store, a bird Pokémon was staring at the horizon, the famous Staraptor. The creature has a prominent presence with his glaring eyes, his light black wings were huge and amazed the teenager, but more noticeable was the metallic collar surrounding its neck.
Finally, his Ludicolo, a Pokémon who resembles that he doesn’t belong in region where it originates. This creature dances with joy and have some resemblance as a pineapple, even has the dark yellow stripes over the bright yellow body. In this case, the famous dancing creature was just watching the food of his trainer.
“Tepache*… we talked this before… you cannot eat this type of bread.” Joseph calmly explain the situation to his Pokémon who was ignoring all what his trainer was saying.
“How do you get this many influence on the Association, I mean, when someone wins that tournament, that’s it and…”
“I signed for a full contract with the APL,” interrupted Joseph putting down his drink and moving away his meal from the mouth of Ludicolo. “When I won the championship, they approached me and asked me to be the face of future tournaments and be a figure to be aspired, I’m paid fairly good, I can’t deny that…” Joseph released a tired sigh. “In exchange, I have to attend every meeting that the organization does and to report things like this.”
The young one didn’t respond anything, he thought that being a person that important has some cons, and bad ones. He clearly can saw some of the expression of Joseph being tired or even disinterested when he explained the reasons. When the teenager tried to say something, he was interrupted by an incoming call.
“Yes?” Joseph asked when he picked up the call. “Yep, I’m near the Pokémon Center, what do you need I need to bring?” a five second silence came through. “Ok… anything else? Like a coke or something? Anything?” he laughed after saying that. “I’ll be there in a moment,” Joseph hung up the call. He got up and gave the leftovers to Tess saying that the rest is for him and he walked towards the Pokémon Center.
“I’m not your trash bag!” shouted the teenager, words ignored by the champion. The young one shook his head in negation and took a bite of the leftover sandwich.
After returning the Pokémon Center, Tess saw a person wearing a jacket which has the logo of the Association on the back, he was talking to Joseph and the champion was filling some papers. When he finished, he gave back the papers and gave him a pat in the back of the man in a sign to go ahead.
“Hey!” Joseph stopped the man. “Can I ask you a favor?” The worker raised an eyebrow to wait for the petition of the champion. “My friend and I need to go to Petalburg, I have something to investigate there and I’ll appreciate the ride”
“You have friends?” asked the man in a mix between of sarcasm and to offend Joseph, the words didn’t surprise the champion. “Whenever I say, will matter nothing… So yeah… wait for us to solve this first.”
“Thanks…” said Joseph in a dry way.
Tess wondered why the man treated the champion in that way, he noticed other workers saw Joseph with contempt. The face of the APL didn’t notice that or maybe he doesn’t care, but the question still in the air.
After more than a half an hour, the workers finished their job and gave Joseph more papers to sign, he read it with caution and without objection, he signed all the papers. The young one remembered why he looked disinterested when he was talking about his current job, doing these types of things almost every day is awful to some regard. His expressions were way more different when he was talking about his investigation on the Seventh Sense, he was full of joy, there’s a big gap between the two.
When the situation was finally over, the workers called for Joseph and Tess to give them the ride to Petalburg. The teenager was curious about why the people at the Association show some discontent with the champion, but he wasn’t wanting to get in his personal life issues.
The ride to Petalburg was quiet but boring, nobody said anything in almost three hours of journey. The champion was writing in his tablet, Tess glanced a bit to what he was writing, the man was detailing everything that happened in the Pokémon Center, he was also writing down names of the workers and the people in charge at the Center.
“If you’re wondering why I’m writing this,” said Joseph as he kept writing in his tablet. “I also need to write a report… That’s why”
Tess didn’t add anything, he didn’t need to.
“Can you drop us near the Pokémon Center, I need to see something in a shop,” requested the champion and the driver accepted the petition.
After leaving them in the store that Joseph wanted to see, he ordered the young one to go to the bootcamp in front of the Pokémon Center.
“That place is good for novice trainers, just go there and ask a person in charge to pair you up with someone with your level,” said the champion pointing out the place. “I’ll catch you up later”
Tess thanked the advice and he part his way to the bootcamp. The Gardevoir of Joseph get out of his catching device and watched the boy walk towards the indicated place.
“Why wasting your time with him?” said Saga with telepathy to his trainer.
“When I saw him holding one of his Pokémon… I saw it…” answered the champion with a hopeful smile.
“The Seventh Sense? In him?” added the Pokémon with disdain. “I’m not holding you back if you want to keep wasting your time, no more I tell you…” The psychic type returned to her device. Joseph laughed a little to hear his Pokémon to talk in that way, he knows that Tess will be a good candidate for his research.
When the teenager reached the place which Joseph told him, he was surprised how many battlefields are there. The arenas are surrounded by a force field of something, when he touched it, he felt a liquid but didn’t wet his fingers, he was intrigued how it works.
“Hey kiddo,” said a man at the distant. “You’re looking for something?” Tess turn around to see this man.
“Yeah… I want to practice a little bit here, but I’m literally new in the Pokémon battling, so I want someone to practice at my level,” explained the boy to the man that looks to be the person in charge.
“Can I see your ID?” asked the man, the young one gave his card. “There’s nothing in here”
“Excuse me?”
“Go to the PC near the resting room, insert your ID and magic will happen, when you finish that come to see me again, Okay?”
Tess raised an eyebrow hearing that, but he didn’t have other options, so he agreed to do it. After losing his way through the bootcamp he finally reached the PC, but he was ignorant at how this machine works. When he finally found where to put the ID, the machine booted up and the first thing to appear at the screen was the logo of the APL.
For the first time he observed with caution the logo of the Association, it was similar to the Pokémon League that the Unova introduced many years ago, with a Pokéball at the top following to the bottom with a triangle spike. Around that logo there is a laurel crown and the bottom of that lays two stars, which the teenager assumed, the total of Championships the Association held.
When the PC loaded everything, a window appeared at the monitor asking information of the young one. He introduced age, hometown and e-mail, then, the machine asked the young one to deposit his team on a treadmill besides the computer. After doing that, a bright light covers the Pokéballs and the monitor recognized the creatures inside.
The machine showed another window saying if he had any badges, a question who surprised Tess, he thought that he needed to catch strong Pokémon and go to the stadium in Evergrande, but he forgot the other part of the journey.
“I need to beat those guys and challenge as many people I across in the region?” asked to himself the teenager. “Geez… How much time I have left?”
Tess look around the place to find a poster of the tournament just to see the date, but nowhere to be seen, knowing that, he returned all of his attention to the PC. He filled another basic information and retired the ID. After taking it out of the machine, he was surprised how his Trainer Card have all of his information, everything he wrote was there and the back of it has his current team and the badges he hasn’t collected yet.
“This will be a long journey…” said Tess to himself as he looked the ceiling of the room.
The thoughts of the boy were interrupted by a trainer who started to call the attention of all the people in the room and asked to be quiet. The boy was intrigued by that and he walked towards the crowd.
“It’s all the volume I have,” said the trainer with a cellphone in hand. “They’re going to announce another way to get in the tournament.”
“Another way?!” Tess shouted and everybody told him to shut up.
Good day trainers, it’s your host Davis Forest in the full month special ‘Towards the big day’. And now, I’m being honored with the company of the person in charge of the tournament in Mauville, Amber Stronghold. So, tell me Amber, what’s the big reveal to your tournament, many people are spreading rumors about this competition, but now, having you here, tell the audience, what’s the big reveal?
The people in the room are closing in the trainer who have the show tuned in, the look in their eyes tell they are being anxious about this announcement. But for Tess, it was awkward to him being the only person in this place to know nothing about this tournament.
Davis, I came here because I know how big this channel is and its audience. For me it’s an honor to reveal that the ‘Annual Mauville Tournament’ has been recognized by the Association to become a major circuit. The trainer who wins this championship has a spot in the ‘Second Tournament of the Association’ The people around Tess started to shout with joy. He knows that having a spot in the ‘Big Tournament’ it’s a big deal, but they need to set their standards, they need to beat trainers of all the world just to get a single spot. Tess didn’t rethink to participate, he will be crushed and humiliated, he knows that setting an objective it’s the most important thing right now.
“I still don’t know the time I have left…” asked Tess to himself with a low tone.
“Hey kiddo!” shouted the man who sent Tess to this place. “Are you done with this?”
“Sure, so what’s next?”
The man ordered the young one to follow him. They went through a lot of arenas, which many of them have people battling, all of this surprised the teenager by looking how these trainers have confidence in their team when they were giving them orders.
“Cool huh?” said the man who was guiding the boy. “Many people came here to get better, in fact, from time to time we held a minor circuit here.”
“Minor circuit?” asked Tess in confusion.
“I’ll assume that you know about the majors, but the minors can get you a spot in the ‘Big Tournament’,” answered the man in charge.
“How a minor can get you a spot? In its name says ‘minor’,” asked again the teenager.
“I’ll explain”
The APL Tournament has many phases, the first one is the ‘Qualifiers’, this means that anybody who register can get in, but this is hell for everybody, because one mistake and you’re out, no losing allowed. In this round you only use two Pokémon per match.
Then the ‘Round Robin’ phase begins, you and many people are matched to someone to their same level, they called that ‘Seeding’. Losing a battle here isn’t a big deal but can lower your chances to get you on the next round. In this phase of the tournament you can use three Pokémon per match. Also, if you got a minor circuit or collected the eight badges you start from here.
Next, it’s the ‘Double Elimination’ phase. Here, you’re matched with trainers with people at the same skill as yours. This time you get to choose four Pokémon in your matches, also, in this round you have two chances, because everybody starts at the ‘Winners bracket’ and if you lose you go to the ‘Losers Bracket’. Imagine that is your second life in the tournament.
Also, if you got in the ‘Losers Bracket’ and reached the end, you have to face the trainer who hasn’t lost at this point and defeat him or her twice, why you ask? Because if he or she loses, that trainer go to the ‘Losers Bracket’, in other words, he or she still have his second life.
As a side note, there are many brackets in this phase because only 8 trainers are going to get their pass to the next and final round of the tournament. If you won a minor circuit and collected the eight badges or won a major circuit, you start from the ‘Double Elimination’.
Finally, the eight remaining trainers are part of the glorious ‘Top 8’, a trainer who reached this point become famous in the world, everybody have their eyes on those trainers: sponsors, TV shows, press media, fans, if I mean everybody, I mean it.
This phase it’s a single elimination tournament, but this time you get the chance to use six Pokémon per match, so it’s a full team versus full team. This tends to be the most intense battles in the whole tournament.
As I stated, if you lose once, you’re out of the tournament, but many trainers don’t fear that, many sponsors will reach them to convince them to be their new face of the company. That’s gotta be your goal kiddo, reach the ‘Top 8’.
The man in charge finally finish all the explanation. The teenager almost putted attention to what this man said, he only was interested on how he will get his spot on the tournament. For now, his goal it’s to get the title of a minor circuit and the eight badges.
“So… How I know a minor circuit will happen?” the boy asked to the man.
“You can see on the newspapers or on the APL website, there’s a tab with more details of all the circuits, the only thing I can say to you is that every circuit has its gimmick,” explained the man in charge.
That last part left the teenager thinking. He asked to himself how different a minor circuit is different to another, he thought of team, battlefields, time and everything in between. Thinking that made Tess smile for a little bit.
“Here we are,” the man opened a door to let the young one entered the arena. He was told to get in and wait for his opponent, so he got on his side of the battlefield and prepared for his first match as a Pokémon Trainer.
Joseph came to the bootcamp and he got to see Tess preparing his team, he thought that he got on time to see what skills the teenager has. He took a seat near the arena and waited for the show.
The boy noticed that and started to get a little nervous, he stated that he has zero knowledge of the Pokémon battling. Tess remembered the joke the champion made on the laboratory of Professor Birch. While it’s true, he asked how that will make a difference in a real situation.
The thoughts of the teenager were interrupted as he saw his opponent walking to the other side of the arena. Tess took a deep breath and did some stretches. While he was on the car, he got to know the moves of his partners or the lack of them. He knew that he is in a disadvantage, but he also knew that this is a practice battle, nothing more.
“The 1 vs 1 battle of challenger Tess versus challenger Almira will begin in five minutes,” said a voice in the top of the arena. Both trainers got their first Pokémon ready to materialize and they waited for the start.
The top of the arena dropped down a square shaped monitor. In the screen there was a text saying that both trainers have to send their first Pokémon. The trainers agreed and threw their catching device to release the pocket creature.
Tess observed the creature that his opponent has, a simian Pokémon with red on his head and cream color in his belly and arms. It has a long tail with an arrowhead-shaped tip. The teenager feels how the temperature went up a little bit thanks how the simian started to spit fire towards its opponent.
Meanwhile, the Piplup of Tess was standing there, doing nothing except for looking around. This worried the teenager because how he will act in the battle and how he will react to this situation.
Before entering the bootcamp field, he researched on his cellphone about Pokémon battling. He found that these creatures have similarities with humans, like how they behave and how that affects their training and their development in the battle.
Tess knew that he has the advantage in the type regard, but he has zero knowledge on the situation, no matter the advantage, this will affect the result in his first battle. To put the situation even worse, a teenage girl came to see the match. The teenager wondered how a novice match can attract people, but also he thought how this can be a good to get attention of cute girls like the one is watching this match.
“The first impression matters as they say…” whispered Tess as he took a deep breath.
The machine started the countdown, both trainers were ready to say their first command. When the counter reached zero, the trainers shouted their order at the same time.
• Tepache: A fermented drink, usually made from pineapple. Because it is fermented, it can have alcohol properties.
Chapter 2: Knowing the competition; Act 2: Setting an objective
The penguin Pokémon ran towards his opponent charging its flipper ready to slap him in the face. Tess was surprised how he reacted without receiving any order, the face of his Pokémon changed to confused to secure, like he already experienced battling before, this made the teenager sighed with relief that his Pokémon knows to battle.
Meanwhile the simian Pokémon was charging his flames in its mouth, the creature was waiting an indication from its trainer to release the attack. The boy assumed that the fire type Pokémon will wait when the penguin will get close, so he ordered to his creature to stand back and wait for a counterattack.
“Now! Double Fire! *” ordered Almira to his Pokémon.
Tess commanded to his Pokémon to avoid any damage, but the penguin kept running towards its opponent. The simian spit a fireball with similar height of the penguin followed by another bigger than the first one.
“What are you going to do boy?” whispered the champion to himself. Without ordering, his psychic type Pokémon released from its device and sat next to its trainer, which she was ready to say, ‘I told you’.
“Resist it!” ordered Tess and the penguin looked back to see its trainer to see what he wanted. When Piplup return its watch on the simian Pokémon, the water creature saw how the big fireball was approaching, so the penguin decided to cover its face and hoped for the best.
The first fireball wasn’t any problem to resist, the confident smile on the small penguin showed how this was nothing for him. The bigger fireball was near, both Tess and Piplup raised their hands to reduce damage on critical areas.
Joseph saw how the movement of the trainer and Pokémon were synchronized, the champion looked at Tess’ eyes and saw for a brief moment a spark coming out of the iris of the novice trainer, something that made the young man smile.
The bigger fireball hit the penguin and black smoke covers him, Tess shouted to motivate his Pokémon still holding his arms raised. After the smoke disappeared, the water type creature was standing there with a lot of damage, but the secure and firm face was still there.
“Let’s go!” shouted Tess with joy, but the happiness ended thanks to Piplup falling in the arena without energy.
The monitor indicated that the match was over. Tess realized that he never got to hit his opponent, this is his first battle in his record and its was horrible, but he didn’t care, he learned a thing or two about this. The only bad thing here is how Saga was glaring towards the boy, he thought how a disappointment is he as a trainer.
“But how do you want me to be a master in this?” said to himself the teenager when he was returning his Pokémon to his device. Tess also noticed how the girl was walking away from the arena, he sighed in disappointment and scratched the back of his head. “You win some, you lose some.”
The teenager walked towards Almira and congratulates him, but the other trainer looked him in disgust. He turns away and mumbled how Tess was a waste of time and gave him nothing of value, the simian Pokémon does the same and walked away.
“Geez boy… You’re on the same section as me…” The teenager put his hands on his pockets of his jeans. Joseph walked towards the boy and gave him a pat on the back, but the glare of the psychic type was more prominent.
“Did you learn something?” Joseph asked nicely.
“Yeah… some people can be asshole from time to time… also… Can my Pokémon get stronger on the outside right?” Tess answered with a question as he was keeping his hands on the pockets.
“Yeah, it’s useful from time to time, but the real thing is in the arena… or with another trainer,” said Joseph ignoring how his Pokémon was looking at the teenager. “You better go to the Pokémon Center, your Piplup is very tired, I catch you up later.”
Tess agreed to do that and walked away. Joseph sighed in relief and the only thing he was worried about is what his Pokémon will say in the next minutes. He took the seat and take out his cellphone, waiting for Saga say something.
The teenager reached the Center and asked a nurse in charge to recover his Pokémon. The worker said due the many trainers in the place it can last to an hour, due this, she recommended some places to wait in the meantime. She gave him a ticket with his ID to pick up his Pokémon when they’re ready, the teenager thanked the nurse and walked away.
Before leaving the place, he felt how he was being observed but he didn’t give attention. The sensation was still there so he turned around and saw nothing out of place. He thought that could be his imagination, when he turned around for a second time the girl who watched his first match was in front of him.
“Can… I help you?” Said Tess with an awkward smile.
The girl was looking at Tess from the top to the bottom, from time to time she did a noise which can be assumed to be from acceptance and negation. The boy coughed to get the attention of the girl but all in vain.
“Why he is interested in you?” whispered the girl while looking at the teenager.
“Who is interested on who?” asked Tess trying again to get attention of this person.
“I watched you talking to Joseph,” answered the girl still looking at the boy. “No offense but… you… how to say it…”
“I… suck?”
“You say it, not me…” The girl finally looked at Tess in the eyes.
The young one glanced quickly to the girl, she is wearing high class clothes, a lilac strapless blouse somewhat tight to highlight her thin body. A white skirt which reach below his knees, an opaque yellow neckerchief covers her neck which highlight her white skin. Her hair is a bright California brunette which reach below her waist. Her face is free of any imperfections and her honey-eyes were captivating for Tess, but to his surprise, he saw a ring in her annular finger, he wasn’t surprised if she’s already married.
“Why Joseph have interest on you?” Asked the girl as she crossed her arms.
“I don’t know, he just appeared in my hometown and we talked… then he pursued me to participate on the tournament,” answered the young one.
“He usually picks curious people, but you are… normal…” whispered the girl. Tess asked what she said. “Sorry, I didn’t introduce myself. My name is Kara…” The girl suddenly stops for a minute and hold her mouth for a second, something that worried the boy. “I am… Kara… Faure-Dumont and I am…”
“The high-class store clothes in Kalos,” interrupted the teenager as he pointed the logo on the blouse that the girl wears. “I know the logo; my father gave one blouse to my mom on one of her birthdays.”
“Yes! I’m the daughter of Sylvain Faure-Dumont…” added the girl as she was doing a pride posture.
“You don’t look Kalonese if you ask me…”
“I am… a mix…” answered the girl maintaining her posture of pride.
“So… why do you came to see me in the bootcamp?” The girl was silent for a moment.
“You see… In this time and era, when everybody puts their attention to the APL Tournament, many brands search for trainers to sponsor him or her, but the problem with this is how we get one,” the girl explained to get the attention of Tess, as she knew she had it in his hands, she asked the teenager to follow her outside the Center. “This time I’m searching for new stars, people who never got a spot on any media.”
“That answers why you were watching me,” said Tess to himself. “But… Why me and not that asshole?” The girl was silent again.
“Joseph…” replied Kara without changing her tone. “If he says that you can participate on the tournament, you have something…” the girl smiled to the boy.
Tess thought what the girl said, maybe she’s right, maybe he has the potential to be a good trainer and have a good participation on the tournament. Before he could say something, he heard the voice of Joseph and Saga arguing around the corner, so he asked the girl to wait for him.
“Why are you wasting your time with him?!” asked angrily the psychic Pokémon, the young one heard that and waited near the wall. “You said that he could be interest on the research, you clearly saw how worthless he is…”
“Why you don’t read my mind and find out?” The champion replied without looking at her eyes.
“It’s better to heard it from your mouth and I’ll with glad and joy I’ll say…” Saga was interrupted by her trainer when he rose his index finger.
“I know… You told me… You good?” Said the champion without looking at his Pokémon. The psychic turned around with a mocking smile.
“Say it to him. Now!”
“I’ll give him another chance… For a brief second I felt how he reached the Seventh Sense,” whispered Joseph.
“Oh no, I’ll not allow this.” The Pokémon started to walk around mumbling words out of frustration, her anger was more notorious and claims on why her trainers is stubborn. “Everybody on your investigation did at their first match! This kid didn’t hit his opponent!” argued Saga raising her hands in the air with anger. “Just forget it, you have something better to do.”
Joseph didn’t say anything; he was tapping with his left foot facing away from his Pokémon. The psychic Pokémon walked towards her trainer and put her hand in the shoulder of Joseph. After a few seconds, Saga started to smile and sighed in relief.
“I love when you admit that I’m right!” said the Pokémon maintaining her mocking smile
“Fuck it… let’s go and…”
Joseph was interrupted by Tess who decided to appear when the champion was leaving. The boy was calm, but his eyes can denote a fiery anger. The man walked towards the teenager and faced him with a proud stance.
“You heard all, don’t ya?”
“So… I’m worthless huh? A dead rat laboratory to you?” said the boy containing all his anger.
“You don’t even qualify to be a rat!” added the psychic Pokémon with a piercing tone
“That’s A-OK!” replied Tess as he put his hands on his pockets. The girl who was waiting for him came to see the scene between these two people and she noted how the boy was containing his anger. “You can pick any idiot around here, give them freebies and wait for do their trick, in the end, you get more famous by the efforts of those idiots.”
“You’re very confident to say that… Are you angry my dear?” asked Saga as she leaned towards the teenager.
“Yes and no…” answered the boy and he took a deep breath. “I’m gonna beat your ass in your own game mate,” added Tess as he walked towards the champion, by how he was walking angrily to Joseph, everybody noted his intentions. The psychic Pokémon raised her hand and it was covered by a blue aura to create a crystal barrier to protect his trainer.
“What are you doing?” the girl stopped the teenager and said sorry for how he was acting. The champion raised an eyebrow seeing the girl, he kept looking at her, but he shook his head in negation. The champion asked to his Pokémon to disappear the barrier and walked towards him. Tess never noticed how difference was the height between the two, his menacing but calmly eyes were piercing the young one, but Tess didn’t want to show any weakness in this confrontation.
“I like a challenge…” said Joseph with a smile. “If you get to Evergrande, enter the tournament, then get to ‘Top 8’ and win… At that moment we can talk. Before that… You are nothing.”
Joseph ended the conversation with a proud stance. He turned away and his Pokémon glanced at the boy one last time and she winked and smile just to provoke the teenager. Tess was only looking how these two were mixing with the people and Pokémon in the city.
“Thank you for stopping me and…” the teenager was stopped by a slap on the face.
“Are you out of your mind?!” asked the girl with a notorious anger. “Jesus, your face is a brick…” she was shaking her hand due the slap she did.
“I will not ask why you hit me, but I’ll ask why you stopped me”
“Because Joseph still believes that you can be a good trainer, if he didn’t care, he could leave you behind long time ago.”
“You have a point… Now what?”
“Can we get to the coffee shop and talk in my interest in you? I can’t let escape this opportunity.”
“Bitch, I’m famous,” Tess was snapping his finger in a certain rhythm. “At least invite me something and…” he was interrupted again by Kara when she picked him of the neck of his shirt and to slap him in his face.
“Don’t talk to me like that! Don’t your mom teach you how to trait a lady?” said the girl with anger
“I’ll not say anything because now I’m feared of your hand now…” The teenager was sobbing his reddish cheeks. “Nice to meet you Miss Faure…”
“Just call me Kara…” The fashionista was trying to remember how the boy was named. “Yes darling?” she tapped the young one on his shoulder with a smile.
“Tess… My name is Tess…” added the boy with a sigh.
“Geez… just because I called you darling doesn’t mean I can’t remember your name.” The girl turned around and snapped her finger to indicate that the boy needs to hurry up.
“I’m dealing with this because you’re cute…” sighed the boy as he answered the snaps of the girl.
• Double Fire: Exclusive move from the Pokémon TCG.
Episode 2: Knowing the competition; Act 3: Baby steps.
The teenagers went to the coffee shop to talk with more calm after the event between Tess and the champion. The girl was writing something in her tablet ignoring almost all the questions the boy asked to Kara.
“So… how it’ll work?” Tess asked again leaving his drink on the table.
“Can you shut up for a moment, I’m writing…”
The boy sighed and took his drink again and leaned back on the seat, he took the opportunity to see the city at the sunset. He saw many people walking down the street with their Pokémon outside their catching device. He also saw many groups of people stopped at the map of the city, he was intrigued by that and say to Kara to wait for him.
“Just only don’t leave me alone on the bill” answered the girl keeping her eyes on her tablet.
“Don’t worry I’ll be here in a moment.” Tess went out the coffee shop and walked towards the group, he asked why they stopped on the map.
“We’re looking for the Gym of Petalburg”
“Gym? Like a … training place?” asked the teenager. The group looked him if he was serious, but Tess’ face was completely sure about his question, this made the group started to laugh a little.
“Dude… Pokémon Gym? The ones they gave the badges to get to the Big Tournament, you know that?” said one person as he pointed a poster behind them.
“Yeah I know that… I was trying to make sure you were looking for that instead of the working bodies… Yeah…” he lied terribly with his awkward smile.
“Yeah sure… We need to go…” the group took their route towards the center of the city.
Tess looked at the map and immediately found the Pokémon Gym. His face was determined to get his first badge, he said to himself how hard will be. When he decided to come back with his partner, he felt that he is being observed, he looked around the place, but nobody was watching him, the only thing off was some brushes shaking. He decided to ignore that and returned to Kara who was still writing on her tablet.
“Kara… What are you doing?”
“A document…”
“For what?
“To get your…” the girl started to snap her fingers trying to get the perfect word. “To get… an… exclusivity…”
“Like a contract?”
“Exactly! Here, I finished,” the girl passed her tablet to Tess. “In that document says that you will work for me and only for me, when an important match will happen, use… one of the cloths of the company to make sure you can show the brand…
“Ok…” The boy kept reading the document. “If I win… I’ll give you 15 percent of my winnings…” The girl asked if he has any objection of the contract. “No… not for now…”
“Great, now sign it” the girl passed a stylus.
“It’s ok if I have 16 right?” Kara responded that nothing is wrong with his age. “Ok then… It’s a pleasure to work with you Kara…”
“The pleasure is mine. Now… can you pay this?” The girl got up and leave the coffee shop and the boy sighed as he was faceplanting in the table.
The teenagers went to the Pokémon Center to get Tess’ Pokémon now that the place isn’t polluted of people. Tess looked at the map of the city that the Center have and remembered that he wanted to go to the Petalburg Gym, he was confident again and asked Kara to follow him.
After a few streets, they finally reached the place. From the outside it looks like a training dojo, in the top of the building it has the Association Logo light up which indicates that the Gym still in service.
“This antique structure is like the balance between the mind and the brawn…” Said Tess with an amazed voice.
“That’s a good thought…” Kara turned around to see the boy reading a pamphlet. “Oh… I should guess that.”
“Well… It’s time…”
The teenager entered the Gym and saw the same group from the map town leaving the building. He heard how the Leader was strong with his three Pokémon and how he was a good trainer by knowing all the strengths and weakness of all the creatures on the arena.
“You think this is a good idea? I mean… those guys looked very tired…” asked Kara with a worried tone.
“Why not? It’s better to try now and failed instead of asking myself everyday that I didn’t take this challenge.” Said the boy with a confident smile on his face.
Tess entered the final room by sliding the door and he was surprised by how large the battlefield is and how it seamed like a training dojo. The boy walked towards the center of the arena and asked to see the Leader of this place.
A middle age man came to the arena room, a few white hairs were on his well combed black hair, he has a thin body and clearly above average height. His cloths were a red jacket and a sports-like pants. When he entered the room, the only sound was his wooden sandals coming through.
“What do we have here?” Asked the man as he sat and looked the teenager.
“Good evening sir, my name is Tess and I want a Pokémon Trainer match against you” said Tess reaching out his hand.
“Okay Tess, if you want to get my Gym badge I need your ID to make this an official match.” The teenager passes his Trainer card. “Are you serious?” The leader scratched his head.
“Is there a problem sir?”
“My Gym is the fifth one due to the agreement of all the Pokémon League in Hoenn… And you have zero badges…”
“Can I get a match or no?”
"I have to say no…” The Leader was keeping looking at the ID of the boy. “Oldale huh? It’s been years since someone from Oldale come here to get a match…” The leader returned the ID to Tess. “Can I see your team?”
The boy released his two Pokémon, the looks on them seemed tired due the time being. The Leader walked towards the creatures and looked at them for a solid minute each. After finishing that, he looked at Tess.
“Tess was your name right?” The teenager responds with a simple yes. “Look, I can’t give the chance for a Gym battle, it’s against the rules. However, maybe I can make an exception, just give me some time.”
The Gym leader went to the backdoor of the arena. After some time, he came back to the battlefield with a smile in his face, he returned the ID to its owner and offered the both travelers to take seat on the ground.
“I talked with the president of the APL and I forgot the new way to obtain the gym badges.” The leader scratched the back of his head while laughing nervously.
“New way?” Asked the girl curious.
“After the hit success of the first tournament in Indigo Plateau, the organization wanted to get more people on the next championship. Therefore, they gave the chance to challenge any Gym Leader in any order just for being accessible. Many people don’t do that way and does the traditional order.”
“Accessibility huh?” Tess mumbled to himself. “I think I got it… people like me and others who traveled to this region can challenge the Gym leader of the city they arrived.
“That’s make sense” complemented Kara to the thoughts of the boy.
“So, Tess… Do you want to take the challenge, or do you want to wait for a better time?”
“I came here to get the challenge done!” answered the teenager with enthusiasm.
“Well then… a 2 vs 2 match will be held.” The Gym leader pointed the place where Tess should stand, and he called for a young adult who was going to be the judge on this match.
Both trainers got on their spot, Tess returned Piplup to its device and sent his Trapinch to the center of the battlefield. He thought that the ant-like Pokémon will do great on this match as he saw how the ground-type have sort of a smile in its face. On the other side, the Gym Leader released a raccoon like creature. That Pokémon has zigzag-patterned fur alternating colors between cream and brown. A black mask pattern surrounds his eyes, for the teenager, that Pokémon looked like a thief. The Gym Leader ordered his Pokémon to be in the middle of the battlefield.
“Challenger Tess will face the Gym Leader Norman on a two versus two gym battle,” Said the judge in turn. “The challenger will have only one chance to change his Pokémon meanwhile the Gym Leader doesn’t, is that clear?” The trainers answered with a nod. “If both sides are ready, the battle begin!”
“Come on Zigzagoon, Sand-Attack!” Ordered the Gym Leader without hesitation.
“Use Mud-Slap!” counterattacked the teenager when he saw how the normal type Pokémon started to run towards his creature.
The ant-like Pokémon use the sand that the arena has to create the mud even faster than the usual, something that the Gym Leader knew, so he smiled at the teenager because he has some competence in the battling regard. Norman decided to cancel the attack and waited to for an open window and counterattack.
The attack from the Trapinch was throw and barely touched the normal type Pokémon. As the ground type was recovering from his launching, Norman ordered to attack with Headbutt and Zigzagoon had no problem to get a clear hit.
Tess wasn’t surprised by how the Gym Leader opted to wait for the attack, he was a Gym Leader after all. The teenager asked by how his Pokémon was and the creature winked with a smile with the zigzag mouth. He didn’t know if that was an OK sign, but he knew that confidence on him was going to get them stronger.
Maintaining the same energy as he started this fight, he went for Bite aiming to the tail of Norman’s Pokémon. Its low movement made predictable how the ant-like Pokémon was going for, so the Gym leader ordered to take a few steps back and wait for a simple counterattack. When Zigzagoon retreated a few steps, the creature started to have some problems moving its back-left foot because started to grow sand around that place.
“Why it has some problem retreating?” Asked Tess to himself.
“Did you know your Pokémon?” Questioned the girl while facepalming. “Trapinch has Arena Trap as his ability.
“A…bility?”
“Pokémon learn moves as their grow, but their abilities are there from the moment they are born.” Explained the Gym Leader. “It was quite a shock to know that your Trapinch have Arena Trap, that ability make retreating impossible, so it’s always has to face Pokémon like yours.”
Tess smiled at the situation and ordered his Pokémon to take full charge against his opponent. Knowing what happened last time, he thought to which side the normal type creature will go. But something was odd for the boy, seeing a confident smile on the Gym’s Leader made the teenager doubt about what his opponent would do.
“Counterattack with Headbutt!” shouted Norman with enthusiasm.
This order took out by surprise the teenager, he asked to himself why he would change the tactics if the last time he succeeded. The young one looked at his opponent and saw how he was shaking his head in negation.
Both Pokémon clashed their heads and the Zigzagoon’s attack surpasses the power of Trapinch’s simple tackle. The ground type Pokémon took a few steps back and Norman saw the opportunity to get a second attack. The Gym Leader ordered to his Pokémon to do the same attack.
The raccoon creature hit Tess’ Pokémon and it barely gets up. The ground type creature was panting out of tiredness, the teenager thought that the best he can do is to change to his second Pokémon.
“Trapinch get back!” Tess took his catching device to return his tired Pokémon.
The teenager released his water type Pokémon, the penguin was looking at the place in a confused state, but when the creature saw its opponent its face changed to a fierce and glaring look.
Without and order Piplup charged towards the raccoon Pokémon ready to peck him. The novice trainer ordered to wait for an opportunity to get a clear hit. but the water creature ignored him, Piplup was charging towards its opponent.
Norman knew that his Pokémon wasn’t in the ability of Trapinch, so he ordered to his Pokémon to fall back and hit it with a tail flip. The normal type jumped back a saw how its opponent failed to peck him. When he landed he did the attack and hit Piplup on its face making him to fell down, but immediately gets up.
“Stop this!” Normal raised his hand to make clear to the judge that the battle has been paused. “It’s clearly that you’re new to this, I will no longer continue this battle. You aren’t capable of controlling your Pokémon and you don’t know what they can do, for a brief moment I thought that you were something else, but it was clear that you don’t.”
Tess was silent the whole speech, sure, it was a stupid idea to face a Gym Leader in its first day of his traveling, but he was confident in his little knowledge. The teenager returned his Pokémon to its device and looked Norman to wait if he has something to say, but he didn’t.
“I’m… sorry,” said Tess with disappointment. “I’m sorry for wasting your time…”
“It’s not me who you are to apologize.”
“Right…” the teenager took his Pokéballs and sighed.
The girl saw how the boy was a little down, today he lost two matches in a row and realized that maybe he doesn’t have any skills on Pokémon Battling. Tess thanked the time that Norman gave to him and leaved the gym looking at the floor. Kara walked towards the boy and gave a push on the back to get his attention and smiled at him.
“Don’t be sad… maybe you need more experience.”
“It’s not that… It’s because I can’t control Piplup that worries me. The same thing happened with that asshole, but I thought it was a common thing… I guess it doesn’t.”
“Well… maybe you need more time with your Pokémon to understand him better…”
“When Piplup is outside, he looked confused, like it doesn’t know where he is. But in battle… this guy is another person…”
“You know what you need?” The girl took out his cellphone and started to browse in her documents. “Look, Rustboro will have an intensive trainer class for anybody who wants to join the Tournament, maybe you should go there and maybe any person there will help you.” Kara gave her cellphone to Tess.
“That’s sounds good…” said the teenager as he was reading all the info. “I need to take this thing… It says that after tomorrow will start… We have to get to Rustboro by tomorrow night…”
“If we start our day in the early morning we could get there before night…”
The fashionista’s cellphone started to ring, she asked the teenager to return the mobile .She answered the incoming call and took a step away from Tess. The boy saw how she was walking inside the gym and decided to look for a seat near the place and leave his belongings near the bench he took seat.
But something was odd for him, he felt how he was been observed again, he got up and looked around, but nobody was there. He asked to himself why it happened for a second time. Again, he didn’t care for that moment. He waited for the girl to come back and took the chance to look at the city.
The teenager looked how many trainers are there outside with their Pokémon, talking to them like he was a human, he asked if that will help him on training his Piplup, treating as a partner instead of a creature. He took his Pokéball and looked at it for a solid minute, he thought of what he could talk to his Pokémon, he asked to himself if the creature will understand him.
A noise coming from the brushes surprised the boy and went towards the noise. The brushes were shaking a lot and made Tess to get closer with caution, after opening some branches, he saw an injured Pokémon.
The boy was shocked by how this creature was badly damaged, he doesn’t know what its name is. That Pokémon is covered in gray bandages all over its body but some parts of ts body are covered by dirt. The only thing uncovered is the bright red eye which was fading every second as the creature was panting of sort..
“Hey buddy, can you hear me?” Tess kneeled down and took out a Pokéball. “This is weird and all but get in here and I’ll take you to the Pokémon Center, I’ll release you later, come on.”
The creature shook his head in negation making Tess more worried and he persuade him again. The thing that the teenager didn’t notice was that the Pokémon was holding something in his hands. The boy put the device in his pocket, and he lent a hand to help him.
The Pokémon saw how he was offering his hand and without hesitation he lent him the object it was holding in his hands. Tess was confused by how he received an egg, he looked at it and wondered why the Pokémon was holding an egg, when he returned his attention to the creature, he was gone. Tess looked out for the creature, but nothing was found, that Pokémon disappeared.
The teenager observed all the details of the egg, it has some gray spots all around the place, it has the same color as the Pokémon who leaved the egg in his hands. Tess assumed that the Pokémon was in his dying breath and wanted someone to take care of this egg and somehow he was the chosen one or the only option. Whatever the choice was, now he has to take care of this creature.
Meanwhile, Kara was waiting on her phone to actually having his dad on the call, despite he made it, his secretary was the person who called her. She was tapping her foot on desperation while she was waiting for her dad, after some minutes, the sound of a man greeted the girl.
“Hey dad, what happened?” Said the girl playing with her hair.
“About this… Tess… Why do you pick him? He is a nobody” Answered her father in some anger.
“Look, Tess was picked by Joseph.”
“Joseph? The champion Joseph Lowell itself?
Kara started to explain all the situation that leaded to this moment, even she told the confront that they had a few hours ago explaining that the boy still has some chance to face the champion itself. She kept claiming that he needs more preparation and nothing more.
“Look Sylvian… Sorry… Dad…” The girl sighed and started to take deep breaths. “I know you barely know me… But you can trust me… besides… the other agents failed horribly; I can’t go lower than them… right?” Kara finished with an awkward smile.
Her dad only grumbled at how the girl exposed her ideas and arguments about hiring Tess as his new face of the company. Kara was waiting for an answer, she only kept hearing the grumbling of her parent.
After some time, Kara came back playing with her hair and took seat alongside the teenager who was smiling at her because how she looked.
“Anything wrong?” Asked the teenager with some worries in his tone.
“I talked to my father and… two things, a bad one and a good one… The good one is that my father agreed to sponsor you, but not in our store or heavy expenses, like hotels or luxurious transports.”
“Ok, sounds fair.” Responded the young with calm.
“You sure? I mean… travel around Hoenn sounds expensive if you think about it.”
“That’s the part of the journey, right? It can be a good experience not for me, but for my Pokémon and future partners.”
“You sound very positive now… I like that.” Kara smiled at Tess and tap him in the shoulder.
“The next stop for me is the Pokémon Academy in Rustboro.”
“It’s getting pretty late here, so tomorrow we’ll leave. I’m going to buy something in the convenience store,” the girl handed her number written in a piece of paper. “Call me when you find a hotel where we can spend the night.”
“Are you telling me that I need to find a place to spend the night?” The fashionista nodded. “Who is sponsoring who?”
Kara shook his head in negation and went to the nearest convenience store. Tess only scratched the back of his head and mumbled some words out of anger of how the girl was acting with him. The teenager picked up his backpack carefully due to the egg was resting in that place, after that, he went to the Pokémon Center. Before he entered the place, his cellphone rang a few times, he picked up his mobile and saw an SMS from his manager.
“Don’t rent in the Pokémon Center, I NEED a good bed.
TY Darling ❤”
“I can’t understand this woman…” Tess was rubbing his head in desperation.
The teenager turned around and went to a motel which easily was expensive for the young one to pay when he entered the waiting room. Luxury furniture are everywhere, and the Pokémon are well trained for their job receiving any person around them.
One of those Pokémon was a yellow creature which has a long mustache and it was holding a spoon in each hand, it was wearing a black jacket with a tag in its chest saying its name. With a simple lift of his hand it was capable of taking off the teenager’s backpack and with a gesture guided Tess to the reception area.
He sighed and walked towards the indicated place, the young one had no other option, many places have their check in almost at dusk, but this place receive anyone at all times. Tess payed for the night and with the help of the Pokémon, he was able to reach his room.
The bedroom was new for him, the room was clean with some water bottles near the main door, a huge TV with many channels at his disposal, many samples of shampoo and soap and other little details that surprised Tess. But there was a huge problem, its clearly a motel room, the lights on this place were reddish to provoke some erotism, there was only one bed big enough to practice everything from that famous book.
He called his manager and told her where he was and Kara said nothing back, she hung up the call. Tess was only sitting on the corner of the bed waiting for her partner to get in and explain everything. She knocked the door and Tess opened for her, Kara entered the room and went directly to the bed.
“On my backpack there is a Lambrusco wine, open it please.” Said Kara resting on the bed.
The teenager went for the backpack and search for that bottle of alcohol, he opened it with easy and hand it over to Kara who was sitting on the border of the bed. She took the drink and took a few sips before passing it to his travel partner.
“For a good journey.” Said Kara with a cute smile on her face, Tess wasn’t able to reject the invitation and took a sip of the bottle.
“For a good journey…” Tess returned the Lambrusco to the girl. “About the bed…”
“You never slept with another woman before?” Asked the fashionista jokingly.
“Hey! I’m asking because you’re married.” Tess pointed Kara’s ring
“This?” Kara raised her finger with the ring on it. “I’m engaged, that’s true…” She took another sip from the bottle. “But that’s none of your business and I really don’t care if he thinks I sleep with another man… And I say a lot, my personal life is out of this.” The girl took a last sip from the bottle and went to the bathroom with her backpack.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
“Don’t make this situation worse or more awkward, ok?” The girl opened the door and she was wearing a white pajama, she went to the bed and laid down. “Have a good night”
The teenager did the same and faced against the girl to avoid any interaction with her all night.
