Mable stood in the elevator that usually headed down to the Dome with Rhyx standing next to her.
"That's a pretty beautiful flower in your hair, Boss." Rhyx commented.
Mable raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
About an hour or two ago, Paxton had come back from his second job looking like he had gotten into a fight.
He had flour still in his hair and he had gotten down on both knees in the middle of the Research Lab's lobby, held up some dark purple flower with pink petals at her, and delivered what he described as a heartfelt confession of his undying love for her.
It was mostly about getting a salary increase.
That man cared about two things… money and his Pokémon.
"Tch." Mable ground her teeth slightly.
The problem was he had beaten her in Rock-Paper-Scissors afterward which wouldn't have happened if she hadn't been the one to propose the game in the first place.
She had been confident and she had lost, now she was wearing the flower in her hair for two days because she had bet on herself without thinking about what the other outcome looked like which was, if she was being completely honest, a scientific failure on her part.
She should have modeled the probability better.
The elevator door opened and Mable walked out, leaving Rhyx behind to roam around.
Everything here was possible because of Professor Sycamore.
She didn't want to disgrace that. It was one of the reasons she worked the way she worked, she wasn't going to let the Research Lab become something small while she was there.
Mable walked to the pond and sat down on the ground beside it, which she almost never did, and looked at the water.
It was clear enough to see the fish Pokémon moving below the surface. There were several Goldeen drifting and even a Barboach working along the bottom alongside several Binacles, apparently one of the trainers she sponsored had decided to catch twenty Binacles for some reason.
Then Feebas came up and broke the surface near her, the purplish shimmer of her scales catching the dome's ambient light.
Mable gave her a small pat on the head.
"The evening sure is beautiful." Mable said while looking at the top of the dome, the sky was filled with stars and even the moon. "Your trainer is out there battling so you better get stronger and join up with him."
"Feeb~"
She wasn't jealous… It wasn't wrong to want a man who had caught two Alpha Pokémon within days of arriving, including two shiny Pokémon, to dedicate himself properly to her research tasks instead of splitting his time.
That was a rational position, she was a scientist and she needed someone helping.
"Do you want me to help make you prettier?" Mable asked. Paxton had said he would work on Feebas tomorrow but she had time now and she wanted to help him out.
Feebas immediately withdrew below the surface, her body disappearing into the darker water with a flick of her tail.
Mable watched the ripples settle.
That was strange.
Regular Feebas wanted to be seen… they actively sought beauty and approval but this one retreated from the offer entirely and it wasn't the first time.
It looked like she had trauma from whatever had happened with the previous trainer, she could guess it had a trainer prior because Quartastico didn't add any Feebas to Wild Zone 2.
She needed to find out what specifically had been done to this Pokémon before any confidence-building could start.
Rhyx appeared at her side at a run, breathing hard like she had been running.
"Pro… Prof… Professor—" She paused to breathe. "Froakie's gone!"
Mable looked at the frubble nest floating on the water's surface where Froakie had been sitting yesterday, he was not there now.
She sighed and faced the water again.
"You of all people should know we won't find it." She said, this wasn't the first time and it wouldn't be the last. "It's probably scouting out another victim so we have to wait."
She didn't hate the Pokémon, that was the complicated part.
Froakie was a pain in the ass precisely because it had standards… the same way she had impossibly high standards.
She could respect that even while it made her want to pull her hair out.
Mable looked at the moon through the dome's upper panels, it looked beautiful tonight.
'Let's just hope he comes back.' she thought, and said nothing else.
…
"Froakie~"
Froakie looked at the moon and thought it was beautiful, then focused on the more important thing. The trainer that came to the Dome with the Ralts on his head.
The red barrier was in front of him on the street up front.
Froakie had picked up enough from living in the Research Lab's Dome and the surrounding city to understand what the red zones meant…the red banner meant that there was battle happening inside.
Froakie took a breath and ran in.
Trainers were fighting already but none of them were who he was looking for so Froakie realized that he needed higher ground to see more of the zone at once.
He reached into the frubbles around his neck, took one out, and pressed it against the wall of the building beside him.
It stuck flat against the surface.
He grabbed the contact point and pulled himself up then reached for another frubble from the collar and planted it higher up.
Pulling a spent frubble cleanly off a surface for reuse took grip strength and timing that most Pokémon didn't have, so Froakie worked his way up with fresh ones each time, planting a sequence up the wall like rungs on a ladder.
He reached the roof and let himself breathe.
"Fro~"
He let it out slowly. It had been a long time since he had done a full climb like that on a cold night with his muscles still warming up.
He hoped this trainer was worth it... That trainer better be the single best one he had encountered in a career of leaving the wrong ones behind.
"A wild Froakie? Here in the Battle Zone?" A trainer standing on the same roof looked at him… it was a girl with glasses, a Gastly floating beside her and Froakie recognized Gastly.
He had fought plenty of them over the time spent with his former trainers.
She raised a Pokéball.
"Gastly, go after i—"
A frubble hit her in the face before she finished the sentence. It spread across her glasses and nose and she went down with the Pokéball clattering out of her hand.
"Mph!"
Gastly turned to look at its trainer instead of attacking. It floated there completely uninterested in fighting.
"Froak froak froakie!"
All Gastlys were weak fucks!
Froakie scanned the rooftops while the girl was already peeling the frubble off her face behind him.
"You… You! For this I won't let you out of your Pokéball for two whole weeks!"
The Pokéball sailed through the air and hit him in the back of the head.
He felt it click against the frubbles on his collar then it hit the ground and bounced uselessly… a Pokémon already registered to a trainer couldn't be caught again.
Her Rotomphone beeped with the notification and she gritted her teeth but Froakie was already running since he had spotted the Ralts.
There… two rooftops away on the ground was the trainer he had been watching, standing opposite a woman in all red.
One gap between here and the next building, then another gap to reach him.
Froakie didn't slow down.
He hit the edge of the first roof, threw a frubble at the lamp-post on the far side as he crossed the gap, used the contact point to swing his arc and land on the second building properly.
"Froak!" He hit the roof and ran.
…
"I watched your battle just now and I have to admit, you have potential."
I looked at the woman who said that and then kept looking because I needed a moment to process what I was seeing.
She was a bit shorter than me, standing in shorts… and wearing what I could only describe as a full Charizard costume assembled with genuine commitment.
A face mask shaped like a Charizard's head with teeth showing, the orange and cream colouring looked very accurate though.
A cape stretched out behind her in two directions shaped like wings with the fabric stiffened at the edges to hold the shape and behind her back, a makeshift tail with something at the tip that glowed orange like it was supposed to be on fire.
Someone had put work into this.
"What the hell are you wearing?" I asked.
She put one hand on her hip with smugness.
"I'm honoring the greatness of the best Pokémon in the world." She said. "Charizard. Like the fit?"
I looked at it for another full second.
"It makes you look a bit stupid." I said. "But honestly it's not a bad look."
The cheeks puffed.
"I thought you would be more enthusiastic, especially since you love Charizard so much." She said, examining her nails suddenly. "We've ordered the same coffee at Nouveau Cafe and you were staring at the Charizard illustration on the wall the first time you walked in, Griselle told me… so naturally I made a reasonable inference."
"Wow." I said. "What a stalker."
"How rude!" She put a hand to her chest. "Someone like me doesn't stalk people, we happened to be at the same place at the same time, that's all."
She straightened up. "I'd have you know my mother owns the Charific Valley in Johto… that's where the strongest Charizard in the region train and even my Charmander grew up there."
"...Okay?" I had only researched regions I wanted to vacation in but not Johto… There was actually a valley of powerful Charizards? I'd add that to the list then.
"And since you're clearly a Charizard person, I'll give you a second Charmander that I got from the valley." She said. "But you have to do something for me."
I stared at her.
What was this? Plot armor? Did I even have enough space in my team to get all these Pokemon…? Not only was I going to get Riolu today but I was also going to get a Charmander too? Maybe I was the son of the heavens after all!!
But if it's for something as valuable as a Charmander, it has to be a lot right?
"I spent most of my allowance on the costume and don't have enough money to get into a hotel." She said then she pointed at me.
"Alongside a regular Z-A Royale battle, I want an official battle with fifty thousand Pokédollars on the line." She said.
I blinked.
"50k?" This woman was crazier than even me… the highest I had wagered was 10,000 and even that was pushing it. "Can you even afford that?"
"I'll give you the Charmander if I lose." She said. "But I should mention… you're the last trainer I need for my Challenger's ticket. I started tonight and I'm already on my way to Rank X."
The Battle Zones had been open for two hours and she was already on her way to rank X?
"I accept." I said. "But you'll need to show me what I'm fighting for first."
She sighed, reached behind her waistband, and brought out a Pokéball then she clicked the center button.
The Charmander that appeared was small… it was bipedal, orange-scaled, and the flame on its tail was burning regularly, several old scratches were on its body, so maybe it used to do hardcore training.
I couldn't really tell.
Charmander raised its hand up and waved at me with a smile on its face.
"Char!"
My chest hurt and I dropped to my knees.
"Huh?" Cindy blinked. "What's wrong?"
"You're on." I looked up at her and pumped my fist. "I'll beat you and take Charmander home."
She smiled and returned it to the ball.
"That's what I like to hear." She typed something on her Rotomphone and mine went up at the same time, both of them colliding mid-air with the usual electric crackle of an official battle registration.
"Pokémon Trainer Cindy has challenged Pokémon Trainer Paxton to an official two-on-one battle with ₽50,000 on the line. Do both parties accept?"
"Yes." She said.
I raised an eyebrow. "Two on one?"
"I'm only using Charmander." She said. "Throughout my career I plan to have one Pokémon on my team… That will be her… I want to make her as strong as the Charizard that Champion Red and Champion Leon have."
Cindy folded her arms. "If that sounds prideful to you, that's fine."
I looked at her then I looked at Charmander's Pokéball in her hand.
"Yes." I said, and the Rotomphones chimed.
"Send out your Pokémon!"
We skidded backward to give our mons room to battle and I looked at Ralts.
"Rara~" She was already raising her palms.
"Save your energy." I said. "We've got more battles after this and you'll be leading them."
I took out Fletchling's Pokéball instead and threw it.
Fletchling came out from her ball and spread both wings completely, her feathers catching a convenient wind that had started up as soon as she came out.
She looked majestic right now.
"A Fletchling?" Cindy said.
She stomped one foot forward, leaving a small dent on the ground. Why was everyone in this world built like a mini Ivor? "I've seen a lot of them tonight."
She threw her Pokéball and Cindy's Charmander landed opposite Fletchling.
"Start with a flamethrower!" Cindy let out and Charmander inhaled before spewing out flames at Fletchling.
"Quick Peck!" I ordered and as the Flamethrower closed the distance, Fletchling's body was covered with white energy and just as the Flamethrower converged around her, she shot out the sides of the flamethrower running circles around it and impacting Charmander right in the stomach, making the Pokemon stagger backward as Fletchling soared into the sky with a beautiful curve.
"Defend with Metal Claw and then counter with Tail Whip!" Cindy ordered and I was confused… defend with an attacking move and attack with a stat-reducing move?
Fletchling came down in that brilliant curve packed with as much force as she could muster and Charmander raised both of its claws in a cross as they glinted in steel.
Fletchling collided with Charmander and a shockwave was created that blew outward as well, blowing both of our hair backwards.
Charmander defended against it and Fletchling staggered in the air, immediately Charmander took hold of Fletchling with its tail and slammed her into the ground once and again.
"Fletch!"
I gritted my teeth as Charmander lifted Fletchling up to it's face, ready to hit it with a point-blank Flamethrower.
"Ember!" I ordered. "Follow up with a Headbutt!"
Fletchlings didn't learn Headbutt but who was to say she couldn't use her head to hit it?
She opened her beak and shot a flame at Charmander's face making the Pokemon blink in confusion and then she slammed her head into that of the Charmander.
It really didn't do damage, but that wasn't what we were aiming for… we were aiming to get free of the hold.
Charmander's tail loosened and Fletchling flew free but we weren't being let off the hook that easy.
"Flamethrower again!" Cindy ordered and Charmander burst out flames again in a Flamethrower.
"Drop low and Quick Peck!" I countered and she dropped down to the ground, flying along it while heading to Charmander again.
"Direct the flamethrower and take it out." Cindy said and Charmander directed it at Fletchling but she flew over it, impacting a peck on its face and making it stagger backward but Cindy grinned and suddenly I didn't feel so good about this.
"Thunder Punch!" She ordered and my eyes widened.
"Pull back with Quick Attack!"
Fletchling maintained the Quick Attack and adjusted herself but it was already late, Charmander's right fist crackled with lightning and it threw a punch forward, though it didn't hit Fletchling, it skimmed one of her wings and sent the Pokemon flying back.
The dust on the road kicked up but she managed to stop herself before crashing, skidding even though one of her wings had burned feathers.
"Fletch! Fletch! Fletch!" Fletchling said and Charmander blew out flames from its nose while gritting its teeth, why was she enraging it even more?
But that wasn't the most surprising thing here… This woman was a TM connoisseur!
"With such a limited move set, you still manage to bring out the best in your Pokemon." She said while placing a hand on her chin. "What an amazing trainer you are, I have granted you the permission to be my rival."
Rival?
"Charmander, Seismic Thunder! Let's end this!" Cindy shouted out and Charmander sprung off the ground closing the distance, Fletchling tried to move her wings but the one that was hit made her grounded.
From the name Seismic Thunder… I could guess it was a Seismic Toss into the air and followed with a Thunder Punch right? As long as Fletchling got into the air, we had a chance. It could also be a Thunder Punch into the air… Too many things to think about.
"Brace yourself!" I said and Charmander closed the distance taking hold of Fletchling and throwing it in the air above while cocking its hand back and gathering lightning. "Quick Peck and Flail!"
Since she couldn't fly, she would use the momentum to come down and that was exactly what Fletchling did.
"Fletch!" As she came down, she used Quick Attack and angled her wing properly making sure she was coming down with full speed and then she used Flail… Fletchling was on her last legs so it was extremely powerful now and though there wasn't any physical change in place, Fletchling was moving faster.
"Go!" We both yelled out at the same time and the two Pokemon collided with a bigger shockwave than last time, the dust spread outward and even other trainers had stopped their battle to look at ours.
As the dust cleared, both Fletchling and Charmander were somehow standing… Charmander took a few steps back with a lot more scratches on its body but it was perfectly standing.
"Don't waste any more time, finish that tanky Fletchling off with another Thunder Pun–"
"It's enough…" I raised my hand up with Fletchling's Pokeball and a small smile on my face. "She's done…"
Fletchling had fainted while standing…
[Author's Note]
Sorry the chapters came a bit late but thanks for the Power Stones.