Startled, Asher had never expected a level 15 Pokémon to have that kind of power.
He sucked in a cold breath.
The gap was too wide.
He hadn't expected to fail before even earning his first Badge. Official Gym battles were all 3-on-3.
Asher's other two good buddies, the pair of Wurmple Flare had beaten into line, were completely useless at a time like this.
Among the crowd, the out-of-town trainers taking part in the Great Pilgrimage clenched their fists and protested in anger.
"That Pokémon's level is off! It looks way over twenty!"
"What the hell? Why does the Pokédex say it's only level fifteen?"
But their doubts were completely drowned out by the surrounding audience. These people were too lost in their frenzy to hear a single sane word.
In the chaos, a few people muttered quietly to each other.
"Roxanne... wasn't she the stepping stone for that woman at the Lily of the Valley Conference?"
"Oh, so it was her? I heard her main Pokémon got smashed the moment it came out because of a bad type matchup..."
Amid all the noise and clamor, Asher said nothing.
He scooped up Flare's limp body, hanging there like a dead weight, and with a dark expression on his face, sprinted away through the manic cheers of the crowd.
Run.
Keep running.
Asher broke free from the shouting like he was fleeing for his life.
At that moment, he wasn't thinking about anything else. Inside, there was only one desperate scream.
Flare, you can't die on me!!!
...
Looking at Flare on the hospital bed, newly out of danger, Asher finally understood that his tactics weren't enough to overturn a bad type matchup.
A truly mature trainer had to make proper use of type advantages and disadvantages, knocking down opponents with half the effort.
Trying to force his way into becoming some kind of type-disadvantage master would only get his Pokémon badly hurt.
At that moment, he surrendered. He accepted Principal Roxanne's lesson.
One future type-disadvantage specialist had been ruthlessly snuffed out in the cradle.
To keep Flare from getting hurt again, Asher immediately locked onto the natural enemies of Rock-types: Water-types, Grass-types, and Fighting-types.
All three could deal super effective damage to Rock-type Pokémon.
As he gently stroked Flare's head, Asher silently made up his mind to find a new partner, to use new strength to defeat that enemy.
Meanwhile, sensing Asher's disappointment, the newly awakened Flare grew dejected. It touched its still-numb stomach, and a brief, spark-like loneliness rose in its heart.
That terrifying slam had almost blown its body apart. It had come within a hair of death.
If Asher hadn't used a watered-down version of Viridian Power to keep it going, it never would have lasted long enough to reach the Pokémon Center.
But compared to the pain in its body, what hurt more was feeling Asher's disappointment.
Flare blamed itself. Its own weakness had to be the reason Asher felt so crushed.
After getting beaten up and sent to the hospital over and over, it had helped Asher maintain his legendary winless streak in PvP. It really was pathetic.
"Rotom... Flare seems really unhappy..."
"Huh?"
Feeling the sadness and discouragement coming from Flare's heart, Asher thought it was still trapped in the frustration of defeat.
The more he thought about it, the more guilty he felt.
It was because he had kept throwing Flare into battles it never should have fought that it had suffered defeat again and again and lost confidence.
So Asher comforted it.
"It's okay, Flare. You don't need to dwell on losing. You already did great. This was all because of natural type disadvantage. I never should've made you fight opponents like that. Besides, didn't you beat two Pokémon already?"
"Don't worry. I'm going to find a new partner right away, one that can beat Nosepass. Until then, just focus on recovering."
?!!
A n-n-new...
new... partner?!!
"Gah?! Gahahahaha!!!"
Lying on the hospital bed, Flare suddenly began thrashing wildly, its emotions exploding all at once.
Feeling the fierce refusal and unwillingness pouring out from Flare, Asher seemed to grasp what it meant.
"Uh, you're saying that if you got another shot, you could definitely melt that stupid rock? You want to battle it again? No! Absolutely not! Don't force yourself! We're not anime protagonists. Strength has to be built through training and growth. If you push it, you'll just get hurt even worse!"
"Guga—guga—"
Instead of calming down, Flare struggled even harder.
Seeing Flare fight so desperately despite being badly injured only made Asher feel more ashamed.
That's right. If he wanted to keep Flare from getting hurt again, he had to find a new partner.
"Gwaa..."
Sensing Asher's determination growing even stronger, Flare was so mad it cried, then almost passed out from anger.
Just then, Nurse Joy and her assistant Chansey rushed in.
"Oh no! This Charmander's having an episode! Classic post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD! Chansey, hold it down! Time for a shot!"
"Lucky!"
Boom!
Chansey leaped high into the air and slammed down with Body Slam, pinning Flare in place.
Nurse Joy immediately followed up with a sedative.
The power of chemistry sent Flare into a deep sleep, and Nurse Joy smiled at Asher.
"Don't worry, Trainer. Pokémon that take a tough loss like this often react that way. Give it a few days and it'll be fine."
Looking at the flattened Flare, Asher's mouth twitched.
The app was currently showing their relationship as [Red-Capped Jerk], and he had a strong feeling this woman was getting back at him for yelling at her at the front desk last time...
So yeah, never yell at medical staff.
"Uh... thank you, Nurse Joy!"
Still, Flare had finally settled down, and Asher let out a long sigh of relief.
He understood that at times like this, everyone needed time to wash everything away. Time was the best medicine for healing defeat.
Patting Kagari on the shoulder, Asher said with a bitter smile, "I'm leaving Flare with you for now. There's something I need to do."
With a bright smile, Kagari replied, "Go ahead, Asher. I've got things covered here."
Asher stroked Flare's head, his heart aching.
"Don't worry, Flare. I won't let you get hurt again. Just wait here for good news."
Then Asher turned around and left it behind...
Walking alone through the busy streets, Asher felt a wave of loneliness crash into the empty space inside him.
Only then did he realize how much room Flare had already taken up in his heart. The moment they were apart, he felt strangely hollow.
He took a deep breath and tasted the cold loneliness in the air. This feeling was...
Damn... this was what freedom tasted like.
Even though being with Flare had let him experience a kind of closeness and Bond he had never felt before, trainers were meant to fight alongside all kinds of Pokémon.
Right now, Asher's thoughts were more alive than ever. He could finally let his mind wander to the subject of a new partner.
Just thinking about building a bond with a new Pokémon made him a little excited.
Before long, all sorts of Pokémon had flooded into Asher's head.
He started imagining what it would be like to connect with each of them...
Ivysaur. Amphibian plus plant. Bad combo. Too primitive. Didn't seem like the kind of creature with lively emotions.
Squirtle. A reptile. That role overlapped too much with Flare...
...
Without realizing it, Asher had spent so long lost in all kinds of fantasies that he had crossed more than half the city and arrived at the harbor.
In front of him, a whole crowd of humanoid Pokémon were hauling cargo back and forth, busy as could be.
These Pokémon didn't have trainers of their own. They still counted as wild Pokémon, yet they worked jobs like humans and had blended into human society.
These Pokémon were known as freelance Pokémon.