Daemon walked along Kirlia through the corridors of the Pokémon Centre, but his mind was scanning through the moveset of his Pokémon.
After evolution, Kirlia had learned a new move, and so had Deino through the 'spars'.
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[Kirlia
Gender: Female
Type: Psychic/Fairy
Ability: Synchronize
Moves: Rain Dance, Life Dew, Heal Pulse, Teleport, Hypnosis, Reflect, Light Screen, Trick Room, Psychic Terrain, Psybeam, Psychic, Disarming Voice, Mystical Fire, Shadow Ball]
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[Deino
Gender: Male
Type: Dark/Dragon
Ability: Hustle
Moves: Focus Energy, Tackle, Bite, Ice Fang, Thunder Fang, Fire Fang, Incinerate, Dragon Breath, Dragon Pulse]
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Kirlia had learned [Life Dew] and [Teleport] after evolving, moves that had increased her versatility.
As for Deino, the dragon had learned [Incinerate] while fighting the psychic fairy. The dark dragon had gotten annoyed at Alice just taking his dragon-type moves without flinching and had ended up putting so much energy into [Fire Fang] that he had gathered enough fire-type energy needed for an [Incinerate] out of sheer rage.
'The answer was right in front of me the whole time.'
Deino did not learn [Incinerate] without using a TM...unless you trained him hard enough, like Drayden had done, teaching the dragon all the elemental fangs through natural training.
The excuse of 'time wasted' on training was moot the moment it happened, but Daemon was unable to see it until someone with a different perspective helped him.
~Buzzzz~
Misty: Turn around.
Daemon: ???.
The black-haired boy looked around with a raised eyebrow and saw an orange-haired girl waving at him.
"What are you doing here?" He asked while walking towards the girl.
Misty's eyes lit up when she saw Kirlia and immediately kneeled. "Nice to see you again, you are still as beautiful as I last saw you."
"Kirlia."
The psychic fairy grabbed the edges of her fluttering clothes and gave a polite bow.
"So cute!" The orange-haired girl gushed over the psychic fairy before she reluctantly turned to Daemon. "I have been staying in this Pokémon Centre. We walked here together last night, remember?"
"I..." Daemon rubbed his eyes. "I had a long day."
"I can tell." Misty rolled her eyes.
After his gym battle, he had spent much of his time that day with the golden-haired woman. However, he could not ignore the fact that Misty and Ash had come specifically to cheer for him. Ignoring them did not sit right with him.
So he spent the next day with the two of them, visiting the Pewter City Museum and a few other places. Towards the end of the day, Ash had left to train for battle with a gym trainer.
Misty and Daemon, on the other hand, had spent the rest of the evening wandering through Pewter City. He remembered being surprised when he found out she was staying in his Pokémon Centre as well.
"What are you doing here, though?" He asked again, pointing at the area they were in.
To reach the living quarters, the trainer had to walk through the main building of Pokémon Centre, then the cafeteria and then the battle arena.
"Observing." Misty shrugged. "Its eye opening, watching how other trainers fight and train their Pokémon."
"So you are just being a creep and spying on others."
"That's called being strategic." Misty rolled her eyes and then added. "Moreover, the one fighting right now is none other than Cross."
"Oh?" Daemon was interested and turned to the ongoing battle he had ignored so far.
It was a Ninetails vs a Scyther.
"When did he get a Ninetails?" The black-haired boy asked.
The majority of the trainers kept their Pokémon profile private, but some, like Cross, left it public.
Last he had checked, the boy only had three Pokémon, an Incineroar, a Turtonator and a Charmander.
"He recently purchased a Vulpix, dumped TMs and used a Fire Stone to evolve it," Misty informed him with a judgmental tone. "He also bought a Houndour from a Breeding House."
While buying Pokémon was common among coordinators, the practice was frowned upon among the trainers, along with using planes to travel during a circuit.
The former was a symbol of a weak trainer, while the latter was tagged forever as a non-trainer by the community.
"[Fire Blast]."
The command brought Daemon's attention back to the fight, and he watched as a fiery star made its way towards the bug-type.
BOOM
"Scyther is unable to battle; Ninetails is the winner. Victory belongs to Cross Thompson!"
"Are you sick?" Immediately after the results were announced, the trainer of Scyther cursed. "You knew my Pokémon was almost done, but you still called for a [Fire Blast]."
"Fuck off. Weaklings don't get to complain."
"You..."
"Dude, no point arguing, he is too full of himself. You should go get your Scyther checked by a Nurse Joy." Another trainer advised the bug-type's trainer against escalating the fight.
"Tsk! Fight people at your level, but I guess they will wipe the floor with you, so you are too scared. Crosshit." The bug-type's trainer still spat a few insults at the other boy before he walked back into the Pokémon centre.
"Oye! What did you call me? You think I won't beat the crap out of you?" The orange-haired boy cursed, but the other trainer did not turn back even once.
"Fucking weaklings."
Cross snarled as he saw other trainers laugh at the nickname Gary Oak had given him. The name had become so famous that he could always hear other trainers calling him that behind his back. They thought they weren't being heard...and a few times it had led to a brawl.
'Fucking Officer Jenny.' She had repeatedly warned him not to start a brawl; if not for his connections, Cross would already have spent a few days in jail.
His gaze drifted through the trainers who were snickering and making off-hand comments about how he was not travelling to Cerulean so he could bully weak trainers.
'If only Murphy could control that damned Gible.'
One of his travelling companions and a good friend, whom he had known through their fathers' business partnership, had trouble in his gym battle. His Gible had gone berserk and stopped listening to him.
The dragon had grilled the poor Onix with its [Dragon Breath].
If the gym leader had not used one or more stronger Pokémon immediately, the dragon might have even killed the rock-type.
Now both the trainer and his Pokémon were under supervision.
The league would not allow a trainer who could not control a dragon to roam around the region, or else an even worse accident might happen.
Cross knew his friend was not good enough to control that dragon, but since their family had a lot of connections, the boy would be allowed to keep the Gible and resume his journey. But the league had to put up at least an act of doing something.
So now he was stuck here along with his other travelling companions for a few more days.
His mood had only gotten worse after that encounter with Gary Oak, and now people were questioning if he was even a decent trainer.
'Damned fools.'
His two Pokémon, Incineroar and Turtonator, were as strong as Pokémon used by gym leaders in the seventh gym badge.
'Do these nobodies think one could control a dragon as easily as I had made it look?'
But he knew explaining himself would only worsen his image, something his father was adamant about keeping perfect. A lot of money was spent on PR to keep his brawl with other trainers from reaching the forums and being picked up by news outlets.
Any other incident, and he would be in a lot of trouble.
His eyes roamed through the group and then landed on a black-haired boy standing beside a beautiful girl, and his eyes fixated on looking at the Ninetails with a frown. 'Isn't that...' Cross recognized the boy, and his lips curved into a devious smile.
"If it isn't you, the trainer with a shiny Pokémon."
His words immediately hushed the trainers, and they soon found the boy he was looking at, following his gaze. Standing right beside the black-haired boy was the shiny Kirlia that everyone was talking about on forums nowadays.
"I heard you beat Flint on your first try; more so against an Aerodactyl," Cross smirked. "Why don't we have a battle and see how strong you are?"
Daemon looked at the orange-haired boy and decided to make an excuse. "Would love to, but I am busy right now. Maybe next time?"
The black-haired boy looked at the Ninetails one last time before turning to Misty, resuming their conversation.
"What kind of a trainer runs from a battle? I will give you a handicap." Cross was not going to back down from a battle that would get him a lot of publicity, and he knew how to push the right buttons. "That girl can join you as well...not like that would make a difference, considering how weak she looks."
Daemon let out a sigh. He knew the other boy was trying to provoke Misty and, in turn, him
'What a drag.' The black-haired boy pulled Misty back; she was about to charge at the orange-haired boy with a pokeball in hand. "One vs one. How does that sound?"
His plan for going to sleep early was now down the drain. Or was it it...
"Why don't we do three vs three instead?" Cross suggested with a smirk. "I know you have another Pokémon other than your Kirlia. I will use my Ninetails and another Pokémon that's around your level...and that girl can lend you a Pokémon for all I care. Though my Pokémon are stronger than what scrubs like you two can handle."
'Scrubs?' Daemon frowned.
It was true his Pokémon were not ready for Cross's Incineroar and Turtonator; however, the official challenge system will make sure the Pokémon the orange-haired boy uses will be around the level of Daemon, a trainer with only 1 gym badge. Though the system was not entirely perfect.
And Daemon now knew what the second Pokémon Cross might use. A Houndour or Charmander.
'We can handle that much.'
Looking at the size of this Ninetails, the fire-type had just recently evolved. Moreover, seeing how exhausted it was after only a single [Fire Blast], which an average Ninetails could use a few times before running out of fumes, Daemon was sure the boy had dumped a bunch of TMs on a Vulpix and then immediately used a Fire Stone to evolve it.
Would this have been me had that golden-haired woman not helped? He questioned himself, but then shook his head to get rid of any distracting thoughts.
As for three vs three? Kirlia was his obvious choice to take down all of Cross's Pokémon.
"Sure, three vs three sounds good." Daemon nodded. "Let's make it official."
"You don't have to," Misty suggested from the side. "I...I acted rashly; let me fight him."
"Don't worry." The black-haired boy said with a smile.
Daemon opened his Pokedex in the hologram before his eyes and sent a battle invitation to Cross. "Let's make it quick, shall we? I am planning on going to bed early today."
"Both sides ready?" An employee of Pokémon Centre, who always officiated these challenges, asked while raising two flags in the air.
"Ready whenever he sends his Pokémon." Cross accepted the invite, unable to hold back his excitement at crushing another trainer, people said was better than him.
On the other hand, Daemon plucked the pokeball clipped to his waist.
Are you sure he will be a good choice?
'He will be happier than you might guess.' He smiled before pointing the pokeball forward. "He is a bit feisty, so I hope you won't mind."
White light escaped the pokeball and materialized in front of Daemon, immediately letting out a booming roar.
~Roar~
"Let's dance, shall we?"
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[Author's Note]:
[1]: Did you guys like the chapter? Please tell me if I can improve anywhere.
[2]: Since I don't like leaving you guys on a cliffhanger, I will try to finish the next chapter asap and post it. But need to finish this chemistry assignment first, lol!
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