“The scene? I’m afraid you’ll have to elaborate.” I prodded him, though I had a bit of an idea. If Cynthia didn’t like the people she called Gym-rats, what did she make of this?

“Stadium Pokémon Battles, Trainer against Trainer, with limits on the Pokémon’s strength, to ensure a fair and honest competition. I mean, otherwise some travelling Trainer with a full team of incredibly strong Pokémon would come and mop the floor with everyone. And blow up the Stadium, but that’s a whole different problem:” he explained and I felt a frown appear on my face.

“How does that work? With the limits, I mean.” I asked, a hunch bubbling up within me.

“You know how the Pokémon Centre has those machines to measure a Pokémon’s level? No idea how they work, but the Stadium got something similar, those give us the limits.” he explained and I felt my stomach drop, my hunch confirmed. For a moment, I thought I would be sick, the idea of willingly restricting a Pokémon’s growth to take part in a public spectacle was abhorrent to me.

“I see.” I told him, barely managing to remain polite. Raging wouldn’t help much, as I had no doubt others had felt and expressed similar opinions before.

“Well, there are three divisions, Rookie, Silver and Gold, with different maximum levels.” he explained, though I was only listening with half an ear. “I’m currently competing in the Silver-division” he proudly added.

“There are different rings, so multiple battles can happen at once, that way people can walk around and watch their favourites.” he continued and by now, we stepped into an open, terraced seating-area, looking down on a field where a pair of trainers was currently directing their Pokémon in battle. The set-up looked similar to the chamber I had battled Marcy in, only that this here, was open for viewing.

Down on the field, a Shinx was battling it out with a Machop, though from where I was standing, neither of them seemed to be too extraordinary. The Shinx moved in similar ways to the ones Claire and I had seen in the forest, the only difference appeared to be that it was much better groomed, with ribbons in its hair and around the tip of its tail.

Similarly, the Machop had fluttering bands of fabric around its arms and I had a feeling it was deliberately moving in a way that made them dance in the air. Looking at it, a part of me began to wonder. Pokémon were, in so many ways, alien creatures but other than its skin-colour and a few, horn-like protrusions on its head, the Machop looked remarkably human, or at least humanoid. And yet, it was something inherently different.

“Those two have only recently joined the Rookie-division, but they are promising newcomers.” Forrest explained, as down in the ring, the Machop managed to land a clean hit on the Shinx, sending it sprawling. There was a verbal exchange between the Trainers, before both Pokèmon were called back, vanishing into their Pokéballs.

“Those bands…” I asked, not certain I wanted to know. But they had vanished, in a way that I hadn’t thought possible.

“The latest big thing, out of Hoenn. Special fabric that can be stored in a Pokéball, if attached to a Pokémon. It’s awesome.” he enthused, and I barely managed to keep myself from shaking my head.

“What’s the point?” I asked, dreading the answer.

“It makes our partners look awesome.” he replied, as if that was answer enough. While I had meant to ask what the point of the stadium was, I decided to shelve the question for a moment. Instead, I wondered if either Prince Charming or Vio would like something like those ribbons. Somehow, I doubted it. Forrest kept walking along, towards the field and I followed along, curious what he had in mind.

“Leila, Caspian, well done. You two have made some progress.” he called to the two trainers who had walked to the side, discussing something intently.

“Thanks, Forrest.” the two greeted him, before both focused on me for a moment.

“That’s Dani, a travelling Trainer who graces our fair city with her presence. She’s apparently never heard of Stadium Battles, so I’m showing her around.” he introduced me, and another round of greetings ensued.

“You’re really a travelling Trainer?” Leila asked, sounding intrigued. “I’m not sure I could do that, travel, I mean. You really have to sleep outside, hoping nothing attacks you?” she asked, giving a brief shudder.

“My mother would have a cow if I even suggested that I want to do that.” she shook her head for a moment.

“We all have our circumstances.” I replied, not wanting to get into that discussion.

“Say, Dani, how many Pokémon do you have?” Forrest suddenly asked, catching me a little off-guard.

“Two, why?” I replied, curious where he was going with the question.

“Would you mind acting as a teaching-aid? Just a quick battle, against these two.” he suggested. After considering for a moment, I decided I wanted to see if my earlier assessment was correct, that neither of their Pokémon was particularly powerful.

“No, I don’t mind.” I agreed.

“Leila, why don’t you go first?” Forrest asked, getting a nod of acceptance from the interested looking girl.

“Please don’t tell them how long you’ve been travelling, You are roughly the same age, so I want them to see the difference between breeder-raised and Stadium-trained and what a travelling Trainer brings to the plate.” he quietly told me, as we were walking to the other side of the field.

“Might disappoint you, I’ve only been on the road for two weeks.” I pointed out, to which he nodded.

“They might beat you, they’ve been training for half a year. But we’ll have to see.” he explained, leaving me standing on the trainer-position, looking across the field to Leila.

“Both get to choose one Pokémon, so obviously no substitutions. To knock-out or forfeit.” Forrest called out,

Reaching to my belt, I grabbed Vio’s Pokéball. While I had just seen her use a Shinx, there was reason to doubt she’d keep using one. Either way, I wasn’t about to try and consciously counter-pick Caspian’s Machop, even if that might have been the smart play.

“I choose you, Willow.” Leila loudly announced, taking an almost praying posture with her Pokéball, before triggering the release of her Pokémon. Despite a momentary confusion, I didn’t bother to put on some special act. Instead, I simply pressed the button and Vio appeared, looking at me for a moment, before focusing on the feline Glameow named Willow. It mostly looked like an ordinary, grey cat with a weird tail, as normal for the species. Less normal were the ribbons decorating the tail and the careful grooming.

“On three.” Forrest announced, before counting down.

The moment the fight started, the cat suddenly seemed to disappear, reappearing behind Vio, as if teleported, already striking with its claws.

“Drop.” I called, my shout not fully leaving my throat in time, but Vio must have reacted on the first sound. Without even trying to gracefully dodge, she simply crumbled, letting the sudden sneak-attack pass over her.

“Muddle.” I commanded and Vio made full use of the opening the cat showed, after it had missed with its opening gambit. A purple glow shrouded Vio’s horns, jumping to the cat’s head, and the cat staggered a little.

“Willow, scratch it, it’s right before you.” Leila called on the other side of the field. In reaction, the cat’s claws started to glow white, scratching at Vio, but Vio simply drifted to the side, the attack passing her by harmlessly.

“Push it.” I added and the intensity of the purple glow increased for a moment, the Glameow starting to seriously be off-balance.

“Shake it off, Hypnosis.” Leila ordered her Pokémon and I had to stop myself from laughing. The Glamoew was barely able to focus, how could it start a psychic fight with Vio?

“Smooch and end.” I called, watching how the purple light of the Glameow’s psychic attack shattered in the light of Vio’s continued attack. Moments later, Vio brought a pair of fingers to her lips, kissing and shrouding them in a hot-pink glow, before pressing them against the Glameow’s forehead, The cat continued to stagger for a moment, wrapped in pink-purple glow, before falling to the ground, barely twitching.

“Vio, you did great.” I praised my partner, giving her some love, before calling her back into her Pokéball. The first battle was over and I wasn’t sure I should be impressed or depressed.

“Caspian, you are up. Better bring your A-game.” Forrest called and I put away Vio’s Pokéball and took out Prince Charmings.

“Not bad, but you won’t have it as easy against me.” he taunted, to which I merely rolled my eyes, curious what he had to show for.

“I choose you, Bruce!” he shouted, and in a flash of red, a small, flapping bat appeared. One side of its body was purple, the other light-blue and before I had a chance to send out Prince Charming, the Zubat had taken to the sky, claiming the high-ground.

There was a bit of a grin on my face, when I unceremoniously sent out Prince Charming. Again, there was a countdown and the battle was on.

“Smoke!” I immediately called out, knowing just how obnoxious Claire’s tactic of keeping out of reach and using sonic attacks to harass a foe could be. But those attacks worked best if the Pokémon could focus them against a direct target, not just spread them across an area.

“Bruce, Supersonic.” Caspian called out and I barely managed to stop myself from face-palming at my idiocy. Of course, a bat wouldn’t be hindered by lack of sight, they mainly dwelled in caves and thrived in the darkness.

An incredibly high-pitched screech, almost out of my hearing-range, made me cringe in discomfort, but I couldn’t even imagine how bad Prince Charming would feel. And its foe was simply keeping out of reach.

“Charm, wide burn.” I called out, hoping that a wide-spread attack would get the bat, even if it tried to dodge.

Spreading haphazardly, a shower of glowing embers was shot at the zubat, forcing it to frantically dodge and one or two of them might have even hit, but it was far from the decisive blow I’d have needed.

“Bruce, show them your awesome side. Astonish!” Caspian ordered and the bat suddenly paused in mid-air, shrouded in dark blue, almost purple smoke. With a flash, that smoke shot forward, striking Prince Charming and causing him to stagger.

“See, not so tough.” he taunted me and I felt a rage start burning in my chest. How could I fail to guide my partner to victory, just because some rat had wings?

“Charm, burn it.” I ordered, and Charm, still unsteady from the earlier attack, let out a burst of fire, embers mixed with a few, faint flames. Sadly, the Zubat was already back at dodging, the fire not even close to it. Across the field, Caspian was laughing, ordering his Zubat to use the distracting Supersonic waves again.

A part of me wanted to scream at the horrible match-up but as anger was boiling within me, I realised that Prince Charming relied on me to keep a cool head. I was the trainer, I had to think, not rage. Feeding my anger into the flame, watching it grow a little brighter, I realised that the fire would never bow. Nor would I, they might force me to my knees, but I would never submit. Down on the field, I noticed Charm’s flame burn a little brighter and his body steadied himself. He was far from done and a smile appeared on my face.

Looking at the situation, I realised I would have to make a gamble, to bet on a single shot. It was risky, but likely my best shot. The embers were simply too slow, but they weren’t the only fire in Prince Charming’s belly.

“Send them packing, Astonish again.” Caspian ordered, just as I had expected. The move was incredibly versatile, but it had a massive drawback, that short time needed to focus it.

“Full Dragon Breath.” I ordered and the flame on Charm’s tail turned a deep, almost crimson, red for a moment, larger than ever before. I thought I could feel my partner’s strain, as he pushed himself to the limit, before a massive cone of fire, the same, deep, crimson red, shot out, covering half of the arena and fully engulfing Bruce.

Charm looked incredibly exhausted after that feat, but he still had strength left, while Bruce had been swept from the sky, twitching in instinctual fear of the strongest flame of them all. The Fire of Dragons.

“Get him Charm,” I ordered, not giving my opponent time to gather himself, even as I felt my own breathing grow laboured. Charm pounced forward, landing on the bat with claws glowing white, tearing into the fallen Zubat.

It struggled, trying to escape, letting out high-pitched screeches, but Prince Charming never let go. On the ground, the Zubat was as helpless as Prince Charming had been earlier, when it had been in the air.

Finally, the Zubat stopped twitching and Prince Charming stepped back, throwing back his head and letting out a triumphant roar. As the roar echoed through the Stadium, Prince Charming was starting to radiate white light and a wide smile appeared on my face, as I realised what was going on.

Evolution!