——————-

Zephire lets me down from the bear/bird hug and begins chattering away to the larger Blaziken.

Sarada meanwhile, clears her throat, “Shall we head out of the field?”

Flannery nods without a sound and fist taps big Blaziken’s hip. He pats Zephire’s head and takes position back behind the wheelchair. I do catch his angry face relaxing long enough to give me a nod before its back to mean mugging the new gym leader.

Big Bird opens his beak and blows my mind, “Torch, Garden, Now.”

“Yes uncle Zeke.” The red head starts to follow only to nearly bump into Sarada who points back at us.

He sighs, “Right…. Um, follow us I guess. Mom will,” Uncle Zeke growls, Torch corrects himself, “I’ll explain some stuff.”

Once out of the arena, we take a torii covered path lined with old grave markers. Torch speaks up, “These are the markers for gym pokemon, and some locals ask for their Pokémon to join the honor. This path hasn’t changed in a century despite any updates or renovations to the rest of the gym compound.”

Jane remembers her mother’s obelisk, “What about Trainers? Rustboro has something similar.”

Flannery wordlessly points to a name carved into a torii gate, its base surrounded by several markers of Pokémon.

Uncle Zeke is a bird of few words, “Honor.”

Yet it's awesome that he can speak human language at all. I know parrots back home were fully capable of holding simple conversations. So it should be obvious that a Pokémon like Blaziken would actually have a relatively low barrier of entry.

Eventually we turn towards an entrance to the area of the gym. Nestled against a cliff portion of the mountain is a beautiful, xeriscaped garden of tropical plants. Crushed lava rock covers the ground between spaced out palms and flowers.

A few statues of fire type Pokémon add to the unique atmosphere.

Flannery’s chair is turned to face us and Torch. A single raised brow for her son.

He faces us and does a 45 degree bow, “I apologize for my rude and rash behavior. Thankyou for helping rescue the Lavaridge Pokémon.”

Naomi looks like she’s seen a ghost.

Okay, “Well, a good apology should come with some kind of explanation right?”

Nodding, “I have always been very sensitive to aura since birth… Do you know what that is?”

I can only shrug, “Think I’ve got the gist of it.”

Torch almost looks offended at my casual response but ol’ Uncle Z growls again.

“Well, most people who train Pokémon for years, or grow up around a lot of them, develop some hint of aura. Our family is steeped in Fire Type energy for generations.”

Holding out a hand, sparks of ruby flames dance in his palm. “So,” he closes his palm and looks back at me, “All around you I see ominous black clouds… yet now that we are out of the stadium lights, they almost look more like the nebulas photographed by the space center?”

As if I have any clue… Alright, maybe I have some hints, but it’s not really his business, is it.

“So you generally treat auras like personality tests?”

A hoarse voice, “Brat,” Flannery calls her son but Uncle Z puts a gentle claw on her shoulder.

The bird nods towards the north, “Fallarbor, help train.”

Naomi pipes up, “What about us,” she points to herself, Citro and Jane, “We got any fancy auras?”

He smirks, “Miss Wattson, you’ve always had little pink sparks, like fireflies, dancing energetically around you.”

Naomi looks triggered by the word ‘sparks’ but cools off hearing the whole description.

“Citro,” Torch squints but has trouble coming up with words.

Zeke squawks out, “Sprout.”

Snapping his fingers, Torch smiles brightly, “Exactly!” Finally to Jane, “I’m not sure for you either, I am still learning after all.”

Zephire chirps happily, “Azi!”

Her father translates, “Look up.”

Torch looks up, his eyes go wide. Taking several steps back as if trying to get the whole picture. “A tower? No, a fang?”

Flannery coughs, “Obelisk.”

Oh shit.

Torch remembers the mention of the Rustboro memorials, “I’m very sorry Jane,”

“No,” Zeke interrupts, but seems to struggle, turning to his daughter, “Laz, Blaz.”

“Zikan!” Her reply.

He nods and looks back to Jane, “Heritage.”

Sarada cuts in while Jane mulls that over, “Even if this Kurt fellow did turn out to be awful. That’s no excuse for your actions Torch. Let's not miss the point here.”

Flannery nods. I’m sure her family gym took a chip at its reputation today among their peers.

Zeke gravels out, “Rules, Study, Honor.”

“I know,” Torch looks away from us towards a Typhlosion statue, “I know… did Grandpa ever get fined?”

His mother snorts, almost laughs, coughs a bunch instead. Her companion answers in her stead once more, “Debt, many years. Hard work.”

Sarada wholeheartedly agrees, “It’s crazy expensive to run a good gym, Torch. Companies offer sponsorship deals alongside grants or tax breaks from the league. Those are entirely dependent on reputation and competency.”

Flannery types something out on her phone and sends it to Torch.

Eyes bulging, “30,000 poke! No way they’ll hit me for that much!”

Naomi disagrees, “Violating the rules for a first four, badge battle is really bad. You’ll be lucky to get off with a warning instead of a license review. For Zephire disobeying you, the embarrassment will probably be considered punishment enough since she did it to follow the guidelines you forgot.”

Sarada huffs, “It’s like you thought you were in a regional tournament instead of a badge challenge! The whole point of Gyms has practically nothing to do with winning or losing.”

Naomi mumbles, “Unless you suck.”

Jane elbows her for me but I catch the smirk of Zephire.

Flannery claps, “Tomorrow, training.”

She managed without trouble this time but I can tell speaking at all scratches horribly at her throat.

Uncle Zeke’s glare makes Torch hop to leading us out, “Right, you guys are more than welcome to use the gym facilities until you leave Lavaridge. Early tomorrow afternoon I can run over to talk about any of the moves you guys earned.”

Back at the hotel, Agnis the young innkeeper, hosts a small congratulations dinner for us. I think it’s pretty cool watching possessed platers bring out food from the kitchen. Citro and Jane might disagree.

Once the hot pot is scarfed down, Naomi lays out the plan. Glados the Rotom even helps possess the dining room big screen to run a slideshow.

“Alright, the Fallarbor gym features pokemon from Hoenn’s northern jungles.” A map of Hoenn zooms in on the top of the mainland which consists of a sea of green from the volcano to the ocean.

“Pokemon in the region mostly consist of Grass types, however you should expect a decent showing of Bug, Dark, Poison, and possibly a Dragon type pokemon.” A dex list of grass types starters scrolling across.

It stops on a Sunflora taking the field in Petalburg, “While Max likes to scare rookies with the good old Sunflora surprise Solar Beam,” a bright yellow beam flashes the screen, making a fancy transition to a jungle clearing marked with official lines. From the branches above drops a snarling black ape, easily taller than me, “Ourboro has sent pro trainers packing back to their home regions with Zarude.”

The clip of the pissed off monkey shrinks back to a list of several more clips of large pokemon.

“Size is the theme of Fallarbor’s gym.” Naomi points out another clip that Rotom pulls up. A familiar, haunted tree, smashes one of their clawed fists into an Electabuzz, “If you have to crane your neck up, there's a good chance the gym has it.”

Next comes a table of our own roster of pokemon, “Fire, Flying, and Bug Typing are our safe bets.”

She looks over to me as the screen shows my profile, “Who are you picking Kurt?”

“Now?” having it suddenly put to me like this causes my mind to hard stop.

“Yes, Now. If we don’t want to add Fallarbor to our repeat challenge list, we need to ace this. The less I see that jerk Ourboro in this life the happier I’ll be.”

Well that’s not ominous at all, is it? “Okay, well, Tesla is up for a turn, this sounds right up her web. If we’re talking big, Shak is king. The monster is showing evolution signs again.”

Naomi enlarges those two on my profile, “Third?”

Well, they said I could, “Houndoom.”

All three kids ask, “”What Houndoom?””

Glados knows who I’m talking about as Miss Wick’s Pokemon ID is pulled up and added to my team.

Naomi scans the info and shrugs, “Great, okay. On to Jane’s 4v4.”

The redhead sits up straight on her bench, “Aeres, Triton, Trojan, and Te Ka.”

Naomi’s head tilts at the last one as the screen pauses, “Is that your Marowak?”

“Yup, Kurt gave me a list of angry fire ladies.”

Te Ka the Marowak joins Jane’s Aerodactyl, Golisopod, and Scolipede on the board.

Citro answers as soon as Naomi looks at him, “For my doubles match I’d like to make the most of Noibat and Salazzle’s combo. Mephi was great today!”

A flash from his belt and the fire lizard is rubbing against the boy, purring like a happy cat. The boy passes her a spare Kabab off the table which she happily devours.

Naomi chews her nail in thought, “It’s a risk to repeat strategies at this stage… but I’d guess Ourboro wouldn’t bother himself with checking out the trainer's previous matches.”

Next comes her profile, “ For my Boss Battle, I’ll be fielding my Ninetails, Altaria, and Florges. If any of us is going to face a dragon, the bet is on me. Nimbus hasn’t seen action in a minute, and Frost wants to prove himself. Delphi should be able to bring the match home if it comes to her.”

Looking around the room, everyone seems confident. Citro actually looks excited. I think the strong finish this morning really gave him a boost.

…

The next day has us at a training ground on the Lavaridge Gym property. Several of our pokemon have broken off in pairs to spar. Noibat and Swablu, Jane’s Golisopod and Scolipede, the innkeeper girl, Agnis, tagged along to let her Ariados challenge my Galvantula. She heard everything at dinner last night.

To my surprise Torch stopped by early in the day to offer up some initial tips to Citro and Jane for Salazzle and Marowak. The lizard is practicing the move Tar Shot at a little shooting range. Te Ka, yes I remembered the name from a Disney movie, is working on forming a whip of fire from her bone to strike a training dummy.

Torch said he’d swing by at lunch to help out some more. He even gave Jane a bonus TR for a water move called Flip Turn.

It’s essentially a move that consolidates the Aqua Jet strategy she was already using. It trades some of the speed for more mobility and options other than straight line movement. I think the samurai bug practicing all manner of flips is exhausting just to watch. Each leap starts with a burst of water like the plastic bottle rockets kids play with.

I feel like I haven't seen Naomi’s Ninetails very often. He’s got a very serious personality… If I had to make a comparison, Frosty is like Batman. Mr. Freeze just used that dumb ice cannon thing. This Ninetails likes to charge in for the personal touch, the sort that leaves horribly frost bitten bruises.

Citro’s Rillaboom doesn’t look too thrilled helping out the ice fox’s training. Frosty definitely has the speed advantage, combined with being smaller since he's young.

Just as I switch back to watching Tesla’s silly string fight, someone shouts from behind us, “Hey Rebels!”

The other two local rookies are here. Amber is standing with Miss Wick the Houndoom, mouthing ‘Sorry.’

Avril, the noisy redhead girl with the mohawk braids, points at Jane, “I think you should actually win a match if you want to keep Torch’s badge!”

With the flash that actually flickers with flames, the real mascot appears. Well, a Chameleon at least.

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