Appetizer 1.9

Aaron FulanMauville City, Hoenn Region

The two of us kept it up for two hours, putting away our swords in favor of physical conditioning halfway in. It was easily the least favorite part of Artoria's training regimen, but one she reluctantly completed with dogged determination. Ever since that sailor and his machop in Slateport City, her dedication had only grown.

Instead of giving in or settling when she was presented with someone with immeasurable physical talent, she dug in her heels and decided she'd just work ten times harder to keep pace with fighting types up close.

I had my very own Rock Lee, in adorable, spoon-wielding, pajama-clad miniature.

Eventually, I deemed that we'd done enough for the morning and scooped her up into my arms before heading back inside. After a quick shower to freshen up, we returned to the lobby and found the receptionist. It was still early so there weren't too many people around.

"Hello, ma'am. Do you mind if I ask for directions?" I asked politely.

"Sure, where do you want to get to?" she said with a bright smile. The bubblegum-pink hair gave it away, but her nametag also read "H. Joy RN."

I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. "Actually I'm new in town and I don't know much of anything about Mauville. I'm looking to challenge the Mauville Gym but before that, I was hoping you'd know of a few good places to train against other people."

"I suppose you mean in a more formal context than just battling anyone who drops by out back? Let me see…" The rapid clicking of keys filled the air for a minute. "Oh, here's one. How many badges do you have?"

"This will be my first. Why?"

"The nearest trainer school's battle club is hosting a miniature tournament. No badges, one pokémon per trainer. That sound interesting to you?"

"I might check it out. Where is it?"

"Give me your PokéNav. I'll mark it on the map. Be warned though; there is no cash prize as it's meant to be an educational experience."

I nodded. "Yeah, I figured. My old trainer school used to do something similar every few weeks."

"Right. Another option is a place called the Battle Café. Basically, you order food and battle a trainer. Again, no cash prize since the battles are a part of the service, but it's pretty popular with tourists."

"Huh, who do I battle then?"

"Mostly local trainers who are working there part-time. Don't worry, they're not terribly strong from what I understand."

"Yeah, that sounds good. I guess we have our lunch plans then, eh, Artoria?"

'Indeed, my liege.'

"Oh, and you wanted to set up a gym battle, right? Any preference for when?"

"Don't I need to head there in person?"

"If you want to, sure, but Wattson recently made an online registration platform. You just look for an open slot and input your trainer ID. Here, let me show you."

"Huh, makes me wonder why other gym leaders don't do that."

"It depends on the leader I'd imagine," she said. "I know that Leader Moore in Lavaridge is very traditional. He probably thinks that stepping into the gym and declaring your intentions is integral for a trainer."

"Heh, yeah, I think mom would say something similar if I'm honest."

"Right, Leader Fulan in Mossdeep. I read some of her work on the move Heal Pulse. Brilliant woman."

"She is," I hummed noncommittally. I scheduled my battle for three days from now. A part of me was concerned about losing a two on one, but if we lost, so be it; badges were never my goal. "Thanks for your help, Nurse Joy."

"No problem, Mr. Fulan."

X

The trainer school, named Dynamic Arts Trainer School to invoke Wattson's badge, was one of a dozen in Mauville City. After all, it would be impossible for a single school to cater to the entire underage population of a metropolis like Mauville. It sat near the southern tip of the city, four blocks away from the pokémon center, and boasted the "Rolling Electrodes" as its mascot.

The mini-tournament was to take place in their quad, a flat, dirt section with two standard-length battlefields drawn in chalk. I found it a little amusing that chalk outlines of basketball fields were replaced by these in this world.

It only took me a few minutes to register, just long enough for a teacher to input my trainer ID into the League database and confirm that I had no badges to my name. Then, it was just a waiting game.

I sat with Artoria on my lap and bid her to watch the battles carefully.

First up were two zigzagoon. It seemed that no matter where in Hoenn I went, these playful trash pandas were the gold standard for new trainers. It wasn't so much a battle as it was a tussle between siblings, a play-fight that ended when one wrestled the other and nipped it in the throat.

"Umm… Jeremey's zigzagoon is the winner?" the teacher acting as the referee asked. "That is Jeremy's right?"

The two trainers, one of whom was presumably named Jeremy, shrugged collectively.

"I don't know? Let me see. Rocket, here boy!" a boy with a baseball cap called. The one on the bottom flipped back onto its feet and rushed over, panting happily. "Oh… I guess not."

"Well then… Kyle's zigzagoon is the victor!"

The second battle was between a poochyena and a wingull. The wingull and its trainer had a solid hit and run strategy but failed at the last second when the poochyena kicked up enough dust with Sand Attack for it to vanish into the sand. Instead of waiting out the cloud, she made the poor decision to have her wingull dive in with Peck.

And that was that.

'They seem…' Artoria started.

"Yes, Artoria?"

'I do not wish to mock others, but they seem… lackluster.'

I chuckled. "They do look like they could use more training. But we're signed up anyway and it'd be rude to just walk away. Tell you what, how about we limit ourselves?"

'Hmm?'

"We'll compete at a handicap. You are not permitted to use Mana Edge at all. And, you may only strike your opponent after using Teleport."

'You wish to teach me to maneuver using the move repeatedly.'

"Yes. Opponents like these are the perfect training exercises."

'I agree, my lord. Very well, I shall do as you command.'

Our match wasn't long in coming. The trainer in front of me was about my age, with vibrant blonde hair and bottle-green eyes. She was short and hopping up and down with such energy that she reminded me of a pichu.

"Hey, haven't seen you around," she called with a grin.

"Aaron. From Mossdeep. I decided to make Mauville my first badge and heard about this thing last minute. You?"

"Sweet! I get the mysterious out-of-towner! I'm Sparky and I'm gonna give you a real shock!" she cried as she hurled her pokéball forward.

Out of the prismatic lights stepped a yellow and black furred creature. It had two protrusions on its head that were too blunt to be horns, so blunt that they looked more like the vertical inserts of an electric plug.

"An elekid… she has a fucking elekid," I gasped. I wanted one. Badly. "Of course the girl named Sparky would have an electric type."

"Heh, hear that, Lucky? He's jealous."

"Le-Elekid!" it shouted, bouncing with as much energy as its trainer.

"I was at the top of my class here so Leader Wattson let me choose my starter first," she bragged, "and he was the best of them all!"

"Yeah, I'll bet."

'My liege?'

"We might have to change our plans a bit, Artoria," I told her. "Elekid become some of the strongest electric types around. They're no slouches even in their pre-evolutions. Forget about the 'no Mana Edge' rule."

She stiffened. 'Is the bouncy creature so strong?'

"Strong enough that you can't take it lightly."

'Very well, but I still wish to practice combat teleportation.'

"Agreed. Give it your all."

'I always do.'

With that confident rejoinder, she jumped down from my shoulder and made her way to the center of the field.

"A ralts? Who starts with a ralts?"

"Trainers from Mossdeep do. I was first there so Leader Fulan let me pick a ralts."

She pumped her fist into the air. "Woah. I guess we're rivals then! Can you feel the electricity in the air?"

"No," I deadpanned.

"Aww, why do you have to kill the buzz like that?"

"Talking to you is exhausting. Can we please just battle?"

"Fine. Lucky! Let's bring down the thunder!"

"ELEKID!" Somehow, the demented Energizer bunny got louder, before he began to windmill his arms. I remembered in my old life when I did the same thing as a kid, thinking the blood flowing to my fists would make me punch harder or some shit. Bigger windup, stronger attack, right? Like Donkey Kong?

It was really stupid in hindsight, but what was painful chuuni-ness to six year old Aaron was apparently a valid tactic for an elekid.

Lucky the elekid ran forward with some cokehead energy, fists whirling with electricity. I took in its charge and the way the electricity condensed around his fists. It unsurprisingly knew Thunder Punch.

I couldn't remember exactly, but elekid learned Thunder Punch at a much higher level in the games. In reality, thanks to their well-developed upper bodies, it was one of the first moves the pokémon learned upon birth. However, one thing remained consistent: Because they lacked the internal batteries of their evolved forms, they needed to constantly windmill their arms to maintain a charge, meaning they tired very quickly.

"Suri-age. Edge," I barked.

Artoria obeyed immediately, shifting her stance to sweep the incoming punch. Her spoon-sword lashed upward, parrying his attack into the air. Just as she'd practiced on the marill's Bubble Beam several days back, Mana Edge detonated, its impact stopping Lucky from following up with its left fist.

"Ralts!" she yelped in pain, nearly dropping her spoon. The electrical current in Lucky's arms traveled through the metal spoon and was almost enough to disarm her.

"Hiki-do!" I shouted.

She shuffled backwards and cleaved downward, striking Lucky's body in one fluid motion. By aiming for the body instead of his horns or wrists, she was able to avoid shocking herself again. It wasn't a trick that would have worked on an electabuzz.

We took a breath and gauged one another from across the field. I nodded in approval; the moment the battle began, Sparky had toned down her enthusiasm, sharpening it into razor focus.

"Artoria, Lucky tires easily so we're going to play a game of tag," I told her.

'Yes, my liege.'

"Wanna bet on that? Lucky! Quick Attack!" Sharon shouted.

"Mana Burst. Evade and parry only."

Thus began their game of cat and mouse. Artoria crossed a quarter of the field with a single Mana Burst, only for Lucky to catch up just as quickly. She stepped to the side using just the footwork of nuki waza and juked her opponent. Two more times she narrowly evaded a punch.

"Hah! Lucky's faster!"

It wasn't strictly true. In a short distance, Mana Burst's instant acceleration was unmatched. But in a prolonged game of tag like this, Artoria was clearly outmatched. An elekid was meant for speed and physical power while ralts just weren't. More importantly, Mana Burst could only be used in straight lines.

Still, we had a trick up our sleeves.

"Teleport," I barked.

Artoria's eyes glowed with azure light before a violet glow enveloped her. Then, just as Lucky's hand reached out to grasp his target, she was gone, by my side in an instant. Just like that, we were back to square one.

"What? No! That's so unfair!"

"And why's that? Should Lucky never use his electricity then? Why shouldn't a ralts teleport? It's their bread and butter," I said confidently, but I could tell Artoria was tiring quickly. Her iron discipline, not unlike her namesake, would never allow her to show her exhaustion to an enemy, but her stamina wasn't infinite either. "Teleport freely and go in to trip him up mid-Quick Attack," I whispered. "Let his own momentum fight for you."

'Yes, my liege.'

"Now, here comes round two!"

"Fine. Thunder Shock, make her dance!"

Lucky wound his arms for a second and released a bold of electricity that arced through the air towards Artoria. It was on target, but only just barely. She stepped aside with ease and even though no one could see her eyes under the bangs, I would have bet anything that they were rolling right now.

"We… We're going to work on that…"

I decided not to comment on that. "Go."

My ralts dashed forward before blurring into a Mana Burst that crossed half the field. Just as Lucky began to raise his arms to catch her swing, she teleported behind him, giving his knee a good smack. The combination of Mana Burst and Teleport meant she couldn't stack Mana Edge on top of that though so he wasn't instantly taken out of the fight. Still, it was enough to force the elekid to one knee.

Skipping back, Artoria nodded magnanimously and waited for her opponent to stand. I made a mental note to talk to her about that later. Showing chivalry here was fine, but I feared that there may come a day when that kind of hesitation would end disastrously for us.

The two closed again at some unspoken signal.

"Lucky, Double Team!"

He elekid split into four copies that briefly caught Artoria by surprise. A Thunder Punch came from every direction, forcing her to teleport away.

"Copy that," I said.

"Oh, come on!"

"Hang back. Debana waza. Read me."

There was always a hair-thin connection between us at all times, but I felt it expand for the briefest moment as Artoria linked herself to me. With a nod, all four copies of Artoria charged forward, mirrored by the four elekids.

Then, there wasn't a single thing either Sparky or I could say. The field devolved into a brawl with eight participants. I could tell which copies were the real elekid and ralts by virtue of my empathy, but even then, the rapid mix of twists and turns made giving any instructions all but impossible. If anything, I'd likely just distract her.

An elekid's fist collided with a ralts' face, only for both pokémon to phase through the other. A ralts struck through a second elekid. Then the moment came.

Artoria's aura of white-hot will ignited furiously. Like me, she was relying on her empathy and had never lost track of the real elekid. One of the ralts moved to block an elekid, only for a second to teleport immediately behind him and take a full horizontal swing towards his head.

"Kid!" he yelled in pain as he was knocked away. All copies vanished as their master stopped concentrating on the move.

Artoria smelled blood in the water and gave chase. She was behind him, right at his landing point in a flash of blue, and braced for one final strike.

"Lucky! Thunder Punch! Guard your head," came Sparky's shout.

He wasn't able to course-correct mid-air, but he did manage to bring his arms up, cradling his face as electricity danced along hist fists.

"Elekid!"

"Ralts!"

The two collided in a pure anime moment. There was an explosion as Artoria's Mana Edge detonated against Lucky's Thunder Punches. Before the smoke could clear, the two were knocked out of the cloud by the other. Lucky skidded to a stop as Artoria did the same fifteen feet away, locked in the final motion of their finishers.

Artoria sank to one knee, bracing her weight on her weapon.

Then, a moment later, Lucky collapsed backward, unable to support himself either. Electricity sparked between his horns once, then fell silent.

Seconds later, Artoria used her spoon to lift herself to her feet. She turned and painstakingly took the chūdan stance, the opening stance of kendo I'd drilled into her head time and time again. She was panting. I could see her knees trembling even through her robes, but her sword was steady. She glanced at her downed opponent and locked eyes with Sparky as if to say, "Who's next?"

There was stunned silence, then the teacher held out my flag. "Aaron and ralts are the victors!" she proclaimed as the crowd erupted with applause.

I walked up to my ralts and gave her a once-over. I frowned. She wasn't ready for another battle so soon. She'd surely need the full day to recover.

I raised my hand. "We resign from the tournament. I don't think she can be in any more battles," I said.

It took her a moment to process, but the teacher nodded with my decision. "Very well, then we have a double-knockout. The second round of the tournament will continue after fifteen minutes."

I gently picked her up in my hands and carried her towards the exit. "Let's go get you to the pokémon center."

A small hand stopped me. 'I wish to watch the rest of the tournament, my lord,' she said.

"Are you sure?"

'Yes, my injuries are not too severe.'

"Alright, I'm going to go see if the school nurse has a sponge."

'Understood.'

I carried her back to the stand and sat her in a good viewing spot before heading to the nurse. There, I met Sparky again.

"That was awesome!" she said, her usual enthusiasm back now that she wasn't dead-focused on a battle. Even the limp elekid in her arms didn't seem to dampen her spirits.

"It was," I said, favoring her with a smile. I didn't expect anyone my age to be able to beat Artoria "Lucky's strong."

"Ele…" the yellow cat-rabbit grinned and gave me a thumbs up.

"Yeah, I didn't think anyone in this tournament would be able to give him too much trouble. We mostly entered so Lucky could work on Double Team against easier opponents."

"Hah, Artoria and I entered for similar reasons. Teleport for us."

"Yeah, it was a real shocker, eh?" she grinned playfully. "Your ralts was electrifying. Get it?"

"Unfortunately…"

"Hey, give me your number. I want to battle you again."

Normally getting a cute girl's number would have been flattering, even if I was still in the "I'm mentally old enough to be your dad" mindset, but I was in a bit of a rush. "Sorry, I'm going to go ask the nurse for a sponge or something."

"Sponge?"

"Ralts and some of the smaller pokémon need specific doses of potion and spray bottles aren't very precise."

"Huh, you know a lot about psychics, huh?"

"Mom's Sharon Fulan so yeah."

"Woah, your mom's the gym leader? No wonder I lost."

"No. None of that," I said crossly. "I don't magically become an expert because my mom happens to be a psychic mistress. Blaming the achievements of others on their background discredits the work they put in and condemns you to mediocrity."

"I… Yeah, you're right. Sorry."

"We're good."

As I returned with two warm sponges, a potion, and a paralyze heal, I heard her mutter. "Here and gone like a storm, eh? As expected of my rival."

X

Back at the stands, I measured out the appropriate amount of potion and began to rub down my pokémon with it, first her arms and then her scraped knees.

'My lord!' she squeaked as I prodded her knee. 'I can treat myself!'

"You can," I said. I took the second sponge and began to massage her leg with paralyze heal, rubbing in the lotion as the little ralts squirmed.

'This is embarrassing.'

"Hush. Let me pamper you once in a while. Besides, didn't you want to watch the matches?"

'Hauuu…'

The treatment only lasted a few minutes. After that, I sat Artoria on my lap and snacked on some oran berries I'd nabbed from the pokémon center canteen as we watched the proceedings.

Unfortunately, the battles were… lacking. They lacked the raw energy of Sparky and Lucky and they of course couldn't hope to compete with my little knight's technical skill and mobility.

The most interesting battle we saw was between a mankey and magnemite. The mankey's trainer was like me, an out-of-towner, while the magnemite's trainer likewise scored high enough on his TLE to warrant a starter from Wattson. That battle ended when the magnemite overcame its type disadvantage with a mix of Thunder Shocks and Sonic Booms, using its better range to simply never get hit.

I wanted to say that such a tactic wouldn't work on me and Artoria, but I wasn't sure. Artoria was far more agile than the mankey thanks to Mana Burst and Teleport. She was also more disciplined than the mankey, but I didn't think that alone would be enough for her to deal with a ranged steel type.

"See that magnemite?" I told her. "Do you think you can beat it?"

'I believe its steel shell would be difficult to bypass.'

"We're going to start working on Shadow Sneak soon since Teleport seems combat-ready now."

'Yes, my lord.'

We made our way out of the school the moment the last battle ended. As we left, we overheard more than a few say that the battles tapered off in quality. That brought a smirk to both our faces; recognition felt good.

X

The rest of the day was mellow. Even after a visit to the pokémon center, Artoria was in no shape to battle or train so we took the afternoon to take care of some shopping. It had been a month since we started our journey and so the Mossdeep Gym deposited an extra 5,000 LC into my account. Right now, I had 9,325 LC, or about $932.5 back in my world.

It wasn't much, but considering I didn't need to pay for room and board at a pokémon center, it was plenty. 5,000 LC was enough for the Protect TM back in Slateport, though I didn't know how much that would be here. I was also open to other options, depending on what caught my eye.

I spent 3,200 LC on various rations, potions, and berries. It was a little bit excessive, but that was what happened when you gave someone a hammerspace bag. That left me with 6,125 LC to browse the TM stores.

I waffled back and forth between Will-O-Wisp and Protect but eventually settled on the defensive option. It wasn't just useful for my ralts after all. As tempting as the idea of a flaming sword was, the practicality of my entire team being able to use Protect swayed me.

Author's Note

RN means registered nurse, though that title means much more in the pokémon world.

I swear Sparky Soto wasn't supposed to be a major character. The trainer school mini-tournament was just that, a little thing to get Artoria's Teleport up to speed. But here it is. Sometimes, scenes just write different.