These umbrellas really are useful, the only problem being the wind, but at least we made sure our clothes were insulated. So at least only the parts of us that aren’t covered are cold.
Shivering, Twilight off-handedly mentions she might want to turn back into a pony, if she didn’t have to worry about the town coming up so soon. “This kind of w-weather wouldn’t b-be so cold then.” The wind and rain is picking up again, trying to lift away our umbrellas and soak us to the bone.
“Yeah, yeah, like I said. We wish we had fur, so we invented clothes. Unfortunately we can’t exactly cover everything or else we run into the problem of making breathing difficult. Just gotta... tough through it.” I manage to beat back stuttering and shivering just by tensing up and forcing my body to stay still aside from walking, though I notice it’s not worth it quickly, as the strain tires me out quickly.
Finally, we come to another large wall, this one concrete and forty feet tall. The top has crenulations on it, and several armed guards are standing in the rain atop the wall. We approach the gate, and I can see a few of the guards tracking our progress, and the glint of an eyepiece is visible for a brief second from the guard tower.
I’d bring up over-paranoia, but then again, the Chainers are about, and the wall’s probably for defense against those Zubzilla monsters. Though from the info I gleaned, I have a feeling those walls wouldn’t really do much.
As usual, it’s silently agreed between us that I’ll do the talking when we get up to the guards. “Hey guys. Let us in? Kinda crappy out, we’d just like a place to dry off, please.”
“Show us your trainer cards. There’s been Chainer activity nearby lately.” The guard is behind a thick pane of glass with wire inside, reinforced and likely meant to repulse pokemon attacks. I can see that the three guards inside the booth by the gate itself are all armed, and there’s a Victreebel leering at me from where it hangs on the ceiling.
“No problem, sir.” I hold up my éTech an pull the actual card out of the little holding slot in the back. Taking the hint, the girls do it too, holding them up to the glass for the guard to get a good look at. We don’t wanna try anything funny with these guys. They mean business.
“Drop ‘em in the slot, we’ll have to run them through the database.” He gestures towards a box that slides out when pulled, but has to be pulled back the other way to get anything out, making it impossible to use as an avenue for attack. Well-made, really. Either way, we drop in our cards, and the guard swipes them, one by one, on a reader. “Alright, they check out. Sorry for giving you the stinkeye. There’s been too many attacks lately, and the Chainers have been getting bolder. Here, have a city-map download. We’ve been giving them out for a few weeks now; it just adds on to the existing Map app and lets you see the cities in detail, too.”
“Thanks. And actually, we appreciate the approach you guys have. We had a nasty run-in with them. Glad to see the response team is on the up and up.” I nod at the guard as we get our cards back and, having our éTechs updated, move on into the city.
To my surprise, the growing wind and rain is barely affecting the town at all. I mean, sure the wind’s still blowing here, though it’s subdued by the wall and tall buildings, but the rain hasn’t stopped what looks like an active market, and people are rushing to and from the various buildings. There’s maybe one umbrella for every eight people here, and there’s dozens of pokemon visible, wandering with people or around them.
“Huh, guess the rain is pretty normal around here. Oh well. Let’s find a place to shack up for a while to dry off...” I use the new, more detailed city-viewer to search for the nearest pokemon center. It’s barely a twenty-second walk away, and we move in that direction immediately.
Getting inside, it seems wet travelers is as common as dirt, because a Chansey wearing the Center hat comes up to us with towels. I knew these places were helpful, but... damn that’s helpful.
A Nurse, but not a Joy, walks up to us shortly thereafter, as we rest at one of the nice, resin-topped tables. “Greetings and welcome to the Great Barrier Port Health Center! We serve as both a human hospital and a Pokemon Center, and have a dedicated Pokemart and a small cafe on the second floor. Is there anything you need help with in particular?” She seems sincere and kind, and she’s followed by an Audino with a Center hat, just like the Chansey, who is already distributing more towels to newcomers.
“No thanks. Just a warm place to sit down and dry off is all we need, thank you.” I proceed to wipe all the water off of me, the girls doing the same, but Twilight seems to still be getting used to human actions as she shakes afterward. All I can do now is facepalm and pretend I just met her...
However, the Nurse doesn’t even blink, and just says, “Alright, if you need anything, just say so. The head nurse is currently very busy, but after ten each evening, we host pokemon battles between trainers and the nurses, to keep everyone sharp. You have a nice day!” She turns and leaves, heading to the next table of new arrivals.
I turn to the girls. “Yeah, I’m sure it sounds kinda weird to you, considering it involves fighting, but battles are pretty much the universal greeting or conversation around here. Think of it like a sort of dance or song that everybody knows. Heck, most couples that end up getting married meet the same way bitter rivals do. Kinda cool if you think about it.”
Twilight thinks it over for a second, then blushes bright red.
“Really Twilight? You’re going to make a big deal about this? Battles are just an activity. You act like you just realized me challenging you to a battle is like asking you out on a date. Do you think of anything else?”
She squeaks. If she’d been a pony, I probably would’ve been consumed with the need to hug the stuffing out of her, but right now it’s just... meh. But I’m still making my point. For a mare who’s so... averse to the idea of romance, she sees it in just about any situation that could be distantly related. Is she secretly super filthy-minded and doesn’t want anyone to know, or what?
Sighing, I sit back, continuing to towel myself off. Just looking around, I can see at least a dozen different groups, from solo trainers to groups of four, though those might simply be two groups sitting at the same table. There’s a couple of booths, including one where a trainer is having lunch with his Flareon and his Charmeleon, the two pokemon happily chowing down as he adjusts his bandana.
I figure I’d challenge him, but I also will have the courtesy to let him finish. I mean, it’s not like he’s specifically looking for challenges and just eating to pass time.
Anyways, once he is done, I walk up to him. “Fire types huh? You up for a battle hotshot?”
“Jeez, starting with puns already? Gah, fine. The Center has a battle room on the fourth floor.” He wipes up his mouth, and starts towards an elevator, Flareon and Charmeleon following behind him.
I shrug as I follow him. “Hey, if you can’t stand the heat...” Yeah that one was awful. Sue me.
We get to the battle room and a Nurse escorts us in, informing me she’d also be the referee. She also asks if I’d mind having the battle recorded, and broadcast in the town if it was good enough.
“Eh, sure, I guess I don’t mind.” I say as I step up to my place on the arena and run my fingers over my Pokeballs. “So how do you wanna do this? Two-on-two, or just a single battle?”
“Singles; this isn’t my whole team. So, since you’re the challenger, you send yours out first.” He grips a pokeball, and cocks an arm back at the same time I do. He throws his pokemon marginally after mine, and reveals... a Numel.
Well, not sure how tough it is, but I feel safe in my choice of Carvanha over Geodude. Numel are known to learn Ground moves. When Carvanha pops it’s head out of the watery moat area, I await my opponent’s first move.
“Hmm... alright, first things first. Sunny Day, Numel!” His pokemon’s eyes close in concentration, and a brightening of the field occurs, evidently simulated by the room’s lights turning brighter and hotter. Gotta love state-of-the-art battle rooms.
“Hmmm. Alright Carvanha, let’s get our own prep-work out of the way, Focus Energy!”
“Numel, Flame Burst!” The Numel fires a glob of fire and heat, leaving a massive scalded section of pool steaming, and Carvanha retreating further into the pool. However, its finished with its Focus Energy, and it’s time to go on the offensive.
“Now, Aqua Jet!” The fish-based pokemon flies from the trough trailing a stream of water, slamming into the Numel’s side. The camel-like pokemon grunts in pain, but doesn’t fall.
“Magnitude!” Numel stomps, sending a shuddering wave across the terrain as Carvanha is flopping to the water again, and the impact is strong enough to flip the carnivorous psycho into the pool, though its floating dazedly on this side as it lands.
“Come on Carvanha, shake it off, tactic change!” Carvanha blinks slowly, shaking its head before coming to its senses. It’s definitely slower in the water, but hopefully that won’t matter much. “Leer!” I figure a higher crit chance won’t help much if it’s defense is high enough. Time to fix that.
“Magnitude again!” The stomp-wave rolls through the water, throwing Carvanha out of the pool this time. the fish flops weakly, panting and definitely out of the fight.
I recall it and think on my next choice. Geodude would have less luck with Magnitude, but GLaDoS would be weak to the likely Fire attacks... Screw it.
“Alright GLaDoS, you’re up!” I toss out the Voltato and make my first order. “Shock Wave!”
“Actually, I’m switching pokemon, as the challenged.” He calmly recalls Numel, and orders forward his Flareon. Crap, I forgot I challenged him.
I think for a moment. “Alright, hit Flareon with Shock Wave instead!”
GLaDoS builds up the charge and releases it, as the other trainer tells Flareon to brace. After the attack hits, he yells to his pokemon again. “Alright, now use Fire Fang! Aim for the body, not the arms!” Double crap, he knows about the arms being toxic!
“GLaDoS, use Synthesis on impact!” The bright Sunlight can work in my favor too.
The scared potato-pokemon shrieks in fear, and the Flareon’s flaming maw closes on the little body, shaking it back and forth viciously. Flareon spits out the Voltato, whose green, growing bits shine with light. The painful wounds on its body fade, though there’s a scorched pattern where it got bit. A burn, damn.
“Use Thundershock!” my best bet is to hope to inflict Paralysis before using a Burn Heal.
The Flareon shrieks in pain, but quickly rallies, rushing forward with an order to use Quick Attack. The move blurs the pokemon into a blob of red-orange, and GLaDoS squeals in pain again, but is surprisingly hardy. But it’s looking very much disheartened.
I stop to use a Burn Heal, and the scorching disappears, though that’s my last status healer aside from berries. “Try another Thundershock, okay? If you can’t manage this, I’ll call it off, okay buddy?”
GLaDoS summons a relatively pitiable Thundershock, though the Flareon stops moving to twitch and shudder on the battlefield. Paralyzed, unless I miss my guess. The other trainer is pulling out a yellow spray-bottle from his own bag, and uses it to heal the stricken pokemon of its condition.
“Alright, new plan. Vine Whip, keep it up as long as you can!”
“Argh, Flareon, use Fire Spin!” Flareon inhales, then breathes a helix of fire around itself, scorching the vines and making my Voltato shriek again. The fiery tornado moves inexorably towards GLaDoS, and the little pokemon isn’t able to get out of the way in time.
I pull out the Grass/Electric type’s pokeball and recall it from inside the swirling flames. “I forfeit! ...good job.”
“Thanks. Five-hundred and a stop to the puns, and we’ll call it even.” he says, recalling his own pokemon. “And you did a good job yourself. I’m training to beat the gym leader here with these pokemon, and he’s a water leader. I gotta be better than just good.”
“I hear that...” I sigh and hand him his reward money. “They are tough, you might get pretty far. Need to get these guys more training though.”
“I’ve actually already tried to beat him once, and he kicked my ass. My pokemon were all around level twenty back then, and I need to get them past the twenty-five range they’re currently at.”
My jaw drops and I look at the ball containing the still conscious GLaDoS. “T- twenty-five? Shit, this little guy’s only nineteen! Why didn’t you cream me, dude?”
“Well, I did take down your first pokemon in three hits, one of which was fire against a water-type. And the second time, you had a recovery move on standby. Also, I kinda went easy on you until you paralyzed Dexter, my Flareon.” He holds out his hand. “Anyways, I’m Roger. You wanna trade numbers? You seem like you’re going places.”
I grin and grab his hand and shake it. “Anthony. Though I doubt I won’t be getting anywhere with an intended disadvantage. My luck doesn’t usually let me pull stuff like that off.”
We exchange numbers and head back down to the first floor where I go up to the counter and request healing for Carvanha and GLaDoS. It didn’t get hurt too bad due to my quick forfeit, but I’d rather everyone be at their peak.
I look around, and realize I have no idea where Rarity and Twilight are. I turn back to the nurse’ aid at the counter. “Hey, uh, did you see a pair of girls around here? Look like they’re kinda in their twenties? One of ‘em has kinda blue-purple hair?”
The nurse gestures to a group of young women, half of whom fit that description. Goddamned anime world...
Nevertheless, I head over and see if they are in the group. Maybe they decided to be a bit more social... and they aren’t there. I swear, if those girls left the building... I take out my éTech and go to give Twilight a call.
She picks up after a moment, and I see she’s in a building. “Hello, Anthony. Where did you go? You didn’t say anything, you just got up and... left. Rarity and I were worried!”
“Really? Aww. You do care! Anyway, I just headed up for a quick battle. Where’d you two head off to?”
“Oh, we’re in the café on the second floor. We didn’t know where to look for you, so we figured we’d just stay near the food, and you’d show up eventually.”
I pause for a moment. “Am I supposed to take that as an insult? That sounded kind of like an insult.”
Twilight looks at me, confused. “What? No! Nonono, you just seem to gravitate towards food!”
“Whatever.” I hang up and head up the stairs and, now that I actually look at the floors in between, I realize that there is in fact a cafe up here. I look around at the people and I do manage to pick Rarity and Twilight out of the bustle of other people and pokemon. Picking my way past a pair of trainers with a Ditto and pokemon I now recognize as a Maskary dribbling part-way onto the floor, I reach the seat with my friends. They already have a tray of food in front of them, Twilight digging into a burger while Rarity daintily eats a few slabs of what look like fried vegetables and mushrooms. Both options sound really tasty.
I look for the counter and, finding the right person to ask, purchase a burger. I really don’t get Rarity’s issue with meat though. I know they can eat meat as ponies... maybe she’s just never tried it. Wouldn’t be the first time I won over a vegetarian using the glorious power of bacon.