//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: Absolution 2 // by ed2481 //------------------------------// Cres looked up at Matt with a small frown. “So, how does our schedule look for the day Matt?” The man looked at a notepad on the table, as he sipped his morning cup of coffee. “Hmmm... it seems we have three sixth badge gym matches, and two third badge matches, and one first badge match.” “So, three for me and the gang and three for your low tier team,” Cres said, nodding his head with a smile. “Anyone interesting?” Matt took another sip as he read some of the small notes he made. “One had some fairy types in her team, another had an Absol with them... the last had couple of bug types,” he replied. “Huh, get someone with dual typing for the last person but I’ll gladly give the Absol a blade lesson,” Cres replied, a small smirk on his face at the prospect of the challenge. “And for the one who has some fairy types with her?” the man inquired. “... we’ll probably lose it,” the Absol said, chuckling a little at the end. “Unless you use Nok.” Matt joined in with the chuckle and then took sip of coffee. “No, I don’t think that would be allowed,” he said with a small shake of his head. “But yeah, if she plays her moves right, I think I might lose that match with her.” “Oh well, two out of three isn’t bad,” Cres replied as he got up and gave the man’s good leg a nuzzle and stood up on his rear legs so that his head was in an easier position for the man to reach. “Especially when it means I’m fighting with you Matt.” The man smiled as he reached a hand down to scratch Cres’s favorite spot right behind his chin. “I’m glad you think that Cres.” Cres let out a rumbling purr before climbing up slightly and giving the man’s head a nuzzle, careful of his blade, and then gave him a lick as well before he got down. “So, shall we head out?” Matt took a final sip of his coffee before grabbing his crutches and stood up. “Let’s go, you can go on ahead. Reva and I will meet up with you at the gym.” “Don’t you mean halfway there?” the Absol asked with a small chuckle. “Only if you don’t run fast enough,” Matt replied with a small chuckle as he headed for the door and opened it. “I’ll even let you get a running start.” “Fair enough,” Cres said with a small shake of his head. “According to my sleepy son, that’s where Ohm and... Applejack are, so we shouldn’t be too lonely this morning.” “Oh really? Hmm... okay,” Matt said as the two entered into the hallway. “Of course that means I don’t want you to cause trouble with her then.” “I’ll be ‘on the clock’ Matt,” Cres replied with a frown as they entered an elevator together and began to head down. “I’m a professional Gym Pokemon, I can block out annoying background creatures easily enough when I’m in that mindset.” “Good to hear, now I’ll meet you at the gym. I have to make a stop on the way, so I will actually be a bit late,” he said as the elevator came to a stop and they exited onto the first floor. “Seems like Roxanne wants me to buy a reference guide to legends involving dreams, and she’s too ‘busy’ on her laptop to get it herself...” he said, shrugging a bit at the end. “That sounds like both of our mates,” Cres agreed, a small chuckle escaping his lips. “Did she ask for chocolate to go with it?” “...Yes, yes she did. Though I won’t bring as much as she is asking for; she needs to watch her weight, and the last thing I want is our daughter to be hyperactive all the time,” Matt said as the two exited the building, Reva awaiting for him all saddled up with Zeb dozing beside her. “Don’t let her catch you saying that she needs to watch her weight,” Cres advised before giving Reva a smile. “Good morning Reva,” he said with a grin. “Good morning Cres,” the Rapidash said with a small bow of her head. “And he is right Matt, you should never mention weight around a woman,” she added with a chuckle as he mounted her. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. There’s really no easy way around that subject,” he said with a small sigh. “Anyways, I’ll see you at the gym Cres.” “The same to you,” Cres said, giving them both a smile before he set off down the nearly abandoned road at an exhilarating run, feeling his worries slip away as he worked up a sweat before coming to a stop in front of the Gym and quickly gaining entry. As he walked into the lobby, he saw Ohm sleeping curled up on one of the large couches set aside for just such an occasion. His head was resting on his paws and his tail laid right underneath it, like a kitten. The Absol walked over to Ohm and gave him a light nuzzle on the cheek. “Wake up Ohm my friend, don’t want any trainers to walk in on you like this, they’d die from the adorableness.” The Luxray opened a single eye. “I hope that doesn’t happen, it would really disturb my sleep as they fell to the ground,” he said as he opened both of his eyes and did some minor stretching and rested his head back down again. “Besides, I needed to catch up on my hours since I spent all of last night training Applejack.” “The entire night?” Cres asked aghast. “Yes... whatever nightmare she had was bad enough that she had to be completely exhausted before she could get to sleep,” Ohm replied, closing his eyes and let out a small yawn. “At least her fighting skills have improved somewhat.” “Well that’s ‘wonderful’ for her,” the Absol said with a scowl. “But I’ll leave you to your nap, sleep well Ohm.” Cres gave his face a light nuzzle and then began to walk away. The Luxray murmured his thanks and Cres made his way inside the gym. Cres glanced around the Gym and nodded his approval, it looked like Joe and Eclair had done an excellent job getting it set up for the day’s battles, as usual. The large boulders were set up perfectly, neither completely symmetrical nor set up in a wholly random arrangement. His gaze drifted to the stands where he easily spotted the sleeping form of Applejack with his keen eyes. She appeared to be sleeping heavily, laying over one of the more ‘bleacher’ like seats though they were covered with soft padding instead of metal. Cres turned away from her, closing his eyes and doing his best to swallow down his anger with the mare. Despite that, he had the urge to unleash a flamethrower in her direction and char broil her where she slept, if only to get her out of his life. However, he knew that neither Belle nor Matt would approve of that and they were the ones who really mattered. Instead, he turned away from the mare and walked towards the washroom, as was his habit, he’d grown to enjoy a shower before his day of battles. As he stepped into the room he glanced around and caught sight of their ‘night guards’ curled up against each other, Eclair on top of Joe, her tentacles slightly constricting around him. The Absol ignored them and walked into one of the shower stalls, quickly setting up a shower for himself. He let out a sigh as the warm water flowed over his fur and washed away his anxieties from the day before. So what if Applejack was here? He had a job to do and another Absol to crush. That always made him feel good. His shower complete, Cres walked out of the stall and shook himself off and walked over to the ‘hair dryer’ that Matt had installed against one wall that blew hot air directly down on whoever was beneath it. He reached up to paw at the mechanism and a stream of warm air began to wash over his body, eliminating the excess water from his coat. When he felt he was dry enough he walked out from under it and shook himself once. As usual, his fur stood up on end, making him look more like an inflatable doll then an Absol. Cres rolled his eyes as he stepped out into the gym and sat down beside where Matt would stand as he began to smooth down his fur. Cres sat there, licking his fur down for a few minutes before the sounds of the gym main doors opening faintly echoed in his ear and Matt’s voice saying. “Hey Ohm,” before the doors to the gym arena opened and the man strode in with his crutches in hand. “I see you’re all set for the day,” the man with a smile as he made his way over to the north side wall. “Just about,” Cres replied as he took one last lick and flattened out the last of his fur. “Just finished my ‘flattening session’ so your timing is excellent.” “It normally is,” he said with a small chuckle as he placed the palm of his right hand on a panel and the wall opened up to a small safe containing a set of pokeballs. “Now it’s time to allow everyone else to have their morning stretches.” “Everyone except Eclair and Joe,” Cres commented as he himself began to stretch a little. “I think they had quite enough stretching last night.” “I see,” Matt said with another small chuckle before glancing up to the stands where Applejack slept. “So, how is our guest doing?” he asked as picked out two pokeballs and released an Umbreon and a Zorua from their balls. “She appears to be sleeping soundly,” Cres replied while giving the Umbreon and the Zorua a smile each. “Morning,” he called to them. “Morning,” the two said in unison as they did some stretches and headed to the showers themselves. “Ohm tired her out with his late night training?” Matt asked, releasing a Nuzleaf and a Houndoom next. “It appears that way,” Cres said noncommittally as he nodded at the pair. “She seems to be asleep.” “She must had a long work out if she can sleep comfortably on the stands,” the man mused as he sent out a Bisharp and a Krokorok to the showers. “I suppose so,” Cres replied, his voice neutral and uncaring as he went through another series of stretches. “You’re probably happy she’s sleeping there aren't you?” Matt asked nonchalantly. “Is it that hard to see that?” Cres replied dryly as he walked up to Matt, giving the Houndoom, the Nuzleaf, the Bisharp and the Krokorok a nod and a smile each. “If she’s sleeping then she’s not talking, and thus not yelling at me.” “And that’s likely to change when the first battle starts,” Matt said releasing Shade the Spiritomb and a Weavile out. “What’s likely to change?” Shade asked curiously with his trademark grin. “The annoying orange mare up there will wake up,” Cres replied blandly. “You should entertain her if that happens Shade, I bet she’d get a real kick out of you.” “Really?” Shade asked, his ghostly green grin growing wider. “Don’t,” Matt shot down instead while giving Cres a hard look. “I don’t want stir up any problems in my gym, understood?” “I wasn’t trying too, I was just suggesting good company,” Cres replied while giving Shade a smile. “After all, Matt, are you saying that Shade isn’t a friendly, nice guy?” “No I’m not, but I don’t like you suggesting for him to annoy Applejack,” Matt replied. “Is anyone going to tell the rest of us what’s going on, or are we just ‘extras’?” the Houndoom asked with a puzzled look. “I will in a minute, all of you just get any stretches done and meet back here in the center of the gym,” Matt answered, indicating to all of the pokemon. “Alright Matt,” the Houndoom, Brooke, said as she began to jog lightly around the gym, getting her muscles ready for the day ahead. Many of the other pokemon followed her example, save for Cres and Shade. Matt looked down at the Absol. “Look... I know you have some resentment against Applejack, but I don’t want that to interfere with your duty as a gym pokemon, alright?” “It won’t,” Cres replied. “Once the match starts, it will have all of my attention, I promise.” “Good,” the man nod his head as he glanced at Shade. “Shouldn’t you be warming up too?” “I’m assortment of spirits trapped in a rock, I think we’re kinda past the point of needing some stretches,” Shade replied with a small chuckle. Cres simply sat down beside Matt, leaning against his good leg and purring slightly. It was time to do what he did best, fight. The mare’s mind was drowsy as her right ear flicker as it began to registered noise to her. It sounded like... shouting? The stands she was sleeping on suddenly shook, snapping Applejack awake as she grasped her hooves on the edge to keep herself from falling off and a small wave of air washed over her. “What in tarnation!?” she hollard in surprise as she turned in the direction of the shock wave and her eyes widened in shock and utter bafflement. In the center of the arena was Cres and a willowy green ‘woman’ who looked as if she was wearing a white dress standing to the side of him. Applejack blinked as she saw Cres dodge to the side, almost too fast to see as the ‘woman’ shoot out a bright ball of light at him. “Have to be faster than that!” she heard Cres’s voice shout before her eyes blinked and she lost sight of him for a moment before he appeared in front of the ‘woman’ his blade glowing darkly as he slashed across her chest four quick times and then leapt away. Though, as he did so, the woman held out a arm out and a wave of electricity ran over his body, causing Cres to jerk and his body began to spasm slightly. “Okay, I had that coming,” the Absol admitted through clenched teeth. The woman chuckled as she held her arms closed together. “Just shows you, don’t be a smart mouth near a lady,” she said thrusting both her arms out and a blue ball of energy hit Cres square in the chest. *Pishow* The blue sphere of energy detonated and sent Cres rolling backwards through the air and into a rock, causing a shower of rubble to fall down upon him. “Cres is out!” a male voice shouted, causing the mare to glance up slightly to see a man in a black and white striped shirt raising a green flag to his right. “The winner of the battle and match goes to Tracy!” he said, point the flag to a young girl who smiled and pumped her a hand in the air. Applejack returned her gaze over at Cres, who was already on his paws again, walking over to the woman. “Good match, great strategy getting me close enough to use Thunder Wave too,” he told her with a small chuckle. “Why thank you,” the woman said with a small bow. “It was all Tracy’s idea, but I accept the compliment nonetheless. You did a good job landing four Nightslashes in a row, a few more and you would definitely have knocked me out.” “Thanks,” Cres said with a nod before walking back over to Matt who took out a bottle of some kind and sprayed him with its contents. Applejack frowned slightly as she squinted her eyes to get a closer look, and she could faintly see some of roughed up furr smoothing back to it’s normal white color. Her eyes then glanced over to the woman and the girl, ‘Tracy’, walking up to them and Tracy did some moments with her hands. “She says thank you for the thrilling match, she thought she was going to lose for a second,” the woman translated. Matt smiled as he got up to his feet. “It was no problem, you did well in commanding your pokemon, even if you have no voice to speak to them. It shows me you’re an excellent, adaptable trainer.” He reach inside a pocket and pulled out a small box and open it to her. “Here, the Dark Star Gym badge is yours,” he said, his smile growing wide as he hand it over her. Tracy’s hands shook wildly up and down as a very wide grin grew on her face and she accepted the badge and did another motion with a hand. “She says thank you, in a very squealish way,” the woman said with a small chuckle. “Well-” Matt put his crutches under his arms and did a motion with his hands too. “You’re welcome,” he said while his hands move. A big smile crossed the girl’s face and both she and the woman bowed once to him before turning and walking back across the gym floor, exiting through the door. “Bah, fairies,” Cres said once they were gone. “Still, it was a good match, that’s for sure.” Matt nodded his head. “Indeed, a trainer who never said a word in her life and is that strong is something to keep an eye on for the League,” he said with a small chuckle. “Agreed, on the bright side, our next match is the one against the boy with the other Absol for me to take to task,” Cres said with a grin. “I’m going to enjoy that.” “Oh I’m sure you will, and maybe Applejack will enjoy that too,” he said, casually glancing up to the stands of the awake mare. The mare’s head perked up slightly from being noticed and turned her head away as if she saw nothing important. “I doubt it, though I’m sure she enjoyed seeing me go down,” Cres replied with a small shrug. “Still, freaking fairies... I can take attacks from everyone else but fairies...” “Stop being such a sour puss,” Matt said with a jesting chuckle as he walked over to the wall to sat down on a bench. “I’m not, I just don’t like them,” Cres replied, following him over and leaning against his good leg. “Right....” the man said slowly as another chuckle rolled through him and he grabbed a bottle of water, taking a sip. He then glanced up at Applejack. “So, are you going to come down or sit up there all day?” he asked her. The mare frowned slightly as she ponder the question. If she came down, that meant having to bare being next to Cres, if she stayed up where she was, she’d only have to bare being in the same room as him. “I’m fine up here... though I am a bit hungry,” she replied. Matt spared a glance at Cres for a translation. “She says that she doesn’t want to be near me but she’s hungry,” Cres supplied, cutting to the chase. “I see... hey Brooke,” he shouted as he tilted his head to a back door. The back door opened and a... large black dog with a pair of curly bone horns growing out of its head and a skull like collar walked into the room, glancing over at Matt with a ‘smile’ on her dogish face. “Yes Matt?” the dog asked in a smooth voice. “Mind if you led Applejack to the break room and help her grab some lunch/breakfast?” he asked, gesturing his head towards the mare in the stands. “Okay, one escort to the break room coming right up,” the dog said as she bunched her legs and then jumped up into the stands, coming to rest in front of Applejack with a smile, two rows of razor sharp teeth on full display. “Hi, I’m Brooke.” Applejack’s head reared back in fear at Brooke’s appearance, which to her look like a cross of a timberwolf and a pile of bones. “Hi...” she said weakly. She then shook her head. Get ahold of yourself Applejack, you know better than to lose your nerve to something like this. “Applejack right?” Brooke asked, cocking her head to the side, tongue lolling out slightly. The mare looked straight into the dog’s face. “Yeah, that’s right. And aren’t you supposed to be leading me to a break room?” she asked back. “Wow, Cres is right, you are rude,” Brooke told her as turned around. “Follow me, grouchy.” The mare frowned at her retreating back. Rude... hmph, that’s something Cres would differently make up, she scoffed in her mind before getting up and following Brooke. The large dog led her through the stands and through a door she hadn’t seen before and down a long corridor until they came to a stop in a room with several couches one of which was occupied by the still slumbering Ohm, a pair of fridges, and a table with a few chairs set up. “Fridge on the right is pokemon food, fridge on the left is human food, take your pick,” Brooke told her before heading back to the door and laying down. “Oh and keep your voice down, Ohm is still asleep.” Applejack glanced at the sleeping lion, his chest slowly heaving in and out as he rested comfortably on the couch. “Noted...” she said before heading for the fridge on the left, stopping a bit and turning her head at the dog. “Thanks...” she added as she walk up to the fridge door and opened it. “Welcome,” Brooke replied simply as Applejack studied the contents of the fridge. Inside were several tupperware full of berries, a few full of color squares along with some containing... meat. The mare ignored the meat and reached inside for one tupperware full of the blue berries she remember being on the salad she ate yesterday. She pulled the container out and glanced around with a small frown. “Where do I get a plate?” she asked Brooke. “Bottom cabinet on the right,” the dog answered without looking up. The mare walked up to the cabinet and open it, only to find a stack of dog bowls inside. Letting out a small annoyed grunt she turned to the dog. “I said plates, not dog bowls.” “They’re plates,” Brooke replied with a small shrug. “If you want a human plate then you’ll have to get it from up there,” she added, pointing her nose in the direction of a cabinet that was far above AJ. The mare frowned as her head craned up to the cabinet. She glanced around to look for something easily moveable to stand on, only spotting some wooden chairs to do so with. Applejack pondered whether to move the chair to climb up or not. There’s no way I’m lowering myself to eat from a dog bowl... she finally decided as she put the tupperware down and move to the chair, putting her head against the base and began to push. She scooted the chair over to the counter, the wood making several squeaking and grinding noises during the process. She pulled herself on top of it and stood on her hind legs while she balanced her front on the counter and used her mouth to pull the cabinet door open. As it did, the mare let out a small disheartened sigh as she saw plates, but they were all stacked on top of one another. Applejack frowned, determined to get one and pushed herself further up while lifting one of her front hooves to grab a plate from the bottom. She did well for the first few seconds, pulling one as gently as she could while it slid out underneath the others. Unfortunately she forgot to focus on her balance and the chair’s legs were not quite as even as she’d thought. She shifted her weight slightly and- *CRASH* Her, the plate she was pulling, and the rest fell to the ground, breaking into dozens of pieces and causing both Brooke and Ohm to jump awake in surprise. “I wasn’t being serious!” Brooke snarled, flames forming around her jaws. “Now look what you’ve done!” Applejack only groaned a bit, one of her sides aching with a sharp pain while other burn with some small cuts she’d obtained as plates fell ontop of her. Brooke let out an annoyed growl, even more fire building around her jaws. “What are you doing? Stand up and help with this!” she snarled, her tail flicking back and forth angrily. “Be at ease, Brooke,” Ohm said as he walked up to the mare, his paws not even noticing the porcelain as he helped the pony up to her hooves. “Are you majorly hurt?” Applejack shook her head. “No, I’m fine,” she said as the sharp pain in her chest began to fade away, probably going to leave a large bruise she figured. The cuts weren’t that deep and only broke the skin, nothing worse. “Still, rest a bit before you clean up the mess you made,” Ohm said as he guided the pony to one of the couches. He glanced at Brooke. “Tell Matt what happen and do not stretch the truth.” “I wasn’t going to,” Brooke snapped, flames still swirling around her jaws as she glared at Applejack for a moment before she snapped them shut and strode out of the room. The mare returned the glare as the dog left but let out a sigh as she leaned into the couch. That didn’t go well as planned... and why does everything here breathe fire?! “Don’t mind her, she won’t really burn you, she just has a short fuse,” Ohm told the mare reassuringly. “At least, unless you attack her, but I doubt you’d do such a thing.” Applejack scoffed at the thought but she slowly shook her head. “I don’t see why she’s so mad... she told me if I wanted a plate to go up there and get one.” “I’d imagine that she was being sarcastic,” Ohm replied with a small shrug. “As for why she was mad, as I said, she has a short fuse along with a low tolerance for what she views as stupidity.” “What’s stupid was her telling me it was okay to grab them and not telling they weren’t,” the mare remarked sourly. “Perhaps,” Ohm replied, shrugging slightly. “Or perhaps you should have noticed how difficult it would have been for someone so short to reach the plates and not have done as you did.” “Hmph... well I wasn’t going to eat from some dog bowl, so what else could I do but try?” she stated indifferently. “They’re Pokemon bowls, I eat from one,” Ohm said with a small shrug. “And now, they are your only option if you wish to have a plate at all.” Applejack frowned at the thought. “I’m not a ‘Pokemon’, I’m a pony. I’m not some pet... I’m an independent being,” she stated as she crossed her front hooves over each other. “As am I,” the lion said before turning his back on her and leaping onto the other couch. “Eat how you’d like, I’m going to return to my rest.” The mare frowned as she hung her head down in thought. ...I am not a Pokemon, I don’t have to live like them. I’m better than that, and soon I’ll be out of here... hopefully that ‘Giratina’ fellow keeps to his word... I just hope he doesn’t take too long...