7:24 P.M. June 27, Saturday, 106 PH (Post Hoopa Event)

Events: The Preliminaries for the Joint Kanto and Johto Indigo Summer League have concluded; 105 Trainers and their Pokemon have advanced from Bronze to Silver. The day has come for the Summer Round Robin Cup, where the top of Kanto and Johto’s advancing Trainers will compete to be named Seasonal Best. Rhea started her journey on the 9th of June—she’s been a Trainer for 19 Days (18 officially; 19 since getting Maya and Nova).

Heart pounding, Alice darted right, flipping in the air as Keahi followed, doing his own acrobatics. She’d waited for what seemed forever to finally have her own shot at a match. She didn’t care if she won or lost like Mya; all she wanted to feel was the rush of combat.

She grinned and stretched her ears, arms, and legs to prepare for the match to start. “You’re pretty fast,” she complimented.

The Mankey chuckled, landing on the soft, kicked up sand across from her. “What was that? I can’t hear you past all these humans.”

“Really?” Alice spoke up, bending left and right. “I can hear everything pretty well—I said you’re pretty fast!”

“Thanks! You, too,” Keahi returned. “I heard you’re only a few days old. Is that right?”

“Three days old, but I’ve been practicing every day!”

The Mankey whistled. “Wow! Three days … You’re super fast for being that young, and shockingly cute, too.”

A small smile moved Alice’s mouth as she brushed her left ear a little. “Most Pokemon tell me that, but thanks. Don’t go easy on me just because I’m cute or else I might just crush you!”

“Heh-he, I wouldn’t dream of it after seeing your friends in action! Oh … Are we almost ready?”

Franky floated through the ground between them, and Ethan seemed just about finished with his commentary. “Sh-sh-sh—almost,” the Ghost snickered. “Are you both good to begin?”

“Yup!” they responded in unison.

Rhea took up a position behind her, determination blazing in her chest. “Hey, Alice, maybe we should try to use as little energy as we can—like Amira did. The only problem is I’ve never had an Ultra Ball connection, so I don’t know what it feels like … Think we can give it a go anyway?”

Nova’s uncertain hum followed, studying the limber Monkey as he made sharp jabs in the air. “I mean, but it’ll be harder, though. Shouldn’t you go all out?”

“Yeah!” Mya roared. “Take him out with a big punch—one hit!”

That’s not how I do things, Alice sniffed. Haven’t you been paying attention to my practice with Nova at all?

“Why should I?” Mya grunted. “All you do is prance around forever—it’s boring.”

Says the girl who hasn’t hit me once!

“Gmmghm…”

“Hey, quit fighting!” Nova pleaded.

Rhea soon followed. “Yeah, let’s stick together, guys … What do you think, Alice?”

Sure! Heh, I think it sounds fun and challenging.

“Okay, but be careful, and good luck!” Nova cheered.

Ethan shot his fist in the air. “Let’s go!”

Alice’s pink irises focused intently on the Gengar as time slowed, his big teeth showing before the Ghost faded in shadow. “Begin.”

Wind shot past Alice’s body as she accelerated, her modified Run Away pushing her forward rather than when retreating, like Nova’s standard version of the Ability. Keahi met her, trying to gather his energy, but Rhea had her own plan.

Alice held up her hands as he lashed out, performing a single clap with a thrilled smile. “Let’s have some fun!”

“Huh…” Keahi’s muscles froze in his forward thrust, eyes rolling as white light enveloped her frame from the Quick Move, creating a short shockwave.

Slowly charging her next attack rather than pulling as much of Rhea’s energy as she could, Alice touched down and spun around his fist. Her ear struck out in her passing, slapping the Monkey to the left.

It didn’t cause any damage, but much of her kit generally centered around disruption, sending him stumbling to the side garnering cheers from Nova and the crowd.

Finding purchase against the sand, she raced back, spinning to knock out his unbalanced leg with her ear, but he blocked the strike with his tail. Keahi leaned into the momentum, regaining his bearings and using his left hand as a spring to launch himself into the air, performing a front-twist.

“Woah … Nice one!” he grinned, eyes narrowing into a leer, “But you’ll have to do better than that!”

Alice giggled, jumping away to curl into a ball in the air; her defense dropped and then returned, white energy gathering around her. “You were saying?” she teased, uncurling to land on her feet and launch forward again; sharp, jagged increases in speed from her ability helping to slow his movements to improve her reaction time.

“Heh, that’s more like it!” Keahi laughed, a single finger illuminating to extend into a claw as she neared. “You react so fast; it’s like you were born to battle!”

Alice bounced left to dodge, noticing his trajectory; his swipe curved to the sand, sending it spraying the opposite way. “I was!”

Performing a round-off with her ears, Alice did a backhand spring to stop her momentum; light gathered to her fur as she stumbled a little to the side, spinning in a short circle while facing him. “Don’t get too dizzy!”

“Ugh-heh—how many Moves do you know—Heneli’s super impressed,” he forced a smile while attempting to break out of her stall tactic; a pink mist began to flow around Alice as she controlled the Mankey’s body, bringing them closer together to hit him with the confusion waves.

Unfortunately, he managed to gather enough energy to repel her control, running around the thin haze she’d created, and making her jump right to keep the thinning force between them.

“Mmh,” Alice mused, watching an orange aura build around Keahi’s fur, intense eyes sharpening; a profound sense of danger made her tail quiver with excitement. “Are we getting more serious?”

The Mankey rushed her as the pink haze faded; not once had Sleep Charm activated, but it was a low chance. She still needed time to use one of her bigger Moves.

Using her natural bursts of unpredictable speed, she hopped left, spinning upside down to scoop up some sand and throw it in his face, but to her surprise, he had the same plan. Cartwheeling to the side, he grunted as it struck him in the cheek, yet his tail managed to sweep out to fling some back at her.

The irritation struck her eyes; she tried to use her ears to stabilize her fall but miss-timed her landing. Tumbling across the sand, she jumped high into the air at Rhea’s prompt.

Free-falling, her vision squinted open to catch Keahi’s glowing hand swiping where she’d been; he couldn’t even see, which meant he was following his Trainer’s instructions.

She forced a grin as his eyes peeped open, gaze rising up to her descent; red light collected from around Alice’s fur, drawing toward her tiny fist, bathing it in fire. Oh, no … Did I not time it right?

Mya was holding her breath with Nova as she fell; Keahi had plenty of time to sidestep, but instead, he braced for impact, crossing his arms in front of his face.

“Protect?” Rhea mumbled, but no honeycomb appeared to block her fist; instead, the Mankey angled his arms to take the full brunt of her strike.

Alice didn’t question it, not wanting to pass up the opportunity at hitting one of her strongest attacks, and used all the gathered energy she could muster into the Mankey’s guarded face—going for the same tactic Lori used—flames exploded on impact, blocking her vision of the Pokemon.

“Yes! You did it!” Mya screamed.

Nova was jumping up and down. “Yeah, you … Look out!”

Still suspended in the air, Alice felt the scrawny arm her fist pressed against flex, shoving her back a little, and as the flames faded, her sight was met by the burning fur of Keahi, fierce eyes, and orange aura mixing with a violent red. “Good hit.”

Keahi blurred into a spin, ambiance flowing to his tail; Alice saw the strike in slow motion, still trapped in the air. Her ear reached to use the extending appendage as a platform to skip over the attack, yet the mere touch of his tail sent a shocking ripping to her brain—the world went white.

Alice’s fuzzy mind came back in spots, feeling dull blows against her petite frame, and it wasn’t until she came to a stop that she realized she’d been bouncing across small sandhills. Salty water filled her mouth, making her cough, and she shakily forced herself to her feet.

A ringing was in her ears that made her stumble with the surf, trying to pull her back; unclear vision scanning the beach, Rhea’s voice soon filtered back into focus. “... Lice … right—right…” She blinked, mind snapping back when a furry ball of sand jumped at her.

“Run, Alice!” Nova screamed.

She’d never been struck so hard in all of her training matches; her shield was practically between 1 and 2%—she couldn’t be grazed.

Gut tightening, she tried to duck, but her right ear wasn’t fast enough, Keahi’s swipe struck, and Alice’s mind slipped under the rising waves that rushed around them.

* * *

A sad smile moved Rhea’s lips as she watched Alice do her best until the end; she could practically see Nova’s crestfallen ears and Mya’s somber drop to her butt inside their pokeballs. It’s okay, guys … Hey, now you’ve all lost … Huh?

Just as the surf came up and Alice fainted, the Mankey’s eyes rolled back, and he fell next to the Buneary, both being carried out to sea before Franky lifted them out of the water.

Ethan’s boisterous voice filled the beach. “Heneli is the victor! Good fight, guys; close—ha-ha—just a bit longer, and the burn would have run its course!”

Mya was up in arms, saying Alice should have won; they fainted at the same time.

No … if Ethan said Alice went down first, then that’s that, and… “Woah—hey!” Rhea squawked as her cousin practically tackled her from behind, trapping her in a bear hug and lifting her into the air.

“That was so good, Rhea! Alice is so strong—and she’s only like three days old!”

“Eh-heh—yeah,” she chuckled, accepting Alice from Franky as Bianca let her go. “Umm, what was that super-powerful Move he used against Alice?”

“Revenge,” Hilbert grinned, walking forward to put an arm around his wife’s shoulders. “It’s similar to the Counter line of energy-absorbing attacks. He was waiting for the opportunity to take a big hit and dish it back.”

A hot puff of air shot through Heneli’s nose as he joined them, a big smile in place. “Yo-ho-ho, that was lit!” He looked down at his unconscious Mankey. “That was Fire Punch—woah! For real; you’re totally the real deal, Rhea—Fire Punch! What Shellder did you find that beautiful Move in, huh?”

Her dad came over with her mom, and Rhea caught sight of messages from her family and friends scrolling at the bottom of her streaming phone.

“By the strength and ease she performed the attack at her age, it indicates the Move is likely bred,” Keith commented, looking down at his wife.

Christie reached out to take the little bun, Rhea giving Alice up to her mother as her Bellossom hurried over to heal their Pokemon. “She has a long way to go, but I’m more than satisfied by her performance; although, her Teeter Dance could use some work.”

“For real, Christie?” Ethan asked, examining the Buneary in the woman’s arms. “The number of Moves this little girl has—Champ’s freakin’ out!”

Everyone on the beach went silent as a colossal Donphan that stood over ten feet tall exited a pokeball at the Legend’s waist. His mammoth-like tusks gleamed in the dying sun as he grunted a few times, speaking to Vanty as she healed Alice.

“C’mon, Gold, Champ out, really?” Kris sighed, walking over to rub the Pokemon’s beefy front leg. “I know you’re suppressing yourself as much as possible, but you can still make normal people sick.”

The Armor Pokemon’s posture sagged, and Ethan came to his rescue. “C’mon, Kris, it’ll toughen them up; Champ’s been wanting some time with Amira!”

Rhea was used to Ethan’s antics and smiled at Heneli’s big eyes as he looked up at the giant—Kris wasn’t having it either.

“Not in a public place—you have a bad enough reputation as it is, Honey,” she sighed.

Silver broke the discussion, walking forward with a grinning Lyra, Green, Leaf, Blue Yellow, and Red. “Champ can spend as much time as he likes out when we get something to eat—are we ready? Lyra will take us to Viridian.”

Green shot an eye over at the small brown-haired woman. “C’mon, Lyra, give us a chance to show off a bit.”

“Zelri already called dibs!” she said, giving the woman a victory sign. “She won the game!”

“Analytics is cheating,” Green mumbled. “Clefy’s never broken .3 seconds behind Zelri!”

Blue slid next to the woman, nudging her side. “Huh, sayin’ yer weak, Green? You know the name of the game; get good!”

“Funny, coming from you,” Green shot back, shoving the laughing Legend to the side for his giggling wife to catch. “When was the last time you beat Red?”

Leaf poked her head around to smirk at her big sister. “Can I ask you the same question? Oh, Yellow will know! Yellow?”

The blonde forced a smile, Chuchu smirking from her shoulder. “Chu-Pika-Pi-Pika.”

“Chuchu! Don’t say that,” Yellow chided, frowning as her Pikachu used her heart-ended tail to push the girl’s hat down.

“Pika-Pi,” Chuchu smirked, looking to the left.

Both Green and Blue glared at the yellow rat.

“We can have another round—what do ya say, Chuchu?” Blue’s confident tone was back in place.

Green gave her a sidelong look. “Yeah, what do you say?”

“Guys…” Yellow groaned, but her Pokemon seemed more than willing to keep going.

Chuchu turned her back on the two, glancing to the side and shaking her tail. “Pika-Pi-Pi-Chu-Pika,” she snickered.

Yellow winced. “Eh—she does … kind of have a point…”

Leaf hissed. “Yeah—it is a bit difficult when both of your guys’ Ace is a Blastoise.”

“...” Red cleared his voice, pointing at Silver and Kris as the pair spoke up.

“Yeah, Red’s right! Let’s settle this with an eating contest! Round Three!”

Rhea chuckled, looking down at Alice as she regained consciousness and hopped down to talk to Keahi; she didn’t seem sad in the least she lost, which made Rhea happy.

Everyone went silent when Lyra poked her head around the big Donphan to ask, “So, did you guys want to join us, Heneli? It’s nice getting to talk after a battle and go over each other’s thoughts.”

“Oh, uh … Y-Yeah! Yo, that would be awesome. Aye, Kekoa, Kekipi, you two good with getting somethin’ to eat with them?”

“Uh … Yeah, sure,” Kekoa grinned, patting his round belly and giving Lori’s amused expression a chuckle. “I’m pretty starved after that match—so is Kimo.”

Kekipi turned to Amira, bags still under his eyes from his all-nighter. “You cool with it?”

Amira seemed to shrug it off. “Sure, whatever.”

“Yeah, I think it would be cool to spend some more time with you,” he smiled. “I’m down, Heneli.”

“Wonderful!” Lyra cheered. “Okay, let’s go!”

Without further warning, Rhea felt the unsettling feeling of being teleported; she didn’t even have time to ponder her defeat with how much was happening.

In the next second, she was looking around a massive fancy room; it could have been five stories of an open ceiling, and the glass walls gave a stunning view of Viridian Park. The soft sound of jazz filled the air from a band playing near the back to not be too loud and provide relaxing background noise.

Rhea’s mind was instantly pulled away from the battle she’d just had with everyone else as they adjusted to the sharp contrast in environment, and a cat-like smirk lifted the corners of her mouth upon seeing Amira’s tight full lips, red irises on her grandparents and Matori already seated at a table.

“Wow,” Kekipi whispered, looking up at the classy floor with dozens of staff bringing in multiple dishes from elevators.

Wow, is correct. Rhea giggled at her confused Pokemon. Amira’s probably so embarrassed; this is practically a date.

The redhead kept her composure shockingly well, and Silver took the floor, drawing everyone’s eyes. “Please enjoy yourselves. If you have something you favor, tell one of the staff, and the chefs will prepare it.”

A handsome smile softened his complexion as his wife joined him, and he slid his arm around her back in a comforting way. “After everything that’s happened, I figured an evening away from stress would do us all good.”

“Thank you,” Lyra whispered, practically melting into Silver’s arms and making Rhea’s heart warm; he’d likely been planning this throughout the day, and after the battle they had, Rhea was a bit hungry.

Blue’s glare moved to Giovanni, but Silver broke the tension by gesturing to the elevator. “Blue, Leaf … I figured you two haven’t had a proper date in a while, so I prepared the roof venue for your personal use.”

The former Champion caught his wife’s sparkling gaze at the offer, and Rhea knew she’d likely order the most expensive wine the place had. “I suppose … for tonight.”

His large Alakazam exited his pokeball and teleported the pair to the location; Rhea didn’t know why Blue and the Rockets had such a shaky history, but judging by a few of the relieved sighs that came from the group, it was deep-rooted.

“Now help yourselves,” Silver invited.

Red and Yellow moved to the tables by the Jazz band, holding hands and taking a seat to listen. Lyra pulled Silver to a dance area to the side, but it wasn’t hard for Rhea to see the woman using the opportunity to sneak peeks at her daughter and Kekipi while trying to keep her distance.

Showing slight annoyance, the redhead cleared her throat, turning to Rhea. “You want to join us at a table? We can talk about the matches.”

Aww, no alone time with him, huh? Rhea teasingly thought but was more than happy to be her way out. “Sure! Umm, Lori?”

Lori grinned and jabbed her thumb at her parents and Kekoa. “Already promised my parents I’d chill with them; Kekoa wants to discuss our battle, too. You two cool with me sitting this one out?”

Rhea could see her studious eyes searching to see if Rhea needed her after their loss, so she swiftly shook her head, giving a dismissive gesture. “Nope! I think I’m good—Amira?”

“Yeah, have fun,” she said, and Rhea caught a small, thankful smile from the redhead that she wasn’t leaving her alone. “I know it’s probably nice having your parents over—it’s not like you’ll be able to see your dad often.”

“Mmh, you might be surprised,” Grimsley mysteriously whispered.

“Is that so?” Amira hummed, eyeing him suspiciously. “You’ll have to tell me more—does Cass know?” she asked, waving to them as they moved to find their own table; Karen was already calling over a waitress to peruse the wine selection.

Rhea glanced over at Giovanni, Matori, and Ariana; the three were moving from their table to a sitting area to look over the city, a bottle of wine already on the small table between the armchairs. “What about your grandparents?”

Amira’s lips pulled in, glancing at the three and giving her grandmother a short wave as she turned to direct a charming smile their way. “No … They’re just enjoying the ambiance; they’ll wait for everything to settle down.”

She fell quiet as Malia walked past her cousin and took Kekipi’s hand. “Let’s go grab something to eat—umm, that area seems free,” she pointed.

Rhea caught an area beside the tall windows, away from most of the Pokemon, as her Alolan Ninetales and Vulpix moved off to join Yellow’s Pokemon near a place set apart for the large group.

Well, I guess she’s trying to make her territory, Rhea mused, which was something Alice, Nova, and Mya could likely understand—unfortunately, being Egg Pokemon, and considering their age, not as much as she thought. Mmh … I wouldn’t say Amira’s going to battle her for it … Heh, it’s just a bit funny.

Her attention turned to Heneli; the boy still seemed blown away by all the insanely powerful Trainers surrounding them. “This is wild…”

“You good to talk?” Rhea asked, gesturing to one of the free tables, set a decent distance away from the rest. “Your Manky’s name was Keahi. Wasn’t it?”

Her Buneary was happily going over the match, making punching gestures and flips at times that the Mankey laughed and mirrored.

Umm, are you okay, Alice?

Nova had already asked the question, but she just wanted to see for herself. Her little bunny gave her a cheery affirmative; she didn’t care about the loss, only that she had fun.

Yeah … You’re right. Let’s just have some fun for a night. Huh?

Taking a deep breath, Heneli rubbed the back of his neck, grinning awkwardly at his cousin leading away Kekipi as Amira stood beside Rhea, left hand on her hip and neutral expression in place. “Uh—I’m not used to this kind of thing … What are we supposed to do?”

“Not a clue,” Rhea laughed; on the bright side, using Moves sparingly hadn’t tired her out much at all. “Want to join them and grab some food? It looks good.”

“I suppose,” Amira whispered, a touch of disapproval in her voice as her gaze followed Malia.

Heneli took a deep breath, his hand going into his pocket, and Rhea wondered if he was clutching his plastic badge for strength; if so, it was cute. “Yeah. Let’s do it!”