Coumarine Gym

"Weepinbell, use Razor Leaf!"

The bouncing pitcher pant spun, releasing a storm of sharp leaves right at the purple tinted Espurr.

The cat was sent flying back, crashing into the body of her trainer with a loud thump.

"Espurr is unable to battle, Weepingbell wins!"

"A mighty fine job." The gym leader took a knee as his Pokemon hopped over to him, where he stroked it kindly. He looked up to his challenger.

"That was a good effort, but don't think that type advantage is all that can win you a battle. I've been at this job for many a year, and I have a few tricks for anything, even your well trained Litleo and Espurr. You've got one more Pokémon little miss, what is it you are going to do?"

The girl returned her defeated Espurr, before standing up as tall as she could. Her lavender eyes shined with determination as she reached for her last Pokéball.

"I'm going to win of course. I still have my first partner with me: we can't lose! Go!"

She threw the ball with a force the gym leader hadn't seen yet, the ball opening in air and unleashing in a giant flood of white light. The light polled on the ground before taking on a solid, distinct form.

Weepinbell tensed as the gym leader gripped his scissor cane tightly as he recognized what Pokémon she had chosen.

"Why silly me, those stories still bother me?" the gym leader muttered to himself as the final Pokémon made itself quite clear.

"Absol!" declared the white herald of destruction as the battle continued.

"Weepinbell use Poison Pow..."

"Taunt!"

Absol's eyes flashed red as a red haze covered the living pitcher plant, causing the plant to start coughing as if it had a hairball.

"No..."

"Yes. Now Absol use Psycho Cut!" Absol's horn began to glow purple, twisting it's head to the side. Absol then sharply re-centered it's head, sending a giant energy slash straight on Weepinbell.

It struck with massive force.

….

This was but one of many battles fought, leading to a grand moment.

….

"I can't believe it Absol."

"Sol..." her partner purred as she held up her open case, revealing eight glimmering badges, her head resting against Absol's pure white fur.

It had taken a lot of work, and a lot of walking, but here they were.

She, Astrid, had eight gym badges.

She could compete in the Kalos League. That meant the potential for fame, the chance to become the best in the world.

Even if she didn't, it also meant she had a steady source of income she could live off of as long as she didn't do anything stupid: tabloids were well stocked with trainers blowing their placement payments on all sorts of things: the least illegal being a yacht on Lake Acuity in the frozen Sinnoh North.

Oddly enough said trainer actually did better in subsequent challenges. Apparently there were in fact training regiments involving frigid lakes and yachts. Astrid could only think of a few ways that could work, and most of them sent shivers down her spine just thinking about it.

League trainers who could make it their profession would be fine in virtually all economic situations bar societal collapse. Even beyond the world leagues there were so many options for money that it was hard to keep track of them all.

Let alone the options for what to do with the money...

"Mur!"

The keys to said wealth, the badge case she had been looking at intensely for a while now, were suddenly out of her hand.

"Mur Mur Murkrow!"

In the talons of a Murkrow, flying off into the nearby forest. Her badge case tucked in it's talons.

Astrid didn't react for a moment, her mind barely processing what had even just happened. There was only one response she could take out.

"Get! Back! Here!" snarling Astrid chased after the Flying-type, Absol darting behind her as they entered the shadowy forest.

…

The forest was dark. Little light filtered down from above, and the only light that did was mostly being refracted from Murkrow's stolen case.

"Mur! Mur!"

"I am going to catch you, after I throttle you! Then I will sell you to a salty smelling Orrean for chump change!" Astrid snarled, still chasing after the bird.

"Sol!" Her partner would occasionally call out, mostly to warn her about a root that she hadn't spotted yet. While Astrid ran straight, Absol gave wary glances to the sides of the forest.

Forests in Kalos were not known for their friendly charms. Many ghosts lingered in them, some said to be the souls of children. Neither wanted to see if that was true about the old stories about breaking your neck in these woods and your spirit taking over a stick for all eternity.

It was a story that originated many centuries ago, back during a period when many children did flee into the woods to try and stay alive. A dark time when not just Kalos, but the entire continent Kalos stood on, lost half its entire population.

Not to war, but to something much worse.

"Krow!"

The case was dropped by the bird, it shouting in despair as it narrowly flew over a structure that without the dropped weight it would have surely struck.

Astrid reached her case in heavy panting, quite out of breath. She looked at the new dents the case had gotten in annoyance.

"Damn bird," she complained as Absol arrived at her side.

Holding the case up to Absol, Astrid had a question.

"Think Meowstic can fix dents?"

"Sol" Absol gave it's best shrug, before tensing. Astrid looked in the same direction as her partner, expecting a Gourgeist or something.

She instead found walls, crumbling apart like badly kept teeth. Plant growth covered them all, a sign of being long abandoned

She then realized that the structure that Murkrow had avoided, and she had been putting a hand on, was a wall as well.

Those walls were but part of many, all visible in the gloom. A village lost to time itself, overcome by nature.

Absol was still growling at it, a low humming that rang through the clearing like a subtle threat.

"...Easy Absol, it's just ruins. Nothing too bad..." moving her foot just a bit into the leaf litter her foot struck something. Something odd.

Bending over to pick it up her eyes went wide in horror as she held the bone in her hand.

It was a regular, dirty bone she would have wondered why it hadn't been decomposed or eaten yet, if she hadn't noticed what was wrong with it.

The bone had growths on it. Two large growths that burst out of it, forming jaws that jutted out of the bone and far enough that if regardless of this bone was a femur or a humerus or whatever, it would have broken through the skin. On opposite sides.

The bone itself was covered in dark veins, which seemed to originate from where she was fairly certain the bone marrow was. They led to the growths like dark rivers.

"Dark Pestilence." She gasped as she dropped the bone, the leaf litter sparing the warped bone from shattering.

After the Ultimate Weapon and the Golden Age people pushed forward to regain what had been lost.

Afloat it came, carried by the man from afar, to take from all and give nothing.

Afar and close it struck, death came to all.

Afixed it be known, the Dark Pestilence to one and all.

The old rhyme that all school children were taught rang in her ears as Astrid darted back, as far away from the bone as she could.

"Relax Astrid, relax Astrid, relax Astrid...the disease can't spread, it just takes centuries for the bones to become safe to touch...you didn't catch it, you can't catch it, you won't die from it, you can't destroy civilization with it..."

"Sol." Her partner rubbed up against her, trying to calm her down. When that failed, Absol darted into the plague-destroyed village of old, Astrid not reacting to it.

Absol returned moments later, something in its mouth. It was not a bone.

That roused Astrid out of her terror, and with her right thumb and index finger she plucked the object from Absol's lips to her own.

She looked into the stone, seeing a rainbow of color with a odd mark in the center.

It was a quite peculiar stone.

A month later

"And we are live at the Kalos league, held this year in scenic rural Camphrier Town! The stadium here was lovingly sponsored by the Kalos Baccer Association, who'll be taking possession of the stadium after these events for their latest expansion franchise!"

Astrid grinned: the rush of realizing that she had really, truly, made it sinking in.

"And up next we have a battle of old wisdom and youthful energy! It's Wylie vs Astrid, right here, right now!" the Announcer declared as Astrid stared down her bushy mustached foe.

"Little girl, ya look like one of me grankids," he declared as she rolled her eyes back at him.

"If I do that means you really are old. Tell me, are you only here because any farther would hurt your back?"

He chuckled at that one.

"Feisty ain't ya? Youth, no respect these days. Time to show you some old fashioned whippin': I choose Delphox!"

As he threw a Pokeball out and revealed a fire toting wizard fox, Astrid knew what she was going with.

"Absol I choose you!"

She threw her own partner out, releasing her pure white companion to loud applause.

Wylie muttered an uneasy word under his breath, before pointing at Delphox.

"Flamethrower!"

"Dark Pulse!" Astrid countered.

A fireball formed at the tip of Delphox's wand, even as a ball of darkness formed at Absol's mouth.

The two attacks launched, striking mid field in a massive explosion, and even more massive applause.

"Dazzlin' Gleam!"

Delphox began to spin its wand around, forming a vortex of shining light.

"Use Protect!" Astrid countered as a glowing blue barrier formed in front of Absol's face.

The light storm flew from Delphox, striking the barrier to little effect.

"Night Slash!"

"Parry it!"

Absol's crest glowing blacker than night, Absol charged right at Delphox ready to slash with it. Delphox grinned, before charging with just wand in hand. No fire at all.

Crest and wand struck, wand blocking the immediate strike while Delphox itself bent over a bit as the attack struck in full. Absol pushed forward, but not into Delphox and was simply sent crashing across the field in a giant plume of dust.

The crowd went wild with cheers at such a maneuver.

"What!?" Astrid gasped as the old man tisk tisked.

"Age isn't good only for cheaper rates at the golf course little miss. Now, shall we continue?"

As Absol got back up and turned back to Delphox Absol, determination evident while Astrid nodded in determination.

"Yeah, let's do it."

….

In a burst of flames a Dusknoir was sent flying, crashing into the battlefield's rocky cliff-face.

Dusknoir stuck to the cliff for a moment, before falling back to the ground in a thump.

"Dusknoir!" a young gentlemen exclaimed in shock as the ref ran up to Dusknoir and looked the ghost over for a moment.

"Dusknoir is unable to battle, the winner is Pyroar! The Winner is Astrid!"

"Can you believe it folks! With just two Pokemon Astrid crushes Farrell and moves on to the Top 16! She's a sure fire super-rookie when I ever see one!"

As the crowds cheered for her, cheered in glee and joy, Astrid's face was dominated with a smile. Pyroar roared in mutual approval.

"Thank you for waiting. Your Meowstic and Pyroar are back to full health." Nurse Joy smiled as Astrid took the balls back from her.

"Thank you," Astrid replied as she turned to leave. However the Nurse was not done speaking.

"Have you seen the roster yet? The next round is already up."

"Yeah, I saw it." Astrid waved off her concern.

"Then you know who your going up against next, right?"

"Some foreigner named Vermell."

"Yes, and one of the front-runners for the winner. I've seen your matches, your title of super-rookie is well earned. But Vermell's that, and more."

"A super-super rookie?" Astrid sardonically suggested.

"My sister sent me a video of him fighting Drasna."

"That's not exactly uncommon. Plenty of hotshots pick fights with Elite Four members trying to show that they're tough and to impress girls. Most don't last even five minutes."

"He lasted twelve minutes, and that was a month ago." Joy told her bluntly.

Astrid had no response to that.

….

"It's the third battle of this white hot Top 16 round folks, and we've got a special one up to play for us! First we have a homegrown favorite, the blazing hot rookie ace Astrid!"

The field still unraised Astrid stood at one end, arms crossed and trying to not look nervous as the crowd around her cheered. The words of the Joy still rang in her ears, and she had taken to looking up Vermell's data.

She had not slept particularly well after looking at his data.

Of her eight badges, she had earned six of them from the top gyms of the region. Vermell had all of the badges from the region's top gyms, including Shalour and Snowbelle.

Given how tough those six battles had been compared to the two from lesser gyms, that only said more about Vermell. In particular the fact he had no rematches on record.

As the crowds's cheering died down the spotlight was now on the other end.

"Facing her is an opponent whose wowed us with his stunning battling power. Coming from southwest of Kiloude, from beyond Kalos, give it up for Vermell!"

Cheers rang out as her opponent was spotlighted. A tall young man, probably 15 or so, his hair was dark and his eyes a dark brown. Odd marks existed under his eyes, like some sort of z pattern. Atop his dark blue and black clothes lay a pendant with a red and white coat of arms, in the center of which jotted a stone much like the one Absol found a while back.

She still had it in her bag.

"We'll be battling in a open grass field!" the ref declared as a plain grassy field rose up from below.

"You each can use up to three Pokemon. The battle is over when either side has no more Pokemon able to battle. There are no time limits, begin!"

"Anar," Vermell declared. Before she could even ask what that meant he threw out a Net Ball, which burst open to reveal a red Pokémon.

"And Vermell begins with an Octillery!"

Octillery? Who used Octillery? Still that gave her options, even if she hadn't the most experience fighting the things.

"Meowstic I choose you!" Astrid threw out her own first choice, her female Meowstic landing on the field with grace.

"Begin!"

"Hydro Pump," Vermell declared as Octillery's head swelled up before firing a concentrated burst of water right at Meowstic.

"Dodge it!" At her quick order Mewostic glowed with psychic energy and flew out of the way of the blast.

That had been a neat trick she had seen Olympia use. Of course Vermell likely did as well, and probably also knew a weakness to it. Perhaps even one she didn't know.

"Charge Beam!" Astrid called as a ball of electricity formed between her Meowstic's hands. She fired it right at Octillery, too quick for such a creature to possible dodge it.

"Do the same!" Vermell ordered as Octillery sneezed out it's own Charge Beam. Faster than Meowstic had.

The two attacks collided, exploding in equal power.

"But it's a Water-type..." Astrid mouthed. Was it like a Chinchou?

"No matter, Meowstic use Shadow Ball!" Still floating above the red Pokemon Meowstic formed a glowing ball of darkness.

"Bind it up!" Vermell gave the command.

"With what, Constrict?" Astrid taunted as Meowstic fired the shadow ball.

Octillery hopped out of the way of the attack and shot out a string from it's cannon. The string bound itself to Meowstic like thick rope, staying in place even as Octillery plopped down solidly on the field.

"String Shot!? " Astrid shouted in disbelief.

"Wow, that's one versatile Water-Type!" The announcer shared her surprise at the move diversity.

"Water moves, Electric moves, and now Bug? What type is that thing!?" Astrid demanded.

"Set it on fire," Vermell declared. Octillery then shot what was clearly a Flamethrower along the string shot.

"Get out of there with Psy...no Char...Shad...Trick! Use Trick!" Astrid's mind was running kilometers a minute, but she finally had a good idea. Moments before the flames hit Meowstic's eyes shimmered. The string also shimmered, before vanishing and reappearing around Octillery. The fire finally did hit something. It's caster.

"And Astrid pulls a fast one! Vermell could not have seen that coming!"

As Octillery continued to roast Meowstic floated down towards the ground. Astrid knew just what she wanted to do now.

"Alright Meowstic, let's end this thing now! Psyshock!"

Forming dark blue energy much like it formed Charge Beam, Meowstic pointed her paws right at Octillery, and fired.

The blast flew right into the cooking squid for a good 30 seconds before peetering out. The flames followed about 5 seconds later, leaving a standing Octillery.

"Fire Rock Blast!"

"Pick a damn type already, avoid them all Meowstic!" As Octillery began to shoot out multiple glowing white projectiles, Meowstic's glow flared up as she flew into the oncoming boulder storm.

Rocks continued to fly through the stadium, forcing the psychic born Meowstic to avoid the attack desperately, and with no opening for counter-attack.

Gripping her fingers together Astrid growled. When was this overpowered Octorock going to give her an opening?!

"And what a relentless barrage! Vermell isn't giving Astrid any openings!"

The rocks kept coming, and she could tell that Meowstic was starting to get tired. The Rock Blasts were getting closer and closer, soon Meowstic would be touching them...

Realization swept through Astrid.

"Use Trick!" she called. Meowstic was distracted by the surprise command long enough for a Rock Blast to nearly hit her. Moments before however Meowstic realized what Astrid was planning, and touched the stone.

Inches from her face the stone vanished, only to appear in front of Octillery and dropped on the squid.

Vermell looked shocked at this, even as the stone barrage ceased.

"Now Charge Beam!"

Meowstic spun in air with her electric charge, before firing it right at Octillery. The attack struck Octillery dead on.

Octillery was blown back, rolling over itself and falling out cold at Vermell's feet.

"And what a trick! Astrid turned the entire fight around! She's not a super-rookie for nothing!" The announcer declared as Vermell returned Octillery.

Meowstic floated down to earth, no longer glowing.

"Meowstic..." Astrid whispered.

"Try to hold on for a bit longer."

"Anar!" Once again Vermell shouted that (probably) foreign word, releasing his second Pokémon.

"Steel!" the massive Steelix, even by Steelix standards, bellowed as it appeared. It's roar shook the stadium like an earthquake, and Astrid swore she heard some top box rich person's wine glass shatter. A harness adorned it's head, with a stone affixed to it.

"Wow! That is one big Steelix!" Understatement of the century announcer guy.

"Begin!"

"Okay Meowstic let's topple this thing quickly! Shadow Ball!" Meowstic nodded as she formed the ball of darkness and lobbed it right at Steelix.

"Drop." At Vermell's word Steelix lowered itself right to the ground with a slam. The Shadow Ball flew past it's aim by a good few inches, and the field itself shook. Astrid tried to pretend she didn't hear metal straining.

The intense shockwave knocked Meowstic to the ground. Meowstic tried to push herself back up, but her limbs failed her.

"Meowstic is unable to battle! The winner is Steelix!"

"Wow! That wasn't even a move, and yet Steelix scored a victory! There really is something about bigger being better!"

Astrid tried not to imagine what an attack from it would be like as she returned Meowstic.

As Steelix rose back up into upright position she reached for her next Pokéball.

"Go Pyroar!" she let loose her fiery Pokemon, who gave a kingly roar in challenge to Steelix.

"Flamethrower!" Astrid declared as Pyroar bellowed a great flame forth.

"Strike back!" Vermell commanded. Steelix bellowed in response as blue stones rose up from the ground in a straight line.

The stones impacted the flames, shattering them as they continued forward toward Pyroar.

"Get out of the way, then try Fire Blast!" Nodding Pyroar leaped out of the Stone Edge attack and fired a larger flame, concentrated in a giant fire symbol.

"Again!" Vermell called, and with that Stone Edge fired. The two attacks collided, and this time they cancelled each other that.

"Wow! Many trainers try and train their Pokemon to hide their commands, but Vermell is a master of it. Did he spend hours on end practicing it instead of practicing his speaking skills?!"

"Sweep!" Steelix's tail glowed metallic silver. Iron Tail.

"Double Team!" Pyroar nodded, splitting into a pride. The tail swept through most of them, but all just phased through the attack as two Pyroar jumped into the air.

"Flamethrower!" And too quickly for Steelix to respond the attack hit.

Yet Steelix didn't buckle.

"Charge!" Steelix began to glow in what Astrid was pretty sure was a Double Edge attack.

Knowing her luck with this guy, Steelix probably had Rock Head.

"Fire Blast!"

The real Pyroar shot the fire attack even as Steelix charged at Pyroar like a train of death.

The attacks collided, but Steelix pushed through Fire Blast and struck Pyroar.

Though at least this time she could see scorch marks on the side of Steelix's metal plates.

Pyroar was sent flying to her side, Ko'd.

"Pyroar is unable to battle!" the Announcer declared, even as Steelix was engulfed in flames.

"Wow! Pyroar may have been knocked out, but he left a legacy with a powerful burn effect!"

Returning her Pokemon Astrid looked at the now burned Steelix, and nodded.

She could work with this.

"Let's win this together, Absol!"

"Begin!"

"Thunder Fang!" Apparently unable to think of a work-around phrase Steelix lunged at Absol. Steelix's massive teeth sparked, easily larger than a number of Electric-types commonly kept as pets.

"Dark Pulse!" Astrid declared. Absol immediately launched a dark blast right into Steelix's maw.

It stopped the attack, but Steelix didn't seem harmed.

Apparently the statement 'I eat that puny attack for breakfast' was not so minor a taunt with this thing.

"Sweep!"

"Jump Absol!" Astrid ordered immediately. Absol jumped into the air, expecting a tail based attack.

However it was Steelix's head that was glowing, not the tail, and Steelix swung its head like the world's largest punk rock fan. Or perhaps metal fan.

"Protect!" Astrid barely shouted fast enough for the glowing protection to form around Absol, taking the impact and sending Absol skidding across the now marred grassy field like a pinball.

The barrier fell apart without damage, though Steelix was still unharmed. Steelix's burn did flare up, for what it was worth.

"Wow folks, Vermell and Steelix are so in sync it's incredible!" The announcer declared.

"Blow!"

"Blizzard!" Astrid countered. As Steelix bellowed forth a wicked wind of Dragonbreath, Absol countered with a brilliant sweep of cold wind.

The attacks collided, with Blizzard overpowering Dragonbreath and pushing forward into Steelix. Astrid tried to ignore how much the Blizzard seemed to have petered out.

"Night Slash!"

"Sol!" Absol liked the plan, and ran at the chilled steel serpent with the attack well charged and ready to slice.

"Shake!" Steelix declared, and Astrid would have bet a few hundred bucks that Earthquake was about to be used.

However Night Slash hit, and hit, and hit, slicing along the serpent like an endless streak of agony. And based on it all, she felt like Absol's ability Super Luck had kicked in.

Absol jumped back to her, grinning. Steelix glared back, but the metal body of the creature was going to have a few dings in it. Then the burn flared up again, just to add insult to injury.

Vermell sighed, and for a moment Astrid was sure one of his eyes seemed to be a different color than normal. Orange? Brown?

He looked at her, his eyes not playing tricks with their coloration now, and held up his pendent.

"I had hoped to not do this, but you've pushed me. Congratulations, you warrant my full power. Now Steelix, Guanyarem."

Steelix bellowed in agreement to whatever that meant, as light shot from Vermell's pendent. The light formed streams, which went right to the stone on Steelix's head. Steelix then began to glow, as if it it was evolving.

Astrid stared at the spectacle in confusion, but she quickly felt her confusion evolve into dread. This looked like...

She had only seen it on T.V, never in real life. But she was pretty sure what she was seeing.

Steelix's jaw grew larger, as did it's body spikes. Growths burst out of it's lower jaw, as part of it's body seemed to now sparkle like a diamond. Particles began to spin around it, like orbiting asteroids.

The glow faded, and a even larger Steelix was now glaring her down.

"Wow! A Mega-Evolution! We haven't had any this year! What a treat folks!" the announcer sounded a lot happier than she felt about the whole thing.

Vermell eyed her reaction, and frowned.

"I saw your data. You didn't fight Shalour, or Snowbelle. You must have never seen Mega-Evolution in real life, never battled it. If that is the case...this match is mine." That was the longest he had spoken yet, and his declaration was tinted with an foreign accent.

The meaning, and the 'I will be winning this, don't bother fighting it' tone, was not lost to the accent.

"Don't count on it!" Astrid declared, sounding a lot braver than she really was feeling.

"Blizzard!"

"Blow!"

The two ranged attacks clashed again, this time they met and cancelled each other out perfectly.

"Wow! What synchronization. Both Astrid and Absol look equally stunned and horrified!"

Shut up you!

"Strike!" Stone Edge was up next, charging at Absol in a line of sharp force. As the attack finished the burn flared up again, engulfing Steelix briefly.

"Psycho Cut!" Absol swung the psychic attack at the stones, shattering the first but not any of the following. They kept coming however, and Absol only avoided them at the last second.

"Sweep!" In her panic Astrid was sure Vermell's eye color changed again, even as Steelix's tail glowed once more.

Absol turned to her, an urgent look flashing in his eyes.

"Well we haven't done that in ages, but it might be our only hope. Absol, Quick Attack!"

Absol entered the opening stance for the move, stance somewhat rusty. With white glowing around him, Absol jumped above Steelix's tail and sped up the colossal beast.

Absol jumped to the lowest body spike, than the next, than the next, and the next. Soon the head was close enough to hit.

As Steelix heated up again for another burn damage Absol jumped off the main body. His hind legs hit a pair of orbiting diamonds, and Absol prepared to spring right back once the flare died down.

"Night Slash!" Astrid declared, feeling a rush. This would do it. It had to do it.

Absol sprang right back at the now unlit Steelix, the critical hit prone attack ready to strike for one powerful blow.

"Counter!" Vermell shouted as Steelix glowed for a Double Edge.

The two attacks collided, before the force of both blows forced both of the battling Pokemon back.

The two Pokemon, and their trainers, glared at one another for a moment, before Absol's front legs buckled.

A microsecond later Steelix's burn flared up.

Both Pokemon promptly collapsed to the creak of metal supports. Steelix glowed again as it returned to normal.

"No..." Astrid whispered as the ref made his call.

"Both Absol and Steelix are unable to battle! As Vermell has one more Pokémon remaining, the winner is Vermell!"

...

Astrid found herself in the Pokemon Center lobby later that day. Absol's Pokeball in her lap.

Tears glistening in her eyes, she only had one thing to say.

"I'm sorry Absol."

Absol had been healed, she had made enough money just at the Top 16 to be more than fine until the next time. But still, it felt like this was her fault.

She had chosen not to go to Shalour. She had thought it was a bad idea with her main Pokémon being Litleo and Absol. Espurr wasn't ready yet, and she wanted to train Espurr on the way to a better match up for her team: against Grass Pokemon.

If they had gone to Shalour, if she had just buckled down and trained Espurr for that match instead of on the way to fight Ramos, would she have won today?

Same with Snowbelle. She had spotted a gym of decent renown on the way to Anistar. Should she have skipped it and did Anistar as her seventh, not eighth, gym? Then she could have seen Mega-Evolution in action before today.

This wasn't a loss tied to power, or skill, or training. This was a loss from her own decisions. That hurt more than just being overpowered or outsmarted. This was a loss born of her own laziness, of her seeking the easier path when she shouldn't have.

"Phone call for Astrid. Please go to the nearest courtesy phone. Phone call for Astrid. Please go to the nearest courtesy phone." The P.A rang, snapping her out of her doldrums.

Taking a deep breath, and wondering who was calling (and knowing that the last kid who had ignored a call had the Nurse Joy drag them to the phone by the ear), she tried to calm down. Reign in her tears, remove the red from her cheeks, just look presentable.

Whoever was calling, she couldn't be a mess while doing so.

Taking a seat at the phone, she held up her trainer I.D. After a moment of scanning, and another of 'on the other line' music, the screen revealed her caller.

"Why, hello there. Astrid isn't it? I saw your battle on T.V just now, and thought you might want to see a friendly face. You did wonderful, despite what you might think just by numbers. You and Absol were wonderful together."

The wizened short granny in the straw hat on the other end smiled.

"But you know what, talking face to face is better when you can really be face to face. Pixels are no excuse for flesh. My name is Mabel, and if you are willing to come and see me, I can help you grow from this."

A Mawile hopped to the side of the old lady whose name was registering in Astrid's mind as a former Kalos League winner. The Mawile had a stone just like Steelix did.

"What about it dear? I'm on Pomace Mountain, and I won't be going anywhere anytime soon."

A few days later, even as Vermell was hoisting the Kalos League Trophy on his arms, Astrid was already half-way to Pomace Mountain.