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Private/Closed Pokémon Aqua and Sage

(This thread is exclusive to @Michiru Kaioh and myself. Feel free to to read along!)

The setting sun’s orange glow glossed through the recently cleaned windows of the Pokémon gym. Owen had just finished wiping clean the last window when he heard a telephone ring echo throughout the building. The young man perked up at the sudden sound and peered towards the reception area of the gym. A second ring sounded out through the gym before the phone was secured and picked up by the receptionist in the other room. Owen took a moment to try and listen in on the conversation as he made his way down the short latter. With cleaning supplies in hand, he turned to the grassy battlefield and saw his Stunky and Arcanine playing with one another. Owen’s Arcanine the average size of its species but still almost six times larger than Stunky. Even with a large margin in size, Arcanine still played delicately with the skunk Pokémon. Owen couldn’t help but smile at the two Pokémon but his attention was diverted toward the gym’s receptionist as she entered from the short hallway.

“Owen?” The receptionist called right as she was looking up from her clipboard and a soft smile would form over her lips when she realized he was already present, “Lidia from the league office is on the phone for you. She mentioned the yearly review meeting coming up.”

Owen’s heart skipped a beat at the news. He was really hoping that the lack of trainers stopping at his gym wasn’t going to be brought up during the discussion with Lidia but Owen knew it was an issue he had to address sooner than later. “Thank you, Corie. Oh, and when you see Gabe, can you tell him to bring in the other Pokémon? It’s almost time we closed for the night.” Owen spoke with a nod as he made his way to the reception area of his gym. As Corie went to look for Gabe, the gym’s judge, Owen gulped, paused a moment, then finally picked up the phone. “Hello?”

Two more Pokémon entered the gym, following close behind Gabe and Corie. Whirlipede and Ivysaur were greeted warmly by Owen’s other two Pokémon and the small group waited patiently for Owen to finish his business on the phone. Corie knelt down to give the curious Ivysaur some attention by rubbing its blueish green cheeks while Gabe’s brown eyes shifted back and forth nervously. Owen finally returned after a couple more minutes passed and stopped just before the group.

“Ah, Owen. Um… I-… I couldn’t find Gengar anywhere…” Gabe said with a large frown. Owen could only chuckle softly with a shake of his head, “Don’t worry about it. He’s here.”

“Wh-What? How can you tell?” Gabe asked as he peered around the battlefield erratically. A purple figure began to slowly rise from Gabe’s shadow, just out of sight of the nervous judge. A chill began to run up Gabe’s spine and he finally turned to see Gengar looming behind him with its face stretched horizontally between its hands and its tongue sticking out. Gabe yelped loudly and jumped as far away from the ghost Pokémon as possible. Gengar burst into boisterous laughter while fading in and out of sight. “Gengar!” Gabe yelled, “Stop scaring me like that!” Corie giggled and began to play with her crimson colored hair while watching the exchange between Gabe and Gengar. Owen joined in with the laughter but regained himself to tell the other two employees the news from his call.

“We’ll be traveling to the League headquarters in Hanabi City. I guess they’ll be conducting the yearly review a little differently this time around. Lidia also mentioned some kind of invitation that the league director will be extending out to all the gym leaders. She was kind of broad about it though.” Owen paused just as his Arcanine nuzzled at his hand. His hand rose to scratch behind Arcanine’s ears while he continued to speak, “The meeting will take place this Friday, so you two better be ready to leave early.” He teased Corie and Gabe while reaching to his belt for each of his Pokéballs. “It was another slow day but hopefully tomorrow will be better. Let’s call it a night and I’ll see you two in the morning.”
 
Sparkling emerald waves gently reached for the shore of a popular beach town in the Orenn Region. Kaiyo is a breathtaking metropolis located in the southeast where the weather is always a perfect temperature and the sunshine is never in short supply. With Spring coming early, the ocean was already warm enough for travelers to flock to the beaches to enjoy a peaceful getaway. Along with sugar white sand and soft waves, the city itself was another attraction bringing in a wide variety of shops and businesses for tourist to browse through. For the vast amount of Pokémon trainers traveling through the region, there is no place better to visit for the water enthusiast.

Located in what is referred to as the Mermaid Lagoon by the locals, a stunning water Pokémon Gym overlooks the ocean while cradling a soothing lagoon on its opposite side. The tide pool was primarily used as a nursery and easy going resting location for the gym leader’s smaller Pokémon and for trainers to come and relax without the pressure of the roaring ocean battle arena to intimidate them. The Gym Leader of the city was often revered as a prominent master of the water type Pokémon proving her abilities time and time again against naïve trainers believing they could beat her with basic electric and grass types.

Still fairly early in the morning, the young female Gym Leader was already sun bathing in a foldable beach chair with her aqua painted toenails at the shoreline. Despite having her own prestigious gym with several locations to sun tan, she made it a point to come down to the public beach every now and then in order to scope out various trainers battling one another in the soft sands. Appearing as if she was zoned out in her two piece sea green bathing suit with aviator shades and a floppy beige hat to block the sun, she was actually quite aware of her surroundings. Besides connecting with the waves that called to her, she was overhearing the battles around her and enjoying the laughter and fondness of the tourist enjoying her home.

A few yards away, the girl with the wide brim hat could hear what was beginning to sound like an altercation between a few young men and their Pokémon. A baby Seel to be exact. She could hear the poor creature crying on the hot sand. Being a newborn, it needed much more nurturing and attention then the bullies that owned him were giving. Not able to stand for it any longer, the young woman removed a pokeball from her gold bag that sat beside her chair before arising and heading in their direction. Captivating the boys with her slender frame and fair skin, she gently removed her hat releasing her long midnight black locks as she neared them. Lowering her shaded down slightly, she gave them a sarcastic smile.

“Hi there,” she spoke softly with a very alluring tone.

“Hhh-hii back bikini babe,” the apparent leader of the group of goons tried to cover up his nervousness around the pretty girl.

“Are you just going to let your newborn Seel bake on the hot sand or are you going to pick it up before I destroy you?” tilting her head to the side she flashed her smile again with an intimidating calmness to her.

“W-what?! He’s weak. This will toughen him up! Besides, he’s my Pokémon so what’s it to you?” the rude trainer replied.

“I see. And did your parents just leave you on the floor when you were a baby or did they carry you around and nurture you until you were ready to walk on your own?” the girl sighed shaking her head, “Tell you what, why don’t we battle? You’re a tough trainer right? If you win you can name your prize. If you should lose though, you’re handing that little guy over to me. What do you say?”

Raising the pokeball in her hand like a delicate lady, it was obvious these boys weren’t wise enough to catch onto the façade. They weren’t aware of who she was. Talking it over with his mates and snickering about what they’d ask for, her plan was going perfectly.

“Deal! But I won’t go easy on you just because you’re cute!” the boy smirked calling back the baby Seel and switching pokeballs, “Let’s show her how it’s done! Go Victreebel!”

The opposing girl nodded her head, she was used to trainers going with an obvious choice thinking they could overcome a water environment. Finally turning her mellow persona into the more dedicated champion demeanor that she wore for battles, she tosses out her own pokeball into the sand releasing her most prized jewel, Starmie.

“Leave it to a girl to choose a Pokémon that’s weak against her opponent. At least your Starmie looks shiny. Is that why girls like him?” the Victreebel trainer scoffed leading his friends to laugh.

Not responding at all, the female pushes her hand back through her silken hair, “Starmie, let’s cool these guys off. Hydro Pump!”

Listening to its trainer without hesitation, the shimmering Starmie let loose a powerful burst of water towards its enemy dowsing it and the boys. The young lady knew a grass-type Pokémon wouldn’t be damaged too much by water moves but she had a plan up her sleeve.

“You don’t know anything about type match ups do you?” the annoying male mocked again, “Victreebel, Razor Leaf!”

The crazed yellow plant Pokémon responded to its owner by unleashing what could be a very harmful attack on a water-type opponent. However, Starmie was in sync with its master and used Rapid Spin to get itself out of the way in time and over to the opposite side of the Victreebel who was far slower.

“Great job Starmie! Hit him with Thunder!” the girl spoke knowing the water she had Starmie spray out earlier would conduct the electric attack intensifying its effect.

A dark cloud formed above the battlefield before a wicked bolt of lightning struck the plant Pokémon who was unable to get out of the way. Frying it like a vegetable in a cooking pan, the opposing trainer was stunned that she had taught her water Pokémon an electric attack that powerful. Still, his Victreebel wasn’t ready to give up despite its leaves smoking from the attack.

“Victreebel, use Vine Whip and grab that star!” the boy yelled hoping to contain the opponents Pokémon.

Damaging Starmie slightly with a few lashes of the vines before it finally caught the sea creature, Starmie was wrapped up tight and being held high in the air.

“Now you’re done for! We’ll smash its jewel to the ground and it’s all over!” the boy laughed.

“I don’t think so! Starmie, finish it off with a Psychic Attack!” she smiled knowing Victreebel was highly effected by psychic attacks.

A dark purple aura emanated from the trapped Starmie and in an instant flash, Victreebel was damaged too much to continue the battle. The vines released Starmie and the plant Pokémon fell to its side dazed and defeated.

“Next time you shouldn’t be so cocky. If you weren’t too proud to use your Pokedex, perhaps you would have learned that Starmie is a psychic water Pokémon. Victreebel is weak against psychic. Now hand over that baby Seel and get your Pokémon to the center to be healed,” she spoke with authority.

“Impossible. How is your Starmie so….” It finally dawned on him, “Wait a minute! You’re the Gym Leader here aren’t you? You’re Michiru!”

Spectators and beach goers, stopped to look over at the young woman who had her hand on her hip and her Starmie at her side. They were delighted to have witnessed her outside of the Gym walls as she didn’t normally battle outside of the league.

“Come on guys, let’s get out of here! We’ll train some more and come back and beat your lousy gym!” the boy continued his insults without giving up the Seel.

Hearing his trainer be disrespected, Michiru’s most protective and fierce Pokémon released itself from her bag by the lounge chair. Towering high into the sky, a massive Gyarados roared from behind her, easily stretching close to the boys petrifying them. Screaming in terror, the boy released the new born Seel from its pokeball and the group scrambled for their lives taking off down the shoreline.

Michiru looked up at her Gyarados who reached down for her to pet the top of its head, “That was overkill don’t you think?”

Covering her tangerine glossed lips while she laughed at her Pokémon, she returned Starmie and Gyarados and walked over to the tiny Seel that was looking up at her with bright eyes. It could tell she would take care of it. Lifting it up in her arms, she smiled along with it and hugged it tightly to her body.

“Welcome to our team little guy. I will always protect you and love you. I promise!” she told it while cradling it in her arms, “You just want to be carried and squeezed is all huh? I’ve got a great friend for you back home. Let’s go meet him shall we?”

Collecting her belongings and continuing to hold her new Pokémon, she returned home to the lavish gym where she would eventually make her way to the lagoon. Awaiting her there was an equally tiny Horsea swimming about without a care in the world. This was the friend she was mentioning before. Letting Seel down into the calm water, the two hit it off in a snap and Michiru’s lagoon security guard nodded to her with a smile as if to say he would watch over them for her.

“M-miss Michiru,” a boy’s voice called out to the female from the doorway of the Gym. It was one of her timid assistants who naturally was nervous around her, “We received an invite to Hanabi City for the league review as well as some information about a Gym Leader tournament. Should I discard it like usual?”

Looking back over her shoulder towards the lagoon, her security guard had let Vaporeon, Gyarados, Starmie, and Seaking into the water to enjoy the day together. She couldn’t help but notice how well they got along. She also realized her tougher Pokémon weren’t being challenged like they wanted to be. She knew they loved being with her no matter what, but she could tell they yearned to learn more and to compete with better opponents then the beginner trainers that faced her gym. Easily defeating most challengers, she knew it was time for them to get back out on the adventure scene.

“No. This time we’ll attend and show the other Leaders how much we’ve grown. It’s been a while since I did any touring anyways,” she said to her assistant while continuing to watch her team swim as if plotting which 6 she would select.

And so, it was decided. The Pokémon of Mermaid Lagoon were going on an adventure that would prove to test their skills as well as their master’s. Turning her body to stare out over the rocks of the lagoon and out to the sea, she closes her eyes as a gust of wind hits her. She was thinking of her old friends and wondered just how they had gotten along since the last time the region was gathered.
 
Owen halted at the threshold of the boardroom and poked his head inside, expecting to see his fellow gym leaders. Instead, he was greeted by a solitary figure. A woman he recognized to be the Orenn League Chair’s assistant, Lidia. She pushed her glasses higher against the bridge of her nose when she spotted Owen and waved for him to come into the room with a gesture of her hand, “Ah, Owen. Good morning. Come in and have a seat.” Lidia spoke calmly with a welcoming smile, “The first to arrive and to your first League Review. The other gym leaders should be here shortly. How was your move to Matsu Town?” Lidia concluded her question by glancing down to her digital tablet but still kept her attention on Owen.

“Thank you.” Owen said politely as he entered the room and strode over to take a seat at the long wooden table. After settling into his cushioned swivel seat, Owen ran a hand through his short raven hair and continued, “The move was just fine. I’m still getting used to gym leader life, though. Not to say these changes aren’t welcome of course.” He punctuated with a chuckle before hearing something at the door. His gaze was torn from Lidia in time to see two other females enter the boardroom. One wore a beige jumpsuit with purple straps connecting to an odd backpack that seemed to be made of all sorts of electronics. Atop the jumpsuit woman’s head she wore a strange pair of goggles that seemed to be made of the same material as her backpack. The glowing purple lenses of the goggles illuminated her short lavender colored hair that was pulled back into a small ponytail. The girl who had entered second into the boardroom was noticeably shorter and her pitch black garb was an elegant contrast to her friend’s beige jumpsuit. Her long silver hair was worn in fancy curls that dropped just below her shoulders. The young woman wore nothing but black from her flats, her tights, her intricate Lolita dress, and even her nail polish.

“Well I wasn’t expecting you two so early.” Lidia piped up with a hint of a laugh, “Owen, this is Kyra and Luna. They are the gh-…“ Before Lidia could even complete her sentence, she was interrupted by a loud beeping sounded off from Kyra’s backpack. Kyra was quick to reach for the device and with a flick of her head, her goggles fell into place over her eyes, “Wait!” She announced as she inspected a small display screen then suddenly jerked to face Lidia and Owen. One step after another she slowly followed a series of blinking lights towards Owen until she was uncomfortably close. After a few more seconds of confusion from the others, Kyra finally spoke again with an approving tone, “A Gengar! I’m impressed that it could make my energy meter go off while still being in its Pokéball. Would you mind if I registered your Gengar’s reading into my index?” Kyra smiled to Owen and pushed her goggles back onto the crown of her head.

Owen did his best to rid himself of the puzzled expression that would be apparent on his face. He peered from Kyra to the device in her hand then gave her a nod, “Sure, I don’t see why not.” He stood from his seat to offer his hand as well as to introduce himself. “I’m Owen. The new gym leader of Matsu Town. It’s nice meeting you both.” Owen flashed a bright smile just as Kyra took his hand to give it a few enthusiastic shakes.

“So you’re the one who took over Vernin’s gym? It’s nice to meet ya, Owen. I’m Kyra, the leagues’ ghost trainer and the silent one here is Luna. She’s the dark gym leader.” Kyra jabbed a thumb out in Luna’s direction. Luna’s visage would remained solemn as she was introduced, only bowing her head slightly to acknowledge Owen. Lidia also stood from her seat to add onto Kyra’s introduction when she was interrupted again. She let out an annoyed sigh once she saw who it was that interrupted her.

A different males’ voice boomed through the entrance from behind Kyra and Luna, “So wait, we have another ghost gym leader sporting a Gengar or what?” A taller young man entered through the door and pushed through Kyra and Luna so that he could get a better look at Owen and Size him up. The newest arrival had an unnatural orange tan about his skin and sand blonde hair that he hid underneath a backwards hat. He took in a short audible breath in through his nose then plopped down into the seat adjacent to Owen, “Hmph. I don’t get why we have to have another ghost gym leader. Shouldn’t he be a poison leader like the old geezer was?”

Owen scowled slightly and was quick to rebuttal, “I’m not a specialist gym leader. Vernin wasn’t looking for a poison trainer to take over for him.”

“It’s good to have a generalist gym leader to test up-and-coming trainers since they will be going against a variety of team compositions in the Pokemon League Conference, Carter.” Lidia iterated. “Owen, this is Carter. He’s the fighting gym leader.”

Carter didn’t respond to Owen’s response nor Lidia’s introduction but continued with his own remarks, “The league should have just bulldozed the gym when the geezer left instead of giving it as a hand me down to some no name who probably didn’t even deserve it.”

Luna finally piped up as her and Kyra found their spots at the boardroom table, “Your dad bought you your gym.” She stated flatly to make a point.

Carter shrugged off Luna’s remark with a huff and folded his arms over his chest, “Whatever. When are the others getting here? I’m on a tight schedule. Kids make appointment after appointment to battle me at my gym after all.”

Owen swiveled his seat away from Carter to face Lidia, not wanting to even acknowledge the man anymore. “Who are the other gym leaders that we’re waiting on?” He asked curiously to Lidia.

Lidia’s grimace turned soft as she peered from Carter to Owen to answer his question, “Well let’s see. There’s Lexi the grass leader, Arturo the flying leader, Liam the normal leader, and Michiru the water leader.”

Owen listened to each name as well as to what type these leaders specialized in. It was the last gym leader that peaked his interest. Michiru, a water specialist. He couldn’t help but recognize that name but couldn’t recall from where. He couldn’t have met this person recently since he moved to the beautiful forest of Matsu Town. He nodded to Lidia but before he could ask her more about this person, Carter put in his own input.

“You know that water babe isn’t going to show up again, she never does. There were like, only two times she ever came to these dumb meetings. I only showed up this time because of whatever that Leader Tournament is about. You guys should really make these things mandatory, Lidia.”

Lidia’s brow twitched faintly as she held in her anger. She tapped at her tablet with a stylus then looked up to a digital clock hanging on the wall opposite of where she stood. She glanced to the four leaders already assembled and then to the four empty seats. “The meeting is supposed to start in ten minutes, I hope the others do show up.”
 
Just as Lidia had finished her sentence, the board room’s door slid open with the rest of the gym leaders on the other side. Almost as if in slow motion, the wind that swept up from the fast motion of the door blew past the four. Michiru held her hair from swaying into her vision, but her windblown locks and the way that the light caught her captivated Carter and even Lidia who immediately were drawn to her. It was rare indeed for this particular young maiden to attend these meetings so it was only natural for them to gravitate their attention to her. Dressed in a tight fitting white blouse with an aqua gem on the center of the chest, it complimented her short pleated aqua skirt and matching fingernail polish. The shoes she wore were high heels with ballerina ribbons that wrapper up her ankles making a slight clicking sound as she walked across the tiled floor.

“Hello Hello! Arturo has arrived!” the man with white pants and a navy polo spoke loudly upon entering with them. He wore driver’s gloves and an ascot accentuating his already bold personality, “I’ve brought some pretty girls with me and Liam too!”

“That’s why we are barely on time,” the somber tone of Liam sighed rolling his eyes at the other male’s upbeat personality, “We met up together and this guy had us taking an alternate path that proved to be much longer.”

Wearing khaki colored skinny jeans and a green rugby pullover, Liam was a much lower tempo kind of guy. Short brown hair that spiked in the front and a perfect set of teeth made me easy on the eyes as well. Following close behind him, a petite girl who looked so fragile and innocent smiled to the group radiating enough positivity to make up for Liam’s lack. She wore a pale pink, almost white flowing summer dress that synched at the waist and a wide brimmed gardening hat that had a ribbon tied around it.

“It’s alright though. We still made it on time and we got to spend a little more time together!” the flower girl named Alexia spoke as she took off her hat revealing her blonde hair, “Right Michiru?”

Michiru simply smiled as everyone took their seats. The chair she chose was directly across from Owen and equally adjacent to Carter as he. Once she sat in the comfy chair and brushed back her long locks, she looked over to Carter who couldn’t stop staring at her shimmering glossed lips and her exotic looking eye makeup.

“Hi there,” she said softly to the boy with the backwards cap catching him off guard and causing him to choke on his words to respond.

Smiling at how goofy he looked, she then briefly glanced at Owen giving him a look as if to see if he noticed how awkward and uncomfortable she made the macho man of the group. She would hope Owen would find it amusing too.

“Well, thank you everyone for coming. It’s been ages hasn’t it?” Lidia spoke up to hush the Gym Leaders who had been talking amongst themselves, “Michiru, long time no see your highness. Glad you could grace us with your presence.”

“Lidia,” Michiru nodded and added an equally pleasant jab back to the woman who had gained some weight, “You’re looking…well.”

Clearing her throat and adjusting her glasses, the assistant director tried not to notice the others smirking at how well Michiru responded to her shrewdness, “Ironically, the head director will not be able to make it this morning as he is off helping prepare the tournament I mentioned over the phone. I’ve been instructed to first scold you on our communication as a team. Our region is one of the least in touch regions as far as teamwork and unity goes. However, there will be a tournament for Gym Leaders from all over and our director believes it would be a good opportunity to make a better name for ourselves. Being successful in the tournament will prove our strength and create a better buzz pulling more trainers over to Orenn to test their skills. It’s not mandatory that you participate but will be highly frowned upon by the director should you choose to opt out.”

“Weren’t we brought here for our reviews as well though?” Liam asked.

“Precisely. I’ll pass out the folder with the comments and board of director’s review. You will be able to speak with the head master at the tournament regarding the issues or concerns you have with them,” Lidia nodded.

“So then basically we have to attend the tournament no matter what. Pretty clever,” Alexia smiled despite how annoyingly cunning the director had been.

“Exactly. I do apologize. You should know though that the tournament proceeds go towards funding Pokémon adoption agencies as well as helping the children’s hospitals for all regions. It’s also a good place to have sponsors watch your matches and potentially fund your individual gyms. That and you’ll be ranked as a top Gym Leader so it’s kind of important to do well. Does everyone understand? Oh! And one more thing you’re not gonna like….you need to travel to the tournament grounds on your own by the end of the week. We will not be providing travel expenses as our director is looking to save on costs. Don’t shoot the messenger please," Lidia spoke.
 
Carter let out an audible groan at the news of having to travel to the tournament grounds but Owen still had a smile on his face from how Michiru was able to halt Carter’s loud mouth. His sky blue eyes drifting back towards the woman who sat across from him as it was now her appearance that he recognized. However, he still couldn’t place where he has seen her before. He quickly look to Lexi then Liam and finally Arturo to see who they were as well as to not get caught looking at Michiru quizzically. Owen’s attention was broken once one of the review folders was placed in front of him. He watched the other folders being delivered to their respective gym leaders and listened to Lidia speak before even reaching for his own folder. His heart sank as if he already knew what was said within.

“What’s the matter, Owen?” Carter whispered sarcastically to him, “You should just sell the geezer’s gym if you can’t keep up with us.” The young man laughed under his breath before opening up his folder to read his own reviews. “Ha! Just like every year, my gym has the highest amount of trainer attendance.”

Without skipping a beat or looking up from her review, Luna spoke with her same dry dialect, “That’s only because your gym is located in a metropolis with the highest population in Orenn.”

Carter scoffed and again shrugged off another of Luna’s comments, “You’re just mad my fighting Pokémon would cream your dark Pokémon. Location, location, location.”

Owen was the last to open his folder. He took it up in his hands and peered around to the others. Carter continued to boast of his success towards Luna, who was ignoring him to continue flipping through her papers. Kyra may have been just as distraught as Owen was. Across the table he saw the other gym leader’s nose deep in their folders as well. Finally Owen cracked open his folder and it was just as he feared. Last in trainer attendance and last in badge conversion. He skimmed through more of the statistics and found a small glimmer of positive feedback. Printed on the bottom of the last page of his review were the words, “The gym is well maintained and the leader possesses great talent.” Owen thought this part of the review may have been generic so he peeked over to Carter’s sheets and found criticism of the fighting leader’s behavior to which Owen smirked.

“Going back to the Gym Leaders Tournament…” Lidia spoke and paused to make sure she had everyone’s attention again, “It won’t be just you eight that were invited to participate. Gym leaders from many different regions have been invited to participate as well.”

Owen closed his folder and placed it back onto the table. He thought about how placing well in the tournament might bring his gym more publicity which, in turn, would increase the amount of challenges that were brought. He wasn’t going to pass this opportunity up and wanted to see the gym succeed.

For another hour, Lidia went over the review with the gym leaders and did her best to answer any questions about it as well as the upcoming tournament until the meeting was dismissed. Carter was the first to get up and disguised pushing Owen’s folder off the table when he pushed up from his seat. “Oops.” Carter remarked before making his way to the door. Owen muttered an insult under his breath while he got up to pick up his papers. The other gym leaders stood from their seats and began to mingle with one another. Owen finished retrieving his papers and dusted off his plum colored shoe that matched his shirt then stood back to his feet. He reached into his slim black pants pocket for his Pokégear and checked the time then returned it to his pocket. With one more survey around the room he approached the elegant water trainer.

“Michiru, right? I’m Owen. I took over Vernin’s gym not too long ago. It’s nice to meet you.” He outstretched his hand for a shake much like he did with Kyra. “I don’t mean to sound entirely cliché, but have I met you before?” He laughed softly after his question, feeling his question to be entirely cheesy.
 
Michiru was never one to actually read her comments and reviews from the board of directors. She knew she was a strong gym leader and there was no chance of her losing her membership. More then not, they were sent to her via snail mail and her staff at the gym disposed of them for her. She knew what it would say, just as it always had. Still, this time, she slid her finger underneath the folder’s cover and peered inside.

She skimmed over the high remarks for gym upkeep and trainer access availability which she had her great crew to thank for keeping the large water facility beyond beautiful. She enjoyed battling so her hours of operations were very open for the public as well. Her badge turnover rate was the best score of the region for the second month in a row having a better winning ratio then even Carter who boasted the highest foot traffic. True, her gym was typically the third location new trainers of the Orenn region would visit, meaning they had not honed their skills quite as much, but still it did prove that she was defeating more trainers on their first attempt then losing which always surprised the group of gym leaders since her specialty of water came with such harsh weaknesses to electric and grass users.

Finally she let out a sigh and her aquamarine eyes glazed over if only for a moment. The comments left by patrons and officials who had seen her in battle all shared the same opinion of her. ‘Michiru is a great gym leader. However, her intensity levels leave one feeling as if she is a rather cold person.’ Another comment read ‘It is obvious Michiru is a great trainer, it shows in the way her Pokemon move in sync with her as if there is nothing they wouldn’t do for her. She does often seem standoffish with her quiet demeanor outside the battle arena though. She keeps to herself and appears to be lost in her own world.’ The last comment she was able to stomach began with ‘Beautiful trainer, but wish she would smile more.’

“Smile more?” Michiru read softly to herself shaking her head, “What does that have to do with being a gym leader?”

The comments were true to a certain extent. However, her actions were always misunderstood. People always whispered about her being cold or intimidating based off her looks and her elegant strength in combat. Her gym leader peers even shied away from forming bonds with her as well besides Arturo and Alexia who had met up with her earlier in the day for a coffee before the meeting. Arturo was a flirt, and always seized an opportunity to be around Michiru while Alexia formed a sisterly bond with her admiring Michiru for how strong of a woman she was.

Michiru hadn’t expected to converse with anyone else, but the trainer she knew least about now approached with a friendly smile and a hand extended to her. She of course flashed a shy smile towards him before meeting his gaze with hers after closing her folder and removing the disgruntled look it brought upon her.

“Owen. Yes, I’ve heard about you. Believe it or not, Mister Vernin and I used to get along quite well at these sort of functions. I suppose you’ll have to replace him in that role too”, Michiru laughed covering the sound with the back of her left hand, “It’s good to meet you. You definitely do seem familiar somehow.”

Right when her right hand reached to shake his, a golden bangle bracelet that rested on her forearm slid down to her wrist sparking a memory for her when she glanced down at it. It was years ago back when both the midnight haired girl and the blue eyed boy were both beginner trainers. They were out on their own collecting badges and raising their first pokemon when they initially met. It was late in the afternoon and the glow of the sun radiated across the river’s edge where Michiru was fishing for new pokemon. She was knee deep in the water just off the riverbank and had on a purple pastel one piece swimsuit accompanied by one of her signature sun hats when a Goldeen with above average stats tugged at her line. It jolted her forward and she struggled heavily to real it in close enough to snag it. During the splashing and commotion of making the catch, her golden bangle flew off her wrist and began drifting down shore. Not wanting to give up on the powerful Goldeen, Michiru was not able to go after the bracelet as quickly as she’d hoped.

Eventually, Goldeen was captured and the young maiden raced to the shore to slip on her shoes and grab her bag. There was no time to cover up her swimsuit leaving her looking like a true surfer girl when she finally encountered someone who had grabbed her bracelet for her. There, dripping wet with tresses of her long hair forming curls over her shoulder, she met Owen for the first time. She was sweating, and out of breath leaning forward as she stood on a hilltop above him while he was in the water. She hated anyone seeing her look so ruffled, but alas, she did indeed smile. It was a small gesture of kindness from a stranger, but she always remembered it. There was something about his eyes that were unshakeable. Even today she felt the same strange feeling seeing them look at her.

“Ah, yes! I remember now. You were the little boy who rescued my bracelet in the river one Summer. You happened to be fishing downstream from me. How lucky,” she smiled releasing his hand, “Perhaps it was fate, if you believe in that sort of thing.”

After a brief pause, the young woman grabbed her backpack which was of course shimmering in tones of gold, sea green, and pink while shaped liked a large sea shell. Once she had both straps on her her arms, she reached for her file and crinkled up the manila folder sparking the rest of the gym leaders in the room to pause their conversations and raise a brow while she casually tossed it in the bin by the door leaving behind any negativity it briefly caused her to feel. She then looked back over her shoulders, particularly in Owen’s direction and spoke out loud.

“Shall we all get going then? I’m sure it’s been ages since any of us set out on an adventure. I’ll be entering the tournament at the end of the week everyone. I look forward to battling you all should we come across each other,” her cool and collected tone rang out, “Owen, did you already have a travel companion? I’d very much like to at least accompany you back towards your gym to see what you’ve done to the place. After that you can ditch me. I believe the northern route to Kanto takes us straight up towards Matsu town correct?”

After Michiru had asked Owen, Carter who had his arms folder outside eavesdropping on everyone furrowed his brow. He never actually departed but wanted to seem cool leaving first. His motive however was to try and speak with Michiru privately after the meeting, but that plan seemed to be thwarted in a way he wouldn’t have expected. It could also be noted that Liam looked particularly disappointed by the situation having stopped talking to Luna in order to focus his longing stare at Michiru. Liam and Michiru had flirted with the idea of dating once upon a time, but Liam had never been one to follow through on hardly anything but pokemon battling.
 
Owen was happy that Michiru seemed so approachable, or at least, welcoming enough to where she would be willing to speak to him. He was a little confused on how Michiru had heard of him but as she continued to explain, her and Vernin used to get along well at these meetings. Owen felt surprised and a little prideful that Vernin would speak about him to the other gym leaders but knew the old man held him in a high regard. A slight, almost unnoticeable hue of pink surfaced over Owen’s cheeks at the mention of filling a different kind of roll Vernin left behind.

“Yeah, I think I could do that. It’s nice to meet you too, Michiru” Owen said with a soft smile still present on his lips.

He continued to shake Michiru’s hand and noticed the golden bangle bracelet cascade down her wrist. That smile of Owen’s grew a little wider as he recalled the memory of where he first met the ruffled girl.

With his pants rolled up to his knees, a young Owen had found himself calf deep in a calm river. He couldn’t afford a fishing pole at that time and wanted to try the next best thing for catching a fish type Pokémon, and that was with his hands. The boy was just about ready to give up when he saw something glistening on river’s bed. A quick scoop of his hand into the water and he had found a bracelet looped into his fingers. Not long after the retrieval of the bracelet did the young Michiru appear on the upper embankment out of breath, sweaty, and perhaps even a little worried. Owen had returned her bracelet but the vision of Michiru had always stuck in his mind.

Owen had released his hand from the greeting as she did and tucked it away in jacket pocket. The young man chuckled that she was able to remember him and glad she didn’t call him out for fishing without a pole.

“You clean up pretty well” Owen teased playfully. “I’m glad to see you haven’t lost the bracelet since then too.”

Michiru’s actions with her folder caused both of Owen’s brows to rise high in surprise as she tossed the report in the bin beside the door. This of course caused Lidia to deadpan and sigh under her breath. Owen on the other hand, found Michiru’s display for her data quite amusing. Still being new to the whole gym leader thing was unnerving and stressful for Owen, and seeing her discard the folder was a bit of a relief.

Owen’s gaze shifted from the bin back to Michiru as she said her goodbyes and he raised a hand to wave a goodbye but was taken aback at her comment to accompany him back to Matsu Town. He pursed his lips and shook his head before replying.

“No, I don’t have a travel companion actually. Um, yeah. It will be a long trip from Matsu town but I’m sure we could make it there within a week. Then I’ll ditch you.”

He teased once more with a sly grin as he followed along with Michiru outside of the board room but not before saying his goodbyes to the others left inside. Owen had noticed Carter leaning against a wall just outside the door, but paid him no mind. The thoughts of a new adventure were already filling his brain but this time around he had company.
 
“Great,” Michiru smiled enjoying Owen’s playful humor, “Are you coming then?”

As she made her way outside of the building, she shielded her sea green eyes from the harsh sunlight. The boardroom they were in lacked any sun at all and she was glad to be back outside in the fresh air. She hadn’t noticed that Carter had followed behind her until she was just about to exit the gate that surrounded the courtyard of the Orenn Region Headquarters Building.

“Hey Kaiyo!” Carter’s booming voice called her by her cities name, “I haven’t seen you this enthused in quite a while! I had heard you’ve grown soft as Gym Leader teaching the newbs that visit your region rather then crushing them and sending them on their way. Care to prove that wrong?”

Michiru stopped in her tracks and looked back over her shoulder with an annoyed expression, “You should really work on your people skills Carter. If you’re still trying to win me over with your displays of brute strength I’m afraid I’m still not interested.”

The sandy blond muscle head of a man somehow found her teasing and general distain for him to be attractive. His smile widened as he lifted his baseball cap to brush back his hair.

“I find it important to nurture the next generation of pokemon trainers. That doesn’t mean I go easy on them,” she approached the taller male with a hand on her hip, “If they battle me unsuccessfully a few times and show the willingness to learn, I always pass on any knowledge I can to them. That’s what being a leader is all about.”

“So then you teach them how to beat you and give them your badge? Sounds like you go easy on them to me,” he scoffed playfully nudging her shoulder with his fist which caused Michiru to raise a brow, “Let’s have a quick match right here. I’ll even let your new boyfriend fight with you. I’ll select a random pokeball that you’re carrying right now from your team and his and you guys can pick two of mine. It’ll be fun. Without knowing who will be using who, we can see which of us truly knows how to win under pressure!”

The mermaid lagoon gym leader looked briefly over at Owen trying to see what he was thinking. She wished she had known him longer than a minute so she could know what his personality would do or how he fought or even if he would fight.

“Why do men always get jealous when a woman makes a new male friend?” she sighed, “Fine. But Owen doesn’t have to battle if he doesn’t want to. I choose the last one on your hip to the left and the one right beside it.”

Lucario and Medicham, those were the two of Carter’s pokemon that she wouldn’t know she’d be facing quite yet as she took her backpack off. Unzipping it, Carter was able to peer inside and select one of hers for now.

“Fine. Surely he wont leave you hanging though. Right man?” he had asked Owen, “I pick this one!”

Michiru’s heart rate increased once he selected one of hers. It was a pokemon she was carrying with her as a new member of her team she’d been training. She hadn’t decided which pokemon she would enter into the tournament yet, so the six she carried were certainly not all of her best. The one he had chosen was particularly weak to fighting types, Carter’s specialty. The young woman brushed back her long wavy locks now gazing over at Owen as if to say ‘I’ve got this somehow’ and ‘Help me shut him down’ all at the same confusing time. She wondered what he would do and just what kind of pokemon he had with him.
 
It was a quick elevator trip back down to the lobby of the Orenn Pokémon League headquarters building and waiting for Owen was his receptionist, Corie, and his gym's battle judge, Gabe. Owen had waved the two over to introduce them to Michiru but to his surprise, Codie and Gabe were already familiar with the water gym leader as they had accompanied Vernin to these meetings as well. Owen was thankful to be outside again and take in a bit of fresh air which was perhaps a little redundant thanks to the large city’s pollution.

The four had made their way away from the building when they had heard Carter’s booming voice from behind him. Owen pretended like he didn’t hear Carter and continued to walk but stopped when he saw that Michiru had stopped. He turned around not too far behind where Michiru stood so that he could listen and observe their conversation. From his first interaction with Carter in the boardroom, Owen already didn’t much care for the fighting type gym leader and the exchange with Michiru wasn’t really helping either. Owen silently agreed with Michiru’s statement of nurturing the next generation of Pokémon trainers rather than just beating the tar out of them in battle without teaching them any sort of lesson.

With a roll of his eyes, Owen was just about done with Carter and was going to ask Michiru if she just wanted to leave. That was until Carter dragged him into the conversation. He had been relatively quiet to that point and when Michiru turned to try and gauge his reaction, she would find it obvious that he was annoyed with Carter just by his body language. Owen stood with his arms folded over his chest with a slight grimace pulling at his features.

“Yeah, a double battle suits me.” Owen said curtly as he pulled his black jacket up far enough to reveal the Pokéballs attached to his belt. “Pick your poison.”

Gabe and Corie both peered to one another and let out a groan at Owen’s cheesy pun while Carter pointed to a specific Pokéball.

“The premier ball. You got something special in that one?” Carter asked as he reached for the two Pokéballs that Michiru had chose.

“You’re about to find out” Owen replied as he released his jacket and reached for the premier ball.

Owen had caught Michiru’s glance and tried to give her a reassuring nod with a small smirk before turning his attention back to Carter and releasing the Pokémon from its temporary home. After the light faded, what materialized was Owen’s Whirlipede! The large bug and poison type seemed still half asleep as though it was woken up from a nap.

Carter let out an audible huff, “Thought you said you were a generalist. Or you going to be a poison leader like the old geezer after all?”

In truth, Owen could only hope to be as a good poison type gym leader as Vernin and he wanted to honor his mentor by continuing the poison gym legacy. He casually shrugged his shoulders at Carter and peered back to Michiru with a confident smile.

“Whirlipede and I have a couple tricks up our sleeves but we’ll take your lead on this one.” Owen stated to Michiru with a finger gun over to his Whirlipede.

The curlipede Pokémon had happily rolled its way over to Owen and gave Michiru an approving clicking sound as to agree with its trainer. It would be apparent that Owen took great care of Whirlipede with how it’s segmented shell and double pairs of horns seemed to glisten in the sunlight.

“We’re ready when you are, Michiru” Owen gave her another nod before turning his attention back to Carter just in time to see him releasing the two Pokémon from his own Pokéballs. Out came Lucario and Medicham. Owen pursed his lips and whispered a profanity to himself. Steel and psychic. Great.
 
“A bug and poison type pokemon huh?” Michiru spoke in her own thoughts while her face turned more serious, “If I remember correctly, Owen’s pokemon is particularly weak against psychic attacks. Medicham could prove to be an issue for him. We’ll have to be in perfect sync on this one.”

Her worried expression quickly faded away once Owen had reassured her they were no ordinary team. Even if he hadn’t spoken at all, Michiru could tell this Whirlipede was a formidable one judging by the great condition it was in. No doubt, Owen was a great gym leader taking the utmost care of his team. She was already beginning to admire him. The way he stood by her side so confidently gave her even more energy to want to succeed.

“I’m counting on you,” Michiru said to the dive ball she held in her hand. She was nervous for the pokemon inside but she had faith in the determination it had shown her over the past two months since she had begun training it, “Let’s go Corsola!”

Throwing her pokeball out towards the courtyard battlefield, a bright pink and white coral pokemon jumped onto the scene with glee. Though he was excited to be in the battle, the other gym leaders who were now on the sidelines watching all grimaced at the type matchups working against Owen and Michiru. Nearly all of the other Orenn Region Leaders were rooting against Carter, yet it was he who had the advantage, or so he thought.

“Oh man! You’re carrying that little dude with you? You must be joking! You must keep that one around as a cute little pet, not a battler,” Carter made fun of Corsola.

“Hey Carter, didn’t Michiru beat you before using a Horsea?” Liam was quick to try and play Michiru’s hero from the sideline causing everyone to laugh including getting the water leader to smile.

“That was one time!” Carter yelled back, “Whatever! I’ll make this quick so he doesn’t get to injured okay? Now go Lucario! That pink coral pokemon is slow, quickly use Close Combat! Medicham, Zen Headbutt on Whirlipede!”

In Carter’s mind, he thought his statement was chivalrous and flirty. He truly believed Michiru would admire and swoon over him for saying he’d made it quick. She of course, shook her head at how delusional he was and nodded along to Owen and Whirlipede’s clicks of approval that they could take him down.

The battle was just beginning, but Carter seemed eager to try and make this round end in a flash. She would have to think quick in order to help ensure Corsola wouldn’t be a one hit knockout elimination as well as to protect her comrade.

“Corsola, use Reflect! Hurry!” Michiru commanded, sparking Corsola to grow serious as it used its ability to help itself and Whirlipede.

The young maiden had anticipated her opponent going for more physical moves being a fighting type specialist. Though it wouldn’t be an easy battle, Reflect would at least cut the enemies highly effective attacks down to a tolerable hit.

“Owen, can you get Whirlipede to split up from Corsola and come around the enemy from behind? If that big bug of yours can outrun Medicham and help me take on Lucario we may be in business,” the raven hair girl more so commanded then asked though she didn’t mean anything of it, just heated in a tight bind, “Corsola, hold your ground and get ready to counter with an Earth Power attack!”

Lucario’s speed had him upon Corsola in no time at all. The pink pokemon used Reflect just barely beating out Lucario’s initial attacks on him. Despite this, the attack certainly caused some damage on the coral pokemon as he was barraged by Lucario’s fists. Back and further back, Corsola was pushed by the enemy until it heard it’s trainer give him the signal.

“Now Corsola!” she queued him hoping that Whirlipede was able to get out of range of Corsola’s massive Earth Power attack.

The frail coral pokemon may be tiny, but it certainly packed a punch with one of two of his offensive moves. The Earth Power attack that it summoned wildly ripped through the courtyard and with Lucario so close, he couldn’t escape taking a large amount of super effective damage as the rocks of the ground beneath him flung him up into the air after striking him. If Medicham was still in the vicinity at the time, assuming Whirlipede could dodge him, he too would be forced back so not to get caught up in the attack.

Michiru looked up at Lucario’s damaged body flying through the air and then looked over to Owen with a hopeful expression hoping he could see that this was an opportunity for his pokemon to get rid of Lucario for them. When she looked back onto the battlefield, her aquamarine eyes could tell Corsola was struggling and out of breath. He was a trooper for taking an attack he was particularly weak against and then using such a powerful attack of his own.

“Corsola, Recover!” she cried out to the panting creature.

Having a small window of opportunity to try and regain his power and health, Michiru was counting on Owen to buy her just a little bit more time for Corsola in order for it to continue batteling. Meanwhile, Carter was absolutely baffled that Corsola knew such a technique since it was a relatively new addition to her roster.
 
Owen was happy to see that Michiru’s expression had turned from the worried look to something more confident. They would both need that confidence if they wanted to win this battle. As well as a little luck. A genuine smile began to tug at the corners of his lips as he watched Michiru toss her dive ball out in front of her. In a flash that Owen had grown so accustomed to after years of battling, a Corsola stood as determined as Michiru.

“Oof…” Owen thought to himself, “Carter will have Lucario focus on Corsola and Medicham focus on Whirlipede more than likely”. His eyes scanned between the Pokémon on the makeshift battlefield, trying to formulate a strategy that would have him and Michiru come up on top. Owen’s azure gaze pierced back towards Carter while the fighting gym leader spoke. It was almost painful listening to Carter speak, or at least Owen thought so.

Before Owen could make his own rebuttal, the battle had already started. In a flash of impressive speed, Lucario was already charging towards Corsola and Medicham was making its way towards Whirlipede. A blue light began to emanate from the Medicham’s skull as it prepared its zen heabutt. That blue light began to condense around the Medicham’s forehead just as it launched itself at Whirlipede.

“Defense curl, Whirlipede!” Owen shouted out to his Pokémon just as the reflective barrier of Corsola surrounded the curlipede pokemon.

Without hesitation, Whirlipede’s body tucked in tighter to itself. The bug Pokémon had quite the defense and with Corsola’s help, the impact from Medicham’s zen heabutt wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Medicham backed off from Whirlipede in a very peculiar way that might have been missed by all the other trainers, but not by Owen. That studder in the Medicham’s movement was all the confirmation that Owen needed and he needed to act fast if he wanted to take advantage of his luck.

Owen had heard Michiru’s plan and gave her a nod despite not taking his eyes off the battle, “Got it!” He announced to her just before hearing her queue her next attack. Earth power. Owen grit his teeth knowing that Whirlipede was weak to ground type attacks and even with reflect and the earlier defense curl, the attack would deal a super effective amount of damage to his poison pokemon.

“Use roll out to get behind them, Whirlipede!” Owen called out to his Pokémon and in an instant, Whirlipede began to spin in place before zooming off and away from Medicham.

“Medicham! What’re you doing?! Get in there with ice punch!” Carter yelled to his own Pokémon. Medicham seemed to flinch in place as though it were inflicted with a hidden pain. It rubbed at where it had made contact with Whirlipede before regaining its composure. Medicham took a fighting stance and a blistering cold began to form over its fist until ice began to materialize onto its skin. Again, Medicham launched out towards Whirlipede. That extra boost from roll out was a much needed as Medicham couldn’t keep up with Whirlipede and it’s fist collided into the ground, leaving a slick layer of ice behind. The Medicham began to pant, groaning out in pain as he turned to where Lucario and Corsola faught.

Owen had seen the close combat attack rip into Corsola but the Pokémon was able to tough it out thanks to the reflect it had put up at the start of the battle. He was a patient trainer. One had to be when taking up the mastering of the poison type. With Corsola’s earth power attack coming soon, Owen knew there could be a chance for an opening. Whirlipede had made its way behind Lucario with Medicham close behind it, still swinging away with its barrage of ice punches.

“Keep going, Whirlipede! Don’t stop!” Owen commanded as he waited patiently for the earth power to be unleashed.

The ground rumbled violently and cracked beneath everyone’s feet. Gold glowing fissures surfaces through the ground and mass of earth shot up into Lucario, sending it airborne. Medicham wasn’t very fortunate either as more golden cracks in the ground formed under it and sent fragments of rock into the Pokémon.

“Now, Whirlipede! Protect!” Owen’s call to his Pokémon didn’t go unheard and a turquoise energy began to circle around it. With the momentum of roll out, the Pokémon was propelled forward and up through the air with the help of upturned earth left behind by earth power, making for an impromptu ramp. Whirlipede collided into Lucario’s back sending the steel and fighting type upward even more before colliding into the ground.
 
"Great movements Whirlipede!" Michiru cheered her teammate on, "Sorry about the Earth Power, great dodge though!"

Michiru was is awe of Owen's command over his pokemon. Whirlipede and himself were in perfect sync and it was paying off for them greatly. Across the battlefield, Carter was livid with his Lucario. He never expected the tiny pink pokemon to put up such a fight much less have a giant bug type pokemon slam into him in mid air. With the Lucario nearly out of commission as it struggled to get up from the harsh landing, Michiru turned her focus towards Medicham. His super effective abilities towards Whirlipede were still a real threat despite being outrun by the bug and the water trainer aimed to do as much damage to him as possible.

Since Medicham was acting strange and still making its efforts to focus only on Whirlipede, Corsola had plenty of time to recover enough strength to continue the fight. Though Michiru believed in Corsola with all her heart, she knew he wouldn't be able to take any more fighting type attacks head on.

"Go Corsola! Let's heat things up!" the girl in the aquamarine skirt instructed, "Medicham is distracted! Use Scald!"

Just as the words left her perfectly painted lips, she raised her fingertips to her mouth seemingly biting her nails. She and Corsola had struggled to get that move perfected back at their gym. She didn't have very many pokemon on her roster that could pull the move off, but Corsola was one of the most determined little fighters she had in her collection. They painstakingly worked day in and day out trying to master it enough to be able to use it in battle. This would be the first attempt to do so, making her nervous.

On the sidelines, Luna and Alexia looked over to each other nodding in approval of the ambitious water trainer. The move-set that Corsola currently had sure was a strange combination. It certainly wouldn't remain this way, as Michiru had other plans for Corsola down the road. But at the moment, it was working out just fine.

Corsola didnt let anyone down. With a jolt from the ground, the coral pokemon hopped its way through the wreckage its earlier attack caused until it reached a higher vantage point of the dislodged terrain. From there it squinted its eyes focusing with all its might before blasting a stream of terrifyingly hot water towards Medicham. Carter didn't notice Michiru's pokemon coming in for a strike until it was to late. He shouted out to Medicham to dodge but Medicham was unable to get away from the blast. The sounds of singeing water and the pain it caused echoed in the courtyard leaving a nasty burn on the pokemon that would gravely effect him for the remainder of the battle.

By now, Lucario was on its feet but most certainly on its last limbs. His body swayed out breath as he looked as though the breeze could topple him over and out of the match. It looked on towards Corsola with vengeance in its eyes.

"Yo Lucario? Pissed off yet?! You look ridiculous getting beat up by a pink pokemon and a worm!" Carter annoyed his own pokemon, "Use Frustration! That coral is bound to be at the end of its rope."

"Technically he's a curlipede! Just sayin!" Kyra comically yelled out from the side of the battlefield to correct Carter's worm comment.

Lucario would most certainly carry a strong amount of damage in that attack seeing as it was amplified by its aggravation caused by its trainer. But he was much slower moving now after taking a beating and this time Corsola could see him coming much easier then before.

"Corsola is out of breath. Owen, you may end up having to finish them both off. I'm sorry. We'll give you one more boost of defense," Michiru said stoically, "Corsola, use Reflect one more time!"

Both Michiru and Corsola braced themselves thinking that even though Corsola had recovered some strength and were behind the reflect power, an enraged attack by Lucario could end their part in the match-up. They at least would leave Whirlipede with the same protection once more.
 
Whirlipede had absolutely heard Michiru’s cheers and apologetic tone. There were no hard feelings from the bug and poison type Pokémon and it was grateful for the cheers but those could be relished in later. It had landed with a soft thud from its airborne attack against Lucario and awaited her trainer’s next command. A wave of heat overcame the battlefield as Corsola’s scald launched from the coral Pokémon, leaving a trace of steam where the water had splashed to the ground. An audible sizzling from the steam overcame some of the murmurs and cheers from the building audience of the battle.

Perhaps unbeknownst to the others present, Medicham had been poisoned after making contact with it’s zen headbutt against Whirlipede. Whirlipede’s spikes aligning the outside of it’s body gave the Pokémon an ability called poison point which had a chance to poison an enemy who made contact with it. As the battle progressed, Medicham was taking damage by the poison injected by Whirlipede. Fortunately, with it’s great focus, Medicham was able to shake off the slow acting poison. Unfortunately, it was also targeted by Corsola’s scald which now left behind a nasty burn on the medicham’s skin. The burn unable to be shaken off.

Owen peered over as Michiru spoke to him and as Lucario closed in on the drained Corsola. He frowned to himself seeing that Corsola was out of breath and vulnerable to attack.

“Get back in there Medicham! Zen Headbutt that worm!” Called out Carter.

Owen grit his teeth once more as his sights turned back towards the battlefield to see Lucario lumbering even closer to the coral Pokémon.

“Rollout to cut them both off, Whirlipede!” Owen commanded and in an instant, Whirlipede rotated in place before zipping around to the front side of the other attacking Pokémon.

Zooming past Corsola, Whirlipede was met with a thrashing of fists from Lucario and the zen heabutt of Medicham. Whirlipede’s defenses were still holding thanks to the defense curl earlier as well as the reflect that Corsola had put in effect. The curlipede Pokémon careened into the others with all three making contact at the same time. An eruption of energy and power blared outward from the point of contact leaving a cloud of smoke.

Rolling backwards out of the cloud towards Owen and Michiru was Whirlipede. The curlipede Pokémon bounced to an eventual stop and rolled on its side until coming to a stop, much like a top running out of energy from it’s spin. With a frown and a concerned expression, Owen knew that Whirlepede had taken the full power of both attacks. The Pokémon was knocked out cold.

“Nn-... Dammit.” Owen whispered under his breath.

As the smoke cleared from where Medicham, Lucario and Whirlipede made contact, two forms could be seen and one of them was laying on the ground. More dust began to settle, revealing that Lucario was the Pokémon laying face down in the dirt. The force from Whirlipede’s rollout was strong enough to knock out the aura Pokémon. Both Owen and Carter recalled their Pokémon into their Pokéballs, leaving only Corsola and the banged up and burned Medicham on the battlefield.

“You did great, Whirlipede. We’ll get em next time.” Owen had still clutched onto Whirlipede’s premier ball in his hand, even as the battle continued between Michiru and Carter.

Medicham had recoiled backward and struggled to keep it’s footing but Carter insisted that the battle continue.

“Medicham! Finish off that Corsola with high jump kick!” Carter had wanted to finish off the battle but his Medicham was still recovering from the collision with Whirlipede and vulnerable for a follow up attack.
 
The battle was coming to an explosive finish as Whirlipede defended Corsola, throwing Carter's pokemon for a loop. The dust picked up into the wind from the energy released by the collision of pokemon. Michiru looked away shielding her eyes while her waves of silken black locks rustled behind her in the breeze. Once the aftermath began to be clear, Whirlipede appeared next to Owen having been unfortunately knocked out of the competition. Michiru was quick to run over to the creature to check on it. It was true that bug pokemon were her least favorite, but still, she would always show a great sense of nurturing for all pokemon.

"Oh Whirlipede! You did a great job! Just sit tight and we'll get you healed in no time," she gently patted it's outer shell while she knelt beside it.

Once Owen had commended his pokemon and returned it to its ball, she arose and peered across the mess of a courtyard their battle created. The thought of someone having to fix it back up made her feel badly for accepting a match in such a place. Thankfully Carter's family money would no doubt be footing the bill as if it were nothing. Regaining her focus, her aquamarine hues noticed that Lucario had also been defeated and her tiny Corsola was somehow still standing against the woozy Medicham. Corsola was huffing and puffing, ready to give out at any moment. It was now or never if it was going to make a move. There was no way Carter would give Michiru's pokemon enough time to use another Recover. Carter finally issued the command for Medicham to finish off Corsola making Michiru's fists ball up in frustration.

"Corsola, you have to hit him with one last Scald! This is it!" the young lady shouted.

Corsola nodded along and moved it's weary legs to get in range of Medicham who was charging as well. The coral pokemon tensed its body trying to muster up the strength to release another Scald attack. Just at the brink of releasing the hot water, Medicham's foot connected square in the face of Corsola. The skin of his foot was heavily seared from the burst of hot water Corsola released on impact and the stream still shot out from the water and rock type pokemon as is flew backwards from being kicked. The hot water was damaging enough to drive Medicham back as well in agony, particularly from the focal point of his kick onto what was basically a kettle of boiling water.

The cry from Corsola plucked at the heart strings of the water gym leader. She clasped her hands over her mouth in concern as she watched it fall to the ground unable to continue battling. Medicham too had fallen hard onto it's back but was not yet rendered unconscious. It sat up for a brief moment wanting to get back up for Carter's sake but alas, it could not, and moments after Corsola's knockout it too laid back down unable to fight.

"Aha! Medicham lasted longer than Corsola! The Fighting Gym wins again!" Carter boasted.

The baseball cap wearing male bragged smiling over at all of the Orenn Gym Leaders who in returned shook their heads. They really wished he hadn't won. Though it was a brief moment after Corsola's defeat, he was counting it as a win instead of a double KO. Michiru wasn't worrying about that any longer as she had of course run over to Corsola, sliding on her knees in the rubble even while wearing a skirt to pick up Corsola in her arms in a hurry.

"You were absolutely splendid. I've never seen you give off two great Scald attacks before in battle! Thank you Corsola, you really showed them the spirit of our water tribe," she reassured the injured pokemon with her smile though she was hurting inside for seeing it so roughed up.

In return, it gave her a weak smile back feeling the warmth of its trainer around it. Michiru quickly dug through her bag to apply a super potion spray to heal Corsola to a tolerable condition for the time being before returning her friend to its Dive Ball. Standing up, she dusted her legs off and made her way through the wreckage of the battlefield in order to set her bag down between Lucario and Medicham. Kneeling again this time beside Carter's team, she began to heal his pokemon the best she could as well with super potions.

"Congratulations. You win this time I suppose," she sighed before speaking to Medicham calmly, "Don't be afraid, let me see your foot."

Lucario's head now rested in Michiru's lap after she had applied the potion. It was still regaining its senses while she examined Medicham's badly burned foot. Pouring a cold water bottle out onto a rag that was decorated in tritons, she held the soothing cool rag onto the injury for a while.

"We would make a great pair you and me," Carter stood towering over her while she cared more for his pokemon then he did, "Me crushing the competitions and you being here by my side to take care of me and my team. Why not come with me to the tournament and cheer us on?"

"No thanks. I told you already that I am entering myself. You should hope you don't have to fight against me and my team. You may have won this randomly selected pokemon battle but my team has even more to give then my Corsola did and let's be real, it showed you not to underestimate us," Michiru replied as cool and she was coarse with him, "I will always care about your pokemon and all pokemon no doubt."

After saying her last sentence she looked down at Lucario and Medicham in her lap flashing a glowing smile. They could feel her love and enjoyed the brief moment of being appreciated and cared for by her.

"Besides, Owen is at least taking me part of the way. No one like a third wheel Carter. Right Owen?" Michiru spoke up finishing her sentence so that Owen would be able to hear.
 
Whirlipede had stirred slightly at Michiru’s kind words toward it and opened an eye to peek up at the nurturing water gym leader. The Pokémon chirped weakly to her just before returning to its Pokéball. Owen still clung onto Whirlipede’s Pokéball as the battle between Corsola and Medicham continued. He watched Michiru and her Pokémon intently as the battle got even closer to its conclusion. Owen’s sights glanced over the upturned earth of the courtyard and felt a bit of that same guilt that Michiru had but it was a normality for Pokémon battles at this point.

“C’mon Corsola! You can still win this!” Owen cheered on for his partner’s Pokémon, wanting to support Michiru much as she had did for him.

Owen’s heart began to race as the last commands were issued to the battling Pokémon. He continued to watch with gritted teeth as Medicham collided into Corsola, just as he let loose another scald attack. It was like watching the scene unfold in slow motion for Owen as Medicham was flung backwards from the pressure of the scald attack and Corsola tumbled back and collapsed onto the ground. Steam lifted from the ground where the boiling water still lingered and Owen didn’t miss a beat in joining Michiru in retrieving Corsola.

“We’ll get him next time, Corsola. Rest up and relax, we’ll head over to the Pokémon center soon” Owen wanted Corsola to know that he was proud of it as well and spoke softly to the coral Pokémon just as he leaned down next to Michiru.

Carter triumphantly strutted up Michiru and Owen as they tended to his Pokémon with a large cocky grin over his lips. He watched Michiru applying the super potions to both Medicham and Lucario as Owen rifled through his own bag to apply a burn heal to Medicham’s legs and foot. Carter’s condescending tone only rubbed Owen the wrong way but he refrained from getting into any kind of argument for the time being by holding his tongue. Owen could tell already that Michiru could take care of herself based on her response.

“Hm? Oh uh- I’m sure we can handle the trip, thanks though Carter. Good battle…” It killed him to acknowledge Carter’s ‘win’ because he felt it would just bolster the fighting type gym leader’s ego.

A soft sigh left Owen’s lips as he peered down to Whirlipede’s Pokéball still in his hand. “Let’s get you to a Pokémon center”. The Pokéball shrank with a touch of the button on the frontside of it and Owen returned the Pokéball to his belt. He stood back to his feet and reached down to offer Michiru a hand up.

“Gabe, Corie!” Owen called out to his gym staff and not long after they would approach.

“It was a good battle, you two” Corie remarked with a forced smile as she had wanted Michiru and Owen to win.

“Thanks, Corie. We’ll have better luck next time.” Owen replied with a soft smile. “You two can go on ahead back to town. Michiru and I are going to take the long way.” He punctuated with a chuckle before peering back to Michiru who was still getting bugged by Carter.

“We should really get to the Pokémon center, Michiru” Owen said to her, trying to interrupt Carter.

“There’s a healing machine at my gym. She can use that one.” Carter replied to Owen with that smug grin still on his lips.
 
Michiru was pleased that Owen had turned out how her old friend Vernin had described him. He was a very thoughtful young man and she could tell he had a lot on his mind but was courteous to everyone he encountered, even someone as obnoxious as Carter. Owen always seemed to put Pokemon first, something she herself did as well. It was important to her know that he was their ally and didn't simply use them as battling tools like Carter.

Shortly after doing basic healing on Carter's Pokemon, Owen's gym aides arrived at his side greeting him with smiles. She could feel their condolences towards the loss as she tilted her head slightly to the side observing the interaction. She was always one to carefully watch new characters and obsorb their interactions. She was so in tune, scoping his comrades out that she almost forgot to form a slight smile on her lips so not to come off so serious. After hearing Owen joke about the long way back, she simply shook her head keeping her smile.

The muscular figure of Carter cast a shadow over Michiru as he had returned to her side to hover over her despite hearing that he was not needed to accompany her to the tournament grounds. Owen did his best to try and distract her enough for her to get a clean break from talking to the big oaf, but he refused to let her go.

"I think I'll just go and visit Nurse Joy here at the local center. Your gym has a very...interesting scent. I'd rather not go there," Michiru said to Carter gently crushing his feelings as she smiled and moved her hair over her shoulder, "I'll see you at the tournament. Make sure your Pokemon get property treatment soon. I'm afraid my super potions won't bring them back to full health."

After speaking to Carter, she gently reached up to tap the larger male's shoulder twice making it clear he would only be a colleague to her. Afterwards, she rubber the perspiration from her hand on the side of her skirt having gotten chills from touching his sweaty body.

"Are you ready now Owen?" Michiru asked after waiting for him to finish talking to his team, "Not having second thoughts about bringing me along are you? Do I need to sweet talk one of these two instead?"

Joking with Owen and his gym attendants, she covered her mouth with the back of her hand as normal to cover her airy almost flirty laughter.
 
The interactions between Owen, Corie and Gabe were usually always jovial or light hearted. Owen wasn’t one for taking himself too seriously but was hardworking and disciplined enough to handle the responsibilities of being a gym leader without having to be too stern. Michiru may very well pick up on this fact as she observed their conversation while Carter was still talking and bragging to her in the background.

At Michiru’s remark of his gym having an interesting smell, Carter couldn’t help but stutter in his bragging and get a little defensive. “Wh- No way that’s just the smell of a winner. Ah whatever… Lucario, Medicham, return.” Carter held out both of his pokeballs and a red beam of light overcame his pokemon to withdraw them both back to the safety of their respective capsules. After tapping on the button the fronts of the pokeballs, the capsules shrank in Carter’s palms and he stored away Lucario and Medicham’s pokeballs back onto his belt.

“Yeah I’ll see you at the tournament.” Carter remarked with a huff, “Just hope you don’t face off against me again, you guys will just lose again.” He let out a cocky laugh as he turned and left the others behind, making his way to his gym.

Owen had concluded his business with his Corie and Gabe not long after Carter had departed and turned towards Michiru in time to see the fighting gym leader walking the opposite direction they were going to head out towards. Owen smiled softly to Michiru and gave her a nod to her question on if he was ready.

A chuckle escaped Owen’s lips about Michiru having to sweet talk Corie or Gabe in letting her come along. “No, i’m sure they would be happy to have you along too but they have stuff they wanted to finish up around the gym before heading to the tournament as well. So it’s going to be just you and me. I hope you don’t mind.”

Gabe shrugged his shoulders before chiming in, “Just want to get ahead on some work before the next season. But we’ll be at the tournament to cheer you guys on.” The battle judge smiled before trying to usher Corie along with him to their vehicle.

“Hm? Gabe!” Corie huffed as he tried to rush off. She sighed and frowned slightly, wanting to spend more time with the gym leaders. “Well it was nice to see you again, Michiru. I’ll see you soon Owen.” She gave the two a wave before rushing off to catch up to Gabe.

Like he did with Carter, Owen watched Gabe and Corie take their leave before his blue eyes peered back to Michiru.

“Do you know where the pokecenter is here?” He asked, with a bit of embarrassment. “This is only my second or third time in the city.” Owen admitted with a soft chuckle.
 
"It was a pleasure seeing you again as well," Michiru replied to Corie as she and Gabe departed from the scene.

Once Owen had looked over towards Michiru hoping she had the answer to his question, she paused taking in his blue hues for a moment. She liked how innocent he seemed. It was almost unusual to come across someone with such a genuine sense about them. Cracking a smile she tilted her head with a single nod.

"Boy, you still are pretty new around here hm?" she teased, "It's only 2 blocks away. It's actually the second largest center in the Orenn Region. Let's get going."

Leading the way, the girl with long black hair had reached back behind her to grab her backpack while they walked on the sidewalk. Digging for a specific Dive Ball, she grabbed the one she was looking for and gently flicked her wrist to throw the ball onto the ground in front of her. Once the red flash of light faded and the empty ball jumped back into her hand, a nimble Bubble Jet Pokemon emerged stretching its body in a very cat-like manor. It whipped its tail back showing off its shiny aqua coat as it walked around the pair of Gym Leaders. It curiously stopped to smell Owen's shoes but would certainly shy away and not allow him to touch should he attempt to as he was not the type of Pokemon to trust easily. Instead it would continue around Owen until it was beside Michiru. It was very well trained and to any onlooker on the semi-crowded walkways, they could tell the Pokemon admired its beautiful trainer showing her the utmost respect. To a sharp eye, one would notice that her Vaporeon never took a step in front of her unless it felt compelled to defend her. Instead, it trailed one careful step behind always alert of its surroundings.

"Sorry, he's a bit shy. I hope it doesn't bother you that I have him out. This one likes to walk with me even when there's no water around," she spoke stopping for a second to kneel down and pet the top of its head before gliding her fingers outwards upon its white frill of a mane, "If you truly intend to travel together, i'm sure he'll warm up to you."

Standing back up to continue her strides, she held the minimized Pokeball containing Corsola in her left hand tightly. She had been doing her best not to show her concern to hard. Michiru was the type to worry about others almost to a fault. Knowing this, she typically hid it the best she could from new acquaintances. As the two, along with Vaporeon, made their way to the entrance of the PokeCenter, she tucked her hair behind her right ear to speak once more.

"I do hope your Pokemon wasn't injured to severely back there. Sorry for bringing you into that battle like that by the way. For what it's worth, I think you're a really talented trainer. Should I wager that you'll be partaking in the tournament?" Michiru asked holding the door to the skyscraper building open for him. She had to motion with her hand to get Vaporeon to go in before her.

The Pokemon Center was huge and lavish with it's calming decor in the lobby. It occupied 20 out of the 47 floors of the building. The walls behind the receptionist were flowing with streams of water and there was even a large fountain for water Pokemon to have a place to wait on the left. Not to mention the different floors catering to specific types to enjoy and be nursed back to health in.

Nurse Joy and a Chansey eagerly awaited the two to check in. As Michiru approached the counter, she looked down at Vaporeon who was giving off its best puppy dog eyes to her while it tried to contain it's excitement over the fountain.

"Go on," she nodded her head towards the direction of the water answering her Pokemon like a mother would her kids.
 
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