Pokémon: My Online Friend Is Cynthia

Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Challenger

After the siblings finished messing around, Julian began washing the kitchenware while Maylene took Riolu off for move training.

Once the kitchen was clean, Julian went to Veilstone Gym’s Pokémon storage room.

Most Gyms had an entire rack filled with Poké Balls.

It did not matter how strong the Pokémon were. The important thing was having enough of them.

Part of that was to handle the endless stream of challengers.

The other reason was that, with enough Pokémon, there was always a chance of discovering a true talent.

Just as a Trainer could drive a Pokémon’s growth, a Pokémon could also influence the Trainer in return.

It was a mutual process.

Julian believed there was no doubt that Jangmo-o had influenced his own Dragon-type affinity.

That was also why so many Trainers eventually chose to specialise in one type.

They found the type they were best suited to, then poured all their effort into growing along that path.

Of course, there were also Trainers who had terrifying talent across several types.

The obvious example was Cynthia.

None of her main Pokémon even shared the same type.

There was no comparing himself to someone like that. Cynthia’s family had genuinely stood at the peak once, and the talent passed down through that bloodline naturally stood above the rest of Sinnoh.

The Veyne family was not some ancient lineage passed down from the Hisui era. Naturally, there was no outstanding inherited talent to speak of.

His father had no real talent for raising Pokémon either. Like many Fighting-type Trainers, he relied on natural physical strength and direct, fist-to-fist sparring with his Pokémon.

That method promoted Pokémon growth in its own way.

If Julian had not been there to influence her, Maylene would probably have become the same kind of Trainer: half martial artist, half Pokémon handler.

And because his father was that type of Trainer, he was never going to have a large team.

On the wide wooden rack, there were only eight Poké Balls.

The classic Machop, Machoke, and Machamp set.

Primeape and Poliwrath.

Then Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, and Hitmontop. Another complete set.

Only Machop and Machoke were newer captures his father had obtained after becoming Gym Leader, mainly to deal with challengers.

That had been almost ten years ago.

Machop was still Machop.

For some reason, Julian felt it was even more miserable than Jangmo-o.

His father did not just avoid work. He did not train his Pokémon either.

As the acting Gym Leader, Julian could only train these Pokémon himself.

The actual improvement was close to nothing, but at least it kept their condition from declining.

Barely enough to preserve Veilstone Gym’s reputation among Trainers.

Julian took Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, and Hitmontop’s Poké Balls.

The morning would be their training time.

He arrived at the training field and released all three.

When they saw Julian instead of his father, the three Pokémon were already used to it.

"Ten laps around the training field to warm up. Then we’ll start move training."

Julian had started learning how to care for these eight Pokémon when he was eight.

By the time he was ten, his father had completely thrown their care onto him.

When Julian was fifteen, his father had fallen apart completely.

That was when Julian tried leading their training himself.

Even Julian had not expected Machamp, his father’s first Pokémon, to take the lead in agreeing to follow his instructions.

It was also that year that Julian began standing in for his father and accepting challenges from Trainers.

After running ten laps with Hitmonlee, Julian felt as though every cell in his body was cheering.

In the past, when Hitmonlee ran ten laps, Julian could barely manage five.

Today was the first time he had successfully kept up for the full ten laps.

Not only was he not tired, he felt full of energy.

Julian could hardly hide his excitement.

Even Hitmonlee seemed surprised.

Had the young master taken something today?

He could actually keep up.

Hitmonlee had not been running at full speed, of course, but with the young master’s old stamina, even a relaxed pace would have left him behind easily.

If he could keep up today, did that mean Veilstone Gym finally had someone worthy of inheriting it?

"Begin training!"

Hitmonchan’s fists tore through the air, carrying a faint wave of scorching wind.

Hitmonlee spun and kicked, both legs extending and retracting constantly. Its movements were ghostlike, and its feet seemed capable of appearing anywhere.

Hitmontop simply flipped upside down, supporting its body with the spike on its head. Its legs and tail spun at high speed, stirring up a storm.

With Hitmontop around, Veilstone Gym barely needed air conditioning.

Maylene rushed into the training field with Riolu.

"Julian, there’s a challenger!"

"Where?"

Maylene raised her hand in salute.

"Following your orders, sir, I have placed the challenger in the waiting room. Awaiting further instructions, sir!"

Julian smiled.

"Very good, Private Maylene. Now go call Father and see if he has time to come back and accept the challenge."

"Yes, sir!"

Maylene rushed out of the training field again to make the call.

Julian went to the kitchen, poured a cup of tea, prepared some snacks, and brought them over to the waiting room.

"Please, have some."

He had known this would happen.

When he told Maylene to take the challenger to the waiting room, she really would only take them there. She would not even think to prepare a cup of tea.

"Thank you."

The challenger was an energetic boy with spiky hair.

"May I ask how many Badges you currently have? I need to prepare the Pokémon for today’s battle based on your progress."

Hearing that, the boy immediately perked up.

"I’m Aaron from Snowpoint City. This is the third Gym I’ve challenged."

Julian nodded.

"Based on your current number of Badges, the match will be a two-on-two battle. I’ll go prepare the Pokémon now. Once everything is ready, I’ll come and take you to the battlefield."

"Please wait here for a moment."

The spiky-haired boy nodded respectfully.

"Of course. Thank you."

Julian returned to the training field. Maylene had already finished the call.

"I called three times. Father didn’t answer."

Julian shrugged.

"Looks like I’ll have to do it again. Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, I’ll be counting on you."

"Chan!"

Hitmonchan swung its fists.

"Lee!"

Hitmonlee snapped out a side kick.

They were telling Julian to leave it to them.

Hitmontop bounced up and down.

"Top!"

It wanted to battle too.

"Don’t worry, Hitmontop. Next time, I’ll definitely let you battle."

Hitmontop believed him and obediently stayed behind to train alone.

"Maylene, take the challenger to the battlefield. I’ll head over first."

Veilstone Gym’s battlefield had originally been a plain standard field with nothing on it.

After Julian took over, he replaced it with a rocky mountain field filled with artificial hills and stones.

This type of field actually allowed Fighting-type Pokémon to perform better.

Maylene stood in the referee’s position.

"The Veilstone Gym battle between the Gym Leader and the challenger will now begin. The Gym Leader will send out their Pokémon first. The challenger has the first move."

Julian threw a Poké Ball.

"Go, Hitmonlee."

Aaron did not hesitate.

In truth, he had probably planned this matchup countless times on the way here.

"I’m counting on you, Staravia!"

Julian had expected it.

Out of ten Trainers challenging Veilstone Gym, nine would lead with a Flying-type Pokémon.

More than half of them used Starly or Staravia.

As for Staraptor, that was much rarer.

"Staravia, use Wing Attack!"

Julian sighed inwardly.

Using Wing Attack was practically wasting the advantage of being a Flying type.

"Blaze Kick."

Hitmonlee’s foot ignited with flame.

The kick landed precisely on Staravia’s neck.

Staravia crashed into a rock and lost consciousness in one hit.

"Staravia!"

Aaron shouted in shock.

He had not expected Staravia, a Flying-type Pokémon, to fall so easily against a Fighting-type like Hitmonlee.

He recalled Staravia, then continued according to the team he had planned.

"Go, Exeggutor!"

Julian stared.

No, seriously?

Did he not just see Hitmonlee knock out Staravia with Blaze Kick?

And he still sent out Exeggutor?

"Blaze Kick!"

"Exeggutor, use Confusion!"

Hitmonlee shot forward at terrifying speed.

Its right leg extended sharply to two metres, kicking Exeggutor away and smashing it through the rock behind it.

Exeggutor lost consciousness.

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