The audience applauded loudly at the match, some satisfied with how things played out while others grumbled at Lt. Surge taking first blood.

  Said gym leader was giving Gray a foxy grin, daring him to crumble now that he was in the lead.

  Gray frowned at the Luxray on the field, noting his golden eyes as he waited for his next opponent.

  Lt. Surge, unprovoked, explains to Gray and the crowd what had just happened, something which would normally be appreciated but was instead rather grating due to the unbridled pride of the man.

  “Luxray are able to see through walls, seeing through your Ninetales illusions was child’s play in comparison."

  “Hmm I see. Thank you for explaining Lt. Surge. Is he your guide pokemon then? Considering your eyesight is probably already failing in old age and you need help to see.”

  The gym leader laughed, pleased at the fire in his challenger burning strong despite losing the first bout. He made a note to compliment Major Sammy later on how he had raised his boy. More often than not, challengers would falter at the first sign of defeat, going silent in their panic at things not going their way, so it was refreshing to have a challenger who could continue running his mouth even when he was about to lose the match.

  Gray grabs Whimsicott’s pokeball and releases him.

  The Grass-Fairy dances in the air, unconcerned about the carnage his teammate had just faced.

  Before Luxray could ready an attack, Whimsicott manages to use Tailwind, creating streams and air currents all around and above the field. He leaps into one and happily dances along it, making funny faces at the Luxray stuck on the ground.

  The Taunt works, and Luxray becomes hyperfocused on his small prey so far out of reach. He jumps up, trying to snag him down whenever Whimsicott floated too close, but the fairy merely twists to avoid outstretched claws, laughing at Luxray’s attempt.

  “Volt Switch!” Lt. Surge commands before his lion becomes lost to anger further.

  A familiar yellow glob surrounds Luxray and he pounces up the air to no avail before shooting back towards his trainer.

  Jolteon reappears on the field, quickly trying his best to shoot down Whimsicott with Thunderbolts, only to be annoyed by the fairy’s whimsical laughter at all the bolts that fail to hit him.

  Feeling the momentum shift back towards him, Gray commands Whimsicott to switch things up.

  “Poison em’, Whimsicott,”

  Gleeful at his trainer’s commands, Whimsicott begins releasing Poison Powder as he dances in the air to avoid getting hit.

  Purple powders get caught in the wind, quickly spreading all around the field. When purple streams ruled the majority of the airspace, Whimsicott waves a finger, expertly manipulating poisonous Tailwinds towards Jolteon.

  Alarmed, Jolteon dodges the Tailwinds gaining at her. She blasts a stream just about to touch her with Shockwave, dispersing it temporarily before another finger wave from Whimsicott reformed it to chase her anew.

  They go to and fro, Jolteon managing to stay just shy from getting poisoned despite Whimsicott’s best attempts.

  Annoyed by his swift pawed foe, Whimsicott gathers even more Poison Powders before concentrating energy for a bigger move.

  “Whim-si-whim-si-cott!”

  Upon release, violent gusts of wind ruptures out of his compact body, ripping towards Jolteon in an arc so wide that it leaves her no room to dodge.

  He expected Jolteon to panic, escape rendered useless by Hurricane, but the eeveelution regains her savage smile, like a fox finally managing to corner her prey after much effort.

  “Volt Switch!”

  Jolteon disappears back to her trainer’s side, just before the Poison Powdered-Hurricane hits her, and is replaced by Luxray who just manages to close his eyes to prevent powder from affecting his sight.

  Gray frowns at Lt. Surge’s choice to let Luxray tank the move, an obvious ploy to get the lion pokemon poisoned. He considers the situation, frustrated that his own knowledge of the species was lacking.

  It’s only when the winds die down, Luxray’s body taking on a purple sheen before a wispy red aura overtakes his body that Gray manages to put everything together.

  “Get Away!”

  “Fire Fang!”

  Whimsicott, ever sensitive to his trainer’s commands despite his whimsical personality, scrambles to obey, avoiding the attacking Luxray by a hair’s breadth.

  Stunned murmurs erupt in the audience at how Luxray’s Fire Fang appeared larger than before, the flames so intense that the flames closest to his mouth occasionally flickered blue.

  “Don’t let him touch you, Whimsicott!”

  With more distance from his foe, Whimsicott is able to easily manipulate the winds with Tailwinds to keep himself fully away, careful to no longer bait the electric type by drawing the slightest bit closer.

  It proved to be a wise choice, for Luxray leapt and pounced further than before, the moves he used to close the distance more powerful, the aura surrounding him now crimson red.

  “Are you not gonna explain for the audience’s benefit, Uncle Surge?”

  Annoyed, Lt. Surge reluctantly mutters. “Guts.”

  “Oh.. Uncle Surge… Are you being a sore loser? All because your plan didn’t work?” asks Gray, faux concern painted in his voice.

  A laugh escapes the gym leader then. This little shit sure took in Sammy’s teachings, huh?

  It had been a valid tactic in wartime, distracting your opponents with whatever to throw them off their game. It had become a favorite for Surge, leaning into it fully with his polarising personality.

  Breathing easier, Gray casually instructs with a straight face. “Mmm, go Pew-Pew, Whimsicott.”

  Whimsicott squeals and twirls, entire body shaking giddily, before he begins a lively barrage of moves.

  Pink, Fairy Winds pour out of Whimsicott, followed by emerald spheres of Energy Ball and dense Seed Bombs. With every midair turn and wave of his hand, a new barrage of moves appear and shoots towards Luxray.

  “Whim! Si! Cott!” he would shout with each move he released.

  When viewed from below, he appeared like a maestro carefully coordinating a complicated orchestra of moves.

  Landlocked, Luxray scrambles to avoid the attacks, occasionally having to rely on stopping a coming move with Fire Fangs or Crunches.

  Whimsicott fires an Energy Ball at Luxray, only to increase its speed with a boost from Fairy Wind, creating faster Grass-Fairy attacks that became tougher to avoid.

  Luxray growls upon getting hit, frustrated at his inability to close the distance with a pokemon spending most of his time in the air.

  “Pew Pew?” Lt. Surge grunts, annoyed at how a childish command had managed to stop his Luxray on his toes.

  “That’s right, Pew Pew,” Gray replies with a face so stoic half the audience were convinced the words were completely mature.

  In truth, Gray had to be blackmailed by his pokemon for the moves to be named as such.

  Back when Gray was training Whimsicott, he had liberally used the words to convey the feeling of shooting an opponent down with a barrage of moves. His pokemon had found the words hilarious, was eager to learn and thus picked it up quickly.

  However, when it was time to utilise the move in the middle of a battle, Whimsicott had stared at his trainer, face blank and uncomprehending of what his training was commanding him to do. It was only when Gray verbalised the words ‘Pew Pew’ in desperation did the haze of blankness lift out of Whimsicott's face, transforming back into bloodthirsty delight as he whittled down his opponents with ‘pews’.

  Gray caught on, and the trainer had done his best to cajole, convince, bribe and even threaten Whimsicott into compliance but the fairy had stayed stubborn. It was Arceus’ blessings that he had figured out that Whimsicott cared not for the tone Gray delivered the command, content to follow as long as Gray muttered the childish words.

  And thus, Whimsicott’s ‘Pew Pew’ was born.

  “Volt Switch!” Lt. Surge commands, growing annoyed that he had to constantly use something so gimmicky to force results.

  Luxray disappears and Manectric takes the stage. As soon as he was released, dark clouds began to join the air currents in the sky, crackling ominously as negative charges gathered below the cloud and positive charges drifted up.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  Whimsicott had to focus on dodging as lightning began to strike, electrical discharges honing on to him, the closest figure in the sky.

  Annoyed, Gray observed the opposing pokemon on the field. Off the top of his head, he couldn’t recall a move that would summon cumulonimbus clouds like Manectric was doing so casually, the closest he could compare it to was dynamax evolution from Galar.

  Even Luxray’s ability to see through walls had gone past him, and it was somewhat humbling to know that despite his previous knowledge and being a trainer in this life, there was still more that he didn’t know. His recollections of pokemon types and moves may have given him a leg up in terms of the direction he could follow, but there was more to the world of pokemon than meets the eye.

  In today’s case, it was likely that his missing knowledge explaining the reason for clouds forming was due to Manectric’s biology.

  The rumbling clouds and lightning forced Whimsicott closer and closer to the ground, the fairy eventually managing to force the lightning strike to connect with positive charges on the ground to become grounded.

  So focused he was on trying to remain afloat, that he didn’t realize Manectric had Volt Switched back to Luxray, and the lion was currently stalking towards him, ready to attack.

  The red haze around Luxray had now coalesced to a thick, almost solid substance, his Guts increasing in power as the poison continued to run down his veins. He was betting everything into this move, knowing that his time in the match may have been numbered, but being able to take down two of the opponent’s pokemon would put his trainer in an advantage.

  He fired up Fire Fang, ready to bite down into the fairy and never let go.

  “Think fast, Whimsicott!”

  Gray’s reminder shook Whimsicott out of his concentration, finally making him realise the precarious situation he was in. It seemed a bit too late, however, Luxray needing mere moments to finally be within striking range.

  He raised both arms in the air, making big circles that released a purple cube that expanded to cover the entire battlefield, an extra layer on top of the psychic barriers separating the fight from the audience.

  Just as Luxray managed to get his jaw around him, he also summons a Moonblast in one hand, smacking the electric type with a miniature moon across the face.

  Their collision caused an explosion, pink and yellow smoke temporarily obstructing the view.

  When it eventually settled, both Luxray and Whimsicott were slumped, leaning against each other as if they were friends taking a nap together.

  “Both Whimsicott and Luxray are unable to battle. This match is a draw. Trainers, release your next pokemon!”

  Ash and Gary groaned from their seat in the stands, torn between joy at Whimsicott taking down an intimidating foe and disappointment that he had to faint in the process.

  The crowd around them buzzed, discussions erupting after the fact that the Vermilion City gym leader had still managed to hold on to his slim lead.

  “Is this Oak guy really that powerful? He did well against Brock, but it seems that Lt. Surge is on a completely different level. It’s not looking good for him, he’s probably gonna lose.”

  Indignant Gary turned to the woman who had dared bad mouth his uncle.

  “My uncle is really strong! No way will he lose!”

  “Your uncle?” said the woman, not too bothered considering the other was a child.

  She eyed him up and down before snapping her fingers. “You’re Gary Oak! So this challenger is your uncle, huh.”

  “That’s right. And he’s gonna win!”

  The woman merely smiled back politely, even more unwilling to verbally spar against a child with such a heavy background.

  Ash, who had elected to remain silent, couldn’t help but wonder how Gary’s status netted him a different reaction. During Uncle Gray’s battle with Brock, he was ridiculed by the leader’s younger siblings openly when he had expressed his faith in his uncle. He could tell that there were adults who agreed with the children, but they had avoided addressing Ash to his face after Mimikyu and Altaria threatened them with a glare, choosing instead to loudly converse with one another in hopes of being overheard.

  In contrast, everyone today who had started to express doubts within their hearing vicinity had immediately shut up when Gary revealed his identity, eyes the same as the Pewter adults’ but mouth completely sealed.

  And like the adults, Ash decided to keep his mouth shut, unwilling to voice his frustration at being treated so differently compared to his best friend.

  Both fainted pokemon were recalled, Gray and Lt. Surge wasting no time in releasing the next battler.

  Jolteon reappeared back on field, already panting from the efforts he had exerted earlier.

  On Gray’s side, a slender pokemon stood, a wide brim hat-like thing on her head, making her appear like a witch from children’s fables. She was serene as she was beautiful, the gradient shift between the pink of her body and the pastel blue of her head giving her an additional dreamy quality.

  Wanting to press an advantage where possible, Jolteon immediately leapt foward, ready to blitz her opponent with her signature neck breaking speed.

  To her and everyone else’s shock, she began running in slow motion, unable to speed up no matter how hard she tried. In fact, the more effort Jolteon exerted, the slower she began to move.

  Surge stepped forward, eyes scanning Jolteon for the reason behind the phenomena, before darting to the purple layer that Whimsicott had put up before fainting.

  Not giving the trainer time to come up with a countermove, Hatterene appears right beside Jolteon, face unnervingly close to the eeveelution, her completely onyx and beady eyes glowing blue.

  Jolteon is lifted off the ground, her legs scrambling slowly for purchase, before she's smashed harshly to the ground, lifted up then smashed again.

  The cycle repeats again and again until Jolteon’s unconscious body is brought up by the Psychic then gently placed on the ground, as if the series of actions a few seconds ago were nothing but a faraway dream.

  “Jolteon is unable to battle. The winner is… er…”

  “Hatt-terene!”

  “Right… Hatterene.”

  Gray breathes in relief, not just for the fact that Hatterene’s quick actions had leveled the playing field, but also at how Hatterene had handled her foe’s unconscious body.

  Her species were well-known for their solitary yet vicious nature, so their early days together involved a lot of negotiation on what can and cannot be done to an opponent’s body after winning.

  It had taken some time, but Hatterene eventually learned what was acceptable and what wasn’t. Still, particularly vicious match ups tended to cause Hatterene to slip up, so Gray had to occasionally apologise for his pokemon carelessly discarding a fainted opponent.

  Gray eyed Lt. Surge who had yet to release his next pokemon. Instead of continuing the match, the older man comments blithely.

  “Wasn’t that a bit excessive? Jolteon was already immobilised.”

  “Like Volt Switching repeatedly isn’t considered too much?” replies Gray without missing a beat.

  Lt. Surge’s booming echo is able to fill the entire stadium.

  “Not gonna explain to the audience what happened just now? I did it.”

  “… Uncle Surge, do you really expect me to believe that you explained because you wanted to educate and not gloat? You?”

  The gym leader’s booming laughter is long and carefree, uninhibited and lasting so long that the Trick Room’s walls have begun to start flickering.

  With a gleam of interest in his eye, he continues. “As a gym leader, I’m contractually obliged to keep things fair, boy. I punch you, you punch me. You’re really not gonna say?”

  Silence is his answer this time.

  “Alright, how about this pretty beauty on the field? Anything to share about her?”

  “Her name’s Hatterene. She’s Psychic-Fairy type.”

  “Hatterene, huh… She seems quite strong. Is she at an Alakazam level?”

  “An Alakazam would wish it was at her level.”

  “You really learnt a thing or two from your grandpa. Sammy raised you well,” laughs Lt. Surge.

  The Announcer interrupts the conversation between leader and challenger. “Gym Leader Lt. Surge, please release your next pokemon.”

  “Ah, right right. Forgive an old man, eh? Things are beginning to slip from my noggin. You know how it is for old people like me,” said Surge while stretching his body, muscles and healthy frame completely on display.

  Some audience members begin giggling at the feast before them.

  “But you can’t blame me, right? A new pokemon is right before my eyes, it’s tough to decide how to best beat it up.”

  Gray keeps staring at the gym leader, the slight suspicion he had felt earlier now blaring in alarm. Grandpa Sammy had always insisted that shamelessness and battling came hand in hand, that a shameless trainer was an alive trainer.

  It would seem that Gray wasn’t his only student, for he had managed to instill his teachings to his past subordinates too.

  The gym leader takes his time choosing his next pokeball, humming as he finally holds it out. The purple walls Whimsicott had managed to put up were now transparent, fading and losing its effect.

  By the time Lt. Surge’s Manectric materialises on the field, Whimsicott’s layer had disappeared, fizzling out completely.

  “Oh? Hope that wasn’t important, whatever it was,” said Lt. Surge, eyes meeting Gray’s from across the field with a teasing smile.

  Gray resisted the urge to groan out loud. He should have expected this, Grandpa Sammy would have done the same. He wasn’t completely certain if Lt. Surge had recognised the move, but regardless, stalling for time was a sound strategy.

  Crafty old men and their tricks.

  “You didn’t recognise the move, Uncle Surge? I suppose I can’t really blame you, old age has obviously caught up. I mean, just look at you! I could’ve sworn you were fitter and better looking when I was younger.”

  Lt. Surge’s jaw twitched, but he said nothing.

  “But that’s alright. As a younger generation, let me jog your memory for a bit. Hatterene,” Gray addressed the pokemon in the field who showed no reaction to her trainer’s words, eyes zeroed in on the opposing Manectric.

  “Trick Room.”

  Hatterene’s claw appendage spun in the air, and a purple cube materialises out of her, sticking to the battlefield’s barrier, completely enveloping the field.

  Lt. Surge had stuttered something out, but was ultimately unable to put a stop to Gray refreshing Whimsicott’s earlier move.

  With Trick Room back up, Lt. Surge’s attempts to stall time became ultimately fruitless. He barked out a frustrated laugh before chiding Gray.

  “Boy! Don’t you think that’s a bit underhanded?”

  “Underhanded? How many switches are allowed in official matches? How many switches have you made?”

  “Two per official match. And I’ve not used a single one!”

  It was Gray’s turn to laugh in frustration. The gym leader was right, after all. Volt Switching wasn’t technically switching, for it was a move that just happened to cause a pokemon to return to their owner, dragging another team member out.

  “Beam him down, Hatterene!”

  Hatterene prepared a Psybeam and fired it out, aiming for Manectric who, despite being slowed down by Trick Room, was able to barely dodge it. It had taken him a few steps to understand his new speed, but the electric type had managed to get the timings down enough to dodge.

  Gray saw no need to instruct Hatterene any different, content to watch Manectric give his all in dodging Hatterene’s attacks. The hound-like pokemon had made an attempt to close the distance, but Hatterene was much too fast in Trick Room and was able to stay away with time to spare.

  It was refreshing to turn the tables on the old man.

  Just as before, Manectric’s presence caused cumulonimbus clouds to form in the sky, the beginnings of rumbling starting to be heard.

  “Deal with it, Hatterene.”

  Despite not being completely certain how they impacted Manectric, Gray figured that thunderclouds + electric type = bad, so he had Hatterene fire Psybeams into the clouds, dispersing them before they could properly form.

  Lt. Surge grumbled. The thunderclouds could have given Manectric more electricity to manipulate and provided him with cover, but his opponent was being a spoilsport.

  Hatterene gleefully fired moves at Manectric, comfortably aiming for him with Psycho Cuts, Psybeams and the occasional Dazzling Gleam to keep him away.

  Frustrated at being reduced to a moving targetboard, Lt. Surge commanded his pokemon to switch gears with another Volt Switch.

  As the yellow energy begins surrounding Manectric, a predatory smile crosses over Hatterene’s face.

  “Quash.” Gray commands calmly.

  Dark energy gathers in Hatterene’s claw as it shoots out quickly towards Manectric. Just as the electric type was about to pounce with Volt Switch, the claw slams into him and presses him harshly to the ground. He lets out an involuntary gasp as he’s forced to sprawl, belly digging sharply into the floor.

  “Brutal Swing to a Mystical Gleam!”

  Hatterene grabs Manectric by the tail and pulls him towards her, her opponent too winded to react properly. She tosses him up before her entire appendage Brutally Swings at him, forcing him back to the air.

  While she waits for Manectric to fall back down, Hatterene gathers Fairy energy into herself, her entire body shimmering with the high concentration of Dazzling Gleam she holds back.

  Timing it just as Manectric landed, Hatterene combines an explosion of Mystical Fire with her Dazzling Gleam, firing everything at her opponent.

  A searing and piercing force engulfs Manectric, his body disappearing in a supernova of light and heat.

  The audience blinks rapidly to clear their vision after Hatterene’s move, only to find Manectric’s unconscious body terribly charred and emitting dark smoke.

  “Manectric is unable to battle! Hatterene wins!”

  Gray hums to himself. 3-2, in his favor.