Celestia had once, years ago, used a beat-up old red pickup truck to get around Manhattan. Later, it became one of her first big "projects". The old rig looked largely the same on the outside, but the inner workings were overhauled completely. It was now a top-of-the-line, cutting-edge supercar with a powerful engine, four-wheel drive, insane fuel economy and loads of protection. It had air conditioning, it had USB ports, it had GPS. And yet it still looked like an old beater on the outside. Gloria appreciated her mother's odd taste.
Regardless, Celestia had long moved on to other projects and was all too willing to give Gloria the pickup. It was this machine that would carry the unlikely duo of Gloria and Viola across the United States.
At first, Viola was all too eager to get from one gym to the next. No sooner had she earned her second badge when she urged Gloria on to take her to Nashville, Tennessee for a third badge. Here, she faced a crooning country starlet and her southern-fried, sun-hat-wearing Jigglypuff in a Cute Contest, which Viola naturally entered Cleffa into. It had come down to a split decision, with two of the three judges giving the nod to Cleffa and earning Viola her third badge.
In the Florida Everglades, Gloria got a shock when the address they followed led them to a shack in the middle of the swamp and none other than Widow Maker answered the door.
"Oh, did I never mention that? I got the credentials on the side a while back."
"But you don't even have any Pokemon! ...Do you?" Gloria had asked.
"Don't need em!" Wids' reply had been.
It turned out that Widow Maker's connection with Missingno had paid off again - whenever she needed to perform a gym challenge, Missingno used its' glitch powers to turn her into a Scyther, just as it had done - by accident - a few years before. In the ensuing race around the swamp, not even Wids' quick wit and agile movements could outpace Viola's choice of Pokemon, Durant.
In Houston, Texas, Viola faced Jasmine, a master of Steel types, in a Rotation Battle. Lampent, Gourgeist, and Cofagrigus traded blows with Steelix, Magneton, and Forretress. With Gloria overseeing the battle and suggesting strategies to Viola, the fight came down to Lampent easily dispatching Forretress with a brutally effective Flamethrower when it was all Jasmine had left on her team.
In Boulder, Colorado, Viola took on Clay, a Ground-type trainer and a cagey veteran of the game of Pokemon. His Excadrill and Gliscor were a frustrating pair in the Double Battle he challenged Viola to, the drill-armed mole able to rattle the arena with Earthquake after Earthquake while Gliscor spread status moves and attacked with Aerial Ace. The key to victory came from Viola's defensive strategy - Cofagrigus was able to absorb a turn of punishment and then strike back with Will O' Wisp to drastically weaken their foes' offenses, and Froslass supported him with Confuse Ray - though she took time to exploit Gliscor's quad weakness to Ice moves first.
With six badges accumulated, the pace of the trip slowed some. Gloria encouraged Viola to sightsee a bit to take advantage of this rare opportunity of a road trip. With Gloria at her side, Viola went to museums, perused libraries (Gloria especially liked this part) and even ate at restaurants, something she'd never been interested in doing before.
It was a good thing that she'd taken a break, because the seventh badge wasn't easy. To both Viola and Gloria's extreme shock, the seventh leader was Regigigas, who challenged Viola's team with himself and his bros in a four-on-four battle that rocked Devil's Lake, North Dakota.
The Regi Bros seemed impenetrable. All four of them had stellar defenses, and Viola's attacks just couldn't do enough. She actually lost her first attempt, but returned a week later with a new strategy. This time, Viola got creative, taking advantage of her ghosts' ability to learn many strange moves and picking on the weaknesses of the golems however she could. After a brutal fight, it all came down to a severely weakened Regigigas getting outplayed by Gourgeist.
"Well done, kid." Regigigas rumbled, handing Viola her final badge after he'd rested up some. "You're just one badge away from the Pokemon League."
Viola looked down at the Bro Badge, which depicted a four-colored slab riddled with dots that said "TOTALLY AWESOME" in Braille, and let her mind fantasize about what the final challenge would be.
-----
-LAS VEGAS, NEVADA-
Las Vegas. A city of lights. It had been visible in the dark as Gloria had driven the pickup down the last long stretch of desert road. The neon reflected in their eyes, Viola growing more and more excited.
Soon they were inside the city, and Viola was drawn in by the cacophony of activity around her. Here was a culture that had embraced the night and made it theirs. She observed as the pickup cruised towards their destination, Gloria stifling a yawn as she looked for the gym first and a hotel second.
But soon enough, they found it. A building styled after a traditional Japanese dwelling, with a pointed roof... but also, of course, with some modern touches courtesy of the two neon dragons at the entrance.
Viola and Gloria made their way inside...
The first room was small and dark. A single light lit up a desk in the center of the room, upon which stood a dragon statue with a speaker in its' mouth. Next to it was a microphone and a sign that said "SPEAK TO CALL LEADER".
Viola hesitantly took the mic and raised it to her face.
"Hello... is the leader in? I wish to challenge you."
A pause. Then the dragon's speaker crackled to life.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!
A challenger? Wonderful! It's been a while. I've been so bored lately! I'll be right down to stomp you flat!"
The speaker went silent. Gloria snorted with derision. "Well, someone's feeling confident. Don't let her get to you, Viola."
"Y-yes... of course. I can do this."
A door nearby whirred quietly, opening via an electronic lock and retracting into the wall.
"Come on in, kiddo!" said the voice, female and dripping with superiority. "I do hope you'll last more than three turns. I want a decent fight for once."
Viola clenched her fists as she walked through the door, Gloria following behind.
Compared to the darkness of the last room, this one was much brighter. It was styled to resemble a watery cave. A huge stone slab was the arena, and waterfalls cascaded down the walls to empty into a moat that surrounded the slab.
And standing in the center of the slab, her cape billowing and a smug smile plastered on her face, was the gym leader. The eighth gym leader.
"I am Clair, the world's greatest dragon tamer. And you are?"
"...I am Vio-"
"Uh-huh, fascinating. Let's get to business. My lovely dragons could use a little extra experience."
Viola seemed to shrink. Gloria glared at Clair, but the dragon tamer showed no sign of caring.
"This is a standard Anything Goes battle. Use your entire team if you wish, all six of them - assuming you bothered to catch six Pokemon."
"How many Pokemon do you have?" Viola asked.
"I'm not saying." Clair smiled. "Now, go on, send someone out. I already have my lead chosen."
Viola took a deep breath and selected a Pokemon. Out came Froslass.
"An ice type. Predictable."
Clair threw her Pokeball.
No sooner had Dragonair appeared than Froslass thrust its' hands forward and blanketed the dragon under a Blizzard. But Dragonair's head emerged from the pile, and it seemed relatively unscathed. Viola recoiled in surprise, and Froslass' eyes widened.
"Trained in endurance, holding an Eviolite." Clair said casually, looking down at her gloved hands as she flexed them. "Go on, Dragonair, punish it."
Dragonair's mouth opened, and it spewed a Fire Blast from its' mouth. Froslass gave a cry and collapsed.
KO
"It takes more than rote memorization of the type chart to win when you play on my level. Send out another Pokemon."
Viola looked through her options and made a selection. Out came Lampent. Clair laughed dismissively. "Unevolved tripe."
"Your Dragonair is unevolved as well." Viola pointed out.
"Ah, but my Dragonair is fully bred and trained, and holding an Eviolite, no less. Your Lampent isn't holding anything and I highly doubt you bothered to catch one with potential."
"...Potential?" Gloria asked.
The cocky smirk on Clair's face widened. "You don't have any idea what you're doing, do you? I'm not wasting my time lecturing you on Battling 101. Just know that there's a lot more to this business than rock-paper-scissors... and that anyone without the know-how will lose to me in moments."
Clair snapped her fingers. Dragonair surged forward on a wave of water, and Lampent backpedaled in fright, jerking through the air. It tossed a Shadow Ball at Dragonair, but the Surf overtook it moments later.
Dragonair was still standing... barely.
Lampent was not.
KO
"This... is not going well." Viola muttered.
"Of course it isn't." Clair shrugged. "You had no clue what you were getting into when you challenged me."
Durant was next. Dragonair prepared to launch another Fire Blast, but as Viola had predicted, Durant was easily able to outspeed the wounded dragon. The ant nimbly avoided the sputtering flames and attacked with Iron Head, knocking out Dragonair.
KO
"It only took three tries. Congratulations." Clair said, withdrawing the defeated Dragonair and sending out a new Pokemon.
KO
"Another fire-user..." Viola groaned.
"I needed a way to ward off Steel and Ice types, you see." Clair said smugly. "They don't appreciate fire-based moves, as I'm sure you know."
Viola looked worriedly at her three remaining pokeballs. Cofagrigus was her next choice. His high defenses proved to be an asset - while Flygon struggled to do heavy damage with Earthquake and Dragon Claw, Cofagrigus used Will O' Wisp to burn it and Pain Split to recover health before unleashing Shadow Ball.
Cofagrigus stood victorious, though battered, after a brutal slugfest.
KO
"...Hmph." Clair's frown was brief, and she reassumed her smugness as she sent out her next Pokemon.
"Enough playing around. KINGDRA! FINISH IT!"
Bigger than a normal Kingdra, the draconic seahorse was nearly seven feet tall, floating in the air mysteriously. Its' body was riddled with scars, and it stared down at Cofagrigus with the same smug contempt that Clair did. Attached to its' head was a strange device that Viola recognized as a Scope Lens.
A single Hydro Pump knocked out the weakened coffin.
KO
Gourgeist was out next. Kingdra fired off an Ice Beam as Gourgeist tanked it and leapt into the shadows. While waiting for its' opponent, Kingdra used Focus Energy. Gourgeist appeared again and struck Kingdra, but the dragon took it in stride and responded with another Ice Beam for the KO.
KO
"Okay, Kingdra, she only has one left. Draco Meteor it!"
Kingdra used Draco Meteor as Viola's final Pokemon was sent out, and it was instantly lost under a hailstorm of glowing meteors.
But when the dust settled, Cleffa was completely unharmed.
*squeak*
Viola was wringing her hands anxiously, though Cleffa's immunity to dragon attacks relieved her tension a bit. Gloria looked over at Viola."This looks bad... Do you think that Kingdra is her last Pokemon?"
"That is the issue, isn't it? We do not know. She could have a Mega Salamence in reserve... or an Axew... or nothing."
"Do you want to fold? We can come back later."
"No... Cleffa wants to fight."
Cleffa looked back at Viola and nodded, giving a happy squeak.
"She wants to try and win... for me. She can-"
The laser collided with Cleffa as Kingdra used Flash Cannon. Cleffa cried out, tumbling across the stone slab and coming to a stop face-down.
"Cute, but did you not think I had a plan for Fairy types?" Clair smirked, crossing her arms. "Thanks for letting me get in a chance to use Focus Energy, by the way."
Viola looked on in despair at her fallen Pokemon. "Cleffa... Cleffa!"
Cleffa toughed it out to show its' best side to Viola!
Cleffa got up. It had survived a sure knockout through sheer love and determination. Viola and Gloria stared in shock.
Cleffa glared at Kingdra, took a deep breath, and used Metronome.
And wonder of wonders, the little fairy got Moonblast.
Kingdra was struck full-force by the most powerful move Cleffa could use against it.
"...That would have been a very poetic ending... if you'd bothered to train your Pokemon in the slightest."
Clair smiled. Kingdra was still standing, and Cleffa was exhausted. The dragon seahorse loomed over Cleffa, reared back, and fired another Flash Cannon point-blank into the tiny fairy's face.
KO
"And what a surprise, you lost. Never saw that coming." Clair laughed. "You ALMOST knocked out three of my Pokemon with your six! What an accomplishment!"
She turned away, leaving Viola to kneel over her unconscious Cleffa.
"NOW HOLD ON A SECOND!" Gloria yelled, unable to take it any longer. "This is ridiculously unprofessional behavior for a gym leader! I'll have you reported!"
"Reported? Me? Good luck with that, kobber. I have connections. Besides, I've done nothing wrong."
Clair strode away, waving dismissively. "See yourselves out. Kingdra and I have better things to do."
Gloria's teeth grinded together as she watched Clair go, but... no. There were more important issues at hand. Like calming Viola.
But as Gloria moved to be next to Viola, she found the hex maniac in better spirits already.
"Are you okay, Viola?"
"Heh... I've been better, but... I am all right. Do not worry. Cleffa is not seriously hurt... that final Flash Cannon was more for show.
...She is a bully. I have dealt with her kind before... and I will do so again."
"Nice. You can do it, Viola. I know you can."
Gloria smiled at Viola, and the gothic girl smiled back... but a nagging thought remained in Gloria's mind.
"Reported? Me? Good luck with that, kobber. I have connections."
What on earth did she mean by that?
TO BE CONTINUED IN SEASON 5
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