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Entry #14: Numbers and Symbolism.

Before modernity and the genesis of many media tropes, there existed ideas and beliefs expressed over and over both in the life of the common man, and within fiction. Math is arguably the most important language that there is, so it's no surprise that people began to associate numbers with certain meanings.

Number three is a good place to start.

Three is a good, balanced number. A team of three can each bring something unique and necessary to the table without stepping on each other's toes - forming a unit with a stable foundation. Back home, this was reflected in many cultural and mythological references, like the Greek Fates or the Holy Trinity. A lot of fictional, memorable teams would also be formed of threes, like the ubiquitous Three Musketeers.

Shit, you even see it here. Look at Ash, Dawn, and Brock, or Jesse, James, and Meowth. Or even me, Zoey, and Paul.

I guess I kind of fell into this one without even realizing it.

Back on topic. This is why I'm so pleased to have Kane. He's a foil to both Lulu and Aniki.

Lulu is skilled, and plenty strong, but isn't completely overwhelming in either area. She's also the most just and moral member of the team.

Aniki is more brawn than finesse, and he's a swell, caring guy, but is more willing to bend morally than Lulu.

Kane hits hard, but where he shines is his raw technique. His speed and refinement are top-notch. If all things sans skill were the same, I bet that he could even force someone like Pops to put in effort for a win. Kane's morally gray and has a prickly personality when compared to Lulu or Aniki.

Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.

Other forms of symbolism that show up in entertainment are important as well, but I'll leave those for another day.

Is it a coincidence that a trainer and a full team of pokemon equal a group of seven, the lucky number? Who knows. Probably not.

Julian walks back into the sweet, sweet air conditioning of his gang's hotel room with a pleased sigh.

Following behind him are Lulu, Aniki, and the recently dubbed Kane, each one looking a bit worn, but hiding it much better than Julian.

Today, in Julian's opinion, has been a fantastic day. Kane is the perfect addition to round out the team as they take a hiatus on any growth. The toad pokemon's technical skill is superb, surpassing even that of Lulu. He is such a slippery, frustrating opponent, and Julian has never been happier to have his ass kicked.

Inside the hotel room, Zoey and her pokemon, Glameow, Shellos, Misdreavus, and Leafeon, are huddled around a small laptop on Zoey's bed.

"And what a fantastic performance from Solidad and her Butterfree!" The bombastic voice of an announcer comes from the laptop. "Let's see what our judges have to say!"

Zoey looks up at the thud of the door closing behind Julian and his team, and she pauses what she and her team were watching. "Hey guys," she says with a smile. "You all look beat."

Julian snorts. "You mean I look beat, right?" he says, gesturing towards a couple of bruises on his arm. Lulu wanted to heal them, but he waved her off, wanting her to conserve her energy. "I can safely say that Kane is a certified ass-beater like Lulu and Aniki, and he's going to be a huge help for the Eterna gym."

"Kane?" Leafeon questions with a raised eyebrow.

Stepping aside, Julian gestures toward the squat amphibian, who was standing behind him. "Meet Kane. He was giving a bunch of city workers the business yesterday, and was so strong they were going to call Roark. We stepped in, and after a battle, I offered him a spot on the team. As you can see, he accepted."

"I'm still debating the wisdom of my own choice," Kane grumbles. "Don't get used to me. Angelo foolishly gave me an exit clause in our agreement, and I may exercise it."

"This one sounds as if he would get along excellently with Paul," Misdreavus giggles.

Julian looks at Paul's bed, then around the hotel room, not finding the purple-headed boy. "Where is he, anyway?"

"The Pokemon Center, I think," Zoey says, hitting a button on her laptop and closing it. The girl shuffles through her pokemon to stand and stretch her arms over her head. "Paul doesn't think his Azumarill is cut out to be a fighter, but she's grown to like being a trainer pokemon, so he wanted to find somebody to adopt her."

"Paul actually consulted Azumarill before making such a decision?" Lulu questions, her surprise obvious.

When Julian relays the question, Zoey smiles and nods. "He definitely could have been nicer about how he worded it, but he did ask."

It's small, but Lulu does smile at the news.

'Ha, already starting to go soft,' Julian smirks, leaning against one of the bunk posts of Zoey's bed. Something pokes at the back of his brain, though, as if he's forgetting something. "So, what have you guys been up to all day?"

"Planning, mostly," Zoey plants her hands on her hips and nods towards the closed laptop sitting on the bedcovers. "There is a series of pokemon contests coming up in Floaroma town, so I've been brainstorming some new acts and doing some route planning on the map." She gives Julian a stern look. "We're taking route 203 back to Jubilife, then 204 to Floaroma, and I'm not hearing any arguments."

Chuckling, Julian raises a hand in surrender. "Fine with me. I wanted to go through Eterna forest, anyway. I got a letter from my old employer who said the Floaroma route is the best one to take, anyway."

Zoey beams in response. "Other than that, Paul and I went to go watch Ash's gym battle with Roark," she continues, her smile falling some. "Poor guy lost. Roark's Cranidos tore up Ash's Turtwig and Aipom, and Onix finished off Pikachu."

Ah, shit. Ash's match was today, and Julian wanted to watch to see if Ash had any interesting tricks that could be adopted.

'Kane's orientation was probably more important, anyway,' the blonde teen thinks to himself. 'I guess it's not a huge deal. Hopefully Ash didn't feel snubbed by me not showing up.'

"Ash doesn't seem like the kind of guy to let a loss keep him down," Aniki chimes in as he steps past everyone towards the kitchenette. He takes a peek in the mini fridge. "Zoey, Jules, we're stocking up before we leave back for Jubilife, right? We've got enough for me to make dinner and that's about it."

Zoey seems to get the gist of what Aniki said, as she nods and looks towards Julian. "We should probably head to the store before it starts getting dark. We've still got to find Paul, get our route figured out, have dinner, and be in bed at a reasonable hour." She pauses and wrinkles her nose, looking down at Julian's chest with a light frown. "You should shower first, though."

"Eh?" Julian looks down at himself, noting that his shirt is soaked in sweat. Returning his attention to Zoey, he feels a shit-eating smile rise to his face. "Gee, Zoey, you sure are a good pal. Where would Paul and I be without you to organize things and do stuff like arranging this hotel for us? I feel like I should show you my appreciation."

He takes a menacing step forward and opens his arms, making Zoey eyeball him warily.

"… Like with a big hug?"

"Julian…" Zoey begins warningly. "Don't you dare."

Julian takes another step forward, making Zoey take one backward.

"I'm serious, you meathead!"

One step forward, and another one back.

"If you get your sweat all over my clothes, I swear I'll kick your butt!"

Tensing his legs, Julian springs forward, cackling the entire time.

Zoey shrieks and dives out of the way, letting Julian land in a heap on the ground, though he doesn't stay down for long and scrambles back to his feet.

"Don't touch me, Angelo!"

"I just want a hug!"

"No!"

"C'mere!"

Still standing in the doorway, Kane and Lulu both sigh heavily, while Glameow let out a piteous mewl. "How come Julian doesn't want to get sweaty with me?" the cat whines.

An hour and one shower later finds Julian, Zoey, Lulu, and Aniki loitering outside a local Oreburgh Pokemart as they wait for Paul to arrive. All of Zoey's pokemon are in their balls, and Kane, having had enough of other people for the day, retreated into his own.

While they wait, Julian leans over one of the stone bollards outside the store and idly browses Battlenet on his phone. The website is by far the most dominant social media platform when it comes to trainers, and any and all worthwhile news goes there.

Like news pertaining to new and interesting trainers.

Welcome to Battlenet! The Pokemon Battle Authority!

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Topic: LotV New Blood
In: Boards Sinnoh LotVC

OrbusGlorbus (Original Poster)
Posted On April 27th 20XX:
Sinnoh's newest Lab trainer under Professor Rowan, Lucas Johansson, just trashed the Eterna Gym with an embarrassing 3-0. Gardenia looked pissed handing him the Forest badge lol. He did the same thing in Oreburgh to Roark. If he keeps this pace he's going to have all eight badges in two months flat. Very promising performance so far.
Roark battle: (LINK)
Gardenia battle: (LINK)

H_Kalliga (Verified Trainer)
Posted On April 27th 20XX:
this kid seems good but sinnoh hates tall hoppips. If he's too good he'll catch volkner's eye and get trashed. gotta be mediocre to get past sunnyshore.

►F_Gordon (Verified Trainer)
Posted On April 27th 20XX:
Lucas looks like a beast ngl. Isn't the Battle Tower Tycoon's kid also competing this year? Has anybody heard anything out of him?

The thread goes on for a couple of pages, with everyone talking about new trainers and how they might upset or contribute to the league tournament this year. The thread isn't very long yet, but near the end, Julian grins when he finally sees what he's looking for.

►Regimeat
Posted On April 28th 20XX:
Another kid named Julian pulled a 3-0 in Oreburgh just a few days ago. Used a huge machoke and -get this- a lucario to clown on Roark. The machoke whipped onix around like a toy and the lucario styled on cranidos without getting hit once. Dude barely said anything the whole match too. Psychic? (LINK)

►C_Kohei (Verified Trainer)
Posted On April 28th 20XX:
New trainer has pokemon that strong? And one is a lucario? Very unlikely lmao. I am estimating a very high likelihood of nepobaby handouts mixed with a dash of no skill.

►ItsSoSnover
Posted On April 28th 20XX:
C_Kohei Kinda sus yeah but not everyone with a rare pokemon is nepo.

-No more replies-
Click to return to top of page

Julian scowls. 'Urge to act like an internet douchebag: rising fast.'

Before Julian can post in the thread and demand that any shit-talkers fight him (not in a pokemon battle, but with fists in a Taco Bellsprout parking lot like real men), Paul rounds the corner of the supermarket and acts as a convenient distraction.

"You two want to leave tomorrow morning?" he grunts as he stops before them.

"We all talked it over–" Julian begins, gesturing towards Lulu and Aniki, "–and yes, that's the general idea."

Paul doesn't react to the correction and stuffs his hands into his pockets. "Let's get this show on the road," he says, walking past and into the store.

Julian rolls his eyes, but he and everyone else follows after Paul. The trio of teens and pair of pokemon nab a cart for them all to use, and Julian is given the job of pushing it around.

The interior of the PokeMart is just like every other supermarket that Julian has ever seen, simply with a bit of pokemon flair.

As they walk by the produce section, they're treated to the sight of a Buizel in an employee vest misting a berry display with his Water Gun.

High up is a man in a hard hat sitting precariously on a floating Magneton, replacing a broken fluorescent light.

Walking past the group is a lady Charizard with a scowl upon her face and a money pouch around her neck. Her air of menace is ruined by the smiling little boy holding her hand.

'Never gets old, seeing stuff like this,' Julian smiles to himself. "Mkay, lady and gent," he begins, getting Lulu and Aniki's attention. "What do we need to get–"

A large, gray-blue hand presents a neatly written shopping list, cutting Julian off.

"I went ahead and made a list of everything, Jules," Aniki smiles. "I figured you'd be a little preoccupied with getting Kane tested and acquainted."

Taking the list, Julian gives it a read and finds everything in order. "Bro, you really are the best."

Aniki beams.

The trio of teens and pair of pokemon slowly make a loop around the store, gathering what they need and tossing it into the cart. Food and toiletries make up a bulk of the cart, as the mart stocks not just pokemon supplies, but everything a traveling trainer might need as well. Part way through the shopping trip, Julian's phone begins to ring in his pocket.

Taking the phone out of his pocket, Julian's eyes widened when he sees the name flashing on the screen.

Prof Sycamore
(Accept) – (Deny)

Oh man, he's been waiting days for this!

Tapping accept, the grinning teen raises the phone to his ear. "Julian speaking."

"Mister Angelo, how are you doing this fine day?" Sycamore's bright voice asks through the speaker.

"Doin' swell, all things considered. My friends and I are getting ready to make tracks towards Eterna," Julian leans over the handlebar of the cart and follows a few steps behind Zoey and Paul. "I doubt this is a social call, though."

"Indeed it isn't. I wanted to let you know that my associates and I in my laboratory have finished our sponsorship proposal. We aren't able to offer too much since you're a foreign trainer, but I think you'll be quite pleased with what we've put together. I emailed the documents to you."

"Can you give me the proposal in broad strokes?" Julian asks, bringing the cart to a halt as Aniki stops to ponder a small tub of electrolyte powder. "I'm in a store with my friends at the moment and I won't be able to get on a computer until I use one of the Pokemon Center ones tomorrow." He pauses as a thought strikes him. "Professor, what time is it there? I thought Kalos was several hours ahead of Sinnoh?"

There is the sound of shuffling paper on the other end of the line. "I'll actually be preparing for bed soon, but my administrative assistant and I finished the proposal shortly before I called you. We didn't want to keep you waiting any longer than we had to."

Julian lets out an amused huff. "That's nice of you, Professor, but don't pull overtime on my behalf. I'm used to paperwork taking forever to process," he says, thinking back to his time with DARPA.

If there's one thing the government is good at, it's wasting everyone's time with bureaucracy. Just getting a new coffee maker for the break room required a requisition form that took a week to process, only for some moron to drop the coffee pot and shatter it all over the ground after three days.

That moron was Julian, but he's not telling anyone that.

"You are? What did you do before you became a trainer, if you don't mind me asking?"

Julian would've stumbled if not for the cart he was leaning on, and curses under his breath for the slip up. "Uh… I worked on a farm, and we sent deliveries off through the local airport. You know how it is with air travel?" He fibs.

Lulu's aura prickles uncomfortably from the half-truth, but the lack of disapproval nearly makes Julian breathe a sigh of relief.

"Flying in Kalos isn't terribly complicated on the bureaucratic side, so it must be different in Sinnoh," Sycamore muses aloud. "Anyway, you wished for a summary of our proposal, yes? My laboratory is offering our sponsorship and a streamlined requisition service so you can acquire specialty supplies you need for your journey. Unfortunately, I can't offer you direct monetary compensation without making you a more official laboratory affiliate, but I think you'll find the array of things you can requisition pleasing. In return, I'm asking for you to send regular reports of your adventures, and for a section of each report to be dedicated to the relationship between you and your pokemon. Not every single one has to be a significant breakthrough, but I would like anything even peripherally relevant."

"Easily done," Julian says with a grin.

"Also… If you experience any breakthroughs with Mega Evolution, reach out to me as soon as you feasibly can. The phenomenon is still so poorly understood, and it would be beyond fantastic if I could study it in person," Sycamore says, his wide, eager smile practically audible through the phone

Julian smirks to himself. "How fantastic are we talking? Like, Lab Trainer kind of fantastic?"

A chuckle is Julian's answer. "That's not impossible, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. When you can make some time, please print off the forms I sent you, sign them, and then return them. Photocopies or mail are both acceptable."

"You should have them by tomorrow."

"Magnifique!" Sycamore says with a cheer. "I think this is the beginning of something beautiful, Mister Angelo. Now, I have duties of my own in the morning, and I know you are busy, so I'll let you return back to your journey."

"Thanks a ton, Professor. We won't let you down. Have a good one."

"The same to you, Mister Angelo."

Sycamore hangs up, and Julian puts his phone away with a face-splitting grin. He lets go of the shopping cart to wrap his arms around Aniki and Lulu, pulling the pokemon close. "We fuckin' did it! Only one gym in and we've got a sponsor!"

"After the Oreburgh gym, was there any doubt we'd get it?" Aniki says with a grin nearly as wide as Julian's.

"We still have to fill out the forms the professor sent to us, Julian. We're not quite there yet," Lulu interjects, though she still wears a smile, and her aura flares up high with pride.

"A sponsor?" Paul asks, a skeptical eyebrow raised. "The one you were being all secretive about?"

Oh, whoops. Zoey and Paul are here too. He kind of forgot about them.

"Hell yeah," Julian releases his pokemon and pushes the cart along to catch up with Zoey and Paul, his excitement ramped so far up that wisps of aura nearly seep out of his skin. "I've been reaching out here and there looking for a sponsor, and the one who got back to us was none other than Professor Sycamore over in Kalos."

Paul's other eyebrow rises with the first, and Zoey looks taken aback.

"Augustine Sycamore?" Zoey questions incredulously. "I thought that regional professors couldn't poach interregional talent?"

"They don't like doing it, but there's no rule saying they can't," Julian grin falls a little. "I'm not getting taken on as a Lab Trainer or anything, I'm just some kind of intern-like affiliate. We're not getting paid, and I don't get a pokedex, but we can ask for supplies."

"That's great, Julian! I'm so happy for you!" Zoey exclaims, bringing her hands together and smiling. "That's a huge step forward for such a new trainer. What do you think, Paul?" She says, turning towards Paul.

Paul simply clicks his tongue and turns away, looking at bottled supplements made for ape pokemon on a nearby shelf. "What? You want a pat on the back for something that happens to every serious trainer?"

"Your backhanded compliments are as heartwarming as ever," Lulu comments with a roll of her eyes.

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast courtesy of Aniki, the trio of trainers are making their final checks before they turn in their hotel keys and hit the road. As per usual after breakfast, all the pokemon sans Lulu are in their balls to give the trainers space to clean the room and prepare for the day.

"You know you could have gotten a bottomless Silph backpack with the money you got from the gym, right?" Paul asks Julian as the blonde stuffs the last of his things into his hulking backpack.

"Yeah," Julian lifts the heavy bag and shoulders it easily. Gotta love aura. "But I'd rather wait until I can get a top model without it denting my finances. I don't mind lugging a plain backpack around in the meantime."

Paul shoulders his considerably smaller and lighter backpack, which no doubt holds ten times as much as Julian's. "Whatever."

"'Whatever', he says," Julian scoffs. "It's not like it's that heavy. In fact, why don't we trade until we get to Jubilife? I think some exercise would do you good, skinny."

"You've clearly never heard of 'work smarter, not harder'," Paul shoots back caustically.

"Boys, please, let's not get into it this early," Zoey grumbles, sluggishly folding the last of her clothes and putting them away into her pack. "Wait until the sun is properly up, at least."

That prompts Lulu to glance out the window, where the sun is beginning to crest the horizon. "But the sun is up?"

"Not in my book, sis," Zoey grumbles once more, setting her sunglasses atop her head and pulling on her backpack. "Not until you can see the whole thing."

With everyone prepared, they do a final sweep of the room, walk to the lobby to turn in their keys, then start the journey west to leave Oreburgh and make tracks to Jubilife City. They make a brief stop in the Pokemon Center so Julian can print, sign, and send off all the forms sent to him by Professor Sycamore, but are on the road again in short order. Upon getting to city limits where the wilds begin proper, they can't venture much further before a voice interrupts them.

"Excuse me!"

The group pauses and turns, collectively finding a glasses-sporting teen approaching from the side of the road.

'Where in the world did this guy come from?' Julian wonders. 'I didn't even feel his aura.'

The boy's most distinctive feature is his rectangular glasses, which briefly catch the light and obscure his eyes behind the reflection. His dark green hair is of similar length to Paul's, and he wears a long vest of a similar shade over a light green shirt tucked into his jeans. A breeze flutters his vest, and Julian catches a flash of the pokeballs clipped onto his belt.

'A trainer, eh? What's he doing skulking around the road?' Julian wonders.

"What do you want?" Paul asks in his usual brusque manner.

The stranger waves Paul off. "My business isn't with you, Paul Shinji," he says, making Paul's scowl deepen. "I wanted to talk to Julian Angelo," he says, pointing a finger at Julian.

"With me, huh?" Julian asks, casually hanging his thumb through his belt loops. "You've already got my name, so can we know yours?"

"Conway Kohei, at your service," Conway introduces himself with a smirk. He adjusts his glasses with a peculiar grip, holding the frames with just the tips of his thumb and forefinger. "I saw your battle against Roark, and found you to be very intriguing, Julian."

Julian cringes under the other boy's intense stare and unsettling smile. Something about this guy is just plain creepy. "Oh, really? Thanks I guess?"

"Don't thank me quite yet," Conway plants his hands on his hips, his smirk growing a smidgen. "Your performance is impressive on the surface, but my careful research has revealed the cracks in your act."

"Act?" Lulu blinks her red eyes with a confused frown. "What's he referring to, Julian?"

Julian can only shrug.

"I've reviewed your battles, your personal record, your pokemon, and your tactics, and I can only come to one conclusion," Conway chuckles with a strange cadence, each laugh coming out as a Heh heh heh with a noticeable delay between each one. "You're a faker."

Julian's discomfort is quickly replaced with indignation. "Faker? What the hell are you on about?" He asks. 'Wait a second. Conway Kohei… Where have I heard that name before? I could've swore that I… Hold on, C_Kohei from Battlenet!'

"You're the one who was talking shit about me on Battlenet!" Julian growls, his aura prickling against his skin in anger.

"Not just a faker, but a narcissist who searches his own name online as well," Conway laughs in his unusual way again, the noise infuriating to Julian. "I can't see any way that a total unknown like you could have burst into the stage so suddenly without being artificially propped up. So? Who was it? Who gifted your autonomously battling pokemon to you?"

This motherfucker…

Julian can feel Lulu bristling alongside him. He briefly considers knocking the smug look right off of this kid's face before taking a deep breath and trying to steady himself. "Are you going somewhere with this?" Julian grounds out. "My friends and I've got plans, and you're currently interrupting them."

Conway nods. "I am indeed 'going somewhere with this'. I challenge you, Julian Angelo, to a pokemon battle!" He says, dramatically flourishing his arm as his glasses glint once more. "Pokemon battling has no room for fakers, not when everyone else puts in so much effort and planning, and I'll prove to you that a good plan beats mindless power any day."

Oh. Oh. This guy is just asking for it! Julian grins widely, his anger evaporating into the wind. "Really, now? How can I say no to that? How does one versus one sound? I'd love a full-team slug out, but my friends and I are busy."

Julian's confidence seems to unbalance Conway some, but the other boy's smirk returns in short order. "Agreeable," he says, holding out a hand to shake.

Julian takes it without a second thought.

"Julian, you don't have to do this," Zoey interjects as Conway backs up to make room. She holds a fist over her chest, her face concerned. "This guy is obviously baiting you."

Julian shakes his head. "I already shook on it, so now I've gotta do it," he says, drawing a long-suffering sigh out of Zoey, who walks away to make space for the impending battle.

"Just hurry up and crush this nerd, Angelo," Paul makes a show of checking his watch. "We're burning daylight."

"Well, since you're so eager for this one, how about you ref, Paul?" Julian offers with some snark.

Paul rolls his eyes. "Whatever," he says, walking to the edge of the road to oversee the fight.

Once both Conway and Julian are a fair distance from each other, Lulu turns to her partner with a fire in her eyes, and Julian can already see what she wants.

"Not this time, Lu," the blonde murmurs, keeping his voice down so only Lulu hears. "I get the suspicion he's got some kind of shenanigans planned, and if he already knows about you and Aniki, he might have prepared accordingly."

The Lucario's face and aura dips into a depressed valley, but she doesn't fight the decision. "You're going to use Kane?"

He nods, and takes the toad pokemon's ball from his belt. "Yeah, I think Kane is the way to go."

Paul takes that moment to clear his throat. "One on one, standard rules, between Angelo and…" He glances towards Conway. "What was your name again?"

"Conway," the spectacled boy repeats himself, frowning lightly as he adjusts his glasses.

"And Conway," Paul finishes. "Pick your first pokemon. Challenger goes first."

Across the way, Conway speaks up. "Even with so few battles to analyze, the fighting styles of your pokemon were easy to break down and plan for!" He says, adjusting his glasses before taking a pokeball from his belt. "I've devised a strategy that no amount of brute force can beat, so get ready! Shuckle, go!"

The ball flies from Conway's hand and pops open midair. In a flash of light, a Shuckle appears on Conway's side of the field.

The Shuckle is a peculiar pokemon. Much of its body is covered by a round, red shell dotted with white-rimmed holes. From those holes, four yellow, tentacle-like limbs popped out, followed by a head on a long neck.

Shuckle blinks his beady black eyes and turns his head to look at Conway. "Oh? You found 'em already?" Shuckle asks, his speech a bit slow and slurred. "Are we doing the new maneuver on 'em?"

'New maneuver, huh?' Julian wonders to himself. 'I guess he wasn't full of it when he said he was preparing specifically for this fight.'

Taking Kane's ball, Julian holds it to his mouth and whispers; "This guy is expecting Lulu or Aniki, but not you. He's got some kind of curveball strategy planned, so stay focused out there. I'll watch your back and only make callouts as needed."

The aura inside the ball simply radiates resignation.

Straightening up, Julian puts a confident smile on his face and waggles a finger at Conway. "So you're prepared for both my Lucario and Machoke, right?"

"Are you intimidated?" Conway smirks once more.

"Not really," Julian answers back. He winds his arm back. "We're about to teach you that there's no accounting for bad and outdated info. Kane, show him what you can do!" Julian hurls the ball.

Kane's ball flies up, the morning sun briefly glinting off of it, before the ball snaps open and shoots down a mass of white light. The light coalesces on the ground, and in a flash, Kane appears, already in his usual squat and wearing a disinterested frown.

Slowly, the Croagunk inspects his foe, then looks over his shoulder towards Julian. "Must I dance for you against something like this?" He asks with a dramatic sigh and a waved hand towards Shuckle.

"A Croagunk?" Conway raises an eyebrow. "Unexpected, but we prepared for pokemon far more impressive than a simple Croagunk."

Kane twitches. He let out a low croak, his orange cheek sacs inflating with the sound of churning liquid. "I retract my previous statement. I am ready to fight."

In the very back of his mind, in that 6th sense his aura has honed, Julian can feel the world begin to tug on him. Strength trickles into his limbs, and confidence pours into him. In the field, he can see Kane stand a little straighter, and his aura begins to swell. 'Is this Pride before a Fall? I hope we aren't the ones being set up to fail.'

Kane takes his stance, and Shuckle's tentacles tense.

"Ready?" Conway asks.

"Ready," Julian confirms.

Paul raises a hand and chops it down. "Begin."

As expected, Conway moves first. "Shuckle, Gyro Ball!"

Shuckle briefly glows pink, then the glow transforms to white as he retracts all of his limbs into his shell and spins up into a blur. He lifts a single inch off of the ground, then shoots towards Kane.

Kane remains still until Shuckle is practically on top of him, then the toad leaps into a front flip. Halfway through his flip, his hand crackles red, and he chops a brutal Brick Break down onto the passing Shuckle.

… Only for Brick Break to be deflected so violently that it almost wrenches Kane's arm out of its socket.

"Wha?" Kane's eyes widen the slightest amount.

Shuckle angles himself down and bounces off of the ground, throwing dirt, grass, and shards of rock as he rebounds up towards the airborne Kane.

Kane twists his body midair, reducing the Gyro Ball to a mere glancing blow on his side, but even that split second of contact knocks the wind from Julian's pokemon and sends him hurtling through the air end over end.

'What the fuck?!' Julian watches the exchange with a dropped jaw. 'What was that? I thought that Shuckle was a gimmicky tank pokemon! Where in the world did that power come from?'

A short distance away, Lulu, Zoey, and Paul seemed equally disbelieving.

"A Shuckle shouldn't have the raw power needed to send another pokemon flying with one attack!" Zoe exclaims, her eyes wide. "What's going on?"

Lulu shakes her head. "Surely it isn't just Gyro Ball at work, is it?"

Paul's shock fades, replaced with a calculating expression. He pulls his pokedex from his pocket and begins to scroll through it.

Back on the battlefield, Kane rights himself midair and lands on his feet. On his side is an ugly abrasion with a bruise beneath it.

Shuckle's Gyro Ball begins to lose speed as he drops back to the ground, eventually coming to a halt. Shuckle's head pops from his shell, his eyes rolling and dizzy.

Kane wastes no time jumping on the perceived weakness, darting across the ground in a serpentine pattern, his eyes locked on his foe.

"Withdraw, Shuckle," Conway orders coolly, that damnable smirk only getting wider. "Then Rock Throw."

Shuckle wordlessly obeys, pulling himself back into his shell. He shines with a pink sheen briefly, then the sheen transforms into blue just in time for another Brick Break to bounce off of him, leaving little more than a scuff.

"Dammit all," Kane audibly curses.

Shuckle shines pink once more, and then a yellow tentacle shoots out of the shell before digging into the ground and withdrawing a sharp stone. The tentacle whips the stone at a positively ridiculous speed towards Kane.

The toad moves like lightning to get out of the way, but Shuckle's attack still opens a thin cut along one of Kane's legs.

"It seems you're already backed into a corner," Conway once more let out his creepy laugh. "Don't worry. We're not ones to drag battles out. Shuckle, use Bug Bite."

Shuckle's head shoots out of his shell on a long, snakelike neck, aimed squarely at Kane. The attack is fast, but not quite as fast as Rock Throw, so Kane makes a clean dodge, circling around to Shuckle's side.

The missed Bug Bite sends Shuckle headfirst into a thick tree, but the wood does little to impede the attack. With an impact that rumbles the ground and sends shards of wood everywhere, Shuckle's bite crashes into the trunk. The tree groans ominously before falling over, hitting the ground with a sound like thunder and scattering all the bird pokemon in the other trees.

'Arceus above. Even Aniki might need a few whacks to fell a tree that size, and Shuckle did it on accident! It's the pink glow, that has to be doing something.' Julian's mind races as he tries to figure out what Conway and Shuckle's trick is. 'He seems to glow whenever he attacks? No, Bug Bite didn't have the pink glow beforehand. But maybe…?' Julian licks his lips."Kane, Mud Bomb!"

Kane stumbles a little bit over the unexpected order, but his throat swells before he spits a cannonball of mud at Shuckle.

"Withdraw!" Conway calls. "Then Rock Slide!"

Then it happens again. Shuckle, for less than a second, shines pink before the blue of Withdraw takes over. Mud Bomb smashes into Shuckle the moment Shuckle fully withdraws his neck, barely even scratching the pokemon. The pink shimmer then comes and goes again, and Shuckle's tentacles emerge before driving themselves deep into the soil. With a grunt of exertion, the yellow tentacles go taut, and Shuckle rips them up out of the ground to throw a practical tidal wave of earth.

Kane's eyes go wide in unison with Julian's. The wave is far too high and too broad to dodge!

"Shit shit shit! Kane! Focus and Brick Break your way through the worst of it!" Julian desperately calls.

Kane's face goes completely flat along with his aura. He lowers his stance as the stones and mixed earth race towards him, his hands crackling with sparks of red.

In a blur of movement, a chop cuts clean through a boulder.

Several spears of stone are shattered.

A large tree root explodes into pulp.

Kane's arms are flickers of movement as he holds his own against the Rock Slide. Several rocks and sharp bits of debris race past him, leaving gashes in their wake, but after ten of the most nail-biting seconds of Julian's life, the unreal attack comes to an end.

As the last bit of debris falls to the ground, Kane is left breathing heavily, but standing, amidst a mass of turned earth.

Conway's eyebrows rise as he sees that Shuckle's gargantuan attack was practically no sold. "Impressive, but how many more of those does Croagunk have in him, I wonder?"

'It has to be some kind of support move that's boosting him, and he uses it right when he switches between defending and attacking. Can he not do both at once?' Julian thinks through Kane's arsenal, and when he remembers one move in particular, he smiles. 'Yeah, we can work with this.'

"Kane!" The blonde calls into the field. "I've got him figured out! Follow my lead! Surround him with Double Team and move in to attack!"

"I do hope you know what you're doing, Trainer," Kane sneers, but he does as Julian says. All around Shuckle, a dozen illusionary clones of Kane appear, each one indistinguishable from the original. Then as a team, all the clones pounce upon Shuckle.

'Conway really prides himself on being a smart guy, doesn't he? If he doesn't know which direction the attack is coming from, then the smartest and safest route is to…'

"Withdraw!"

'…Defend!'

The second that Shuckle's mysterious support move ends and Withdraw begins, Julian says a word that takes the smile right off of Conway's face, and plants an evil one on Kane's.

"Taunt!"

"Che," Kane scoffs at Shuckle. "Running to hide in your shell once more? Your cowardice makes me sick."

The words that fall from Kane's mouth have a supernatural double timbre to them. The effects of Taunt are so pronounced that Julian feels a prickle of irritation, and he's not even the target!

"Shuckle, no!" Conway calls, his face set in panic. "Don't fall for it!"

The words fall on deaf ears, as Shuckle pops back out of his shell, anger shining in his beady eyes. Kane's illusions fade as he comes within arm's reach of Shuckle, who lashes out with a Bug Bite. A pair of yellow jaws clamp down around Kane's shoulder…

… And do virtually nothing.

"What an interesting technique," Kane's expression is positively vile. "Was the next step of your plan throwing the match?"

The toad pokemon raises a hand, a noxious drop of purple dribbling from his middle finger, before he jabs it into Shuckle's neck, drawing winces from all around.

"Because I think you lose."

Conway's pokemon releases Kane with a cry and shuffles away, but the damage is already done. A sickly purple color beneath Shuckle's skin slowly begins to run down his neck and into his shell.

"Power Trick…"

Zoey pulls her eyes away from the ongoing battle when she hears Paul's voice. "Power Trick?"

"It's an advanced move that swaps the user's attack and defense," Paul looks up from his pokedex to see Kane staring down the now-ill Shuckle. "For a pokemon that is nothing but defense like Shuckle, it turns them into a powerhouse. Not many pokemon can learn it, so almost no one knows about it."

"So that's where Shuckle's might and Conway's confidence came from," Lulu murmurs to herself.

Zoey connects the dots and smiles brightly. "So Julian figured it out and stopped Power Trick dead with Taunt! He really is something when he's not being a meathead on purpose!"

"Now it's just a waiting game," Paul slips his pokedex back into his pocket and crosses his arms.

Back in the battlefield, Conway's previous bravado is all but gone as his pokemon begins to shake with weakness. Apparently, the bi-spectacled trainer didn't account for his plan potentially coming off the rails.

"Shuckle, use Rest!" Conway orders, a slight warble to his voice.

"Run, run, run back into your shell, is that all you can do?" Kane Taunts again without needing instruction. "You're pathetic."

"Shut up!" Shuckle shouts, once again blocking out Conway's words in his anger. Shuckle's tentacles sluggishly shoot out, scooping stones from the ground before they're shot one after another at Kane.

Compared to Shuckle's previous assault, the stones are practically moving through molasses. Kane steps forward, weaving around the first rock, and then smacking the second one out of the air. He catches the third one and uses it to deflect the fourth.

"Shuckle, please listen to me!"

The fog begins to clear from the eyes of Shuckle.

"Is this all that you can do?"

Yellow tentacles flail once more, and another burst of stones shoots at Kane.

'C'mon, Kane. Don't drag this out! Taunt is getting less effective each time!' Julian sees Shuckle already beginning to shake off his third dose of Taunt.

Luckily, Julian's pokemon surges forward, ducking low under the sloppy throws and swinging another Poison Jab that catches one of Shuckle's tentacles, producing a painful 'thwack!'

Hissing in pain, Shuckle pulls the tentacle back, but the limb goes limp halfway through being retracted. At the same time, Shuckle's head begins to droop as the poison running through his system saps his energy. With a final groan, Conway's pokemon finally let his head drop to the ground. He struggles to raise his head, then his eyes drift shut, and he finally submits to unconsciousness.

"And that's all she wrote!" Julian exclaims, a grin splitting his face. "Mister referee, the call?"

"Shuckle is unable to battle, Angelo is the winner," Paul announces lackadaisically.

"How did…" Conway runs a hand through his hair in disbelief. "But, I didn't foresee this! How did this happen?"

"You know what they say about plans and first contact with the enemy," Julian shrugs as he steps into the battlefield and takes off his backpack. Kneeling at Kane's side, the teen pulls a capped spray bottle of Potion from his bag. "Nice fight, Kane. You killed it out there," he praises, giving each one of Kane's wounds a quick spritz of healing solution.

Kane says nothing, but his usually calm aura ripples with self-satisfaction.

Conway, meanwhile, recalls his defeated Shuckle back into his pokeball with slumped shoulders before making his way over to Julian.

Once the last of Kane's wounds are treated, Julian puts the Potion away and stands, offering a hand for Conway to shake. "Good battle. You had me going with whatever that one move was."

Instead of a handshake, several neatly folded $20 bills are dropped into Julian's hand.

"Eh?" Julian looks between the money and Conway. "We didn't agree on an ante,"

"We didn't," Conway sighs, taking his glasses off and cleaning the lenses with the edge of his shirt. "But I'm of the opinion that you earned some compensation for the trouble I've caused you. It's standard protocol, after all. You have my apologies for the accusations I leveled at you, as well. I don't believe an artificially propped up trainer would have been able to defeat our Power Trick stratagem." Conway replaces his glasses and looks away, his aura twisting itself in shame. "Your care for your pokemon is obvious, and that alone should have been enough for me to conclude that there was an error in my analysis of you, yet I insisted on a battle anyway."

Oh. Julian frowns to himself, not expecting this turn. He thought this kid would be swearing vengeance as some kind of rival, not apologizing. Feeling Lulu retaking her usual place at his side, Julian gives her a glance.

The Lucario says nothing, waiting for him to decide on what to do without her interfering.

Looking down again at the money in his hand, Julian holds it back out to Conway. "Take this back. We'll call this one even, okay?"

Surprise flashes across Conway's face. "Are you certain?"

"Yeah," Julian smiles. "You and your pokemon are good, and it was a fun battle. Shit, if I'm being serious, that was the most tense battle I've had in my short time as a trainer. Take the money back and use it on an Antidote or something for next time. Kane's poison is some nasty stuff."

His glasses glinting in the light, ('does he do that on purpose?') Conway takes the small stack of bills back. "Very well. This has been an enlightening experience, and I'll use everything I've learned here for the next time we battle. As I understand, you are aiming for the Lily of the Valley conference?"

"That we are."

"Then we're in direct competition, you and I, for I am as well," Conway smiles. "I take it there will be no hard feelings when I knock you out of the tournament?"

Julian throws his head back and laughs. This guy's all right after all. "I was about to ask you the same thing, pal."

"Hey, guys?" Zoe calls.

Julian and Conway both turn towards Zoey, who is wearing a flat expression.

"I don't mean to rain on your bro parade, but maybe we should get moving?" She says, pointing her thumb over her shoulder.

Both Julian and Conway follow the thumb, and the color drains from Julian's face.

The partially paved outskirts road is absolutely trashed after the battle. The road is covered in dirt, rocks, other debris, and has quite a few new cracks and potholes.

'If that Officer Jenny who busted me and Paul catches us here, we're dead,' Julian winces. "Yeah, I think it's a good idea to not be here right now. Double time, everyone!"

With that, the group of teenagers flee the scene towards Jubilife.

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