[PKMN OPEN] Pokémon Spear [M] [IC]

There Is A Phone In This Post Also So It Is Therefore Unoriginal And Not Worth Reading Read It Anyway Though
Featuring Xan's Mum, Xan, Kass and Jerry​

"That sounds like it could be serious..."

"I made an anonymous report to the police, so as far as I'm concerned it's sorted."

"Are you sure you're all right, though?"

"Peachy. I don't think it's anything to worry about."

"Didn't you say they knew who you were?"

"They claimed to know who we were - honestly I'm not convinced, seemed to me like posturing. Can't speak for the others but I'm pretty sure they had somehow mistaken me for someone else. Thought I was someone I'm not, at any rate."

"Mmm... I still worry about you, you know?"

"Me? Look, I understand but I really wouldn't be, at least for the sake of this. I'll put it this way - either they don't really know a thing about me, or they are aware of public knowledge and they're hyper-incompetent. I don't think either situation is cause for concern."

"You're sure?"

Xan exhaled as they took a moment to reorient themselves on the bed, sparing a momentary glance to the Abra across the room. "Mum, you've seen how capable we are in a gym battle. We get a lot more mileage in less restrictive environments. And our- these are people who deliberately and aggressively followed a publicly known psychokineticist into a confined space with an abundance of loose rock, without even bothering to call out any Pokémon; I'm not going to lose sleep over the threat of people who actively seek out concussions."

There was a laugh from the other end of the phone, "Well, when you put it like that, I'm sure Kass can keep you out of trouble. But what about your friends?"

"My classmates? They'd forfeit the Gym Challenge if they really tried to hurt us, but you're right, perhaps I should be more worried about them..."

"Oh, stop it! You know what I mean."

"Well I can't do much more than I've already done. They're their own people, I don't control them - hell I don't even talk to them-"

"Oh, but you should, dear! It could be good-"

"Mum, we've been over this..."

"- for you to get to know them a little better! You know there's that girl who was there with you, Valerie, she does the streams on Struggle! You could do a collaboration with her!"

"Mum... I love you very much. That is competition for the worst thing anyone has said to me."

"Dear, I'm sure it's not that bad - there has to be someone you can make friends with."

"I'm sure some would be fine with it, I'd just rather not. There are a couple so far I've roped into helping me with my research; they've exercised comfortable distance, which I can only hope continues."

An exhale sounded over the receiver - almost a laugh, but not quite. If what her child was saying was just an unfunny joke, then she wouldn't have to acknowledge that it was real.

"And of course there's Jerry, who certainly seems to understand," Xan continued. "They and Kass get along well, which I think helps."

"That's really nice, dear! I'm glad those two are happy- oh, it's getting up to lunch-time here, so I'd better get going. But I'll be sure to keep in touch!"

"Okay, Mum. Yeah, we should probably get back to training."

Kass' ears perked up, sensing the situation. They bid Jerry wait a moment and began to bounce over to Xan's side.

"There's that next gym now, isn't there? We'll all be wishing you the best of luck, dear!"

"Thanks."

"Okie dokie, buh bye! Bye Kass, love you! Love you dear!"

"Bye Mum, love you too. Bye."

"Abra abra!" A certain Abra joined in as the call came to a close. The Psychic Pokémon and human psychic turned to look at each other, the former passing over a telepathic question. A series of connected concepts that Xan had long since identified as Kass' understanding of 'training' - the kind of routine work that they did for training, at least.

"Well," Xan breathed out, running a hand through their hair. "It's true that I'm not fully comatose from that. We really should- give me about twenty minutes, then I'll make a snack and we can start after that."

The next fifteen minutes went by uneventfully and in near-silence. Xan took a little while to relax, Kass spotted something out the window and had gone over to investigate, and Jerry spent the time wondering if shoes were hungry. Following that, Xan remembered something as they sorted everyone out some toast and jam; a few people had already fought Kabu on their first trip to Motostoke, and much if not all of the Gym's challenge should have remained the same. At the very least it could be useful to compare and contrast with the challengers who would surely be taking Kabu on soon - and so, the training plan changed from odd incense trials to some light work on autokinesis. Psychokinetic propulsion of the self, which Jerry seemed to have been picking up on decently nowadays - it had taken a bit, but the Psyduck had realised now that being mostly round meant that he could usually just apply force to the opposite side of his body he wanted to go and wind up with reasonable success. He often ended up simply toppling over and rolling a fair distance, but at least there wasn't awkward twisting involved and movement was still a positive result. With their only frame of reference before Jerry being Kass and themselves, Xan wasn't sure how they felt about how much the Psyduck's attempts at agility reminded them of their own. Even now, they figured that the most important subject they had learned for the sake of psychic power was how to fall over without hurting themselves. Jerry seemed to be a natural at that - though to be fair, perhaps that was just body shape.

Partway through the little bit of training the three ended up doing, Xan had put on some popcorn for the group to snack on once they'd moved on to their next activity: watching the Gym Contenders. Jerry, a little dizzy from training, seemed reasonably revitalised by the idea of a tasty treat. That and Xan hooking up their laptop to the bigger screen in the hotel room meant that the Psyduck was much better set up for an intense and professional watch party than he often had been in the past. Xan was a little surprised, upon looking up a MewTube video they'd seen earlier, to see what appeared to be a similar video only slightly different. A sequel! That Raphael Allard sure was punctual. A little further digging revealed that Simon Pearburgh had made a second attempt too, much to Kass' excitement.

The group snacked and watched. Xan studied the screen intently, noting key points and strategic ideas on their low-tech phone. Kass was fully invested, celebrating every small victory of the contenders and quietly commending the gym leader and his Pokémon when they pushed the challengers back. Every now and then they would pass on an idea to their human research partner. Jerry stared at the events unfolding, trying to calculate a great many things. Like exactly how much hot was there in a fire, and shoes - how did they work? Did fire hunger for cold? Did shoe hunger for foot? Out of all the possible stances the humans could choose to stand in, in which reality was there maximum shoe satiation? If a shoe was fire, how much hot would shoe be?

Xan took a moment to cheekily ask their two companions if they happened to know any Rock moves. They sighed and, at Kass' request, reluctantly kept Raph's video playing until the end even after the battle had finished. Simon's battle brought Kass much excitement - or rather, the prospect of it did. The Abra quickly became confused and a little put off. The impression that was communicated to Xan was that of unfamiliarity and weariness, and Kass didn't complain when Xan stopped the video the moment the fight was over.

"So, what have we learned?" With the video silence, Xan turned the focus of the room to discussion. "Centiskorch is Fire/Bug, they have Sunny Day, Solar Beam, Fire Lash, Scald and Thunder Fang. There's for sure a sixth, which could be a number of things. It's a lot of raw power and coverage, and in spite of being a potent physical attacker their main strategy involves staying put and maintaining distance. What else have we got?"

Kass piped up, throwing into Xan's mind mental sunshine. Then mental rainfall, and then the collection of concepts that the human recognised as Jerry.

"Sun, rain, Jer- yep, Cloud Nine. Great point. Solarbeam is dangerous for Jerry, but without Sunny Day to boost it it becomes highly telegraphed. Thunder Fang is still an issue, but perhaps if Centiskorch likes keeping distance anyway and Jerry can keep it too, then that could be less trouble than it might seem."

"Psy-iy," Jerry uttered shakily, staring. Kass gave Xan a look, but even the psychic wasn't oblivious enough to miss the Psyduck's meaning.

"If you don't feel up to it, Jerry, I won't force you. It's always your choice and that's always on the table. In the event that you did hypothetically face Centiskorch or a similar opponent, however, the information is useful to keep in mind. Right?"

Though he didn't fully relax, Jerry nodded a little.

"Right, great. I would be worried about a Bug move being the last, Kass. If something comes out that isn't one of the five we know I'll point it out and we can get a little more comfortable. Hmm... the whole artillery mode it has going on is dangerous. Vito is fast indeed while rolling - overuse of psychoportation could well wear you out first, but if well-timed we could perhaps exploit a difficulty Centiskorch has with turning, if such a thing exists..."

The two Pokémon put hands to their chins in thought. Kass was considering the question in hand - Jerry was thinking about a Centiskorch with hot shoes.

"Ok, let's run through these again with that in mind. Say something if you see anything interesting, all right?"

With an affirmative from both research partners, Xan clicked back to the first video, rewound it to the beginning and hit play.

The Fire Gym Just Describes The Pokémon Type In There The Gym Is Not On Fire There Is No Need For The Emergency Services At This Time
Featuring Xan, Kass and Jerry vs Some Gym Guy and a Litwick but then Kabu and Centiskorch
(Jerry does not feature in the Centiskorch fight along with Kass though that would be cheating)​

Ah, Motostoke Gym. Not the most comfortable of places - and not just for the usual reasons Pokémon Gyms were uncomfortable for Xan. The psychic hoped that the temperature would be a little lower when it came to battling Kabu; here in the mission environment, the air was warm and humid. Was it because of a lack of air conditioning, or was it just a byproduct of the Fire-type Pokémon and heated pools? Perhaps both. Maybe the area was kept hot for the sake of the Fire-type Pokémon that were the focus of the challengers' assignment. All fair for the Pokémon, Xan supposed, though it didn't help their physical comfort any. It was a warm enough day already, and in this case being indoors wasn't the solace that would typically be expected. Though psychokinesis could help regulate air-flow, the inside of Xan's helmet was still decidedly stuffy. Unfortunately, even if they cared none for their privacy, they were certain the psychic focus their headgear provided would be necessary for doing well here.

Kass and Jerry both were at the human's side. Jerry was in a confident mood - confident for the Psyduck, at any rate. Kass was raring to go, but knew to hold back a little. Strategy had already been discussed, and the Abra was going to take it easy what with Centiskorch looming on the horizon and all. They'd be taking the high ground and spotting targets, while Jerry assisted Xan on the ground with his situationally appropriate Water-type moves. Xan, of course, would be who the plan all rested on; the Pokéballs were doled out to the trainer specifically, and capture would be what would win the day for the team.

"Your objective in this challenge is to capture one of the Fire-type Pokémon in this simulated wild area," the Gym employee in front of the bunch explained. Xan was well aware of the challenge and its little quirks, but couldn't be bothered to hurry the situation along - as if explaining the challenge wasn't compulsory protocol anyway. "Our trainers will be trying to stop you, and I'm sure the Pokémon in the area will make effort to avoid capture. You will have a time limit of thirty minutes to complete the challenge. Pokéballs are not limited within reason and will be provided - you may take as many as you like now and may return to this area during the challenge to take more. Do you have any questions or are you ready to proceed?"

"Ready," Xan murmured.

"Then the announcer will count you in shortly. Good luck in the challenge."

"Thank you."

The human and their two research partners made their way through the gate. The short wait for the challenge to begin was punctuated with focus - their strategy should mean quick success for them if they could put the plan into action fast enough, before the Gym trainers had much time to react to it. A few of the more recent attempts from other challengers that Xan had reviewed were particularly revealing; the restrictions on participants for this challenge were significantly looser than they usually were. And, unlike what they had tried in Hulbury, Xan had a feeling that precedent was on their side in allowing more unorthodox method.

Xan listened as the countdown began, and they stopped listening as soon as they heard the word 'begin' - it seemed rare that the commentator ever said anything of use to an informed viewer, and common indeed that they would say something brazen or irritating. The three psychics sprang into action - though for Xan it was more of a half-jog borne of incoming heat exhaustion and for Jerry it was more of a panicked waddle, though by all means still into action - and set about their tasks. Kass was the fastest of the lot, acrobatically springing about the place and over troublesome foliage with the aid of their psychic power. Xan kept an eye on the Abra's position as they ventured out into the potential danger-zone, Jerry following shortly behind on agitated look-out for anything that could try to stop them.

A telepathic warning reached the minds of the duo on foot, and a brief glimpse of Kass the scout revealed a pointing finger. Bad news in that direction, then. Around the opposite corner was an oval-shaped clearing. Rocks were strewn about, a few smaller plants had taken root near them and a steaming pool of water was just slightly off from the clearing's centre. Thick foliage framed the three easy entrances to the place. There was noise of rustling from the other side of the leaves and branches, too dense to see through properly - above most of the shrubbery, a quick wave from a golden hand. Xan and Jerry took cover, the former behind a rock and the latter happily swishing into the pool. Only a few seconds of waiting for whatever Kass had flushed out went by before Xan caught footsteps behind them; the Gym Trainers had evidently caught on to where the challengers were, and here was the one - a Litwick in tow - that Kass had warned them of earlier.

"Got you now!" The gym employee announced with fervour.

"Here come the staff," Xan muttered Jerry's way, though on inspection Jerry appeared more concerned with something else - he was pointing in the direction of one of the entrances to the clearing, where a Sizzlipede had scurried over. The challenger shrugged, caught between trainer and 'wild', and tossed a Pokéball.

The trainer's Litwick, prepared for this very occasion, gauged its trajectory and shot a bolt of embers at the flying capture device. The ball stopped mid-air, turning as if to watch the Fire attack pass it by, then abruptly resumed its journey toward the Sizzlipede. It sucked up the bug, rolled once, then the Pokémon broke free and continued high-tailing it toward the only safe exit from the clearing. The Litwick gasped, astounded at this act of trickery. The trainer, much less astounded and also less prone to gasping, decided it was time to go on the offensive.

"Let's go Litwick! Astonish!"

As Jerry, prepared with the expert knowledge of 'water good' leapt from the steaming pool, flapping his arms in a liquid-spraying display that was potentially intimidating and definitely funny-looking, the Litwick faced down the Psyduck with confidence inspired by their trainer. With a staccato shriek they leapt also, and Jerry's face blanched. The duck almost choked on the water he had been preparing to attack with. He was prepared for fire, but ghosts? That was scary!

Jerry's antics were distracting the trainer and Litwick, and those two seemed perfectly fine with that. The Sizzlipede had fled the clearing and Xan was still there, so they didn't have to give chase! Made sense, right? Wrong! The group had a scout, and lobs were a thing! Jumping up over the shrubbery again was the agile Abra, on the tail of the Sizzlipede once more. The signalling star-jump guided Xan's aim as the second Pokéball launched over foliage, accompanied by skittering noises, the telltale thrum of psychic exertion and lastly the satisfying sound of energy slurpage. In the moments following, Kass jumped up once again and unfamiliar-yet-familiar stream of consciousness ran across Xan's mind. First, negative. Failed capture again? Luck wasn't fantastic today. Second and third thoughts in quick succession: danger, retreat. The trainers were on to Kass, then. Xan had faith that the Abra could flee easily enough.

Jerry seemed to be having a similar idea - fleeing, that was. Poor Jerry. Not quite as adept as Kass, the Psyduck was running circles around the pool and the trainer's Litwick, to their credit not entirely sinister, seemed to be having a whale of a time giving chase. Before Xan could think of a way to rectify this situation the opportunity miraculously presented itself.

"Litwick, ready!" The gym trainer's stance went from lax to energetic, and Xan followed their gaze to the left and behind, where Kass had chased the Sizzlipede earlier. There, poking through the foliage, seemingly enticed at the prospect of being involved with whatever was going on here, was a Vulpix. The new arrival dashed out and toward the other two Pokémon, and Xan drew another couple of Pokéballs from their pockets.

"Jerry, I can stall the Litwick if you can prep the Vulpix!" Xan called out, and Jerry, eager to be away from the Ghost-type, began obliging. The candle Pokémon wasn't having it, though, and neither was their trainer.

"Litwick, get a- pblth- hey-!" Surges of uncomfortably warm water splashed out from the steaming pool as though kicked by a series of invisible legs. The gym trainer spluttered and spat - it probably didn't taste good - and the Litwick whined and dove for cover behind a rock. The Herculean Jerry, free from the shackles of spooky ghostfright, launched a Water Pulse at the intruding Vulpix that sent them sprawling back the way they came. Still, the Vulpix didn't flee - they took one look up at Xan, then Jerry, then let out a shrill bark. Jerry dribbled water. Xan was expecting evasive action that would make aiming harder, but apparently that wasn't going to happen.

"Some interest in us, I guess? Well, I'm not one to look a gift Rapidash in the mouth-"

The psychic pulled out a ball and threw it into the air. It twirled in the air in circles, as if caught in a tornado. From behind a rock, a fiery missile flew - like a heat-seeking missile, except the missile had already found the heat so it was just fire and had managed to learn to home in on whatever it felt like - it struck the Pokéball on its underside and sent it flying into the distance, behind foliage and out of sight.

"Aaah, you got one," praised the challenger, mildly impressed at Litwick's aim. With no fanfare the second Pokéball - Xan had kicked it across the ground with a foot while the other was in the air - hopped up to the Vulpix and drew them in, rolled three times and clicked.

"Challenger seven-seven-five has captured a Pokémon, completing the challenge!" Xan's selective hearing momentarily un-blocked the commentator. Confirmation that they had succeeded was nice. They could go back to being blocked now. They heard laughter from through the foliage and spotted hints of gold above the leaves - Kass must be engaged in some kind of expressive victory.

"Bleh. You know how gross that water tasted? Like wet fur and soot," the gym trainer complained. They made exaggerated face-motions and disgusted expressions but hid a hint of a smile beneath. "That was a dirty trick, you know."

"Sure was. A dirty trick that precedent supports as rules-legal, admittedly, but yeah." The challenger shrugged. "That's on me, sorry - hard not to splash, can't exactly get the laminar flow like a Psyduck mouth can. Though I don't expect Psyduck water tastes much better."

---

Kabu, the man of fire himself. A so-called roadblock for would-be challengers of the Pokémon League. Stern and unforgiving, so the legends said. Xan wasn't sure about their confidence on this one; Centiskorch was, by most any metric, an utter powerhouse. Just about any move they could throw out, if it landed, would be seriously damaging for Kass. The Abra was adept at dodging, but they couldn't be expected to dodge perfectly forever. The psychic could only hope that their research partner had enough focus and energy, and the strategies they had devised together would be enough. They had prepared as much as they reasonably could, and even if they hadn't it wasn't like they could do anything about it now - they walked out onto the field in front of them, meeting the Gym Leader on the other side.

"Challenger seven-seven-five... Xan," said Kabu, his tone measured. "A practitioner of the unorthodox, at Hulbury, and here in Motostoke, in my Gym Mission. Rest assured Centiskorch and I are well prepared for the unusual."

The challenger glanced to the side momentarily, "Yeah of course you are, you're a Gym Leader, you're supposed to be - can we get the battle started?"

"Oh?" The leader raised one eyebrow. "You have somewhere to be?"

"Not really, I just dislike the way these pre-battle conversations typically go."

"Hmph," Kabu gave a dry laugh. "In that case - show me what you've got, challenger."

"Wish I could- let's go, Kass," Xan backed off, releasing their Abra partner from a Pokéball as they did. "It's the Centiskorch, Bug/Fire, you know the drill. Remember unknown move six. I'll let you know." The Abra gave a double thumbs-up of understanding and twirled about into a crouch, ready to spring into action. With his typical call of 'Centiskorch!' Kabu threw up a ball and the Radiator Pokémon burst forth onto the field. Kass momentarily broke his ready pose to give a friendly wave. Centiskorch didn't respond - but that was fine! Battle focus and stage appearance, and all that.

The fight began, and Kass backed up. At Kabu's command, Centiskorch gladly took control of the centre of the space, raising up a miniature sun to radiate heat across the field. Xan scoffed and momentarily raised a hand to try to block it out, as though that would do any good. So much for cooling off.

"Fire Lash danger prio, Solarbeam relevant," called the challenger. Kass nodded. Patience.

"Danger, hm?" Kabu echoed. "Centiskorch, Fire Lash!"

A long tendril of flame whipped out from the leader's ace, and the Abra rolled to the side to avoid it. The lash didn't burn out, continuing to flare as it chased the Psychic type, following the movements of Centiskorch's head. Kass jumped acrobatically to the right, springing up and over the rope of fire as if skipping, making exaggerated sweating motions at the height of their leaps. The Psi Pokémon seemed fairly safe at this distance... but they weren't exactly a threat, either. And who was wearing out faster? Eventually they Teleported to the other side of the field and launched a psychokinetic bolt Centiskorch's way, but the ace Pokémon's body curled around itself and felt only a breeze from its nearby passing.

"Scald, Centiskorch," was Kabu's next command. "Short bursts. Hold."

Missiles of water were spewed one after the other Kass' way, and just like that they were on the evasive again. Attack after attack they vaulted away from as they dodged to one side, until eventually they Teleported once again.

"There!" The Gym Leader was more than prepared for the movement, and Centiskorch's head didn't hesitate to follow - the pressure was immediately back onto Kass, who yelped a little as a few droplets of boiling water got their legs. Another big jump to the side and they were out of trouble for now, but they'd have to do something quick.

"Looking good, Kass!"

A benign enough remark, but Xan's partner knew that was a signal. Caution or no, they couldn't play evasive forever; it was time to go on the offensive. Centiskorch was a powerful opponent, likely the most powerful they had ever faced so far. But they had the experience and the strategy, and if Xan believed that they had a reasonable chance at winning then Kass was inclined to believe them. Now was as good a time as any to prove them right. With a decisive hop, Kass glowed white and disappeared.

Kabu scanned the field for an Abra, but found none. Indeed, there was no Abra still on the Gym premises - high above Centiskorch, still wreathed in the gleaming energy of evolution, Kass the Kadabra carried a growing sphere of psychokinetic potential on rapid descent toward their foe. Glorious moustache rippling in the wind they swooped down, and by the time the Leader or his ace noticed it was already too late to avoid. Centiskorch had been curling and coiling as it turned, and now it rested in almost a perfect circle - a potent blast to its centre would strike a considerable part of the bug without doubt; there was no way to move all of their body away at the same time.

There was a burst of force and sound as the Confusion-bomb hit the ground and the explosion spread from the impact point. Like a side-on view of a popped balloon, Centiskorch was blasted away and their tail and head smacked into each other. A critical hit for sure - and now it was time for Kass to put the pressure on. But with what? The newly-Kadabra could feel all the new motes of potential tingling in their head and down their arms into their fingertips. Triumph gave way to pensiveness. Kabu didn't need time to make a decision.

"Push back," the Gym Leader called out. "Bug Bite!"

In spite of the heavy impact to the noggin, Centiskorch remained in a focused head-space. As the mandibles came in danger flared harshly in Kass' brain and they knew they had only a moment to teleport away. Oh wow, was that an increase in the potency of their precognitive ability? Oh, right- Teleport was really useful, how did they manage that again-? Searing pain assaulted their senses as insectoid chompers clamped around their forearm - hey, that bit of their arm looked new, and there were claws now? Freaky! - and then their shoulder and their other arm. After a little moment of panicked wrestling the Kadabra managed to wrest themselves free by means of psychoporting out and away. They breathed out in pain and raised their spoon - they had a spoon now! That was so cool - wanting to launch a counter-attack, but so much new power was at the ready they were finding it difficult to get a bead on a concrete plan of action.

"No time for indecision!" The psychic, Kass' partner called. While not typically empathic, Xan could recognise hesitation. "The old power's still there, just more potent! No need to branch out yet!"

Xan was right, in a sense, Kass could tell. They knew what their partner was saying to be true, and yet it was much easier said than done to fully act on that. The Kadabra was caught in a maze of additional branching roads of possibility, with no map to guide them. The old paths were still there, but tangled in a web of others that crossed in front and over and between. Arceus, this whole evolution business was a lot more confusing than everyone made it seem...

Caught in a reverie, Kass barely had time to teleport out of the path of a Fire Lash that petered out into smoke the moment they disappeared. Before they could formulate the next move in their head, they spotted a beam of condensed sunlight on collision course for their chest and the entire waking world went poof!

"Challenger seven-seven-five's Pokémon is unable to battle! Gym Leader Kabu is the victor!"

The moment the announcement was called over the speakers, Xan jogged out from their place on the field - sweltering though they were. They recalled their fallen partner and whispered into their ball.

"No worries, Kass. I suppose a lot of new options just opened up..." They turned to leave in urgency, but noticing Kabu's gaze on them coaxed them into remaining for a moment to quickly offer something approaching an explanation. "Sorry about that," they addressed the leader. "Maybe not the most opportune time for split attention, but there you go."

"Mm," Kabu agreed. "Mid-battle evolution won't always be the assured victory that the success stories might make it seem."

"Believe me, I'm well aware," the challenger murmured.

"You know what happened here, yes?"

"I couldn't tell you exactly what happened," the psychic answered with a waggle of one hand as they resumed their shuffle toward the exit. They hesitated for a moment, realising they'd forgotten to even call out that Bug Bite was Centiskorch's sixth move. In the end they doubt it would have made a difference, but it was still evidence of their own distraction. "Could be a number of things, I'll have to ask Kass later about their end. But I'm not surprised that it did happen, I can tell you that much - safe to say we have a lot of untested techniques to work on. We'll be back another time, for sure."

It was unusual to see a trainer so uninvested in a defeat at a Pokémon Gym, Kabu mused. There was something else there, though, a flicker of heat that the Leader detected in the psychic's words and actions. Their eagerness to leave wasn't a desire to escape, something had shifted since their talk at the beginning of the fight. It wasn't hard to guess what the difference was, and for some reason that meant that now, unlike before, the challenger most certainly did have somewhere else to be. Behind that visor there was something smouldering that wasn't for this battle, or one in the future, but for something else entirely. Something behind the things they explicitly spoke of.

"I'm glad. I can hear it, you know. In your voice," said Kabu, and Xan paused in their move to leave.

"Hm? Sorry, what is it?"

"Go chase it. I can tell that your fire is burning for something els-"

Xan scoffed, "Oh come on, fire? Fuck off." They shook their head, dismissive, and wasted no further time in exiting the Gym, muttering on their way out, "Sick and tired of these thematic metaphors. Subtlety is dead. Thought I was done with this shit after Nessa's Gym..."

Kabu frowned as he watched the challenger leave. Beneath his furrowed brow, a knowing smirk began to tug nigh-invisibly at the leader's face. Oh, there was a fire there, all right.

Kass evolved into Kadabra!
Kass learned Kinesis!
Kass learned Disable!
Kass learned Psybeam!
Kass learned Reflect!

Xan did not earn the Fire Badge but honestly has more important things to think about right now!

Click to expand...