Tim T
"Challenger 252, I would almost suppose you were trying to follow in Gordie's footsteps, coming to challenge the Stow-on-Side Gym with Rocks." Bea's voice was serious and her face mirthless. She had probably meant that to be personable banter, but it rather sounded like a criticism coming from her. Pelj, the little Rolycoly that would, bounced in anticipation by Tim's leg.
"I hadn't considered that," Tim said. Bea knew apparently that Tim—or Nigel rather, as far as she was likely to be concerned—was very familiar with the rules around this Gym battle. The staff might have said something about his showing up to read the rulebook. Who even did that these days? As such, she and Tim were exchanging some words while the announcer or referee or whoever was rattling off the rules for the audience, as if the audience needed to hear it either. "I have no interest in following Gordie's example," Tim continued through the handkerchief around his mouth. "I'm not here to make a statement or to posture."
Bea raised an eyebrow, arms crossed where she stood at the other side of the small raised platform that would be the battlefield. She always seemed to have such an intensity about her palpable through the monitors. It was even more powerful in person. Tim hoped he wasn't visibly shrinking from her while holding eye contact. "Then why are you here to battle me?" Bea asked simply. "If you only wanted to win, you would have challenged Allister and been at less of a disadvantage."
Why? That wasn't important. Tim was here because he had to be. Allister would not have been the right choice. It had to be Bea because that's how it had to be. It had to be done, and done this way. If Tim had had the option, he would have asked to challenge both the Leaders at once, or perhaps in sequence. That it would have been folly wasn't important. That this was likely folly now wasn't important. It wasn't important. It had to be done. "I'm allowed my secrets," Tim said unhelpfully.
Bea narrowed her eyes. It was rather well known that she had a bit of a sweet tooth she preferred to keep under wraps, and her co-Leader at this Gym literally wore a full mask. The pointedness of Tim's remark was not lost on her. "If you will not voice your conviction, then show me your resolve!" Bea boomed as the rules reading wrapped up. She threw her clenched fists down to her sides, straightening up, seeming to grow in size despite her shortness compared to Tim. It was a presence Tim had felt in Nessa and Kabu, that he had felt the stirrings of in the other challengers he'd spoken with these last months.
Pelj revved her wheel, raring to go, but didn't shoot off. Tim had already discussed the opening plan with her. "Stonjourner, start us off!" Tim said, sending forward Henj's scuffed old ball. Tim had made sure to deploy before Bea.
Sure enough, Bea paused for the briefest of moments, an almost imperceptible fraction of a second, gaze shifting off Pelj, and then she threw out her own mon. "Knock them down, Grapploct!"
Henj touched down with a resounding thud opposite Bea's stout Grapploct straightening up on its hind tentacles, four arms up in anticipation. Whether or not Bea knew as much, Tim had already started off on his front foot. As with other Leaders with their own signature mons, Bea would be hesitant to leave Machamp out of this match, but Tim didn't want to face down her Sirfetch'd, which she would almost certainly have led with if Tim had sent Pelj zipping into the field. Tim kept Henj's ball in his hand, ready.
"Gravity!"
"Circle Throw!"
Right to the point. Henj clapped out his bass note and the air grew heavy, but even with the strange weight Grapploct managed to close before Henj could back up. It wrapped its four forward tentacles high on Henj's leg, closed its flanking rear tentacles low, and levered back on its middle rear tentacle with a grunt. Henj's huge body flipped forward almost effortlessly as Grapploct rolled backwards. Its belt tentacle pushed forward into Henj's leg with a crack of noise and Henj was launched—
"Rolycoly, your turn!" Tim shouted as he recalled Henj a second before the Stonjourner was sent into the moat. Pelj zipped forward to take the field as Grapploct completed its roll and came up annoyed. Bea had lifted her face a little as she likely realized what she'd been baited into doing. Tim had shown his hand: he had locked in both of his participants out of the gate. But in return he had coaxed out Grapploct instead of Sirfetch'd. Tim still had the issue of the Machamp to deal with, as it would be even harsher than the Sirfetch'd would have been, but at least Pelj got a clean in.
Of course, Grapploct still wouldn't be going down without a fight. And yielding in such a manner was forfeiting momentum.
"Close in," Bea commanded, stepping forward for emphasis, "Octazooka on the approach!" Grapploct began slinking forward on its legtacles a little faster than Tim would have hoped for. It worked its armtacles low to its side as it came on, conjuring a liqueous black sphere within them. Grapploct leapt forward for some more distance and flung its arms forward, the sphere erupting into a pulsating inky beam.
"Smokescreen, get around it!" Pelj kicked herself sideways as she wheeled towards her opponent and an opaque black cloud erupted around her. Pelj disappeared and the Octazooka entered the cloud only to continue out the other side in a miss. Grapploct murmured and swept the beam in the direction Pelj had been facing. The beam sputtered out as Pelj emerged from the opposite side of the cloud, having successfully feinted. She zipped nearby, past Grapploct to get behind it.
"Brutal Swing, Grapploct!"
"Rock Polish, put on distance!"
The Gravity didn't seem to be especially bothering Grapploct. It rolled onto its head and spun about, its three legs glowing pink and casting their light extended out, as if stretching a ways in the swing. Pelj kicked out again, skidding with her body nearly sideways against the ground while the swing whirred overtop her and she sparkled with Rock Polish. But Grapploct threw its four arms out too in pink swings after its legs came back in. The arms swept against the ground and caught Pelj, tripping her into a headlong tumble. She got her wheel back under her but had overshot the center of the field, now closer to Bea. Grapploct was already upright again, slinking across the ground quickly.
"Octazooka!"
"Smack Down!"
Grapploct conjured and shot another black beam. Pelj wheeled out of the way at the last second. Bea nonchalantly stepped to the side as the beam continued past her into the barriers behind her. Pelj threw a golden stone hard from her back for Grapploct's head. Grapploct folded backwards on itself like a reed in the wind, letting the projectile pass it. Tim ducked the stone as it continued in his direction and burst against the barriers behind him.
The Gravity petered out a little sooner than Tim would have liked. "Circle around it, time to pepper with Smack Down!"
"Throw all the stones you like," Bea said. She punched the air, glowering. "Grapploct will knock them all down!"
Pelj let fly a golden stone and Grapploct worked up another Octazooka ball, this one growing larger than the last. Grapploct launched it as a sphere this time rather than a beam. It struck Pelj's stone and swallowed it, the force of the Moves colliding causing the black sphere to burst into a messy, inky cloud that lingered in the air. Pelj circled about and shot again, and Grapploct turned to face her, shooting the stone down again with another Octazooka. After a few more exchanges as Pelj wheeled around the perimeter, the center of the field—and Grapploct with it—had disappeared under a wet black cloud.
Tim could see this was clearly not working. The audience murmured. Bea seemed content to let Pelj run herself down, confident Grapploct could outlast her in this. None of that was important, though. Bea and her mons were exceptionally powerful, especially so in this particular field with the conditions on its battle. But Tim hadn't been stalking ferals lately just to become more of a brute. There was another practical thing to train on his little hunts. Stalking a target helped to train the mind. Herding a target into a preferable position. Psyching it out.
"Into the cloud, Rolycoly, ram it with a Tackle!"
"Catch it with Octolock!" Bea said of course.
Pelj's eye streaked into the cloud. The cloud dispersed quickly with a fleshy smack, revealing Grapploct had indeed caught the little Rolycoly, at the expense of taking her ram straight-on. Grapploct had Pelj gripped over its head in two of its arms, looking up into her eye triumphantly. Grapploct's arms glimmered and bluish slivers shed themselves from Pelj's body as Octolock chewed down her defenses.
"Smack Down!" Pelj sent a stone into Grapploct's face. It crumpled backwards, though it kept its grip on Pelj as she managed to come down to ground, wheel-down.
"Circle Throw!" Grapploct flipped itself over Pelj, landing upright and starting to pull her into its chest.
"Keep it off balance!" Pelj's wheel screeched, digging a rut, keeping her ground. Grapploct pulled itself into Pelj instead, getting a leg into her and starting to lean back. Pelj cornered in place suddenly, jerking Grapploct sideways as its leg kicked forward, sending a visible distortion through the air as Circle Throw missed. More bluish slivers flaked away and dissipated while Grapploct's Octolock held on.
"Ice Punch, Grapploct!" Grapploct reeled back one of its free arms, its tip curled under a blue-white, foggy glow.
"Rock Polish and double back!" Pelj wheeled into Grapploct's legs and then under its punch, pulling the many-limbed mollusc's grappling arms under its punching arm. Ice Punch left an icy patch on the floor while Grapploct flipped itself forward onto its back to keep from being tied up. Pelj glimmered with more Rock Polish shine while she started to drag Grapploct along. Octolock continued to render Pelj more and more vulnerable.
"Get your footing and Circle Throw it!" Grapploct tried to turn clumsily onto its belly, crossing up its arms. It put its legs down to brake, but now Pelj's wheel was spinning fast enough to keep pulling the larger mon along a tiny bit. It began to get one of its legs up.
"Trip it over again!" Pelj doubled back on herself and then arced wide, feinting Grapploct's preemption and pulling it off its legs. Pelj had slowly worked herself and Grapploct towards the edge of the field. By now, Octolock had likely done the bulk of its sapping.
Luckily, Bea opted for what would make the most sense. "Use the edge to anchor yourself, Ice Punch!" Grapploct threw its body sidelong and latched its three legs over the ledge. Pelj pulled against it hard, but with such a leghold Grapploct wouldn't be towed. It reeled back an arm and punched her in the side. Pelj yipped loudly, eye wide as the ice flaked off with more bluish slivers: with the work Octolock had done, that one Ice Punch had likely hit excessively hard. But that wasn't important. Still Pelj kept herself upright and pulled against Grapploct.
"Rapid Spin, now!" With Pelj's Rock Polish boosts on top of her natural agility, there was no way for Grapploct to respond in time. Pelj spun like a top and Grapploct's eyes bulged as its arms were twisted taut. All at once, Grapploct's arms came loose from Pelj and it rubber-banded onto itself. It had the presence of mind not to go sailing out of the ring, though: it threw out its arms wide like a starfish, on the tips of its legs on the edge, just barely keeping in bounds. And then Pelj spun into it with her Rapid Spin, shoving it away as she bounced back into the ring safely.
A loud splash sounded as Grapploct was declared out of bounds. Bea stoically recalled it, betraying not the least annoyance at having been played in such a manner. Of course she wouldn't: Machamp would be up next. A Machamp with No Guard, no less. No Guard was a truly bizarre Ability: one way or another any Move Machamp threw would find its mark. They might not necessarily land in an ideal or even effective manner, but they would not be dodged outright, no matter what kinds of maneuvering Pelj would manage. With Grapploct's Octolock having softened her up, Pelj wouldn't be able to take more than two hits. Chances were good that she wouldn't be able to take
one.
Pelj looked back at Tim, pride in her orange eye. Tim nodded to her as Bea voiced a token introduction for her signature Machamp. Pelj's back glowed hot as she turned to face the four-armed foe's entry.
"We battle together," Tim had said quietly to Pelj on the approach to the Leader's battlefield. "Even if you have to take a dive yourself, we can win all the same." Pelj had bobbed on her wheel in understanding.
Now Pelj bobbed again, hyping herself up. Machamp straightened up opposite her, smirking.
"Explosion!"
Bea did recoil at that, if only marginally. There was no use in calling for a dodge, either: though No Guard let Machamp find its mark the reverse was also true. Her only option would be to knock Pelj senseless before the Move went off. "Bullet Punch, Machamp!"
Machamp darted forward, one arm blurring in a cone of punches. It crashed fist-first into Pelj near the middle of the field. The little Rolycoly's eye went wide in shock. For a moment it seemed she had been knocked clean out. But then her back flared red and she flipped onto her wheel. Shining with shrieking power, Pelj leapt for Machamp's chest and covered the centerfield with a flash of destructive force. The sheer volume of the blast even drowned out the audience's hooting.
The scene cleared up to show Machamp flat on its back and Pelj on her side, eye pinched shut. Machamp got back up of course, it wasn't going to be one-shot even by something like a point-black Explosion. It rolled its neck, a little unmanned by the tactic. It shared an unreadable look with Bea. Pelj would have been able to do next to nothing against this Machamp, but in going out with a bang she had given Henj a head start.
Tim recalled Pelj into her recently-acquired ball. "Perfect, Pelj," he muttered to it. And, really, it
had been perfect, or as near to it as could have been reasonably expected. But now it was going to have to be improvisation with this Machamp.
"No more tricks," Bea said heavily. "Show me your answer. Show me why you are here, challenger!" Bea postured with her arms up in front of her, feet apart. Machamp matched her stance, face serious.
"Back to you, Stonjourner," Tim said, sending Henj in, "let's put it a way they can understand!" Henj slammed down and fixed Machamp with the same stony gaze Tim was wearing.
Bravado and little else. Perhaps Henj could make a real answer, but Tim couldn't. How could he give an answer he didn't fully know himself? Tim was here because it was where he had to be. He could think of no better reason to give. And so would that simple answer be made: Henj only had one Move to attack with, so it would be Stomp, over and over, against whatever onslaught the Machamp could muster. A senseless, graceless offense. Perfect to communicate Tim's nonanswer, really.
"Bullet Punch!" Bea cried. Machamp launched forward, a spray of punches peppering Henj's leg with enough force to send the Stonjourner rocking. A crack of noise, a clamor of smacks, a deep grunt.
"Stomp it high!" Henj dipped into a split and swung himself like a compass, sending his huge foot up and into Machamp's chest with a stark impact that sent the shorter mon a short ways into the air.
"Seismic Toss!" Machamp twisted in the air and its trajectory reversed, as if it were magnetized to Henj. It landed on Henj's top in a handstand, its two extra arms out to either side to grab Henj's blocky hands. Machamp rocked its legs and then all eight feet of Henj, the half-ton of Stonjourner, was pulled forward, over Machamp as it flipped in the air, and then slammed face-down with a thunderous boom. It was enough of an impact that Tim felt it in his legs. Machamp landed, proud of itself.
Tim had more faith in Henj's sturdiness than to think that had done enough to be worried about, however impressive a display it had been. "Stomp it and use the momentum to stand!" Henj heaved one foot up, face-down, and it tugged his body around, as if pulled towards Machamp's person. Machamp kept it off its face with its forearm, but Henj carried the momentum of the swing up and away, managing to spin upright. He stumbled awkwardly, blinking, not at all accustomed to gymnastics of that caliber.
Machamp raised a brow and glanced back at Bea. She didn't immediately say anything so Tim pressed the advantage. "Stomp again, aim for the main body!" Henj levered back on great stone foot.
"Vital Throw!" Bea said finally. Machamp took Henj's Stomp in its chest and then shifted forward, shoulder-checking into the leg Henj had been standing on. Henj teetered back and Machamp closed all four hands on the base of Henj's leg. Henj slammed onto his back and Machamp leaned back with a grunt, twisting, spinning in place, twirling with Henj in the air, using the massive Stonjourner to perform a hammer throw.
Henj went sailing through the air, bound for the moat, coincidentally in Tim's direction. Tim almost ducked but he kept his back straight. He trusted Henj to recover. "Kick down and close with Stomp again!" Henj threw his huge legs down, flipping himself upright like a trapdoor springing open, a movement he was a little more comfortable with compared to his earlier maneuver. Grounded, he spun a roundhouse kick with one shining foot up in a high Stomp that pulled him across the field back to Machamp, who took the hit on its arms, reeling back a little from the momentum.
"Low Sweep, knock it down again!" Machamp let its reel turn into a knockdown, rocking back onto its four arms with its legs up. It pushed off the ground to send itself between Henj's legs, landing in a squat. Henj was fast enough to turn and face Machamp before the burly mon swept its rugged leg into the side of Henj's own. Henj stumbled before Machamp sent him onto his back with a violent shove.
Henj was well familiar with getting up from his back though, having learned to do so all that time ago from Tim. Without being told to, Henj levered his giant legs skyward and kicked himself upright. "Another Stomp!" Tim ordered, even though now the mons had reversed, with Machamp between Tim and Henj near the center of the field. Henj brought his leg back and walloped Machamp particularly hard this time. Machamp stepped away a little.
Machamp grumbled, seemingly to nobody, but then Bea crossed her arms. "Stomp again and again? This is the answer you would make?" Tim wasn't concerned with her query. It wasn't important. What was more telling was that her supposedly constant onslaught had lapsed. Evidently, Machamp was feeling like it was wearing down under Henj's heavy blows after Pelj's opening gambit. "Keep back and put it down with Rock Slide!" Bea called.
Machamp backed way off towards the edge near where Tim was standing. It clenched its fists and punched the ground before it, sending a shrapnel of stones out. The stones ballooned into far larger rocks as they flew for Henj. "St—kick them through!" Tim did
not want to Stomp here. If Henj approached now—which he would be forced to—all Machamp would have to do was yank him down and flip him into the moat at its back. But Henj couldn't just stay at range. He spun about in the centerfield, huge legs scything through the rocks as they burst into dusty ruin. Deflecting them was preferable to taking them in the face, but their hitting anywhere would whittle Henj down.
"We'll send this whole field at you if that's what it takes," Bea said with finality. Machamp plunged its hands into the ground and ripped a chunk out of the ring. Machamp hoisted it and punched it hard, sending forward stony shrapnel in a slightly-different but no-less-effective application of Rock Slide. Henj kicked the rocks down again, although he stumbled a little already. What now? Dodging wouldn't work and neither would an attempt to drag them down with Gravity: No Guard always found a way. Stealth Rock wasn't subject to No Guard in quite the same way, and even if it was it was hardly a meaningful answer to Rock Slide. Rock Polish's increased speed amounted to little in this situation. Block was wholly useless: the last thing Henj needed to do was close in on Machamp when it was on the edge.
So then what? Stomp in anyway in the slim hope it managed to Flinch Machamp to let Henj push it off? Stomp hadn't managed to stagger Machamp in that fashion a single time so far, and even if it happened to pull through there was every chance Machamp somehow managed to save itself from falling anyway before Henj actually put it over: Flinching was not Paralysis. But Henj couldn't outlast Machamp. After the beating he'd taken, he would certainly go down before Machamp ran out of Rock Slides. So was that it then? After Pelj's performance had gone off without a hitch, Henj was going to be undone by mere bad luck?
It
had to be Henj though. Only Pelj's agility could outdo Grapploct when Grapploct could ring-out anything too big to slip its grip, and that agility was useless against Machamp anyway. Rij might be more of a bruiser, but he would not be able to eat the same punishment Henj could, and when every attack from Rij was guaranteed to eat a super-effective counter in return then Rij's lack of bulk relative to Henj would be his undoing. Even if either Kolj or Tonj had the tools to deal with No Guard—Kolj arguably might have managed something—neither were practiced enough to perform in a Gym. Only Henj could even make the attempt. If he couldn't do it …
"Jouron," Henj said, looking at Tim a moment. Henj kicked down another chunk or stony earth that sailed his way. "Stonjourner, jouron." Tim didn't understand, of course. Henj's words were gibberish to him. But Tim felt … Tim felt Henj was asking for permission. Henj wanted to do something that Tim wouldn't otherwise be able to order.
Tim was a little uncertain. It was Tim's job to think of innovative applications and meaningful maneuvers, because that had to be his job because
he couldn't fight. Except … Tim did fight. Not against Leaders of course, but Tim did fight. So if Tim could fight, his mons could also strategize, right? This was part of the trust he gave to his mons and that they gave to him. He trusted them to perform properly, to know their work, recently he even trusted them to mind themselves unattended entirely. Henj was asking for more of the trust Tim already had in him and that Henj had in Tim. This was important.
"She didn't like
my answer," Tim told Henj, pointing dramatically at nothing in particular, "so give her yours, Stonjourner!" Henj kicked down the latest Rock Slide and then dipped low, one leg out to the side.
A certain tension was palpable as Henj spun slowly, winding up, the end of his leg glowing again, but this time with a dark, reddish aura that left a trail in the air. Bea's eyes widened marginally when she saw it. "Bullet Punch quick!" Machamp launched itself over the uneven terrain it had left from its destructive Rock Slides, arms shooting forward with a crack of sound as it came on like a four-fisted missile. A low rumbling noise was growing louder as Henj slowly turned about.
Henj's leg came around and met Machamp's fists with the kind of sound heard more in one's guts than one's ears. Visible distortions rippled out from the impact, the nearest camera drones wobbled in place, it felt like the whole huge room jolted. Tim couldn't keep from flinching at the sheer force of it. Machamp was sent tumbling along the ground back the direction it had come in. Machamp managed to roll into a kneel as it slid towards the edge, shaking one of its hands idly, but then it slid into the uneven mess it had ripped into the floor earlier. Machamp rolled again and came up much like Grapploct had, on the tips of its toes on the edge of the ring, four arms windmilling as it teetered backwards, throwing one leg out in front of itself, some of it dipping out of bounds.
Henj was still holding his pose, one leg up, red sparks and thin wisps of smoke issuing from the impact point. His eyes were pinched shut. Slowly, he began to fall backwards, at the end of his line.
Machamp began to lever itself back into bounds.
Henj crashed onto his back with an impact that shook the ground.
Machamp fell over the edge and splashed into the moat.
Machamp hoisted its top out over the edge, shaking water off itself. It propped itself on its arms and shrugged good-naturedly to one of the camera drones that came in to get a shot of it. Machamp looked over at Henj, like Bea and Tim were doing. Machamp had been knocked from the ring, but had it happened
after Henj had been rendered unfit to battle?
One blocky hand came up. "Stonjourner ournstour, jouron," Henj sighed tiredly. He let his hand back down.
Tim let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. The audience and the announcer went about making the usual audience and announcer noises. Tim ignored it as insignificant. Machamp hauled itself back onto the field and approached Henj. Tim also moved for the center of the field while Bea did the same. Machamp bent down and got its hands under Henj's body and picked him up to help him upright. Henj wobbled a little but kept his footing. He turned around to regard Machamp. Machamp crossed its arms and said something that made Henj seem to glow. Henj shared a look with Tim and responded in his low voice.
Bea was watching the mons talking. "I still do not understand your answer, challenger," she said severely. Up close, Tim almost felt like he was looking up at her, despite his being the taller person. Bea faced Tim and punched one fist into the straight palm of her other hand. She bowed. "But Machamp understands Stonjourner's answer, and as we speak for our mons, our mons speak for us. Thank you for this battle."
Tim didn't feel that he could copy her movement without coming off as mocking, so he just dipped his chin to his chest in a deep nod instead. "I should be thanking you," Tim said. He had a hard time finding words to speak to her with. "It is an honor to do battle with a Leader, and I would hope to continue to battle others. If I may be so bold, I would ask that you apologize to Allister on my behalf: would that I could have challenged him as well."
"I am sure he understands, as I do when challengers challenge him over me," Bea said seriously. She pulled a Gym Badge from her pocket and held it up for Tim to see. "But with this, he would not doubt your resolve. I did not understand your answer. Perhaps you do not understand it yourself. But if you believe in it, then your conviction will make it clearer with every wall you break through."
Tim took the badge and turned it over in his hand. He would have liked to believe Bea's words, but he had come up short here. Had it not been for Henj throwing Mega Kick—a Move he had either spontaneously learned just now or that he'd intentionally hid from Tim all these months—this battle would have gone to Bea and Machamp in a truly anticlimactic fashion. Tim had shown fault and Henj had taken up the slack. It was the Trainer's job to bring the best out of his mons. Was that supposed to work in the other direction too?
Tim and his mons ran together, trained together, slept together, fought together. Tim trusted his mons and they trusted him. Tim was responsible for his mons. Tim's mons were responsible for Tim.
Machamp had its hands on its hips and punched its other two fists together, grinning up at Henj. Henj rolled his arms in satisfaction and looked over at Tim. Henj put one blocky hand up. It was a gesture that could have meant anything or nothing. Body language from something shaped like a C-clamp, that didn't eat, that didn't even bleed.
But Tim understood.
