A Viper in the Hole (Pokémon)

[The Dave]

With Doro's match scheduled at eleven and Ran's match and the ensuing conversation only having ran for about fifteen minutes, he's got over an hour and a half to kill before he has to be in the stands to watch Doro's match. Which is good, because his first stop, the moment he exits the Gym, is of course the pokécenter.

It's quick and easy work to hand in the balls of Caesar the Arbok, Skorupi and Golbat, leaving him only with Croagunk and Aria the Ariados still in their balls and on his belt. Then, he wanders over to the computers. Considering the relatively early hour, it's no surprise to see only one of them in use, allowing Ran to settle down comfortably and, after attempting a video call which of course isn't answered as his father is working, send his father a long video message in which he recaps the battle and its outcome.

With that handled, he sends Grady an update, letting the younger trainer know about his triumph over Chuck and his future plans to head to Olivine. A response doesn't come immediately, likely meaning that Grady is too busy to notice or read Ran's message. An answer isn't particularly urgent by any means, so Ran is content to consider it a job well done, as he turns his attention to texting Josie.

Immediately, he runs into bigger issues, as he doesn't quite know how to start the message. There was something off about Josie's final few messages and he isn't quite sure what he did to cause it. All he knows is that he doesn't accidentally want to upset her.

He considers mirroring Josie's first message, proclaiming his victory and demanding acknowledgement of his awesomeness, but considering Josie's own admission that she might have started to resent him if they stuck together, he doesn't want to risk offending her in that way. Another option would be just letting her know when he's due to arrive in Olivine, but that's something he doesn't actually know yet, not until he's booked a ticket, which he won't do until he's had an opportunity to talk with Doro after her own match against Chuck.

Ultimately, he settles for a neutral update, simply informing Josie that with his goal in Cianwood accomplished, he'll be booking a ticket to take ship to Olivine sometime in the next few days. It's yet another message he isn't too happy with, as it reads more like a formal obligation than an update sent out of friendship or care. Still, he's sent it and, with Josie also not responding immediately, there's nothing left to be done but grab a quick snack before he wanders back over towards Chuck's Gym.

Once there, it's just a matter of heading up the right stairs to start making his way to the stands. Before he can enter however, his eyes fall on the large instructional posters plastered against the double doors. He scans them, rather than reading them in full, but even that cursory look is enough to reveal that the crowd's remarkably restrained behavior isn't so much a matter of choice on their behalf, as it is a demand levied upon them by Chuck and his Gym.

Not particularly bothered by the instructions, as they essentially boil down to "be quiet and clap when the rest of the crowd does", Ran opens the doors and moves to pick out a seat in the stands. It's an easy enough task, though he does immediately notice that there's been a significant increase in the amount of spectators, compared to the numbers that were present for his own match. Which makes sense, of course, considering the far more palatable hour of day.

Doro herself is no longer in the stands, clearly already having moved towards the waiting area. Which is a bit of a shame, as Ran wouldn't have minded an opportunity to exchange some words, but then he would have needed to arrive a lot earlier, as there's a clear ban on talking during the matches themselves. A ban which at least is lifted temporarily then, as Chuck chooses that moment to have his pokémon, a peculiar white and light blue humanoid figure with an onion-shaped head, Zen Headbutt its opponent, a Machop, into unconsciousness.

Ran joins the crowd in a round of polite applause as Chuck exchanges some words with the clearly disappointed trainer he just battled. The guy in question looks to be about Ran's age, though from the brief look Ran got of his Machop, he's quite confident that the other trainer isn't at Ran's level. Something which is confirmed when he gets a proper look at the other trainer's belt and only spots two pokéballs on it.

Though Ran feels somewhat apologetic towards the other trainer for his uncharitable thoughts, he can't help but be gratified, in a way. After all, after spending so much time with Spencer, Josie and, recently, Doro, it's easy to forget that there's a lot of trainers out there that are a lot slower to grow, if they even do so at all. In that regard, it's an encouraging sight to see a rookie who is so clearly behind Ran in his own journey.

Of course, it's a bit of a pointless realization, as he already knew full well that he's miles ahead of schedule, but still. Affirmation is always nice.

He gets drawn out of his own self-justifying thoughts, as Doro finally enters the arena. She makes quite an entrance too, with her usual gold-and-pink training jacket nowhere to be found. Instead, she's only wearing her black tank top and black shorts with white stripes running up the sides. Complimented by some white boxing tape which she's got wrapped around her hands, it's a look that, if she wasn't here for a pokémon battle, would make any viewer believe that she'd be stepping into the arena herself.

Chuck for his part seems unbothered, though there's a clear eagerness to him at the sight of the budding fighting-type specialist that was missing for his earlier matches. Ran can't exactly blame the man, as, unlike for example a poison-on-poison match, with no mutual resistances and similar mentalities about training and battling, fighting-types might well prefer fighting each other over any other possible challenger. It wouldn't be too surprising to see that extend to the trainers as well, which in fact seems like it perfectly explains the existence of such niche-competitions as the P1 Grand Prix, over in Celadon City.

The referee swiftly runs through the rules once more, similar to the rules Ran himself was subject to, which makes sense as Doro is also challenging at the fourth-badge level. There's a difference in which badges they've acquired beforehand of course, with Ran having previously acquired the Zephyr, Hive and Plain badges, whilst Doro is the proud owner of the Plain, Fog and Mineral Badges, but that's an irrelevant detail under the circumstances.

The match starts with another surprising mirror match, after Doro's earlier contest between her own Hitmonchan, Precise, and the gym trainer's Hitmonchan, during the Croagunk-race. This time, her Hitmonlee, Strong, faces one of its fellow Kicking Pokémon. Both bounce in place loosely as they wait for the fight to start, their trainers similarly rolling their heads and noticeably loosening their shoulders for a few seconds.

Then, the fight begins.

It's an intriguing match, with neither Hitmonlee seeming to have any way to hit the other with a super-effective attack, it all comes down to the pure essence of fighting-types, those being physical prowess and technique. Though Strong would undoubtedly be outmatched by any Hitmonlee Chuck would consider part of his true elite pokémon, he clearly has the advantage against what Chuck considers an appropriate challenge for a fourth badge level pokémon.

Neither trainer really gives many orders, as the Hitmonlee dance around each other whilst snapping kicks at each other, the fight too high-paced for either trainer to risk directly distracting their team member. Ultimately, between its superior physique and cleaner technique, Doro's Hitmonlee starts to fully take over the match, forcing Chuck's own battler completely onto the defensive.

It's a state of affairs that can't last indefinitely, but the way in which it comes to an end still comes as a surprise to Ran. Having been solely on the defensive for the past minute, Chuck's Hitmonlee makes the mistake of attempting to lash out with a Blaze Kick, only for Strong to lean back far enough to get out of reach. He actually bends back so far that he has to put his hands on the ground behind him to keep himself from falling. However, this leaves him in the perfect position to be the faster of the two to recover, as he lashes out with a Low Kick to sweep his opponent's planted leg.

Chuck's Hitmonlee hits the ground and, before it can even think of recovering, is on the receiving end of a punishing Double Kick that knocks it out, as Strong puts all of his weight onto his arms for a moment in an impromptu handstand, before launching himself upwards and landing on his prone opponent with a heavy double stomp. Doro takes the lead in convincing fashion, to a round of polite applause from the crowd, which Ran joins in with, almost overeager in his enthusiasm before he manages to restrain himself to simply clapping along calmly with the other spectators.

The withdrawal of Chuck's Hitmonlee and the accompanying applause only provides a brief intermission in the bout, as Chuck congratulates Doro on her well-trained Hitmonlee, a compliment she accepts with a polite nod, before he sends out his next combatant. It's a Heracross, which draws twin frowns from Ran and Doro, likely for similar reasons. Its dual-typing gives it a defensive advantage over Hitmonlee which the Kicking Pokémon only has a single, easily-scouted answer to, and Heracross tends to learn Aerial Ace, which is far more of a predicament.

Because Aerial Ace is renowned for its speed of execution and precision, making it far more challenging for Strong the Hitmonlee to defend himself against Heracross' super-effective attack, than the other way around. Ran isn't sure just what Doro's own internal thought process looks like, but from the frown on her face, it's rather similar to his own.

Doro doesn't balk or hesitate however, simply initiating the next stage of the fight by ordering Strong to Focus Energy and prepare to counter Heracross with a Blaze Kick when it closes in. It's a clever move, assuming Heracross has no self-boosting or ranged moves of its own, as it forces Heracross to close the distance, giving Hitmonlee an extra moment or two to try and dodge the inevitable Aerial Ace.

It's a good idea, in theory. Unfortunately, though it's hardly a move that sees much action at the highest levels for its relatively limited impact, all Heracross innately know the move Leer. Chuck is more than happy to remind Doro of that detail, immediately instructing his Heracross to carry the move out. So, even as Strong bounces in place, a small aura of fighting-type energy briefly flaring up around him, Heracross meets its eyes with an intimidating look of its own that, through the bizarre and still ill-understood mechanics of pokémon battling and type energies, weakens Strong's innate defenses.

If the stand-off continues, it will increasingly favor Heracross, which is why Ran isn't surprised to see Doro snap out an order for Strong to close in. Immediately, Doro's first fighter lopes forwards at speed, only for Heracross to meet it eagerly, large arms easily coming up to block Hitmonlee's first few kicks.

Both trainers give the order for their pokémon to use their respective super-effective moves at the same time, with Heracross' horn and Strong's foot obediently glowing with flying-type energy and bursting into flame respectively. Heracross is the faster, however, simply jerking its head down sharply in a move that at once lets its Aerial Ace slice across Strong's body, whilst also allowing it to duck under Hitmonlee's spinning Blaze Kick.

It's a hard and clean hit that clearly hurts Strong a lot, but Doro's battler isn't down for the count yet, simply spinning through into a second Blaze Kick, the fire only seeming to intensify. Heracross, caught unaware by Hitmonlee spinning a full revolution to execute the same attack again, straightens, only to catch Hitmonlee's burning foot directly to the side of its head. The impact is crunching, the bug-fighting type's carapace noticeably cracked and charred as it's sent stumbling backwards a few steps.

Chuck doesn't hesitate to order another Aerial Ace however and, to Heracross' credit, it immediately snaps out of its daze, rushing to meet a charging Strong, who tries to capitalize on his temporary advantage. At such close range and with such speeds, there's no way for Strong to avoid the retaliatory Aerial Ace. Heracross actually uses its horn to throw its opponent into the air this time, only to then fly up and meet his falling target in the air with a punishing hit that knocks Strong out before he's even hit the ground.

Another round of applause rings out, though Ran has no trouble sticking to the acceptable volume this time, clapping out of respect rather than enthusiasm now that Chuck has brought the match back to equal. In pure numbers, at least, because even a cursory look at Heracross' shows that it clearly took a lot of damage, leaving the advantage firmly with Doro.

She doesn't hesitate to send out Precise the Hitmonchan, who only takes a moment to take in his surroundings, before nodding eagerly when his trainer orders him to close in. Chuck lets Precise close in on his Heracross, before ordering another Aerial Ace, but this time it doesn't land, as Doro counters with a Fake Out that perfectly catches Heracross out.

It's wobbling, but not done yet, another attempt at Aerial Ace pre-empted wonderfully by Detect. Then, before Heracross can muster any further defense, Doro barks out a sharp order for Precise to use Fire Punch. It's the decisive blow, as Precise's fist, wreathed in flames, smacks Heracross right between the eyes, on the base of its horn. The Single Horn Pokémon goes cross-eyed for a moment, the flames licking at its carapace and leaving a large black scorch mark, before slowly falling backwards, like a tree being felled.

Precise proudly returns to Doro's side of the field, completely unhurt and fully fresh to continue the battle. As he moves, he raises his fists in obvious triumph, taking in the newest round of applause from the crowd with evident pride. Ran makes sure to match the rest of the crowd in enthusiasm, even as his thoughts race ahead enthusiastically.

With Precise fully fresh and Quick the Hitmontop still in reserve, assuming she doesn't intend to use Toff the Croagunk - Ran had double-checked whether Doro meant 'Tough' when she told him its name, only for his newfound rival to look at him as if he were insane - Chuck's third pokémon needs to be a lot more impressive than what he's seen fit to use so far. That seems unlikely, which leaves it extremely likely that Doro is about to win the Storm Badge as well.

When Chuck reveals its third pokémon however, Ran discovers that he may have to reevaluate the thought that Doro's final challenge won't be of a different caliber than what has come before. The humanoid pokémon, its upper body, arms, head and feet gray, whilst its legs and headdress are red-and-yellow, reminds Ran vaguely of the blue-and-white pokémon with the onion-shaped head he'd briefly seen Chuck use in his previous match.

The pokémon announces itself calmly, letting out a brief call as it turns to face Chuck, bowing first to its trainer before repeating the gesture towards Doro and Precise, "Medicham."

Doro is clearly just as unsure about just what she's facing as Ran himself is, her whole stance screaming hesitation as she gazes uncertainly at her opponent. Fortunately, she doesn't let her uncertainty stop her from giving orders, as she instructs Hitmonchan to use Agility. It's a call that leaves the initiative with an unknown pokémon, which Ran isn't too wild about, but under the circumstances he understands her decision.

Unfortunately, Chuck doesn't seem to mind in the least, as he orders his Medicham to use Work Up. Which is a move that has all kinds of alarm bells going off in Ran's head. Because Work Up doesn't just boost a pokémon's Attack, but its Special Attacks as well. He worriedly glances towards Doro, only to let out a relieved sigh when Doro's pinched expression makes it very clear that she's caught on to that seemingly insignificant detail as well.

Immediately, she orders Hitmonchan to fire off a Vacuum Wave, only for what might well be a worst case scenario to reveal itself, as Chuck calmly orders his Medicham to counter with a Psybeam.

Vacuum Wave is the faster move to be executed, with Precise firing it off within a second and the move swiftly crossing the distance. Medicham seems to deliberately wait for half a second, just long enough for the Vacuum Wave to hit it and dissipate. It doesn't appear as impacted by the attack as it should, lending credence to Ran's growing worry that it doesn't just know psychic-type moves, but that it's a proper fighting-psychic type.

The Psybeam crosses the distance swiftly, with Precise unable to muster the last-second Detect Doro calls for in time. He still tries to hurriedly sidestep to the right, at the very least not taking the full brunt of Medicham's attack, but the glowing pinkish-purplish beam still wings the Hitmonchan's right shoulder, a ripple effect seeming to radiate out from there and towards his head.

Precise is clearly hurt from the super-effective hit, but by no means is he out of the match yet, as Doro hurriedly instructs him to close the distance. It is here that Agility proves its value, as Medicham appears to be roughly as fast as Precise would be under normal circumstances. With the boost to its speed provided by Agility however, Medicham stands no chance of preventing its opponent from closing the distance.

Instead, Chuck calls for a Zen Headbutt, only for Precise to start rifling Bullet Punches into Medicham's face with unerring accuracy, disrupting its attempts to muster up the concentration needed for the move. The punches land with one painful thud after another, Medicham actually stumbling backwards as it attempts to defend or block Precise's hits. Its noodly arms are no match for the Punching Pokémon however, the momentum of the match firmly shifting to Doro's favor.

Chuck waits for multiple seconds to see if Medicham will manage to get its Zen Headbutt off despite the barrage it's suffering. It's too long a wait, in Ran's opinion, but finally the Gym leader orders his final battler to use Detect, at which point it starts managing to dodge Precise's hits by a hair, again and again and again.

Doro wastes no time in ordering a Feint, which successfully gets Medicham to dodge into a punch, but the impact lacks the raw power of the previous attacks. It's enough of a reprieve for Medicham to finally muster the Zen Headbutt Chuck calls for, its red headdress glowing with a slab of concentrated psychic-type energy.

The Medicham has taken an absolute battering however, clearly on its last legs as it finally snaps its head forwards with frightening speed. Precise stands no chance of preventing the hit from landing, but he does manage to snap off a final Bullet Punch directly into his opponent's torso, just as the Zen Headbutt connects.

Both pokémon are sent flying backwards, sliding on their backs and throwing up sand. Medicham is unfortunate, crashing hard into a boulder after sliding just a short distance. Precise is more fortunate, his own involuntary path not having any boulders on it, as he more gradually comes to a stop on the sand. Neither pokémon stirs for a few seconds, the referee swiftly glancing from one to the other, clearly ready to proclaim a double knock-out.

Just before she can, however, there's movement.

Precise the Hitmonchan rolls over onto his belly, fists planting into the ground before he slowly starts to lever himself upwards. It's a maneuver that isn't matched by Medicham, who remains prone. The referee announces Medicham's defeat and Chuck's along with it. Ran jumps upright, barely restraining himself from cheering wildly as he claps with an enthusiasm that draws a few side-eyed glances, but little more than that.

Doro has won the Storm Badge!

---

Author's Note: Let's go, Doro!

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[The Dave]

Ran and Doro end up meeting up outside of the Cianwood City Gym, walking towards the Pokécenter together so that Doro can hand Strong and Precise's pokéballs in for treatment. It'll leave her with as many team members still available as Ran himself has, but that doesn't change the fact that she beat Chuck three to one, whereas Ran went three to two.

It's something the dark-skinned girl delightedly points out whilst she puts her training jacket back on, drawing an amused laugh from Ran. His own counterpoint, that he didn't exclusively rely on team members that have been with him from the start comes easily, only for Doro to retort that she didn't have his type advantages. It's an enjoyable bit of banter to exchange, especially as the mood remains jovial and both Ran's congratulations to Doro and hers to him are equally genuine.

Their conversation remains lighthearted and easygoing all the way through Doro handing in her team and the two of them agreeing on a place to have lunch at. It's only as they are both taking their first bites of their respective sandwiches, that Ran turns the conversation to a more serious topic.

"So," He starts after swallowing his second bite of sandwich, "Are you sticking around Cianwood for a while longer, or are you leaving soon as well?"

"I have some interest in training in Chuck's Gym for a few days," Doro responds easily, "But I believe my team would benefit more from such a thing if it was complete, so I was not planning to do so for long. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I'm planning on heading to Olivine and, if you felt like heading that way, I figured we could take the same ship there." Ran responds easily, extending an invitation with a soft smile.

Doro blinks slowly, once, then twice. When she speaks, it is with a question, rather than with a proper answer, "You realize that I have already beaten Jasmine, yes?"

"I do," Ran allows without hesitation, "But you've also already beaten Whitney, so I figure you're either headed for Azalea or Mahogany next, and seeing as I don't know which one you have in mind, there's no harm in extending the invitation, right?"

"I suppose not," Doro agrees after a moment's thought, "I shall tell you of my plans, then. I was planning on heading to Azalea Town next. Ilex Forest shall provide me with a Heracross and I do not wish to postpone my fated meeting with Falkner's flying-types any longer than necessary. It is why I was planning to take a boat to Goldenrod, when I leave here."

"Alright, fair enough." Ran agrees lightly, following Doro's reasoning without trouble and, although it doesn't align with his own plans as nicely as he might have hoped, finding no fault in her logic.

Doro doesn't acknowledge his response, simply continuing to speak placidly, "However, the season isn't even halfway into its third month and I already have four of the eight badges required. I enjoyed Olivine and I believe I would enjoy traveling with you, for a short while at least. Plus, I am curious to see more of your Croagunk. I believe it would be educational for us both to observe the impact our training has on them. So, when were you planning to set sail?"

Ran, caught off-guard by Doro's seeming one-eighty from passing on his offer to actively working to accommodate the offer, struggles for a moment to formulate a response. When he manages to speak, it's more hesitant than he would have liked, "I was thinking of taking the earliest possible ship, but if you want to spend a few days training at Chuck's Gym, I'm happy to accommodate. So depending on when the ferries to Olivine go, something in four or five days?"

Doro chuckles, her surprisingly deep voice making the sound resemble a low bass. Her response is amused, but not mean-spirited, "Cianwood-Olivine is a far busier route than Cianwood-Goldenrod, Ran. There is a ship every day. But four days from today sounds good to me, we can go and book our tickets when we're done here."

"I did not know that," Ran admits with an apologetic grin, "But that works for me. I don't know if I'll join you at Chuck's Gym yet, but I'll figure it out by tomorrow morning."

"Good." Doro responds simply, before dedicating her full focus to her sandwich.

It's an example Ran enthusiastically mirrors, both young trainers wolfing down their meals in short order, once they don't have to carry a conversation any more.

Afterwards, they make their way to the ferry service ticket station, where it's easy work to book tickets for a similar passage to the one Ran booked for his journey from Goldenrod City to Cianwood City, though the journey is supposed to take a few more hours, on account of the ferry to Olivine being both larger and significantly slower than the one Ran took from Goldenrod.

Just as they're finishing up with that, Ran's pokégear buzzes with an incoming message, a quick glance at the screen showing Grady's name. He doesn't immediately open the message to read it, but when they exit the ticket office and Doro admits that she wants to go and get a work-out in, it does give Ran a reason to decline her invitation for him to join her. Tempting as the idea of watching Doro work out might be, the idea of not being able to keep up with her is more than enough for him to pass up on the opportunity.

He wanders back to the pokécenter, eager to go and check if his recovering team members are ready to be discharged yet, as he opens up Grady's message. It is, in fact, just a singular message, though it is a long one, as Grady once more sings his praises before requesting a full recap of the battle and reacting enthusiastically to the possibility of encountering Ran in Olivine, as his own battle against Morty is scheduled to take place three days from today, after which he'll be heading in that direction himself.

Ran sends back a brief response of his own, wishing Grady the best of luck against Morty and agreeing to let him know just when he's in Olivine, so that they can coordinate to meet up. He finishes typing the message just as he enters the pokécenter, allowing him to easily move on to the reception desk and inquire about the condition of Skorupi, Caesar and Golbat.

The news is good, with Ran receiving all three in their balls, though he does also receive a topical salve to apply to Golbat's wing a few times over the coming days, the membrane apparently healed but still tender and fragile. For Skorupi and Caesar, no such warnings apply, both having healed swiftly and once more ready for action. Not that Ran intends to put them through any work for the rest of the day, of course, but it's comforting to have the weight of a nearly full belt on his hips once more.

He accepts the jar of topical salve with a polite smile, storing it away securely before moving away from the pokécenter's main area and towards his room. Golbat's lingering injury, compared to his other two team members, is a strong reminder that the team's most headstrong member came worryingly close to losing them the match, when he had neither right nor reason to.

Of course Ran wants to convene with the whole team and catch them up on their victory over Chuck as soon as possible, but Golbat will need a private word, first. It's with that thought in mind, that he settles into his room, placing the jar of salve on his nightstand, before deliberately releasing Golbat onto his bed, just a foot away from Ran's own seated, cross-legged form.

Golbat glances around sharply for a moment, before noticeably deflating, a pained twitch running through him when he relaxes his wings only for his not yet fully recovered membrane to make its presence felt. Ran doesn't enjoy seeing his team member in pain and he has to suppress an instinctive urge to reach for the jar of salve, but he wants Golbat to understand what he's about to do before he does it, at the very least.

"Easy there, Golbat," he tells his pokémon, the Bat Pokémon's large eyes coming to rest balefully on his trainer's face, "You took a serious hit, the pokécenter couldn't patch you up fully, so you'll be feeling that for a few more days. I've got a salve to put on it, so carefully extend your wing and I'll put it on, alright? It should help with the pain."

Golbat clearly isn't happy with the situation, his large feet shuffling awkwardly on the blanket for a moment as he clearly itches to take flight and claim a more solitary perch, but he does begrudgingly extend his wing, the movement clearly physically unpleasant.

Ran unscrews the cap from the jar of salve, slathering some across his hand, before taking a good look at the membrane of Golbat's right wing. The dark purple is noticeably lighter where the tear had been, seeming thinner as well. It's a displeasing sight that goes entirely too well with the many thin and faded scars on Golbat's body, a carry-over from his time as a Zubat. At least it makes it very easy to identify precisely where the salve needs to be applied, which is why Ran immediately gets to work.

After a few tense seconds, Golbat seems to relax slightly, stance becoming just a bit more relaxed, a clear sign of the relief brought on by the treatment. Ran allows his pokémon just a few seconds to suffer the treatment in silence, then, he speaks.

"You almost cost us the match today." He announces straightforwardly, immediately feeling Golbat stiffen in response.

Ran waits for a few seconds, continuing to treat Golbat calmly as he lets the message sink in. Finally, just as he spots the telltale tensing of Golbat's jaw that indicates he's about to shriek plaintively, Ran speaks once more.

"Swagger doesn't make pokémon attack. Swagger confuses pokémon. If you'd failed to carry out my orders because of Swagger, that'd be one thing, but you outright disregarded them. Don't deny it." Ran informs his third team member, receiving only an annoyed glare from Golbat, rather than the verbal response that he'd clearly been about to release just before.

Golbat's annoyance draws out Ran's own, though he does continue to dutifully rub salve into the injured wing. Neither one of them makes a sound, with Golbat continuing to glare balefully at Ran, whilst Ran completely ignores his pokémon's ire in favor of making sure that he properly coats the entirety of the healing membrane with salve. The stand-off continues like that for long seconds, until finally, Golbat huffs out an aggrieved breath.

Ran takes that as a sign of defeat, finally meeting the Bat Pokémon's eyes once more, as he continues to speak, "I don't mind you having a temper, Golbat. I don't mind you preferring to be on your own either. Those are things that make you who you are and I don't want your personality to change, because I do care a lot for you. But when you let those things dictate your actions to the point where you don't listen to me, that's where we run into a problem."

Golbat hunches into himself slightly, which Ran takes as a sign that he's getting through to the seemingly repentant poison-flying type.

"This isn't the first time your temper has caused trouble, Golbat." Ran reiterates, sighing heavily, before he starts to list off examples.

"You got badly hurt against Morton's Ampharos in a fight you caused when I was about to back off. You took another bad electric-type attack when we battled Chuck, because you didn't wait for my orders." He lists off, counting along on his fingers, before shifting focus.

"It isn't even just during battles. During the race, you didn't even wait for me to give the okay before taking off. If my grip had been worse, I could've gotten seriously hurt there. Plus, at the beach, you were flat out disobedient, before Aria talked to you." Ran continues his tally, before finally coming to a stop for a moment.

He looks taxingly at Golbat, who seemingly doesn't know where to look under the weight of Ran's disapproval.

Ran isn't done yet however, as he finally continues in a softer voice, "I wouldn't even mind it as much if you didn't end up paying the price every time. When I give you orders, I do so because that's the best call at that time. You've got instincts, instincts that usually boil down to get close and bite whatever you're mad at, but that isn't always the right call. I don't want to keep patching you up after you get hurt because you get your temper up and don't listen to me, you understand?" Ran explains genuinely, his words heartfelt and hopefully getting through to Golbat because of that.

He doesn't immediately get a response, Golbat simply remaining quiet as Ran continues to slather his wing in salve. Ran finishes after another half minute of work, at which point Golbat slowly tests out his wing, flexing it up and down and bending it this way and that for a few seconds. He doesn't seem particularly inclined to acknowledge his trainer's words, gaze already shifting towards the perch he's spent the past few nights hanging down from.

Ran isn't content to leave it at that however, deciding that, for lack of a carrot, he'll have to opt for the stick, "If you're not willing to listen to me over your own ego, Golbat, there'll come a point where we may have to re-evaluate if I'm the right trainer for you."

Golbat's eyes widen in surprise, his eager eyeing of his distant perch entirely forgotten, as he meets Ran's own stern expression.

"I don't want to," Ran clarifies severely, "But either I'm your trainer all of the time, not just when you feel like listening to me, or I'm better off not being your trainer at all."

That, apparently, is the right snare to hit, as Golbat hops forwards on the bed, closing the distance with his trainer, before gently placing the top of his head against Ran's chest, letting out a soft, keening cry that Ran easily translates as both an apology and an acceptance of his demands. Without hesitation, he runs his hands over the parts of Golbat's form that aren't recovering from injury, eager to clarify that a genuine apology is all he needed.

"Just listen to me and keep your temper, Golbat, that's all I ask. I don't expect you to be perfect, alright? We all make mistakes, change is never an instantaneous thing, just show me that you're trying and try not to get yourself hurt when you don't need to, alright?" Ran asks, receiving a short and affirmative screech from Golbat.

"Alright then," Ran accepts with a smile, before finally speaking the words that he knows Golbat has been eagerly waiting for, "You can get to your perch for now, I'll let the others out and catch everyone up on the match, alright?"

Golbat eagerly nods his assent, before doing as instructed and enthusiastically flapping to his perch. Ran observes the movement for a few long seconds, pleased to see that, for all that Golbat's wing is still tender, it doesn't actually seem to hinder him to any significant degree for a short flight. With that handled, he taps the rest of his pokéballs in quick succession, letting the rest of the team out.

Aria immediately heads for the wardrobe, Skorupi and Caesar both start out on the large pokémon bed and Croagunk moves for the nearby desk chair. After a few frantic seconds of movement, with Skorupi now clinging on to Ran's back, Aria in the wardrobe, Croagunk merrily spinning around on the desk chair and Caesar's head lounging in his lap even as the majority of his starters's body remains on the pokémon bed, Ran's team is ready for him to recount their match against Chuck.

He does so enthusiastically, smoothly briefing his team on the entirety of the fight, though he does take care to gloss over Golbat's behavior, not particularly wanting Caesar to get angry on his trainer's behalf. The team is in an excellent mood by the end of things, though Aria, even as she 'hums' a merry tune, does insist on getting a closer look at Golbat's wing, which he clearly only allows because none of them are capable of refusing Aria.

As the team listens enthusiastically to Skorupi, who starts with what is clearly his own recounting of his part of the match, Ran's pokégear buzzes once more. Glancing at it to see Josie's name, he isn't particularly proud of just how swiftly he opens the message.

Josie: Cool, see you there

---

Author's Note: All roads lead to Olivine.

If you want to read ahead or feel like supporting my writing, please go and have a look at my Patreon or Ko-fi . Patreon for member benefits like 2 weeks of Early Access whereas Ko-fi is for one-off donations that go towards artwork. It's no exaggeration to say that this story and its current upload schedule are only possible thanks to Patreon, so if you have anything to spare and want this story to continue, please go and have a look, every little bit helps.

 

[The Dave]

Their final days in Cianwood City pass easily, with Ran and Doro both putting their teams through their paces in Chuck's trainer facilities. They're nowhere close to the scale and sophistication of what Whitney offered back in Goldenrod, but then, even with Cianwood City's significant prosperity due to tourism, that's simply an unreasonable bar to set.

When freed from an unfair comparison to Goldenrod's facilities, Cianwood Gym's own offerings become perfectly sufficient. The Gym's chosen type-specialty is readily apparent and seems to pour out of every part of the building, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Like with the rest of Chuck's Gym, the inspiration for the training facilities is clearly a martial arts dojo, with the building largely fashioned out of wood. There's a large open courtyard, tamped down dirt making for a good place for pokémon to run through drills and new move combinations. It's the perfect location for Skorupi and Croagunk in particular, as Ran focuses heavily on them for the remaining duration of their stay in Cianwood City.

For Skorupi, that boils down to a lot of work on his maneuverability, reflexes and defense at close range. It's good fun for Ran and Croagunk, who gets to assist, as the pair of them spend more than a few hours pelting Skorupi with tennis balls and other throwable objects, as the poison-bug-type is forced to scramble around whilst using his tail to ward off what blows he can't dodge. Additionally, when not working out in the courtyard, they continue work on Venoshock, which Skorupi finally begins to manage with repeated success, finally becoming competent enough at the move for Ran to consider it mastered.

It does leave him at somewhat of a crossroads with Skorupi, as he doesn't actually know what might be a good next move to teach his first Sinnoh-native team member. Or it would have, if he hadn't received another congratulatory text message from Bugsy, just a day after he'd beaten Chuck.

Bugsy doesn't even pretend to have had a reason for contacting Ran this time, simply starting his message with congratulations before swiftly moving on to a few questions about how Skorupi has been doing and whether Ran will be staying in Cianwood for a while longer, as Bugsy's sponsored trainer should be arriving there in a few weeks. The feelings that Bugsy's continued attempts to reach out to him evoke are… complicated, but, with his own response to Bugsy's previous messages perhaps having been somewhat paranoid in retrospect, now, Ran can't help but look at the text thread as if it might well be the solution to his Skorupi-related problems.

Ultimately, though he deliberates over his response for multiple hours, he actually sends Bugsy a brief response. His message to Bugsy is extremely to the point, as Ran manages to thank the Gym leader for his kind words, let him know that he'll be long gone from Cianwood by the time this "Jeff" arrives and that Skorupi is progressing well but that Ran needs some kind of idea of what moves it can normally learn in a grand total of three sentences. He explicitly doesn't actually ask Bugsy if he can provide any additional information on Skorupi, unwilling to stoop to that level, but when Bugsy texts back later that evening with a short list of moves, Ran, though it pains him to do so, immediately copies them down into his planning notebook.

He even finds the strength to muster another, genuine, thank you message for Bugsy. Though once that's handled he firmly ignores Bugsy's next message, entirely unwilling to actually start a proper 'chat' with Azalea Town's Gym leader.

Still, for as unpleasant as the thought of actually receiving help from Bugsy is, he can't deny its usefulness, as towards the end of their final day of training in Cianwood Gym's trainer facilities, once Skorupi has truly mastered Venoshock, they get started on Knock Off. The Dark-type move's known ability to interfere with held items, either, as the name implies, through knocking items off or through using dark-type energy to interfere with their effects, will be an extremely useful tool to add to his team's bag of tricks.

Of course Skorupi has a lot of work left ahead of him, but between his future evolution that'll see him gain the dark-typing and the clear signs of him mustering at least some faint amounts of dark-type energy around his tail once Ran has explained the move, Ran is confident that Bugsy's list of moves is genuine. With a new move under his belt, his overall maneuverability significantly improved and a clear path for future growth ahead, Ran can only be extremely pleased with Skorupi's progress.

The same can be said for Croagunk, though there are more than a few key differences. For one, unlike with Skorupi, Ran has no issues whatsoever with directly approaching Chuck for a list of all of the moves Croagunk should be capable of learning. With the air between them cleared, as far as Ran is concerned, he's more than happy to rely on the resource that the Gym Leader, who has already trained at least one high-level Toxicroak, presents.

Chuck is willing to provide a list of possible moves, which brings Ran to the second major point of difference between Skorupi and Croagunk, as Croagunk has a convenient rival to compare himself against for the entirety of their three day training period. Doro's Croagunk clearly puts a lot more stock in the rivalry than Ran's far more lackadaisical Croagunk, but both trainers see the benefits in letting the two spar and work out together for multiple hours each day. There's no major differences in their approaches just yet, though Ran does note that Doro puts more emphasis on pure strength training and on refining her Croagunk's striking technique, whilst he himself spends far more time and attention working on his own Croagunk's speed and the move Poison Jab.

Doro's Croagunk dominates the spars, but Ran still feels like his chosen training will prove more beneficial down the line, accrediting the outcome of the current spars to the greater bulk of Doro's Croagunk compared to his own. It helps that, unlike Doro's Croagunk, his own new team member successfully learns how to use Poison Jab by the end of their third day of training. They don't really have time to get started on any other moves, which is good, as Chuck's list is quite comprehensive, so not having to decide on the spot is something Ran actually doesn't mind in the least, torn between Bullet Punch and Toxic as he is.

Outside of the two members he's added to his team over the course of the past two and a half months, there's also the original trio of course, though they spend most of their time working out elsewhere, rather than out in the open courtyard.

Golbat, Ran actually orders to sit in on multiple tranquility sessions, led by Chuck's father. It's very clearly something Golbat doesn't enjoy in the least, but it ensures both that Golbat doesn't tax his wing too badly, whilst it continues to recover, as well as hopefully helping to further curtail the Bat Pokémon's notorious temper. As part of the tranquility sessions, which are essentially a combination of pokémon-yoga and meditation, at least based on the glimpses Ran catches of them, Golbat also has to spend a lot of time in close proximity to other pokémon and people, without lashing out. If that can help socialize him a bit better so that he won't always be quite as reclusive as he tends to be, then that'd be a nice side benefit, though Ran honestly isn't holding out much hope in that regard.

Finally, Caesar and Aria actually get the most free reign of the lot, as Ran sets them loose upon the part of Chuck's facilities that are essentially a private beach for large swathes of time. A serious excavation effort has allowed for the large walled-in area to have a small groundwater pond, the rest of the terrain simply being loose sand.

Aria, when not working with Croagunk to also perfect Poison Jab, something she finishes up with early on the second day, gets to make free use of Ran's beach umbrella, a video of another Ariados using Sticky Web playing on repeat on Ran's pokégear, which he leaves wrapped around the umbrella's pole. It's a terribly tricky move and one Ran doesn't expect Aria to learn all that soon, but whenever he has a moment to spare and visit her, she's either watching the video intently or working on turning the beach umbrella into a teepee again, which he can only take to mean that she's working on it.

As for Caesar, the loose sand and the events of their match against Chuck have both made a glaring weakness in his toolset readily apparent, as well as providing the perfect opportunity for him to work on remedying things. Ran's orders to him are brief and simple, before he lets his starter spend most of the three days pursuing the goal Ran set for him however he pleases.

All Ran asks of Caesar, for the entirety of their three day training period at Cianwood City's Gym, is that Caesar get started on learning the move Dig.

It is, from the observations Ran gets to make whenever he has time to swing by the private beach area, a hellish assignment. Ground-type energy doesn't come naturally to the Arbok-line, which Ran knows, but it's one thing to know something in theory and another to actually observe it in practice. Caesar gives it a valiant go of course, and he undeniably starts to muster up the correct energy type over the course of the three days, but his attempts at digging are by no means the smooth tunnelling that Dig should be capable of, but more a slow wriggling into the ground, which takes over ten seconds to complete. Even then, he's got nowhere near the underground mobility that he should, not to mention that he gets to practice the move on loose sand, rather than the far more resistant surfaces most of his future battles will be taking place on.

But, that Caesar manages progress at all, especially considering how much time Ran spends on catching up Skorupi and Croagunk, is really a miracle in its own right. It leaves him enthusiastic and complimentary of Caesar's work ethic, when he runs through the day's work every evening, to his starter's obvious delight.

By the end of the three days, his team is fitter, stronger and better-trained than ever, with Golbat's wing finally fully healed up and all of them ready and eager to travel once more and get a break from the non-stop training. The same can't quite be said for Doro's team, as though they're all also stronger now than they were just three days ago, she wouldn't be a proper fighting-type specialist if they didn't all appear quite mournful about leaving Chuck's Gym behind.

Ran offers a comforting shoulder pat to Doro as they leave the Cianwood City Gym's training facilities for the final time, before they head out to go and have dinner. It's on the way to a charming little bistro, that Ran gets an update from Grady he'd been eagerly anticipating.

Grady: Beat Morty! 3-2, started out with Guardian, he beat Misdreavus, but went down to Haunter. Then used Bob, who blew right through Haunter. His final pokémon… actually I won't spoil that, but it was exciting! Bob was losing, so he used Self-Destruct (don't worry he likes it!) to weaken it. Dynamo cleaned up like it was nothing!

Upon reading Grady's words, a grin immediately breaks out on Ran's face, his fingers already flying through a congratulatory response, when he gets stuck on the names of Grady's pokémon. He remembers Bob the Voltorb, of course, and Grady did mention naming his Jolteon Dynamo shortly after her evolution. But the name 'Guardian' is new.

Ran: Congrats, Grady, great job! I look forward to seeing you and your team in Olivine. One question though, who is Guardian?

It takes a minute for Grady to respond. When he does, a picture accompanies his message.

Grady: Guardian's my fourth team member! He was a reward from Whitney for being the first of her rookie sponsored trainers to beat her this year! It took her a while to set things up, so I didn't get him until a few days ago, but he's already really strong and super cool, so I just had to use him!

The accompanying picture shows a pretty small, green, canine pokémon with a yellow pattern running across its snout and eyes, as well as having a yellow tip to its otherwise green tail. Ran pegs it as an electric-type at a glance, which lines up neatly with Grady's explanation that Whitney had to set things up specifically for her sponsored trainer.

Ran doesn't know the name of the Pokémon he's looking at, though he's quite confident that he has actually seen its evolved form in action at a Conference in the past. If he isn't completely off the mark, this has to be the pre-evolution of Manectric, an impressive electric-type that is notably fast, which he's seen in action exactly once at a previous Silver Conference.

Ran: Does that evolve into a Manectric? I've never seen its pre-evolution before.

Grady: Great catch! It's an Electrike, yeah!

Ran: Well he looks great, plus he's clearly strong, if he already helped you win a Badge. Congrats again, Grady, we'll have to catch up properly in Olivine, see if our teams can't train together for a while.

Grady: That'd be super cool! Totally! Looking forward to it!

They exchange a few more messages, before Ran lets the conversation peter out when Doro and he arrive at the bistro of their choice.

"A friend?" Doro inquires politely, nodding towards Ran's pokégear.

"Yeah," Ran agrees with a light smile, "Grady's one of Whitney's sponsored rookies. I think I mentioned him before?"

Doro chuckles in amusement, clearly connecting the name Grady to Ran's recounting of his journey, some days ago, "Ah yes, your fan."

"He's a bit enthusiastic, but I didn't call him my fan, did I?" Ran asks in disbelief, surprised by the somewhat demeaning representation of Grady.

"You didn't," Doro assures him, "But with what you mentioned of him, it's how I remembered him."

"He's really a very talented trainer," Ran insists, wanting to set the record straight about his younger friend, "He was the first of this year's rookies to return to Goldenrod and beat Whitney for example and he's got four badges, just like you and I."

Doro raises her hands apologetically as she answers, "I meant no offense. I have not met him yet, but if he is your friend, I am sure that he's a good sort. You don't seem the type to maintain relationships with bad people. Or not anymore at least, from what you mentioned of your first traveling companion."

"I don't really want to discuss Spencer," Ran frowns, "Excusing his behavior for as long as I did was a mistake I've learnt from and that's all that matters."

"My apologies," Doro offers with an accepting nod, "I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's fine," Ran waves her off, "Though that does bring me to another point, actually. I never asked if you've been traveling by yourself for the whole season so far, or if you've had a companion or companions at any point."

She hums thoughtfully in response, before calmly answering, "I've been traveling on my own up until now. Between my three starters, my decision to immediately challenge Whitney as an unsponsored trainer and my lack of strong friendships in Goldenrod, I ended up setting out on my own. You have been the first fellow trainer I've had more than a few passing conversations with. I don't believe I've really missed out on anything so far, but I do look forward to your company."

"Well that's good," Ran drones sardonically, "I'd hate for my presence to be a burden to you."

Doro's response, unlike Ran's own joking demeanor, is delivered with complete sincerity, "It is your job, as my rival, to be a burden, Ran. Otherwise, without being challenged, how can my team and I grow?"

"That's what the Gyms and the Conference are for." Ran replies slowly, not quite understanding Doro's point.

She merely waves his words away dismissively, "Bah, the Gyms are fine enough as milestones, but they are fixed points. On the other hand, the Conference is an obstacle I can't possibly overcome in the near future. Reaching it is a goal, performing well is a goal, but winning it? Unachievable for now. A worthy rival however, and this is where you come in, is a moving target. For each day I spend with my team, so too do you spend time with your team. For every opportunity I have to train, so you have yours. Overtaking you and defeating you is a good goal to have for now. Once we have managed that, I believe you won't be the type to leave things at that, so then trying to stay ahead of you will be another good challenge to face."

Ran can only listen as Doro explains her reasoning, admittedly a bit irked to be portrayed as little more than a training instrument, rather than as a friend. There must be something of his feelings visible in his expression however, as Doro, after pausing for a few seconds, further clarifies her words.

"Of course all of this would be irrelevant if I didn't also genuinely enjoy your company. Otherwise, I would have simply taken a ship to Goldenrod and kept in touch with you via messages, to set up a match later in the season." She clarifies, which is at least enough to take the sting out of her earlier reasoning, clinical as it was.

"Well good, I'd hate to be a bother." Ran snarks at her, only to almost choke on his next bite, when Doro meets his eyes sincerely, before answering in a completely even voice.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you if you become one." She deadpans, before finally letting a small grin break through at the sight of Ran's reaction.

---

Author's Note: The dynamic between Ran and Doro is such an amusing one to write. It'll be interesting to see how it turns out when they encounter other familiar faces in Olivine.

If you want to read ahead or feel like supporting my writing, please go and have a look at my Patreon or Ko-fi . Patreon for member benefits like 2 weeks of Early Access whereas Ko-fi is for one-off donations that go towards artwork. It's no exaggeration to say that this story and its current upload schedule are only possible thanks to Patreon, so if you have anything to spare and want this story to continue, please go and have a look, every little bit helps.

 

[The Dave]

The next morning, earlier than he'd like but not so early as to have to operate in the dark, Ran boards the ship to Olivine City alongside Doro. They've both got their bags full with all of their possessions once more, their pokémon all in their balls and on their trainers' belts. After the long stay in Cianwood, which between its beachwear and the sheer convenience of having everything he needs in very close proximity to the pokécenter, his gear actually feels quite heavy, the habit of lugging everything along with him clearly having withered over the past two weeks.

Doro shows none of the weariness Ran feels at once again being loaded with gear like a pack Tauros, though with her habit of personally working out every day, that isn't really a surprise. That doesn't make the sight of her easily bouncing on her feet any less irksome though, as Ran mulishly swallows a complaint about Doro's good cheer.

He's fully aware that his bad mood is his own fault, the discomfort of his full backpack on his shoulders a logical result of not keeping up with his physical fitness over his stay in Cianwood City. But that knowledge doesn't actually help to cheer him up, it only just about keeps him from snapping at Doro unfairly.

Fortunately, there's enough distraction to be had from the weight of his backpack.

The ship they're on is quite similar to the ferry Ran took from Goldenrod City, to get to Cianwood City in the first place. Though the ship they're currently on is a bit larger, that's easily explained both by the greater number of passengers and by the less challenging route, as the waters on this side of the Whirl Islands are calmer.

Yet again, even with the trip slated to take until well into the afternoon, Ran hasn't seen the need to book a cabin, something Doro agreed with, having come to the same decision. The logical consequence is that they go and explore the ship together, even as a glimpse of the four pokéballs on Doro's belt, compared to the five on his own, draw a question from him.

"You mentioned wanting to add a Heracross in Ilex Forest, right?" He asks, clearly catching Doro slightly off-guard, as they wander into the ship's bowels, both having agreed to start on the lowest accessible level and work their way up from there in their exploration.

"I did, yes." Doro responds simply after a moment, looking towards him as they walk side by side, clearly curious to know why he broached the subject.

Ran hums thoughtfully, "I was wondering about your plans for your team. My own team is going to end up looking pretty different to the plans I drew up before setting out, so I'm curious to hear the thoughts of another rookie who's ended up with an unplanned pokémon on her team."

"I see," Doro acknowledges, pausing for a few long seconds, which Ran takes as a sign that she's looking for the right words, before she finally asks a question of her own, "You had all six of your team members planned out in advance, then?"

"I did," Ran confirms without hesitation, "You know Caesar, Aria and Golbat. I originally planned to add a Gastly and a Nidoran. Then, for my final team member, I wanted a Bulbasaur, if I could somehow get my hands on one, though that was always meant to be something for late in the season and even then I admit it was a long shot. The alternative was either an Oddish or a Bellsprout, which I could have added way sooner, but I didn't want to give up on my hopes too soon."

"But then you received Skorupi," Doro mentions, "And now, Croagunk as well."

"I did, yeah," Ran affirms swiftly, "It's thrown my plans for a bit of a loop, to say the least."

Doro nods slowly, "But now there is only one spot left on your team and you are left with three, or five, depending on your count, options to choose from, no?"

Ran hesitates for a moment, the conversation derailing further than expected, as he wanted to discuss Doro's plans for team building rather than his own. Still, expecting her to share her plans when he isn't willing to do the same would be pretty dumb, so he answers honestly, "Yes and no. I had my reasons for each of the possible additions, and some of the concerns they'd address can be answered in other ways now, so it isn't as much of a choice as you might think."

The conversation comes to a natural lull then, as they reach the lowest accessible floor of the ship. It's just a large hangar filled with parked cars, which hardly makes for an interesting sight and so, after a few seconds, they turn for the stairs, to head up to the next floor. Once more on the move and having used the brief reprieve to order his thoughts, Ran starts to explain his reasoning.

"Assuming all of my current team members eventually evolve, I'll have three who are super weak to ground-types and four who are super weak to psychic-types. At the same time, the team will have one member with an immunity for each of those types, plus Aria, who isn't weak to ground and who can at least counter psychic-types with her own super-effective hits. That's a super solid core. Solid enough for me to dismiss Gengar entirely, as Drapion's even better against psychic-types than it could ever hope to be." Ran explains, drawing a nod from Doro, as she indicates that she's following his reasoning so far.

"At that point, it's a choice between a grass-poison-type and a Nidoran-line pokémon." Ran continues, only for Doro to interject with some insight of her own.

"You're only considering defensive weaknesses? Outside of Aria, you haven't mentioned your offensive advantages yet." She posits, which gains her a pleased grin from Ran, even as they arrive on the next floor, the pokémon hangar. Perhaps because of the early hour, it's currently entirely abandoned, nobody having come down here to let their pokémon stretch their legs just yet.

"I'm taking them into account, but there I can compensate by teaching my team enough coverage moves," Ran offers, shrugging as he continues to speak, "Poison isn't a particularly great type for offense, but perhaps because of that, most poison-types can learn a lot of moves. Ground-types are always going to be a problem of course, which is why a grass-poison-type would make a lot of sense, but, honestly, I just don't really like Vileplume or Victreebel and Venusaur is just as much of a long shot now as it was three and a half months ago."

He pauses then, waiting for Doro to come to the only possible conclusion, which she does after a few seconds, when she realizes that he's waiting for a response.

"A Nidoran-line pokémon, then? Poison-ground, no?" She asks eventually.

"When it's fully evolved, yes." Ran clarifies, not accidentally wanting to claim that a Nidoran has a dual-typing.

Doro remains quiet for a few long seconds, but just as Ran is about to inquire about her own plans, she finally speaks up, "I can't help but note that you forgo an extra answer for psychic- or ground-types in favor of one that might help you against steel-types."

Ran's expression pinches together at that particular observation, though he doesn't give voice to the instinctive denial he feels burning on the tip of his tongue. Instead, he waits for a moment, before responding more coolly.

"Steel is a very strong defensive typing that's growing in popularity," He finally formulates, not quite denying Doro's observation so much as he tries to recontextualize it, "But more importantly, the Nidoran-line gets enormous type-coverage. I'd have to check my notes, but I'm pretty sure that, with the right TMs and tutoring, there isn't a pokémon in the world that a fully evolved Nido can't hit for super-effective damage."

Doro remains quiet, their wandering exploration by this point having brought them to an on-board personal gym, of all things. From the stars in her eyes, Ran can tell that he won't have Doro's company for the entirety of the trip, though with an empty stomach, she at least doesn't insist on getting a workout in immediately.

Finally, yet again moments before Ran can try and turn the conversation to Doro's own plans for her final future team member, she breaks the temporary silence that's settled over them once more.

"You've clearly put a lot of thought into planning out your team. But does that not feel… restrictive to you? Does it bother you that you made such elaborate plans, only for at least a third of your final team to have been unplanned for? Or what if you run into a Weezing which you feel a real connection to, before you add your sixth member? Will you not attempt to capture it because it does not suit your plans?" She asks him slowly, her words clearly carefully chosen.

Ran's answer isn't immediate, the two of them continuing to ascend up the ship's innards until they finally reach the restaurant. With the hour now a lot more suitable for breakfast, it's a quick mutual decision for them to take seats and have a look at the menu, a waiter swiftly taking their drink orders as they browse the menu, before Ran finally answers Doro's questions.

"I like having a plan," He starts with dryly, before, at Doro's unamused expression, elaborating with a slight smile, "It's comforting to have something more tangible to fall back on, at times. Obviously, in this case, things haven't gone as planned, but they've still turned out more than fine, so that's alright. I guess you could consider the time I put into research and planning a waste, but maybe I'll use that knowledge or those skills at some other point in the future? Even if I don't, I enjoyed coming up with the plan and it's not as if I could have spent my time, before journeying, very differently."

"And if you run into a wild pokémon you feel a strong bond with, before you can find a suitable Nidoran? Or if you don't find a Nidoran that suits you?" Doro prods cautiously, even as she nods along in understanding for the rest of his explanation.

"Then that's a bridge I'll cross when I get to it. I have a plan, I intend to carry it out, but if circumstances change, I'm not going to freak out over it either." Ran replies confidently, drawing an approving smile from Doro.

"I understand," She accepts with a nod, before throwing him completely for a loop, "As for myself, I intend to add a Heracross to help with psychic-types. It is, outside of Quick, Precise and Strong, the only pokémon I truly believe I need to add to my team. Toff, my Croagunk, has been a pleasant surprise and I am sure that, somewhere along the way, another pokémon with a suitable warrior spirit shall cross my path."

At the flabbergasted look on Ran's face, Doro chuckles huskily, "You were about to ask about my own plans for my final free 'slot', were you not? I can't give you a clearer answer, my rival, for I don't know who my sixth member will be any more than you do."

Ran can't muster up a response, silence hanging over their table for a minute until he's finally shaken out of his surprised stupor when someone comes by to take their orders - eggs and bacon for Doro, a panini for Ran - and to deliver the drinks they'd ordered mere moments after sitting down. Only then does he finally reply to Doro's admission that she has no concrete plans for her final team member.

"There's not enough fighting-types native to Kanto and Johto for this to be a hard decision! It's either Primeape, Machoke or Poliwrath! You should at least have a preference between those three, unless you've got something more exotic in mind?" He asks in disbelief, unable to comprehend Doro's claim that she really has no concrete plans for the completion of her team.

"I do not have a preference between those three and I have no specific foreign pokémon in mind either," Doro responds placidly, smiling lightly at the look on his face, "It will sort itself out in time."

"I'm going to change the subject, because you're giving me a headache." Ran tells her mock-seriously, waving his panini in her direction 'threateningly'.

Doro raises her hands in faux surrender, the rest of their breakfast passing pleasantly as they discuss their plans - reading and relaxing on the deck for Ran, working out and then having her team spar amongst themselves for Doro - and enjoy their meals. Afterwards, they pay before putting words into action, going their separate ways as Ran wanders out onto the deck, where the sun has climbed high into the sky and is shining down pleasantly.

Claiming a deck chair is easy work, though actually sitting in it is another matter. Because he decides to let Skorupi out of his ball again, at which point he ends up in another half wrestling match with the poison-bug-type over their seating arrangement. Ultimately however, he manages to cajole Skorupi into settling for a reasonable position on his lap, so that Ran can actually enjoy his seat without having Skorupi's sharp carapace digging into him.

Then, he digs out a book, before losing track of the world for a while, as he enjoys the read. It is, for once, not part of research or study, but rather a book of fiction, about a trainer whose bond with his starter, a Sandshrew, is so strong that it doesn't just evolve into a Sandslash, but it becomes capable of temporarily evolving again in moments of need. The premise is ridiculous of course, but it's an enjoyable read, the words evoking a very clear picture of the world and the characters seeming just about ready to leap off of the page.

By the time Ran is drawn away from his book once more, a few hours appear to have passed, Skorupi dozing peacefully on the back of his chair. At first, he doesn't know just what it is that's disturbed his focus, but then he notices the large and growing congregation of passengers near the ship's starboard side railing. Leaving his chair to go and have a look of his own, Ran soon realizes that they're passing the Whirl Islands and the wild waters that protect them from human intrusion.

The Whirl Islands are notorious for being a notoriously hard to reach Trainer-only location for anyone who can't fly there directly. Ordinarily, simply Surfing a sufficiently powerful pokémon should be able to do the trick, but the whirlpools that surround the islands are supposedly a genuine challenge for even the strongest swimmers. Though there's also rumors of Chuck's Poliwrath regularly swimming over to work out in the whirlpools before swimming all the way back to Cianwood City, so Ran doesn't quite know how seriously to take those claims.

It's not particularly relevant to him either way, as his team's not slated to have any team members whom he would willingly try to Surf on for any serious distances. Besides, most trainers who visit the Whirl Islands do so by flying there, as evidenced by the distant silhouette of what appears to be a Fearow with what has to be its trainer riding on top of it. So why would Ran risk the waters, if Golbat or, by then hopefully Crobat, will be more than capable of safely getting him to the islands? If he even ends up ever visiting them in the first place, seeing as the Whirl Islands aren't exactly known for having much to offer to anyone that isn't interested in water- or ice-types.

After watching for a few moments, Ran wanders back to his chair, not as impressed by the distant isles and the whirlpools surrounding them as so many of the other passengers. Instead, he happily devotes his attention back to his book, pausing only for lunch, which Doro comes to collect him for at one point, before getting right back to it once more.

By the time late afternoon rolls around, he's made an enormous amount of progress in his book, only to be interrupted once more, when another hubbub breaks out. Though this time, people are gathering further towards the bow of the ship. As Ran stands up to join them, the reason becomes readily apparent, as Olivine City becomes more and more visible in the distance.

---

Author's Note: Olivine ahoy!

If you want to read ahead or feel like supporting my writing, please go and have a look at my Patreon or Ko-fi . Patreon for member benefits like 2 weeks of Early Access whereas Ko-fi is for one-off donations that go towards artwork. It's no exaggeration to say that this story and its current upload schedule are only possible thanks to Patreon, so if you have anything to spare and want this story to continue, please go and have a look, every little bit helps.

 

[The Dave]

Olivine City, at first sight, is a city that doesn't realize it's a city.

Though it is a coastal city, with the port that entails, it is very clear that, where Cianwood City was primarily a tourist destination and Goldenrod was the beating heart of Johto's administrative and commercial endeavors, Olivine looks most of all like a town that never quite stopped growing outwards, whilst at the same time refusing to grow upwards.

It isn't quite the gargantuan sprawling maze of buildings that Ran considers Goldenrod City to be, but it isn't as far removed from Johto's largest city as Ran was expecting. Or it isn't too far from it in surface area, at the very least. Height is a very different matter.

Approaching Olivine City's Port, the ferry glides through the water, giving an extensive and increasingly detailed look at the buildings that make up the most northwestern city in Johto. The better Ran's view, the more he finds his first impression of Olivine City confirmed. There's hardly any buildings that have more than two floors, the streets are narrow and winding and there's a surprising amount of greenery visible rising up from between the buildings.

The few exceptions to the height limitations, whether coincidental or imposed, are obvious eyecatchers as a result, rising up to dominate their neighborhoods. Immediately noteworthy is the lack of a large, red-roofed pokécenter, which a city of Olivine's size should really merit. It's only on a second, more thorough examination that Ran realizes that Olivine's design philosophy has been carried through in its pokécenters, with multiple smaller buildings with the trademarked red roof scattered throughout the city.

With that mystery solved, he moves on to the few actual large buildings that stand out. There's a large, beam shaped building close to the entrance to Goldenrod's Port. Doro, having rejoined him just a few minutes prior, notices what building has drawn his attention, cheerily informing him that the building in question is the, supposedly, renowned Olivine Café, the main go-to for the many sailors that frequent Olivine City.

According to Doro, they've got some of the best food in Johto, at fair prices. Knowing Doro as he's come to do, Ran mentally translates that to mean that the portion sizes are large whilst the contents emphasize protein and starch. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing by any means, but 'best food in Johto' might be overselling it just a bit.

Another building that stands out for obvious reasons is of course the Lighthouse, its tourist deck visibly has a few dozen people milling about, though details are impossible to make out due to the distance. There's no light at the top, at the moment, but before Ran can embarrass himself by asking a dumb question, he's fortunately able to eavesdrop as a nearby kid asks his parents the exact same question Ran himself had in mind.

The revelation that the Lighthouse is actually powered by a pokémon and is only used in cases of extremely poor visibility because of that is interesting, though he is left to wonder at the efficiency of such a system. Still, the building itself is imposing enough and when Doro mentions that the floors above the tourist deck are Trainer-only areas, Ran silently vows to visit the Lighthouse at least once over his stay in Olivine.

Last, but by no means least and in fact, to Ran's mind at least, by far the most important building of all, is the Gym. It is the single largest building in Olivine City and it is not close. It is not close at all.

It is an enormous building that he can only really adequately compare to an airplane hangar, both in shape and size. Other than for its sheer size, it's outwardly unremarkable, not particularly decorated or even really at all different in aesthetics from an average hangar. There's no greater focus on steel in its construction, no great windows to showcase the training or battles that must take place inside. It is merely an enormous, functional building. Which, in its own way, feels like a perfect home for a steel-type gym. Seeing as Jasmine is the second steel-type specialist to be Gym leader over Olivine, after Gholam, her grandfather who still sits on the Elite Four despite his advanced age, it's really no surprise to Ran to see the building so well-suited to the Gym leader's specialty.

He glances towards Doro, to see if she has any input to offer, but his friendly rival doesn't acknowledge the building she's already triumphed within, instead nodding invitingly in the direction of where they'll eventually have to disembark.

"We've been traveling long enough, I'd like to go and get ready to get off the ship as soon as possible." She tells him, drawing an assenting smile from Ran.

"Sure thing," He accepts, "Though I do have a few questions about the pokécenters whilst we wait."

Doro raises her hand, pre-empting him from asking any of the questions he feels like posing, "Wait, wait, let me guess. Let's see: I stayed at the one closest to the Gym, though availability was low and with Jasmine's reputation, there's good odds that it'll be busier now than it was a few weeks ago. There is no real meaningful difference between the pokécenters as far as services go. They did it this way because there's laws in place that say that any large constructions need to gain enough signatures in support from the local populace and it's very rare for that to happen."

"Not quite the order I was going to ask in, but sure, that's everything I wanted to know." Ran admits with a grin, which turns to a chuckle when Doro, in a moment of cheesiness, fistpumps triumphantly at his acknowledgement of her guesses having been correct.

They banter for a while longer, with Ran finally recalling Skorupi, shortly before the ship starts to dock. Just a few minutes later, the gangplank is lowered and they're setting foot on solid ground once more.

"So, the pokécenter?" Doro asks him, drawing an agreeing nod from Ran.

"Best to get lodgings out of the way, yeah. Lead the way." He accepts easily.

The two of them set out towards the city proper, the Port connecting directly to the only truly large roads Olivine seems to have, with most of its road network mirroring the buildings, by being smaller than he'd have expected from a city. It gives the city a very cozy feeling, though the sight of nearly every local they cross paths with either using a bicycle, an electric scooter, some other form of small wheeled transport or a pokémon mount to get around soon impresses one major conclusion on Ran.

With the city as sprawled out as it is, getting anywhere on foot is going to take far longer than he's particularly happy about. Doro obviously doesn't mind, the physical fitness freak even suggesting they jog to the nearest pokécenter, completely disregarding the heavy bags they're both carrying. Fortunately, she accepts Ran's refusal with good grace, the two of them continuing to plod towards the pokécenter that's closest to Olivine City's Gym.

Olivine fortunately isn't as warm as Cianwood, the temperatures more in line with what Ran consider normal for early spring weather. It makes the walk more bearable than if he'd had to do it in sweltering heat at least, though when a light rain begins to fall when they're still at least five minutes away from the pokécenter, he isn't exactly enthused about that either.

Things get worse when they finally do make it to the pokécenter, only to find out that the center is nearly fully booked, with no single rooms available and only a single double, which doesn't have any amenities for Caesar to be able to rest comfortably out of his ball. Even then, that would assume that Ran and Doro are willing to share a room for a week or more, something neither one of them is all that keen on.

So, begrudgingly, Ran follows Doro out of the pokécenter and towards the next closest one to Olivine's Gym. Annoyingly, it's on the opposite end of the Gym, which means both another long walk, as well as passing by the Gym itself whilst still carrying all of his gear along. All while the rain, which has slowly intensified from a light drizzle to properly annoying, keeps falling.

There's an umbrella somewhere in his backpack, but he didn't account for rain today and so it's hidden somewhere in its depths. Plus, Doro shows no signs whatsoever of being bothered by the rain, which is another reason for him to tough it out as well. Even if that means getting increasingly drenched.

As they pass by the Gym, its understated monumentality even more imposing from up close, Ran is tempted to head inside and book his challenge whilst they're there, but the straps of his backpack biting into his shoulders and the sight of queuing trainers are enough to make him think better of that particular idea. Instead, he simplys keeps following Doro, who has the temerity to say something about rain causing more oxygen in the air, as she leads the way to the next pokécenter.

What feels like half an hour later, they finally enter the pokécenter in question. By this point, Ran feels soaked to the bone, but at least the pokécenter is dry and warm, giving him an opportunity to take off his coat and hopefully dry up slightly faster. His mood is lifted when the nurse has great news for them, actually having enough room for both Ran and Doro to book single rooms with the necessary facilities to give their pokémon the freedom to rest out of their balls.

With rooms booked and key cards in hand, they agree to go and put their stuff away, as well as seeing about drying off or getting changed, before meeting up once more near the reception desk. It's quick work, as Ran dumps his stuff and eagerly changes clothes, finishing by swapping out his drenched purple coat for a thinner, but water-repellent dark blue raincoat.

He takes a brief look at his pokégear, confirming that he hasn't got any new messages, before heading back towards the reception area. Doro is already there, waiting for him. She's also changed outfits, to Ran's surprise, seemingly more affected by the rain than he'd realized.

Like him, she's also got a raincoat on, which is fully zipped up for once, leaving it unclear whether she's still got a bare midriff underneath or whether she's also dressed a bit warmer for the circumstances. Not that it really matters, as they set out into the City once more, returning to the Gym in short order. No longer having to lug his whole gear along, Ran is a lot more enthusiastic about joining the queue of waiting trainers, even the rain, which hasn't let up in the least, no longer really bothers him.

After maybe twenty minutes of waiting, they make it to the front of the queue. Ran easily hands over his identification to the receptionist, a dour middle-aged woman, before confirming the standard information she rattles off. There's a moment's hesitation when she inquires whether he'd like to take on the Gym's Trainer Challenge, but Ran soon opts against it, not particularly enthusiastic about forcing his team to face more steel-types and their enormous defensive advantage than they have to.

Then, however, they hit a hiccup.

"It's the 14th, how could you possibly not have any availability left until the end of the month?!" Ran asks in disbelief.

The receptionist, not at any point having made any effort to be friendly or approachable, is entirely unaffected by his dismay, not even offering up an explanation.

"I could book you for the 28th, at twenty before four in the afternoon." She offers dryly, rather than actually offering any context or explanation for the extremely long wait.

"If you've got nothing earlier, I'll take it." Ran accepts moodily, less than enthused that he'll have to wait more than two weeks for his match.

"Fifth badge challenge, four on four, April 28th, twenty before four." The receptionist rattles off, before visibly turning her attention to Doro, who merely shakes her head no, at which point the receptionist's gaze moves on to the next trainer in line, who at least looks faintly discouraged by the less-than-friendly woman.

Ran moves to the side in frustration, leaving it to Doro to formulate the obvious explanation he's also landed on, though some amount of confirmation or explanation would have been nice.

"Olivine must be seeing a spike in trainers right now. Depending on the routes people take, the schedule the Gym keeps, how many people go for a rematch after their first try… It is unfortunate, but Jasmine's steel-types are notoriously challenging at the higher levels, so it is not too surprising that a lot of people plot their routes to pass through here before they've got five or six badges, no?" She posits, to which Ran can only nod in affirmation.

"Yeah, I guess, but she could've just said that," Ran replies, not content to just forget about the receptionist's appalling behavior like that, "Because then I could've asked if the spikes are different every season, or if there's a pattern. Maybe then I, or some of the other queuing trainers, would've reconfigured their routes to come back at another time, rather than force people to plan around an appointment that's two full weeks down the line."

"You have a point," Doro accepts, "But Olivine is not so bad a place to be 'stuck' in. Besides, you have your challenge booked for your fifth badge at the end of the season's third month. It is not as if you are in a bad rush. This will give you more time to prepare."

Ran huffs, but doesn't argue the point any further, instead focusing on Doro's own plans. Because with his match against Jasmine planned further in the future than he'd hoped, Doro's own plans to stick with him for the duration of his stay in Olivine may well have been compromised.

"A lot more time than I was planning on having," Ran opens, after he takes a moment to compose his thoughts, "But not really enough to head to Goldenrod and make it back here comfortably, if I also still want to get enough training in."

"That is true," Doro agrees, "Taking the official Routes and going via Ecruteak is more than a week of traveling single way. You could take a ship, but I have had quite enough of that, and I assume you mention this because you are trying to bring the discussion to my own travel plans, no?"

"I am, yeah." Ran agrees openly.

"I figured. Don't worry, though. Two weeks is longer than I was planning to spend in Olivine, but I have half of my badges already and we're only about a quarter of the way into the season. Taking some time in the city to socialize, get to know other trainers, train in better circumstances and enjoy the comforts of plumbing, before I start trekking towards Ilex Forest, is something I quite look forward to. In truth, I rather enjoyed Olivine, compared to Goldenrod. Having an excuse to spend two weeks here is something I don't mind at all." Doro informs him easily, casually dispelling any worries Ran might have had about his newfound companion leaving before they've even properly started traveling together.

"Alright then," Ran accepts with undisguised relief, "Seeing as you've been to this city before, do you have any suggestions for dinner?"

"I do!" Doro agrees enthusiastically, "It's the perfect place to start our evening tour of some of Olivine's main attractions!"

"Wait, what evening tour?" Ran asks in surprise, not recalling ever agreeing to anything of the sort.

"I had to spend most of the day on a ship, Ran Carr," Doro tells him seriously, expression completely neutral as she faces him, "I have energy to burn and, as I told you, I quite enjoyed Olivine City. After dinner, we shall tour some of the sights. But first, to the Sailors' Café!"

---

Author's Note: Poor Ran has wandered into another trainer spike, looks like he'll be stuck in Olivine for a while.

If you want to read ahead or feel like supporting my writing, please go and have a look at my Patreon or Ko-fi . Patreon for member benefits like 2 weeks of Early Access whereas Ko-fi is for one-off donations that go towards artwork. It's no exaggeration to say that this story and its current upload schedule are only possible thanks to Patreon, so if you have anything to spare and want this story to continue, please go and have a look, every little bit helps.

 

[The Dave]

The Sailors' Café proves to be one of the largest buildings in Olivine. Which isn't saying too much on its own, considering Olivine's choice to have smaller buildings sprawl out in all directions rather than build upwards, but even in Goldenrod, the Café would still be remarkable. It sits just outside of the cargo area of Olivine's Port, part of a four story monstrosity of a construction that also holds a hotel, a spa, a recreation center and a laundromat, amongst other things.

Doro stops listing the many facilities held within the Olivine Café at that point, in favor of simply dragging Ran along to the top floor. There, the term 'café' proves to be somewhat of a misnomer, as they instead enter a massive all you can eat buffet style restaurant. Just a quick look around at the clientele confirms what the Café's name already hinted at.

This place heavily focuses on serving sailors and other people with nautical professions. Not that Ran and Doro are the only trainers in the enormous room, which has ballroomlike proportions, but they're a very small minority indeed. As Ran takes a look at the fees and the terms and conditions, he also realizes just why that is.

The charged rates are exorbitant for any person with a normal appetite, especially for those who only want to partake for an hour. However, for those both capable and willing of gorging themselves for a few hours on end, suddenly the value proposition shifts to a major degree, as the price doesn't rise commensurately with the extra time at all.

Viewed in that light, the many sailors aren't a surprising sight. After all, if their ships are docked, it's not as if they can't spare the time and they've probably got physically demanding jobs. Doro's clear enthusiasm for visiting this place would be more surprising, if Ran hadn't gotten a pretty clear view of just how many calories she burns through in a day.

Clearly, he won't personally be frequenting this place, like Doro seems to be planning, but for a one-time splurge, he's more than willing to indulge, even if they're just staying an hour. Soon enough, he's carrying a first plate, filled modestly with some appetizers, to the small table they've been allocated to. Unsurprisingly, when Doro joins him, her own plate is easily twice as full as his.

"So, what do you think?" She asks enthusiastically, before starting to wolf down the meal in front of her.

"It's impressive," Ran allows with a slight smile, "Though calling this place 'Café' is a bit of a misnomer, isn't it?"

Doro nods in agreement, swallowing the bite she's chomping down on before answering once her mouth is empty, "I looked into that, when I was here before. This is the fourth iteration of the same business. It grew along with the port itself. Four generations ago, it really was 'just' a café, and the name was never changed."

Ran accepts the explanation easily, the conversation flowing organically, interrupted only to eat and to go and get more food. By the time their hour ends, Ran's just about ready to go lie down and sleep, whilst Doro looks as if she'd be more than happy to tack on another hour, but her desire to lead him on an evening tour proves to be greater still. Thankfully, the rain has stopped at least.

They start, upon exiting the Café, by turning to the Port.

A large part of the Port, really everything that handles cargo shipping, is obviously off-limits to them. Which isn't a surprise, but as the Café sits closest to those parts of the Port, they do end up having to walk for some fifteen minutes, before finally reaching the more touristy, public, commercial part of the Port.

What Doro leads him to is the quintessential kind of yacht harbor that belongs on a postcard, with narrow and quant piers sprouting out from the coastline, which recedes here to form a natural bowl-shaped harbour, and countless small sailing ships moored on all of them. As for the buildings that ring the natural harbor, there's charming seafood restaurants, quaint souvenir shops and fishing supply stores as far as the eye can see. Doro doesn't seem too impressed, but Ran doesn't even try to hide just how charmed he is by it all.

"You didn't consider one of these restaurants for dinner?" Ran asks his companion, gesturing expansively towards the many trainers and not-sailors he can see frequenting the many establishments, "We would've fit in a lot better here."

Doro scoffs, shaking her head incredulously, "You think this would have been better? A strong trainer needs hearty fare, not these unfulfilling half plates these people dare call a main course."

"We don't all need to eat as much as you, Doro," Ran disagrees mildly, "For us feeble mortals, what you consider a half plate is usually a full meal."

"Pah, you just don't appreciate good food yet. Don't worry, my rival. I shall save you from your foolishness yet." Doro states in what Ran hopes is an attempt at a joke, though her expression is worryingly serious for his tastes.

Opting to distract her, for his own safety, Ran starts to wander forwards once more, "Well, this place is lovely, but I doubt your tour is just an enjoyable trek along the coastline, right?"

"You are correct," Doro acknowledges immediately, "We shall go to the Lighthouse."

"Doro, the Lighthouse is miles away, it's almost entirely on the other side of the city." Ran responds slowly, trying to impress upon his rival just how he feels about the idea.

"Indeed," Doro agrees swiftly, "It will allow us to take in most of Olivine Beach. Besides, a good, brisk walk after dinner shall help you with digestion."

Ran looks at her warily for a few long moments, before finally letting out a beleaguered sigh, "Alright, fine. For future reference, I want it on record that my digestion is also fine without taking any absurd walks."

"So noted." Doro confirms, before starting to lead the way.

They start to walk along the boulevard, or what passes for Olivine City's boulevard. It isn't a massively wide or impressive path by any means, but with the beach and sea on one side and Olivine's uniquely small buildings on the other, it should make for an enjoyable enough walk nevertheless.

Especially as unlike most of the city, the boulevard has clear signage allowing for pokémon to be out of their balls. Something both Ran and Doro make immediate use of. It makes for a busy moment, as they suddenly go from a party of two to a group of ten, but with their teams at the very least having met already, even if they aren't particularly familiar with each other, the situation isn't as chaotic as it could have been. Not that that's saying all that much.

Ran focuses on his own team, allowing Doro to do the same for her own squad as well.

With twilight in its waning moments and the city's artificial lighting being sufficient but somewhat sparse, Golbat is clearly in his element, only waiting for a single approving nod from Ran before he's flying up to the nearest light post so that he can hang from it comfortably. Not that the rest of his team is far behind in their enthusiasm. His first three pokémon all had a natural preference for being active at night already and through circumstance, his fourth and fifth members seem to fit quite nicely into that mold as well.

Which in a way isn't exactly ideal for Ran of course, who keeps to a far more human, diurnal schedule. Of course his team has generally adapted to his rhythm, but its moments like these, as he watches them all enthusiastically take in their surroundings, nearly buzzing with energy, when he wonders if there's any concessions he could make to their natural schedules, when he's not beholden to things like Gyms' opening hours.

The sight of Caesar, whose whole hood vibrates slightly as he lets out a pleased hiss, and Aria, who wiggles in place eagerly whilst taking in her surroundings, is reminiscent of the enthusiasm they used to show back in Azalea Town, when Ran planned late night or extremely early morning training sessions. Of course their bodies are different and so the moves and sounds aren't exactly the same, but there's a clear remnant of the behavior they showed as small, unevolved pokémon in their actions.

It's that realization that has Ran pay some extra attention to Skorupi in particular, who of course has already managed to scramble up his back, where he's attached like a limpet, and Croagunk, who is as cheery as ever, offering another croaked 'hello', to the rest of the team's dismay, when he notices Ran's eyes on him. Taking up three-fourths of the boulevard for the moment, as Ran greets all his pokémon and starts to catch them up on their plans for the evening, Ran does for a moment feel awkward when an older couple has to walk single file for a moment, to be able to pass the congregation of his and Doro's teams.

He raises an apologetic hand, but the couple in question waves him off, with the older lady in particular visibly melting when she catches sight of Skorupi clinging onto his back. Her husband, or that's who Ran assumes the man to be at least, is less enthusiastic, attention tensely shifting between Caesar and Aria, but he too proves unable to resist Croagunk's cheery wave, which he answers with a brisk nod, before hurrying his wife along. As they pass, Ran can just catch the lady gushing about 'that adorable bug-type' on his back, whilst its good that he only catches the very first words of the man's response, as the snappish way in which says 'exclusively poison-types' implies that whatever he responds to his wife, Ran doesn't want to hear it.

Fortunately, rather than get too distracted, he's brought back to attention by Doro, who has clearly already finished talking to her own team, with the fighting-types neatly paired up and clearly eager to get going. Ran's own team is a bit more rambunctious and less-organized, though it only takes him a few seconds to check if any of them want to be returned to their balls, which they don't.

They start walking down the boulevard, with Golbat periodically flying ahead to a light post before he hangs from it until the procession catches up and passes it, at which point he easily flies ahead once more. As for the rest of his team, they're all more than happy to travel with the group, though with Skorupi eagerly clinging onto his back, his head just popping over Ran's shoulder so that he can keep an eye on where they're going, Ran's own team can't neatly pair up like Doro's own.

Fortunately, that's easily remedied by Aria who, clearly having taken inspiration from the race in Cianwood, happily settles on Caesar's back to let herself be carried. That way, Croagunk can walk alongside Ran's starter and the three of them can have their own discussion, though Aria and Croagunk are clearly the main participants, with Caesar only ever offering a brief hiss here or there to interject or express his (dis)approval of whatever the other two are debating.

It's an amusing display to watch proceed in front of them, as Ran's team takes the lead on their walk. Apart from the practical consideration that Ran doesn't want to lose sight of them, not trusting them in their enthusiasm to stay close by and behave, there's also the cool-factor of having an Arbok sliding ahead of him to announce his approach.

Not that there isn't any entertainment to be had behind them, as Doro's team has its own sideshow going on. Because the pairs walking together change around, a lot. Whenever Ran glances behind him, a different one of Doro's three starters is walking next to Toff the Croagunk. Her own preference seems to go to Quick the Hitmontop, the other female member of team Doro, but from the moments Ran observes, Strong the Hitmonlee and Precise the Hitmonchan constantly team up to have one of them distract and draw away Quick, so that the other can walk next to Toff.

Ran doesn't bring it up and Doro doesn't comment on it, but it's an amusing spectacle to say the least.

The majority of Ran's attention is on practical matters, as with their stay in Olivine now planned to take a lot longer than he'd originally planned and a solid date in the books for his match at the Olivine City Gym, Ran can't make himself hold off on making firmer plans for what comes next any longer.

"So, I'll have my fifth badge by late afternoon of the twenty-eighth," He announces, drawing a soft sound of assent from Doro, which is enough for him to continue, "Then, you want to get to Ilex Forest. I see two options. First, we could swing by Ecruteak, at which point it'd make no real sense for me to leave there without also challenging Morty, which would put me at six, assuming you'd want to stick around that long and we want to commit to doing the whole circuit together. Because then we'd move through Goldenrod on the way to Azalea and Violet to get you up to six as well, before cutting through the Dark Caves to do Blackthorn and finish in Mahogany."

Ran explains the first option, his old worries over timing admittedly having been lessened to a significant amount now that he's scheduled to add his fifth badge before the end of the ten month season's third month. Doro is content to listen quietly, only nodding to indicate her understanding as they continue to walk.

"Alternatively, we could cut directly to Goldenrod, rather than swinging by Ecruteak," Ran starts to explain the second viable path forwards he sees, "It'd be quicker and should give me in particular ample opportunity to track down a really strong member of the Nidoran-line, rather than having to settle for a weaker member of the species that hasn't been driven off of the Routes by the Rangers. It'd be more challenging of course, but at this point, with our full teams, I think we're ready to brave the real wilds. Then, from Goldenrod on, we could just continue on as discussed, only we'd tack on Ecruteak at the end instead of the beginning and I'd be challenging one level lower than you in Blackthorn and Mahogany. All of this in the assumption of course that we continue to enjoy traveling together and that we're both willing to compromise here and there to make that possible."

"All of this assumes that you defeat Jasmine, of course," Doro responds calmly, before raising her hands apologetically to ward off his angry glare, "I mean no offense. These plans also assume that we have success at the future Gyms, but Jasmine is the first in line."

Ran huffs, not looking to fight, but also not entirely appeased as the implied slight lingers, "I will beat Jasmine. My match against Chuck was a bit closer than expected, but that was calculated, otherwise I'd have used Aria over Skorupi. Steel has a defensive advantage, but I have plenty of answers for her. If anything, it's your match-up against Falkner where we'd run into trouble, assuming you do still actually want to travel together, because you haven't answered that yet."

"I don't tend to plan as far ahead as you do," Doro replies patiently, "And I do not wish to commit to a months-long journey just yet. But I do believe the journey directly to Goldenrod holds more merit than the official route through Ecruteak. One of the major advantages to travelling together, to my mind, is the safety in numbers that an exploration of the wilder areas can only benefit from. So, if you must absolutely have a plan for your own sake of mind, plan for that path, I would say."

"Alright," Ran accepts, hesitating for a moment to turn Doro's words over in his head, before accepting the logic behind them, "I guess that makes sense. It's not as if my initial plans have survived this far anyways."

"They have not," Doro chuckles, "Though from what you have told me, and what I believe you have omitted in your retelling, I do hope that if we do part ways at some point before the Conference, it will be on better terms, no?"

Ran doesn't directly admit that Doro is correct that he didn't share his whole story with her, though he omitted more about his history with Bugsy than he did of his conflict with Spencer. Instead, he merely agrees with a slight smile, "I hope so too."

The conversation turns lighter after that, their procession continuing to lazily make its way along the boulevard that runs along Olivine Beach, towards the gradually growing less distant shape of the Lighthouse. There's a moment of hilarity when Aria, who clearly wants Golbat to be a bit more sociable, tries to tag him with a string of her silk, to stop him from flying ahead yet again.

Unfortunately for her, she overestimates her grip on Caesar's back, as well as her own weight, whilst underestimating just how strong Golbat's been getting. Which means that when her shot lands, a thick strand of webbing connecting her to Golbat's abdomen, Golbat isn't arrested in his flight. Instead, Aria is sent flying after him, Golbat's momentum and strong wing beats tearing Aria off of Caesar's back, leaving her to trail after him just a few feet above the ground.

Ran hurriedly pulls out Aria's ball to try and prevent a painful crash landing, but Golbat catches on to just what's happened just in time, putting extra effort into maintaining his height whilst bleeding off speed. Aria meanwhile lets out one of the shrillest chirps she's ever produced, as with Golbat stopping his forwards momentum, she in effect become a pendulum, swinging onwards past the flying-type she's attached to, her legs clipping the ground at the bottom of the swing, before she is carried onwards and upwards.

Golbat clearly can't keep it going for too long, but when Aria realizes that any immediate risk of a crash has been averted, the sounds she produces become a lot more enthusiastic, spurring Golbat to ascend just a bit more before simply letting Aria's momentum bleed off slowly. She swings back and forth another five times, before finally coming to a rest a few feet above the ground. Then, she simply lengthens the strand she's attached to Golbat by until she gently lands on the ground.

The reactions of the rest are mixed, with Caesar seemingly set on lecturing both Golbat and Aria for their tomfoolery, whilst Skorupi is glaring distrustfully at Golbat as if scared that, with the poison-flying-type's strength proven, he might himself be carried off at any time. Croagunk, meanwhile, has visible stars in his eyes as he gazes hopefully at the strand of web that's still attached to Golbat's abdomen.

As for Doro and her team, they all seem just about equally puzzled, clearly unsure how to handle the chaotic moment. Which leaves Ran to impose some amount of order.

"Alright, Golbat, clearly Aria wants you to stay close, so hitch a ride on Caesar with her for now. Aria will help you get rid of her webs. Croagunk, you can try and convince them to let you have a go later on, when we've got free time and enough room to do so safely. Caesar, it's alright, Aria shouldn't have tried to force Golbat to come down, but nobody was hurt and I'm sure that she'll apologize. Oh and Skorupi, ease up, Golbat isn't going to grab you and take you flying." He lists off, looking each of his team members in the eye in turn.

It's enough to restore order, as an only slightly annoyed Golbat hops onto Caesar's back, allowing Aria to enthusiastically start chittering at him in what could almost be an Ariados' version of a serenade. At the same time, Skorupi's grip on Ran's back, having grown significantly more tense over the past minute, eases up again whilst Croagunk contents himself with simply continuing to walk alongside Caesar's form for now. With that sideshow handled and once more preceding them, Ran turns his attention to Doro, only to be met with an extremely puzzled look.

"What?" He asks cautiously.

"I find you a confusing boy, Ran Carr." She simply informs him, not expanding any further on just what she means by that statement over the next ten minutes, no matter how much he badgers her over the matter.

Finally, his demands for an explanation come to a halt, as they arrive at the foot of the Olivine Lighthouse. By this point, the sun has set and though there is a decent amount of moonlight, the tourist deck is already closed.

"The area up to and including the tourist deck is freely accessible to anyone who wants to take in some of the city's history and culture, or who just wants to go and enjoy the view. Beyond the tourist deck, the tower's upper innards, is a Trainer-only area that may be worth a few visits, as although there are no wild pokémon, it makes for an interesting battling location. There's an unofficial, though quite reputable, gauntlet ranking system." Doro explains, as she looks up towards the tower's top.

"Oh?" Ran asks, intrigued by the mention of a competition.

Doro doesn't hesitate to explain, clearly a fan of the concept, "There are multiple floors. To proceed to the next floor, it is considered proper practice to win at least a single one-on-one battle before doing so. Of course not everybody participates as it is an unofficial thing, but for those that do wish to partake, they simply need to buy a souvenir pin of the lighthouse and pin it onto their clothes upside down. I made it up three floors the last time I was here, under the circumstances, that was quite a good performance."

"It sounds like fun," Ran agrees, "We'll have to come by and give it a go sometime in the next few days."

"Yes," Doro agrees enthusiastically, "We should."

---

Author's Note: On the one hand, Doro the trainer of a fully humanoid team. On the other hand, Ran and his snake, spider, scorpion, bat and humanoid. You gotta picture Ran looking at his spider, the spider moving and Ran somehow interpreting that body movement from Doro's POV. Girl does not have the same frame of reference at all.

If you want to read ahead or feel like supporting my writing, please go and have a look at my Patreon or Ko-fi . Patreon for member benefits like 2 weeks of Early Access whereas Ko-fi is for one-off donations that go towards artwork. It's no exaggeration to say that this story and its current upload schedule are only possible thanks to Patreon, so if you have anything to spare and want this story to continue, please go and have a look, every little bit helps.

 

[The Dave]

Over the next three days, Ran gets into a comfortable enough rhythm. Whilst Doro takes off early every morning for a hard training session, Ran and his team have a more leisurely start to the day, before heading out towards the Beach for some light training of their own. Unlike Doro, who puts her team through a strenuous workout which she herself joins in, Ran focuses on letting his team work on expanding their move pools, with plenty of time for relaxation.

Caesar works on Dig, one of the absolute keystones to how Ran envisions his starter's battling style down the line. His progress isn't great, as he continues to struggle with calling up the ground-type energy to actually make his movement through the earth as swift and silent as it should be.

For Aria, Poison Jab is the obvious addition to her arsenal. When she works on it, she shows clear aptitude, but with Ran giving her plenty of freedom as he focuses on the team members who aren't learning as intuitively as her, her progress is slower than it should be. From what he observes, her delays are due to her preference for watching her team members' training over focusing on her own assignment. Part of Ran wants to be stern with her over the matter, but considering how well they've all been doing and just how far ahead of his schedule they are, he can't find it in himself to actually carry through on that thought.

In no small part, because he heavily focuses on working with Golbat, who is the only team member who doesn't get off lightly for their morning training sessions. Because whilst the others get to work on 'simply' learning and mastering new moves, Golbat gets the vast majority of Ran's attention. Not that the Bat Pokémon is happy about it, as Ran deliberately baits and antagonizes Golbat for long minutes on end.

He does so by shouting, throwing sand, poking Golbat with a stick and anything else he can think of to irritate or provoke Golbat into snapping. It isn't fun training of course, neither for Golbat nor for Ran, but it is the best trick Ran can think of to try and teach Golbat how to rein in his temper and instincts. At least Golbat understands and, crucially, he does progress. To compensate somewhat, they spend the end of every training session with some flying training, as Ran hangs on to Golbat's feet whilst they race along the beach.

With the majority of Ran's time devoted to Golbat's behavioral training, he can't supervise Skorupi or Croagunk as closely as he'd like to either, but both seem to have well and truly found their feet by now. Skorupi actually makes the most progress of all of Ran's team members, confidently showing off his ability to use Knock Off by the end of the second day's training session. Not that the smallest member of Ran's team earns any time off by mastering the move, as Ran simply instructs Skorupi to join Caesar in trying to learn Dig.

Finally, as for Croagunk, the notes Chuck provided him with are significantly more exhaustive than what Bugsy sent him on Skorupi - though Ran is willing to concede that Bugsy may simply not have access to as much information as Chuck - which means the options to choose from are significantly more exhaustive. A lot of the options Chuck listed do mention the need for either a TM or tutoring however, so Ran discards all of those for now. Ultimately, though he hesitates for a long time over the option to get Croagunk started on Toxic, he chooses to get Croagunk started on Bullet Punch. Not that an offensive steel-type move adds much in the way of coverage, but its increased speed and ability to cut opponents off before they can get started on their own strategies is strong enough for Ran to value it quite highly.

When the morning's training sessions end, Ran meets up with Doro at the pokécenter once more where, after a change of clothes for Doro, they wander out into the city. They spend time visiting shops, watching trainer battles on the beach or near the Port and by examining Olivine City's many little peculiarities.

Due to the city's unique lay-out, it's almost more like a bunch of villages that just happen to be placed directly next to each other, rather than a proper city. Which, as Doro is happy to show Ran, means that each neighborhood has its own typical lay-out and characteristics, with every day of the week offering some kind of activity or diversion in at least one of the neighborhoods.

The most obvious of these is the fact that in Olivine City, there is no weekly market, as instead there's a market somewhere in the sprawling city on every single day of the week, each of which draws tourists and trainers like Beedrill to honey. It becomes a daily ritual for Ran and Doro to seek these markets out, as they take in the many handmade curiosities and local delicacies on display. Of course there's other distractions as well, like small museums, plenty of parks, pokémon playgrounds and scenic outlooks.

It's easy work to fill most of their day with such diversions, only for Doro to inevitably declare that she wants to get started on the day's second training session. For these, they stick together, with Ran trailing more slowly after the overly enthusiastic Doro, as she leads them to whichever is the nearest publicly accessible area where they can let their teams work out freely.

Once they make it there, for each of their first full three days in Olivine City, the same pattern plays out. Firstly, Doro's Croagunk stomps over towards Ran's, loudly and abrasively challenging it to a spar, which Ran's own fighting-type is never particularly enthused about. Though each time when Ran does try to cut in and spare his team member from what he doesn't seem to enjoy, Croagunk waves him off, before trudging after his rival.

Second, Doro's three starters all make a beeline for Golbat who, still carrying more than a bit of irritation from each morning's training session, is more than happy to take them on in whatever order they figure out amongst themselves. Inevitably, those spars end with one or two of Doro's hitmen and Golbat passing out. They all seem to enjoy it however and none of them are hurt beyond what the pokécenter can easily fix, so Ran is content to let Doro supervise those particular spars.

Third, Ran is left supervising Caesar and Skorupi as they continue working on Dig. However, unlike in the mornings, when he asks Aria to work on Poison Jab, in the afternoons, Ran simply has her join the other two in trying to learn Dig. His notes are very clear that Ariados don't naturally learn the move and are supposed to use a TM to learn the move, but with both Caesar and Skorupi already working on it, Ran opts to at the very least let Aria try to learn alongside the pair. A reusable TM would be vastly preferable of course, but even with his recent winnings, the going rates for those are so high as to leave Ran short of breath.

Progress, across the three days, is extremely slow, but that there is any progress at all is all the evidence Ran needs that he's onto something. Even if it does slow his team's overall progression down significantly, the sheer mobility and coverage provided by Dig is too great for him not to try and let each of his team members learn the move. In fact, according to Chuck's notes, and supported by the natural behavior he's observed from Croagunk, the poison-fighting-type is also capable of picking up the move, though for him at least there's other priorities to pursue in the short term.

Inevitably, despite the slow but steady progress they make, Ran and his team are ready to call it quits in favor of a timely return to the pokécenter, so that they can rest and freshen up before dinner. Doro always continues on for another half an hour or so, before also returning to the pokécenter. Once they've both got those team members that need treatment handed in to the staff and their outfits changed for something more suitable for dinner, they head out to eat.

It's an enjoyable rhythm. Ran is quite enjoying the relaxed lifestyle, though both Doro and he agreed that they'd spend the next day taking on the Lighthouse Gauntlet. Or at least that was the original plan, but then, just after they've finished paying for dinner on their third full day in Olivine City, his pokégear buzzes with an incoming message.

Josie: Made it to Olivine, you around?

Ran: Yeah, we just finished having dinner. Are you at a pokécenter or…?

Josie: Closest one to the Gym.

Josie: Hang on, 'we'?

Ran has to do a brief double take at Josie's responses. The first reason is the matter of her managing to get a room at the exact pokécenter Ran and Doro failed to get rooms in. But that part he can easily explain, either through Josie having gotten lucky with a room having freed up recently, or because she was willing to shell out the necessary cash for a larger room. It's her second response, which seems almost like an afterthought, that causes a faint sense of unease in his gut, though he can't figure out why.

After a few moments' hesitation, he responds.

Ran: Can be there in maybe twenty minutes, if that's okay with you. We = Doro and me. She's my new rival. Or well, I'm hers, at least. Long story.

Josie doesn't immediately respond, her side of the conversation remaining ominously quiet for what feels like some very long minutes. Finally however, a response appears.

Josie: Alright, I'll wait in the lobby, hurry up. You can tell me all about it when we're catching up.

Ran: On my way.

Ran closes his pokégear, looking up to realize that Doro is watching him patiently, clearly waiting for him to be ready to leave the restaurant they had dinner in. With an apologetic smile, Ran puts on his jacket, before joining Doro as they depart the small bistro. Then, not needing Doro to actually voice the obvious question, he speaks up.

"I just got a message from Josie, the girl that travelled with me from Violet City to Goldenrod City. She just arrived in Olivine and I promised to go over and meet up with her." Ran explains, receiving an understanding nod from Doro in turn, as her curious expression lightens slightly.

"Alright. Can I join you, or would you prefer a private reunion?" She asks simply, leaving Ran to blink in surprise for a moment, not understanding why he wouldn't take Doro along.

"Of course you can come," He replies instantaneously, "We'll probably be hanging out together a lot over the next few weeks, so the sooner you meet the better."

Doro doesn't seem entirely convinced, which leaves Ran wondering whether she's a bit anti-social or if she got a bad first impression of Josie based on Ran's stories. It's something he ponders as they make their way over to the pokécenter closest to Olivine's Gym, but he doesn't come any closer to a definitive answer at any point.

They end up making it to the pokécenter in fifteen minutes, rather than the twenty he'd estimated initially. Not that it really matters, as upon entering the lobby, Ran still immediately spots Josie, who is fiddling with her pokégear whilst she sits off to the side on one of the couches that ring the lobby.

Ran takes just a moment to take his friend in. It's been close to a month since they went their separate ways, but it seems to have done Josie a lot of good. Her tan is deeper, there's two new pokéballs on her belt - so another addition on top of Vulpix then - and even as she fiddles with her pokégear, there's something visibly relaxed about her. She's also, though he's noticed that part before, still very pretty.

"Josie!" He calls out enthusiastically, approaching her with a grin whilst Doro follows along behind him.

Josie glances up towards him, meeting his grin with a smile of her own as she stands up from the couch, "Hey!"

As she gets up, Josie raises her right arm in a kind of half-salute, hovering there for a half second before she pulls it back to play with her ponytail instead. Ran doesn't quite know what to do with the odd motion, especially as they'd already said hello, but he still offers a half wave of his own. He clearly does something wrong however, as Josie's smile is noticeably more pinched, probably out of embarrassment over her peculiar salute.

"How was your trip? I figured you'd make it here before us." Ran asks valiantly, trying to forge past Josie's awkwardness, which is enough for her smile to become a lot more genuine once more.

"I got held up, but with good reason! I don't want to give the surprise away too early though, I'll show you later. For now, why don't you introduce us?" She answers enthusiastically, before shifting her attention to Doro.

"Right," Ran agrees self-consciously, scratching at the back of his head for a moment before gesturing apologetically from Josie to Doro and back again, "Right, Josie, meet Doro. Doro specializes in fighting-types. She and I were competitors for a challenge from Chuck. Then we found out that we're both unsponsored rookies at the same point in our journeys and we got both a reward and an assignment from Chuck. So now we're rivals and, for now at least, we're traveling together."

Ran then turns his attention to Doro, "Doro, this is Josie, my previous traveling companion, whom I've mentioned before. She specializes in fire-types."

"It is nice to meet you." Doro offers first, an acknowledging nod accompanying her words.

Josie responds with a nod of her own, "You as well, though I'll be wanting the details of that challenge and your rewards later."

Doro chuckles in obvious amusement, but she doesn't dispute Josie's request, merely stating that she can arrange for a proper retelling later.

For now however, before their conversation can really get underway, Josie's stomach audibly rumbles.

"Haven't had dinner yet?" Ran asks with a teasing smile, which the blonde mulishly confirms.

"I was planning to go and eat with you, actually, but I arrived a bit later than planned and you've both just eaten, so I'll just fix something up in my room," Josie insists, "How about this, I'll take the rest of the evening to get the grime of the road off of me and to get used to being in the city once more. Then we can meet up tomorrow and catch up properly."

Ran glances in Doro's direction, who offers a simple nod to Josie's words, leaving Ran free to accept as well. They work out the details easily, with Josie expressing some surprise upon learning that Ran and Doro aren't staying at the same pokécenter as her. When Ran actually inquires about her own room however, Josie does freely admit that she booked a two person room for herself.

That particular tidbit promises to pop into Ran's head at the most inconvenient moments, but for now, he manages to ignore the implications. Instead, Doro and he merely wish Josie a pleasant evening before leaving the pokécenter and heading to the one they are staying at. As they walk, Ran exchanges a few messages with Grady, discovering that the younger trainer hopes to arrive in Olivine in another day or three.

He informs Doro of Grady's plans, admitting that he'd like to meet up with the younger trainer as well, once he makes it to the city. Doro accepts easily, but her attention isn't really on Grady's pending arrival. Instead, when she does respond beyond a simple nod, it's with a statement about Josie, "I believe you haven't told me the full story of your friendship with Josie."

Ran pauses for a moment, surprised by Doro's words, which shows in his words, "What do you mean?"

"From what you told me of her, I would have expected a warmer welcome." Doro replies, pausing for a moment, before letting out a dry chuckle, "Forgive the pun, it was unintentional."

"What do you mean?" Ran asks, not letting Doro's moment of levity distract him, "She was nice, wasn't she?"

Doro nods agreeably, "She was. But there was something… peculiar about the way she looked at me. She was cordial, but I don't think she was happy to meet me."

Ran slowly shakes his head, not having noticed anything of whatever Doro thinks she's caught on to, "She had a long day travelling here, maybe she was just tired? Trust me, if Josie doesn't like something or someone, she'll come out and say it."

"If you say so," Doro allows slowly, "I think you don't understand her as well as you seem to believe you do."

Ran doesn't immediately answer that, not particularly wanting to admit that when Josie and he parted ways, he was struck completely mute by her kissing him out of, to his mind, nowhere. Still, he was pretty confident that she wouldn't be doing that to Doro, so he felt like his judgement on the matter was still valid.

---

Author's Note: He means well, but oh Ran, you can't learn how to socialize properly soon enough.

If you want to read ahead or feel like supporting my writing, please go and have a look at my Patreon or Ko-fi . Patreon for member benefits like 2 weeks of Early Access whereas Ko-fi is for one-off donations that go towards artwork. It's no exaggeration to say that this story and its current upload schedule are only possible thanks to Patreon, so if you have anything to spare and want this story to continue, please go and have a look, every little bit helps.

 

[The Dave]

The next morning, rather than the routine they've established over the past three days, Ran and Doro head to the pokécenter Josie is staying at, picking her up before heading to the beach once more. On the way, Josie catches Ran, and by extension Doro, up on just what she's been up to over the past month.

"I met Lady, my Vulpix, pretty soon after leaving Goldenrod. I spent some time really working with my team, on stuff like agility, ranged attacks and strategies that were a bit more complex than variations of 'charge!'. After Whitney, I was actually a bit hesitant about challenging Morty at first, so I went to watch some matches before I booked my own challenge. After spending a whole morning watching people challenge, I realized that my team was definitely strong enough to win their third badge and that it was just me not giving them the right tools to work with which was holding us back. So I booked my challenge and then we doubled down on expanding movesets and figuring out just how to handle opponents that we couldn't just burn through." Josie explains, before briefly getting distracted as they reach the beach itself, drawing a delighted smile from the blonde.

"Oh this is nice! I'm going to have to keep this in mind for in a few months, if my schedule allows for a beach trip." She declares, to Ran's amusement.

"The water's pretty alright actually," Ran offers, "Or at least it was in Cianwood, and it's only a little warmer there than it is here."

Josie lifts an eyebrow in surprise, "The two of you went swimming already, huh? It's a bit early in the year for my tastes."

"I went with my team," Ran corrects, "But it was really pretty pleasant! There were a lot of people in the water, over in Cianwood. There's less tourists here and it's early now, but there'll be people in the water by noon, I guarantee it."

"You can guarantee it all you like," Josie responds without blinking, "But you're still not getting me into that water any time soon."

"If you plan on crossing to Cianwood after your stay in Olivine, I would urge you to at least test the water out once you get there, but it is of course entirely your decision," Doro cuts in, before getting them back on track, "But you were discussing your preparation for facing Morty."

Josie hesitates for a moment, before offering Doro a grin, "Right! So once my challenge came around, Soot and Ginger were enough to get me past him without any real difficulty. With me specializing in fire-types, he got me clearance to head into the Burned Tower, which ended up being a very eventful trip in its own right, but I don't want to hold us up too long, so suffice to say my time there was productive. Then we started coming this way, only to end up in a bit of a situation with this farm I promised my father I'd swing by. It all turned out well enough eventually, at which point we finally made it here. All the way, I've been keeping a few things quiet, just so I could reveal them now. Come on out y'all!"

Josie releases her team, her hands grazing along the five pokéballs on her belt in a swift move. As the fire-types start to materialize, Ran doesn't know where to look first, as there's a lot of changes from when he saw them last, though ultimately, it's the entirely unfamiliar shape that first draws his attention.

The bipedal pokémon he ends up looking at isn't all that tall, but it is undeniably an intriguing sight, as, although it isn't all that strong yet, it is undeniably rare. Not to mention, though it looks a bit goofy, it is also absolutely adorable.

The Magby takes in its surroundings curiously, glaring distrustfully at the ocean and immediately spitting out some flames around its own feet, as if to make sure that it can't get wet. It makes for a charming scene, but Ran can't devote too much attention to it, as his focus is irresistibly drawn towards a large, dark figure, who announces his presence with a breath of flame that has an ominously dark core to it.

"Houndoooooooooom!" Soot howls loudly, the Dark Pokémon throwing his head back a bit too enthusiastically, accidentally poking himself in the back of his neck with his massive curled horns. At least he doesn't appear to have hurt himself, merely cutting off his howl a bit prematurely before sheepishly looking towards Josie in what Ran can only consider a clear sign of a rather recent evolution.

Josie offers a comforting hand for the large dark-fire-type to nuzzle into, which he eagerly does, but she doesn't take a single step in his direction, as her other hand is rather occupied gently combing through the flaming mane of Ginger, her starter.

Her starter who has also evolved at some time in the past month, as when Ran turns to look at her, he doesn't find the Ponyta whose head was roughly of a height with Josie's face. Instead, his eyes land on a towering Rapidash, her massive horn making for a rather intimidating sight in its own right. Add onto that its flaming mane, fetlocks and tail, and all of a sudden any thoughts of the Ponyta-line being 'typical' for girls are very, very, very far from his mind.

It's actually a relief to see Chief the Growlithe and Lady the Vulpix scampering around in their unevolved forms, after the near whiplash Josie's three consecutive reveals give him. Not that said relief keeps him from voicing the praise Josie richly deserves for what is, frankly, an astounding amount of progress on her end.

"It's been less than a full month," Ran expresses in awed disbelief, "Ginger and Soot evolved and you got a Magby as well as Lady?!"

Josie absolutely glows at his words, almost preening under his gaze before she seems to remember herself, instead meeting his eyes with a smug smile.

"Yep. Whitney was the kick in the ass we needed! It was a lot of work, but the squad really stepped up. And Chief'll get his due once I head back to Goldenrod to re-challenge Whitney. Might as well buy two Fire Stones whilst we're there, though I'll obviously hold off on evolving Lady until we're a bit further down the line." Josie happily informs him drawing an eager yip from Chief, who hurries over to accept head pats from his trainer's unoccupied hand, whilst Lady more tentatively explores their surroundings.

The Vulpix' tentative moves leave Ran curious to find out how she'll respond when Doro and he release their own teams, but it's only an errant thought he doesn't pay too much mind to in the moment. Instead, his focus shifts erratically between Magby and Josie's two fully evolved team members for a few seconds, before finally settling on the new addition first.

"So, Magby? How? When?" He asks, struggling for a moment to form proper sentences as he frantically tries to process just how much Josie accomplished in under a month's time.

"Her name is Torch," Josie allows with a grin, "She's actually why I went into the Burned Tower in the first place. Had to burn my way through a colony of Rattata to find her, but we managed it eventually. She came willingly, damn near volunteering to get captured, but let me tell you, the mom, or dad, I'm not even sure, was not amused at all. It was actually during that battle that Soot evolved into a Houndoom. That, combined with Ginger getting Flash Fire activated was ultimately enough to force it to back down, but it was a very close thing for a while."

Ran lifts an eyebrow in surprise, "That sounds like quite the adventure. I'm glad to hear you made it out alright."

"Oh yeah no worries on that front," Josie waves him off confidently, "I still had Chief and Lady in reserve to help us back off if needed. But I wanted a Magby or Magmar and the Burned Tower was my only good shot at getting one without heading to Johto's Safari Zone. Besides, from what I've heard, Safari Zones are always a crapshoot, so I really didn't want to have to rely on that."

Not having visited the Safari Zone near Cianwood City himself, both due to the exorbitant entrance fees as well as his lack of interest in acquiring his sixth team member there, Ran doesn't argue the point, instead shifting his attention to Ginger.

"You've not mentioned Ginger's evolution yet," He states simply, "What's the story there?"

Josie's smile is fond as she answers, her own focus shifting to her starter, whom she's been gently petting throughout their conversation, "That happened just a few days after leaving Goldenrod. I was riding her along the Route towards Ecruteak, when we turned out from this part of the road that wasn't in the best shape. You know, it had trees close on both sides and the trunks were pushing up the path a bit, there were a few fallen branches here and there, that kind of stuff. Nothing too troubling, but annoying to ride on, as you can't really pick up the pace."

"Sure." Ran agrees, not bothering to mention that he can't particularly empathize due to his lack of riding experience, his experiences clinging on to Aria and Caesar not exactly comparable to a casual ride on Ponytaback.

"So we came out from between the trees and there was this gorgeous stretch of dirt road at least a mile long. It'd rained a few days before, so it wasn't dusty, but the ground wasn't too heavy either. There wasn't a trainer in sight, nor any wild pokémon near it that might've taken umbrage at a racing Ponyta coming through. So I asked Ginger if she was thinking what I was thinking. She made it clear that she was, so there we went." Josie recounts, eyes almost starry as she tells him of what is clearly a very fond memory already, even though it's only been a few weeks since then.

"We've galloped before of course, but between it being the first time Ginger really got to properly cut loose under such great conditions, how much stronger she'd gotten since we started journeying and the way the wind rushed by allowing us to clear our heads, she hit some kind of threshold. Partway through the run, she started glowing and shifting. By the time she started to slow down at the end of the mile, I was sitting higher up in the air and her saddle was ready for the bin." Josie finishes her retelling, the vivid picture she painted slowly fading away.

Then, with a guilty grin, she tacks on a final admission Ran finds less than amusing, "We had a bit of an exciting moment when she threw her head back to look at me whilst not accounting for the horn, but I leaned back in time and I didn't like that top anyways. I actually considered texting you to let you know that evening, but I figured it'd be better for me to keep radio silence for a while longer. For my own peace of mind, if anything."

Still hesitant to address their text messages in any form, entirely too aware of how awkward he'd felt whilst reading, interpreting and writing each one, Ran simply allows Josie's point to pass. Instead, he tries to figure out what to say next.

"Awesome job, Josie. This is extremely impressive." He manages to muster, even as he tries to figure out what he wants to ask next. There's a lot of options, ranging from the new moves, to what training she's been putting her team through now that they've evolved.

"Thanks, that means a lot coming from you." Josie accepts with a surprisingly tender smile.

The uncharacteristic response catches Ran even more off guard, leaving him scrambling for a way to continue the conversation even more. Fortunately, he's given some extra time to order his thoughts and figure out just how he's going to continue talking to Josie, because Doro, having calmly observed their conversation up until now, finally breaks her silence. There's a very familiar gleam in her eyes that tells Ran what the fighting-type specialist is about to suggest before she even opens her mouth.

"Josie, I wish to spar." Doro announces in her typical deadpan, but her enthusiasm is clearly visible in just how tense she appears, which Ran can tell is a deliberate effort on Doro's part to keep from getting overly physical in her eagerness to battle.

The blonde fire-type trainer, whose attention had been on Ran, is clearly caught on the back foot for a moment, but she doesn't hesitate to answer Doro's request with an enthusiastic smile, "Awesome, let's do it!"

"Happily," Doro accepts with a smile of her own, "I would request a singles battle, two pokémon each. Quick and Precise need to be fully fit for the day's training, but Strong, my Hitmonlee, and Toff, my Croagunk, could use a good spar."

As Doro makes her offer, she releases her own team, the three different evolutions of the Hitmon-line and her Croagunk appearing by her sides in moments. Josie's eyes immediately land on Toff the Croagunk, seeming to weigh it for a few seconds, before her attention shifts to Ran's belt, where his own team's balls still rest.

"A reward from Chuck, huh?" Josie huffs at him, obviously amused, shifting her attention from her upcoming match with Doro back to Ran for a moment.

"Well, I'd apologize, but I kept one little secret and I at least mentioned getting a reward from Chuck. You just showed off two evolutions and an unannounced capture, so you'll forgive me if I don't feel too bad about not informing you earlier." Ran snarks at her, drawing an amused snort from Josie.

"Fair enough, but there's clearly more of a story there than what you told me before, so that's something we'll circle back to later," Josie accepts, before turning her attention to Doro once more, "So you'll be using a pretty new team member and, what, did you have three starters?"

"I did, yes. It is a long story, but Quick, Precise and Strong have all been with me for the same amount of time and, although Toff has made good progress, I would consider them to be a cut above her still." Doro acknowledges.

"Alright, then I'll use Lady, my Vulpix, and Ginger, my Rapidash." Josie acknowledges, before her attention shifts once more to Ran, "So, are you going to referee, or are you going to go and train by yourself?"

"I'll referee." Ran accepts, finally releasing his own team as well.

---

Author's Note: So Josie's had a few very productive weeks. Now it's her vs. Doro in a friendly 2-a-side spar! Who's coming out on top? You'll find out next time! And in the meantime, I'm eager to read all about your expectations/speculations!

If you want to read ahead or feel like supporting my writing, please go and have a look at my Patreon or Ko-fi . Patreon for member benefits like 2 weeks of Early Access whereas Ko-fi is for one-off donations that go towards artwork. It's no exaggeration to say that this story and its current upload schedule are only possible thanks to Patreon, so if you have anything to spare and want this story to continue, please go and have a look, every little bit helps.

 

[TempestK]

Omake 2: Queen Bee​

"I gotta say Falkner, I wasn't sure what to expect with this Ran guy after I got your little note. He seemed pretty cool to me though. Little on the dull side; but he sure knew how to finish things off!" Whitney had her feet kicked up on her desk in the video call, the absolute picture of nonchalance.

It technically wasn't a real League business meeting they were in, so Falkner figured that her extreme informality was fine. Bugsy was wearing the politely confused expression that Falkner had learned to mean that the newest Gym Leader didn't really understand the social nuances of what was happening, but that he was going to fake being fine with it until someone clued him in that something was wrong.

"I appreciate you being willing to let us know how he handled your challenge Whitney; after his showing at my own gym and the apparent animosity he has for Bugsy, I thought that a more neutral observer could better gauge his personality." Falkner inclined his head in thanks, only to receive an airy wave from Whitney.

"Always happy to help out my cute little kohai!" The already tremendously experienced normal-type specialist answered casually, as she swung her legs down and leaned in closer to the camera, "But I am curious just what had you worried about the guy in the first place, now that I've fought him?"

Falkner suppressed a sigh. Gossip. The currency that all bureaucracies ran on. Not particularly enthused about engaging in it himself, he gestured for Bugsy to go first, relating his own interactions with Ran Carr before he'd left Azalea Town. Whitney, forgoing her usual propensity for live commentary, just listened along quietly, before returning her focus back to Falkner once Bugsy finished his tale. So many people tended to forget that under the cutesy facade and the layer of terrifying trainer, Whitney was actually very perceptive and intelligent on a personal level as well.

Not acknowledging Whitney's clearly suppressed desire to facepalm at points throughout Bugsy's story, Faulkner related his own experiences, before once more letting Bugsy speak as the younger Gym leader told the tale of his most recent interaction with Ran. As the bug-type specialist wound down, Whitney clearly gave in to temptation, as she not only face-palmed, but double face-palmed. Groaning into her hands, she shook her head for a moment before heaving a sigh. Falkner was certain he heard her mutter 'boys' under her breath before she composed herself.

"Okay, so I guess I can see why you guys were expecting me to have some kind of issue with him," Whitney looked up from her hands. "But the guy was pretty on top of things. He got a lucky break because my aide that was supposed to scope him out whiffed on that Skorupi; because he apparently had it help teach his starter Toxic Spikes. And probably the rest of his team as well, the capable ones at least. The Ekans didn't show the usual kind of mechanical rote movements that tend to show up when a TM was used to teach a move. He was really in tune with his partners, and he seemed to be one of the types to make sure they get treated before he looks after himself, when they end up in trouble."

Whitney paused for a moment, her expression worryingly pleased as she told them about Ran, "Heck, he only had attention for his Ekans after he beat one of my third-badge Miltank, with Spit Up of all things! For his starter to manage repeated uses of Stockpile whilst in the middle of Wrap and on the wrong end of a building Rollout… That speaks to a pretty darn strong bond between pokémon and trainer."

As Whitney told the tale, she easily punched a few keys before sharing a video clip with the others. "I don't think he's realized that this little number is probably going to draw a fair bit of attention."

Falkner and Bugsy were both silent as they watched the clearly battered and bruised Ekans hold on for dear life as it followed its trainer's last order with dogged desperation. Bugsy's eyes almost bulged out of his head when he saw the power of the Spit Up that Ekans managed, while Falkner raised a single brow, impressed despite himself. It took a certain amount of focus to retain the energy from Stockpile without allowing it to "bleed", especially prior to evolution, when the mon would normally learn the move. Then both teens nearly choked on their own spit as the Ekans, which clearly needed healing, was enveloped in the potent pulsating light of evolution. Falkner noted the speed with which the newly evolved Arbok calmed at the simple touch of his trainer's hand. Many Arbok that he'd seen in similar situations hadn't been nearly as tractable in those early moments and they'd nominally been under the control of older and more experienced trainers.

"He wasn't a bad winner either. He was willing to listen to me and take my comments at face value, though I got the feeling he hasn't had a lot of real socialization with girls." Whitney smirked, though Falkner was unsure to what degree she'd managed to fluster the trainer and to what degree Whitney bought into her own reputation just a bit too much.

The Violet City Gym leader barely kept from rubbing at the bridge of his nose at that particular conundrum, unsure how much stock to put in Whitney's analysis, whilst Bugsy just kind of looked clueless. Still, ignoring the comment on his level of comfort around girls, the rest of Whitney's explanation was invaluable;

"So yeah, overall I think that if he's got any issues with you Bugsy, it's gonna be related to how he was treated by your predecessor and feeling like you were trying to rub things in instead of actually offering an olive branch. Falkner, you kind of just came off as a sanctimonious dick when his Golbat gave Murkrow a taste of its own medicine only to drop it immediately when he gave the order, unlike Murkrow itself when you gave your orders." Whitney finally concludes, her gaze suddenly worryingly sharp as her eyes pinned Falkner in place through the camera, despite the multiple hours of travel currently between them.

"So let's talk about you using a pokémon whose instincts you weren't in control of yet, for a first badge challenge, kohai." Whitney purred menacingly, the gleam in her eyes enough to draw a worried gulp from Falkner.

Fun…

 

[The Dave]

As Ran's team hits the field in preparation for the upcoming match between Josie and Doro, the total number of pokémon standing around their small group increases to fourteen, making for quite the gathering. There's some obvious tension between the teams of Doro and Josie, the prospect of an upcoming spar as their first proper interaction not exactly fostering ideal conditions to get too friendly with each other just yet.

Which is why the arrival of Ran's own team is an amusing sight, as they completely shatter the mutual awkwardness building between the unfamiliar fire- and fighting-types. As Ran and Josie's teams greet each other, getting reacquainted with great (Aria and Chief the Growlithe), mild (Caesar, Skorupi and Ginger the Rapidash) or no (Golbat and Soot the Houndoom) enthusiasm, Ran's Croagunk is blatantly relieved to see Toff, Doro's Croagunk, glaring at Lady the Vulpix, rather than at him.

For his own part, Ran takes the duties of a referee seriously, as he raises his voice above the slowly increasing volume of the colorful menagerie they've unleashed on Olivine City Beach.

"Alright listen up all of you!" He demands confidently, successfully silencing the members of all three teams, "There'll be a friendly spar to start today's training. If your trainer gives you instructions to go train, you'll do so. If not, you can watch the spar, but only if you're on your best behavior. Interfere or misbehave and you're getting recalled!"

His words are well-received, the various pokémon all obviously eager to watch or participate in the upcoming battle. Of particular note is Josie's team, as, with Lady the Vulpix now added to her roster, she's on the receiving end of no less than three pairs of puppy eyes, as her team members blatantly beg to be let out of practice in favor of battling or watching the match.

Ran doesn't pay either of the girls too much mind as they instruct their respective teams however, instead focusing on his own team, "You can all watch, as long as you behave."

It's obviously the right thing to say, as his team members all express their excitement in various ways, from Aria who spontaneously starts to chitter lyrically, to Caesar whose whole body seems to shiver in anticipation. Skorupi simply skitters up on top of Caesar, perching on the far larger pokémon's head so that he has an ideal vantage point from which to watch the match. Even Golbat gets in the mood, actually staying on the ground and standing on his own two feet, rather than flying away to find a perch from which to hang.

Croagunk is just as enthusiastic as the others, but for him, Ran actually has a follow-up instruction.

"Croagunk, pay close attention to Toff, alright? This'll be the first time we get to see her in action outside of sparring with you, so it's important to learn with your eyes, alright? Try and pick up whatever it is she's been learning under Doro's tutelage, yeah?" Ran asks, before smiling proudly when Croagunk offers a serious nod, his usual easygoing attitude forgotten in favor of actual focus and a clear determination to learn.

With that handled, Ran enlists Caesar for a moment to draw some lines into the sand, his starter's large serpentine form making quick work of the task as he creates a suitable arena for Josie and Doro to have their pokémon battle in. Once that's done, Ran heads for the referee box, Caesar coming to rest by his side within the referee box. Ran only allows it because having Caesar close by might enable him to interfere more easily, if there should for some reason be an urgent need to do so, which he doesn't anticipate, but better safe than sorry.

As for the rest of his own team, as well as Josie and Doro's non-participating team members, they start to ring the arena. Golbat stands on his own two feet, with Aria by his side. Ran's Croagunk actually stands with Doro's Hitmontop, Quick. The two fighting-types are clearly chuckling over something, but Ran ignores their byplay in favor of watching the remaining pokémon.

Chief the Growlithe lies on the sand, Skorupi having settled down by his side, clearly drawn towards the heat radiated by the fire-type. Finally, whilst Soot the Houndoom lies alone, baleful red eyes latched onto Toff the Croagunk's form as she enters the arena, Josie's Magby, Torch, has actually ended up next to Precise the Hitmonchan, who seems to be explaining something to the fascinated young fire-type.

In the arena meanwhile, the trainers have taken their positions, Lady the Vulpix and Toff the Croagunk facing each other from opposite sides of the field.

Before Ran can start the countdown, Josie speaks up, calling out to Doro, "We forgot to set a wager! This is just a spar, so not setting one is fine with me, but I'd rather double check with you!"

"No wager is fine. Good catch." Doro allows, before both young women direct their attention to Ran.

"Alright, you can start in 3…2…1…Now!" Ran announces.

Josie immediately calls for a Tail Whip, only to get cut off when Doro counters by having Toff the Croagunk use Taunt, which successfully enrages Lady the Vulpix into forgetting all about the defense-lowering move, in favor of snarling at her opponent. Josie doesn't let it get to her however, ordering Lady to use Incinerate. The move, often seen as a precursor to Flamethrower, spews out of the small Fox Pokémon in an impressive plume of flame.

Toff tries to counter with Mud Slap, bursting forwards on Doro's orders to close the distance with Lady. The attempt is partially successful, at least some of the flames getting snuffed out when sprayed with wet beach sand. But it doesn't catch everything by any means, leaving Toff more than a little crispy, skin visibly red and swollen in places, by the time she makes it through the flames.

Once she does, however, she is clearly in her element, as Doro doesn't so much call for a move, as she demands that Toff 'knock out' her opponent. She gives it a good go, jabs with purple-tinted fists and low kicks hammering away at Lady the Vulpix to visibly hurt the smaller pokémon. Josie's first true capture isn't so easily defeated however, as Josie orders her to use Quick Attack to get away from Toff's attacks. Lady manages to do so after a few more hits, her run not particularly graceful, as she skids to a halt with rather little control, but that she got away at all is an accomplishment in its own right.

Doro orders her poison-fighting-type to keep up the pressure, Toff obediently giving chase right away. It's a valiant effort, but she isn't quick enough to keep Lady from firing off another attack, as Josie calls for another Incinerate, which yet again burns away at the approaching Croagunk. This time however, the Mud-Slap is fired at a shorter range, dousing a greater portion of the flames and actually slightly impacting Lady on the other side. The attack itself doesn't appear to do too much damage, but it's enough to snap Lady out of her Incinerate and into another Quick Attack, as she rushes away once more.

Unfortunately for Josie and Lady, the informal nature of the spar works against them, as although Caesar drew them a decent field to work with, it isn't sized like a field in a Gym might be. Which means there's less room for Lady to escape, enabling Toff to keep up the chase well enough so that Lady can never fully reset and get a 'clean' use of Incinerate in. It's clearly something Josie realizes as well, and her pokémon is noticeably flagging, which means that unless she has a trick up her sleeve, the first round will inevitably go to Doro in the near future.

Fortunately, Josie shows off a tactical adaptability that, to Ran's mind, was lacking in the past, as rather than continuing to try and evade Toff for long enough to get in another decent Incinerate, she orders Lady to stay put and use Will-O-Wisp.

The peculiar ghostly blue flames Lady fires off directly into Toff's face are an intriguing sight, dancing across the Croagunk's skin and leaving burns that look significantly more menacing than the simple reddening that the earlier Incinerates managed to leave behind. Still, it doesn't come without a cost, as Lady fails to get away again, driven into a corner by Toff. As she tries to use Quick Attack to blur past the Croagunk and back out into the field, she runs directly into a Low Kick, which is enough for Lady to get knocked down and then out, as Toff follows up with an immediate punch.

Josie recalls her first battler and immediately calls for Ginger the Rapidash, who'd been watching from behind her, to step into the arena. She doesn't burn-stall at all, which Ran can applaud under the circumstances of a friendly spar, though he does make a mental note to try and discuss that particular strategy with Josie at some point down the line.

Before he can restart the match however, Doro also withdraws Toff the Croagunk, declaring that although she could probably keep going for a bit longer, she'd prefer to keep the needed recovery time for her most recent team member somewhat limited. It's a logic both Ran and Josie can understand, as Strong the Hitmonlee hops into the field to face Ginger the Rapidash.

The watching pokémon let out all kinds of sounds to express their (dis)approval and to show support for their favorites, whilst Ran experiences a private moment of awe at the sight of the two fully evolved pokémon, who wouldn't look out of place at the Conference, as they face off. It's a humbling thought that, after just a few months on his journey, when some trainers are still engaging in Tackle battles with their Rattatas, he's refereeing a match between a Rapidash and a Hitmonlee.

Once more, he counts them down, and then the fight is underway again.

Josie immediately calls for Ginger to use Agility, but before she can, Strong has already closed the distance, feinting towards Ginger's face with a hand before revealing the Fake Out as his leg slams into the Fire Horse Pokémon's forelegs. It's a staggering hit that clearly throws Ginger out of her attempt to use Agility, but neither she nor Josie are all that spooked, as Josie confidently calls for a defensive Fire Spin.

The flames on Ginger's fetlocks and mane flare up and out, forming into a whirling ring of fire that circles the sand around her, creating a defensive perimeter that instinctively forces Strong back for a moment. Of course Doro doesn't just let Ginger regain her bearings freely, as she calls for Strong to use Sucker Punch. Her Hitmonlee obeys immediately, though rather than a punch he fires off a snap kick which catches Ginger in the side just as she tries to dart away.

It's clearly a good hit, but it doesn't manage to keep Ginger from opening up a gap once more. Once more, Josie calls for an Agility, but this time, though Doro orders Strong to close the gap, he isn't quite fast enough. Ginger's whole body seems to become just a bit more slender, her hoofbeats landing softer and yet faster than they did before, as Agility takes effect. When she takes off once more, the effect is undeniable, a flaming blur leaving Strong in the dust once more.

On a larger battlefield, the fight would have seemed completely unfair, but restrained by the arena, Ginger has more top speed than she knows what to do with, whilst Strong at the very least stands a chance of landing hits when Ginger has to break off her sprint to keep from rushing out of the arena. Josie clearly isn't worried however, simply calling for multiple Tail Whips, with Ginger darting away whenever Doro tries to have Strong close the distance.

The Hitmonlee's trouble with opponents he can't engage in melee clearly hasn't been resolved yet, or so Ran thinks initially, at least. When Ginger manages a third Tail Whip before just skirting out of range of Hitmonlee's vengeful Double Kick, Doro finally calls out an interesting order.

"Pause, gather yourself and then use Swift!" She instructs, earning an understanding nod from Strong, who moves to obey to the best of his ability.

Immediately, Ran can tell why Doro waited so long to call for the use of Swift, with Strong clearly struggling to use the move. Over multiple long seconds however, he starts to form the familiar golden-white glow of normal-type energy around his eyes. Unfortunately for both him and his trainer, Josie and Ginger aren't content to just watch and wait idly. Instead, Josie orders Ginger to charge directly at the open target, the large horn on her forehead glowing a familiar and ominous purple, as Ginger executes a Poison Jab.

She's so much faster than Strong, it's almost insulting, the attack slamming directly into the fighting-type, with Ginger's horn aimed between and just below Strong's eyes. Doro's Hitmonlee gets bowled over, getting trampled in the process as Ginger runs right over him. To his credit however, his attempt to form Swift isn't aborted, merely slowed down.

Josie doesn't hesitate to instruct Ginger to go again the moment she's stormed past Strong, but as she turns around, the fighting-type kips up smoothly, even though he's clearly hurting. This time, before Ginger can close the distance once more, Swift finally forms, a spray of golden stars appearing in front of Strong and flying directly at Ginger.

Attempting to evade is pointless, and so Ginger simply charges through, taking the attacks directly to the face as she puts on a final burst of speed, blurring forwards before impacting with a heavy clap, Strong once more getting bowled over as the second Poison Jab hits home mere inches from the previous hit.

Ginger is clearly staggered by the attack, which compounds the beating she took earlier, but she turns around confidently, clearly still raring to go. The same can't be said for Strong, who doesn't manage to kip up again, his attempt to regain his footing a lot more tentative. Still, that he manages it at all is impressive enough in its own right. A single look is enough to make it clear that he's on his last legs however, something Doro clearly also notices.

Without hesitation, she calls for another Swift.

Josie counters by demanding that Ginger use Flame Charge, further increasing her massive speed advantage and relying on her fire-typing to empower the normally slightly weaker move beyond what Poison Jab can do when used by a non-poison-type. Immediately, Ginger bursts forwards, every hoofbeat sending up licking flames that seem to heat the air disproportionately, Ran actually having to wipe away some sweat from his brow due to just how much heat Ginger, and the entirety of Josie's team by extension, have been spreading.

The end result of the impending clash seems a forgone conclusion, but Doro clearly isn't ready to concede just yet, as the moment Ginger fully commits to her Flame Charge, the fighting-type trainer calls for Strong to forgo Swift in favor of Reversal. With the pounding hoofbeats of Ginger, the noise caused by the spectating and cheering pokémon and the distance between both trainers, it takes Josie a second to figure out just what order Doro gave.

By the time her eyes widen in realization, Ginger is already too close to abort her attack.

Her whole body sheathed in flames, Josie's starter slams into her opponent with what must be a bone shattering impact. Strong bends through his knees, clearly trying to get under Ginger's torso before veering upwards in a kind of suplex maneuver, but before he can get that far, he loses his footing. He is sent skidding and rolling across the sand, right past his trainer and out of the arena.

Ginger for her part, though clearly having taken a fair few hits, comes to a controlled stop some ten feet from Doro, her attention on the prone form of her opponent. Ran raises his hand to announce that Strong has left the arena, but upon closer inspection, he has to amend that call slightly.

"Strong the Hitmonlee is unconscious and he has left the arena. He is doubly unable to battle." Ran announces, leading to a proud shout from Josie, which is accompanied by cheering barks and yips from her non-participating team members. Doro doesn't seem too bothered, merely recalling Strong and offering some comforting words to his pokéball, before turning her attention back to her opponent.

"Technically, Toff could try to have a go, but I believe she'd stand little chance under the circumstances. I'd like to call this a technical draw, with us both having won a round, but I am happy to concede that the overall match is also yours, Josie." Doro announces, leaving Josie to stand around with her mouth rather unflatteringly agape for a few long seconds.

"We actually won?" The blonde mutters with no small amount of disbelief, before seemingly regathering herself, "We won! Great job Ginger!"

Josie cheers on her starter enthusiastically, taking a few quick steps in Ginger's direction, the rest of the distance closed by her incredibly fast starter. The rest of Josie's conscious team, with only Lady the Vulpix resting in her ball, join their trainer as well, as they celebrate their showing.

Ran is content to give them their moment, instead turning his attention to Doro, who meets his curious look with a pleased smile of her own, leaving Ran free to ask the obvious question, "Swift?"

"A little secret," She admits with a sly smile, "Though ordinarily I'd need to use a TM, Chuck was kind enough to let one of his pokémon tutor my starters for a few days. They're all still struggling with it, but they're making very respectable progress. Adding a ranged attack that can't miss just makes a lot of sense for all of them. It was my match against you that gave me the idea, actually."

"I'm flattered," Ran allows, before finding his eyes drawn to the jubilant Josie, "That was a good battle. Josie really made a lot of progress. Though if she hadn't managed to get away there at the start, things might have turned out very differently."

"Perhaps so," Doro allows, "But she is the deserved winner. You have a good taste in friends, Ran."

Ran turns to face Doro, giving her a beaming smile, before glancing meaningfully at the remaining members of Doro's own team, who by this point have mingled fully with Ran's team in what appear to be a series of discussions of the battle they just watched, "I think I do as well."

---

Author's Note: We have a winner! Strong showings and Doro showcasing the benefits of a Gym Leader with the same type specialty to ask a favor of make for quite the conclusion to our chapter. Next time, we're headed to the Lighthouse as Ran and friends take on its Gauntlet!

If you want to read ahead or feel like supporting my writing, please go and have a look at my Patreon or Ko-fi . Patreon for member benefits like 2 weeks of Early Access whereas Ko-fi is for one-off donations that go towards artwork. It's no exaggeration to say that this story and its current upload schedule are only possible thanks to Patreon, so if you have anything to spare and want this story to continue, please go and have a look, every little bit helps.