Rock Hard - Chapter 7 - Departing Cerulean and Route five! (Patreon)

Yolanda woke with a feather tickling her nose and the sun trickling through the blinds. The feeling of several bodies trapping her in. Terra, thankfully enough, had taken a position at her feet this time instead of her back.

Still, she had a cold front and a warm back due to Spot and Slash taking up opposite positions. Then, of course, Flapper had chosen to claim the pillow next to her.

She stretched so that her legs went over the top of Terra as a yawn escaped from her mouth, causing her pokemon team to rouse.

“Morning team,” Yolanda murmured as she smacked her lips. 

Terra wiggled, and the small jets on her body sent small puffs of air to allow her to roll over. Slash sat up in annoyance at the shift only to leap away as Spot tried to nuzzle around for another warm body to curl up with. Flapper opened a single eye to observe Yolanda only to nod his beak and begin preening himself.

“Pupitar!” greeted Terra, and Yolanda took a moment to look over Terra’s shell having various stickers and whiteboard ink drawings.

“Hmmmm last night was fun, wasn’t it?” Yolanda asked, earning herself a chorus of sleepy agreement with Terra wobbling happily.

“Hmmm, nice to have a late start as well no?” she asked the group, earning another round of agreement from them.

Yolanda rolled her shoulders only to grimace as the call of nature made itself known. “Excuse me!” she said as she bustled to the toilet, only for Spot to nose the door open after her and try to curl back up in between her legs.

“...damn it Spot,” she muttered as she tried to swing the door closed despite barely being able to reach it. “Slash! Little help please?” She called to her bipedal pokemon only for him to saunter in, take a look at the situation and walk back out with his tongue sticking out.

“Slash! No! Obey!” she whined from the toilet. “You’re getting paired with Terra for the next training session for that!” she called as she finished her business. 

She had to abandon her pants to Spot who’d gone to sleep between her legs.

She stalked out and gave Slash a glower only for him to make a show of scratching his backside, clearly unimpressed with her threat.

Changing from her pyjamas into something else for the day only for her door to be kicked open. “Wake up, superstar!” bellowed Crystal.

The sudden noise woke Spot, and he scuttled frantically at the shock of being woken up and began barking only to slip and fall on his side, but not before bowling Yolanda over. He began frantically scrambling only to begin spinning around and around on the bathroom tiles.

When he righted himself, he somehow had Yolanda's unmentionables around his neck.

Crystal took one look at Yolanda’s less-than-impressed expression and slowly backed out of the room. 

“I’ll pretend I didn’t see that,” she commented wisely.

“See what?” Yolanda replied as she snatched the piece of clothing from Spot’s neck and flicked it into her bag. 

Crystal closed the door fully then opened it normally. “Morning superstar!” she greeted with an upbeat attitude with a tinge of wariness.

“Hmmm, it is, isn’t it?” Yolanda replied easily. “Also, knock next time,” she reprimanded. “I was getting changed.”

“Ah, well, we’re all girls so what’s it matter?” Crystal replied.

“This from the girl who wanted to be known as Lord Kris when I met her?” teased Yolanda as she donned a light coat after checking outside. “Seems kind of windy.”

“Eh, you don’t notice it after a while.” Crystal replied. “You ready to grab something to eat? Greta’s already packed up and will meet us on the road to route five near the daycare. Apparently she got the heads up for the secret master or some such.”

“Hmmm, I wonder what move they teach,” Yolanda muttered.

“Probably an electric type?”

“A grass type would make more sense,” argued Yolanda easily as she packed up the last of her items quickly. When she reached the guitar she was a lot more careful with it, making sure the key items section of her bag was properly opened before sliding it in.

“These things are so convenient.”

“I know right?” Crystal agreed, reaching into her bag and drawing out her scooter as they reached the foyer.

“No scooters in the building!” shouted Nurse Joy from the front desk. Her hand snapped to a sign that depicted Samuel Oak wagging a finger at a boy who looked a lot like a younger Gary Oak trying to grind down a railing inside.

It read, 'Now is not the time to use that. Stay off your bikes and scooters inside!’

Grumbling but complying, Crystal packed her scooter away for a moment.

“Mind if we grab something to eat? I also need to visit the Battleclub.”

“Ohhhh? Gonna lay down the law?” Crystal joked.

“Hmmm, no I’m just going to add their emblem to my collection,” Yolanda declared as she tapped her pokeballs and returned all of her pokemon.

“Hmmm got a strategy lined up for them?” Crystal probed, bouncing from foot to foot while her head turned on a swivel as she inspected their options for food.

“Yeah, rock,” replied Yolanda before she pointed to a simple food van that had simple fare cooking on a grill. “That’s perfect!”

“It’s just eggs, meat, and cheese on a bun. I thought you preferred something lighter?” 

“After last night, I’m treating myself.” Yolanda marched straight up and slapped twenty pokedollars on the counter. “What’s this get me?

The man manning the counter, who appeared more moustache than face glanced at the money, then at Yolanda. He pushed the money back to her only to snap his fingers once.

Two breakfast burgers appeared on the counter in a small cardboard takeaway tray. The man handed the food over, then popped up his pinkie and pointer fingers on both hands. 

“Rock on girl, rock on,” he rumbled.

Yolanda blinked, only to blush. “O-oh you were at the show last night?” 

“Yes, it was a very good performance.” The man tapped his wrist and a picture of him, and what Yolanda assumed to be his wife, appeared from his transceiver. They were posing with her and the band in the background. They’d obviously been on the mosh pit during one of the songs.

“H wow! You got recognised out in public! You are a superstar!

“Which song did you like the most?” Yolanda asked, deciding to be polite. 

The man shifted. “All of them?” he replied uncertainly. “Rock is a bit of an older person’s scene these days with most young people liking their pop music. But I liked all of them. Although… I do like your house songs as well.”

Yolanda coughed. “Yeah those aren’t quite for rock shows though, they’re a bit too tame, you know?”

The man made the same hand sign. “Yes,” he rumbled only to give the tray of food another look. “Eat that before it gets cold.”

“How much is it?” Yolanda demanded, waving her money about.

“No, I won’t make you pay.”

“—” Yolanda made to argue only for Crystal to steal the tray. “Yoink! Thanks moustache man! Come on Yolanda, stop being silly and just accept the gift from your fan!” 

Huffing, Yolanda gave the man a bow. “Thanks for that and I hope to see you at another show in future!” she called as she jogged after her friend who’d hopped up on a small fountain. 

“Really?” she asked of her friend as she grabbed up her own burger.

“Uhmmm, yeah? You were being weird. He wanted to do something nice for you and it wasn’t a big deal. He gets a story to tell his wife and you get a free meal. Win-win!” 

“I hate that you make sense sometimes,” Yolanda muttered from around her burger.

Crystal flashed Yolanda a victory sign. 

Yolanda considered that for a moment before taking a big bite of her burger only to snap a selfie with herself and Crystal. She grinned as she worked her keypad while finishing off her meal.

“You’re looking smug,” pointed out Crystal.

“I’m just giving the nice man some free advertising,” Yolanda replied as she posted the picture of her devouring the burger online with clear directions on where to get the same burger.

“Urgh. You’re impossible!” Crystal sighed as she tossed the wrapped into a nearby bin. “Noice! Nothing but net!” she announced as it vanished into the bin. 

“Eh, if you need to think about it another way, it might make it more common for people to give us free stuff if they know we’ll match their kindness.” Yolanda made her own throw and pumped her fist when it went in.

A polite cough had both girls looking up to find Officer Jenny giving them less than impressed looks. 

The girls smiled winningly. “We didn’t litter?” Crystal pointed out, which only earned her a roll of the Officer’s eyes.

“Hmph, I’m sure you would have picked up after yourselves if you’d missed as well, no?”

“Yup!” Crystal replied instantly while Yolanda nodded seriously.

Officer Jenny shook her head. “Well, no matter. Enjoy your morning, girls… oh and… can I get a picture with you Yolanda?” asked Officer Jenny shyly.

Crystal began giggling as Yolanda coughed in surprise.

She still took the picture with the Officer before they left for the Battleclub.

“That felt a bit surreal but this time it’s not cause of my brother!,” Yolanda murmured.

“Guess it’s a taste of stardom,” shrugged Crystal. “Just think of it like being back in Pewter where everyone knew you and your name, yeah?”

“Hmmm, you’re right,” Yolanda replied.

When they reached the Battle club, Yolanda marched in with a confident stride. “I’m here for your symbol!” she declared.

Instantly, a trio of trainers were in her face. 

“You what?” they growled but Yolanda stood her ground. 

“I’m here for your symbol. Is the Manager prepared to set up the gauntlet for me?”

The trio nodded, stepping back and gesturing to an older man who wore a long coat. When he gestured to the central battle court he caused the coat to flap about like a wing.

Yolanda wanted to roll her eyes but held back. Crystal waved. “Good luck, Yolanda!” she called as she moved to the stands.

Grinning, Yolanda took to the podium, knowing that she didn’t need luck for this fight. She had the perfect answer to everything the battle club could throw at her.

The thing to remember with the Cerulean club was that it hosted a known Gym typing that everyone built counters to. This resulted in rippling effects that could be seen in various aspects of their town.

There were several water fountains, canals, rivers, and even a lifestyle built around fishing for most of the town. 

When it came time to manage the trainers that arrived, most accounted for one thing. 

What did they need to counter a pokemon that was prepared to fight against a water-type trainer?

Most trainers challenging the Cerulean Gym brought either a grass or an electric type. Both were relatively easy to find if you put in the effort. The Cascade badge and the Boulder badge were the two most acquired badges for very different reasons.

What this meant for members of the battle club however was that they had specific pokemon lined up and trained. Namely flying, fire, and rock type pokemon. Two of which were easy to find.

Anyone could wander to the west and find a geodude or Onix. as for flying types? Well they were everywhere.

So when the first trainer to face her threw out a pidgeotto, Yolanda just smiled and sent forth Terra.

Rock met bird and the match progressed. 

The next out was a Geodude.  

Earthquake.

And just like that the first match  was won with everyone gaping at her for her two hit shut out.

The other trainers conferred in surprise before stepping forward. This time they led with Growlithe.

Which caused Yolanda a small moment of regret as she ordered the Earthquake.

Within minutes she’d torn through the gauntlet with a sweating Battle Club Manager stepping forth. “I see you’re starter well trained…” he complimented.

“Yes, she is,” Yolanda agreed.

The man nodded sadly only for a glint to enter his eyes. “Ha! Your reign of terror ends now! Go Vileplume!” he shouted with a cackle.

Yolanda hummed, eying the pokemon and giving it a firm nod. The instant the flags dropped Yolanda’s hand snapped forward. “GO!” she bellowed.

Terra, knowing this was going to happen exploded into action, her propulsion jets firing her forward even as a corona of energy built up around her.

“What? No! Prot—” the Battle Club Manager tried to order only for Terra to collect his pokemon and nail it to a wall.

The Vileplume groaned weakly as Terra jetted back to the inbound area slowly.

The Manager slumped for a moment as he returned his pokemon. “It is such a shame that… you haven’t defeated me yet!” he cackled as he sent out a Victreebell next.

Yolanda calmly returned her pokemon and sent out Spot, the Growlithe who took one look at the grass poison type and grinned fiercely. 

“Flame Charge!” called Yolanda with a savage grin as her pokemon blitzed across the field with a cloak of embers drifting off him.

Victreebell took the hit but stayed on the field, hitting back with Wrap in an attempt to stop Spot from mounting any more attacks. They even made sure to wrap his snout closed to stop him biting.

“That’s it! Lift it into the air to stop it from getting off another Flame charge!” urged the Manager.

Yolanda took one look at the way they’d tried to Wrap Spot and snorted. “Flamethrower through your nose!” she commanded.

Twin lines of fire shot out of Growlithe’s nose, lashing at Victreebell’s vines and causing it to flinch.

Spot slipped through the writhing vines and landed on his feet with a soft growl. 

“Again!” Yolanda called only for Spot to do precisely that. Keeping his mouth shut, he once more shot forth twin lines of small Flamethrowers from his nostrils.

Yolanda put her head in her hands. “No… not the trick shot… actually use Flamethrower… you know what, that was my bad,” she muttered even as Spot glanced back and wagged happily. 

Victrebell on the other hand was collapsed and out of the fight, which didn’t stop Yolanda from giving a subtle command to scorch the rest of the field so Spot could be better off.

The Manager sighed and returned his pokemon. Only to twitch and suddenly widen his eyes. “Ahahah! You thought that was the end of it! Because…” he slumped. “Yeah, that’s all I’ve got,” he muttered.

Yolanda giggled. “Yah, I know. I did a review of your club. You’re a ten-time winner of best garden in Cerulean and known for your two grass type pokemon.”

The Manager stared at her only to blush and rub a hand across his nose. “Shucks! You really are a smart lass if you found that! It’s not like I share it around!” he gushed.

Yolanda coughed and glanced aside. “Oh… you just need to know where to look,” she replied easily, deciding that it wasn’t worth mentioning that she’d just pikasearched his name on the pokenet and been given a slew of information from various magazines articles along with his official trainer record. 

The trainer record itself was enough but the gardening prize for Cerulean was a fun factoid so it had stuck out to her.

The man happily presented the Club’s symbol to her and she beamed as she added it to her case. “Thank you! I’ll cherish this well!” she declared before marching back out the doors.

Crystal skipped up to her with a smirk. “So…. rock and fire ended up being the strategy?”

“Well, Spot brought the pyrotechnics certainly,” Yolanda murmured.

“And I thought you were training Agility into Extremespeed. What happened there?” 

“Oh, Spot happened. He kept trying to spark up when he did it, and before I knew it, he’d learned Flame Charge instead.”

“It just happened?”

“I worked with him, and that was the result. I actually like it a little more. It’s not as fast as Extremespeed, but I looked it up, and there is a boosting effect to it, along with having a potent punch to it.”

Crystal shot Yolanda a look. “But isn’t Extremespeed the best for getting the drop on others in fights? I thought that was the entire point of your training?”

Yolanda hummed and glanced down towards Spot. “I… don’t want to force him just yet. If he wants to do it this way, we can do it. There’s nothing wrong with having Flame Charge instead of Agility, and if we need the fast attack then we can change it up later.” She gave a shrug. “Who knows? Maybe that will be another way to get a specialised move like Bertha has!”

“Didn’t that take like… years of effort from Brock to train into Bertha?” Crystal pointed out. 

“It… might have yes,” conceded Yolanda. 

“Hmmm, well if you’re gonna try for it then mad props to you. I’m keeping things simple with my flame boy! Just yesterday we roasted the eyebrows of this really smug—” Crystal happily began regaling Yolanda about the various feats she and her pokemon had gotten up to while Yolanda had been prepping for her show.

By the time they linked up with Greta Yolanda was starting to suspect that Crystal was stretching the truth a bit.

“And after that fight I ended up finding this bug loving group and we just wiped the floor with them! There were like eight kids with only bug types! Ha! How crazy that?” Crystal gushed.

Yolanda glanced to Greta for verification, only for her other companion to nod. “Yeah… Crystal found the local Bug Catchers chapter and roasted them. They’ve vowed revenge and placed a ‘play bounty’ on her head for various Chapters to try and cash in on. Soooooo expect some Bug catcher hunting us down in future towns and cities.”

Yolanda blinked. “That’s a thing?”

“Apparently?” Greta replied with a shrug. “Turns out if you annoy them enough by rubbing your shutout in their faces enough ,they do stuff like this? The Chapter leader quoted a part of their guidebook and everything!”

“Huh, you worried about that Crystal?” asked Yolanda. 

“Nope! Cyndaquil is going to be sooooo strong soon, they won’t be able to touch him! And so will Mankey and Eevee! Oh, we’re going to absolutely crush all takers!”

“You probably shouldn’t bully them, Crystal,” Greta suggested, only for Crystal to snort.

“Where’s the fun in that? Nah! I want them fired up! It’ll make for a funner journey. If anyone beats me I’ll just train harder and come back and crush them!”

“That’s the spirit,” Yolanda offered jokingly, earning a snort from Greta.

Crystal turned to Greta. “So what move did you learn from all those little odd jobs you’ve been running? Was it worth it?” she asked.

Greta beamed. “It was! Venusaur was taught by a Hidden Master how to perform Magical Leaf!” 

Yolanda and Crystal’s heads whipped around to their friend. “Isn’t that the move that never misses unless people use Dig?” asked Yolanda.

“Yup! It’s up there as one of the best Grass-type moves to teach your pokemon.”

Crystal walked in closer to her friend and squinted. “There’s something else isn’t there? You’re way too pleased for there not to be another… your special move? The Leaf tossing thing with Vine Whip… does it work for that as well?”

Greta’s face spasmed as she tried and failed to repress the grin that took over. “Oh! Yes! It does! It makes my Leaf Shuriken so much more potent!” she squealed.

“Leaf Shuriken?” asked Yolanda and Crystal together.

“Ahem… yes that’s the new name I decided on.”

The girls considered this for a moment. “That’s pretty neat,” Yolanda said, only for Crystal to giggle. 

“You’re such a weeb! You’ve spent too long watching Samurai Furret!”

“It’s a good show!” defended the other two girls together.

Crystal giggled at them as they continued down route five. Greta gave Yolanda a look. “You’re sure we’ll be able to enter the reserve so early right? I heard it is locked up until half way through the circuit.”

“I know the trick to getting in, don’t worry,” Yolanda stated calmly. With Crystal nodding while Greta narrowed her eyes in thought.

When they stopped for lunch, they were in sight of several other trainers, and a few came over to try their luck, only to be summarily dispatched. 

“How’s your fight record looking?” Yoland asked Greta as Crystal dealt with a far too confident youngster with nothing but a trio of Pidgey to his pokebelt.

“Bit stacked to be honest,” Greta replied. “Even with trading my pokemon around and using Spinarak, I just have a bit too much knowledge on how to make use of his moves to overcome other trainers.”

“Hmmm, well Spinarak would be getting something from it, but maybe it’s worth getting another pokemon or two while things are still pretty tame?” Yolanda suggested. “I’m looking to get another one in the next few days.”

“Porta Vista yeah? That means you’re looking for a water type.”

“Maybe, it depends on what is there.”

Greta shifted. “Yolanda… why don’t you just ask Brock or your Mum for a Lapras egg or something like that? I’m sure they could if you asked.”

“It feels wrong to just be handed things like that. I already feel bad that I have Terra and Spot on my team. I didn’t really have to go out looking for them.”

“Buuuuuuut,” Greta said as Crystal’s Mankey overcame the odds against the kid’s final Pidgey.

“But they are super convenient to have on my team and a Lapras… would be pretty awesome, but I’m honestly hoping for something else like a Poliwag maybe?”

“Hmmmm so you need to go to some ponds and creeks then instead of the big pools of water we’ve been to lately,” suggested Greta as Crystal collected her winnings from the kid only to hand him a potion bottle for the trouble of dealing with his downed team.

“That was nice of you,” Yolanda complimented, giving the surrounding trainers a look to see if anyone wanted to challenge their group, only for all of the people resting nearby to pointedly avoid locking eyes with her.

Ah, it appeared it was time to be moving on then. “Thank you all for the battles!” Yolanda announced to the glade at large. “It was very enjoyable!”

She was suddenly glad that she’d been able to talk down a lot of the young trainers out here for lesser stakes in the matches. She’d only earned maybe a hundred pokedollars off the fights she’d taken part in, but at least she hadn’t crushed some helpless rookie that was too big for their britches.

Hopefully this would be a wake-up call for them, if not… well.. What could someone do…

Giving the trainers another look over, she considered that. “Hey… does anyone want to exchange numbers with me? It’d be nice to keep in contact.”

The other kids all shared disbelieving looks. “You wanna meet up again?” one kid asked. 

“Yeah, or just stay in touch you know? You never know what you might find or have to share and… well isn’t the journey all about making new friends?” she asked. It might be a bit blatant, but it still got the kids thinking and eventually sharing the contact info with her. 

As they walked away from the glade and farther south, Yolanda furiously created a group chat for the kids she’d just met and spammed them with greetings, the Pewter Gym trainer online guide for starting trainers, and a link to her music page.

The latter of which drew a lot of surprise from the group of kids.

Greta giggled. “Heh, that’s certainly one way to grow your fame, beat up trainers and give them a link to your music.”

“Ah… well, I mean if I’m going to send them the other link I probably should include something fun, yeah?” Yolanda pointed out.

Crystal bumped into her. “Sheesh, and I felt like I was being too nice with handing out those potions for those kids I beat!” 

“You were fighting the kids with the most pokemon.” Greta said with a nod. “They were probably pretty close to whiting out.”

“Yeah, I noticed. Man it’s hard being this much of a badass!” Crystal crowed. “Gotta make sure I don’t turn into a heel.”

“Too late,” murmured Greta, earning herself a giggle from Yolanda and a glare from Crystal.

As they crested another hill the trio paused to look over the road and the pleasant meadows they were walking through.

Around them, several grass type pokemon ambled along easily while Pidgey and Spearow flew overhead. Each of the girls took deep breaths and exhaled.

“... want to stop again?” Yolanda suggested, and the girls nodded and set up another picnic blanket with their pokemon joining them for some tea and snacks.

“Can I just say I love these bags?” muttered Crystal as she swallowed a handful of cookies that she’d pulled from said bag. 

“You’ve mentioned it a time or two,” murmured Greta as she lay against Venusaur, both of them cloud watching. 

Yolanda hummed her own agreement as she stroked Spot’s fur while resting against Terra. Flapper was overhead, getting into some lighthearted aerial antics with other flying types.

It was entirely whimsical and just… so nice to be able to kick back, knowing you didn’t need to be anywhere for any reason. 

Was this why her mother…

Yolanda sat up, a surge of guilt washing through her. “We need to get moving,” she announced, packing her things away as Terra shifted and warbled in worry while Spot scrambled at suddenly being dumped.

“Yolanda?” Greta stared at her. “Is something the matter?” 

“No… yes! Just… it felt too nice just now, you know?” Yolanda explained, only to get blank looks from her friends.

“No idea what you’re talking about. Come on, relax!  Everything's fine. You had a big night last night, you deserve to kick back and chill!”

Yolanda shifted. “It’s…” she stared at the ground. “It’s silly.”

Crystal, rather than standing, rolled so that Yolanda was looking at her. “I’m silly, you? You’re too serious. It’s why we’re good friends! We balance each other out. What’s wrong? We won’t laugh, promise.”

It took a minute and a few more quiet affirmations of support from Greta, Crystal and even her own pokemon before Yolanda spoke up, “I started thinking maybe things being this nice on your Journey is why Mum and Dad… took so long to come home.”

“Oh,” Crystal replied. 

Greta chewed her lip. “That… might be valid,” she answered like she didn’t like it. “I’ve heard the same is true for tons of people. They get a feel for how easy life on the road is, just wandering, living off the land and being with your pokemon and… yeah, it’s an issue that the League doesn’t really acknowledge.”

“Can we.. not talk about it right now and just… start moving again. Sorry if I ruined the moment,” Yolanda whispered. 

“Nah, it’s fine! Come on! The faster we get to the reserve the better off we’ll be!” Crystal announced without a hint of worry. 

Greta reached out and gave Yolanda a small hug before seeing to her own gear. 

Once they were on the road again the trio soon found themselves near a walled reserve that had a large gate leading up to it.

The gate guard gave them a look while rubbing his throat in irritation. Yolanda stepped forward confidently. “Afternoon! Long days like this sure create a thirst don’t they?” She then offered the gate guard a large bottle of soda pop.

The man paused in rubbing his throat and smirked. “Hmmm, another one eh? Alright you can go in.” The man pressed a button and the gates swung open.

The trio walked in and Greta shot Yolanda look.

“So, how did you know to give him a bottle like that?”

“Brock mentioned it one time at home,” Yolanda revealed. “I don’t think Forrest remembered it cause he went along the coast instead of stopping here with Ash and Misty. Brock came here though and found it was really useful for training. I asked one of the grannies that cared for us sometimes and they got a bit upset. Supposedly it’s something of a hidden trick where if you’re polite and offer them a drink of some sort they’ll let you through, otherwise you have to fight them. They’re apparently really strong.”

“Awww! We should have tested ourselves!” whined crystal. 

“They’re strong like facing a Gym at their fourth tier level,” Yolanda pointed out, causing the other two to make considering faces.

“Ah we got nothing stopping us challenging them on the way out,” Greta suggested, causing Crystal to perk right up. 

The reserve itself wasn’t like the Safari zone but it still had a lot going for it with the creeks, woodlands, and plains.

“Well we’ve got it to ourselves for the next few days so let’s—”

The sound of a twig snapping caused the girl’s heads to twist to the side only for a boy to step out of the shadow of a tree.

“Well, well, well, I should have known I’d run into you three soon enough,” announced A.J.

 From behind him a Sandslash, a Butterfree, a trio of Raticates, and a Dragonair stepped into view.

A.J. grinned at them. “Say, Crystal, want to see how we measure up now?” he asked, locking eyes with each girl pointedly.

The girls turned to each other, eyes a blaze at the coming challenge. Their hands shot forward. “One! Two! Three! Shoot!” they declared only for Yolanda to grin as she beat out her friends.

“Good to go?” she declared as she enlarged a pokeball, locking eyes for what would surely be one of the toughest matches she’d had in quite a while.

_____________________

A.N. Thanks go to my patreons for your continued support!

It also goes to Twmmy for proofreading this chapter!