Limitless Dreams Ch.40: Friends before rivals

Reaching Ever Grande City took me more than five hours. I knew it would happen; I even got lost a couple of times. I had to ask for directions to lots of people. Wallace wasn’t kidding when he said that Ever Grande City is the most remote place in Hoenn!

But I finally made it to the place I was looking for: in Ever Grande City there’s just a Pokémon Center and a Pokémon Market. In the first place, I healed my pokémon since they fought quite a few battles along the way and in the second, I bought several supplies I knew I would need for the way along Victory Road and of course, in the Pokémon League.

Victory Road is a very imposing place. Once you step in, there’s no way you can turn back. Being in that place makes you think “If I already made it this far, why would I want to go back?” That’s what makes you stay there and go all the way through it.

I spent two weeks inside Victory Road. There, I trained very hard with my pokémon and I taught them several new moves. Also, the pokémon living there are pretty strong, but what helped us the most were the other trainers. These trainers, like me, were also getting ready to challenge the Elite Four. I could see determination and eagerness in their eyes. Also, I must mention they are pretty strong and some of them managed to give me and my pokémon a hard time, but we could manage to pull through.

And again, I got lost once or twice inside that enormous cave. I think that I would have spent less time there if it wasn’t for those unexpected events. But once more, I could find the correct path and I followed my way along Victory Road without further problems.

What you are going to hear now happened not too long ago, maybe less than twenty minutes. I was nearing the last segment of the cave when I spotted a familiar figure, it was Josh. Seeing him there hasn’t surprised me at all. I knew he could make it too. At that moment, I remembered what he told me before I entered Mossdeep’s City gym: Josh said that the next time we met, we would battle each other. And I think that there couldn’t be a better time to do that than right before going to face the strongest trainers in the region.

So, I walked towards Josh with determination and I pat his back, since he had his back turned on me. He didn’t seem to be particularly surprised either.

“I see you are getting ready too.” I observed calmly.

“Of course I am! I want to make sure my pokémon are ready for the challenge. But I know they are anyway. And it looks like you are more than ready too!” Josh answered with a hint of thrill on his voice.

“As you said, I want my pokémon to do their best as well and I know I can count on them.”

There was a pause for a few seconds and then I continued. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long… I can’t believe I am about to reach the Pokémon League building!”

“Me neither! And mind you, I had to challenge that Wallace guy twice; he didn’t make things easy for me. But I’m finally here!” After some more seconds of silence, Josh finally said what I was expecting to hear from him. “Well Emily, what about if we have a battle before facing the Elite Four? The loser will have to stay here, waiting until the other is done with the challenge.”

“It sounds good to me.” I answered. “Who knows? Maybe one of us will have to snatch the championship from the other.”

“There’s nothing impossible!” Then Josh smirked a bit. “Well, what about if we start the battle already? I’m saving something for the end!”

“Wow, now I want to know what it is!” I said cheerfully. “Go, Venus!”

“Go, Beowulf!” Josh released his Mightyena, who obviously, seemed to be way stronger than the last time we fought. I allowed Josh to make the first move. “Alright! Beowulf, take down!” The dark type charged at Venus at a very high speed and then tackled her with great force, making Venus fall. It was clear that Josh and his pokémon also improved a lot since the last time!

“Venus, use hydro pump on Beowulf!” After recovering from the impact, Venus blasted a powerful stream of water towards her opponent, which sent Beowulf towards the wall behind him.

“Your pokémon seems to be in a very good shape, but let’s see if she will be able to take all what my pokémon has in store! Beowulf, use crunch!” Josh’s pokémon bit down on Venus in a way that almost made me fear for her safety. The grip was too strong and she was having a very bad time.

“Venus, defend yourself with dragon tail!” She made Mightyena set her free from his ferocious grip by delivering to him a powerful hit with her tail.

“Wow, that’s amazing!” Josh exclaimed enthusiastically.

“Your pokémon is doing really well too!” I complimented him.

“Thank you! Now, let’s continue.” He paused for a few seconds. “Now Beowulf, use assurance!” Beowulf slammed his head into Venus, which made her have problems to keep herself steady. I am still amazed at how strong Josh’s pokémon are, but mine don’t have nothing to envy!

“Venus, use aqua tail, go!” Again, Venus hit Beowulf with her tail as a spiral of water formed around it. The attack did a fair amount of damage.

“Beowulf, use take down again!”

“Venus, dodge the attack and use aqua tail once more!” Venus floated in the air, avoiding the attack, before hitting her opponent again. This time, the hit seemed to be more harmful.

“Alright… Beowulf, use snarl!” The dark type bellowed in a very intimidating manner, which left Venus kinda stunned.

“Venus, use hydro pump!” But despite trying it, she couldn’t execute the attack. “Alright, no worries!” I encouraged her.

“Beowulf, use assurance again!” Taking advantage of the fact that Venus was still kinda distracted, Beowulf attacked mercilessly. It took a while for Venus to recover from the attack. I had to use a hyperpotion on her.

“It’s a pity I just have superpotions left, I think I shouldn’t have used all the hyperpotions along the way!” Josh said calmly as he sprayed a superpotion on his pokémon. “Now the battle can last a little longer!”

“True, it sounds like fun!” To be honest, although I was enjoying the battle, I wanted to win and finish as soon as possible so I could go and take on the Elite Four for once and for all.

“Venus, go and use dragon tail with all your power!” It took her a few seconds to get ready but soon, she slammed her tail onto Beowulf’s head, which left him very weak.

Josh chuckled knowing that his pokémon was close to being defeated, but apparently he wasn’t too worried. “Beowulf, use crunch again!” Josh’s pokémon charged at Venus and bit down on her, this time with less intensity.

Getting rid of her opponent’s grip was quite easy this time for Venus. “Venus, attack him with aqua tail one last time!” And as I predicted, that was the last attack she executed on Beowulf. After hitting him with her tail, which was surrounded by a spiral of water, Beowulf fell defeated.

Josh had a calm expression on his face. “Alright… Your pokémon did very well! But you must admit that Beowulf did pretty well too.”

“That’s something I can’t deny! But let’s continue with the battle. I want to see what that surprise you are saving for the end is!”

“Fine. Go, Flora!” His Cacturne was next. I decided it was time to let Hershey shine.

“You did a great job, Venus!” I congratulated her before returning Venus to her pokéball. Then I sent out Hershey. “You can have the first move this time too.” I conceded.

“Thank you! Flora, use sucker punch!” Flora delivered a powerful punch to the stomach to Hershey. The hit left him really injured.

“Wow!” I couldn’t help but show my surprise. “I didn’t see that coming!”

“See? You aren’t the only one who has been training hard! Now I want to see what you’ll come up with.”

“Alright! Hershey, go on and use return!” Return is an attack which, according to what I heard, varies in intensity depending on how much the pokémon likes his/her trainer. And Hershey must like me a lot, since the attack was pretty strong and did an important damage to Flora. Speaking of that, I must admit that it took a while for Hershey to get up since Flora’s attack hit him hard. I was starting to ponder whether to use a hyperpotion or not.

“Your pokémon really trust you, but mine do trust me as well, you’ll see! Flora, use venoshock!” The grass and dark type fired a burst of green liquid towards Hershey, which almost sent him against the wall. But this time, Hershey could recover faster from the hit.

“Hershey, use air slash, now!” Hershey flapped his wings, releasing several light blue glowing disc-like energy blades. Those blades slashed Flora and left her quite damaged. But I imagined that Josh wouldn’t want to put things easy to us.

After treating Flora with a superpotion, Josh told her to perform her next attack. “Flora, it’s time to use payback!” After listening to Josh’s command, Flora kicked Hershey with an incredible force. I had to use another hyperpotion on Hershey, which left me with four hyperpotions.

“I see you have a great strategy!” I complimented Josh. “But we aren’t going to give up so easily! Hershey, use double team!” Hershey created a copy of himself, using it as a decoy.

“Flora, use venoshock again!” The pokémon was getting ready to attack, but she couldn’t finish what she started.

“Hershey, use wing attack!” As the decoy disappeared, Hershey appeared behind Flora and before she could have time to react, Hershey slashed Flora using his left wing. Right after that, the dark and grass type fell flat on her face.

“Flora, get up and use needle arm!” Flora slowly got up from the floor and then she attacked Hershey wildly by swinging one of her thorny arms. The thought of the thorns sticking into Hershey made me feel really uneasy, but I knew it would be okay. The attack didn’t hurt him all that much anyway.

“It shouldn’t take us any longer than this!” I encouraged Hershey. “Go and use return!” Just like the last time, Hershey flew towards Flora at a great speed and hit her with great force. The victory was almost ours!

“Okay… Flora, use venoshock again!” With the energy she had left, Flora fired a blast of poison at Hershey, which made him go back a few meters.

“Now Hershey, use wing attack!” Hershey flew towards his opponent as both of his wings glowed white. This time, Hershey slashed Flora using his right wing. And just like that, Flora finally fainted. “I must admit it: I admire the way you’ve been training your pokémon.” I said sincerely.

“Thanks a bunch! I like how you are managing your pokémon too. If you defeat me, I think you shouldn’t have any problem with the Elite Four.” Josh responded right before congratulating Flora for her job and withdrawing her. “Now it’s your turn, Opera!” Josh’s next pokémon made his appearance. And I noticed Opera evolved, but not noticing it is impossible! Wailord is an enormous pokémon; it’s even bigger than Cataegis! But that didn’t intimidate me at all.

It was time to let Trevor do his thing. “Hershey, you did great, thanks a lot! Now, return.” Then I grabbed Trevor’s pokéball. “It’s your turn, Trevor!” He was clearly determined; I could tell Trevor wanted to participate in a battle already!

“Now I will let you have the first move.”

“Thanks, Josh! Trevor, use leaf blade!” Trevor ran towards his opponent at a great speed before attacking him with the sharp leaves on his right wrist. Although Opera is a really bulky pokémon, Trevor’s attack did quite a bit of damage because of his type advantage.

“Opera, go with ice beam!” The gigantic water type fired multiple light blue beams at Trevor. The attack made my pokémon fall backwards.

“Trevor, use gigadrain, now!” The leaves on his wrists glowed green as matching energy beams extended from their tips. After a while, Trevor regained part of his health by absorbing part of Opera’s energy through the green beams.

“Opera, use hydro pump!” Opera blasted a powerful spiraling jet of water from his mouth. Once the powerful jet of water reached Trevor, he was sent against the wall behind him. However, it didn’t take too long for Trevor to recover from the hit.

“Trevor, use leaf blade again!” This time, Trevor attacked his opponent using both arms. Also, in this occasion the attack was a bit more powerful. I hoped that the battle wouldn’t take any longer. There was still Finnegan left and Josh said he had a surprise for the end of the battle. I was starting to figure out what it was…

“Let’s try this… Opera, use water spout!” The water type fired a huge blast of water from his blowhole to Trevor. The hit made Trevor go back a few meters, almost hitting the wall.

“Come on Trevor, use dragon claw!” Trevor’s right hand glowed light green as he slashed Opera repeatedly. That battle wasn’t going to last any longer…

“Opera, use ice beam again!”

“Trevor, dodge it and use leaf blade!” In a heartbeat, Trevor got himself out of the attack’s trajectory. Then, he reached Opera and attacked him with both arms at a frantic speed. After that, the colossal water type fainted.

“Good job Opera. Now come back!” Josh said as he withdrew the fainted pokémon. “Well, this is the time… I will show you that secret I wanted to save for this moment.”

“Go ahead, I feel impatient!” I answered enthusiastically.

“Alright… It’s your turn, Finnegan!”

I nodded approvingly, waiting for whatever Josh wanted to show or say.

“And now, watch this!” Josh took a deep breath before continuing. “Finnegan… MEGA EVOLVE!” An intense light enveloped both Josh and his pokémon as several beams of light connected both Josh’s key stone and Finnegan’s mega stone, which was embedded in a kneepad. After a short while, Finnegan’s new appearance was revealed.

Now he was much bulkier than before, that pokémon seemed capable of delivering really hard hits! But I did want to know how Josh could get both the key stone and the Swampertite, so I asked him without hesitating.

“A few days ago I was taking a stroll through Route 114. While I was there, I spotted an old man who seemed to be selling something, so I approached the man and I asked him what he was selling. But before he could answer, something caught my attention.” Josh did a little pause. “I asked that old man what that thing was and he responded saying that it was a Swampertite. I already heard of mega evolution, but I couldn’t imagine that I would be able to mega evolve one of my pokémon so easily! So, without hesitating, I bought the Swampertite and he gave a key stone which is also needed to mega evolve a pokémon.”

“That’s an interesting story… Now let me tell you something.” I muttered trying to sound mysterious.

“Yes?”

“I can mega evolve my starter pokémon too!” I exclaimed showing my mega bracelet.

“Wow, that’s very cool! How did you get the Sceptilite?” Josh asked with curiosity.

I blushed all of sudden “Uh, well… A... a beloved friend gave it to me.”

“Ha, I see!” I made myself too obvious, but Josh didn’t give importance to it. “Now I want to see what your pokémon can do with mega evolution!”

“I’ll show you! Trevor, MEGA EVOLVE!” The same process that with Josh and Finnegan repeated. After a short while, Trevor mega evolved too. Now we were at the same level! “I grant you the first move again.” I said calmly.

“Alright, thank you! Finnegan, take down!” The muscular pokémon approached Trevor at an incredibly high speed and then tackled him with a brutal energy. Obviously, that sent Trevor right to the floor.

“Trevor, don’t let him go away! Use leaf blade!” Before Finnegan could get up, Trevor slashed his face using the sharp leaves on both wrists. The water and ground type pokémon stepped back immediately, taking both hands to his face.

“That was very clever!” Josh complimented my choice. “But I can be clever too. Finnegan, go with ice beam!” In the blink of an eye, Finnegan fired a blue beam from his mouth, which impacted on Trevor. The attack damaged Trevor a lot.

It was very difficult for Trevor to get back on his feet. He was about to faint, I had to use a hyperpotion on him, which left me with three of them. I hoped I wouldn’t have to use a hyperpotion on this battle anymore…

“Trevor, use dragon claw!” Trevor approached Finnegan at a very high speed and soon, he was frantically attacking his opponent. It was clear that Trevor recovered all of his energy!

“Finnegan, use muddy water before he can walk away!” All of sudden, Finnegan released multiple streams of brown water from his body. Most of the water splashed in Trevor’s eyes, which hindered his sight for a while.

“Trevor, attack him with leaf blade!” But Trevor couldn’t do anything; he was still trying to take the muddy water out of his eyes.

“Quick, use take down again!” Since Trevor couldn’t see a thing, Josh took advantage of the situation. His pokémon brutally tackled Trevor, just like before.

“Trevor, try to open your eyes again and use leaf blade!” Following my command, Trevor attacked Finnegan with his left arm. Finally, he could see clearly again!

“Alright… Finnegan, use ice beam again!” Finnegan got ready to attack once more, but I wouldn’t allow Trevor to get hit once again by that attack.

“Trevor, dodge the attack and use X-Scissor!” Trevor crossed his arms as the sharp leaves on his wrists glowed white. Then, he ran towards Finnegan and once he reached his opponent, Trevor began slashing the water and ground type in an “X” like pattern.

“Wow… But we still won’t give up! Finnegan, use brick break!” Finnegan’s right handed glowed white as he delivered a powerful hit to Trevor, right on his head. That made me feel really concerned, since Trevor seemed to have quite a few problems keeping his balance after that.

“Trevor, use gigadrain, now!” After wavering a bit, Trevor finally executed the attack. A green beam of light went from Finnegan to Trevor’s tail, thus absorbing part of Finnegan’s energy. We were finally close to winning the battle!

“Well…” Josh took a deep breath. “Finnegan, use muddy water!”

“Trevor, cover your eyes!” As I told him, Trevor covered his eyes with both hands to avoid getting blinded again. But either way, the hit made Trevor go back a couple of meters. But that was nothing. “And now, let’s finish this… Trevor, use X-Scissor!” Like the first time, Trevor crossed his arms and ran towards Finnegan. After that, Trevor slashed at his opponent repeatedly and at an incredible speed. And finally, Finnegan fainted.

I could tell Josh was upset, but he did his best to hide it. He looked during a few seconds at Finnegan. Meanwhile, I congratulated Trevor before making him return to his pokéball.

“Finnegan, you did a great job today.  Now, return!” Then he looked at me, cracking a smile. “You won. So I’ll be waiting here until you finish with all of them!”

“Guess what? You can go first if you want to!” I offered kindly, not being sure how would he react.

“No, the rules are the rules, you go first. It is fine, I can wait!” Josh assured effusively.

“Really?”

“Really! Now go and usurp the throne!” He was actually encouraging me!

“Haha, I will try! Who knows, maybe you will have to fight me after you defeat the Elite Four members!” I said knowing that it’s something very improbable.

“Well, there’s nothing impossible!”

“Oh, one more thing…” I muttered.

“Shoot it.”

I felt a bit shy, but I had to say it. “You know, although we are rivals, you can count on me as a friend. I know we started out a bit badly, but things have gotten better, right?”

Josh seemed a bit surprised, but his answer was positive. “Of course! Many people have friendly rivalries, why not us too?” After that, we gave each other a friendly fist bump.

“And now, let me tell you something that you won’t believe!” I giggled.

“What is it?”

“Will you believe me if I told you that I spent a day with Lisia?” I said as I raised my eyebrows.

“NO, YOU DIDN’T! How? When? Why?” Josh was clearly very excited about that!

“Well, when I was trying to reach Mossdeep City, I got lost and I ended up in an unknown island. It turned out that Lisia was on vacations for a few days on that island. So, I went to find her and she gave me the directions to reach Mossdeep and after that, she invited me to stay with her for a while!” I finished the explanation with a wide grin as I watched Josh’s reaction.

“Wow you… you are so lucky! You could have gotten her number for me or something!” Josh was redder than a tomato.

“Haha, I didn’t think about that! But maybe you will see her again one of these days, when your sister participates in a contest. Then, you might ask Lisia for your number yourself!”

“Umm… I don’t know if I will have enough courage, you know.” He chuckled nervously.

“Well, in life there are risks which are worth taking…” I said remembering what my mom told me a couple of weeks ago.

“True… Like taking on the Elite Four!” Josh exclaimed cheerfully.

“Exactly!”

“I don’t want to keep yourself from getting there so… Go ahead and do your best!” Josh cheered as he raised his thumb.

“I will!” I exclaimed as I mimicked his gesture.

We said goodbye to each other and I kept walking. I wasn’t too far away. The exit of Victory Road is a beautiful place: it’s full of flowers and there are several waterfalls. I could already see the Pokémon League building from the distance: an enormous red building with several floors. I couldn’t wait to reach it!

And that didn’t take me too long; after ten minutes, I was right in front of the door. That place is even more imposing when you are right there: I can’t help but look back at my journey and see how far I’ve come. Along with my team, I’ve been through lots of different things, both good and bad ones. That’s something I kept in mind as I walked through the door that led me into the Pokémon League building.

And I’m still keeping that in mind now that I’m about to challenge the Elite Four. You might think that I’m done telling my story, but I’m pretty sure that no matter what happens today, I’ll still have many more things to tell!