Music in Media: Test Me by Melanie Martinez

10 January, Monday, 4 p. m. | Winter

Cheren set the picture frame he was wiping on his desk when Rae popped in. The Trainers' School, veiled with a tremulous silence occasionally interjected with the screeches of tables and chairs as a Patrat dragged them across the floor and dusted them before returning them to their original spots, was a strange place for Rae to be — she still felt that hint of discomfort when none of the students were present.

"How was your walk?" Cheren managed a tiny smile.

Rae told him it went well and added that Bianca had left after receiving a call from her father. She then went round his desk, to his side, and studied the photo. She recognised the four others with Cheren, alright, having made the news as the heroes of Unova and Prof. Juniper's DexHolders. Of course, she remembered Cheren and his story when the news spread that his memory of challenging the Unova League stopped after the first gym in Striaton City, which was now but a restaurant. It didn't overshadow the glory of the heroes who were branded "Dreamer" for both Black and White, "Arrester" for Blake and "Liberator" for Whitley, though it was something that Rae could easily recall. They looked so happy in the photo, and now they were all going places, including Cheren.

"You miss the days when you were a trainer?"

Cheren frowned and tightened his tie. "A little." He tched. "You didn't come here to ask about my past, did you?"

"No!" Rae's eyes bulged. "I wanted to battle you. But... Where are Icosa and Lenora?"

"The Pokémon Centre lounge. No worries, though, I will fetch them. They will be interested in our battle, for sure. And the children too."

It took Cheren about five minutes before he returned with a bored-looking Icosa and a bubbly Lenora, with the whole bunch of rowdy children in tow, still fuming over Lenora's "stupid crown". The battle soon commenced after Cheren brought the three of them to the backyard where a battle field had been drawn in sand and on a stage. An AI assistant shaped like a Pikachu oversaw the match. Both sides would only use two Pokémon.

Rae marvelled at the simplicity of the gym layout. It was pretty much a playground with a makeshift stage (where the students, Icosa and Lenora sat, on the edge) surrounded by concrete walls that bore the brunt of beam attacks and collisions in the short span of time the Trainers' School operated. This meant the playing area would be huge but limited and the sand would slow her Pokémon down. She wasn't so worried for Noko-Noko as she was for Chilchil, comforted by the fact that Noko-Noko underwent sand-based training under her mentor Kaspar.

"Go, Patrat!" Cheren's first Pokémon scurried out of the classroom and onto the battlefield. It seemed to be bursting with energy despite cleaning up the classroom earlier.

"Chilchil, it's your time to shine!" Rae sent out her Minccino. It felt right given that Chilchil had just handled a Patrat. That experience must be useful.

Like Icosa, Cheren let her have the first move. She didn't know if this was a battling style shared between the student and the mentor or if this was merely the "ladies first" approach to make them seem more like gentlemen, though Cheren didn't need that appearance excuse as much as Icosa did. Regardless of the reason, Rae took this as an opportunity to show what she was truly capable of.

Test me, Cheren. Test my mettle. You may be nice, but I hope you don't hold back. As the thought slithered into Rae's mind, she had Chilchil hit the ground with his tail and propel towards Patrat. Coolly, Cheren told his Pokémon to dodge. This was, of course, within her calculations. No ordinary trainer would wish harm upon their Pokémon.

"Tickle Patrat, Chilchil!"

"Detect."

Patrat blocked Chilchil's advances with a firm grip and, at the flick of Cheren's finger, took the Minccino by the chin.

"Now, Hypnosis."

At such a close distance, there was no way for Chilchil to resist. The Minccino lay on his side and curled up, the tip of his tail touching his nose.

Icosa yawned as he watched Rae clench her fist. "This is boring." He chose to say much for the other students were around, as if the age gap between him and them didn't already made the situation awkward enough.

Lenora chided him and gave Rae a thumbs-up. Rae inhaled in a bid to calm herself down. She should've expected this when she saw the hypnotic eyes of the Patrat. She knew the moves each Pokémon was capable of, including Chilchil's, thanks to Kaspar's strict training, but it didn't mean she could predict the future.

But she could. She just needed to buy time.

"Snore."

Chilchil's snores could easily make any heart flutter and turn any frown upside down. It was a simple attack to distract Patrat and keep Cheren on his toes. Any other trainer would immediately feed their sleeping Pokémon a Chesto Berry. Status conditions were often a bane unless the Pokémon in question was a Snorlax.

"Were you lucky enough to beat the Johto League or were you ever good? Do something quick!" Icosa's voice struck her on the sidelines.

No, you must control yourself, Rae! Control!

But a sudden wave of desperation to try her luck compelled her to order Chilchil to use Sleep Talk. Anything could happen. Any move was possible. The effect of Sleep Talk often boiled down to a Pokémon's instincts and habits, their dreams and desires. Rae figured this was a good time as any to understand Chilchil better while proving her point to Icosa the importance of having Fortune by her side as much as being an expert.

Chilchil shuffled in his sleep. Cheren studied the Minccino's open mouth and filtered through the list of sound-based moves the Minccino could learn. Perhaps Echoed Voice or Round or Hyper Voice. Or Snore again.

Icosa crossed his arms. Lenora applied lip balm. The students watched with bated breaths. The Pikachu AI dared not blink, electricity crackling at its cheek pouches in amusement. The gym descended into an eerie silence, save for the minor notes strolling in the air, one languorous step at a time.

Then there was harmony.

Patrat wobbled and collapsed onto the sand, splattering some of it onto Chilchil's body. Chilchil growled.

"Great. Will Cheren use an Awakening, or will Rae? Or will it be an exchange of Sleep Talk till one or both Pokémon rouses?"

"Your commentary is unnecessary," Lenora spat and the white kid from before spat at her in support of Icosa.

"You don't even need to be here," Icosa argued as Rae smiled and told Chilchil to use Sleep Talk again. "Are you deliberately annoying me or something?"

Rae shook her head. It delighted her to see the smirk on Icosa's face besmirched. Chilchil's choice of move made her tremble with excitement. The Minccino raised his tail and swept the sand off his body swiftly before spanking Patrat so it flipped around, its head now facing the sky.

A focused gaze informed her that Cheren must be fumbling for an Awakening because they both knew what was coming. Or, at least, she hoped he knew. His Awakening slipped off his hand when Chilchil slapped Patrat incessantly on alternating cheeks till its eyes popped open and it shrieked. That was the signal for Chilchil to finish it off with a Tail Slap that sent it rolling across the sand.

"Pika pi! Patrat is unable to battle! Cheren, send out your next Pokémon, please!" cried the Pikachu AI.

Icosa yawned a second time. It was a mere coincidence that Chilchil used Wake-Up Slap in quick succession. What was the point if the Minccino himself was still asleep? Rae had, in his opinion, won the battle, but not the war. Cheren's second Pokémon, Lillipup, hopped onto the sand growling. Rae decided to let Chilchil finish off the battle when Icosa prompted her to switch to her "dunce of a Dunsparce" to prove that this Pokémon she had since the beginning of her journey truly aided her in her battle against the previous Johtonian Champion.

"You don't have to listen to him," Lenora reminded her.

Of course Rae gave in. What kind of rival was she if she didn't set Icosa up for shame, and hopefully, as an aftereffect, humility?

"Zzzt! Rae has switched Minccino out for Dunsparce! Round Two, Cheren's Lillipup VS Rae's Dunsparce!" announced the Pikachu AI.

The students cheered Cheren on. They had seen Noko-Noko at work and some found the Pokémon to be disgusting and too violent and ugly to be considered a Pokémon. Others were more polite. Either way, they cheered Cheren on.

This time, Cheren forged ahead without warning, and Lillipup bore its fangs as it charged forward, per his request. For a petite Pokémon, it sure had a ferocious side to couple its cuteness. Noko-Noko, under Rae's orders, countered the Puppy Pokémon's Bite with a Body Slam. Moments after Lillipup sank its teeth into a weeping Noko-Noko, the Pokémon was flung aside due to the weight of the Land Snake Pokémon.

"Get up, Lillipup, and use Headbutt!"

"Noko-Noko, Screech and Drill Run!"

Both Lillipup and Noko-Noko rammed into each other, the former with its skull, the latter with its drill-like tail, sending frenzied cries about the battlefield. It seemed they were on par with each other, alright.

Based on what Rae knew of Lillipup, the abundant cream fur growing on its face could act as a radar and provide it with information about its surroundings, be it windy or not, an incoming move, be it physical or special or status-inflicting, or the location of its opponent. This meant Noko-Noko couldn't burrow into the sand like she did in the battle against Icosa's Whismur. The enhanced sensitivity of the Puppy Pokémon proved to be an unexpected challenge.

Cheren seized the opportunity of her hesitation to have his Lillipup Worked Up for a hard Tackle. Having snapped out of her analysis mist late, Rae winced at the damage inflicted upon Noko-Noko and swore to herself she would do better.

"Yeah! Do better!" Icosa snickered and leant forward, his scarf which had been fluttering in the wind dropping to his chest as a minor note pinged in the air. Seeing as Rae was clenching her fists, he decided to gash her. Anything to stop her from being emotional. It was emotion that led her to her earlier loss. She needed reason. He would remind her. "You need to stop buying the shit out of time!"

It was a failed tactic, that much was obvious, so why was she doing this again? Why (and how) did she not understand and learn from her mistake?

Rae couldn't answer him, partly because she hadn't mastered telepathy the way a spoon-bending addict once did seconds before turning into a Kadabra in hopes of communicating to Pokémon using spoons, and partly because she was too invested in her role as thrall to emotion as much as he was a slave to reason. Noko-Noko had gone through so much with her during the days she challenged the Indigo League and she didn't want to fail her Pokémon.

She glanced at Icosa once more and bit his bullet of critique. "Noko-Noko, keep using Defense Curl!"

Cheren frowned. "Are you planning to go on the defensive?"

"You'll see."

"Very well," Cheren mumbled as he raised a finger. "Keep yourself Worked Up, Lillipup."

So began the race to the limit of offence and defence.

"Hey! I said to stop wasting time!" Icosa's voice rang out on the battlefield before a screech of electricity took over and he yelped. "The fuck's wrong with that Pikachu?"

Rae gulped. She hoped he was alright. The students were tending to him as best as they could while asking Lenora to give them space lest she jinxed Icosa. Rae sighed and figured it was about time.

The next minor note sauntered overhead. Both Pokémon's eyelids drooped. Noko-Noko unfurled her wings while Lillipup calmed down.

"Noko-Noko, use Take Down!"

"Are you sure about that?" Cheren countered. "Lillipup, Bite her when she's near!"

Before Lillipup could open its mouth, Noko-Noko had smashed her body against it.

"Both Pokémon are running low on health," Lenora commented. "And they seem tired!"

"It's the music," Rae said, drawing from her experience on Route 19. "It's being played on larghissimo tempo, 5 BPM."

"How do you know that?" A girl asked.

"My mentor and friend, Kaspar. There was a period of time when he played all his songs on 5 BPM for a month."

"Tell me this person doesn't exist," Lenora whispered to Icosa, and, for once, they were in agreement.

Rae proceeded with her next move. "Noko-Noko, now that Lillipup's weakened, Flail!"

The Dunsparce fled about the battlefield energetically and aimlessly despite her shut eyes and smacked into Lillipup a couple of times, her low health granting her immense power, easily knocking the Puppy Pokémon out cold.

"Lillipup is unable to battle! The winner is Rae!" announced the Pikachu AI.

The children were a mixed bag of reactions ranging from jubilance to jealousy to rage to disappointment. Icosa simply frowned as Lenora got up to hug Rae.

Cheren applauded with an accompanying sigh. "You have proven yourself to be capable, as expected of someone who has defeated a Champion. Here, take this Basic Badge."

Cheren presented Rae with a reddish-purple badge outlined in gold that resembled the spine of a book. Lenora recognised it, of course, having been her design and her badge to give out.

"When did you realise the BPM of the music?" Icosa asked as he shuffled over, the students following tightly behind him, their glares directed at her. Not all of them anyway, some of them simply stayed put at the stage and talked amongst themselves.

Rae admitted it was when he reminded her of the time and she consciously kept time in her head, confirming the music was indeed as slow as Kaspar's sleepy fall playlist. It was fine if he wanted to laze around like a Slakoth, but to put Noko-Noko (and the other Pokémon belonging to her classmates) under the gruelling training of staying awake and maintaining momentum via the playlist was something only he could think of. It did work in Rae's favour in the end.

After witnessing Icosa's distress at having underestimated her and the dispersion of the students, Rae returned to the room prepared for her for a rest. She liked the minimalism of it: the plain wallpapers, a simple bed with a neatly folded blanket on one end of the mattress, a wardrobe with baby blue clothes hangers, and a window that showed her the foot of the mountain overlooking Aspertia where she spotted a chirping Rufflet on the crown of a tree.

Ready to unwind, Rae kicked her shoes off and rolled on the bed, the bedsheets creasing as her body shifted.

"Freedom at last! And privacy!"

She let Noko-Noko and Chilchil out and the three of them snuggled in bed. As she took a wefie with her companions, Rae recalled the face of her anxious oniichan when sending her off and rested on her belly, making herself as comfortable as she could before scrolling through Johto Today's website.

"Huh... Oniichan's a headliner!"

A quick tap gave her all the details she needed to know so she could hang her jaw out low and dry.

"Kyaaah! Johto's flooding and Show Me Your Smile is still filming 'live'?"

Rae ignored the flash of concern passing through the faces of her Pokémon and jabbed the screen till a calm voice greeted her with a hello on the other end.

It was Kyo, her older brother.

Thank Arceus he was alright.