Soren Rivers

"Hoodini, use leafage on Blastoise. Keep it away from Litten!" I commanded.

Jay threw me a glance in thanks before moving to attack Helioptile. "Litten, use fire fang!"

Our battle was almost over and so far had been going pretty well. Finn had taken care of most of their pokémon alongside Jay's ralts and umbreon but even they could only take so many attacks. Soul had been doing well until he had gotten paralyzed but at this point Jay wouldn't have any trouble with just Litten. My pokémon seemed as energized as I felt after last night's walk on the beach and I still had my own ralts and absol if Hoodini took an unlucky hit.

"You know, it's nice to see them working in synch with each other instead of Litten trying to eat Hoodini." I commented as I watched my pokémon hit Blastoise in the face with his attack.

"Don't jinx it." Jay warned before looking back at the battle. "Litten, it's still charging that razor wind, use another fire fang."

"Blastoise, aqua tail!" Hydris shouted. "Knock them off balance."

"Heliolisk, hold back a little longer then trap them between the attacks!" Magny ordered.

Hoodini was knocked back the the close range attack and I winced as he was sent rolling into Litten, tripping the cat like pokémon, and leaving them both wide open for Heliolisk's razor wind. I gritted my teeth, I had jinxed it hadn't I?

"Hoodini, get up!" I commanded. "Use its attack to power up your leafage!"

"Litten, shield Hoodini." Jay spoke up.

Litten couldn't take the attack completely but I was glad Hoodini was saved from a direct attack. The razor wind ripped through the air at them and Hoodini shot a look in my direction as his wings were buffeted by the wind before using leafage again; the leaves speeding up with the help of the wind. The attack slammed hard into Blastoise's body and despite being a lower level than the water type, Blastoise collapsed onto the ground unconscious. One more to go.

"Is Litten good to keep going?" I asked.

"Of course." Jay nodded. "Litten, ember!"

"Good. Hoodini, use tackle on Heliolisk before it recovers.."

Litten's body was shaking as he moved but still pulled off the attack. Hoodini fluttered his wings before tackling into the heliolisk, causing the larger pokémon to stagger to the ground before rising back up and knocking him away by opening the frill around its neck.

Magny laughed. "Not looking too good. Looks like you've got him riled up. Come on boy, use parabolic charge."

Heliolisk's frill opened wider as electricity built up. If that attack hit Hoodini would be finished and Litten would be left to fight a healed up pokémon on his own. I quickly came up with a new plan. "Hoodini, blind it with leafage and then knock it off balance with tackle!"

"Litten, use fire fang while it's down. Don't let it land that attack!" Jay said, her face suggesting complete focus on the battle at hand.

The attack stalled as Heliolisk was pelted with leaves and it gave a cry as it tried avoiding the attack only to fall and injure his frill. Litten lunged forward and sank his fangs into our opponent's neck, shaking side to side for a few seconds, before jumping back. It had been almost adorable to see Jay's pokémon doing that considering how large the heliolisk was compared to the fire type, well other than the fact that attack had looked like it had hurt. The heliolisk didn't rise again and Magny stood there for a moment in what seemed to be shock, no pun intended, before returning his electric type to its ball.

"That wasn't much of a challenge." I commented with a smirk.

Jay shrugged. "I guess."

Magny walked over with his brother before taking out two badges. "Congratulations. One step closer to the league it seems like."

I took one of the badges and put it beside the other one while Jay copied my actions. "Thanks."

"Good luck." Magny grinned, his spiked hair standing up even more than it had been earlier made him look like he'd been shocked by a pikachu.

Hydris nodded, looking unfazed by his defeat. "You two were excellent at battling together. Just don't forget how to battle on your own too. Not every gym can be taken on in a tag team."

"I know." Jay responded before turning away. "Litten lets-"

She stopped and I turned around as well to see her pokémon evolving. A second later a torracat stood in Litten's place looking pleased with itself. "Ra!"

"Row!" Hoodini puffed up his feathers as if trying to look larger as well before trying to fly towards me as Torracat pounced on him, easily pinning him down while giving a rumbling purr of joy.

"Jay, make him stop!" I fumbled for Hoodini's pokéball.

Jay sighed, an amused expression on her face, before walking over and picking up her pokémon. "Just because you're bigger now doesn't mean you can eat the fat bird."

"Tor..." I felt a twinge of jealousy as Torracat squirmed onto his back to expose his belly for Jay to pet while his paw kneaded her. "Ra, tor!"

"Yeah, you did a good job. I'll get a treat for you when we get back." Jay laughed.

I picked up Hoodini, letting him fly onto my shoulder, before putting his unused ball back on my belt. "Come on, let's go tell the others the news!"

I hurried out of the gym, glancing back to watch Jay shifting Torracat in her arms awkwardly as she tried to keep up, before laughing and moving faster. When we got back we found the others waiting expectantly for our return as their pokémon played nearby.

"No fair... I had a larger pokémon making me carry him." Jay panted, nearly dropping Torracat on the ground instead of setting him down, as she came to a stop beside me.

"Not my fault." I shrugged good naturedly. "Guess that's what you get for not teaching your pokémon not to eat Hoodini."

"So you won?" Esme asked as we gave our pokémon to the nurse.

I nodded proudly. "Yeah. It was easy. We probably could've taken them on without tag teaming."

Jay sat down on the empty couch before shifting to stretch out and lay down. "Perhaps. But then Torracat would still be a litten probably and it would've taken longer."

Ivan nodded in thought before speaking. "That's good. Freya helped me train while you were challenging them. I'll stop by to do that myself later then once my pokémon are rested up."

Freya gave him an encouraging look. "Don't worry, if that idiot could beat them then I'm sure you'll wipe the floor with those two."

I knew she was joking but did she really have to insult my intelligence. "Really?"

"Oh, so you don't think he can do it?" Freya was smiling to show she was just messing around despite acting accusing.

I sighed, tired from the gym challenge as the adrenaline faded, and picked up Jay momentarily so I could sit down before letting her lean back against the arm rest once more. "Of course he can."

Rita leaned forward in her chair. "So, anything else happen other than Jay's pokémon evolving?"

"Just the normal gym battle stuff..." Jay shrugged. "I guess how Hydris had used his water moves to boost Magny's electric moves was pretty cool. Bad for us but a good tactic for future battles."

"Guess you'll get to see for yourself though, Ivan." I grinned, he would probably love the layout of the gym. It had glowing electric lightning patterns flashing in the rippled walls, which pulsed with blue lights in waves that made it seem like there was a storm under water. Not only that but on either side of the path were pillars of falling water with electrified wires around them... I had found it interesting.

"I already have my plan." Ivan replied confidently.

We fell into silence for a few minutes before Rita and Esme stood up as an alarm on one of their phones went off. Rita returned her pokémon to their pokéballs before turning to us. "We need to get going, the sign up for the contest is today and we can't be late or we won't qualify for participation."

"Bye!" Esme waved. "We'll see you later!"

I waved in farewell along with the others before watching Ivan leave as well. "Where are you going?"

"I might as well challenge the gym now since nothing else is going on." Ivan returned his own pokémon, who had overheard his words and looked eager to fight. "I'll be back before they will probably."

Freya turned to us once he was gone. "Remember, we can't stay here long. The longer we stay in one place the more likely it will be that Valhalla finds us and we can't put Rita and Esme in that kind of danger."

She was right. I had been so excited and happy over these past days I had forgotten about putting those two in the line of fire. I would hate myself if anything happened to them because we had led Valhalla here. "Right... Where are we going next?"

"Another ferry leaves tonight from the port we came in on back to Plolis. We can go to the port on Klesp Path to catch the next ferry along Serene Pass to get to Segro on Tranquil Isle."

"Why would you want to go there?" Jay asked as she sat up so she was sitting in my lap. "All that's there is the town for the boats to dock and refuel between Moonrise Pass and Serene Pass and the Sky Spirit Graveyard."

"Yeah, I know." Freya said. "But I wanted to see the graveyard for one thing. The other is just so we can get to Iron Well on Burned Islet."

"I see." I was curious as to why she would want to check out the graveyard from the war where those loyal to the sky buried their dead but didn't ask. I was slightly curious to see it as well actually. Legends said those who went in when the mists were at their thickets would get lost for hours and become trapped, forced to hear the pokémon and their trainers' dying cries, until the mist cleared again and they would find themselves at the edge of Segro once more. Not that I believed the story. "It could be interesting."

Jay laughed. "Maybe we'll see a ghost."

"I already told Ivan the plan." Freya got up. "I'm going to start packing, you two should probably start too."

I glanced down at Jay once Freya was out of sight. "You know what you should do to celebrate since we won?"

"Hmm?" Jay gave me a half interested look.

I shifted slightly so I could lean over her and still allow her back to lay across my legs. "You should let me kiss you."

A smile flashed across her face for a moment before she pushed me back against the chair. "And why would I do that?"

"Because I love you and you love me."

"True..." Jay laughed and I knew it wasn't going to end well. "And we are alone... But like Freya said, we should get ready to go."

She jumped up faster than I expected her to and went into the room she had rented to make sure her things were packed and ready to go. I sighed and got up, following her into the room; I could pack my things later. "I see. Need help then?"

"Not really." She brushed against me as she walked over to get her spare jacket, smirking as she did it. "Unless you want to go get some supplies for me from the store across the street."

I didn't really want to but... it was for her. Plus I needed some as well and by the time I came back she could be finished. "Fine. I'll be back."

I turned around to leave before stopping as her arms wrapped around me. "Thanks."

I moved around to face her and kissed her cheek. "I love y- Ow!"

I snapped my head to the ground to see Torracat was done healing and currently sitting down to lick his paw like he hadn't just used scratch on my leg. I felt and heard Jay laugh and gave her a half glare. "Wow, thanks. You love me so much don't you?"

"You know I do." She tightened her grip on my waist for a second before letting go, obviously trying not to laugh. "Better hurry, he might do that again."

"Stupid cat..." I gave the fire type a glare as I left. This was one reason why Hoodini was better. He was a loyal and smart pokémon who didn't attack people I loved or me.

"Ra." Torracat stopped cleaning his paw to stare at me before rubbing against Jay as he walked to the edge of the bed and jumped on it. Was he seriously trying to be an attention hog now? Well, we'd just see about that.