“Bubble.”
Mida whined, opened her wide little mouth, and coughed up a fat blob of water that leapt in a slow arc, wiggling tenuously in the air, and splashed against the knocked-down bottle, adding to the growing puddle on the varnished wooden floor. Luvia smiled.
Glacia had been right. There was something happening here.
During the talk the previous afternoon, after realizing how anxious she had made the girl feel, Glacia offered some advice. Something to work on as Luvia prepared for the trainer exam.
…
“Pokémon moves, my dear – work on those. The more you have the better. There’s never too many.”
“But how could I teach my Mudkip a new move?” Luvia had replied. “Don’t you need those machine things?”
“TMs haven’t always been a thing, Luvia. How did trainers teach before those got around?”
Luvia didn’t know. “Don’t the pokémon just learn them naturally?”
“Oh, but of course they do, but that is within any wildling’s ability. A trainer should strive for better. If your pokémon is learning moves at the rate of a wild one, you are failing terribly.”
…
“Then how?”
“Many moves are derivatives, my dear. Your Mudkip has a powerful little water gun – it can most certainly manage a few derivatives.”
Luvia knew the meaning of the word, but she wasn’t sure what Glacia meant exactly. She had never heard the concept before.
“The manner in which you speak is important.” Glacia had turned those pale blue eyes squarely on her. “When you teach the old-fashioned way, you have to give your pokémon the feeling of the move. I imagine you know the difference between a water gun attack and a bubble beam? Bubble beam is only a derivative – they are really the same thing, just differently packaged.”
…
Luvia closed her eyes, sitting cross-legged on her bed, and took a deep breath.
She pictured the bubble attack she had seen plenty of times before. It moved nothing like a water gun. It floated through the air, blew through it.
Air…
She exhaled.
“Meehd?”
She pointed once more at the toppled over bottle sitting on a puddle of water. “Bubble, Mida.”
Tail fin shook, Mida snapped around and spat a whizzing blob of water that smacked straight into the bottle and sent it flying at the door. It knocked against the wood with a loud, crystal ring.
Luvia flinched.
“Luvia!” her mother called from downstairs.
“It’s nothing, Mom!” Luvia yelled back, uncrossing her legs and rushing over to the mop resting by the wardrobe.
“Why’d you do that, Mida!” she whispered, biting back a laugh.
Mida watched her frantically mop the puddle, with what Luvia was sure was the little one’s equivalent of a frown. A giggle rose out of her.
“You’re upset you don’t know what a bubble is supposed to look like, aren’t you…”
“Meehd…”
“Don’t worry, silly, I’ll show you later.”
Maybe an example would help. After they were done with scanning for the day, she’d get one of those bubble wand thingies from town. Mida was already trying something new with her water gun, Luvia could see that clearly. The little one was shooting them out different when she called for a ‘Bubble.’ That meant Glacia had definitely been right… The way you said the command affected the way the pokémon performed it.
Her mind ran through the play battle they had with Glacia’s Spheal. The way in which the Elite 4 had called for moves had been so… unemotional. Flat statements almost. That was kind of the opposite of what Glacia had told her to do.
But I guess Spheal wasn’t learning any moves then…
When she was done mopping up, she propped the dripping mophead out of her window to dry out.
“Today and tomorrow, then we’re done, Mida! You have to learn Bubble before then!”
She could smell the money now. In two more days, she’d have earned enough for a round trip to the mainland, the exam entrance fee, and maybe some souvenirs too.
She couldn’t wait.
Two months ago, she had no north star guiding her anywhere. She wasn’t like her friends, Nelly and Carol, who more or less had their paths clear from the start.
Now… she had never been this sure about anything in her life.
She was going to be her family’s first real pokémon trainer.
…
“Tell you what,” Glacia had said the previous day. “If you manage to teach her a basic bubble attack before I leave, I’ll teach her an ice-type move as well.”
Luvia had lit up instantly. “Like Aurora Beam?! – you really could?”
Aurora Beam was the prettiest move she had seen with her own eyes. Not just that, it was also effective against one of the types Mida was weak against – Grass. Andrea had warned her several times during the past month.
Mida learning Aurora Beam would be amazing!
Glacia only shrugged. “Perhaps.”
At the time, Luvia had been way too excited to ask herself how the woman planned to teach a young water-type like Mida an advanced ice-type move like that. Maybe she had one of those TM things on her? How else could she propose to teach a move in such short time?
With the wetsuit slightly grimy after all the use it had seen, Luvia threw it in for a wash and dressed in a pair of jeans and white polo, slipped the strap of her backpack over her shoulder, and headed out after grabbing a couple of her mother’s baked sourdough buns. They were tough as rubber but tasty and filling… and Mida liked them too.
The third day of scanning came in like routine. Luvia had eased into her role as part of the team. It was still so exciting, mostly because she had Dormund again, but the second-best thing about it was just the general upbeat mood of everyone else. This was the kind of thing she needed now that Neela was gone. Now that her friends would be taking different majors when the new school year began at Clearmont High.
She could imagine the faces her teachers would make when they read the letter telling them why she wouldn’t be enrolling for another year. She could picture Mrs. Kelaqi announcing it to her classmates; “Luvia, for some strange reason, has decided to go on a pokémon journey.”
No one had ever done that in the four years she had schooled there.
Mida had completely altered the course of her life.
Dormund slowed down as he neared the end of the big lagoon they had crossed on the way to their scan spot. Mida shot out from below the surface and landed on the grassy bank before shaking herself. Blue and white flowers were blooming, and the air smelled sweet.
She hadn’t seen this area before, hidden somewhere wild and inland on the southern sector of the island. Luckily, today, the sky wasn’t dreary or gloomy like it had been. The sun struck the rocks and craggy boulders, and bathed the greens with a humid heat. Beautifly and the more elusive butterfree floated quietly from here to there, disappearing through the surrounding groves of rough barked trees.
Luvia removed the scanner from her backpack and scoured around for a nice, soft spot to set it down in, when she heard a sharp and curling grunt. It was something in between a growl and a screech.
Dormund was the first to respond. A deep, irritated groan. That, more than anything else, was what alarmed Luvia most. Her eyes cast about rapidly in the direction of the strange cry.
Mida hopped right next to her, tail vibrating, and the smaller fin on her head twitching.
What is it… She saw nothing slither through the grass or shake through the ferny underbrush near the tree line. Nothing crawling over the big rocks, or poking past the craggy boulders. Slowly, she activated the scanner and pressed it into the ground.
Dormund let out a short grunt, and that’s when a pokémon came out of hiding, rising on its hind legs like a person.
It had locks of white fur, sticking out in frizzy clumps all around its body, and patches of red streaked around its forepaws and belly. Both tips of its pointy ears ended in tufts of a similar red.
Stolen story; please report.
A pit opened in Luvia’s stomach.
Its eyes were sharp and leering, hostile and bloodshot. They smoldered under the shade of the tree line like coals.
Luvia watched it for a long moment, as it watched them. She quietly mashed the button on her headset.
“There’s a zangoose here.”
- - - - - -
“Zangoose?”
“A what?”
Glacia’s voice cut in next. “Dormund is out of the ball, right?”
“Yes,” Luvia replied.
“Tell him to roar.”
Luvia didn’t need to be told twice. “Roar, Dormund!”
Dormund growled first, low and deep, then just when Luvia thought he wouldn’t listen, he stretched his neck forward and let out a bellowing cry that shook the air. The girl had to cover her ears. Mida darted and buried her head between her feet. The strength with which the little one did so made Luvia stagger and fall on her butt.
“Midaaa!” Luvia yelped, clutching onto Mida when the latter jumped on her belly in a fright. They curled up on the grass, riding out the bone-buzzing roar.
Is this an earthquake?!
She could swear the ground was trembling.
As Dormund ended his roar, the zangoose let out its own scream. Though not nearly as overwhelming, Luvia could feel the threat behind it.
It’s still here?!
“It didn’t run!” she spoke into comms, sitting up.
- - - -
“Take it down!” a trainer said. “You have a champion-tier pokémon!” He sounded more baffled than worried.
- - -
“It’s either protecting something,” said Glacia, “or it’s rabid.”
“So…” So what did they want her to do?
This is what Mom was worried about…
Her brow knotted in a frown. This was exactly what her mother had warned her about. ‘What if it had been a zangoose?’
She pushed herself up. It’s not just Mida and me! Dormund is here!
A champion-tier pokémon. If she couldn’t face this now, then Nana and Mom had been right to worry – she shouldn’t go to the mainland. She wouldn’t be able to handle a journey.
“Robert, a little pause, please,” Glacia announced. “Let me intervene.”
- -
“It’s fine!” Luvia’s mouth said without asking her brain’s permission. “We can take care of this.”
- - -
“Hell yeah!” Nolan cheered through comms. “Tell Dormund to use Sheer Cold!”
“No!” Glacia snapped. “He wouldn’t do that with you there, but don’t tempt him.”
- - - -
The zangoose fell back on its front paws and began pacing slowly to one side, keeping its bloodlusting gaze on them.
“Are you sure it’s fine, Luvia?” Glacia said in a tone that made the girl second guess herself.
“Yes,” was all she could reply with.
- - -
“Don’t be reckless, zangoose move fast. Stay behind Dormund at all times.”
By some uncanny coincidence, the moment Glacia finished saying that, Zangoose shot into a sprint, a gust blowing through the underbrush in its wake.
Quick Attack! The move was quick attack. There was the faintest white glow around the pokémon as it galloped in an arc and dashed right at them.
Dormund blew a torrent of frosty fog right at it.
“Krrgghh!” Zangoose was suddenly up in the air, 10ft high, billowing fog of frost rushing by beneath it harmlessly. It brandished its large claws and fell onto Dormund for the strike.
Dormund stopped blowing and braced at the last moment as the Zangoose landed on his head and began furiously slashing with its claws.
*Hmmm!!* Dormund groaned as he jerked his head up and tossed the Zangoose high into the air.
It landed on all fours and bared its fangs, fur bristling, and a look in its eyes that said, ‘I will carve you up.’
“Growl, Mida!” Luvia yelled from a frightened, angry pit in her chest.
Why are you so angry! We’ve done nothing wrong!
Wild pokémon could be so stupid!
“RWAH!” Luvia heard the same frightened edge in Mida’s growl attack.
Zangoose’s eyes flashed at her Mudkip, darted back at Dormund, then it sprang into another Quick Attack.
That look in its eyes. It was planning something.
It’s coming for Mida.
The wild pokémon zipped in another wide arc before shooting straight at Dormund. It was so fast that everything else seemed to be moving in slow motion.
Dormund reared up and brought his head crashing down in a blow that shook the ground, but Zangoose turned in two sharp angles and sidestepped the Walrein entirely.
“Mud-Slap!” Luvia called out preemptively. She had sensed it!
Zangoose dashed, right as Mida put her paws to the grass and unearthed a mound of heaving soil.
“Krrrghh!” went Zangoose, swiping the earth away.
Luvia was already backing up toward the other side of Dormund. Zangoose was way too close to her – only three strides away! “Tackle, Mida!”
Mida shot forward, slamming her head on its midsection and forcing it to stagger backward. It was only for an instant, but its pupils snapped sideways, to the corner of its eyes, and landed right on Luvia’s.
This thing had seen her, and those eyes said, ‘You’re next.’
In a blink, it brought up its claws as a ball of ice crashed and shattered against them like glass.
It snarled in pain but recovered quickly, getting back to all fours and the same faint, whitish glow appearing around its outline. Luvia turned and ran for Dormund’s back.
The next moment, she was seeing sky. Something had taken her legs from under her. Flipped her parallel to the ground as easily as you would a dolly.
Her back hit the grass forcefully, knocking the wind out of her and her eyes trailed around their sockets in an effort to adjust.
Glacia. That was the only thing she thought about in that moment.
She heard Dormund’s roar and the crash of another ice ball. This time, the broken shards pelted her like hail. She rolled over into a fetus pose and covered her head with her arms.
“Gaahd! Gaahd!”
Soil beat against her next. A lot of it. A blanket of damp, heavy soil.
Was Mida trying to bury her alive?
“Krrrghh!” the Zangoose snarled, followed by the cracking, tinkling sound of the air rapidly freezing over.
Zangoose yelped out, its voice travelling away from Luvia. The girl sat up, fuming. A dull and sweet pain began throbbing at her calves. She gave her jeans the quickest once-over and was relieved that nothing seemed out of place. No torn fabric, no blood. Just a hard knock.
The Zangoose was flailing near the edge of the bank as Mida and Dormund sent water blob after icy bolt at it, one after the other in a rhythm that looked practiced.
Just as it regained its footing from a smack of water, an ice bolt would strike it elsewhere and leave a crust of ice behind.
Luvia was breathing deep, almost entirely out of anger.
“Tackle, Mida!”
Another blob of water whizzed through the air and struck the Zangoose on the shoulder.
Another icy bolt cracked past and added to the ice crust on its chest.
Then Mida was there. Her tackle smashed against the icy crust, and sent the Zangoose over the edge of the bank, flailing into the water.
Luvia wasn’t done.
“Freeze it, Dormund!”
…
Dormund edged closer, pulling himself along on his wide flippers.
The Walrein looked at her with his wise, amber eyes as he moved past her.
Luvia could guess at what he meant; ‘You do not order me.’
But she was too pissed off to be polite. “Fine then! – Mida, Water Gun!”
“Maahd!”
Mida was more than happy to oblige. She spat a volley of blobs that hit the Zangoose square on, pushing it farther in to the lagoon as it thrashed madly in the water.
It can’t swim like Mida…
In the water, Mida was at her best. Sure, she couldn’t use one of her most useful moves, but she was quicker and stronger and didn’t tire as quickly.
“Mida…” Luvia hesitated for a second. Maybe sending her in to abuse her speed underwater and tackle the Zangoose silly was… risky.
*Hhhffffff* Dormund blew on the lagoon with another torrent of icy fog. The surface began freezing over immediately.
He blew on it long past the point Luvia thought necessary.
…
When the fog cleared, Zangoose was frozen solid. Not even a twitch.
Only then did Luvia calm down. She sucked her teeth, brow aching from the frown she wore, and pressed the button on her headset. “It’s done.”
- “Nice! What move did you use?”
- “Champion-tier ‘mon, hello?”
- “Well done.”
- “Thank god.”
- “Excellent,” said Robert. Hearing that from him was extra satisfying for Luvia. It felt like he had finally come around.
“You’re not hurt, are you?” Glacia asked.
- - -
Luvia shook her head as she spoke into her mic. “No.”
Her calves felt betrayed when they heard that.
The scan ended very soon after that, and Luvia awkwardly approached Dormund. She put a hand to the side of his neck, the same way she had seen Glacia do.
“I’m sorry for getting angry with you. I was just so mad.” She looked up into his eye.
Dormund offered a faint hum that lifted whatever heaviness had been between them and Luvia hugged him, smiling.
Happily breathing in the sweet air, she decided to pick some of the flowers growing in this secluded patch of the island. Her mother and Nana were sure to like them.
She quickly strode around, picking only the ones in full bloom and smelling each of them as she did. The beautifly and butterfree were hooked on these things for good reason.
They smelled as if vanilla and rose had been thrown in a mortar and crushed. The smell travelled right through the nostrils and straight to the brain with the sole purpose of mellowing you out.
*sigh…*
Something caught her eye as she reached down for the dozenth flower.
“Hm?”
She leaned in and moved the ferny shrubs out of the way. She gasped. “Oh my god!”
“Maahd!” Mida replied from afar.
What is this doing here?
It wasn’t very big.
It wasn’t a pretty one either.
It was as most pokémon eggs were; a creamy white shell streaked with blueish, greenish blotches. Though this one also looked slightly roughed up with a couple of shallow scratches and notches.
“Hmm…” Actually, this was on the smaller side. She poked it with her finger and it wiggled. Then she turned back to the lagoon where Zangoose was still frozen in place.
This is what it was guarding???
She mashed the button on her headset. “Guys, I found an egg.”
“That explains it,” answered Glacia in between the slew of comments from the other teens.
“I’ll leave it here then,” Luvia said, taking another look at the frozen Zangoose mommy.
- - - -
“Well, you could if you want the little hatchling sucked up like a smoothie,” said the supervisor called Osley.
- - - -
“What-uh… what do you mean?” answered Luvia. “Isn’t this its egg?”
All four of the survey supervisors answered her at almost the same time with a bemused, “No!”
“Zangoose take eggs from other pokémon,” explained Robert. “That one is probably on the menu for the night.”
- - -
“Oh…” Luvia stared hard at the egg. Picked it up, cupping it between her hands. It was around the size of Mida’s fat little head.
“Luvia, you need to make your way to the next spot, a mile west from where you are, please,” added Robert flatly.
“Yes!” Luvia got moving. She tucked the egg inside her backpack, smiling to herself, and got back to the bank by the lagoon.
Zangoose’s eyes were moving now, tracking her furiously.
It was honestly surprising it hadn’t fainted yet. What a tough pokémon.
Dormund dragged himself back into the water, cracking through the frozen layer and Luvia hopped on his back.
“Let’s go Mida!”
“Meehd! Meehd!” Mida cried out, looking torn between the frozen Zangoose and following after them.
“What is it? – you wanna battle again? It’s too quick, Mida!”
“Maahd!” Mida spat a strong blob of water at it. The impact of the splash cracked the ice.
With a puzzled frown Luvia cocked her head at Mida and activated her mic. “Should we help Zangoose break free, or…?”
“Still frozen?” asked Glacia.
“Yes.”
- - -
“You did use Sheer Cold didn’t you!” someone accused her. “RIP.”
“Aww, you’re a savage!” Nolan quickly jumped on the bandwagon. “What did it look like?”
- -
“Luvia, be a dear and do help it out,” said Glacia. “The poor thing has enough to deal with.”
Mida was already doing just that. Another blob of water helped shatter the ice around its shoulder. Its arm broke free.
It started slashing at the rest of the ice trapping it with a move that made its claws catch the light like mirrors.
Mida hopped in the water behind Dormund right as the Zangoose finally snapped free of its frozen prison.
“Krrgghhh!!!” It threw a hissy fit, thrashing its way back onto the bank.
“Hahahaha!” Luvia couldn’t help but laugh gleefully. She lifted the bunch of sweet flowers high up in the air and waved.
“Bye bye, stupid! I’m taking the egg!” she cried out, smiling. “Learn some manners – don’t be so angry all the time!”
She watched it flail its claws at her from the bank, then drop to all-fours and dash back to the spot where the egg had been, sniffing madly around for it.
Luvia laughed again.
Zangoose stood back up and flailed its claws at her again, yapping and snarling and cursing the day it met her.
A.N:
-There were a few things I wanted to note here. Mainly about the realism this fic employs. If it wasn't yet clear, YVO isn't entirely realistic. An example would be the way Luvia, barely a novice trainer, is left alone to fend off against a Zangoose because she "wants to". Yeah, she had an elite's pokemon, but as you can see with how the battle played out, it was still pretty dangerous due to the speed diff.
Just a reminder that this fic's broad strokes are based on the Pokemon Adventure's manga (Ruby & Sapphire). That means "Nat 20" encounters (lol) and all the fun parts that being a Pokemon world MC entails.
-Another thing is about how Glacia offers to teach an ice-type move to Mida, which is something that will be expanded on in future chapters. Essentially, master trainers (elite 4 included) are not entirely "normal". Will also be explored in-depth!
Invictus Shakes: A Gladiator Slice of Life
by Mila Anemoia
To taste glory, gladiators must bring a whole new flavor to the arena or die trying.
Salve! Welcome to the Imperium Aeterna, where the gods decided to cut out a piece of ancient Rome and keep it to themselves. I'm Maximilia, owner of Invictus Shakes. You'll find my smoothie bar across from the realm's best gladiator school—the one started by the champion, who, funny story, also adopted me.
Whatever the occasion, I've got the drink for you. Training hard? Fuel with the Fortis Aqua. Partying harder? Recharge and recover with the Raucous Bacchus! Won big betting on who died? Well, you can live it up like a god with real gold flakes. And I've also got the latest rumors to go with it.
So, get this. People think the mysterious territories appearing are from the world we left behind. But what I want to know is what kind of warriors they'll have fighting in the next games. Because I'm already praying to the gods I don't end up handing them their last drink. There's a lot more to these gladiators than guts, glory, and good looks.
Alright, stop staring at their muscles and...hey, eyes up here! So, what can I get you?
Ingredients to expect:
- Slice of Life, drama & action
- Found family
- Gladiators vs other cultures
- Complex characters & relationships
- Flirting & romance/slow-burn
- Humor & tragedy