Valerie rubbed her sweaty palms into her shorts for what felt like the fifth time. Larry could only roll his eyes inside his Pokeball in response, ‘Jeez, we’re only here to lose a battle. Staying calm would only help her.’
Looking around herself anxiously, she spotted the various people crowding into the area to view the first Gym Match of the year. Next to her, Michelle patted her on the shoulder worriedly, “Valerie, you’ve gotta calm down, honey. Your nerves are gonna be shot by the time we get inside if you keep this up.”
“Your mother is right,” Gustav jokingly massaged her shoulders, “Deep breaths, Valerie.”
Michelle and Gustav had decided to attend her Gym Battle, since the event was publicly viewable. They weren’t the only ones, either, the crowd around them murmured quietly. Larry had also spotted Matthias and Patrat somewhere in the crowd before, the boy evidently was too unsociable to introduce himself to them.
From the impaired view from inside his Pokeball on Valerie’s belt, Larry could see that at least a crowd of forty or so people had amassed around the entrance of the Gym. A sizable crowd for the time and date chosen for her battle, eight in the morning on a Monday. ‘Though I’d guess it's normally more, not everyone wants to wake up early on a Monday to watch a Gym Battle…Makes me wonder how many of the people here heard about us from the news and how many simply want to watch a Gym Challenge…’ Larry thought to himself.
“Thanks…” She took her stepfather's hand off her shoulder as she gave her phone another look, “I think I’ll be fine though. I’m anxious, but I’m also as ready as I’ll ever be.” Turning down to her belt, she addressed her Pokemon inside their Pokeballs, “Right, guys?” Both Larry and Sybil shook their Pokeballs lightly in response.
A shadow momentarily obscured the morning sun, and people in the crowd began to gasp as their gazes turned up towards the sky, murmurs intensifying.
“Is that…” A young woman exclaimed.
“No way!” Another young boy called out in disbelief.
“A dragon!” A little girl cried out as she tugged on her mother's dress.
At that exclamation, everyone's gazes finally snapped upwards, even Larry’s. A giant, orange Dragon was circling the gym as it lowered itself towards the ground, ‘Is…Is that a Dragonite?’ The Dragon slowed and finally landed just a few steps away from the crowd, much to their amazement. Oohs and aahs rang out as whoever rode it here dismounted from its back.
‘Did I just see red hair?!’ Larry was already on high alert when a Dragonite was in his vicinity, but now he was straight-up panicking inside his Pokeball. The man dismounted his Dragon with a hop, and finally Larry could make him out. He wore a royal blue, almost purple jumper, covered by a large and long cape, which draped down just beyond his calves.
The man strode up to Valerie with utter indifference to anything else, and the crowd parted for him like waves. His Dragon-Type followed in his steps like a bodyguard, eyeing the crowd with measured caution.
Everyone in the crowd, including Valerie herself, knew who the man was, he was the reigning champion, after all.
“Valerie Riston?” He asked the girl, cape billowing behind him, even though there was no form of wind present.
After a startled nod from their trainer, the man held out a hand in greeting, “It's nice to meet you. Lance Blackthorn, Champion of the Indigo League.”
Shaking his hand, Valerie looked up to the man with confusion and shock evident on her face, “I guessed so, but uhh…” Her head turned to the crowd, who were now all looking at her, “What are you doing here?”
“Professor Samuel Oak promised you assurance that your Gym Challenge will come to pass, didn’t he?” He questioned with a raised brow, unsure if the girl had actually received the message.
“...I-I guess Professor Oak told me so, but he only told me to wait in front of the Gym.” She explained dumbly, stumbling over her words at the sheer surprise.
Her explanation earned her an understanding nod from the Champion, “I see…I guess that makes my appearance quite the surprise…” After an agreeing nod from Valerie, the man bellowed out a hearty laugh, arms crossed in front of him, “Hahahaha!”
Even the crowd was taken aback. Behind Valerie, her mother whispered to her in a concerned tone, “Valerie? What is the Champion of the Indigo League doing here?!”
“I-I don’t know…Or- Well, I guess I have an idea…” She quickly corrected herself.
Larry was just as freaked out as Valerie's mother. Luckily for him, he was having his mental break inside of a Pokeball, ‘What?! What’s Lance doing here? Standing right in front of us?! Why did he come all the way out here just for a single girl??’
Finally, the doors of the Gym were unlocked from behind them. Lance immediately took action, grabbing her by the arm as he strode towards the door, “Come, Miss Riston. It is time for your Gym Challenge, show us what you’re made of.”
“Wait-!” The two entered the Gym as Lance pushed the girl in front of him up towards the reception desk. When the receptionists' gaze met Valerie's, sparks flew between the two of them for a moment, Valerie finally seeing the woman again who had attempted to steal her Pokemon. The purple-haired woman managed to smooth over her own expression quickly.
“Ah, Miss Riston.” She called out with a friendly wave. Her gaze traveled over to Valerie, who still glared at her, “Your Gym Challenge is in a few minutes-” Only to stop short when it fell at the man behind her, just like seemingly every other action she was about to take. She stood utterly still for a solid five or so seconds before she continued with a far more strained smile.
“Ah, and…Champion Blackthorn…to what do we owe the pleasure?”
The man let go of Valerie, once again striking an arms-crossed pose, which his Dragonite mimicked, “I’ve taken the liberty to spectate the first League Challenge of the year.”
“I-I see…I hope Miss Riston here is prepared to make a good showing for you…” She gestured towards a door on the side of the reception, “Then…Please, Miss Riston. Enter the prep room, and we’ll get the crowd from outside into their seats in the bleachers.”
“Sure.” Valerie nodded along with a frown. Before she could protest, the Champion put a hand on her back and led her towards the door at a hurried pace.
Once at the door, he pulled the handle before leaning in close to whisper in her ear, “Do not worry, Miss Riston. Your Gym Battle will take place. It will happen while the League weeds out Team Rocket by its roots.”
“Huh? Wha-?” Valerie turned towards the man in confusion, but was pushed into the room before she could even question him.
“Good Luck, Miss Riston!” The Champion called out towards her, she only managed a stiff nod back in his direction before he closed the door behind her.
…
???
‘What in the actual, flyING FUCK IS LANCE BLACKTHORN DOING HERE???’ Gritting her teeth in anger, she forced her creased brow back to normal. She focused on keeping that same business smile on her face as she printed out another ticket for a customer.
‘Huh? He just waltzes up in here and throws around his stupid fucking cape like the moron he is and gets to act the way he wants?’ Bending down under the table for a refill of the empty ticket roll, she let out a strained huff of anger. As she rose, she plastered on the same smile, “-Aaand your seats are in row three, number forty-five! I hope you enjoy the show!”
“T-T-Thanks…” The boy in the white hoodie nodded back to her, the Patrat on its shoulder pointed at her with a crazed expression as it tugged at his hair, but he only swatted at the small rodent as he made space for the next customer at the reception, “C-Cool it, dude…”
She really wasn’t in the mindset for all of this, ‘Why the FUCK did that clown show up exactly today? I had everything planned out and now THIS guy throws a wrench in my plans.’
The cogs in her mind started turning. ‘There had to be more to this…’ Giovanni was planning to steal that Larvitar from the girl today. That plan was most definitely through with now, but something about it stunk to her. ‘What could a Champion want to do here that was important enough to take time out of their day? Because it clearly wasn’t watching a teenage girl take on her first Gym Challenge…’
Pointing another family through the door towards the bleachers, she finally saw a break in the crowd, and so she took the opportunity, ‘Fuck it, everything's already set up, and I don’t even want to work here anymore. I’m taking my chances.’
A little desk sign saying, ‘We’ll be right back!’ was left on top of the reception, and she speed-walked back into the hallway behind the reception. Unfortunately, a coworker stopped her short, “Hey, did you-”
“Sorry, toilet.” She spoke over him, “Can you take over at the reception real quick?”
The man sighed, but nodded, “Make sure you're quick, ok?”
She had already continued walking past him, continuing down the hallways of the Gym, “Yeah. Sure, sure.”
When she neared the door for the toilet, she took another turn, towards the wardrobe. She quickly changed, took all of her belongings, and made for the rear exit just beyond.
‘I’m done here.’
Out of the gym, she quickly snuck into a back alley. On the look back, she saw a group of Ace Trainers jog past and up towards the back exit of the Gym, setting themselves up discreetly near it. She turned back into the alley, her heart hammering a mile a minute. She needed to speed up her pace, ‘...Fuck me…Guess my instincts were right…’
She wasn’t a quiet quitter, but sometimes one just had to do what they had to do, and besides, she doubted Giovanni was going to need a two-week notice in a few hours' time anyway.
…
The sudden appearance of the champion had, if anything, worked Valerie up even more, even Larry himself was rattled by the man. Her foot was whipping up and down restlessly, as she held her head in her hands. Both Larry and Sybil had been released in preparation for their final pep-talk, but the atmosphere just wasn't right anymore.
“What did he mean by that?” Valerie muttered to herself, “He said by its roots, didn’t he?”
Larry and Sybil both nodded, and Larry motioned for her phone. When he received the device, he quickly typed out a simple sentence, “Maybe Giovanni is part of Team Rocket?” Handing the device back to her as he put a hand in front of his mouth, an indication to stay quiet, ‘There could be cameras in here…’
She took the device and read the sentence in her mind, “You think so?” After he nodded, she turned introspective, “I mean…It would make sense…”
Valerie turned more confident as she ran the idea through her head again, nodding along, “Yeah, that's got to be it, right? What else could he have meant? But still, does that mean he is going to arrest Team Rocket? Here? In the Gym?”
Again, both Sybil and Larry nodded back. There was no other way to interpret what the Champ had said, ‘Though it makes me curious why they are allowing us to even challenge the Gym if they’re just going to arrest Giovanni afterwards…’
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
When the door on the other side of the prep room opened, everyone jumped, thrown out of their musings as an employee called out from beyond, “Miss Riston?”
“Y-Yes!” She called back.
The door opened, and the face of a suited man met hers. “It is time for your Gym Challenge.”
She hastily nodded as she picked her Pokeballs from her belt to recall her Pokemon, “S-Sure thing! For now, return guys.”
…
Following behind the employee, the relatively normal interior of the Gym finally opened up to the large Gymnasium structure beyond the reception. The bowed ceiling was higher, filled with structural supports and dotted with stage lights.
To their right and left, raised platforms with an opulent, palatial air of Middle Eastern design filled the open space. Large film cameras were strategically placed on the front of the raised platforms, with the bleachers they’d mentioned nowhere to be seen, presumably situated at the actual battling court instead.
One of the cameras swung towards her, the right light on its front blinking rhythmically, letting her know she was being recorded. Larry couldn't help but theorize, ‘Maybe the Gym Challenge is recorded and shown to crowds somewhere else in the building through screens?’
Swallowing her nerves, she gave the camera a wave with a sheepish smile. Only now did Larry spot the microphone affixed to the ear of the suited employee, “The Gym Challenge in the Viridian City Gym consists of a puzzle, made up of a labyrinth of spin tiles. If you manage to find your way through within the time limit, you’ll be allowed to challenge the Gym Leader, Giovanni, to a Gym Battle and earn yourself the Earth Badge.”
Larry finally let his gaze wander towards the area in front of Valerie, where the same opulent, golden decoration dotted the off-white eggshell and golden walls and floor of the labyrinth, still shrouded in darkness. There was no roof to speak of on the labyrinth, allowing the cameras a free view into the labyrinth to film.
Only the aforementioned ‘Spin Tiles’ blinked unthinkingly on the ground. They looked like oversized versions of the arrows one might find as controls at a dancing arcade machine. A big arrow pointed towards the left, into a hallway, with the other tile pointing forwards into another hallway, both of which were obscured by the sheer distance between the tiles. From the outside, most of the supposed labyrinth was unfortunately blocked off from view by its walls, only allowing one to see the spin tiles themselves.
‘Whew…’ Larry couldn’t help but let out a breath at the spectacle in front of him, ‘So they're making Valerie do a Japanese game show type of performance before she can prove herself in a gym battle?’
“U-Understood…” Valerie nodded back, “I guess I'm ready.”
“Good to hear.” The Man nodded, handing her a small microphone to clip to the neck of her shirt, “Here is your microphone. You have fifteen minutes to clear the labyrinth. Your time starts NOW!”
BZZZZT!
A buzzer sounded out over the Gym, and the Challenge in front of them was finally illuminated by rows of lights.
An announcer crackled to life over the loudspeaker as more cameras whipped towards Valerie, “Welcome to the Viridian City Gym Challenge! Our Challenger today is Valerie Riston from our very own Viridian City, the very first Challenger of the League Year here in Viridian City!”
‘What? Is this actually a game show?’ Larry scoffed inside his Pokeball.
While Valerie gave another cursory wave to the cameras and walked forward towards the labyrinth, the announcer continued, “Our signature Spin Tile Labyrinth has seen another remodeling, giving it a far more opulent air and allowing it to fit far better thematically into the rest of our Gym's designs. Let us hope our dear challengers appreciate the ornamentation and scrollwork as they spin through the corridors of the labyrinth!”
“Viewers at home and here in person! Make sure to tag your posts by using #ViridianGym to-” just as the announcer was about to promote the Gym’s social media accounts, he pulled back from the microphone and hurried whispers could be heard, “-What, can't you see we're live- Who? Blackthorn?!”
After quickly clearing his throat, he returned to the microphone, “Ladies and Gentlemen, it seems we have a surprise visitor to our Gym on this fine opening day. Lance Blackthorn, that’s right! The Champion of the Indigo League, Lance Blackthorn himself, has decided to grace us with his presence and is currently sitting in the crowd, watching this Gym Challenge from the bleachers! Get your autographs out of the way now, folks!”
Valerie finally stood in front of the first Spin Tile. She muttered to herself, far more unsure now, “So…do I just step on it?”
When her foot touched the tile, a field of clear energy emerged from the inside of the tile. The clear energy expanded outwards, enveloping her other foot nearby as well, “WOAH!”
With both of her feet enveloped, the energy was launched off the tile and to the left, taking their trainer with them as she spun around wildly, “WOOOOAAAHHH!!!”
‘What the hell?! This is dangerous!’ Larry cried out from inside his ball. He was lucky to be inside of it right now, as Valerie was spun every which way, the inside of a Pokeball seemed unaffected by the jostling Valerie was currently experiencing. Before the situation could escalate any further, Valerie was launched over the top of a metallic treat plate tile.
When the energy impacted it, it dissipated like sand over a sieve, disappearing entirely and leaving Valerie to smash face-first into the ground beyond the tile due to her leftover momentum, “Pfffrt!”
“And that, folks, is what happens to every single person the first time they challenge our Gym!” The announcer explained with an audible grin, “The trick is to jump onto the tile, which allows one to ride the energy, like a skateboard or a surfboard! There are still fourteen minutes left on the clock. Will Valerie be able to recover and find her way out of the maze?”
Valerie pulled herself up from the floor, nursing her nose, “Ack…I guess I should’ve looked a little closer at the Gym Challenge as well…”
She quickly dusted herself off before looking in front of her, where two spin tiles stood, pointed at different hallways, but in the same direction, up. “Hmm…Two options now…”
“Let's go with the right…” She stepped up to the spin tile, muttering to herself once more, “Ok, both feet, the guy said…”
“Deep breaths…” She calmed herself before taking the next plunge, “Three…Two…One…Jump!”
When her feet impacted the tile, the same energy enveloped them and began to jostle her around violently. Unfortunately for their trainer, her balance was still off, and she began to once again spin around uncontrollably.
“OH, ARCEUUUS!”
Through the spinning, Larry could see another spin tile approaching fast. When the energy flew over top of it, it was launched into a full 90° turn in less than a second, taking Valerie with it.
After another solid five or so seconds, another diamond-patterned metal tile appeared in their path, and Valerie was unceremoniously launched off of it and onto her butt, “Ouch!”
She tried to stand up, but found herself wobbling on her feet, the ride on the spin tiles seemingly finally working its magic on her sense of balance, “Whoa…Ugh…”
“With that, Valerie has taken her second ride on the spin tiles!” The announcer proudly declared, “And she seems to be battling more than the layout of the labyrinth now! Will she be able to keep her breakfast down AND find her way to the exit?”
‘Wow, this gym is pretty devious…’ Larry thought to himself, ‘In the games, there was never any physical aspect to the puzzle of this gym. The idea that you get dizzy while trying to solve the labyrinth makes it far harder.’
Valerie supported herself with a hand on the wall for balance as she looked towards the next target, “Ugh…Two more, left or forward…Which way…”
“...Left sounds right but…” She turned to her Pokeballs, “What do you guys think? One shake, the left one, and two shakes, the forward one.”
Larry could only assume the one to the left to be some sort of cop-out, it would lead further into the labyrinth, and then turn her right around and bring her back to the start, or something similar, ‘But what if it's a fake-out and they know people will think that?’
Before Larry could formulate an answer through the thousands of possibilities of choosing between two spin tiles, Sybil's ball shook a single time, ‘Oh yeah, we have a literal seer on our team. Let’s go with her choice!’
With Larry mimicking Sybil, Valerie found her choice at a landslide victory, “Ok, let’s go up!”
“Now, uh…Let’s see how I’ll do this tile…I think I'm slowly getting the hang of it…” She took another deep breath, “Three…Two…One…Go!”
Once again, the energy enveloped her feet, but this time Valerie managed to hold her balance. She spun, but unfortunately, as she traveled, the spinning motion once again began to ruin her balance, “Uh-Oh, wait!”
“Woah-Woah-Woah!” She cartwheeled her arms around, as the ending metal platform finally approached, “Now I just gotta stoooop-”
The energy once again dissipated as she spun over the metal tile. When her shoes met the opulent tiled floor, she skidded along it in her sporty sneakers until she managed to stop herself by holding onto a wall, “Phew…Close one…”
“And Valerie has managed to avert disaster!” The announcer called out, “Has she already figured out the way out of this maze, or is she just going in circles?”
“We're on a streak, you hear that?” Valerie took the comment positively, “Let's keep this up!”
In front of them were three tiles, one pointing left, one leading further forward in the direction they'd just moved in, and another pointing back the way they came from, all leading to their own corridors.
“Let's go with the left one!” She proudly declared, not even thinking about Sybil's guidance.
When she hopped on the tile, it launched her forward and down a slope and into another spin tile. The combination of altitude change and direction change was unfortunately enough to throw her off-balance, and Valerie started spinning out of control once again, “Whoa! Crap!”
“Ahhh!” The path only seemed to keep lowering as Valerie cried out in confusion. On their path, just as the hallway seemed to rise again, another spin tile appeared in the distance, blinking with an arrow pointing to their left.
The rise in altitude and one more direction change now had their trainer absolutely befuddled, as she fought to keep breakfast down, Uuuughhh…When does it stop?!”
Another spin tile appeared, turning them right before dumping them out unceremoniously onto another stopping plate. Valerie herself skidded to a stop, lying down on her side, a hand clutching over her mouth, slightly green in the face, “Urp…”
When Larry looked over, he saw the same suited man from the beginning standing on the edge of the room. He didn’t want to believe what he was seeing, ‘No way…’
Valerie, finally managing to swallow her breakfast down again, looked towards the man, who could only give her a pitying smile, “…We're back at the start?”
The announcer's energetic tone only sounded patronizing as he lamented the event, “Ooh! And Valerie has finally taken a wrong turn! And what a turn it was, sending her back all the way to the start of the Labyrinth! Luckily for her, she still has nine minutes left. Will she be able to find her way to our beloved Gym Leader in those critical minutes? One more wrong turn and it could all go down the drain for her!”
Glaring up at the speaker for just a second, Valerie wobbly got back onto her feet. She looked worse for wear, but she also wasn’t out of the fight just yet.
…
Lance Blackthorn
He handed another kid back their notebook. Autographs were part of his job description, and he loved the attention they gave him. Though during a covert mission like this one, he didn’t quite like them as much. The girl gave him a fidgeting smile as she ran back to her family to show off her new autograph. His gaze fell back towards the large screen placed above the entrance of the room, showing Valerie as she performed her Gym Challenge.
The girl was playing a fantastic distraction, all eyes were on the large screen. Even Giovanni was watching the girl venture through their labyrinth with a glass of wine at his side and his Persian on his lap, ‘It’s wonderful that we managed to get her to play along. A normal coup wouldn’t have worked.’
Giovanni hadn't shown a single piece of suspicious behavior since Lance had sat down in the bleacher. He'd given the champion a respectful greeting, as was expected, and had then simply started the Gym Challenge without so much as a single complaint hedged towards the champion who'd just waltzed into his gym.
‘I know he is playing it cool, but how much does he know right now?’ Lance gave the man a squinted glare before his earpiece suddenly came to life.
“Teams 1,3, and 5 are ready, we have every exit and entry surrounded, and are ready to engage. Waiting for Team 2 and 4 to signal. Over.” The small speaker inside his ear called out. He tapped at it twice to acknowledge before once again lowering his arm. It was integral to their plan that Valerie keep both Giovannis and the Gym's employees' attention.
If his plans proved fruitful, then most of the gym employees would be arrested, and Giovanni would be left alone to deal with.
Lance was a Champion, but even he wouldn’t be able to protect the entire city if the Team Rocket members among the staff decided to act out once their plan was set in motion. Indigo had an army, but mobilizing it to deal with hooligans like these would only spell trouble for the future, they had to weed them out before they could grow into a problem in the future.
“Team 2 reporting, we are in position inside the gym's entrance.” His headset called out once more.
Lance acknowledged with a double press once again, before his attention was brought towards the screen. The announcer's voice rose in surprise, “Oh? It seems one of Valerie’s was released from its Pokeball. Is that a Natu? We’re all in this together, folks, let’s see what kind of show this little bird has in store for us!”
“Team 4 reporting, we are in position at the supposed secret entrance.” Another two taps to confirm his acknowledgment, and finally, their leader spoke up again.
“All teams ready. Champion Blackthorn, we’re waiting on your signal.”
“I can’t believe it!” The announcer called out in shock, “She is using her Natu’s latent future sight abilities to predict the correct way out of the labyrinth!” Lance gave the screen a look and saw the girl point her bird between the three spin tiles she’d been kicked down from before, the bird pointing her forwards in the correct direction. She gave it a thankful nod before recalling it into its Pokeball.
Jumping up onto the spin tile, the girl surfed along the tile wobbily before the video feed suddenly cut out. The opulent door on the opposite side of the court to Giovanni opened, and Valerie spun inside. Deftly hopping off the spin tiles' energy and skidding to a stop, she stopped perfectly underneath a grouping of stage lights as the announcer sang her praises and the crowd cheered, “And there she is, folks! Valerie Ristion has managed to brave the spin tile labyrinth! Her next challenge is quite a bit more difficult, though. Will she manage to beat our resident Gym Leader, Giovanni?”
Lance couldn't help it and mirrored the crowd, giving the girl a bit of applause of his own.
Giovanni rose from his seat inside his Throne Box, suspended on the other end of and above the battling court.
He silenced the energetic crowd with a single wave of his hand, his voice not barring even a single peep, “Silence.”
Lance Blackthorn held a finger to his earphone with a smirk and whispered a quiet, “Acknowledge, stanby for signal.”
“Standing by. Acknowledged.” The other side repeated. Now the young girl with the Larvitar just needed to play her part and give everyone a show worth looking at.
