Eevee Therapy for Little Magi Chapter 51: No Shortcuts or Short Circuits

Tohsaka Rin was proud of her heritage. Less proud than she’d once been, to be honest, but there was much to be proud of. Wealth, power gained through effort, accumulated wisdom and a heritage which unlocked the secrets of the universe, or at least the barest vestiges. That pride had sunk into Rin herself, which was one of the reasons she’d not really thought hard about accepting the Gym challenge alongside Agate three months ago. She’d succeed, because that was what a Tohsaka did.

Seeing Sakura, who was decidedly better than her when it came to Pokemon training, struggle so much with this match, put things in perspective. Rin took her hat off and ran her gaze over her team. “Okay, thoughts; do you think we’ll win this match?” She asked bluntly.

Libra wobbled in midair. “Strong doubts. We are strong for what we are, but I for one cannot keep up the pace I’d need to match the Leader’s own. Sorry, my lady.”

“Don’t be, I was looking for an honest opinion,” Rin huffed, looking at Gordon.

“Lass, this is the hump when it comes to Gyms. Fourth or Third gyms separate the hobbyist from the dedicated,” Gordon squeaked. “Of the three of us, I need to evolve, and Libra’s too slow. Agate’s the only one of us who could fight at this level, and she’s not strong enough for a three-on-one.”

“I concur,” Agate nodded, gazing into Rin’s eyes with a ghost of a smile on her catlike face. “Yet you still wish to challenge the leader. Not as an act of futility, but rather to mark where you need to be, yes?”

“I do,” Rin said. “But I wanted to make sure you all were okay with going into this match knowing a loss is almost certain.” She caught herself before she could bite her cheek. “I have my pride.”

“Well I don’t. It’ll be a learning experience,” Libra said simply.

Gordon buzzed. “I don’t mind getting into a scrap with no stakes. If we do this, we’ll need to give our utmost, even if a fall is certain,” he added.

“Of course we have to do our utmost!” Agate declared, offense lancing her tone at the very idea of doing anything but her best. “Even if we all agree we can’t possibly win, we can’t know how far we have left to go if we don’t push ourselves to our reasonable limits.”

Rin nodded, giving her team a smile. She rose from her crouch, turning to face Elesa, the gym leader watching with a small smile. “We’re ready for the fight, Gym Leader.”

“Very well,” Elesa nodded, something akin to respect entering her eyes as she spun around and began walking towards her position once more, “As I’m sure you are aware, Gym Leaders are not just versed in one method of combat.” Spinning around, she grinned, spinning to face Rin from across the battlefield, “I hope you’re ready for a show of a different kind than your sister got!”

Rin bit back a snarky comment, instead returning her team and advancing to her side of the stadium. “I’m happy to see more of your skills,” she said truthfully.

“This will be a three-on-three battle, between challenger Tohsaka and Gym Leader Elesa. Leader Elesa has no switches, Trainer Tohsaka has one. Trainers, are you ready?”

“Yes,”bBoth women spoke, before tossing out their Pokemon. Gordon manifested on the battlefield, looking around, before he flinched, the Magneton across the battlefield looking down at him.

“Ah, bugger. Lass–”

“Lead Shot!” Gordon nodded, before turning into a black blur and smacking into Magneton, the dark-type energy letting him through the steel hide of his opponent, but the bulky mechanical pokemon barely flinched. With a hum, they fired back at the tiny bug with a Flash Cannon, Gordon barely dodging the attack.

“Gravity,” Elesa decreed, Magneton turning their diodes towards the ground, and releasing a burst of gray light which soaked into the floor. With a hum, a sheen of black light spread over the battlefield, Gordon’s hops suddenly reduced in height and speed.

Rin winced. Without his natural evasiveness, Gordon couldn’t draw this out. “Infestation, then try to keep close enough to put their aim off,” she ordered.

Gordon immediately flickered, a half-dozen little copies of him forming around him before buzzing into the Magneton, the insect clones latching on and biting deep. Magneton shook off the hit without too much effort, but the little bugs continued to gnaw at its form. In response, a trio of brightly colored orbs formed around the steel-type, a Tri Attack lancing across the field to connect with Gordon squarely.

“Follow up with Flash Cannon. Barrage format,” Elesa commanded sharply, clearly not at all interested in letting Gordon meaningfully attrit her lead Pokemon. Agreeing that such a course of action was the utmost of prudence, the aforementioned Pokemon briefly paused in mid-air, shining with steel light.

“Sucker Punch, get another hit in!” Gordon started moving before his trainer finished, blurring into a dark blob which slammed into Magneton, causing the much larger electric type to shudder in midair. But while Gordon bounced off, Magneton started firing. One burst of light caught the tiny bug before he could land, blasting him back into the air. Magneton’s focus allowed them to juggle him in the air, each shot pushing him higher before the Joltik finally landed on the ground, out cold.

Rin pulled back her first Pokemon, flicking out her second. “Libra, you’re up.” Her Lampent materialized across the battlefield from Magneton, immediately blasting it with Fire Spin, adding more ongoing damage to her wounded opponent.

Nodding in approval, Elesa issued her next command, “Discharge. Don’t give the ghost space to maneuver."

Libra took the burst of electricity with aplomb, whistling as she drifted aside and blasted Magneton with more fire. Magneton’s smoking form emerged from the flames shuddering, but intact.

“Gravity,” Elesa commanded, her deadpan once more letting some emotion slip. Not quite desperation, but certainly urgency. With a pulse, Libra was dragged to the ground, Magneton immediately charging up another Discharge on its diodes.

“Keep firing–” Rin said, trailing off as Magneton blasted off another Discharge which caught her on the ground. Libra survived the hit, firing off another Fire Spin. Rin watched as Libra took one more hit and fell unconscious.

Rin winced as she realized her mistake. “I should’ve used my switch sooner,” she observed as she pulled back her second Pokemon, releasing Agate onto the battlefield. Agate took one look at the smoking Magneton before blasting them with Mystical Fire, sending it tumbling to the ground.

Returning her first Pokemon, Elesa palmed another ball and then flicked her wrist, sending out a serpentine eel Pokemon that floated a few inches over the floor. The Eelectrik eyed Agate with some concern, before darting across the field with its maw open wide, dark energy gathering around its mouth.

Rin called out. “Psybeam, knock it back!” With a blast of psionic energy, the Eelectrik’s alpha strike was foiled, the electric eel driven back by the blast. More warily this time, the eel-like Pokemon slowly creeped around the battlefield, orbiting Agate with a certain amount of menace.

“Thunderbolt,” Elesa decreed. “Box her in.” Eelectrik’s fangs and crest sparked, sending off bursts of electricity to force Agate into a smaller and smaller area as Elesa’s pokemon circled, hemming her in and pushing her into a pattern of spinning in place to keep her eyes fixed on her opponent.

“Light Screen, Agate. Don’t let him wear you down,” Rin ordered, her Pokemon standing still to set up a hazy barrier of energy around herself.

“Continue your barrage,” Elesa declared, a not so subtle twitch of her hands belying the concealed order within. Heeding their trainer’s call, Eelectrik continued to suppress Agate, all the while floating closer and closer to the Espeon. Agate responded without prompting, hammering Electrik with psybeams now that her guard was up, even as she was pulled into a pattern of spinning more and more.

Elesa finally dropped her hand. “Pulse her.” Eelectrik reared back and released a shriek of electrical energy, the disorienting sound waves striking Agate– only to immediately bounce off and strike Eelectrik, causing the eel to shudder in shock. “Mystery gift, of course it would have Magic Bounce…” Elesa cursed herself. “Dispense with the pretense, Eelectrik. Force the engagement.”

Rin flinched as the eel coiled for a lunge. “Reinforce your legs, keep out of his range and pepper him with Power Gem!”

Eelectrik immediately dove in, fangs getting coated in darkness once again. Agate desperately blasted back with blasts of red light from her forehead gem, while her psionic might was woven into her legs as she darted away. The Power Gem bursts burst off the already wounded electric-type, Eelectrik keeping up and landing glancing blows with his dark-enhanced maw. Finally, he seized Agate on one flailing leg, biting in deep and drawing a yowl of anguish, before the cat overcharged her gemstone and blasted him with one final psybeam, throwing the two combatants apart.

There was silence on the battlefield, but unlike the last fight, neither pokemon rose from where they’d fallen. The referee raised both his flags. “Both trainers’ Pokemon have been defeated.” He then dropped one flag, keeping the other raised towards Rin. “With no usable Pokemon remaining, the challenger has lost this battle. Gym Leader Elesa wins!”

“Well done,” Elesa decreed, her cold demeanor fading away like morning dew. “I had been concerned you had challenged me out of arrogance.” She smiled as she began making her way across the battlefield, taking a moment to recall Eelectrik and give his Pokeball a pat. “I see that such concern was unneeded. Should this have been any other badge challenge, such a performance would have seen you walk away with a badge of merit.”

“I think taking the last merit badge was what led to this loss,” Rin admitted quietly. “Do you have any restrictions on how close my next match can be? I’ll be taking at least a week to train up Libra and Gordon, but…”

“No. No leader worth their salt would impose such restrictions,” Elesa replied immediately. “We are here to test, to drive growth, and to ensure that trainers who wish to follow in our footsteps are equipped to do so. Setting restrictions for re-challenges goes against the spirit of this. We cannot force you to grow, you must choose to do so yourself.” She paused, before smiling. “However, a leader may ban a challenger from gaining their badge should they fail to learn their lesson. If only for a season.”

“Undertood. I’ll schedule a match once I figure out a training plan, then.” She gave a short bow, drawing a raised eyebrow from the Leader. “...umm. Could I bring Gordon here for some training? If you’re willing to let a challenger train here first; he’s committed to evolving, and you seem to know his evolutionary line.”

Elesa’s eyes lit up in glee. “I would be more than happy to participate in the training of someone that Ingo thinks highly of.”

“Thank you.” Rin sighed as she straightened. “Now, I need to go confer with my sister. Thank you for your time, Gym Leader. Our next match will be different,” she promised, a spark of defiance in her eyes.

“Of that I have no doubt.”

--(o)--

Ingo looked over the picnic spread, before glancing back at the green-haired boy on the other side. “Is there a track delay, N?” He asked, the subject of his gaze being much slower on the uptake of food of either of the two girls currently talking to their teams.

N took time to think before responding. “It’s… I guess I’m thinking,” he said eventually. “Trainers I heard of always hurt their Pokemon upon loss; or so I was told. I know that’s wrong, but seeing how they’re reacting… it’s nice,” he said, watching as Sakura set her team to dodge drills.

Ingo sighed. “There are conductors who uncouple their cars at the first sign of engine trouble,” he admitted, before interpreting his words for N’s sake. “A Pokemon does not live up to their initial success, and rather than work on maintenance or improvements, their trainer cuts them loose. Such tactics cannot work forever. But then, men and Pokemon sometimes behave that way towards their own kind as well.” He took a sip of his flat soda. “It's slightly easier when we are so different, unfortunately.”

“Empathy is harder when you don’t understand,” N nodded easily. He himself had the benefit of being able to outright speak their language and understand it, so it was much easier for him to associate with Pokemon, and being raised by them, to some extent he understood Pokemon better than his fellow humans. “I was forcibly reminded of that fact rather recently.”

Ingo nodded, thinking back to much darker days. “Emmet and I… we are not normal, and that set us apart. We had to board the trains of our dreams, no matter the price of the ticket, because dreams were all we had, besides each other.” He looked back at N with a stern smile. “Do not give up the Ideal in slave of the Truths you’re told. And don’t let Ideals cloud your sight of the Truth as it is. Unova is worse for the loss of the balance between the two,” he finished.

“Thank you for the advice, Warden Ingo,” N replied, tilting his head in acknowledgement. He turned, the two men watching as Rin shooed away a Rufflet who was attacking her team. N frowned. “I suppose that brings up a question. What drives Pokemon to stay with trainers who mistreat them?”

“Sometimes, conditioning, especially for purchased or inherited Pokemon. Other times, it is more calculating. Human training can make a weak Pokemon strong, and a few years of suffering for a lifetime of strength can be tempting. Sometimes, a Pokemon is too used to being fed and cared for to consider striking out on their own.” Ingo shook his head. “Why does a man run the rails when doing so hurts him? Perhaps the joy of working the engine is enough.”

N pondered that as the Rufflet returned to harass Rin more, the magus girl finally snapping and sending Gordon to fight back against the flying type. “Team Plasma is supposed to be better than normal trainers. Maybe that could be our goal, rehabilitating or helping abused Pokemon,” he mused.

“A noble ideal, more help in those cases is always welcome,” Ingo acknowledged. They watched as the battered Rufflet stood up, and tried to lash out at Gordon one more time, before a Pokeball struck him in the head and sucked him up. “Ride that train another time, we have a track diversion,” he said as Rin approached, holding the Pokeball with her newest catch.

“Warden Ingo, I think I need your assistance.” She said grumpily. “This one demanded to be caught, but I don’t think I’m a good fit for him.”

Ingo chuckled, coming to his feet. “Let’s get him in working order, and we can work out what to do, then.”

A few minutes later, the three were cluttered around the Rufflet, the little scrapper pecking at a sandwich while Rin set up her translator. “Alright, Rufflet. I can tell you really want a trainer, right?”

“Yup! You have a strong team, and I want to be strong too!” Rufflet puffed up, chirping proudly. “I’m going to be the strongest! And being the strongest requires a trainer!”

“I understand. And by strongest, you mean…”

“I can defeat anyone! When my wings can crack boulders and my talons can rend stone, and I can defeat my father; that’s when I’ll know I’m the strongest!” Rufflet screeched, dancing in place.

“No thoughts on how to better manipulate energy, no deeper philosophy?” Rin asked, getting a head tilt from the little bird. “Okay, you do need a trainer. But you don’t need me; I make Pokemon strong, yes, but mostly through broadening their skills and honing their talents in shaping power, not through raw conditioning. That’s not my skillset.”

“But… Trainer!” Rufflet declared, stomping one of their feet against the ground.

N thought for a moment, then coughed. “Warden Ingo… is it true that trading is still an accepted practice? I was always told it was somewhat of a foul thing, but I’m no longer certain of that.”

Ingo nodded. “Yes, trading is still a practice.” Pausing, Ingo held up his hands, “Explaining this must be done carefully, and my cars are still boarding.” After several moments of silence, the former - now honorary - warden nodded firmly to himself. “Trading is, to put simply, the practice of exchanging a Pokemon between trainers in a permanent measure. The term itself comes from slang and lingo, but does aptly describe the process. Trading, when done as intended, is, as I recommend to Miss Rin, the act of exchanging Pokemon that do not necessarily suit the temperament and mentality of their trainers, but still wish to be trainer Pokemon.” Taking a deep breath, Ingo smiled. “If you will join to my carriage, it will be easier to show you.”

“So we just need to find a trainer who can handle Rufflet?” Rin asked, frowning. “Do we just, ask random people, or…”

“No, technology is quite helpful for this. Our route takes us this way,” Ingo said, leading them in towards town.

--(o)--

Rin looked over the machine with a gimlet eye, watching as various people deposited Pokeballs in the lower slots and saw them lifted into the ceiling. “So, you just… put the Pokemon in and someone who meets the criteria does the exchange?” She asked, watching as one person approached one of the machines and took a Great Ball from the tray, inspecting it with a smile. “That seems impersonal.”

“Originally, trades were always done in person, and such transactions could be done for money, items, resources… anything.” One of the nearby trainers interjected. “But that also meant you couldn’t get Pokemon not available nearby, leading to people paying for rare foreign mons.” As everyone looked at the man, he shrugged. “You can only trade Pokemon here if they’ve let themselves be registered as a trade partner, and you have to confirm that you’re the trainer for the Pokemon, which is really the best we can do.”

Rin’s team watched their trainer nod, walking up to the machine and keying in her preferred prerequisites. Libra bowed her head in prayer. “...grant us fortune and victory, oh scion of assurance,” she murmured, her flame shifting gold for a few moments.

“Prayer?” Agate asked, looking askance at her friend.

“It is a ritual, albeit one with a very low success rate,” Libra said simply. “But one risks nothing by asking the Legends to aid in events such as these.”

Rin had barely stepped away from the machine when her phone buzzed, and she turned around to see a Pokeball descending back into the cradle, locking itself in place until she scanned her ID card. Taking the ball, she walked back to the group, examining it. “...I don’t recognize this Pokemon’s name,” she admitted. “What’s a Sprigatito, and why are they named Carrol?”

Ingo’s eyebrows metaphorically rose to the ceiling. “A Paldean Pokemon. Specifically their ‘Grass Type First Partner Pokemon’.”

“A starter?” Rin eyed the ball with some shock. “Who’d trade their starter?”

“Not everyone cares for their partners the same way… and not all ‘starter’ Pokemon end up as the engine in a train,” Ingo advised.

Heading outside, Rin released the Pokemon, her teammates gathering around as a small green cat manifested in front of her. The little cat looked up, eyes half-lidded. “Hmm. Hey,” He said, tail flicking. He looked down at the other three Pokemon. “Oh good, I didn’t end up as a gift for a new kid. That’s nice.”

“Be aware that our human can understand you,” Agate warned, amusement flitting through her voice. “I do believe your ritual worked, Libra.”

Carrol looked up, blinking as Rin crouched. “And why would me being a new trainer be a problem?”

“Oh, well. New trainers have these big dreams, and they push hard. Or so I’ve heard, maybe my old trainer was just an outlier,” the cat replied, tail swishing. “Me, I’m happy to battle, be a lap cat, do whatever, so long as I get my ten hours of sleep and six hours of downtime, you know? Start insisting on ‘training until you drop’ or ‘all nighters’ and we’ll have problems.”

Rin blinked. “Was your trainer a tad… overenthusiastic, perhaps?”

“That’s a way to put it. She finally figured out I wasn’t on her wavelength and sent me back. Good luck with her, whoever took my place,” Carrol yowled.

Rin nodded. “Alright. Well, I am a battling and research team, with an emphasis on tricky fighting and clever use of expanded movepools. Is that going to be a problem?”

Carrol tilted his head. “Only one way to find out. Let me see how we’re training, and then we can deal.”