Pokémon Bloodstone | An Orre Fanfiction

Chapter 1: The End of the World

Dust settled as the wheels of a Boltund bus ground to a halt. An upmarket apartment block, as unsightly as the shabby metal buildings below, peeked over the horizon. Even from a distance, Pyrite Colosseum looked about to collapse. The Gym Leader, Cail, apparently paid people to keep it looking as decrepit as possible.

A lone street performer sat on a bulky bag by a urine-stained pole. That was Pyrite Town's excuse for a Boltund station. There was a bus shelter once, but first the glass was removed and a month later, someone stole the frame. When Chalcedony first boarded a bus to get the hell out of there, there was still a Boltund sign, but even that was gone now.

Pyrite Town was the end of the world, but the big cities weren't what they promised to be, either. They wrapped their veins of glittering lights and fetid smog around starry-eyed wannabe celebrities like a comforting blanket, but that false comfort was as futile as their dreams. Chalcedony took selfies on the Walk of Fame when she first arrived in Sunset City. She felt more like taking a pickaxe to the stars by the time she left.

Nimbasa City was equally deceptive. No, it was worse. She did actually make it to the stage, even if it was only in a knock-off production of Blue Night's Unovan Idiot, in Sunset City. She ended up stripping to pay her rent in Unova. When she told her ex-fiancé she was leaving Orre for 'bigger things,' that wasn't what she had in mind. It wasn't the only reason she left, either, but he didn't need to know that.

He would soon know, however, that she was back. That felt like losing, though maybe she'd already lost, because she was haunted by how she almost heard his heart shatter when she turned away. What was that even for? A failed career as an actress-turned-stripper in the land of falsehoods? She thought she had one-up on fame by knowing in advance it was all fake, like she began to believe everything in life was; but that only revealed what was actually real and her ex's love was one of those things.

The bus rolled on. Chalcedony could have at least said hello to her parents there at the bus stop, but she was yet to forgive them for their last argument. It ended in her dad screaming that she was indeed no child of his, because she was adopted, when she refused to follow up her good grades with a university application.

She knew the biological parents she sought in Orre could be equally distant. Yet she suspected her mom, at least, knew who they were and didn't want her to meet them; which she deluded herself was because they would want to claim her as their daughter. Even if that wasn't real, if it was as false as everything else, maybe she would never find the real Chalcedony if she searched for it everywhere but in her homeland.

Posters and banners promoting the Gym Challenge decorated the Boltund station in Phenac City. Weary people scooted around a boy being arrested. He was handing out Cipher flyers. If the sight of the end of the world, AKA Pyrite Town, hadn't convinced Chalcedony she was home, that did the job.

Her Pokémon, Servine and Salandit, were itching to escape their Poké Balls after hours on the bus. Traffic on the outskirts of Phenac City delayed them. There was no time to waste. Ever since three half-Galarian Gym Challengers arrived the night before registration, camping out to secure their spots, others did the same.

Eight people were already in the line outside Phenac Stadium. A tent was pitched. There were only 30 spots, which challengers reserved online, but the Orre League was notorious for overbooking. If people arrived late, they risked finding they didn't have a place after all.

Chalcedony sat beside a girl with purple hair. She was the youngest person there, but the only one other than Chalcedony who was alone. She smiled.

'Are you from here?'

'Phenac? No. Pyrite. But I came from Unova. Via Sunset City.'

'Oh! Cool! I'm from Gateon Port. I've never been to Sunset City!'

'Don't bother. It's overrated.'

'But Phenac is great, right? Orre is great!'

'Honestly? I've always thought it was the end of the world, but I like your enthusiasm.'

'We even have all these cool Pokémon now, thanks to Professor Mesquite! Do you have a Pokémon already?'

Chalcedony finally released Servine and Salandit. They were relieved. The girl cooed at them.

'So cool! Here! Meet my Eevee!'

Her Eevee was shy. Salandit curiously sniffed at it.

'I'm Amethyst, by the way.'

'Oh, we both have crystal names. I'm Chalcedony.'

Amethyst chattered away. Someone's Oddish sprayed Sleep Powder on the cop who asked them to take their tents down. A concerned mom delivered a bag of snacks to her cringing daughter. She shared them with her fellow challengers. Amethyst invited Chalcedony and the girl in front, Rustie, into her tent. Rustie's name matched her hair. At least no-one would wake Chalcedony up by trying to steal the guitar she used as a pillow in the tent, or that was what she thought. They were woken at 5AM by a kick that knocked the tent over. False nails tore a hole in it. Amethyst stumbled out.

'Hey! That's not in the spirit of the Gym Challenge, like, at all!'

The girl who smirked down at little Amethyst was taller than the middle-aged man at the front of the line. Her straight mauve hair reached her waist even in its high ponytail. Amethyst was undaunted.

'You cut the line! Go to the back!'

'Oh, I should've known from those bug eyes. You're another Mesquite.'

'Maybe pick on someone your own age.'

Chalcedony stood between them. 'Or do you only have the balls to bully 13 year-olds?'

'Who are you? Her nanny? Is the fatty your mom?'

She sneered at Rustie, tangled up in the ruined tent. Chalcedony called Salandit. The bully shrieked when her hair was set alight. She sent out a Manectric, which was clearly stronger than either of Chalcedony's Pokémon, but the Oddish who sent the cop to sleep got there before it could attack. She was forced to step away to dunk her hair in a canal.

'Well, there's our jerk rival.'

They heard her complaining to her dad. He called her Theta. The glares of her fellow challengers were too fierce for her to attempt to cut the line again, but when the shutters opened and a stampede ensued, she elbowed her way to the front. Staff were used to chaos. They didn't even blink.

'Numbers? Colours?'

Theta requested #14 in a size XS pink jersey that was so short it was a crop top. Amethyst asked for #98. Rustie wanted #60. The turquoise jersey she chose clashed with her red hair. Chalcedony took #18 in black. Theta, predictably, sniggered at chubby Rustie in the locker room. No-one was naive enough to challenge her yet, but they all couldn't wait until they could teach her a lesson.

Cheers rumbled from the battlefield. Champion Zane's muffled voice introduced the Gym Leaders and Elite Four. A whistle blew. The challengers were beckoned. There was nothing to beat each other for now, but they still ran as if there was. Theta tripped Rustie up. Chalcedony and Amethyst caught her before she tumbled into the water rushing by the path. They usually covered it with sheets, but this year they apparently forgot. Typical Orre.

The stands were vibrant with banners cheering on popular Gym Leaders. Chalcedony admittedly had no idea who any of them were. She never planned to take the Gym Challenge. It was an impulse decision... but there was certainly something exciting about standing on a colosseum's battlefield with a crowd of thousands cheering.

Her smile was abruptly wiped off her face. What was her ex doing there... on the battlefield? Since when was he a Gym Leader?