Pokémon Bloodstone | An Orre Fanfiction

Chapter 71: Victory Road

Scraping metal echoed as Victory Road's doors heaved open. The dim hallway smelled faintly of salty fish and burning. A sign pointed to a healing machine and PC, but the challengers were already prepared. Their footsteps gently clanked against the metal floor as they meandered through corridors to the elevator. The doors they left behind slammed shut. As soon as they stepped out, into the vast room where Chobin's renovated Cipher machinery churned out the waves, Ace Trainers and Veterans blocked their path until they were defeated.

League staff slept in the uncomfortable steel bunks behind sliding doors. Chobin often fell asleep in the chair in his windowless room where, despite his insatiable desire for mischief, he and his colleagues closely watched to ensure challengers did not drown or fall to their death.

An Ace Trainer told Zileh that his job was to 'terrify people into the pits of despair through battling,' but as she and her friends stepped forward together, they were fearless. Nothing Victory Road threw at them could drag them down to a pit of despair.

'Besides,' Zileh said, 'That line is recycled from my uncle Grason in the Gale of Darkness movie. It totally has "embarrassing dad," not "scary Trainer" vibes.'

Another elevator carried them to a sweltering, rocky area connected by steel blocks they had to push into place. Dirk and Poliwrath shoved them. They crossed together before lurking League staff commanded their Psychic-type Pokémon to return them.

Zileh was tempted to return to heal her Pokémon after a Veteran knocked Gallade out, but Rustie stopped her. She remembered reading that Amber did that very thing, pushing the blocks around twice, only to find another healing machine beyond the blocks.

Dirk panicked. The stream of Ace Trainers dropping from above seemed endless. Three of his Pokémon were down. The unbearable heat parched the Water-types. What if they removed the healing machine since Amber mentioned it? Zileh took out her P★DA to check, but was startled to find the screen blank. There was no connection. They could only make emergency calls.

'Argh! That Chobin!'

Though as they crept up the slope to the next area, no more Trainers dropped down. They defeated them all. Rustie stepped up to the ledge ahead to check for the healing machine.

'It's here!'

No Trainers blocked their path there. It was a rest spot. They healed their Pokémon. The next shiny steel corridor's air conditioning was a refreshing relief. They sat to eat dinner, intending to press on afterwards, but their Pokémon were exhausted. They pitched the tent for the night. While her friends and Pokémon slept, Chalcedony sat on the ledge's hazard-striped wall with her notebook. No-one heard her sing over the lava's crashing and bubbling. The song she searched Sunset City, Unova and Orre for was preserved. Maybe she'd never play it publicly, but it would forever be a bittersweet memory of the lessons she learned. She felt simultaneously at war and at peace when she laid down to sleep.

Dirk didn't set an alarm. After the hours of battles in the punishing area with the blocks, they slept over 11 hours. That was what both Trainers and Pokémon needed. They were refreshed and raring to go when they were woken by an announcement.

'Challenger Ardine has defeated the Elite Four.'

The cooled corridor inevitably opened to another blast of heat. Paths occupied by patiently waiting Trainers snaked through flowing lava. The challengers didn't want to battle them all, but when another announcement echoed, they knew they had to.

'Challenger Ardine is defeated by Champion Zane.'

They couldn't help sharing competitive grins. Hearing that was ominous and inspiring all at once. The blocks area was so punishing that Zileh didn't even care enough to snap a group selfie, but whenever they cleared another area, she did. A pair of burly Veterans charged at them as they approached the next elevator.

'We're Petro and Karbon!'

'And we trained with Leon!'

'Power-double explosion attack!'

Rustie and Chalcedony took them on in a Multi Battle. Their deflated opponents concluded their 'power-double explosion attack' was stronger, but they were overjoyed when Zileh invited them to join their selfie.

The elevator carried them into the open air. They tentatively crept along the volcano's rugged walls to suspended blocks levitated by Psychic-type Pokémon. Chobin's tricks continued with the roaring wind that threatened to hurl them to the depths below. A sudden burst of rain left them sodden. Their legs were trembling when, after 14 battles, they reached the safety of the next elevator. Even Rustie forgot that hidden staff waited on winged Pokémon to catch them if they fell. The blocks were a chore, but that creep across narrow paths was terrifying.

There was no more lava to sap the water from their clothes. They pitched the tent to get changed. The Fire-type Pokémon dried the soaked clothes as best as they could. They patched up their teams with their shared bag of healing items and walked on.

The only way to cross the next room, illuminated only by thin neon strips, was to master a puzzle of colour-coded cranes. Rustie groaned. They hadn't seen the last of drops to their doom. Before they nervously approached the first crane, they drew the puzzle out in Chalcedony's notebook to solve it. Dirk crossed first. His friends called directions. Chalcedony went next. She didn't show it, but seeing her legs dangling over the void below, with only clammy hands to cling to the crane, set her heart hammering as fast as anyone else's. Rustie was nervous. Zileh went with her, promising not to relax her grip on Rustie's arm or the crane, while Chalcedony and Dirk yelled directions. They were across.

It was impossible to guess what time it was. Light struggled to break through Chobin's clouds, but even without them, there was no natural light in those vast, murky chambers. Their P★DAs still had no reception, but at least they could tell them the time. 7:23PM. How long did they spend nervously shuffling along those ridges? Solving the crane puzzle?

The floor above was lined with faintly glowing blue panels. They disappeared upon being stepped on. If anyone did, they landed somewhere amongst the cranes. The paths were clear. That could only mean more Trainers would drop down. Rustie knew that was the last area before the peak, but their Pokémon were too tired for another round of battles. They reluctantly pitched the tent.

Dirk did set his alarm that night. They rose at 4:30AM. If the Trainers who dropped from the ceiling were groggy, they didn't show it. Four Veterans guarded the elevator. They were the most challenging opponents in all of Victory Road, but it didn't matter, because the challengers knew they were about to reach the Pokémon Center. The Veterans commended their teamwork and stood aside.

Elevator doors finally opened to Citadark Isle's rugged peak. Citadark Colosseum hung over the lake of lava. The scraps of sunlight that pierced Chobin's clouds glinted on its silver walls. A glass tunnel led to the Pokémon Center. On the other side of the lava lake was the area reserved for visitors. Unlike the barren side where challengers emerged, it was vibrant with the clashing colours of merchandise and food stalls. The sprawling hotel offered views over the volcano and waves below. If they ran, they might have made it in time to register, but they waited. Cassia and Parvor lost because they rushed. They hoped to see some battles, but there were none. Most challengers had already made it to Citadark Isle – and lost to the Elite Four or Zane – while they put extra time into training at Mt. Battle and in The Under.

'And that's why,' Rustie said as she looked defiantly up at the colosseum, 'One of us is going to win.'