Love in the Time of Traveling

Chapter 14: A Revival

We're back to a Viroro chapter, and one with some familiar faces. Please enjoy Chapter 14!

Chapter 14

A Revival

As his wife cooked their lunch for the day, Ash kept his attention on the nearby training session between Gloria and Astrid. Pikachu sat by his side, enjoying an early serving of Pokémon food as they took their break. They were still a way from reaching Hulbury, but that seemed to be all the more reason for Gloria to put her all into training and Ash wondered how much the meeting with Marnie the day before played into her current drive.

It helped that Astrid seemed happy to honor her offer of training Gloria, her powerful Absol looking down on the tinier forms of Chewtle and Rookidee. Scorbunny, meanwhile, cheered Gloria from the sidelines.

"Alright, hotshot, do your worst!" the Kalosian trainer declared, her own Pokémon on standby to attack at any time. Gloria remained fearless.

"With pleasure! Rookidee, Chewtle, circle around Absol!"

"Chew!"

"Rookoko!"

Both of the Gym Challenger's Pokémon charged forward, Rookidee taking flight and Chewtle dashing at full speed along the ground, both Pokémon making sure to block any escape route for Absol. Astrid's Pokémon didn't mount any immediate counteroffensive, allowing the younger girl some time to check her Pokémon's performance. Rookidee was doing well in patrolling from the sky, and that allowed Gloria to fully focus her attention back on Chewtle. Her little turtle was pushing herself hard, her drive to go faster leading the Water type to sprint as far as her disproportionate body could allow, even as she started wheezing with fatigue.

Gloria frowned just a bit, and Ash could see the uncertainty as she tried to address that. "Chewtle, make shorter steps! Focus on charging forward!"

"Chewww...!" The Snapping Pokémon did as requested, running at a quicker pace with her horn aiming right at Absol with a full powered Headbutt.

"Megahorn!" Absol's horn grew thrice as large and the Dark-type swung his head for her turtle. Gloria grimaced.

"Stop! Turn around!"

Chewtle faltered at the sudden instruction, almost tripping on her own legs in an effort to obey. The act lost several precious seconds while she hurried in the opposite direction, right as Rookidee was heading downward for the same exact spot.

"ROOK!" the Tiny Bird Pokémon cawed, slamming headfirst into the runaway turtle with enough force to make them both fall flat on the ground. The impact was loud enough to make Gloria wince, while Absol's Megahorn petered out. The turtle and the bird were back on their feet not a second later, pressing their faces against each other's as they traded matching scowls.

"Rookokoko!"

"Chew chew!"

Both Pokémon continued to glower at one another, more interested in throwing down with each other than Absol. Gloria scowled at both of her Pokémon, stomping to them and grabbing the two away, an angry stare reserved for both.

"No, no, no! Quit it, you two!" she said, her brow furrowed to underscore the message. Chewtle seemed to take the hint as she frowned to the ground, while Rookidee didn't seem fazed by the reprimand at all. They still thankfully buried the hatchet enough for Gloria to drop them both back down, even if Ash could tell their issues were far from solved.

Astrid came closer alongside the Disaster Pokémon, giving her sparring partner a shrug. "If your Pokémon are going to fight each other more than they fight their opponents, I doubt you're going to have any luck with Nessa."