What the Wind Carries [Pokémon Black and White 2 fanfiction]

16| The Shining Beauty, Part 1

My brother and I stood at the entrance of the Nimbasa City Gym. Reading the sign outside the Gym showed that once again, Hugh's name had been emblazoned on it under Hilbert and Cheren's names. I wondered if he was already in Driftveil City. We were at least a week behind him when it came to traveling. Nate wanted to train Soul and his other Pokémon, and I needed to catch Route 16's Pokémon. And as a result of the training, Surge had evolved into a Magneton and Bow had gained some levels from "accidentally" knocking out a few Pokémon.

   "Good luck," I said. You'll need it.

   "You're not gonna watch me battle?" Nate sounded disappointed.

   "I'm sorry. I still have some Pokemon to catch," I apologized. In truth, I wanted to explore the amusement park the Gym was in. I could see a ferris wheel from where I was standing, and I really wanted to ride it alone. Being all alone up high with nothing but the wind and my thoughts sounded fantastic.

   "Okay then. I'll call you when the battle's over," Nate said. He went into the Gym, and I headed farther into the park.

   Li-ar! Bow's voice sang inside my mind. It was still pretty jarring to hear her voice out of the blue even though I caught her two weeks ago. Since she could use her telepathy inside her ball, she could talk to me whenever she felt like it. But wait...

   "How did you know what I was thinking?" I gasped.

   Really? Come on I'm a Psychic-type! Mind reading is just another thing we can do.

   "Okay, that makes sense, but please don't read my mind...  I want my thoughts to stay thoughts, you know?"

   Yeah yeah... But why did you lie to your brother? Aren't humans supposed to never leave their sibling's side?

   "I need some time to think," I said quietly, trying my hardest to talk without moving my lips. If someone saw me talking to myself, they'd think I was crazy! "And no. I don't know who told you that, but it's actually pretty common for siblings to not want to stay together. Nate and I are a 'rare case' in a way."

   I get it, sometimes I wish I could be by myself and away from Soul.

   "Thanks for understanding me, Bow," I said, smiling a little. I didn't hear her voice after that

   The Nimbasa amusement park was a very interesting place. You didn't have to pay anything in order to ride because the park was funded by Elesa herself. Out of everything I could've rode that day, I chose the ferris wheel. The thing was at least six stories high, rivaling the heights of most of Nimbasa's buildings. As I stood in line, I saw that the baskets were all designed to look like different Poké Balls. I recognized a Great Ball, an Ultra Ball, a Dusk Ball, and many others.

   Finally, it was my turn to board the ride. I stepped into a Fast Ball-themed basket, and someone else boarded the basket as well. I was a little disappointed to see that I wouldn't be alone, so I kneeled on the bench and looked out the basket's back window. The person sat on the built-in bench opposite me and I could feel their gaze boring into the back of my head. The ride started, and we sat there in silence.

   My Xtransceiver's ringtone cut through the silence like an Air Slash, scaring the crap out of me. I didn't want to talk at the moment, so I silenced the device without seeing who was trying to call me.

   "Hello there."

   I looked behind me and saw the person still staring at me. She was a relatively young woman, and the first thing I thought when I saw her was that she was beautiful. She was wearing a short yellow sundress that had an orange gradient to it with a matching handbag, high heels and silver bracelets. She had long black hair tied into two low-laying Tepig-tails, and she also wore a pair of silver headphones with blue and red stripes on them. Her face was thin and her features were flawless. I had to admit, I was speechless.

   "I'm sorry, did I startle you?" the woman laughed in an angelic voice.

   "A little," I said, shocked that this beautiful woman was talking to me.

   "My name is Elesa," the woman said.

   Elesa?! Is she the Elesa?! "I'm Rosa," I replied. "And by Elesa, do you mean you're—"

   "The Nimbasa Gym Leader? Yes I am," Elesa said. "I needed some time to get out and away from the Gym. Being a Leader and a model at the same time isn't exactly a walk in the park."

   The show I had watched mentioned that Elesa was a model in her spare time. I remembered Roxie that was the leader of a band, and thought it was interesting that any Leader would have any spare time in the first place.

   "My brother wants to challenge you. The reason I'm on this ride is because I was trying to pass time until he's done," I said.

   Elesa smiled sheepishly. "Oops! I didn't expect to have any challengers already. I should make it so the Gym is open from ten to seven or something like that. You mentioned your brother wanting to battle me... Why aren't you challenging me as well?"

   I held up my Pokédex, already warming up to the pretty Leader. "I'm not after the badges, my goal is to complete the Pokédex. If I can do that, maybe Professor Juniper will let me become one of her assistants. Besides that, I'm not cut out for battling anyway."

   Elesa raised her eyebrows. "How so?"

   I didn't want to go into how I hadn't won any battles since I became a Trainer. It was embarrassing, and I was afraid she would laugh if I told her. But I also wanted to tell her everything.

   "It's okay if you don't want to tell me," Elesa added.

   That was when everything came spilling out. "I'm not a strong Trainer. I've lost every battle I'd been in, except one. But even then my brother was fighting alongside me and did most of the work. Even when I use nothing but attacking moves, I lose! The only thing it seems I can do is support or stall, and I hate it. I don't want to be known as a Trainer who goes down in a few turns and always needs someone to help me. It's my job to protect my brother, but what good am I if I can't do anything?"

   "Being strong isn't the only thing there is to being a Trainer," Elesa said. "No one is a good Trainer overnight."

   I shook my head. "That's not true, my brother is. He has never lost a single battle, and I feel overshadowed by him! We've been Trainers for two months and he already has three badges. If that isn't proof how strong he is, I don't know what is!"

   "All Trainers are different. Whether it's the Pokémon they use, how they battle, or how they treat their Pokémon. And it may be true that your brother is a strong Trainer, but that doesn't mean you can't either. Why don't you use what you're best at to form a battle strategy? There are Trainers who base their entire teams around status effects and lowering an opponent's stats, only to strike when their foes are weakened enough!"

   I had never took that into thought. Centering my team around stats? My Pokémon did know a lot of moves that raised and lowered stats. I only let them learn those moves because I thought they'd come in handy. I felt the slow sway of the basket stop and saw that the ride was over.

   "How about this? Let's battle," Elesa suggested.

   "What?" My focus snapped back to the Gym Leader. She was smiling softy and waiting for me to answer. "Why would you want to battle me? I'm not collecting badges."

   "I want to see how you battle. I'm sure you're not as bad a Trainer as you think you are. Take my suggestion into consideration, and you can show me what you've come up with." She smiled warmly. "It wouldn't kill your brother to wait a few more minutes!"