Chapter 5: Gym Leader Candice
As soon as the Gym opened the next day, Syoran was there. April saw him walk in and waved. He waved back and she called him over.
“Come here, there’s someone I want you to meet!” she said, seizing his hand. He blinked in surprise.
“Um…okay, sure,” he said as she dragged him away. I smirked from inside my Poke-ball. Human females definitely ruled the males, despite their protests to the contrary.
He was pulled into an office-type area where an older girl sat behind a desk. “Hi April,” she said, “Who’s your friend?”
“Hi Candice,” April replied with a friendly smile, “This is Syoran. He’s a visiting trainer.” Candice’s eyes became cold as ice and she sighed.
“Are you here for the Gym Challenge then?” she asked. Syoran shook his head, much to her surprise.
“No, I just came here to train my Pokémon,” he said. Candice brightened considerably. She even rose from behind her desk.
“Oh, welcome then,” she said and shook his hand, “I’m Candice, the Gym Leader here.” She peered at Syoran curiously. “So why aren’t you taking the Gym Challenge?” she asked, “You don’t think I’m incompetent or something, do you?”
“No, nothing like that!” Syoran said defensively, “I just don’t like how the system works. That’s all. I’m not really aiming for the League anyway.”
“Well, you’re welcome to battle any of my auxiliaries, if you can find one,” she sighed, “A huge pack of Trainers came through several days ago and all challenged me at once. My Pokémon could only handle two battles, so they all had to fill in. They were all at the Pokémon Center last I saw them.”
“That’s a dirty trick,” Syoran said.
“It’s the rules,” Candice sighed, “Ever since some Gym Leader in Kanto tried to keep challengers out since they were boys, Sinnoh amended its rules. A Gym must accept any challenge, no matter who it comes from.”
“It’s still dirty,” Syoran muttered. Candice smiled gratefully.
“Thanks. Now, I shouldn’t dump my problems on you. You have training to do.” A bell chimed. Candice sighed and her expression turned dark. “That had better be one of my auxiliaries…”
“Hey! Anyone here?”
“We’re here to get our badges, but you can just hand them over if you don’t want to fight!”
“Challengers,” Candice hissed, “perfect.” She strode out of her office, followed by April and Syoran. Four people waited for her on the opposite side of the Battle Arena, a male and female trainer, both of them brimming with brash confidence, a second male, but he was younger and wore a headband, and the fourth was a man in his late thirties who seemed bored.
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A Spirit's Journey (Pokemon Watty Awards 2014 3rd Place Winner: Adventure)
FanfictionA story, you say? Well, I know a few of those. Some of them are about me, and some of those are even true. This one's one of my favorites. It's how I came to be the Absol I am today. Of course, I didn't like it then, but that's how it always is with...
