‘Tits, glorious tits, wonderful tits. We like ‘em big, we like ‘em small, but we love them uncovered most of all!’
Zoey, after being flashed shamelessly by 2B that morning, had been trying desperately not to hum the catchy ditty that a duo of Unovan Trainers had exposed her to the year previously. The pair had been quite the colorful characters. Somehow both utterly irreverent without being actively disrespectful, and remarkably funny. A lot of their spontaneous improve bits might have been offensive without their talent for comedic delivery, and their song about the Glory of Tits wasn’t the only one that had stuck in the back of her mind.
The fact that 2B’s outfit of the day included a stomach-baring crop top that enhanced her very nice cleavage did not help the matters one bit. Assuming that the view didn’t ultimately kill her, she was going to have to do something nice for Daisy and that friend of hers that had apparently built most of 2B’s wardrobe. They’d certainly known how to make the girl look good…though she supposed the fact that 2B was just flat-out gorgeous had probably made that an easy task. At least for anyone with a vaguely functional fashion sense.
Of course, the fact that their rest day had, so far, been entirely too similar to a date only added to the Butterfree doing cartwheels in Zoey’s stomach. The Pewter Market had been bad enough. She’d gotten to see 2B run roughshod over some very confused merchants. First by seeming to know the exact value of everything, then by turning around and cheerfully tipping them for information or, in at least one case, actively helping them upsell product to other customers. The entire thing had been both adorable and hysterical, and she was fairly certain that none of the merchants were going to forget 2B anytime soon. Doubly so since she’d skipped the ‘tactical visor’ for once and those piercing blue eyes were a memorable weapon of mass enthrallment.
The atmosphere had only gotten more intimate over lunch, which had been followed by their current activity of touring the Pewter Museum of Science. Despite the number of visitors to the city at the moment, and the museum’s relative fame, young Trainers weren’t exactly known for gravitating to museums. Which meant that the expansive building was relatively sparsely populated, leaving 2B and Zoey mostly isolated to each other as they drifted from display to display.
Zoey had to admit that the museum itself was impressive. It was one of the few facilities in the world where Fossil Pokémon could be revived, which unsurprisingly led to it having an extremely interesting selection of fossils and details about such pokémon. Even aside from that, however, there were interesting displays about Kanto’s Space Program and some fascinating history about Mt. Moon.
It wasn’t normally Zoey’s sort of activity, but it was interesting enough, and made quite a bit better by the fact that 2B was clearly enthusiastic about a lot of it. Having her act as pseudo-tour guide, expounding upon various subjects with interesting extra detail, certainly drew Zoey into the exhibits far more completely. Though she was very baffled just how 2B seemed to know practically everything about every topic in the museum? Just how good was the girl’s memory?!
… … …
Zoey’s hormones whimpered as 2B casually joined her in the hot spring. The other girl hadn’t bothered at all with a towel, resulting in several wonderful, agonizingly long seconds of full-frontal nudity. She’d been weak when she suggested visiting the private springs together, and she knew it. It wasn’t even like it was something Pewter was explicitly known for. Mt. Moon wasn’t volcanic, and these springs weren’t natural.
She suspected, in fact, that they were fueled by a Camerupt or similar pokémon owned by the mini-resort they’d gotten a suite in. Zoey had been tired enough when they’d first checked in not to quite realize why the rooms were so expensive that they hadn’t been snapped up even by the more Veteran Trainers stuck in town. Over the last few days, however, she’d realized that the ‘hotel’ they’d checked into was actually the closest thing Pewter had to a full-blown resort. It actually had its own modest Battle Court, a rather impressive pool…and the set of private ‘hot spring pools’ that you could reserve an hour or two in.
The setup of each ‘pool,’ while extremely well done with local stone to look natural, was a dead giveaway that they weren’t real. Normally, a place like this would have one or two much larger pools, split up by gender. Here…well, Zoey suspected it was meant as a romantic thing for couples, since the pools were smaller. Enough for three or four people at most, if you were very comfortable with each other.
After their date-like day, which had included another meal at a nice restaurant for dinner, Zoey had given into the impulse of weakness and suggested that the private Hot Springs were the ‘perfect way to end their rest day.’ Sure, she wasn’t really wrong. She, at least, was feeling the muscle strain from their rather active trip through Viridian Forest followed by three days of hard training. Yet, she knew perfectly well that she hadn’t suggested the idea just for the muscle relief.
Even now, she was very grateful for the flush the heat of the spring had already put on her face. Otherwise, the blush that sprung up when her half-hoped for eye-candy had come true would have been very obvious. She was really going to have to figure out if 2B might be interested in a real date or two, before her ever increasing levels of Horny convinced her to do something she’d feel a lot more guilty for than this. For the moment, though, she was going to firmly push aside that guilt and enjoy the view…
… … …
It was finally the day they’d set aside to run the Pewter City Gauntlet event. Thankfully, despite the Pewter Gym having actually reopened for battles two days ago, the Gauntlet was still up and running. The knock-on effects of having multiple days of cancelations and reshuffling of scheduled battles had led to the Gym itself asking the organizers of the Gauntlet to keep it going for now.
There were even, according to a few rumors they’d heard around town during their day off yesterday, signs that the mayor was pushing for it to become a permanent fixture. Other cities certainly had similar events available, so using it as both a tourist attraction and a way to keep visiting Trainers from causing trouble likely had a significant amount of appeal.
Regardless of whether that was true or not, the Gauntlet was still running for now, with the Pewter Gym having added a few more prizes and loaned a trio of Gym Trainers to the event to act as more official referees. Better yet, it had a relatively low waiting period, since it was run by a surprisingly diverse group of people. The local Bug Catcher’s Society provided the first challenger, a sizable Biker’s Club provided the second, the Mt. Moon Outdoor Association provided the third challenger, and the final member of the four-trainer gauntlet was provided by the Pewter Breeder’s Association.
That last one happened to be the group that provided most of the low-to-mid level pokémon for the Pewter Gym, having been founded by Brock before he switched tracks to go into medicine. That meant that the final ‘challenger’ was using pokémon trained for roughly a Third or Fourth Badge. Which, in turn, was why the Gauntlet was only open to those who had four Badges or less. Given that the vast majority of Trainers that had gotten stuck in Pewter were on their first or second badge, it had been an ideal setup to distract the majority of the Trainers in town.
The Badge Limit also meant that the various groups were each able to provide half a dozen experience trainers every day, with the Pewter Coliseum having more than enough room to allow three Gauntlet runs at a time. Since each Gauntlet Battle was only a 1 vs 1, and all of those acting as challengers had at least three pokémon suitable for their challenge level, the Gauntlet could run a huge number of Trainers through every day. Though every Trainer was only allowed one run at the Gauntlet, so that they didn’t get truly overwhelmed.
“Trainer 2B! You’re up for your Gauntlet Run. Step up to Battle Court 3!”
Responding to her name, 2B quickly stood from the bleachers where those waiting for their chance were sitting, and made her way to the far righthand Battle Court. A fresh Bug Catcher Trainer stepped into the Trainer Box opposite of her, this one a girl of perhaps eighteen with a bright smile.
“I’ll be you’re first challenger! This will be a One-on-One Battle, with myself releasing my pokémon first! Standard Battle Court rules apply. No large-scale destruction of terrain please! Do you understand the rules?”
2B nodded. Everyone had needed to sign a waiver after reading a basic rules pamphlet, but it was basically the same ruleset used by most of the Gyms with Battle Courts. Weather Effects were fine, but Terrain moves were not. Nor were moves like Earthquake, Surf, or similar that could cause mass rearrangement of the Battle Court that would need to be fixed. As it was, the court was somewhat pitted and pockmarked with craters and such from earlier battles, but not greatly so.
“I understand and accept the rules.”
Nodding, her opponent drew a pokéball and held it out, triggering its beam without the drama of a throw.
“In that case…Venonat, I choose you!”
2B blinked as she took in the rather cute ball of purple fluff. She’d expected something from Viridian Forest, but this pokémon was at least from Kanto, so it wasn’t too surprising to see it. It didn’t change her choice, having decided that her newest pokémon was simply appropriate when facing a Bug Catcher. Calmly, she pulled her pokéball and repeated the same method that her opponent had.
“Scyther, you’re up.”
The Bug Catcher blinked, then oohed in delight as Scyther formed with a shout of her name and theatrically crossed arms.
“How delightful! Your Scyther looks quite healthy, and I’ve rarely gotten to face one! Ref, if you could start us off?”
The Gym Trainer that was seated in a raised chair by the edge of the Battle Court nodded. He raised his hand…
“2B versus Shelly the Bug Catcher! Begin!”
As the referee’s hand dropped in time with ‘Begin’ both of them cried out orders.
“Venonat, Confusion!
“Quick Attack.”
Despite having chosen Scyther, 2B was well aware that most of her current move pool wasn’t great against Bug Types. However, she’d worked hard on Scyther’s speed, and using Quick Attack almost constantly was part of that. To its credit, Venonat did manage to hit Scyther with the minor telekinetic attack that was Confusion, but mid-Quick Attack Scyther simply had too much momentum to be diverted. The Confusion did more damage because of Scyther’s momentum, but it critically didn’t stop or divert the attack, and Venonat was lifted off its feet by Scyther’s hit.
“Poison Powder!”
“Clear Space with Vacuum Wave!”
Shelly was quick, having Venonat release a trail of poison as Scyther attempted to pursue it, but 2B was just as quick and the poison was split by the negative air-pressure effect of Vacuum Wave. Very little of it hit Scyther, and Scyther was in close to the falling pokémon, not needing 2B’s orders to follow up with Fury Cutter. Due to Venonat’s dual typing, the move was only half as effective as it should have been, but Scyther managed two successive hits that bounced Venonat hard off the ground.
“Supersonic!”
2B grimaced as the screech caused Scyther to falter, but its confusion effect thankfully didn’t stick.
“Leer and Slash!”
Venonat had gained some distance when Scyther faltered, but froze for a moment as the feeling of malice carried by Scyther’s aura hit it. That moment allowed Scyther to close and use a brutal slash with both blades to once again hammer his opponent. An opponent that wasn’t looking so good.
“Psybeam!”
“Quick Attack.”
The match was decided by the relative speed of the attacks, with Scyther outpacing Venonat and hammering it again, this time straight into unconsciousness. A moment for the dust to settle and for the referee to judge the result, was followed by a quick decision.
“Venonat is unable to battle! Scyther and 2B win!”
Shelly, not seeming put out at all, cheerfully returned her pokémon and waved to 2B.
“You’re doing a great job with that Scyther! Given how few of its moves are suited for Venonat, I thought I had this one for sure! I don’t mind losing to another Bug Type, though! Good luck with the next round!”
2B waved and nodded acknowledgement, even as Shelly hopped back out of the box and a man in his mid-twenties and biker leathers replaced her. He was smiling as he far more dramatically threw out his own pokéball.
“Same rules for this round, girlie! Go get her, Mankey!”
2B’s eyes narrowed as she saw Daisy’s least favorite pokémon. She returned Scyther, and sent out the appropriate level of force to deal with the pest.
“Deal with this, Jigglypuff.”
Something in her voice made the Ref do a double-take, but he continued after a brief moment of uncertainty.
“2B versus Tristan the Dentist Biker! Begin!”
Tristan was too busy glaring at the Ref for his intro, but his Mankey at least was on the ball, not that it mattered as Jigglypuff’s eyes had narrowed at 2B’s tone. Before Mankey’s admittedly well-executed Cross Chop could land…it ate a supercharged Water Pulse to the face from a Jigglypuff that had waited until it was too close on purpose. With zero chance of dodging at that range, the Water Pulse, which Jigglypuff and 2B had succeeded in enhancing by having Jigglypuff ‘Swallow’ Water Type Energy, hit it more like a Hydro Pump. Mankey went sailing clear out of the Battle Court, slammed against the wall of the Colosseum 20-meters away, and fell forward on its face, clearly unconscious.
There was a momentary lull as even the other two Battle Courts paused to stare. Somewhere, the sound of Zoey’s facepalm could be heard in the quiet. Then, the referee managed to find his voice.
“M-mankey is unable to battle! Jigglypuff and 2B win!”
2B felt a little bad as the Mankey’s Trainer rushed off to check on it, but pokémon were tough, and the evil little monster had probably deserved it. Nodding in satisfaction, she withdrew Jigglypuff. Which seemed to vastly relieve the Hiker that stepped up and held out his pokéball a little nervously.
“L-let’s go, Graveler! I’m counting on you, buddy!”
The pokémon that appeared on the field was very clearly a much stronger and more veteran pokémon, as befitted this new tier of challenge. 2B considered her options carefully for a moment. Jigglypuff was likely overkill and had already gotten a chance to fight, besides there was another of her team she intended to use for the Gym Challenge, and whom hadn’t really gotten a chance to battle yet.
“It’s your turn, Chinchou.”
The Hiker frowned as Chinchou appeared, but seemed less tense at least, despite clearly recognizing Chinchou as a Water Type. The referee got his own act together and announced the match.
“2B versus Dennis the Hiker! Begin!”
The orders came at nearly the exact same moment.
“Rollout!”
“Pulse Dodge into Water Echo!”
The Graveler, in what honestly was the most logical move, immediately tried to close the distance. Facing a Water Type at range was a bad idea for it, and a normal Chinchou wasn’t very mobile on land. Simply accepting a Water Gun or Bubble Beam to close likely would be a winning strategy against most Chinchou…but 2B had prioritized fixing the mobility issue from the start.
The fact that Jigglypuff had been able to help teach her first capture how to use Water Pulse to fuel mobility had been a huge help in training the tiny water pokémon. Now, in a virtual repeat of the start of 2B and Jigglypuff’s very first battle back on the Viridian Battle Court, Chinchou flipped to point his Water Pulse down and rode the move up and forward, completely clearing Graveler’s Rollout.
Worse for the Graveler and its Trainer, 2B had already given a follow-up order, and it was the new special move they’d been working on specifically for the Pewter Gym. A second Water Pulse erupted…but everyone watching gaped as it blurred, seeming to split into three streams. The Hiker wasn’t an amateur and reacted the best way he could.
“Rock Blast!”
Graveler stomped, the packed-rock of the Colosseum Floor perfect to produce the boulders needed, and pushed with Rock Type aura to cause three of them to blast out towards the streams, spreading out as much as the Graveler had been able to manage. It was only when contact was made that the trick was revealed, two of the three streams flickering out of existence as the illusions layered into Water Echo with Confuse Ray vanished.
Trick revealed, the true stream of Water Pulse was still somewhat mitigated by one of the rocks clipping it, but the wide dispersal of the Rock Blast meant most of the move got through. Graveler cried out as the Super Effective move hammered it, but performed a second, tighter, Rock Blast all on its own initiative. Chinchou, still acting on the general orders to evade with Water Pulse, created another…though he surprised everyone but 2B by closing the distance as he dodged under the Rock Blast. 2B taught all of her pokémon to favor offense, and was quick to take advantage now as Chinchou positioned itself to take advantage of an opening just as she’d taught him.
“Supersonic!”
A familiar screech covered the distance between Chinchou and the shocked Graveler, and this time the move stuck. The Graveler tried to push through, to move forward to squish the pipsqueak that had dared close with it, only to stumble as whatever equivalent of an inner ear it had revolted. Chinchou took full advantage, not needing 2B’s order to hammer Graveler with the most powerful Water Pulse he could, point blank. It didn’t quite take the amazingly tough pokémon down, but a beam of red light lanced out from the Hiker to recall his pokémon.
“I withdraw my pokémon. He wouldn’t have recovered fast enough to do anything, and another Water Pulse would have ended it anyway.”
The referee and 2B both nodded approval of that. No need to let Graveler get battered if the outcome was already decided. 2B withdrew Chinchou once the referee nodded.
“Graveler has been withdrawn! Chinchou and 2B win!”
2B blinked in surprise as a ragged set of cheers came from the bleachers behind her. Glancing back, she discovered that most of those awaiting their own turns were watching her Battle Court and had…cheered for her? An odd warmth she didn’t fully understand suffused her at that, distracting her until a quiet cough from the referee drew her back to the challenge. The final challenger, a smiling woman with…plush proportions…and wearing a uniform that announced her as a member of the Pewter Breeders Association, was already in the opponent box.
“Congratulations on getting this far, dear! You might just go all the way…but don’t think it’s over yet! Go Lairon!”
2B blinked, then pushed away her confusion over the feeling from being cheered for and considered her options. A Lairon was…an absolutely terrible matchup for Vulpix. She’d wanted to give Vulpix a chance to fight, since she wasn’t intending to use her for the Gym, and she was now deeply regretting reacting to the Mankey by throwing out Jigglypuff. Vulpix could have handled that fight perfectly fine, but against a Lairon intended for the Gym’s 3rd or 4th badge?
Part of her wanted to send out Vulpix anyway, but doing so would almost certainly be sending her to an automatic loss. Which wouldn’t be fair to Vulpix at all, even if it meant she got to at least try. Sighing and promising she’d find a way to make it up to her official starter, 2B’s hand drifted back to Jigglypuff’s. The referee tensed for some reason when her first partner re-entered the field.
“2B versus Breeder Milly! Begin!”
This time, 2B got out her command first…but for the first time it didn’t work out quite as she’d hoped.
“Water Evade.”
As usual with Jigglypuff, 2B didn’t bother giving her specific commands, only issuing a tactic. In this case, the exact same tactic they had used against the Rhyhorn in Viridian. A single Water Pulse to escape up where Lairon would have trouble reaching her…and then firing down with a second Water Pulse. Unfortunately, she immediately learned the difference between that Rhyhorn and a pokémon intended for Gym use.
“Protect.”
A shield of energy snapped into place, stopping the Water Pulse cold, and another command quickly followed.
“Metal Sound.”
Jigglypuff cried out in pain at the horrible sound aimed at her, and 2B herself grit her teeth. Thankfully, floating with their natural balloon-like ability was so instinctive to the Jigglypuff species that her partner didn’t fall…which didn’t mean this Lairon couldn’t get to her.
“Stone Edge.”
The Lairon stomped, breaking up rock, and launched sharp fragments at Jigglypuff with far more speed than the boulders the Graveler had launched. Thankfully, Jigglypuff was on the ball and simply dropped, causing them to miss. The Lairon instinctively charged as Jigglpuff fell into range, but that was okay.
“Brick Break!”
Jigglypuff was so good at maneuvering with Water Pulse at this point, that she managed to fire one off to accelerate towards the Lairon’s charge, before spinning and powering up Brick Break into her tiny fist to meet that charge head off with an adorable roar. Headbutt met the fighting type move…and the four times effectiveness of Fighting Type energy against Lairon meant there was only one way that could end. Both pokémon were thrown back, Jigglypuff was out massed by too much for that not to be the case, but the vast majority of the damage was to Lairon.
“Water Pulse!”
The Lairon was conscious, but just flat out couldn’t recover fast enough to avoid the Water Pulse to the face…though it still didn’t go down.
“Rock Slide!”
The Trainer’s order resulted in a stomp by Lairon and a wave of rock picked up and launch at Jigglypuff. Thankfully, Jiggly went airborne with another Water Pulse all on her own initiative, avoiding almost all of it. She spun out a bit as a few rocks clipped her, but responded to 2B’s next order.
“Dazzling Gleam! Then close and finish!”
The Fairy Type move wasn’t very effective, but it was incredibly bright. Enough so that Lairon lost track of Jigglypuff, who used another Water Pulse/Brick Break combo to close right into its face and hammer it with a second four times effective move. That was clearly too much for it, and the incredibly tough pokémon finally went down. Jigglypuff was left looking a little wobbly, less from damage and more from the stamina drain of rapid firing moves, but triumphant as she cheered her name.
“Lairon is unable to battle! Jigglypuff and 2B win!”
The cheering from the bleachers was back, even stronger this time, and so was the strange fuzzy feeling. 2B puzzled over that feeling, even as Milly the Breeder congratulated her and directed her to pick out her prize…
... ... ... ... ... ... ...
A/N 1: Ah, poor Zoey. The Horny Energy has taken you...not that we can blame you, given 2B's entire...everything.
A/N 2: I hope you enjoyed the Pewter Gauntlet! It, plus the little not-a-date, were the ideas I came up with to break up two training sections. It let us see a bit more battling, without things dragging out forever. As well as showing a few minor tidbits...like the fact that 2B isn't perfect and won't make perfect choices for every fight. She reacted emotionally and used Jigglypuff to down the Mankey, instead of giving Vulpix a fight that would have been a good chance for her to get some battle experience.
A/N 3: You probably know this bit by now, but I need to say it anyway ;-)! Once per release, I point out that I have a Page with Early Access content. In example, I just released chapters 23-26 of A Very Confused Pokémon Adventure there, adding just shy of another 15,000 words which will remain in Early Access until the next time it wins the patron poll. Similarly, there are at least a few Early Access chapters there for ALL of my stories, though NONE of them are ever permanently paywalled. All fanfiction content I make ends up here (or on Fanfiction.net, Spacebattles, and Questionable Questing) eventually, as new content for each story is released. Typically, there are 75,000+ words of additional early access content for patrons at any one time, all for just a dollar a month! As well as chances to vote in polls that influence which stories are updated, pairings, and other such things. In example, additions to 2B's pokémon roster are always voted on, for this story specifically.