Chapter 64

For a moment, there was utter silence. The cheerleaders had frozen, and Gary was gaping at his downed pokemon.

The only sound that appeared for a good few seconds, was the slight sound of Shiftry's geta-like feet touching down on the grass after he jumped back to my side of the battlefield and landed in front of me.

"...Yeah that's about as I expected." I heard Hilda mutter behind me and I couldn't help but grin.

"Good job." I gave Shiftry a nod, and he gave me one back.

I couldn't say anymore, because that was when Gary broke out of his stupor, "Nidoking!" he cried in horror, lifting his pokeball up and hurriedly returning the purple behemoth to its pokeball.

He stared at the pokeball in his hand for a moment before gritting his teeth and putting the pokeball away, switching it for another, "...Alright kid, looks like your little girlfriend isn't completely full of shit when she was hyping you up." Gary grudgingly admitted.

"What can I say, she has good taste." I shrugged, not denying it. I looked over my shoulder to shoot a wink at her.

Hilda merely rolled her eyes and didn't bother refuting him either. Heh, she she wants me.

Possibly.

Well, I've got my foot in the door at least.

"For curiosities sake," I turned away from Hilda and struck up conversation again, "Just how many attacks does Nidoking know? Around twenty-five maybe?"

"Close, twenty eight," Gary replied easily and gave me an odd look, "Why?"

"Just confirming," I shook my head. There was the slight possibility my thoughts were wrong after all, but nah, it seems I was spot on, "You've loaded your pokemon up on TM's huh, that's why your pokemon are so strong."

"Obviously," Gary rolled his eyes, "Kid, how else do you think I managed to beat two gyms in just a month of starting my journey? Gym Leaders are the cream of the crop, it ain't normal for anyone, no matter how good to be able to beat gym leaders so quickly."

Huh, gotta give him props. At least he's honest about it.

"Makes me wonder," He gave me a curious look, "What family do you come from? Gotta be absolutely loaded if that Shiftry is anything to go by, how many TM's have you loaded that thing up with, forty? Gotta be at least that much with how easy it dealt with Nidoking."

"None." I shrugged back.

"Bullshit!" Gary immediately shouted back, "You expect me to believe you raised a pokemon like that in just a month without any TM's to boost its strength? Pull the other one!"

"Believe what you want," I shrugged again, "I'm an orphan that grew up on the streets mate, I don't come from money like you Mr. Pay To Win." granted, I did teach Shiftry two tm's, but that's not really worth bringing up now is it. Sure, it gave him a power boost, but only a small one, the result here would have been the same regardless without the power boost.

"Oh please, it's hardly like spamming TM's will let me reach the top," Gary rolled his eyes, "It just gave me a massive starting base over others. So what if others can't afford to do the same, am I supposed to limit myself or something to let the scrubs catch up with me?"

"I never said anything like that," I pointed out, "I think it's smart of you to take advantage of TM's like that personally." hell, if I could afford to do that, I totally would.

Well, I could kinda do that now. But, I don't wanna. Once I have an even bigger monthly income, I might.

Gary gave me an odd look before shaking his head, "Well whatever, it still doesn't explain why that Shiftry is such a monster." he pointed out.

"I told you didn't I?" Hilda snorted, "This guy's a freak of nature when it comes to training pokemon."

The Pallet native huffed, "Well, let's see how you hold up against this then, lemme tell you, that speed won't help you here," he suddenly smirked and released the pokemon inside, "Wartortle, front and centre!"

In a flash of light, a large dark blue turtle-like pokemon with a fluffy cloud-like tail and fluffy cloud-like ears appeared in front of Gary.

Just like I thought, his starter pokemon. And considering Shiftry is a grass type with Sunny Day up and Gary still chose to send out his starter pokemon even after seeing how strong Shiftry is.

Well, that speaks a lot of the strength difference between it and his Nidoking now doesn't it.

Something did confuse me though, "What's with that front and centre nonsense he keeps saying?" I wondered.

"It's an image thing," Hilda helpfully explained, "Like you know, a catchphrase to market and help stand out? Most trainers have one if they're aiming for the top."

Huh, alright then. That explained Ash's iconic 'I Choose You', Paul's 'Stand By For Battle' and Cynthia's 'Battle Dance'.

Hmm, I'll have to come up with a cool one for myself.

Oh wait, I have a great idea for one already, "Alright Shiftry, clap their cheeks!" I pumped my fist into the air grandly and proudly declared.