Chapter Text
While it might be a rash decision, Byakuya didn’t care. Not much at least. He needed to do this and wasn’t going to let anybody stop him. He didn’t want to fall behind Kyo- Kirigiri more than he already had, the fossil lab be damned. He was going to the Cyllage City Gym this very moment and he was going to win.
But… he couldn’t just leave, that would be quite rude to people who hadn’t deserved it. And at this point, he couldn’t exactly not bring Chihiro and Sayaka along, even if they were a bit annoying. He supposed that they were part of his group now, so he had to bring them along, even if he didn’t fully want to.
And that was why he was standing in front of Chihiro’s room, with Larvesta confusedly standing beside him. He hadn’t really told the bug what had been going on in his mind, he simply… didn’t want to discuss it. Not even with a pokémon. But he was getting off track, he didn’t want to wait any longer.
He knocked on Chihiro’s door a few times, only stopping after he thought that Chihiro for sure had heard it, even if he was asleep. There was no time to waste after all. Luckily for him though, it seemed like Chihiro had already been awake since the door opened only moments later.
And there stood Chihiro, rubbing his eyes a bit as he groggily looked at Byakuya. While he was already clothed, it was clear he hadn’t woken up too long ago. “What i-is it?” He asked, a hint of nervousness present in his voice. It was almost like he thought something bad had happened.
“Wake Sayaka up, we’re leaving,” Byakuya answered simply, already turning around so Chihiro couldn’t get a word in. He did not want to wait and answer questions, he just wanted to go. And by doing this he made sure that no time would be wasted on answering some pointless question.
Unfortunately, that didn’t work. Instead of listening to him, Byakuya heard Chihiro’s footsteps behind him, which was in the complete opposite direction of Sayaka’s room. He was following Byakuya. “L-leave, to where? Did something happen? What about the fossil lab?” Chihiro asked, all of the questions spewing out of his mouth quickly. Based on the way he stuttered a bit; it was clear that he was nervous. No- worried.
“We don’t have time for that. I want to get my second gym badge as soon as possible,” He answered before swiftly turning his head around and levelling a glare at Chihiro. “So, we are going to Cyllage City. And we’re going to do that today.”
“And I will not repeat myself again, go get Sayaka. There’s no time for waiting around,” Byakuya continued, every syllable he spoke being harsh and cold. Not that he cared- he just wanted to get out of here.
For a moment, it looked like Chihiro had something to say, like he was foolishly going to argue with Byakuya. Now, that wouldn’t have been something Byakuya was looking forward to. He had no time for arguments, not if he wanted to reach Cyllage City today. But in the end, Chihiro just nodded, “Okay… I’ll get her then…” He said before finally doing as he was told and leaving Byakuya alone.
While he wasn’t exactly happy at himself for behaving this way, it was needed. Besides, it wasn’t like these two were his friends- he didn’t do friends. Not anymore. The fact that they were part of his group did not mean the three of them were friends.
“Lar? Vesta?” A voice asked from below him. As Byakuya looked down at his bug, he let out a sigh. He… wasn’t looking forward to this, but he supposed he had to wait for Sayaka and Chihiro to arrive anyways. He could talk to Larvesta while walking. It wasn’t as if he cared that it might be seen as weird- he was Byakuya Togami.
“I’m agitated, nothing more,” Byakuya replied as he slowed down a bit so Larvesta could keep up with him. While big, the pokémon wasn’t exactly the fastest. “I don’t want Kirigiri to get ahead of me. We’re both competing in the Gym Challenge, so I should get my second badge as soon as possible.”
Larvesta tilted her head. “Larves?”
“No, they haven’t planned anything. Chihiro has nothing to plan and there aren’t any Showcases happening right now for Sayaka. At least, not as far as I’m aware,” He answered, his voice softening as he spoke. He couldn’t be mad at Larvesta, it wasn’t like she had done anything wrong. “If anything, there’s no reason for us to stay. While the fossil lab would’ve been interesting, we can always come back.”
“Ves-” The bug began but she stopped once two people came approaching- Chihiro and Sayaka. Together with their pokémon of course.
But with them here, it meant that there truly was no reason for them to stick around. They could finally leave and get moving. It would still be quite a walk to the gym after all, though that didn’t mean it was impossible. While Byakuya wasn’t entirely sure, it did look like Route 8 was a bit shorter than some of the other routes, so if they moved fast enough, they would have no problem with arriving before the gym was closed.
That way Byakuya could get his second gym badge today, which was obviously the best thing that could happen. He didn’t want to wait any longer after all, even if that meant he didn’t get the best training with his pokémon. They could train during the gym battle or after, Byakuya doubted it would matter much. He did already have a new pokémon after all and Larvesta had managed to complete the first gym all on her own.
“There you are,” Byakuya greeted, the annoyance that had previously been in his voice now gone for the most part. He sounded much more polite than irritated. “I hope Chihiro brought you up to speed, Sayaka. If not, we can talk while walking,” He said before turning around and starting to walk away, just like he had done only moments prior. Both of them followed him of course.
Sayaka smiled at him, with her Sewaddle sitting on her shoulder- leaning against the crook of her neck to be more exact- while Popplio walked next to her. “He did! Guess you’re all ready to face the second gym then, hm?” She asked with a tilt of her head, seemingly not bothered by this change at all. Good.
“Yes. We’ve waited long enough already. Any more time we spend here is useless, so it’s time we go,” Byakuya explained, his voice harsh but not exactly annoyed. He didn’t want to come off as annoyed to Sayaka, she had done nothing to deserve it after all. Even if she just was annoying at times, she hadn’t even questioned him.
“Alright then!” Sayaka responded, still with a smile on her face. Byakuya’s words didn’t even seem to faze her- her eyes were as bright as always. “Guess it means I have more time to practice on-site then!”
What…? Don’t say-
“I mean, I have never actually seen a showcase before, so that is going to be nice! Maybe we can try and see if we can take a good look around the building once you’re done with your battle!” She continued, seemingly unbothered by the look Byakuya was giving her.
Seems like she is…
Maybe she had told him and Byakuya had simply forgotten, or this truly was the first time he was hearing of this, but he sure had no memory of this. But it didn’t matter much- the showcase would happen after his battle. Byakuya would have time for that then, not to mention that it was only fair.
He hummed in response, a bit impatience, “We’ll see. But let’s go, we might have a long walk ahead of us,” The blond said, speeding up his pace a bit now that he was done talking. There was no reason for him to stay walking that slow after all.
Luckily for him, the others also sped up without even complaining a bit. Maybe they had realized just how important this was to him, though he couldn’t tell for sure. Either way, they didn’t try to bother him at all.
The only thing they did was whisper to each other- well, it was a bit louder than whispering but soft enough that Byakuya couldn’t hear it. He doubted that it was on purpose though since from what Byakuya had noticed Chihiro always talked a bit softly. And while Sayaka wasn’t like that, she most likely just had adjusted to his volume.
Not that Byakuya cared- if anything he was glad that he couldn’t hear them. The silence was nice and definitely something which Byakuya needed. It allowed him to just think with nothing in the way. And when he had a gym battle coming up, that was a particularly good thing to be able to do.
He had a type disadvantage after all. And that wasn’t even helped by the moves his pokémon had, which meant that he had to get creative. And while that wasn’t something that was incredibly hard to do, he had to make sure his plan was failproof. He couldn’t risk making any mistakes, not if he wanted to win.
But he could easily do that- he had to. He could make use of Larvesta’s String Shot like he had done previously and of Eevee’s Sand Attack. Those things would allow him an easier way to attack, which in turn would make the fact that he didn’t have any super-effective moves against the gym leader a bit better. Though, he also didn’t have any normally effective moves… That would definitely make the battle harder, but far from impossible. Byakuya wouldn’t give up so easily after all.
He could do this, just like last time.
It would merely just be a bit more difficult, that was all. And difficult did not mean impossible, not for Byakuya at least. He was going to win, and he wouldn’t let something as small as pokémon types stop that from happening.
“We’re here!” Sayaka suddenly said, snapping Byakuya out of his thoughts. It didn’t take him long to realize what she meant though- they had arrived in Cyllage City, well almost arrived. The city was just down the hill they were standing on, but they had quite a beautiful view from here.
The town did seem to be on the older side, with most of the houses being made of the same old stone. Though, there were some buildings like the pokécenter and what seemed to be a hotel that were much more modern. That made sense though, it was a city that held a gym, so things were going to get renovated all the time, especially buildings that mattered to trainers.
Though, there was one very obvious modern building, one that looked a bit like an arena, but was closed off at the top. With the information Byakuya already had, it wasn’t hard to guess what the building was for- the pokémon showcase.
Byakuya couldn’t see the gym building though. Maybe he was simply too far away for that, but he saw no such building between the beach and the hills. He supposed he would see it as soon as he was close enough.
“A-and in time too!” Chihiro said in an equally excited voice, turning his head to look at Byakuya. “You can still have your battle today!”
He hummed, “That I can. All we need to do is actually find the gym first,” He said as he started to walk again, which made Chihiro and Sayaka quickly follow him.
The three of them- together with their pokémon that weren’t in their pokéballs- walked down the hill and into the town. While they could ask a local for the placement of the gym, Byakuya wanted to do that himself. He didn’t need any help after all.
In a matter of a few minutes- maybe twenty at most- he had found the gym entrance. It was quite creatively placed since the entrance was at the foot of one of the hills. The gym itself was in the hill. Irt was quite a creative placement, especially for a rock type gym. It truly leaned into the pokémon type.
But… enough marvelling about the entrance.
He had come here for a reason after all, and he certainly wasn’t going to waste any more time. So, with a determined look on his face he stepped through the entrance, ready to get his second gym badge.