Adventures Beyond!

Chapter 63: Dragon Disciples

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Metro PKMN Center, Sinnoh

Inhaling sharply, Dawn pushed her feet into the ground and bounced into the air, avoiding a Flamethrower shot out by another Pokémon. Once she landed on the ground once more, she looked up at who she was facing. Standing across from her a short distance away was a Vulpix, who huffed a small cloud of smoke out of her nose upon realizing that her attack didn't land.

The Buneary's eyes narrowed as she used Quick Attack to swiftly close the gap between them, delivering a high-velocity kick to the Vulpix's gut and sending her flying back into the wall. This seemed to be enough to end the battle, as when the Vulpix hit the ground, Dawn was able to see the swirls in her eyes, signaling that she had lost the battle.

Her body began to relax as she left the battle area of the Pokémon Center, planning to grab herself something to drink in the expansive Cafe area the building had to offer. After all, thanks to her training, she had more than enough money to splurge on some refreshments. Walking toward the exit, Dawn exhaled, completely calming her nerves.

Ever since finding her way to the Metro City Pokémon Center, Dawn had been devoting the majority of her time training to prepare for the upcoming Ion Cup. When coming into the city, she was confident that she had at least a little bit of standing in terms of strength, but after getting forcefully humbled by a Dragonite, who didn't even try too hard to beat her in an instant, she realized she needed to train herself harder. Not just to eventually beat the Dragonite, but also to ensure that she'd be strong enough to deal with threats like her when participating in the Ion Cup.

Despite all of her training, though, it was never enough. She hadn't come across any Pokémon as strong as the Dragonite was. She had a challenge here and there, but never anything like she had encountered that day. It was a level of power she was unable to touch, and unable to observe to try and imitate. That left her to wonder how she'd be able to improve if she never got the chance to fight individuals like the Dragonite.

Eventually, Dawn found her way to the public Cafe within the Pokémon Center. The Buneary quickly found herself a seat and flopped down into it, still a bit tired from the previous battle. She could feel a faint pain rising in her ankle. She probably had been more affected by the heat from the Flamethrower shot at her than she initially assumed. Wincing in pain, the Buneary made a mental note to stop by the small shopping area for some medicinal items.

Once the pain from her ankle faded enough for her to focus on other thoughts, she found her mind wandering back to her battle with Jacob back in Forest Grotto. An anticlimactic outcome for a battle she had been trying to have since she left her home city. All of that chasing around just for a lucky well-placed punch to her chin to knock her out. One that she should've easily avoided. After that fight, she hadn't seen him since. But knowing they both were in the World Cup, they were sure to cross paths once more somewhere down the line.

That little grudge that was born from feeling humiliated in her own battle arena spun into a realization that she constantly found herself facing from the moment she departed from her home. While she knew a lot of moves, and was quite gutsy for someone her size, she was still her size when everything was said and done. She was essentially a glass cannon, unable to handle heavy blows without finding herself incapacitated. It's already happened before. It could easily happen again.

"Um... Excuse me, miss?"

The Buneary perked up upon hearing the unfamiliar feminine voice beside her table.

"Huh? What?" Dawn turned to look at who had spoken, meeting the eyes of a confused Absol, who cocked her head to the side once she realized the Normal-Type was looking back at her, "What?"