Pokemon Heroes: Sinnoh Saga [Book 1]

Chapter 49: The Battle n' Breakfast

"It wasn't easy leaving Solaceon Town. We had grown accustomed to the comforts of a warm bed, hot showers and warm meals made for us daily. That was one of the hardest parts of stopping in cities when we travelled; we got too comfortable and kept forgetting we had to leave. Maybe that's why we chose to stay at the Battle n' Breakfast on Route 210. It was far from a normal experience though. At the end of your stay, the owner offered an optional challenge to every guest. The challenge of a Pokémon Battle; two on two. If you could defeat him, or if he was particularly impressed by your skills, as a Trainer your stay was half off. To me, I never took the challenge for the money. I did it for the thrill and the challenge. There was something about a Pokémon Battle that's just exhilarating for me; and it doesn't hurt to test your skills once and a while."

Sam looked expectantly at the back door of the motel.

The group had spent a night at the Battle n' Breakfast. A small little place on Route 210, nearby where Route 210 converged with Route 215. It wasn't world famous, but to those who knew it, the place was infamous. It was one of the few places that allowed people to battle for their bill. The Battle n' Breakfast gave anyone who stayed there the option to battle the owner of the small motel, or any of his family members. If the challenger beat the house, they got half off their bill. If they lost, they paid the full bill.

Sam thought it was a worthy opportunity—to him, he didn't care whether or not he paid less or more on the bill. That part of the challenge was inconsequential. What really drew Sam to the challenge was the chance to test himself against other Trainers. Most of Sam's battles were against his friends or Wild Pokémon. He'd only twice fought a Gym Leader, and once the current Sinnoh League Champion. Rarely did Sam have a chance to battle passing Trainers, but now he had his moment and he wasn't going to let it slide.

Very few people had ever defeated the owner or his family in a Pokémon Battle. "Only a handful" was what the brochure advertised. Apparently, the family was descended of one of the first Sinnoh League Champions. A worthy bloodline, and according to eyewitness accounts; they battled like they were vying for the title themselves.

Sam had heard stories about a similar family in the Hoenn Region, the Winstrate Family. Perhaps one-day Sam would have the chance to fight them also. But for now, he remained calm and did his best to focus on the fight at hand.

He and his friends sat behind the motel at the small battlefield that had been set up for these kinds of occasions. Sam had waited two hours for Nurse Joy to be driven up from Solaceon Town so that she could referee the match. Apparently, the on-site referee had been away this week, on his annual vacation.

The waiting only made Sam more anxious though, and he had started pacing.

"Will you sit down?" demanded Niya; "You're going to wear a hole in the ground. Besides, if you keep worrying you'll psyche yourself out and you'll definitely lose."

Sam didn't respond, but simply shrugged and grunted, acknowledging that Niya spoke, but not if he had heard what she said or not.

Niya threw her hands up in the air and resigned herself. "If you get this nervous about an insignificant little match like this, I can only imagine how nervous you'll be when you have to fight Valentina," she declared.

Jeremy laughed, "He'll probably be frozen with fear and we'll have to wheel him out to the match on a dolly."

Sam frowned and turned his back on his friends, ignoring their jokes. Sam wasn't so much nervous about the results as he was about his own skill. Was it good enough? Was he where he had to be? Was this going to be the defeat that Fantina had talked about when he met her? No, no. He had to calm down.