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Another day in the Shoal Caves.[break][break]

She does not struggle to descend. This time, the Sergeant is wary of the wet patches that could be so deceptive in the low lights of this cavern.[break][break]

A capsule is in her hand. Even if her eyes strained to see what was in front of her, she was staying attuned to her surroundings, listening for a disturbance that would signal the start of battle.

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She accepted it.[break][break]

“You made me work for it,” and somehow, that fight had felt far longer than it actually was. The Sergeant gave a firm handshake, using her spare hand to return Kapow back to the depths of his capsule. “Let's have a rematch sometime.”[break][break]

Who knew what the future would bring?

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Into the depths—or so the gym was structured as the Sergeant followed a path that cut through the dark.[break][break]

A gym dedicated to facing demons, but Bailey Cooper was familiar with them; a victory star that came to these battles to dominate, not to change. She knew where she stood—knew the thrum of battle as a war drum that beat in her own chest. [break][break]

Maybe, she knew it too well.[break][break]

Fight or be destroyed—it was her own challenge, her own wall, that she left for those she challenged to overcome. There was no mercy in her arena. There was no lesson to be learned. Some pokemon trainers knew everything that they would ever need to know.[break][break]

Bailey Cooper was in this echelon, even if it was overlooked. [break][break]

This was not pursued for a badge or for a chance to improve. Each badge on her chest represented a journey—a pilgrimage deeper into the chaos of battle where her pokemon could reciprocate in kind. Battling was her outlet, and they were growing eager to prove themselves in these encounters.[break][break]

First, it had been done in the frustrations that came with mourning. Now, it came because it was familiar. It came because it had been what her life epitomized.[break][break]

Pokemon Trainers fought because they had something to chase—something to prove.[break][break]

She chased the mark on her chest, wondering if there would ever be a time where the fire would burn hot enough to finally fill the hole that it had created—a hole that she had always carried, where no drink, no love, and no purpose could ever seem to fill it.[break][break]

A victory star could never be satisfied.[break][break]

“Yo!” She would shout into a dark and empty space. “Just the traditional stuff, alright? I don't want anybody poking in my head. Shit's private.”[break][break]

Three capsules on her waist. “I'm feelin' like singles today, if you don't mind.”

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She was done with the french fries.[break][break]

When the Silph heir reached out a hand to have his share, she passed it to him. Sometimes, drinking could enhance the appetite... but, other times, it could leave the Sergeant with a queasiness that would only pass when the alcohol successfully found its way into her system; for now, it bubbled as she pushed forward her second empty cup.[break][break]

Did she overdo it? No. Not quite.[break][break]

Slow down or go all in? “Mhm,” and she hummed in agreement, too lazy to find the words.[break][break]

This would be the moment she would remember when Mossdeep was engulfed in flames—when she was burning alive from the inside out. It would not compare to the burn that she felt, but the girl hungered for the future—not understanding what it was or why she would want it.[break][break]

Sometimes, people wanted the things that they never knew existed.[break][break]

“Where you staying for the night? It's starting to get late,” but she had no intention of stopping—this was his chance to escape.

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She could hear the competition from a block away.[break][break]

Bailey Cooper held a hand to her brow, trying to cut the sun's rays as she stared at the rolling waves that washed onshore; the beach already overcrowded and spilling into the street—it was the most amount of activity this city had seen in months.[break][break]

It felt strange to wander back into Slateport after everything that had happened, but this wasn't the time to think back on that bullshit. No one wanted to be a debbie downer—not when they were serving margaritas in fishbowls with salt on the rim.[break][break]

The woman stretched, trying to ease her mind into the moment and forget all the stupid baggage. It was time to have fun. Time to soak up some rays. Time to eat shit on camera for an entire region to see—her bubblegum bubble burst when that thought crossed her mind.[break][break]

Fuck. Don't look like a fool, Cooper.

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The desperate hydro pump hit its mark.[break][break]

Kapow landed back to the ground, just in time for the pressurized stream of water to be shot in his direction. Rather than dodge, rather than try his luck to try and back away, the stubborn dragon dug his claws into the softened earth that the rain had saturated.[break][break]

He braced himself.[break][break]

On all fours, brass claws entrenched in mud, he bowed his head and let the water compact and collide against the heart-shaped scale that his race was renown for.[break][break]

And then, he pushed. One claw at a time, digging and ripping up the earth as he would scale across the battlefield, refusing to let the immense force push him aside—his water resistance showing its colors as he gritted his teeth.[break][break]

outrage broiled, keeping him from acknowledging the pain as he finally lunged to try and seal the deal—swinging with a punch that was brimming from all the power he had gathered.

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Fidget made short work of their opponent.[break][break]

The Solrock crashed back down to earth, having been driven to the point of unconsciousness from the repeated strikes of the Decidueye's elongated leaf blades.[break][break]

Still, it had been a good battle, and Bailey conceded when she reached a hand to her waist and threw an empty capsule.

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There was nothing they could do.[break][break]

“Be better than them,” and the Sergeant would shrug. “There's plenty of things I'm bad at—battling isn't one of them. That's all there is to it.” Some people have it, and some people don't.[break][break]

Another stab into her fries. “I could sit here all night and tell someone my trade secrets, but it'd just be a waste if they don't have the knack for it. Especially if they never bother to practice or seek to get better,” she would have to pinch off the long string of cheese that refused to snap off from the plate of food.[break][break]

“If someone doesn't have it, then I'll just kick their ass—that's the game. Either get good or get stomped,” and the only way to get good was to get stomped in the first place.[break][break]

It was cruel, but it was real.[break][break]

“Nothing I can do to make that process any easier.”

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Shoal Cave chilled her to the bone.[break][break]

The Sergeant almost slipped on the wet rocks as she descended into the depths, wondering why she bothered risking the chance of busting her ass to come down to this place.[break][break]

For the pokemon, she reminded herself, as she tried to watch her footing.

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She was forged in blood and sweat, but never tears.[break][break]

Bailey Cooper raised her head, listening to Mateo's words even if her eyes never strayed from the pokemon egg—it would be impossible to look him in the eye, when he was saying so many wonderful things that no one had ever uttered to her before. A hero? A champion?[break][break]

She had been one step away from being a high school dropout—a kid with no prospects. She became a cop because that was an option that people like her were supposed to take; Dumb kids with no prospects, who would lay down their lives for some higher purpose because there was nothing else they could offer.[break][break]

Her throat constricted.[break][break]

“I... think I get it now.” She could clear her throat, just to shove down what he had almost unearthed. If she were a smoldering pile of ash, then his words had been the gentle coaxing of tinder. “Why people keep talking about you. I didn't get it at first, but I do now.”[break][break]

Then, she would avert her gaze back to him. “You're a good guy, Mateo. I think I needed to hear that,” and finally, finally, the Sergeant would smile.[break][break]

There was a sound; a crackle, as if their eggs were ready to hatch.[break][break]

“Oh shit! Oh shit!” and just like that, the tender moment was lost as she spun on her ass to see what would emerge.

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