If you wanna read ahead of my stories, you can check out the advanced chapters on my subcribestar, at the same username - 0Jordinio0
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But it wasn't just Serena and her friends either. There were two others that caught my eye. One being Remo. I remember him from the Mega Evolution special where he got trounced by Alain. And then he returned for the Kalos League only to get trounced by Alain, losing his entire time to his busted Mega Charizard X.
The other…
My eyes drifted to a tree in my path, where an attractive blonde in a purple jacket and purple skirt stood, back to it, arms crossed watching me as I walked by.
Astrid.
"That was quite impressive," she nodded, "That Steelix of yours was gorgeous."
Did she position herself like that to look cool?
Well whatever.
"Thanks," I nodded, "You in this tournament too?"
"Hmm, no," Astrid shook her head, giving a small shrug, "I just heard a certain someone would be taking part and came to stoke him out. He's a favourite for the Kalos League this year after all, and I wanted to scope him out." as she said that, her eyes pointedly glanced over the the massive boisterous form of Remo.
He was huh?
Well, I guess with no Ash or Alain to stomp on him, Remo was actually a powerful trainer. I suppose it wasn't fair to think of him as a non entity for losing to Alain. He and Ash were champion level trainers by the time they battled in the Lumiose Conference.
I knew of course he had a Garchomp he could mega evolve, but I wasn't expecting him to have a Goodra as well.
Quite impressive actually.
Too bad for him, I was here for this tournament and as such, his chances were zero.
She looked back at me, "I wasn't expecting Jord Odhar of all people to turn up here though, it really was worth my time coming here," Astrid pushed off of the tree and walked a few steps over to me. Her forehead only reached the bridge of my nose, "You seem to have grown through a bit of a growth spurt in the last three months since your battle with Champion Lance."
She wasn't wrong. I'd grown a good four inches in the last three months, and bulked up even further. The Crown Tundra was rough, and I'd trained myself to the limits with my pokemon.
Bea certainly pushed me hard. Her and Klara together made sure my time there wasn't boring at least.
I hadn't expected either of them when I went there, can't say I'm complaining though.
"You saw that, huh?" I mused.
"Few real trainers haven't," she shook her head, pressing a finger under my chin, tilting my head up and inspecting my face. I raised a brow, and her smile widened, "Your battle against Champion Lance was broadcasted practically over the entire world and shocked many. For a boy, starting early as you have, and only three months into his journey at the time, battling so well against the Champion of both Kanto and Johto…well, shocking is putting it lightly."
"Lance was going easy on us." I shrugged, reaching up and gently pushing her hand away from my chin
"Perhaps, but the fact your pokemon were capable of dealing such damage to his pokemon, and bringing two of them down speaks of your incredible potential as a trainer," Astrid hummed, dropping her arm with a light laugh, "The question I'm wondering about now though, is - are you going to be competing in the Kalos League? There are only two months until the next one, but considering your skill and abilities two months is more than enough time for you to gather eight badges."
It was.
"Nah, I'm here for something else," I shrugged, before smirking at her, "Do I intimidate you that much, Astrid?"
She blinked, before her eyes widened a bit, "You know me?" she asked, jaw dropping.
"I always do my research into wherever I go, and keep track of the strongest trainers with the most potential," I replied, "You were one of the stand outs amongst the current active Kalos trainers."
And I wasn't even lying. If Ash and Alain weren't there, the winner of the Lumiose Conference in that other timeline, would have been between her, Remo or Sawyer.
Her cheeks flushed red, but a pleased smile spread across her face, "Well it seems, I'm doing something right then," Astrid flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder, "Another question if you would?"
"Fire away." I shrugged.
"Would you be open to trading your Steelix?" she asked.
It was my turn to blink in surprise.
That, I wasn't expecting.
His first debut, and not even ten minutes later people were already trying to trade for him, huh? I suppose it makes sense. He was a gorgeous one of a kind pokemon after all that looked like he was formed from pure gem stones.
But beyond even that.
There will be even more offers when it gets out that Steelix isn't at all like normal Steelix. For one, he is an Ice and Steel type. Secondly, he has an ability no other Steelix I've ever heard of has had.
Storm Drain. Making him completely immune to water type attacks. Not just that, he was completely capable of submerging in bodies of water and swimming despite his massive size and weight. And after being hit by a water type attack, or while in water, Steelix's power was massively increased.
I opened my mouth to reply, but before I could-
"Woah, now little lady! Don't butt in line!" Remo shouted as he stomped his way over.
What?
"Ignore this little girl, instead boy! You should trade that Steelix to me!" Remo jabbed a thumb at his chest. Before flashing my a meaty thumbs up, "I'll pay top poke-dollar for it! Or perhaps you'd be more interested in one of my own incredible pokemon! I have a Gabite that would make a fair trade, no? Trained by me after all, so it will be much more powerful than your Steelix!"