MATURE: Nori Carino: Abyssal Despair

[Juliko]

Emi, I'm pretty sure your description of how you even found Nori counts as stalking. Damn, she's vindictive. Good thing Chad has some sense and called her out for her idiocy. I'm glad Nori decided to do the smart thing and not put Qwilfish in a battle right off. Considering how traumatized she is, a battle would only make things worse. Can't wait to read more!

 

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Even though Nori isn't a traditional Pokémon protagonist trying to build a full team (at least) for some competitive purpose circumstances sure love getting him into battles with people who are.

Well I hardly adhere to competitive in the games sense. Even though Pachi is in-part inspired by the god championship Pachirisu. It certainly puts him in a bit of a unique spot though compared to some who try to balance their catches more.

Emi, I'm pretty sure your description of how you even found Nori counts as stalking. Damn, she's vindictive. Good thing Chad has some sense and called her out for her idiocy. I'm glad Nori decided to do the smart thing and not put Qwilfish in a battle right off. Considering how traumatized she is, a battle would only make things worse. Can't wait to read more!

- I prefer to think of how she found Nori as knowing where he lives because well-known. Then using reverse sexual harassment or something to get info out of someone.
- Chad's problem, at least now, is more that Emi might have screwed up his arrangement with Nori rather than her going after him in the first place. You probably got that Emi was trying to keep it from him, though.
- Qwilfish is also sort of knocked out, and there's the whole water conundrum, so he couldn't put her in a battle even if he wanted to.

 

[System Error]

A crowd of about a dozen people had gathered to watch from outside the cage. Nori knew full well that many more would be drawn here by the time this was over. He eyed them and opened his ears to listen, but their whispered gossip was unintelligible. Not that it mattered what they thought. If they turned out to hate him as much as Emi because of his new assignment, they were about to be very disappointed.

Emi turned to Chad expectantly. “When you’re ready,” the blond teenager said with a shrug.

The Demon took that as the cue to sprint into action. “Sa–” Emi had started to say after being given the go-ahead, only to have to shout, “Mega Kick!” upon seeing her Pokemon was just about to be attacked. Her orders came far too late, but her Pokemon started it midway through the first syllable anyway. The Demon came to a dead stop, ducked underneath what turned out to be a roundhouse, and performed a partial front-flip, retaliating by driving her own feet into the Rock-type’s backside.

Pachi cheered and hopped as the dinosaur-like Pokemon went stumbling away. Nori was right there directing the follow-up. “Once more.”

They were in the perfect spot for another blow to the back. Nori didn’t expect Emi to do nothing though, and she immediately said, “Bulldoze and get some distance.”

The Rhydon didn’t even try to dodge the second Double Kick; as the Demon spun around to strike like a mule, all he did was plant his feet firmly to avoid being knocked to the ground. After enduring it, he slammed a foot of his own into the ground, generating a short-ranged earthshaking shockwave. The teal beast rode it out while snarling, never taking her eyes off her frantically escaping foe.

“Playing mindlessly aggressive, are we?” Emi turned her nose up and rolled her eyes. Her Pokemon had a moment to catch his breath as he turned around.

Nori ignored her criticism. “Let’s get some poison in him,” he countered. That would set the clock on this.

She pointed as the Demon took off. “Drill Run the bastard.”

Nori lightly exhaled, then watched closely. He had to thank the Gym Trainers at Sunyshore for this one. Watch for cues. When he saw the Rhydon was indeed cloaking himself in energy and spinning his drill instead of spinning himself, he shouted, “Get the legs! Like before!”

Emi crossed her arms. “Of all the stupid–” Her narrowed gaze quickly turned into a seething glare. “What the FUCK?”

It didn’t go quite as Nori or the Demon planned in their minds, probably because of that Bulldoze. But she still managed to sidestep enough to avoid a direct hit and trip up her much larger foe by throwing herself into him. Nori was hoping for like, a flashy spinning leg grab and leaping over top to deliver the Poison Jab! Whatever worked.

The Demon rolled underneath to avoid being crushed by the falling Pokemon. Emi quickly said, “Hit her with your tail, Rhydon!”

So no nickname after all. “Climb over and Poison Jab,” he retaliated. While the rhinoceros Pokemon did carry out Emi’s command, the Demon was too quick and too skilled. She jumped over the swishing tail and onto her foe’s back. Then, all in one motion, she performed a spinning flip, hit her opponent in the eye while mid-jump – her front left paw steeped in a purple glow as she thrust it out – and darted away as she landed.

The crowd cheered the flashy maneuver. Chad’s eyes went wide. Pachi was squealing and hopping like a cheerleader might. Nori frowned just a little. It didn’t seem like the poison took hold.

Emi, to her credit, was laser-focused. “Rock Blast!”

Nori tried to shout a warning, the Demon tried to avoid, but Rhydon had some speed of his own. He spat out a series of stones which expanded as they went. One, two, three, four, and the fifth hit awkwardly and sent the Demon into a stagger.

“Okay, we finally have some time to fucking breathe,” she said, flicking her hair. “Rhydon, Sandstorm!”

With a roar, a stream of sand billowed out from the Pokemon’s body, enveloping the battlefield in a dust storm. Mercifully for the onlookers, Rhydon had enough control to contain it to within the cage for the most part. Only a few stray grains managed to escape and did not get that far. Nori glanced down at Pachi, who shook vigorously and pumped his arms with a nod. The squirrel shouted what Nori presumed was encouragement to the Demon.

“Emi, there are other Pokemon out!” Chad shrieked at her, his head instantly going to his own partner perched above, who was wincing a little. Nori was unfazed. It was really just something you had to deal with.

“Then they should be in their damn balls!” she instantly snipped back before making an irritated grumble. “Shit, that thing is strong.” The Demon took the compliment by standing up and beckoning for Rhydon to keep coming. He didn’t take the bait.

“Theodore, fly down!” Chad shouted. The Noctowl wasted no time in swooping to the ground outside, away from the dust. The blond teenager sighed, then shook his head at his friend. “The Demon is very high level, Emi.”

“Duh! We’ll need strategy!” She turned back to the action. “And I know just what to do. Rhydon, THUNDER DOWN!”

Their audience gasped in awe. Nori did too, he had never heard of a Rhydon using special attacks! A lot of the onlookers were right up against the fence in marvel, ignorant to the potential danger. But Nori knew better than that.

“Wait for it,” he instructed, calmly yet firmly. “And dodge away from the cage.”

Thunder worked by calling down lightning from above, often generating a storm cloud for it to emerge from. It was inaccurate, but training and certain factors could help it hit. The Demon kept her eyes to the skies for the telltale signs, only for it to materialize above Rhydon. She instinctively evaded anyway as it harmlessly crashed down upon their foe?

Nori looked over with a smirk, only to find Emi’s expression hadn’t changed. Once their eyes met, she pinched her lips until they were as thin as a knife edge.

“That’s it. Now, Water Gun!”

He tried to ready himself, but once the huge stream of fluid rose out of the Rock-type’s maw, Nori flinched and shut his eyes. The realization struck him as he instinctively threw his arms over his head. That must have been Lightning Rod! She used her own attack to empower her Pokemon’s special moves! Only something external worked for that, and a Thunder was one of the things that did. Stupid! He trained at an Electric Gym! He should've known that right away!

He didn’t see, but he heard. A spray of water hitting pavement, and from Pachi’s cheers, the Demon had dodged. Nori chanced a look back, only to cringe as a second blast came out and got her. It hurt her far less than it hurt him.

“Why does it have Water moves?!” he screamed. He rubbed his eyes to get the tears and some sand out. Pachi patted his leg in comfort.

“To scare you!” she declared, raising a finger. That wasn’t the reason! Okay, he knew someone who did that just to scare him, but that was with Pokemon that did well with those moves!

Chad was there to give a more reasonable answer. “Training with water builds up minor resilience. Besides which, Emi trained her Rhydon with some special moves as a surprise tactic.”

“And here’s some more for you!” the auburn-haired teenager cackled. “Thunder again!”

“Go!” Nori yelled, suppressing a sniffle. “Get them!” The Demon was more than happy to, lowering her head as she sprinted at Rhydon.

Again, the storm cloud materialized over the one who used the move. But the rhino raised his head and spun his horn as the bolt came down. Then it changed direction. There was an ear-splitting crack and blinding flash as it redirected onto the soaked Demon. Her roars of pain cut through the air. Pachi screeched in worry. It was swift and brutal.

The crowd cheered raucously, some outright applauding Emi. But all Nori could focus on was his Pokemon. Her legs were shaking. Was that paralysis setting in?!

“This is over!” Emi flicked her hair with a pair of fingers and pointed with a scowl. “Rhydon, DRILL RUN!”

“Demon!” he shouted a warning. She looked up just in time to see what was about to happen. Nori saw a flash of purple right before she was smashed into. She was sent flying into the cage, where she bounced off and flopped to the ground.

Did she hit? Rhydon showed no signs of poisoning. But it wouldn’t matter if she was out. When two seconds passed with her only making subtle movements, Emi harrumphed and turned to Chad. “It’s done, call it,” she told him.

“It’s not done yet!” Nori protested. He wasn’t going to let another dumb premature call from these people beat him!

Pachi took a couple steps out in front, shouting something intricate at the Demon while pointing at Emi. She hobbled up and grumbled angrily at her ally. Pachi just giggled and took whatever she said in stride.

Chad smirked and crossed his arms. “Yes, it appears it isn’t,” he said.

“Oh, that’s sweet,” the teenager snarked. “But you need to face reality. Rhydon?” Her Pokemon raised a foot in anticipation of her command. “Bulldoze!”

Well, they put them in position to counter that. Plus as long as they were there, he was sure Emi wouldn’t use another Drill Run. They built the cages to withstand stray attacks, but that was too much. “Cling to the cage, my Demon.”

She did so with a quick hop, ignoring the shockwave entirely. Nori breathed an internal sigh of relief. No paralysis after all if she was that quick on the draw. Maybe he couldn’t think of crazy strategy, but you couldn’t overlook simple stuff! Besides, this was a trap on his behalf. If she called for Thunder…

“In that case,” Emi flicked her hair. “Stone Edge, at range!”

Okay, that wasn’t what he wanted! “Uh, climb?” The Demon effortlessly scaled the mesh as Rhydon slammed a fist into the ground. A jagged rock protruded from the earth. It missed by over a meter. But Thunder would be dangerous now!

Thankfully, the Demon realized it too. She leaped off onto the rock and right off before it dissipated into nothing. She made it to the safety of the ground.

Emi was rubbing her hands together until that happened. “At least one of you’s smart,” she didn’t miss a beat.

“I knew Thunder was coming!” he fired back.

“Sure you did,” she wiggled a hand. As the Demon broke into a full sprint, she pointed and ordered, “Rock Blast!”

Nori clenched his fists. Did she think that little of him?! He’d show her! “Let’s win this,” he growled. The Demon’s ears twitched and she flashed her fangs. No better time to test out it than in a real battle! “With a spinning death attack.”

His words naturally confounded everyone but the Demon and Pachi. As she sidestepped the first shot, a malefic aura enveloped her front claws. With a mighty twirling leap, the Demon turned into a tornado of black and teal heading straight for Rhydon. Emi shouted for Drill Run, but the bipedal rhino barely started spinning his horn before he was savaged by the super Shadow Claw. He stumbled back, clutching where the Demon made impact with his stubby arms.

Nori leaped into the air, raising a fist with a “Yes!” It worked even better than he thought! The crowd raved at the flashy yet powerful strike; even Chad’s mouth fell agape. Pachi squealed in joy over it, jumping a second after his trainer.

Emi clenched her fists. “Don’t get cocky! Rhydon–”

Before she could even get another word out, the Demon crouched, lowered her head, and slammed into her opponent’s underbelly. As he was knocked prone, the Demon got to her hind legs and glanced back. “Earth Power,” Nori confirmed.

Emi looked square at Nori. She clenched her fists, pouted her lips, and turned away. “Water Gun!”

It was nothing but spite and everyone knew it, her Pokemon included. Maybe that was why he aimed it in Nori’s general direction instead of even making the attempt to shoot at the Demon. The boy yelped and nearly tripped as it passed a few meters from his midsection. It didn’t hit him, not even close, but the onlookers who were a little too close had to scatter. It was to Nori’s relief – and he didn’t doubt their relief either – that it only lasted half a second before Rhydon was engulfed by a scintillating ring of glowing dirt.

“I think that’s it,” Nori threw back at her once the spectacle faded, compounded by the sandstorm grinding to a halt. Rhydon made a vain effort to reach a hand out and push himself up, only for it to drop. With a snort, the Demon jumped atop his unconscious form and roared to the skies in victory.

“I think so too,” Chad agreed, giving an informal ruling on the battle.

“Yeah, yeah,” Emi grumbled. “You win this round. Gotta admit, you’re good. Even if you suck at naming stuff.” She snorted and rolled her eyes. “Spinning death attack.”

He was about to fuss that he couldn’t think of anything better when she began to clap. So did Chad and the onlookers. There was even plenty of cheering, which gave Nori hope that maybe things wouldn’t be so bad.

As the applause died down, his opponent smirked. “But I hope you’re ready for next time.”

Of course the compliment would come with something else. “What do you mean, next time?” The Demon glanced over at her, beckoning with a paw while placing the other on Rhydon’s face as he was coming to. Pachi also stepped out, sparks crackling from his cheeks.

“Oh, when you’re ready to have your murderer get what’s coming to it,” she said with a wink. Of course, she still wanted to fight Qwilfish. Nori groaned and glanced over at Chad. The blond did not react or respond save for a frown. Emi waved a hand. “Until then.”

The Demon turned to Pachi to ask a question. He answered, which made her tilt her head at Emi. With that, she jumped off Rhydon and approached Nori.

“Good going,” he praised. He looked at his Pokemon. “I guess you two both want in next time?”

The two were opposites. The Demon was serious and cold, and Pachi was easygoing and cheerful. Yet they nodded in unison at his question. Simple and easy to understand. He looked over at his opponent for today, and evidently one he would be facing again in the future. She was checking up on her Rhydon after all that. He didn’t really care to watch.

“Well, let’s get going.” He allowed both of his Pokemon to walk with him as he exited the cage. They did not make it very far before the crowd descended upon them.

“That was awesome! The Demon rules!” cheered a spiky-haired redheaded boy who was probably less than a year out from being able to get an official Trainer’s license. The Nidorina, for her part, only smirked.

“Didn’t think brawn could beat brains,” remarked a woman in her early twenties wearing a long floral-patterned dress. Nori could only shrug. She had a lot to learn.

“Miyu didn’t either!” agreed a girl who seemed to be her much younger sister if not her daughter. He guessed that since they both had black hair and green eyes, and wore a similarly colored outfit. “What’s your secret, Mr. Carino?”

“I don’t really have one.” Nori answered, confused by the question. “Don’t neglect training, I guess?” That was how he often won against people better at the strategy thing. It felt weird giving advice, since he didn’t feel qualified to give it.

An androgynous-looking older teenager with pastel hair and glasses, maybe sixteen or so, flashed an attempt at a charming smile. “You hungry after all that?” he (she? they?) asked. The teen’s lips momentarily puckered vaguely. “I’ll buy you lunch. My treat.”

“N-no!” he sputtered, stumbling away in a panic. “I mean, I’m busy!” What was with all these random people hitting on him lately?!

“Um, hey?” A girl wearing a Veilstone Dunkers cap stepped forward. “You have a new Pokemon, right?”

Nori snapped to attention, as did his Pokemon. He studied the teenager. She didn’t seem mad. But he was getting a lot of other looks, some not very pleased. “Yeah, and I don’t really want to talk about her yet. You’ll see my results in time.” He glanced at his two Pokemon. This was a good reason to leave. “But speaking of, I need to get going. Got work to do.”

The crowd respected this, parting to make way for them. It was a promising sign that they weren’t on his case for Qwilfish. Still, Emi was going to be an unwelcome distraction, Prema’s dad could be trouble, and he was really worried about what Terrance and Mitsu were going to think.

But for now, he had to go to the Pokemon Center. Who knew how much worse things were with Qwilfish now? Getting her healed would at least be a good first step in mending fences.

---​

As Nori Carino left the cage in quiet triumph and spoke with the captive audience, Emi muttered an apology to her Rhydon. She gave the Pokemon some words of comfort and a pat on the head before she recalled him. Chad glanced at Theodore, who was content to remain on the ground outside. As the auburn-haired teenager approached him, the blond adjusted his glasses and eyed her.

“Well, I see now why you were obsessively trying to get him on the team last month,” she remarked with a chuckle and competitive smirk.

“My parents always taught me that a big part of being a strong trainer is being able to recognize others’ strength.” His family was extremely serious about not just battling, but winning. In fact, when he had failed to get Nori Carino on the junior high school battling team, they lectured him for days on end. “Besides which, his training made it obvious.”

Emi shrugged slightly. “Yeah, knew he was good, but experiencing it’s another thing.” They all saw Carino battle Anthony. And his time at Sunyshore Gym was well documented. He may not be the smartest or most strategic trainer, but his Pokemon were trained well, and his fundamentals were down pat. “Just don’t go trying to change our minds about having him with us.”

“I am past that,” he lamented. It was all because of an accident in said battle that few wanted to let go of, namely when Carino’s Pawniard had injured Anthony’s Quagsire Quade to the point of where he could not safely battle any longer.

After Nori Carino left, his number two spun on her heels and started to leave herself. “Anyway, I should get going. See ya on Monday.”

Chad did not miss a step. “Oh, no you don’t. Emi, we need to talk.” She cursed as he grabbed her by the shoulder. The blond male glared out at the crowd. “This is between us. So I would appreciate some privacy. Chloe.”

The turquoise-haired teenager groaned. She was the co-captain of Nishigawa Middle School, and had the worst habit of pushing her researching opponents at rival schools to the point of borderline stalking. To her credit, she always left whenever people called on it.

He whistled for Theodore and motioned for his own teammate to follow. She did so, averting eye contact all the while. When they had cleared the cages and started down the road, he spoke up. “Emi, this was rash. I told you not to do anything rash!”

“Hey, you were worried he’d get mad and not help!” she answered immediately with a phony grin. “You were wrong, right? It’s not a big deal.”

“That’s true, but this is about you.” She pursed her lips as her shoulders tightened. “You did not need to go picking a fight with Nori Carino.”

“Of course I didn’t have to,” she said with a belligerence that belied her unease. On the other hand, it could have simply been a desperate excuse to try to get out of this. “Doesn’t mean I didn’t want to.”

Chad inhaled. He couldn’t argue with her point, but that didn’t mean she was in the right. “Let me rephrase,” he said while exhaling. “Nori Carino is simply doing his job. It was not his decision or choice that he was given that Qwilfish to rehabilitate. Harassing him does no one any favors.”

“He could’ve said no!” Emi immediately countered.

To this, the captain crossed his arms and shook his head. “You do not know if he had a say in the matter.”

There was a reason why people called Nori Carino the Pokemon Rehabilitator. It was because he was the only one. There were implications that the Officials would be looking for other candidates, but it had been over a year and there was not so much as a peep on that front. With no others available, any task thus fell to him.

“Okay, fine. Point taken.” Emi crossed her own arms. Chad had to stop himself from glaring at her as she pushed her arms up. “But you’re worrying too much. What’s the problem with wanting to fight that thing? Because I don’t see one.”

“The problem, Emi,” he stated. That was not the issue. “Is that I specifically asked you not to antagonize him. And you tried to go behind my back to do so anyway.”

She halted in place. She threw her arms back while taking a step away. “I’m sorry, okay?” Her words were as sincere as they usually were. He had no doubt that she meant it, only that she had trouble expressing it.

Nevertheless, he had to sigh. He peered up at Theodore, who landed idly, before getting to his true point. “This makes it difficult to trust you.” He felt a heaviness in his body as he said those words. So much so that he had to stumble over to a nearby patch of grass to sit. “And I hate that. I thought I always could trust you.”

Emi’s eyes widened. “Chad, I–.” She slouched and scratched at her forehead. After staring downward for a moment, she joined him. “It’s just!” A vocalization escaped her, a mix between a whine and a grumble.

He put a hand on her shoulder. “Take your time,” he assured her. “I’m not mad.” Only a little disappointed in her. From the sounds of it, this was an issue that ran deeper than simple hatred.

Emi slammed back and sprawled out. “The Krookodile Tracker was my childhood.” She spoke quickly, letting it all out at once. All her limbs tightened. “I grew up watching him. I was really looking forward to meeting him in person when he made it here on his tour. You know that I was even planning on taking some time off school for it! But…” She trailed off, sniffing.

“He never made it here,” he finished the dreadful thought. He knew he meant a lot to Emi, but he did not think it ran this deep.

“Yeah.” Emi sat up and forcefully wiped an eye. Her next words were low. To those who didn’t know her, Emi was always on edge and upset about something. But when she got calm, that was when she truly was angry. “All because of one asshole abandoning their Pokemon. Besides them, I don’t have much sympathy for that Qwilfish. The way I see it, she should’ve known better than to attack a human. It just…” Her voice and body were starting to quiver. Slowly and meticulously, she gave her reddened face a forceful shake. “It pisses me off the Officials are basically just letting her go. If a person killed Pete Stephens, they’d get locked up or worse. Accident or not. I know a lot of people feel the same way, so I want to be the one to punish her for everyone out there.”

Chad blinked. He was in the same boat on Friday; he had expected the Qwilfish to be sent to a care facility or even put down over the weekend. The Officials had to do something about her. The word that it would be rehabilitated by Nori Carino had taken him off guard as well. But what his friend was proposing was too much.

“Emi…” he spoke up, gritting his teeth. “If you’re thinking of doing anything illegal–”

She raised a palm. “I meant in a battle, mind you. Nothing more than that. And besides.” She suddenly chuckled. Chad involuntarily made to shift away, only to catch himself. “After that, I really do want to fight Carino again.”

He could only laugh a little with her. “Okay, you’ve made your case,” he conceded monotonously. When she was set on something, there was no stopping her. He was resigned to that, but he made one last plea regardless. “I still think this is a bad idea, though.”

Emi looked him in the eyes. There was a cold glint of determination in them. “I’m ready for any consequences.”

Unexpectedly, all the tension in his muscles went away. That told him everything he needed to know. She hadn’t mindlessly rushed into this. She had given it enough thought to be aware of what could happen. Still, this whole thing was predicated on her feelings. “In that case, just one other thing. Don’t let your emotions get the better of you. You can be bad at that.”

“I know, I’m trying to work on it,” she grumbled.

“I’m just trying to look out for you.” He patted her on the shoulder, even as something gnawed at the back of his mind. But he was unable to place it, so he said nothing.

She nodded. “Appreciate it. Thanks for understanding, man.”

They sat quietly after that. The captain and his number two. In a way, they complemented each other. The way she thought with her heart gave her a different perspective when it came to battles, but she was no less effective for it. Chad had actually thought about entering a multi battle competition with her to see how they did as a true team. Though he was afraid to ask her. How would she react? Furthermore, he’d have to find the right occasion. It couldn’t be Gasha’s Lucky Potluck in November, since that was primarily invitational. And even though the public could win spots, it also featured random partners.

Emi playfully elbowed him. “Well, I don’t actually have much to do right now.”

“I figured you didn’t.”

“Yeah.” She laughed about her attempt to get out of this conversation. “Hope I didn’t interrupt any of your plans.”

“I was not doing much, simply thinking.” Chad enjoyed watching other people battle. It was a way to get strategies. “I was looking over the cheers Estella proposed for the team.”

“Maybe these ones will be worth it,” she snarked. Chad only smirked. A poet Estella was not, but she was good at rallying and hyping people up. She got to her feet. “Anyway, so now that we’re cool about this, you mind helping with thinking up strategy?”

“I guess,” he stood and agreed with a smile. There was a bad feeling about this that he couldn’t shake. He was uncertain what it was about, just that it was his instincts talking. All he could do for now was help his friend out. After all, what else were friends for? Maybe his presence would avert whatever was coming.

 

[Daren]

Water Gun Rhydon is certainly a blast from the past. Don't think it's been available without transferring since gen 1.

Also Nori just keeps running into these water problems; I suppose it being such a common type with enough advantages lot of non-water types would still like to have water moves makes it not that surprising.

Got concerns about a second battle, though. Any sort of three on three means Nori might need to use an ex-serial killer, and that's probably the less dangerous option.

 

[Juliko]

I had no doubt that Nori and the Demon would manage to defeat Emi in battle, and sure enough they did. I can only assume her Rhydon knowing Water Gun is a reference to how Water Gun is a TM in the original Red/Blue/Yellow games and that Rhydon can learn it there. I do think Emi trying to have Rhydon use Water Gun on Nori at the end of the battle was over the line. I'm pretty sure she's not supposed to have her Pokemon attack a person. Sure, it didn't land, but...would that be considered a reportable offense in this story? Especially since there were tons of witnesses, too? And Emi, being a fan of the Krookodile Tracker doesn't excuse going after Nori or the Qwilfish, especially since she doesn't know that the Qwilfish only killed him in self-defense and that Qwilfish hyperventilates at pretty much everything. Good to see Emi getting fleshed out a little bit, though. Another good chapter like always!

 

[System Error]

Water Gun Rhydon is certainly a blast from the past. Don't think it's been available without transferring since gen 1.

Also Nori just keeps running into these water problems; I suppose it being such a common type with enough advantages lot of non-water types would still like to have water moves makes it not that surprising.

Got concerns about a second battle, though. Any sort of three on three means Nori might need to use an ex-serial killer, and that's probably the less dangerous option.

• Apparently not. It'd be interesting to speculate what else could use this since it's not universal.
• At the very least, things like Water Gun only make him flinch or distract him. It's the likes of Surf (which in this ficverse always takes a lot of energy when not on water) that make him go full-on panic attack.
• And yet, see above, since Qwilfish is going to be involved and he'll be around water. This means that Pawniard won't be if he's using the Demon and Pachi. It has been shown in a minific and touched upon here that Pawniard has improved quite a bit at least.

I had no doubt that Nori and the Demon would manage to defeat Emi in battle, and sure enough they did. I can only assume her Rhydon knowing Water Gun is a reference to how Water Gun is a TM in the original Red/Blue/Yellow games and that Rhydon can learn it there. I do think Emi trying to have Rhydon use Water Gun on Nori at the end of the battle was over the line. I'm pretty sure she's not supposed to have her Pokemon attack a person. Sure, it didn't land, but...would that be considered a reportable offense in this story? Especially since there were tons of witnesses, too? And Emi, being a fan of the Krookodile Tracker doesn't excuse going after Nori or the Qwilfish, especially since she doesn't know that the Qwilfish only killed him in self-defense and that Qwilfish hyperventilates at pretty much everything. Good to see Emi getting fleshed out a little bit, though. Another good chapter like always!

• It's kind of a freaky move for Rhydon to be able to learn, isn't it? But since it can officially learn it in the games, why not? I have gone over a bit of TM lore in the early parts of Official In-Training, so I see now reason why only the most recent TMs in the games should be canon.
• She wasn't using it on Nori. She was using it just to startle him a bit more to get in one last shot in before the battle ended. It was her Rhydon who decided to aim it in Nori's general direction instead of trying to hit the Demon. One could probably try reporting it, but it's not like she ordered it to attack him. I touched upon this a bit in Official In-Training during the Ollie battle where he very deliberately tried to freak out Nori with Water-type moves in front of everyone and nothing happened there, so that's the precedent.
• I wouldn't exactly call what Qwilfish did self-defense. It's hard to define what it is, but she overstepped a boundary herself. Still doesn't fully justify Emi's actions of course.
• I always try to aim to humanize my antagonists, even if it takes time. Emi is being a huge jerk for sure, but she has understandable motivations and a personality besides antagonizing Nori.