After retreating back from Snowpoff Plateau, Frisk and friends decided to stay one more night in the Pokémon Center before starting their GYM challenge in Furfield Town. But before they could enter the building, two familiar dog monsters blocked the way, with a figure that was spewing orders that Frisk couldn't hear.
A figure that wore a black sweater with the letter "C" on it, black work pants, and tall boots- all accented with red streaks.
A figure that looked... human?
Wait, could this have been...
"Y-You're-" Frisk stuttered, immediately getting cut off as the figure turned to see their interruption nervously glance at the duo in black. Regaining their composure, they cleared their throat.
"Yeah yeah, I am. But please don't tell Asriel I'm here, I don't need him to get involved in what I'm doing." Chara paused, adding a desperate "please" as they looked up mournfully. "Even if I wanted to go back home with him, I know I can't. Not after what I plan to do."
"I'm sure it's not that bad-"
"No. It'll be worse. J-Just... Just don't get him involved, please? Stop me all you like, but leave him out of this."
Chara turned around, poising to leave. "I would really appreciate it."
And as they walked away, followed by their accomplices, they all left Frisk standing alone in front of the Pokémon GYM, feeling less and less interested in their future battles.
.
.
.
When they stepped in the door, they smelled a wave of something strangely familiar wash over them in the scent of pet treats, rubber chew toys, and sweat. Judging from the decor and background of Furfield Town in general, it wasn't too daring to guess that the GYM would be related to dogs in some way.
Chew toys and frisbees were seen in every hue, the floor was like a toddler's playpen of puzzle pieces and colorful alphabets. Tennis balls were strewn haphazardly across the room posing as obstacles -maybe distractions to the more doglike-challengers-, but the neon-green color clashed with the slightly-faded floor and made it easy to avoid them all.
Most of them.
As Frisk traveled through the GYM, a friend of theirs caught their eye. A battle with the traveling trainer Napstablook, a ghost friend from one of their prior Battle Restaurant excursions that they had wandered into every so often, brought back Frisk's adrenaline and excitement for the GYM battle ahead of them.
They were more interested in the quiet life of tending to their Goomy farm than battling, but after their cousin became a regional hit -Frisk could only guess who that was-, the concept of battling was eventually brought to light. Their simple, laid-back strategy allowed their choice Pokémon -Sliggoo and Misdreavus, naturally- to train how they wished, and everyone came out of the relationship satisfied and a feeling of independence.
Frisk couldn't help but admire that training style, but none of their Pokémon wanted that kind of strategy, so both parties parted on friendly terms after a quick battle.
Turning their sights back to the GYM, the arrangement of obstacles and assorted trainers made the building seem more like the Pokémon Day Care than an actual GYM- at least one that they would imagine. Sans' GYM was interesting -and definitely had the atmosphere of an intimidating challenge-, but if he wasn't so lazy to set down puzzles, it lost its spark pretty quickly.
Pull a tug rope here, ring a bell there, and the path to the GYM Leaders became more and more clear. It was simple, a little too simple.
They honestly expected something a little more mature and sophisticated in an official GYM, but then again, these were dogs. Dog monsters.
What did they expect, really.
Out of the corner of their eye, they saw Dogamy and Dogaressa perched atop a shared double-throne, and Frisk healed up their Pokémon from the battles they endured on their way past the maze of dogness.
.
.
.
"Hello, weird puppy. We've been waiting for you." Dogamy's voice spoke up.
"Yes, weird puppy. Oh, is that the sweater I gave you? It looks nice on you!" Dogaressa said with cheer. Frisk couldn't help but smile at the compliment, even if she did still think of them as a puppy. Dogamy looked away, clearing his throat.
"You want a badge? We need to know if you're worth it. How many do you have already?" he demanded, his wife gripping to his left arm with the paw that isn't holding her axe.
"Well? Don't keep my good boy waiting~!" she said expectantly.
Frisk said that they got an Arcane badge, and it flashed in the bright lights with a polished gleam as they opened Toriel's badge case.
"Wh-what?! You already have a badge?!" Dogamy gasped in astonishment. "But you smell like you've just left the doghouse! How did you get one so early?! Especially... THAT one?!"
Frisk was a little confused; was there something they didn't know about?
"That tiny skeleton will barely go to work in the morning, much less battle any trainer that walks in just like that! A-and, he almost never loses! Maybe he was okay with you, or something..."
So it was just a matter of his laziness and bias. Frisk sighed.
"At any rate, we'll battle in a second," Dogaressa continued. "And when I mean 'we'..."
"...She means, 'me and her', versus you." Dogamy finished, propping up his axe against the wall. "In a double battle."
"Two Pokémon on the field at the same time. Whichever side has both of their Pokémon faint loses. We'll give you a moment to prepare- we don't have the right Pokémon for your level right now!"
As she explained the rules of Double Battle, Dogamy was booting up a PC-looking device in the corner of the room as he set several Pokéballs onto a tray. Typing a few things onto the keyboard, the Pokéballs teleported away and were exchanged with two others. He returned back to where Frisk and Dogaressa were standing, with Dogaressa concluding her explanation.
"Only the challenger is allowed to use items, and the challenger can back out at any time. Understand?" she asked. Frisk, not really paying attention to what she said, nodded yes as an automatic response.
"Good! Let's head on outside, then!"
...
Wait, what?
-Frisk Profile-
Gym badges earned: 1
Pokémon captured: 3
[FILE 1 SAVED]
((A/N: Whoaaaa, almost had the gym battle this chapter! Whew, that could have been a problem! This is my first-ever 20K+ fic! Cheers! :D
I'd like to take this time to thank my readers, followers, and reviewers for sticking with me this far! It's a slow-burn in case you couldn't tell, but I really appreciate that y'all didn't get bored of me yet! That being said, there was also a bit of fanart for this fic! A thank you DragonMaster456 for drawing art, I reblogged it to the tumblr blog for my UT stories!
Feel free to take this as an invitation to submit things if you're comfortable, I would love to see them if you're confident to show me! ^w^
No code this time, I'm too lazy to think of one. Finals are over and I'd rather not think at all rn))