In the end, Marie agreed to the researcher's request. After all, who could say no to a free bicycle? Plus, a message from the phone company soon arrived, authorizing the transfer of the Rotom from her phone into the bike's system.
With that official permission, Marie let go of her last bit of hesitation and accepted the Rotom Bike.
"Yaaha! Marie-chan! I'm back!"
Just as she said goodbye to the researcher and was about to store the bike in her bag, Yuri suddenly descended from above.
"Welcome back."
"Who was that guy just now?"
Yuri curiously examined the bicycle by Marie's side. She had caught part of the interaction from the air, but hadn't heard the conversation. From the looks of it, she assumed Marie had bought some random off-brand bike from who-knows-where.
"He was a researcher..." Marie explained, lifting the lightweight bicycle and stuffing it into her bag as she briefly summarized the encounter for Yuri.
"Whoa! That's so lucky. I want one too!"
"If you'd come back a little earlier, you probably could have gotten one. He hadn't left yet."
Marie smiled, paused her movements for a moment, then hoisted her bag back over her shoulder and added, "I'll ask him for you later. If it doesn't work out, I'll let you ride mine."
"No need~ I'll just have you give me a lift!" Yuri said with a cheerful grin, waving her hand.
She'd only wanted to ride together from the beginning anyway. What was the point of having her own bike if she could just hop onto Marie's?
"Well... all right."
Marie didn't mind. She nodded lightly and agreed. To be honest, there weren't many stretches in this journey where biking was necessary.
After dragging Baru into flying around for a while, Yuri had calmed down quite a bit. The bridge ahead was long and straight, and the scenery hadn't changed much. After a while, the novelty wore off.
Once they finally crossed the bridge, the two of them encountered someone clearly waiting for them.
"You two are really slow," Hop said, arms crossed. "Yuri, let's battle."
He didn't even bother with small talk. After a quick greeting, he jumped straight to the challenge.
"It's been a while since we both got our Grass Badges, and we haven't had a battle since. As fellow Gym challengers, I want to see how your Pokémon have grown!"
As he spoke, he pulled out a Poké Ball and held it in his hand.
Seeing this, Marie gave Yuri a gentle nudge on the back and then stepped aside to watch.
Yuri turned and glanced at Marie, whose expression remained calm as always. She took a deep breath, steadied her nerves, and pulled out a Poké Ball.
That said, like Marie, Yuri usually kept most of her Pokémon outside their balls. So instead of throwing the ball, she just tapped it against her belt and crouched down, gently rubbing the head of her eager Eevee.
"I'm counting on you for the first match, Eevee."
"Eevee!"
Hop's eyes lit up in surprise. A new Pokémon. He cracked his neck and then tossed out his own Poké Ball, summoning his Wooloo.
"Baa~"
Marie couldn't help raising an eyebrow at Yuri's subtle "I knew it" expression. Hop really did like that Wooloo... well, it was cute, she had to admit.
Marie wasn't sure exactly how long Hop had had that Wooloo, but from what Yuri had mentioned in passing, it had been a while.
And yet it still hadn't evolved. Marie started to suspect that Hop had given it an Everstone or something. Maybe he just preferred it fluffy?
After all, Wooloo was cuter than Dubwool.
While Marie was off entertaining her own mental commentary, the battle between Yuri and Hop officially began.
Both Pokémon were Normal types and both knew the move Double Kick. However, Eevee's Anticipation ability granted it heightened reflexes, giving it better maneuverability than Wooloo.
"Quick Attack!"
Yuri seemed determined to fully exploit Eevee's agility. Since Wooloo didn't know any speed-boosting moves, Eevee's nimbleness gave her a clear edge. As long as Double Kick landed, the first round would likely go to her.
"Wooloo, Copycat!"
Hop's command caught Yuri by surprise. She hadn't seen him use that move before not even once in their past battles.
Wooloo reacted quickly. Just as Eevee darted forward, it successfully mimicked Quick Attack.
"Eevee-!"
But Eevee didn't mind. Basic moves like Quick Attack posed little threat to her.
"Eevee, Double Kick!"
"Wooloo, use Growl!"
"Baa~ baa~"
"...Vee?"
Wooloo's sudden, adorably high-pitched cry made Eevee falter for just a moment. Though she quickly regained her focus, the brief delay caused her to miss the perfect attack window.
The two Pokémon zipped past each other, their Quick Attacks swapping positions.
"Eevee..."
Yuri might not have noticed, but Eevee was fully aware she had let her guard down. Traveling with Yuri these past few days had been so comfortable, maybe she'd gotten a bit too relaxed.
Shaking her head with a little frustration, Eevee lowered her body, fully alert now.
"It's okay, Eevee. Use Swift!"
"Wooloo, charge in! Use Headbutt!"
Against Swift, Wooloo had no real options. Without ranged moves, evading wasn't easy. But Hop knew this too, which is why he had his counter ready.
Headbutt was one of the rare moves that could help Wooloo accelerate. Back on Route 5, Hop had been working hard on making use of that property. After all, relying on luck to Copycat an opponent's Quick Attack wasn't a consistent strategy.
Whether it was Wooloo's innate talent or Hop's dedicated training, the maneuver was now barely executable.
And it completely threw Yuri off.
Eevee and Yuri both knew Headbutt was a direct, no-frills attack. Unlike Quick Attack, the energy didn't flow throughout the whole body, so it wasn't suited for agile redirections or sudden shifts.
Or so they had thought.
As Eevee lightly dodged Wooloo's charge, Hop's voice suddenly rang out.
"Now! Double Kick!"
"What?!"
Eevee's senses went into high alert, but she was already midair. There was no place to pivot or redirect.
The moment Hop's command came, Wooloo's forward momentum abruptly shifted. Its front hooves slammed into the ground with a powerful stomp, using the recoil to launch itself skyward.
With the force of its leap, it aimed straight at the airborne Eevee and came crashing down
"Eevee!"
"Baaa!"
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