Indigo watched the exchange with mild irritation painted across his face. This was so boring, not to mention a waste of time. The Spewpa was hardly what Sydney had said it would be, and Indigo didn't get why this Sydney character would want to catch another bug type when he already had one. He didn't look like a gym leader. Did it have something to do with entomology? Was there a reason why Sydney's pokemon were so lame? Sure, Kricketot was charming with it’s xylophone sounds but… It looked kinda dumb. And yeah, he had lost to one earlier, but that had been because he had been in a crowd and under a lot of pressure!

All this little side-gig was doing was delaying their trip to Shamba Town, where Indigo was anxious to explore some opportunities to get some cash.

Even after reading Spewpa's entry in the pokedex, finding out it was related to Scatterbug and that it expelled powder was hardly exciting. Being an impatient 16 year old sometimes, Indigo's words bristled forth with edge.

[color=8882be]"Look, Sydney, I was kind of expecting something cooler with Spewpa,"[/color] he said, unable to resist the urge to roll his eyes. [color=8882be]"And why do you have another Bug type? I mean, doesn't that make your team unbalanced or something?"[/color]

Sydney, having been raised in academia and with prior experience to people guffawing or disapproving of his dedicated studies to entomology, was well equipped to respond to the younger Indigo with poise and reasoning. Though he was only 17, Sydney knew how to educate and reason, prepped to be a true educator and researcher. Still, thought it got easier, he was nervous. Sometimes people refused to learn, or they didn’t want to connect. And that was always disheartening. Still, he was on his path to becoming a famous researcher and to do that, he would [i]have[/i] to be receptive to criticism. He would have to be able to push through disapproving tones and mocking laughter. He could do this. 

"Indy, I'm an entomologist, so that means I study bugs," Sydney responded with a small, slightly nervous smile. “That’s why I choose to catch bug types. And Spewpa [i]is[/i] an amazing pokemon. What exactly do you find not so great about it?”

[color=8882be]"Er, well, I knew what an entomologist was,”[/color] Indigo bluffed, not wanting to look stupid and caught off-guard. [color=8882be]"I just, you know, like, no offense but Spewpa seems lame."[/color] He shrugged. [color=8882be]"I mean, all bug types kinda… Do.”[/ color] There, he’d said it, and he felt like it wasn’t supposed to be something he could say. But it was just an [i]opinion![/i] Was it so wrong to have one?

“You have a Burmy, though, so why’d you catch one?” Sydney asked, trying his best to be patient.
[color=8882be]"It wasn’t really my choice. Hero kinda saved me from getting hit from a Rattata and I dunno, he got hurt so I thought I’d let him stay with me a little while. It’s only been like two days. I was planning on releasing him soon anyways."[/color] Indigo rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

Sydney was silent for a moment. “I see,” he responded, wiping the dirt off his hands onto his shorts. “That’s unfortunate. But I assure you, Bug pokemon are worthy of anyone’s attention, including Spewpa.”
[color=8882be]"I still don’t really see it."[/color]

Sydney was nervous, but he was confident all the same. He knew Bug types in and out, especially his Kricketot. And he’d been studying Spewpa for about a month now. “Indigo, why don’t we have a battle?” He asked.

Indigo was caught off guard once more. A battle? But… He’d just lost earlier that day! Then again, there was no crowd and if all Sydney had were his lame pokemon… This would be a piece of cake right? And he couldn’t exactly refuse because Hawka came running up at the first syllable of the word. They were mostly on flat grassland down, and there was a dirt road where he could use his fire type moves. It would be a piece of cake. 

[color=8882be]"Sure, I mean whatever,"[/color] Indigo said. Wait—why was he nervous? Sydney noted that Indigo sounded defensive. Clearly this had more to do than just Bug pokemon… But that could be addressed later. 

After they had relocated to the dirt road, the battle was starting. It would be two on two, and with Burmy’s newly learned attack move, Indigo felt confident that he could crush Sydney. 

“Kricketot, go!”

[color=8882be]“Hawka, you’re on!”[/color]

As it happened though, Sydney [i]won[/i]. Hawka’s battle with Kricketot had been turned as the clever use of Bide and some loud sound moved called [i]Uproar[/i] had taken her out. Hero had been paralyzed with a Stun Spore from the newest addition to Sydney’s team, tossed around with a string shot, before being finished off with a Tackle. 

Indigo stared, mouth agape. What had just happened? Though Sydney had seemed so meek, and his pokemon so unimpressive, he’d crushed Indigo with surprising strategy and calculation. And his pokemon—his pokemon had hit pretty hard!

[color=8882be]“But… How?”[/color] Indigo asked. Sydney ran over to help Indigo with his pokemon. They were mostly fine, recovering from their knockout quickly. As they munched on a revitalizing snack of berries after their check up, Sydney turned to Indigo with a kind look in his eyes.

“Not too shabby about Bug pokemon, right?” He grinned. “Indy, I didn’t do this to embarrass you or anything. I hope you’re not upset.”

“[color=8882be]“I’m not…”[/color] But the defeat and embarrassment stung. Indigo felt like a fool now, an absolute fool.
“But now you see- they’re not so bad now, right?” Sydney said. Indigo shrugged.

[hr]
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Hawka the Torchic F- lvl 13
Hero the Burmy M -lvl 11


Items: small pearl ×1 Kee Berry ×3 pokeball ×4

Actions: On Quiet Road route. Looking for pokemon not listed in IC! Battled Sydney and gained a level for each pokemon.
[/hider]