Heather Mason (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
foolishwren) wrote2013-07-04 09:16 pm
foolishwren) wrote2013-07-04 09:16 pm
Entry tags:
Follow-up Storybit: A Post-Battle Conversation
[This drabble is a follow-up to this post!]
Scuffs of sand were kicked into the air as Heather tromped across the arena towards her defeated but tall-standing opponent, who looked on coolly as the young trainer stormed towards her.
"You have no idea what I believe," the girl hissed once she had gotten close enough to Sabrina to be heard, and far away enough from the small audience in the stands (consisting of no more than her father and perhaps one or two other friends who had come to cheer her on) not to be.
"Actually, I do. I'm psychic," Sabrina reminded her matter-of-factly, expression somehow smug and deadpan at the same time.
Fists clenched, Heather drew herself up, chest swelling with a breath no doubt intended to unleash a shout, but at the last minute she thought better of it, looking over her shoulder hastily instead. "Look, my dad is in the audience to watch his kid win a goddamn badge, and you're just shaking your psychic tailfeathers in my face. Have a little discretion."
"I didn't state anything that wasn't obvious already, Miss Mason. You are the one causing a scene."
"Oh, and sending bunch of stream-of-consciousness bullshit straight into my brain is the professional and sophisticated way to handle getting beaten?" Heather shot back, referring to the jumble of random recipes and Food Network commercials that had sizzled into her mind immediately after the battle. Another person might have mistaken it for some kind of weird, brief schizophrenic episode-- but Heather had recognized it for what it was immediately.
Her memories of Alessa's life might have been faded with time, but that type of psychic interference was something she knew about.
And judging by Sabrina's sudden look of mild interest, the fact that those memories had come to the forefront of Heather's imagination meant that now she knew she knew.
"You would know the answer to that question, wouldn't you," she murmured, tone knowing, and Heather's dark scowl and ensuing silence would have spoken for itself even if Sabrina hadn't been able to see into her head. "You've done it yourself, in moments of fear and weakness when you were small."
"I didn't do it as a parting blow when I lost a fight," Heather hissed through gritted teeth, voice lowered even though they were far enough away from the stands for anyone to hear. Sabrina smirked.
"Mnm. And you can't do it at all anymore, can you."
"Why. Do you care."
"Perhaps that's what you're compensating for."
"You think so? Fine, you tell ME. You're the one who can see into my fucking head."
There was a pause before Sabrina, smirk gone but even stare never breaking, said "No, I suppose it isn't. But I'm not the one who would benefit from getting things out in the open."
"I didn't come here for therapy. I came here for a badge, and I won, so why is this even an issue? Do you do this for every trainer who beats you?"
"Just the ones who catch my interest."
Heather let out a loud scoff of disbelief, spreading her arms and gesturing around at the arena, scuffed up here and there by the battle that had just taken place.
"Okay. Look. I beat you fair and square. What's it gonna take for me to just get my badge without a bunch of cryptic crap?"
There was a long silence in which Sabrina merely looked at Heather, her gaze half-lidded and unblinking. Finally, she said, "The badge is yours. But if you are open to hearing advice, which I duly suggest, I would say that I'm more qualified to offer it than the people who haven't seen how much you have to hide. And I sense you've been trying to make a habit of being more open to advice recently than in the past."
Well, she had her there.
Nostrils flaring, Heather thought of protesting, but instead just folded her arms pointedly across her chest and said nothing. Sabrina had already shown that she didn't need to hear a "yes", so she didn't want to give her the satisfaction of saying it out loud. Nonetheless, the Gym Leader looked rather pleased with herself as she began to speak.
"This is the first time you used your Absol in a big league battle, is it not? No, you don't need to clarify. I know it is. She is a talented Pokemon, and intelligent, but slow to adapt to a changing battlefield. Her instincts serve her well in the wild Pokemon battles that you used to train her, but when competing with trained fighters, hesitation is a death sentence. She will need far more direction from you to excel."
Although the advice wasn't falling on deaf ears, Heather hadn't removed the scowl from her face.
"Yeah, well, she still slaughtered two thirds of your Pokemon," she muttered darkly under her breath, knowing that Sabrina would know what she was saying regardless if it was audible or not.
"And yet she could barely land a hit on the final foe. You were unprepared and your Pokemon paid the price."
That silenced Heather more effectively than anything else Sabrina had said in the entire exchange. The scowl turned into a smaller, tight-lipped frown as the Leader went on.
"As for your Growlithe... it goes without saying that he is powerful, if... lacking finesse. But there is far more to the art of battling than brute strength, and overleveling your Pokemon will not let you win forever. If you had been fighting my Elite team... the final round would not have been nearly so lopsided. In fact, I daresay the outcome would have been quite different."
Still sporting that grim, tight frown, Heather's eyes narrowed, her arms folding even tighter. "That's why I challenged your regular one."
"A surprising bit of foresight on your part. I suppose not all hope is lost," remarked Sabrina, rather patronizingly, but her expression was calm and clear as she removed a small, coin-shaped golden badge from her lapel. "Regardless... you defeated me, and it is my duty as the Gym Leader of Saffron City to award you with this Marshbadge."
Once the shiny pin was handed over, she produced a TM case as well.
"As well as this Technical Machine. It contains the move Psychic."
"Thanks," Heather said, somewhat gruffly, as she pocketed the TM and the badge.
She had started to turn away when she was hailed by her opponent one last time.
"Miss Mason." As Heather looked over her shoulder, she was met with the psychic's piercing stare. "It did not take a psychic today to see that you had something to prove. Nor does it take one to know that what you are doing will not ease the fears you are trying to overcome, no matter how convincing you become to the people around you. Not forever."
Heather swallowed and didn't say anything. But of course... she didn't need to. Sabrina listened to the things that fortunately only she could hear, and nodded curtly.
"... Very well. I wish you luck, Miss Mason. I look forward to the day that you return to take on my Elite team."
And with that, she turned and walked away-- the knowing smile on her face invisible to Heather as the girl started back to the stands, muttering "Pshyeah... like that'll ever happen..."
Scuffs of sand were kicked into the air as Heather tromped across the arena towards her defeated but tall-standing opponent, who looked on coolly as the young trainer stormed towards her.
"You have no idea what I believe," the girl hissed once she had gotten close enough to Sabrina to be heard, and far away enough from the small audience in the stands (consisting of no more than her father and perhaps one or two other friends who had come to cheer her on) not to be.
"Actually, I do. I'm psychic," Sabrina reminded her matter-of-factly, expression somehow smug and deadpan at the same time.
Fists clenched, Heather drew herself up, chest swelling with a breath no doubt intended to unleash a shout, but at the last minute she thought better of it, looking over her shoulder hastily instead. "Look, my dad is in the audience to watch his kid win a goddamn badge, and you're just shaking your psychic tailfeathers in my face. Have a little discretion."
"I didn't state anything that wasn't obvious already, Miss Mason. You are the one causing a scene."
"Oh, and sending bunch of stream-of-consciousness bullshit straight into my brain is the professional and sophisticated way to handle getting beaten?" Heather shot back, referring to the jumble of random recipes and Food Network commercials that had sizzled into her mind immediately after the battle. Another person might have mistaken it for some kind of weird, brief schizophrenic episode-- but Heather had recognized it for what it was immediately.
Her memories of Alessa's life might have been faded with time, but that type of psychic interference was something she knew about.
And judging by Sabrina's sudden look of mild interest, the fact that those memories had come to the forefront of Heather's imagination meant that now she knew she knew.
"You would know the answer to that question, wouldn't you," she murmured, tone knowing, and Heather's dark scowl and ensuing silence would have spoken for itself even if Sabrina hadn't been able to see into her head. "You've done it yourself, in moments of fear and weakness when you were small."
"I didn't do it as a parting blow when I lost a fight," Heather hissed through gritted teeth, voice lowered even though they were far enough away from the stands for anyone to hear. Sabrina smirked.
"Mnm. And you can't do it at all anymore, can you."
"Why. Do you care."
"Perhaps that's what you're compensating for."
"You think so? Fine, you tell ME. You're the one who can see into my fucking head."
There was a pause before Sabrina, smirk gone but even stare never breaking, said "No, I suppose it isn't. But I'm not the one who would benefit from getting things out in the open."
"I didn't come here for therapy. I came here for a badge, and I won, so why is this even an issue? Do you do this for every trainer who beats you?"
"Just the ones who catch my interest."
Heather let out a loud scoff of disbelief, spreading her arms and gesturing around at the arena, scuffed up here and there by the battle that had just taken place.
"Okay. Look. I beat you fair and square. What's it gonna take for me to just get my badge without a bunch of cryptic crap?"
There was a long silence in which Sabrina merely looked at Heather, her gaze half-lidded and unblinking. Finally, she said, "The badge is yours. But if you are open to hearing advice, which I duly suggest, I would say that I'm more qualified to offer it than the people who haven't seen how much you have to hide. And I sense you've been trying to make a habit of being more open to advice recently than in the past."
Well, she had her there.
Nostrils flaring, Heather thought of protesting, but instead just folded her arms pointedly across her chest and said nothing. Sabrina had already shown that she didn't need to hear a "yes", so she didn't want to give her the satisfaction of saying it out loud. Nonetheless, the Gym Leader looked rather pleased with herself as she began to speak.
"This is the first time you used your Absol in a big league battle, is it not? No, you don't need to clarify. I know it is. She is a talented Pokemon, and intelligent, but slow to adapt to a changing battlefield. Her instincts serve her well in the wild Pokemon battles that you used to train her, but when competing with trained fighters, hesitation is a death sentence. She will need far more direction from you to excel."
Although the advice wasn't falling on deaf ears, Heather hadn't removed the scowl from her face.
"Yeah, well, she still slaughtered two thirds of your Pokemon," she muttered darkly under her breath, knowing that Sabrina would know what she was saying regardless if it was audible or not.
"And yet she could barely land a hit on the final foe. You were unprepared and your Pokemon paid the price."
That silenced Heather more effectively than anything else Sabrina had said in the entire exchange. The scowl turned into a smaller, tight-lipped frown as the Leader went on.
"As for your Growlithe... it goes without saying that he is powerful, if... lacking finesse. But there is far more to the art of battling than brute strength, and overleveling your Pokemon will not let you win forever. If you had been fighting my Elite team... the final round would not have been nearly so lopsided. In fact, I daresay the outcome would have been quite different."
Still sporting that grim, tight frown, Heather's eyes narrowed, her arms folding even tighter. "That's why I challenged your regular one."
"A surprising bit of foresight on your part. I suppose not all hope is lost," remarked Sabrina, rather patronizingly, but her expression was calm and clear as she removed a small, coin-shaped golden badge from her lapel. "Regardless... you defeated me, and it is my duty as the Gym Leader of Saffron City to award you with this Marshbadge."
Once the shiny pin was handed over, she produced a TM case as well.
"As well as this Technical Machine. It contains the move Psychic."
"Thanks," Heather said, somewhat gruffly, as she pocketed the TM and the badge.
She had started to turn away when she was hailed by her opponent one last time.
"Miss Mason." As Heather looked over her shoulder, she was met with the psychic's piercing stare. "It did not take a psychic today to see that you had something to prove. Nor does it take one to know that what you are doing will not ease the fears you are trying to overcome, no matter how convincing you become to the people around you. Not forever."
Heather swallowed and didn't say anything. But of course... she didn't need to. Sabrina listened to the things that fortunately only she could hear, and nodded curtly.
"... Very well. I wish you luck, Miss Mason. I look forward to the day that you return to take on my Elite team."
And with that, she turned and walked away-- the knowing smile on her face invisible to Heather as the girl started back to the stands, muttering "Pshyeah... like that'll ever happen..."