//------------------------------// // Chapter 19 // Story: Starlight: Redshift // by the-pieman //------------------------------// Stepping out of the battered Jeep, the Breeder waves goodbye to us. Stretching, I decide that we need to get a Pokédoll for future encounters like that. Not sure how those things work even in the context of a videogame... but if it works, it works, right?  We make our way further into the town, deciding to look for a gym. But the first notable building we come across is a contest hall. “Hey Rares, you wanted to be a coordinator. Wanna see what it’s like?” “Oh, that would be lovely!” she says, her greenish coloration gone after the fresh air. When we get inside, we notice that it hasn’t quite started yet. I walk up to a receptionist and ask about that. “Hey, do you know when the contest is gonna start?” “Well, actually it might be postponed. You see, it’s supposed to start in half an hour but one of the contestants declined their position and now there’s an opening. We’d like to fill it, but so far no actual coordinators have shown up to participate.” I grin and turn to Rarity. “Well, what do you think? Wanna give it a try?” “O- oh, I’m not sure if I’m ready... but I’ll give it a shot!” She straightens up a bit, and the receptionist takes notice. “You’re a coordinator, then, ma’am? There’s some forms to fill out. Have you ever participated in a Contest in Otaria before?” Rarity shakes her head. “No, but I’ve been meaning to. I fear I may not make it as a trainer, but being a coordinator sounds lovely. I suppose now would be as good a time as any to try it.” I pat Rarity on the back. “Well, break a leg.” At the shocked look I receive from her and Twilight I figure they don’t understand. “I mean good luck. It means ‘Do Well’ not actually hurting yourself.” The ponies-turned-human give nods of understanding. After Rarity fills out her forms, Twilight and I are escorted to the audience while Rarity is escorted somewhere to get a quick explanation of the process. It occurs to me that Ledyba probably wouldn’t know any good moves for being flashy yet... Guess I’ll get to see how well Rarity can improvise. “I don’t know much about this... but I don’t think Rarity won.” Twilight says as we walk back to the lobby. “Yeah... we did kinda put her on the spot, and with a low-level pokémon. Her chances weren’t too good to begin with...” “Although some of the other trainers... that’s fantastic what pokémon can do. Most pet shows and such just involve running an obstacle course, not... that!” “Yeah... oh well, no harm no foul. She can always try again another time.” When we get to the lobby, it takes a few minutes before Rarity joins us, a rather ... odd look on her face. “Hey Rare... you okay?” “I’ll be fine, but I would have liked that to go a bit better. I don’t want to say I’m disappointed in Ledyba but...” I pat Rarity on the back. “Hey, it was your first time, and spur of the moment. You didn’t do as bad as you could have.” Given the look Rarity has now, I’d say that didn’t help so I let Twilight do the comforting. After some time for Twilight to bring Rarity’s spirits back up, we work our way around the city, until we get to the Battle Park I’d faced Amy at. We hadn’t found the Gym though, and I’m not sure where to look for it. “Well, that’s what GPS is for, right?” I use the satellite map on my éTech. “Okay, this says the nearest gym is...” I rotate the device to make sure it’s accurate. “Right behind us.” Boy do I feel like a moron. Twilight looks slightly amused. “Shut up. Technology is far more advanced than this, and it’s not making us look like idiots!” “No, you’re doing that fine on your own.” Twilight snarks at me. “Oh be quiet. Come on, time to get a badge. They way these things are usually set up are that there are some gym trainers that you have to face all in a row, then you can challenge the Leader. You can use items to heal your pokémon between battles, but I’m not sure if they let you leave before beating the Leader or losing.” Twilight thinks this over. “Makes sense. You go first, though; you have more experience with this kind of thing, and I want to see how they do this.” “Alright then, let’s see what type is primarily used around here...” I walk in the door and the place is laid out like a rocky field with a lot of sand, gravel, and packed dirt. Either Rock or Ground, then. I approach a younger kid and he informs me that this is in fact a Ground-type Gym, and that I must beat him to advance, though he’s the only trainer before the Gym Leader. “No problem, kid. Let’s see what you got.” He smiles, and pulls out a pokéball. “Go, Diglett!” he announces his first pokémon and skims the ball along the floor, the release letting his first choice appear with minimal fuss. “Lil-dig!” “Heh, that the best you got, kid? This’ll be easy. Go Geodude!” As my pokémon hits the field, the kid nods. “Alright, let’s begin! Dig, now!” he yells, and Diglett simply vanishes into the ground, leaving only a small hole. Sucker. “Magnitude!” Geodude slams the ground, and the ripples spread out. A vague shadow of clear ground reveals Diglett the moment before it breaches the soil, a spray of rock and dirt announcing it nearly four feet from Geodude’s position, already unconscious. “Ha, easy. Nice try kid, but next time don’t let yourself open to such an obvious disadvantage. You got another pokémon, or do I face the Leader now?” “Nope, there’s still one more on my team! You got a good shot in there, but now you face Bunnelby!” He tosses another pokéball out, and the rabbit pokémon hits the field. “Quick Attack, now!” Sure enough, the speedy attack blurs over to hit Geodude before I can call out a counter-move, though it’s mostly just bounces off my pokémon’s stony exterior. “Even a Gym Trainer should know that Normal doesn’t work well on Rock. I don’t have that problem though. Geodude, Tackle!” The rock pokémon lifts himself in the air, and goes for a slam-down. Instead of trepidation or fear on the trainer’s face, I instead see a smile. “Perfect! Bunnelby, brace for the impact and then use Toxic!” Sure enough, the rabbit pokémon is able to take the hit, then barfs up a thick, violently purple ooze right in Geodude’s face, eliciting and angry shout from Geodude. “You leave to get him healed, you have to go through me again!” Clever, clever ploy. Too bad I prepared for something like this. “Geodude, over here!” When my rock pokémon bounds over I pull out the little amber spray bottle. Once I apply the Antidote and the bottle is emptied, the pained look on Geodude melts away and he turns back to Bunnelby, just as prepared as ever. “I’m not some rookie, even if this is my first real gym challenge! Rollout!” Geodude tucks his arms and pushes off, rolling at the Bunnelby. Now the trainer looks impressed, and his call to use Agility comes too late. Geodude smashes the little rabbit flat, and the match is over. The trainer, looking a little crestfallen, still offers me a handshake and a four-hundred pok’e recompense. “Nice battle, there. Most folks coming in don’t prepare for poison at a Ground Gym.” “Yeah well, it’d be a crime to say this was my first experience with varied movesets. Unpreparedness is usually the downfall of most. Can’t be the best if you don’t learn from examples. Anyway, good luck with Twilight. She’s coming in after I’m done wiping the floor with your leader.” “Don’t be so sure. Winston’s put some real effort into getting his team together. He’s even gone to Unova and Hoenn to pick up some of them.” The kid turns, and taps a button on the wall, and a light turns green. I don’t care where he gets his team. I’m feeling confident. I walk to the back and I see the person who must be the leader. “Hey buddy! I’m feeling lucky today. Four-on-two, your favor. Wanna dance?” The skinny man quirks an eyebrow and sets down his shovel, turning away from a pit near the wall he was filling. “Alright. My name’s Winston, as you might’ve heard. I’ve traveled the world looking for effective ground-types. Let’s see if you can handle that.” Without another word, he simply pulls a pokéball off his work belt, and flicks it, the light resolving into a Hippopotas, who immediately puffs out the start of a sandstorm. Crap, the stinging sand is driving down visibility at a rapid pace, and Winston’s put on a set of goggles. I cover my eyes and reach for my first pokémon. Carvanha would have a type advantage, but with the sandstorm like it is, Geodude would fare better, so I toss out the Premier ball once more. “Here’s hoping you can see with a little sand in your eyes!” Geodude hits the ground and doesn’t even blink at the driving sand particles. Determinedly, he puts up his arms in a classical martial arts ‘come at me’ pose. “Hippopotas, start off with a Yawn!” I hear from the other side of the sandstorm, and narrow my eyes. That’s a pretty good beginning, and even I feel a touch drowsy at the Yawn that comes from the swirling sands. I barely see the effect bubble smack into Geodude and pop. “Geodude, stay awake! Just hit it fast!” Geodude picks himself up, and gets ready to tuck and roll again, obviously anticipating my next order. “Now, use Rollout!” He spins into the sand stream, and I hear an impact. “Respond with Bite, Hippopotas!” I hear, and see the vague shape of Winston’s pokémon snapping at Geodude. thankfully, my pokémon is too fast on the roll, and slams into the hippo again, this time from the side. “Keep it up Geodude, it won’t be long now!” “Alright, that’s not working. Use Toxic on it, maybe we can wear it down some.” comes the opposing order. “Geodude, spin faster! It should splatter the goo around instead of letting it soak in!” My pokémon proceeds to practically turn smooth from the RPMs he sets up just in time to deflect the Toxic attack, as predicted. Hippopotas doesn’t get the chance for another order as Geodude slams into it again at full speed, though it’s stopped spinning quite so hard. The sandstorm continues to rage as Hippopotas leaves the field. “Good first shot. But can you take on Barboach?” Winston asks, sending a pokémon into the fray. Crap, I can’t take a water-type with Geodude. But Carvanha... “I think I can. Pool, please?” “Sure.” Winston pulls out his éTech, and does something. A section of the floor rumbles, and splits to reveal a small pool of water under some doors. The water is quickly turning murky from the continuing sandstorm. I recall Geodude and toss Carvanha into the water. “Get under the water. He’ll have to follow if he wants to hit you!” the fish dives under, into the muddy water. Also, it’ll be shielded from the sandstorm “Barboach, use Mud Sport in the pool. Let’s reduce visibility further.” Sure enough, clumps of dirt and mud fly into the pool as his Barboach slides towards the water, squirming along the dirt with ease. With virtually no visibility above or below the water, I can only hope Carvanha can strike first. It’s got a truly wicked bite, which I’ll just have to hope is enough. “Well Winston? Carvanha’s not stupid enough to get out of the water, and I’m sure a Leader would know Carvanha aren’t bothered by low visibility in water. Your move.” “Yes, but anyone with a pokédex knows that a Barboach needs no visibility at all to track. Barboach, use Spark!” Wait, barboach can learn- oh, that’s bad. There’s a sudden flickering from the bottom of the pool, and Winston and I watch as shapes move in the murk and muck, my Carvanha and his Barboach trading attacks. However, with a sudden type disadvantage, I don’t know how long Carvanha can keep this up. A blot of red surfaces in the pool, and Winston and I both raise our eyebrows. After a moment, Barboach squirms feebly out of the pool, massive bite marks making it look like it’s got stripes. Winston nods, and recalls his pokémon. “Very good. You haven’t lost any pokémon yet, and beaten two of mine. Good job indeed.” He then throws another pokéball towards the edge of the pool, and a Nincada forms. It has a bright, shiny blue shell, and buzzes its under-developed wings defiantly. “Huh, varicolored Nincada. How long did you have to spend in Hoenn to get that?” “Actually, she’s the offspring of one of my friend’s pokémon. Taylor’s a bug-fanatic, but that’s not a conversation for now. What is important now is Nincada using Bug Buzz!” And the little cicada-pokémon thrums her wings hard enough to crack the dirt around her. The water ripples and splashes from the vibrations, and Carvanha slowly floats to the surface, eyes closed in a grimace of pain. “Carvanha, you okay?” I prepare my pokéball to return the fish pokémon. Stupid Dark type weakness to Bug. After my pokémon fails to respond, I heave a sigh which puts a load of sand in my mouth. Spitting it out, I return Carvanha. Out comes Geodude, who is ready for a fight. Or, rather, ready for a nap. It seems the Yawn finally caught up with him, and he’s out cold. Double dammit! I return my pokémon and pay Winston. “Guess I got a little ahead of myself. But mark my words, I’ll be back soon enough, and that badge is mine.” I shake the gym leader’s hand and give one bit of advice. “You would do well to keep that Nincada safe. The Chainers are active, and apparently have an eye for varicolors.” He nods. “Don’t worry, this isn’t my usual team. I work here to give newer trainers a chance to get their metaphorical feet wet. My little sweetie is perfectly safe, unless someone wants to see how an Electrode-Golem cannon works from a first-hand view.” I laugh as I make my way outside. I indicate that it’s Twilight’s turn, but I don’t stay to watch, I have my pokémon to heal. After a trip to the Pokémon Center, I come back and see that Twilight’s already up against Winston. There should be popcorn available for Gym spectators... Twilight’s fight actually goes better than mine. Her Spearow is more than capable of taking down Nincada, and its sharp eyes give it a serious advantage taking down the Barboach from the water. Her Spheal already made short work of his Hippopotas by the time I’d gotten in, but that Spark-wielding Barboach is truly something to fear. We need grass-types. The final part of the match is first Spearow, and then her Tepig against a Gible, surprisingly. the little dragon-type is very resilient, and is fully capable of making an effective counterattack against the two pokémon in turn. Twilight got closer than I did, but I find myself not minding. She did really good, and didn’t make nearly as many mistakes as before. However, Spheal didn’t do so well against Hippopotas and she made a few understandable mistakes. Spearow fell quickly to Barboach’s Spark surprising her just as much as it did me. It didn’t take long for Tepig to be overwhelmed by the Gible, and though she lasted a long time due to playing safe, the Gible was faster and stronger nonetheless. Twilight recalls Tepig and walks back to the front door, sighing. “Hey, can’t win ‘em all.” I reassure her.” We just need to come up with some strategies to combat his tactics. Come on, I think I know a place. I even have an idea of my own.”