//------------------------------// // Chapter 58 // Story: Starlight: Redshift // by the-pieman //------------------------------// I recall my pokémon into the system and go back to my team of Oddish, Carvanha, Chantlette, Litwick, Magomental and Gulpar. Figure I’m gonna need to do some grinding if I want to face Zoli on even terms. I leave, letting the ponies and their pokémon to recover from Gulpar’s performance. But hey, if they don’t have the guts, that’s not my fault. Hopefully the other trainers agree. I head over to the arena area and the two people who were battling before are finished and getting ready to take their teams downstairs for healing. “Hey, one of you wanna try me once you’re back, or you done for the day?” The girl of the pair nods. “I’m game. What’s your level?” she asks. She’s got the look of an athletic type. I mentally go over my team. “Average of eightteen. So not that high. I’m looking to toughen up.” “Oh, I might be a bit over your head; I’m averaging twenty-five. You still up for a go?” “Well I have one at twenty-four so... just a one-on-one, but sure.” “Alright, that works for me,” she says, and gets back into her place in the arena. I take a moment to look over Gulpar’s moveset and confirm I can manage with this. I make my way to my spot opposite the woman and toss out the depth ball, which feels a bit off in my hand with its oblong, finned shape. Maybe I’ll try giving it a football throw next time, or throwing it like a giant dart. Opposite me, the girl throws out what is definitely an eeveelution... but I have no freakin’ clue which one. Wait, I think... Quarkeon? Yeah, it looks a bit like a larger Eevee, but parts of it keep vanishing with a rippling line of energy marking where the sections of is and isn’t. In the parts that aren’t, I can see right through the pokémon. Otherwise, it’s just a black-blue bigger Eevee. I nod and consider my options. Figure it should be safe to go with “Stockpile.” Gulpar’s mouth bulges a bit, but there’s no other visible changes. The girl responds with, “Void Fog!” and the Quarkeon concentrates, one eye slipping out of reality as the other glows. A thick, black fog boils out of the ground, cloaking the field and Gulpar suddenly screams, writhing in place as the fog seems to wrap around my pokémon, leaving behind reddish burns everywhere it touches. Jeez, what kind of move is that? Though given the nature of the pokémon using it, maybe the better question is what isn’t that move? Alright, time for a new tactic. “Aqua Jet!” Gulpar dashes forward, a streak of water behind it as it slams into the half-phased pokémon, knocking the Quarkeon back. “Sand attack!” the other trainer calls, and the sudden blast of dust particles lands in Gulpar’s eyes, and the massive pokémon shrieks again in frustration. “Now use Starburst!” she cries, as I’m still trying to get Gulpar’s attention, and a series of six-point three-dimensional stars fly out, each one glowing with an unnatural green-yellow light. The three ‘stars’ smash into Gulpar, finally reorienting it on the Quarkeon for me. I recall I never asked or looked up what beats Void type, undoubtedly what this one is. Aqua Jet didn’t do much so... “Spit Up!” Gulpar purses its lips and fires the glob of stockpile-stuff at Quarkeon, who takes it to the face and cries out, being thrown back. It shakes its head, swiping at the gooey mass stuck to it. The nasty mess phases out with the pokémon as well as it vanishes. I was worried about that Void Fog move but with the reveal that it seems weak to the Normal type, I think I might win this! Most of the pokémon is visible, but its head has vanished completely. “Stockpile again while it’s stuck!” “Use Solar Wind!” the other trainer shouts, and the eeveelution reacts perfectly normally, as if nothing of it was missing, and a stream of golden light streams from midair where I assume its mouth is. The light slams into Gulpar at the same time it finishes Stockpiling, and the pokémon responds with an instinctive Spit Up again. Gulpar shrieks and backs away, sinking to the floor and hacking up a nasty-looking fluid and whimpering piteously. Damnit... Figures I’d lose my first battle against a new type... I recall Gulpar and about to admit my defeat when I see that the Quarkeon is already being recalled, from laying on the floor without moving beyond breathing. I- I won? Wow... I was about ready to open up my wallet, but since Gulpar was collapsed but at least writhing a bit, that proves it had a bit more health. So I legally win even though Gulpar is just about knocked out. “Never fought a Void type before... geez, what kind of moves were those?” I ask the girl. “Void-type, of course. Most Void moves are pretty strong, but they tend to be pretty exhausting, and can have some unpredictable effects with the stronger moves. Solar Wind can actually power up the target sometimes.” she explains, tapping commands into her éTech to send me some money. “I think the explanation is that it’s a form of radiation only found in pokémon and certain deep-space storms.” “So it’s a gamble... interesting. Well, thanks. I thought you had me on the ropes from the start, honestly. Good job.” She nods and smiles. “It was close, I don’t think either of us were expecting your pokémon to Spit Up there at the end like that. Oh, you should get ‘em checked out, it might be Badly Poisoned or Burned.” “More Void randomness I assume?” She nods. “Radiation burns-slash-sickness then. Figures. Space Pokémon are weird. Anyway, thanks for that, I’ll go get him back to normal.” She nods and waves. “I’m an Eevee trainer, by the way. You want my number? I’m pretty sure you’ll be a tough nut to crack in the future.” she says. “Sure!” We exchange numbers and walk downstairs to the hospital area, turning in our Pokémon at the same time. “So what’s it like training Eevee? I mean, they’re cute but I could never get the hang of using one in combat, and evolving it too quickly ended with disaster.” I explain, detailing my experience with Eevee in the games. “Well, you need to figure out what they’ll be best at later, usually in the first five levels or so, and work with that. Don’t try to mold the pokémon to the evolution; they’ll have a strength you can take advantage of easily enough. I usually evolve my Eevees around level 10, because I can tell what they’ll be good for by then, and can work with them.” “Ah... I did the opposite. I noticed my Eevee was slow so I gave it a Thunderstone hoping the speed boost could compensate and I’d have more rounded abilities. I... kinda regret that now that I know what I do now. I ended up trading it away.” She nods sympathetically. “I can understand that. Too many people try to round out specialized pokémon, which often result in them missing their potential; I actually started my first couple years as a contest coordinator, until I decided I’d do better showing people that Eevee have more potential than they think. It helps that there’s been so many new variations discovered in the last couple decades.” “Yeah, I was looking them up a while back. The one that creeped me out the most was Hostileon. Something about it getting frequent heart attacks or something?” “Yeah, they’re super-rare, because you have to actively mistreat the Eevee to get one. As a result, almost all of the ones being trained by legitimate trainers are rescued from abusive trainers. They’re powerful, but not worth it in my mind.” “And uh... What was it... Zephyreon or something? How do you get one of those?” “There’s a temple up in the mountains; it’s called the Sky Temple, and there’s a couple other places like it in other regions. Sometimes, an Eevee trained there will evolve into a Zephyreon instead of any other eeveelution.” I nod in understanding “So like Glaceon needing to be in a specifically cold environment. So how do you get a Quarkeon?” “Exposure to interstellar radiation via meteorites. He happened across one in this one place, uh... Fallarbor Town, I think? I was touring around Sinnoh, I think.” “Yeah, that’s where those team Galactic nutcases were doing their space projects. Dunno if they discovered anything before getting kicked out though. So where would you suggest I go to get my pokémon tougher? Gonna need to do some grinding to fight Zoli.” “Oh, the forests are all around, just a little ways north. You gotta really sit around and battle, though, I know a bunch of people who just sorta go train for an hour a day, and that won’t get you anywhere this century.” she says dismissively, and I remember that this is more or less exactly what I’ve been doing... whoops. “Oh, and it’s best if you make it a routine; y’know, same thing each day until it’s a habit.” “So is there an alternative? Like a special place to go for this or is it just gonna have to be done several days at a time?” “Sorry, there’s no easy road to awesomeness.” she says, shaking her head sadly. “Well, not legally anyways, but only losers cheat like that.” “So I gotta get more than just a few hours in each day then. Alright, well it’s not called grinding for nothing I suppose.” I thank the girl and head off back to the forest to the North. This is gonna take a while. Several days of grueling grinding later, each of my pokémon in my main team have gone up at least five levels apiece, complete with Oddish evolving into a Gloom. I’ve been falling asleep each evening, almost as tired as my pokémon. I collapse onto the cot I had assigned to me at the center. Figures I’d need to rent a room for a week or so just so I have somewhere private to crash in peace. Either way, I made a ton of progress and I think tomorrow I’ll sleep in and rest up then work on fighting Zoli one more time. I should be strong enough now... Really wiped out at the moment though. I go to lay down and drift off, but morning comes way to quickly and the next thing I know I’m out of bed and kitted up for my fight. I’m yawning like crazy. Definitely just gonna while away a few hours. I hear a knocking at the door. “Yeah, whatcha wan’?” “I hear today is the day you fight the gym again.” Twilight says through the door. “Eh... maybe tomorrow.” I reply. “You aren’t seriously going to spend all day training again are you?” she asks, sounding a bit angry. “Your pokémon are worn to the bone!” “Actually I’m gonna spend today sleeping, as is everyone else.” I respond, interrupted by a yawn. “But can’t sleep... Already awake.” Twilight shakes her head. “You’re literally too tired to fall asleep, aren’t you?” she asks. “Yeah...” I admit. “Got any spells for that?” “None that’re healthy, Anthony. You need to actually sleep normally... unless you mean a spell to simply knock you out, which I can do.” “Yeah, do that, thanks.” I’m aware I’ll probably have a headache when I come to but... “At this point it’ll be worth it.” She sighs, her horn flaring and my head feels light suddenly, and I fall asleep insta- I get up and note that I do indeed have a headache, but a tolerable one. I check my éTech and note that I’ve been out all day yesterday and it’s tomorrow afternoon. I get up and Twilight walks in again. “Oh good, I thought you weren’t going to wake up for a week. I’ve been forgetting you humans aren’t as resistant to magic as ponies and pokémon.” I smack my dry lips. “Need a drink.” I grab my canteen from my pack and take a rather long drink until the cottonmouth is gone. I then smell myself. “Yeesh, need a shower. I’ll be right back.” I head to the Center restroom and turn on the water, letting it slowly wake me back up. Much better now that the headache is going away. I stretch and finish cleaning up. I get myself back into my trainer clothes and prepare to face the gym. “You coming with Twi? Or you gonna hang back until you’ve done some grinding of your own?” “If I end up like you, I think I’d rather just try after you and get it over with.” “Shut up, I’m perfectly fine.” At this I trip on my shoelace for the first time in years. “That was not ironic, that was just a coincidence.” I say as I pick myself up. Twilight shakes her head. “Either way, I’ve been training my pokémon against other trainers here in the city. My team isn’t doing so bad, either.” I shrug. “Whatever. I still got my team tough and ready. I’m gonna win this time.” I say as we approach the gym. I notice that the Feraligatr-themed swimsuit is available again so I take that. Twilight comes out with a Goldeen dress not unlike the one Starlet wore, though Twilight makes it look a lot better. Either way, I’m ready this time. Both for my opponents and for the crazy rides along the way. I get to the first platform and see the same trainer as before still there. “Heya.” “Hey, back again huh? I heard you were so burned by Zoli that you went grinding trying to get better.” I grunt. “So what? It worked, and I’ll prove it, starting with you.” “Yeesh, somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. Oh well, you asked for it!” The boy tosses his ball out and reveals the same Aquana as before and I consider my options carefully before opening with Carvanha like last time. In most cases, the scene would be identical to the previous one, but the wary glances of recognition between our pokémon says just one thing better than any spoken word: Rematch. I decide to set the mood by using my éTech as an MP3 player, searching the internet for a good tune. This will work. As usual, the Aquana is ordered to use Camoflauge and I respond with Rage. The attack is allowed to land, doing no noticeable damage against the now-steel type. The attack of Acrobatics comes and I’m ready. “Assurance!” The other pokémon is faster, but I planned on that, Carvanha taking the hit, now looking pretty steamed, Velocial coming off with a bit of a scrape. Then Carvanha makes her attack. Rage’s boosted Attack, plus STAB, plus the boost from rough skin’s preliminary damage puts Assurance well within the 100 damage range, enough to get through the Dark < Steel type combo for some noteable damage. A far cry from before. “Swagger!” Carvanha chomps her jaws and blows a few bubbles, puffing up her chest area a bit. The Aquana gets pissed at the taunting and rushes for Carvanha. “Aqua Jet!” They meet in the middle and both land a strike, though in its haste to attack, Aquana didn’t attack with it’s best tactics, leaving it at a disadvantage and sending it into the water. “Bite!” Now that the foe was in her element, Carvanha gnashes her jaws around the opponent, latching onto it and chomping repeatedly. Still in an angered frenzy, the Aquana is soon finished, unable to calm down and think clearly. The battle is just about over. The trainer calls for acrobatics and the command gets to his pokémon, letting it tactically fling Carvanha off with a quick tail slap when Carvanha goes to take another bite, sending her to the other end of the pool. This time, I don’t recall her as she’s in about as much of a frenzy as the Aquana was, but still sensate. I call for an Aqua Jet and the Aquana isn’t fast enough to react and takes the full force, shoving it out of the water to land by its trainer’s feet, barely standing. The trainer shakes his head. He says, “Alright, I’m done. Your Carvanaha’s too much for Aquana,” and recalls his pokémon. “Of course she is. That’s what we trained for.” I recall my rather happy Carvanha from the pool. “You stopped Grinding yesterday right? How are you so rested? Most trainers get a battle-hangover.” I grin. “I have good friends who know neat tricks. Anyway, onwards and upwards as they say.” This time I’m aware of the water flipping upside-down. It’s just a matter of feeling the current shift slightly, I was just unprepared and unlearned before. I dive down into the cube below me and climb up onto the platform with the same girl as before. My muscles have finally gotten used to swimming so my childhood skills are back finally. “Alright, this time I want a real battle, no pansy wins because of a psycho pokémon. I’m gonna win this one by kicking butt, not special treatment.” She nods, “I got a different pokémon this time. Kingler is actually my dad’s pokémon, but she’s pretty docile, actually.” “Alright then, let’s begin. GLaDoS!” I call and summon the pokémon who announces his presence with a proud “Tay-to!” The second gym trainer sends out the Kingler and I nod. First thing’s first... “Vine whip! Bind that claw behind it’s back!” My pokémon does as requested, but isn’t able to get enough leverage, the Kingler using its relative size to its advantage as it advances towards my pokémon. “Shock Wave then.” I command and GLaDoS looses a wave-like beam of electrical energy at the vulnerable Water type who is forced to take the blast full-force. “Respond with Vicegrip! Use that pincer strength!” she yells, and the Kingler’s large claw begins to move open, steadily and ominously as it gets closer with an almost eerie inevitability. Suddenly, it dawns on me: It’s using the Vine Whip as a guide for its claw! The pokedex entry states it’s normally hard to aim, but if it’s tethered to its target... On the other hand... blessings in disguise. I let the Voltato get caught and squeezed painfully. It’s a risk, but an effective one to get that close. “Toxic!” The potato-pokémon squeals violently, and a purple goo sprays out from its eyespots, getting the Kingler, ironically, in the eyes. The strike couldn’t have been better if I’d aimed the shot myself; the Kingler squeals in pain, dropping GLaDoS with a  bit of umph, almost enough to send it off the platform, and stumbles back, falling to the water and shaking itself violently. The trainer opposite me recalls her pokémon immediately, and waves me on, before simply leaping off towards the actual pool at the bottom of the gym, evidently heading for a healing station. My team doesn’t need healing stations. I call for GLaDoS to use Synthesis a few times to fully heal before recalling him. My team is in perfect condition to fight a gym leader. I take the wild ride and this time decide to enjoy it. Aside from the massive wedgie I get from my shorts, I do enjoy it quite a lot and I’m in front of Zoli’s platform before I know it. He greets me with a wave, saying, “Hey man! Heard you’ve been training pretty hard. You up for another round already?” he says, already reaching for the bottom to extend the Leader’s Platform to its usual battle state. “Yeah, nearly wore myself out, but very worth it. Let’s save the small talk for after I whoop ya, huh?” I say, feeling pretty darn confident. He chuckles. “Sure, and good luck.” he says, slipping on his mask and diving into the water as soon as it’s open, and I get a glimpse this time that the mask has a Dragonite design theme, and so did his shorts. Huh. I nod and await his first pokémon, already planning on what mine will be. Eh, I’m impatient. I hurll the torpedo-like Depth Ball deep into the water and out comes Gulpar in his usual ghostly swimming in place motion. I fold my arms. “Impressed?” “Would be if I didn’t have one too.” comes the reply, tone laid back but still snarky. “Anyways, say hello to Lapras again~!” he says, and the pokémon rises from under the water, presumably where it was released for battle. “Hello Lapras.” I say, still feeling confident. “Gulpar, Coil.” My pokémon coils into a large, slimy ball, and the Lapras looks vaguely uneasy about the eel-like pokémon. “Use Confuse Ray, Lapras.” comes the order, and Lapras begins to charge and fire the attack. “Dodge it!” And just like it did with the Lanturn I rented, it turns intangible... but the nature of the move is not favoring it and my pokémon begins writhing crazily, large mouth opening and closing as if trying to eat imaginary prey. Shit, that’s one good Confuse Ray for sure. “Ice Fang!” Gulpar orients using my voice, facing away from me -which almost puts it on-target- And then lunges forward with a mouth trailing snowflakes and hail, gliding through the water without any trace of passage. A moment later, I see it has gone out the other side of the battle cube, and is trying to find its way back to the battle. “You should probably recall Gulpar and re-deploy ‘em. While confused, I don’t think it’s gonna find the field easily.” “Yeah well, your Lapras is pretty nuts to use that Confuse Ray full blast.” I say as the Depth Ball absorbs my pokémon and I toss him out again, spending my turn on that, meaning Ice Fang doesn’t go through. Still... “Stockpile!” Gulpar, now no longer confused from its brief stay in the ball, begins to bulge its mouth, blind eyes staring sightlessly at the battlefield. God, I have such awesomely creepy pokémon. “Stockpile again.” I call and watch as the ball of stuff expands and further fills the giant maw. I await Zoli’s move before executing my plan. The command comes next over the announcement system, “Alright, use Toxic, Lapras.” Lapras, seems to hock a purplish loogie at Gulpar, who is too busy drawing in more for the second Stockpile to phase out or dodge, and gets splattered right in his mostly-open mouth. I nod. “Spit Up!” The glob of goo flies out, and the surprised Lapras gets smacked hard enough to flip her over, crying out in shock and pain. The almost musical cries of distress are upsetting, honestly, but I don’t have time to feel bad, I need to win this. I call for a second Ice Fang, the giant maw opening rather wide as the teeth let off snowflakes in the water. More focused this time, the move lands with a mighty, not to mention freezing, chomp. I’m aware that it won’t hurt Lapras much, but I think it’s almost done anyways. The Lapras makes a keening noise, and then turns to red light as she’s recalled. “Much better than your first try, now for Malamar, as with last time.” This time, the pokémon doesn’t give me the same feeling of chills as it did last time, as Zoli either doesn’t know or just doesn’t use the Swagger combo. The squid-pokémon jets through the water, then rises above it malignantly. “Start with Swagger.” the command comes, and the Malamar struts vigorously in midair above the water. “Gulpar. Bite!” I call for the normally-damaging move in hopes of a flinch, and the angered Pokémon rushes forward for the attack but with it’s gigantic mouth barely scratches the Malamar in its haste to attack the taunting Malamar. “Now use Payback.” Zoli says, and I remember that Gulpar is part Ghost type, and may not have done much damage, but it did hit that Malamar first technically speaking. Before I can do anything, the squid pokémon’s strike comes, slapping Gulpar out of the water and onto the platform at my feet. I can see the traces of foam at the edges of my pokémon’s mouth, probably from the Toxic Lapras had hit it with. I do a mercy-recall and toss out Luna. “Start with a Tail Glow!” I say, preparing for a devastating counterattack in a moment. “Hit it with Rock Slide before it power up all the way.” Rock Slide? Can Malamar really learn Rock Slide? Evidently so, as a series of phantom stones materialize in its telekinetic grasp, and begin to pelt Luna, hard. “Think you can take it?” I ask my pokémon, not wanting to see it hurt too badly. Luna whimpers, but nods. “Alright, then Silver Wind!” I figure I at least got a slight Special Attack boost from the beginning of Tail Glow so Silver Wind should be powered up beyond a standard Double-Super-Effective. Luna flaps her wings and sends a breeze of silvery dust which becomes a gale and the Malamar takes it like a champ... until it falls over, getting up to it’s full stature again, but not without serious effort. “Absorb!” The attack finishes off the distressed Malamar, as the pokémon aren’t exactly hitsponges anyways, and the level gap is much smaller this time around. Malamar vanishes in a  flash of red. “Starmie, start things out with a Rapid Spin, then an Ice Beam.” Zoli says, and I can’t even see where his pokémon is, as he’s releasing them under the water. After a moment, the Splash-Zzzzzzz! of a Starmie breaking the water, followed by a “Hy-ah!” from the pokémon itself, comes from behind me, and I feel the wind ruffle my hair as it passes within a hairsbreadth of my head to slam into Luna right between her wings, backing off only long enough to build some distance, then blasting the freezing ray at my pokémon while I’m still reacting to Zoli’s pokémon’s near miss of my head. By the time I’ve physically turned back to the battle, Luna is fully encased in ice. Needless to say, Luna being a glass cannon is evident as that two-hit combo is all it takes to knock her out of the sky. I recall her before she hits the water and plan my next move. I need to be careful of that Ice Beam... And the Hydro Pump I recall being used to flood the stage. That’s it, I need a good fast swimmer. “Carvanha, you’re up again!” My pokémon does a flip upon materialization, before hitting the water, then begins to circle around the hovering starfish. I got this one set. Water and Ice moves aren’t very effective on Water types, so Starmie has to stick to Normal moves, Psychic completely ruled out by Carvanha’s Dark type. “Now Bite it!” Carvanha leaps from the water as Zoli shouts, “Counter with Signal Beam, knock it away!” The Starmie catches my pokémon right in the mouth, but Carvanha refuses to be stopped, and keeps going, powering through to clamp her teeth around Starmie’s central segment, biting hard. There’s a faint crackling, like of glass being broken, and the Starmie simply passes right out, gem bearing a brand-new crack. Nothing fatal for a pokémon, but... dayum. That’s what a physical Dark attack on a Special Defending Psychic type looks like for sure. I grin at Zoli and allow myself a quick brag. “I totally called that!” Zoli chuckles. “You haven’t won yet...” I see him swim up from the water and line up with the opposite platform from me, performing a flip athletically to get back on the floor and pulls one more ball. The others he’s pulled have been net balls and dive balls, but this one... it’s just a plain Pokéball. “One last guardian at this pass.” he says, pulling off his mask and letting out... a full-grown Blastoise, who stomps and bellows a challenge. Duuude. That’s a good show. Only thing that could make it more complete would be it Mega Evolving, which I fully plan on happening. And in that case... “Carvanha, good job. Alright Gloom, you’re up!” The Blastoise hunkers down, glaring across the water. “Alright, Blastoise, let’s start this off right. Bunker Up!” Ooh, that’s a new move! I give it a few moments to complete, if only to see what happens, and it’s no disappointment. Blastoise tucks in its body a bit, then summons a sort of barricade in front of it formed of the steel floor it’s standing on, complete with firing slits for its cannons and a thin view right at its eye height both standing and in firing stance. Not bad... but I have a way to get through that. “Stun Spore!” “Blast it back, wet spores don’t float.” Zoli’s response comes, and his pokémon begins to simply fire a low-pressure torrent to down the floating cloud, turning the water in the pool an ugly yellow. Gonna have to get through that bunker another way... “Sweet Scent!” As Gloom lets loose with the attack, Zoli responds with, “Ice Beam, twin-linked.” As I wonder about the second half, I prepare to order Gloom to move, when I see that both of the Blastoise’ cannons are glowing with blue-white energy, each about to fire their own Ice Beam attack. There’s no way Gloom would stand up to a double-strength hit like that! But I know who can... I recall Gloom and send out Litwick starting off with an order to “Minimize, now!” With Litwick’s small stature shrunken down further, the blast barely grazes her, but the resistance to the move nullifies any lingering pain. “Flame Burst, heat up that bunker!” Litwick lets loose, and I barely hear the response of ‘Water Pulse!’ from Zoli. The two attacks strike each other in the middle of the field, and an explosion of steam obscures the entire Gym. Thankfully, the steam is rapidly cooling towards ‘tepid’ in this Gym. Well if fire doesn’t work, let’s try poison. “Smog! Smoke it out!” Litwick immediately begins to pour out a thick, greasy smog, the purplish tint showing its toxicity. The cloud fades into the steam cloud, and the field slowly begins to clear, revealing the bunker... with no Blastoise in it. “Now use Hydro Pump!” Zoli calls, and the large turtle pokémon strikes from the side, having sunk into the water away from the yellow streak of stun-spore tainted water. The powerful blast strikes Litwick before either of us can respond and throws her down, the thunderous punch of the water visibly knocking her out in a single shot. Alright then... “GLaDoS!” I call out and the potato pokémon comes out again as I recall Litwick. “Start with Sunny Day!” Boost to my speed should help, along with the weakening effect on ice moves should help protect Voltato from all but a Skull Bash. Zoli nods. “Alright, Blastoise, return fire with Ice Beam, twin linked again.” he points as he speaks, and his pokémon nods, heaving itself out of the water with a quick mini-Rapid Spin, then turns and begins to charge the cannons on its shoulders to fire from both again. “Dodge it and use Zap Cannon!” I order and my little buddy manages to dodge the powerful but notably slow attack. Twin-Linking seems to reduce accuracy at the benefit of more power in the attack. Which means I was right: Speed and size is indeed key in this fight. That and Blastoise being notorious for high Defense and low Special Defense should make Zap Cannon hurt plenty. GLaDoS’ entire body pulses, the energy drawing in from its green, chlorophyll-filled limbs inwards, the base orb building between its eyes and then firing out as a strong beam, tagging Blastoise and redirecting the Ice Beams skywards from the recoil, and the larger pokémon shivers and tries to stand up, but locks up part way, face screwed up in consternation. “Follow up with Toxic, then with Vine Whip!” My pokémon nods, then fires out the purple goo that is a Toxic attack, following up with a withering barrage of Vine Whips, until Zoli simply recalls his pokémon. “Enough, enough man. Good job, though you should remember that the muscle-lock of being Paralyzed prevents toxins from seeping into a pokémon’s system in the future.” he says, hitting a button and retracting the corners of the gym field together. Lights come on all around, revealing there was... an audience stand!? And an actual observation deck and everything, complete with a large anti-splash guard and more than a few dozen people watching. Including some I recognize from earlier last week; it’s the contest judges, including James. “Uh... was this a contest and nobody told me? I think I just botched this up in that case...” Zoli chuckles and shakes his head. “Nah, the audience room is just open for viewing most days of the week; it helps bring in extra money for maintaining the Gym and all. Electricity ain’t free yet after all.” he says. “So uh, do they decide if I won, or is that still on you?” I ask, unsure. “Nope, still me. And you did great; you showed dedication to continuing your work and you held through in the battle itself. You were thinking quick on your feet and keeping calm throughout. There were a few hiccups, but nothing I think you won’t rectify with more experience. C’mere, I got a badge to give ya.” I stand up straight, feeling very proud of myself at the praise. Somehow I get the feeling that I’d feel less accomplished if I’d won this last week without all that grinding. Maybe I should throw the first match in the third Gym... nah. “Thanks. It was a pretty wild ride. My team’s a bit unbalanced now but... worth it. I just have one question.” “Go ahead.” he says, pulling out the case that holds the badges. “A friend of mine is gonna challenge next. Am I allowed to watch from the stands?” I want to see how Twilight’s attempt goes. I probably won’t be allowed to follow behind her and such. Zoli nods. “Yeah, sure. Entrance fee is 150, anyone’s welcome.” “Great!” I say, glad I’ll be able to watch. Twilight says she’s been training to and I want to see her skills. “I’ll be watching... and give her the run-around, she’s a lot smarter than she looks.” I head to the locker room and change into my trainer gear and come up to Twilight who has been swimming around with her pokémon in the public pool area. She really does look good as a Goldeen, except her purple hair clashes greatly with the ‘sunset orange’. Oh great, I’m turning into Rarity. “Hey Twilight, your turn.” She nods and swims over, recalling her pokémon. “And I’ll be watching. There’s the obvious challenge of winning but how about something harder to boot?” “Oh? What do you mean?” she cocks her head in confusion as she asks the question. “Convince me this nerdy little shut-in has what it takes to be a pokémon master.” I say, grinning. “I wanna see you win as much as anyone... but really try. Really really try. Now go get ‘em.” She chuckles at the compliment, then stops at the insulting meaning, then shakes her head, chuckling again. “You’re really something, aren’t you, Anthony?” “Odd, most people choose ‘crazy’ over ‘something’. Twilight’s complimenting me, oh whatever will I do?” I snark back and give her a gentle nudge towards the arena. “For real though... I wanna see you give it your all.” She nods and walks off and I go in the opposite direction, seeing the ramp up to the spectator’s balcony-area-thing. I pay the fee and get in. Unfortunately the place is positioned so I only have a good view of when she’ll fight Zoli, not the gym trainers, but still... a very good seat for her fighting Zoli. It’s a bit of time, but eventually I see Twilight fly down the final slide to Zoli, landing a lot more gracefully than I did the first time. I see Zoli look her over and I can’t quite hear what he says but given Twilight’s reaction it’s a compliment. They take out their balls and the battle begins. By this point she’s lost Pignite and Fearow as I expected, and right now she’s got Leichengst, which is Mossulk’s evolved form. I never saw it evolve so I take out my éTech and study it. Lichengst, the Brooding Pokémon. - These grim, brooding pokémon will gather in small groups, and will refuse to respond to anything bigger than themselves. Whenever one would evolve or simply gets too big, it gets ostracized from the group. - The mossy bodies of these pokémon glow slightly, often forming shapes like skulls or highlighting spikes. They try to look menacing, but they don't really mean any harm. Grass Type, Poison Type Weird... Either way, she’s up against Blastoise. This is the final leg of the match. Let’s see what you’re made of Twi. Don’t dissapoint. She starts off with having the sullen pokémon use Grass Knot, which is immensely effective against the heavy Blastoise, then continuing with a Slam, grappling in the process. After only a few moments, the two are locked, hands to hands and trying to shove each other off the platform, Zoli watching and occasionally giving pointers, but the two pokémon are evenly matched in size, and there isn’t much they two can to to each other at this level and distance. Finally, Twilight’s Lichengst gets the upper hand, and tips over the heavy Blastoise, then does, much to my amazement, a full-on piledriver with its spiked elbow. Wait a sec... Pignite is a wrestler-style pokémon, and Twilight’s mentioned she’s done some double battling. Has she been cross-training her pokémon? Is that even legal? Well, Zoli doesn’t object, rather recalling his pokémon and nodding. The same ceremony goes through, and Zoli gives a slightly different speech, complimenting her on her cross-training (called it) and her creativity, as well as being able to get a Lichengst to actually listen to her, which he says is very impressive. I wonder why it listens to her as well. As a human she’s about as big as it is. Maybe it trusts her since it knew her since it was ‘younger’. Or because it knows she’s actually a lot shorter as a pony. I’m betting on the latter. Though Twi’s moves have got me thinking... what can my pokémon teach each other? They’re a little too diverse. Or are they? I can teach them new tricks by combining moves they already know. And I just got an idea of one for GLaDoS, but sharing techniques... I don’t think my team is capable of that, I rely too much on their special abilities as opposed to their generic ones... but that’s what makes them individuals in combat. I’ll think of something later, I’m sure. I take down a note to remind myself to teach GLaDoS that combo move and watch Twilight get her badge. She looks so happy, heh. And she does look pretty good as a Goldeen. Oh well, I wonder what the next gym has in store for us...