//------------------------------// // Chapter 59 // Story: Starlight: Redshift // by the-pieman //------------------------------// After we leave the gym, Twilight and I plan to have a little celebration, but Rarity reminds us that anything major will cost money which we’re currently rather low on. We have enough to feed ourselves but not all that much besides. “Well, I was fighting some trainers.” Twilight says. “I bought items every now and then to keep my team healthy but I still have some left... Not sure if we should use it for a party.” I have to admit that Twilight’s right. “So we have a bit of extra cash between us, but we should decide what to splurge on.” “Coffee!” Rarity practically hisses at me before composing herself. “That’s what we need.” I roll my eyes. “Fine, you go do that. I’ll check out where the next place is. I’m getting tired of all this dang rain.” The girls rush off to get their drug while I pull up my éTech map and check where the next gym is. I look at the listing, and blink, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The third gym is in the northern desert on the other side of the freaking continent?! No, I don’t think so... that makes no sense. I recall the little forest town with the Ren Faire. That farmgirl said she was the gym leader. Why don’t we just go there first? This map must be buggy or something. After a bit more waiting, Twilight and Rarity come back. “You find your poison?” They huff. “It’s not poison, it’s just coffee.” I roll my eyes again. “Considering what all goes into coffee, yes, it’s poison.” “What are you talking about? It’s ground up beans in boiling water -or milk- like hot chocolate.” I reach into Twi’s bag and pull out the instant coffee mix and point to the ingredients. It does indeed have coffee beans... and about five other ingredients with three-syllables each. “Any ingredient that has more than two syllables and you can’t pronounce without trying a second time is bad for you, because it’s been manufactured.” Twilight huffs. “And it’s stronger than regular coffee! There’s no problems, Anthony. Right Rarity?” she says, turning to her friend, who is clutching what I see is a bag of ‘Organic’ labeled beans, with a look of horror on her face as she stares at the instant-coffee. Well, at least she got stuff that isn’t chemically-saturated. “Serious business Twilight, this stuff is going to keep you awake alright, but when you start getting the shivers I am not gonna be sympathetic.” I toss the instant coffee back into her bag. “Anyways, our next stop is that town with the Ren Faire, so it shouldn’t be long. If we leave now we should get there by...” I take a second to think about how fast we can get somewhere. “Well, we’ll get there before sunset at least so we won’t be walking through the woods at night.” The two give varying noises of agreement, and grab their own stuff. I notice, though, that Rarity has a sixth pokéball with her. “Woah, when’d ya get that one?” I ask, indicating the now-occupied sixth ball slot. “While Twi and I were out training?” I figured Rarity just sat around or went sightseeing. Didn’t expect her to take initiative without any kind of backup. “What’s in there, a Purrloin?” “Yes, she’s a pokémon named Freyjaloof, and I got her from the Breeder’s conference I attended while you and Twilight were preparing for your Gym battle.” She pauses for a moment, then asks, “Would you like to see her?” “So uh... what is a Freyjaloof, Rarity?” Twilight asks and I nod as well, to indicate my curiosity. “Sounds like a Fairy type name, or Normal.” I say, adding my guess. She nods. “Right on the first, but here, let me show you~” she says, a lilt in her voice on the last word, and she sends out the new pokémon. Freyjaloof appears, a large, definitely feline pokémon, covered in a huge amount of fur in a steel-gray color, ears covered in fluff that gives the pokémon the look of wearing a winged helm, and she purrs upon seeing Rarity, and sits straight-backed at attention next to her trainer. “Freyyy~Yah!” “Well, it’s not a Purrloin, but still a cat. So what can it do?” I ask. “Is it like most Fairy types and mainly a contest pokémon, or does it have an offensive movepool?” “Oh, this dear is a Fairy and Fighting Type, and she’s quite adept at both. In the training sessions I’ve done with her, I’ve been most surprised by the diversity of her moves, actually.” Rarity says, picking up the cat, but making an ‘oof’ of effort in the process, as the pokémon is evidently far heavier than it looks, and it’s a foot-and-a-half tall cat. “Well hopefully it and Glorious will make good offensive partners so you aren’t useless in a fight. If those Chainers show up again I’m not sure we’d get away otherwise. It’s important to be ready for a battle at the drop of a hat.” Rarity nods. “I still don’t like the thought of fighting if I can avoid it, but I don’t doubt those ruffians are in a much different mindset.” she pets her new cat as she speaks, and the pokémon seems perfectly content to snuggle close to her. “Right. Well, we should get going now so we don’t end up in the forest at night.” I set my éTech to put a waypoint on the Pokémon Center of Elderoot Town and we head out, Rarity deciding to recall her pokémon as carrying it is a bit of effort for her. Without much in the way of hostile pokémon stopping us, we are about halfway through the woods and the sun is getting fairly low so we opt to pick up the pace. Luckily it’s just getting to be night when we arrive, walking in the Center door with just a sliver of sun left. We hole up for the night and decide to get a look at the town in the morning. Rarity wants to wear her outfit she made when she was here at the Faire and I see no problem in it. “Just don’t expect everyone to just go with it. Ren Faires are cool and all but they don’t last all year. You may be getting more attention than usual.” She shrugs. “I am entirely alright with that. Either way, I’ll be wanting to speak with as many people as I can anyways, so this will only be a benefit.” Oh yeah, that’s something I forget to do in the games as well, talk to the city folks to see what’s going on. Oh well, we have Rarity for that now so I guess it’s fine if I don’t. We settle in for the night and it’s morning before I know it. I get up with a bit of difficulty, still a bit weak from my grinding spree despite my day-long nap the other day. I rub the sleep-crud from my eyes and slip back into my travelling gear, pausing to revel in the sight of the second badge on my jacket. I’m making good progress. I walk downstairs and I see the girls are already up, relaxing on the community couch, though they’re back to ponies. Twilight is the main center of attention, though Rarity is also attended by a couple of people looking her over. Every single one of them (minus a brave 10-year-old who has claimed Rarity’s foreleg) is maintaining a respectful distance and keeping their voices low as they talk with one another and the ponies. I sit down by Twilight. “And what’s got you so popular all of a sudden?” She looks up at me, then back at her crowd. “Alright, everyone, my friend is here, and I’ve got to go. I wish you all well~!” she says, and begins to move out. Rarity reluctantly does as well, and the crowd of humans looks fairly disappointed. Once we’re outside, Twilight turns to me. “Well, we came down just to see what was going on- oh, right, there was some noise, which turned out to be a party of some kind. You slept through it. Anyways, we came down, and everyone was just more interested in talking to ‘the new pokémon’ to keep going with the party.” “Guessing the kid interested in Rarity was the birthday boy?” I deduce, noting that it was the only kid I saw there. “I’m not actually sure, dear, but he was simply adorable.” she says. I laugh, recalling a ‘fact’ I heard once. “Yeah, human kids are cute, mainly so the parents don’t end up killing them. That’s a joke, because kids are crazy difficult to control. Anyways the map is buggy it said...” I check the éTech. “And it’s still bugged, it says the third gym is across a desert on the other end of the continent.” Rarity’s brows furrow, and Twilight checks her own, levitating a stylus to interact with the surface without using her nose while she’s quadrupedal. “Hmm... you’re right. I guess we have more travelling to do then, though it does say there’s a gym leader in town.” she comments. “Yeah, I met her briefly during the uh... issue at the faire.” I say, recalling my getting trounced by that illegal Pidgeotto. “I figured we’d come here before going halfway across the land just to find we could’ve just gone a bit backwards. Makes sense to me.” “Oh, alright, that sounds reasonable.” she says, then notices something on her screen. “Oh! It says there’s rare and potent herbal remedies here in town, that are much more effective than standard healing potions and the like.” she says, pointing at what looks like a Yelp review, but for a small shop... not that far from here, if the attached map is correct. “Looking for cheap, more efficient equipment for keeping your pokémon in top shape. You’re thinking more like a trainer every day.” I say, ruffling Twilight’s mane. “Alright, we’ll stop by there when our supplies start to get low. I still have a few super potions.” “Oh, alright. Anyways, what more do we need to do today? I mean, I’m going to be checking out some of the things this town has to offer, as it’s fairly similar to several towns in Equestria. Much closer to our style of architecture, as well.” At the last part of her comment, I look up and see she’s right; it’s not as bright and colorful as Ponyville, but it’s got a similar rustic grace and sturdiness to the buildings. Huh, I thought the place was just decorated like this for the faire, but apparently there’s a reason this is the perfect place for a faire considering the place already looks like it stepped out of a medieval novel. “So what is around here?” I ask, checking buildings for any interesting places. “Hopefully there’s a place where I can train some more.” “More? Didn’t you just get off a grinding binge?” Rarity asks curiously. I shrug. “Yeah, for six pokémon. I have more than that and that means some of my team is behind. I want everyone tough as they can be at the same time.” Twilight nods. “That is a good reason. I’ve been avoiding catching new pokémon so that none of mine become neglected. Although, I’ve been thinking of maybe catching one as a registered Companion instead of a trainer’s pokémon.” she says. “Oh? You mean like Rangers have? That sounds like an interesting idea.” I admit. “But I’m not sure, there are certain privileges official companions lose when they change over from being standard trained pokémon. At least, that’s what I knew last.” “Oh, from what I saw, Companion pokémon are actually sort of like... pets? They aren’t meant for battling, but rather having a pokémon you want with you, but won’t participate except in day-to-day life. They usually don’t get as strong as actually Trained pokémon, but they’re useful, such as a fire-type for lighting campfires, even if the rest of your team is already well balanced, and is simply not able to light small fires safely. Or because it has an interesting ability that doesn’t apply in battle, like a Rotom that is possessing a flashlight, acting as your light, instead of battling.” I nod thoughtfully. “Yeah, but I can’t think  of anyone on my team I’d like to deny training. I mean, I’m sure they can be used in emergencies and non-league administrated battles, but I probably won’t do that. I suppose you’ll be signing Twirunt up for that? I figure if Rarity’s gonna do that she’ll choose Ledian.” “Oh, a Companion pokémon isn’t considered a part of a team, and so basically lets you have seven pokémon with you, but one or two aren’t allowed to participate in league challenges.” she clarifies. “That includes Contests and trainer battles. Again, I’ve only been thinking about it. Many people have pokémon like Jigglypuff as their companion simply to make it easier to fall asleep at night.” I shrug. “Maybe I’ll find a pokémon that would be good for that but at the moment I’m fine the way I am. Not much need for a companion pokémon right now. I mean, most trainers would set their starter as their companion, or a baby pokémon they’re raising but I don’t have anything like that, and Geodude I’d prefer stay legal for official matches.” I think for a moment. “Maybe Ghowl could be my companion, but I’m not sure just yet.” “I’m thinking it probably won’t be needed, as I can cast spells that will do most of the things pokémon abilities would be needed for, but if we ever decide to split up for any reason, you having a firestarter or someone to break stones would be useful.” “I have the waterproof matches in my bag, and I can always just call out Geodude to use Rock Smash if I need it.” I say. “I also have two swimmers and two fliers. I think I’m set without a Utility Companion as it stands.” “Alright, it’s just a suggestion. Oh, I forgot! Zoli gave me one of those TM discs, and said he forgot to hand you one as well. Or, well, he called it an ‘HM’ instead. Those’re the rarer ones, right?” she says, pulling out a blue-toned disc. “Yeah, rare as in they have to be given as gifts or found. You can’t buy them. They tend to have very effective moves whether in or outside of battle. What’s that one, Dive?” “Yes, actually. He said you were in a hurry to get to the stands, and he spaced for a moment.” “I figured, a scuba diver type of guy gives out Dive. Oh well, it’s cool that we only got one, since we are sharing our discs. We should probably teach it to our pokémon next chance we get, though we’ll need a way to breathe underwater so we can dive with our pokémon.” “Oh, he gave me one, and handed me yours as well. And I think he said something about a place to buy rebreathers, but I was, uh, a little distracted.” She blushes at the thought of having not taken notes. I wave it off. “No big deal, we can always go get some later. At the moment though we’re currently in the forest and the next stop is across a desert. I doubt we’ll see much water aside from a large lake here or there. Some bikes would be more helpful really.” “Oh, yes, I’ve heard about those... something about motorless transportation, though I haven’t found any mentions of places to purchase any. How do they work? I didn’t actually find any descriptions of how their systems work, or what does drive them.” I roll my eyes. “Bikes are indeed motorless transport. I saw a shop for them a while back but I didn’t mention it since they were way above our price range. As for how they work... you sit on them and pedal. Requires practice though.” “Oh, that sounds easy enough. Well, we’ll look into them later; is there anything else to discuss for today, or...?” she lets the question trail off. “Nah. I think we can just wander around, check the place out... maybe scope out the gym and see what our competition is. Shouldn’t be that much worse than Zoli’s gym since it’s so close.” Twilight nods. Rarity, however, looks towards the herbs shop. “well, Twilight, if you would kindly give me my disguise, I believe I would like to browse the herbs shop. It sounds most intriguing.” she says, and Twilight does so, also turning herself human in the process. Thankfully, nobody’s around to question it. Also, Rarity is, as requested, back in the ‘princess’ outfit from the faire again and I hate to admit how hot she looks dressed like that. If the magic didn’t get any attention, that certainly will. Eitherwhats, she heads into the shop, and Twilight simply shrugs. “Well, shall we head to the gym, Anthony?” she asks, smiling over at me. “Sure. Let’s see how it goes.” We get near the gym and see another trainer walking out, sticking a badge into her case, indicating a win in a not-so-subtle fashion. “Hey, you just win that badge?” “Oh yeah, it was easy. My team barely broke a sweat! Good luck in there.” She smiles and walks off. This gym sounds like a pushover. “Well Twi, wanna watch a few matches and see how it looks, or should we get going for the challenge ourselves?” I ask, grinning at the thought of seeing this gym challenge being so easy that girl can just walk out and act like the place was nothing at all. Finally an easier badge. “Hmm... The first. It should be educational, and if we’re both watching, I can ask you questions if I have them!” she says, smiling and bouncing in place, not unlike Pinkie Pie for a second. “Alright, let’s go in.” Upon entering the door to the old-timey-looking gym, we see that it’s set up like the hall of a minor lord or lady in medieval times, keeping up the theme, with a plethora of cobwebs, and what at first looked like floral patterns on the walls, until I realized they were carefully cultured vines growing up the walls, and a series of trainers standing in full (if oddly colored) armor form an honor guard heading up the hall. No puzzles, no traps, just a gauntlet of trainer battles,a t least two of which are obvious double battles, from their spacing. That armor keeps bugging me, though... I know I’ve seen that material before, but I can’t place it. Ah well, there’s a camouflaged sign pointing to some stairs  that lead up for ‘Visitors’, with an automatic turnstile with a swipe-pad for our éTechs. I swipe mine and hear a confirming beep and pass through the turnstile. I expect Twilight to follow suit, but she’s studying the little machine and asks, of course. “How does it work?” I roll my eyes and grab her éTech and swipe it and pull her through the turnstile. “But how does it work?” I sigh. “It’s technology.” We get to some stands and await for the next challenger. It’s actually a somewhat long wait. We only get to see the Leader’s match, which sucks, but it should be good enough. But this does take a while. Guess everyone’s heading through the desert right now... idiots. Finally, I see a guy wearing a red bandanna with a pokéball symbol on the front in white on his head, the rest of his garb pretty impressively travel-worn. Finally, the gym leader, whom I met when she looked like a farmhand, finally reveals herself, this time dressed as a princess out of a fairy tale, and looks down at the challenger with a small grin. The usual call-and-response challenge starts, and she pulls a pokéball with a gold-lattice cover off a nearby pillow, where I’d mistaken it for a prop gem or bauble, and throws it out, revealing her first pokémon. A Crustle with a coat-of-arms matching the one flying on the Gym’s banners painted onto each face of its ‘shell’ appears with a small burst of recorded fanfare, baring its claws menacingly. Looks like she’s even got special capsules for this. And let’s see... with the vines, I imagined a Grass gym, but Crustle... this seems more like a Bug gym. Or it’s like Zoli’s gym and she doesn’t open with the gym’s signature type. At this point it’s a toss-up. The trainer throws out a pokémon that looks like a muscular, beaked smoke cloud coming out of the top of a brick chimney. I figure I’ll look up what that is later, the current reason for being here is to scope out the gym. Studying can wait. The pokémon lets loose a deep squawk, and its trainer begins having it use fire-based moves. The Crustle certainly tanks the hits well, until a Rock Smash attack sends a deep crack all the way through the Crustle’s stony shell, dropping the bug/rock-type straight into unconsciousness. Strong pokémon, that’s for sure, but not that strong. The Bug type should have protected it from the Fighting type move like it’s Rock type supported the Bug type. Guess these pokémon really aren’t that impressive. I await the leader’s next pokémon, the woman sending out a... Holy shitberry pie what is that monstrosity!? A massive tangle of tube-like limbs with giant, circular mouths filled with ring after ring of tiny teeth at their tips writhes in place and gives a titanic roar. Four eyes, placed with radial symmetry, sit near each mouth, but I’m a little afraid of looking away from this thing long enough to check if they’re real eyes or not. The main body is long and worm-like, and it shrieks again, sending shivers up and down my spine of instinctual, reptile-brain panic. Okay... maybe this gym isn’t so easy... I await the trainer’s response, which is similar to mine until he makes his command of, lightly paraphrased, ‘kill it with fire’. The oven-bird pokémon begins to let loose a torrent of golden-yellow hot flames, but the massive worm-monster simply ignores it. The gym leader responds with a move called ‘Hydra Fang’, and all five of her pokémon’s heads dart down to take a chomp at the bird-pokémon, who ducks inside its brick armor, not unlike a scared Spiritomb. Hydra Fang? Great, dragons have a typed bite move now... another thing to worry about. That said, it’s not that surprising it exists. I await the response to the retreating tactic. Surprisingly, the trainer doesn’t lose his head at being less than ten feet from this whole scenario, and calls for Eruption, the result of which actually does get the hydra-worm’s attention, as it had just stuck a head down the top of the chimney-like top. A blast of molten-hot stone and fire catches it in multiple faces, and it  breaks back, writhing and shrieking, until the gym leader calls for it to use... Psychic? How the fuck can it learn Psychic?! Wait... this is clearly a Bug type gym, given that it was either bug or grass and that’s notably not a Grass type. And a bug pokémon that uses Psychic moves- shit, is that what Magomental could become? No, I chose Lekgolem with the Alloy Shield... thank goodness. Either way, it proves effective at bypassing the smoke-bird-oven-chimney’s stone shell, and the pokémon’s heated glow in the little oven hole goes out. Its trainer recalls it, and sends out his next pokémon, a Clefable. Now we’re talking; a Clefable can totally take a dragon type thanks to its Fairy advantage... huh, how did they not figure out that one sooner? Would Clefable have just... stopped taking damage from Dragon attacks when the type was discovered? Or maybe it was discovered when people realized it took less damage but not because of it’s insane tankiness? Huh... Now I wanna ask the Devon guys again. I wonder if they have an ask site or something. Either way, though, the Clefable can take the shots better. It’s not winning at this point, until... “Metronome!” the trainer shouts, and the battered Fairy pokémon raises an index finger, tiny hand coated in a blue glow. I nudge Twilight and say “You wanted to see what Metronome can do? Just watch.” There’s a flash of light, and a sudden, freezing wind blows into the Gym, strong enough that I can feel the drop in temperature even here in the stand, and- woah, there’s ice forming on the stands! It only takes  few seconds of this cold to settle in and the massive dragon-worm stills completely, unmoving and coated in a layer of frost. It’s not frozen, though, and the shivering Gym Leader recalls it, meaning that was... Sheer Cold. Wow, it’s freaking freezing up here, and we’re sixty feet more more up and half again that far away. We wouldn’t be able to see at all without the glass over the viewing area having all sorts of zooms and image enhancements on it. I can’t imagine what it’s like down there on the floor. The Gym Leader looks a little iced over herself, though mainly due to her now having purple lips and bluish skin, no actual frost forming on her. That said, she’s shivering less than I am. “S-s-s-s-seeeeeeee? M-m-metronom-m-m-m-me.” Twilight nods jerkily, arms clasped around her torso. “H-h-how d-do you m-m-m-manage w-without f-f-f-fur?!” she demands, lips gone a bit blue from the cold. Strangely, none of the others up here even look more than slightly chilled. Weird. “We m-make clothes out of f-fur.” I say, as the Gym leader throws out her next pokémon from its gilded pokéball, a large spider that does a flip and lands on its four rear legs, raising its forelegs, all four of them, in a fighter’s pose. It even has a red bandana and a black belt that flutters in the cold wind of the Gym. The trainer visibly sighs and recalls his Clefairy, tossing out a Fearow. I decide to take the éTech out and look at that one at least. A quick scan later the machine beeps in recognition. Spidleweed, the Flipping Spider pokémon - These pokémon skitter across the desert, doing what looks like flips to flick across the desert at high speeds. They also use their incredible legs to strike as if kicking and punching with amazing accuracy. - They move with surprising grace and speed. Their belts are made from their own silk, and dyed with ink made from cactus flowers. They can move across even fiery lava by moving fast enough. Bug and Fighting Type It’s got pretty decent stats, too, even distributed across everything but special attack, though its speed is impressive. Huh, the data says it’s native to deserts; I may have to pick one up along the way. Still, aside from a giant worm, so far there aren’t that many impressive pokémon. The leader is losing quite quickly. The Fearow dives at the Spidleweed, who is promptly told to Bulk Up, and the pokémon makes some poses, before simply grabbing the dive-bombing Fearow out of mid-air by the beak and diverts it to the side. The next move the pokémon uses is Agility, and the Fearow is diverted a second time, being made to once more skid across the icy floor... wait, that’s what it’s doing! Ice is doubly effective against flying types, and if you don’t have any of your own... Shit, this dude dug his own Fearow’s metaphorical grave with that Metronome... maybe there’s more to this leader than her looks. Still, I’m not convinced she’s that big a deal, just smart. The trainer backs his pokémon off, having it use Defog, clearing the ice from the entire gym in a single go. Impressive; I’d almost forgotten Defog removes all terrain effects, myself. That said, a Fearow would have to be pretty high level to have the power to blow away coated-on ice. Maybe the levels here are higher than I thought. Then the trainer calls for his Fearow to use Heat Wave, and the Spidleweed covers itself to escape the fiery flurry. That means that Fearow is also a bred pokémon, because that’s an egg move, and hard to get into a line by accident. After only a few moments, the Spidleweed is crispy, and the Fearow is told to follow up with Drill Peck, and this time the spider can’t deflect the attack. The pokémon is recalled, and the trainer looks pretty psyched. I have to admit, I am too, he’s pretty good, and this has been a somewhat stronger battle for both sides than I’d expected. The gym leader nods respectfully. “Now that I’ve taken your measure, it’s time for the true battle to begin.” the leader says, confident and calm, and both the trainer and I take a double-take at that. Real battle? This was just her toying with him? Next she sends out a Leavanny, this one with a pokeball without any fancy covers, it’s just gold-and-black. And not yellow, either, gold. Specifically the top is a shiny gold while the bottom half is a deep onyx black. The Leavanny bows respectfully to the Fearow, who wastes no time going into a diving Drill Peck, but the Leavanny blurs backwards, a massive web of sticky strands practically materializing to snag the pokémon, who is, in the blink of an eye, trussed up completely, with the Leavanny sitting delicately atop the cocoon like it had simply decide to take a seat, no rush, no danger. The only part of the Fearow visible is its nostrils, poking out of the silk strands. The trainer, looking horrified, recalls his pokémon, and the Leavanny lands without a sound on the Gym floor once more. Holy crap, and Leavanny aren’t supposed to be all that fast. This thing is either really high level or EV-trained specifically for speed. Either way I’m thoroughly impressed now. The next pokémon the trainer throws out is a Beedrill, who is then coated almost immediately in a bright, purple-white light, and something on its trainer glows in sync. Moments later, the Beedrill reveals itself again... as a Mega Beedrill, raring for the fight. There’s a strong feeling of... well, it feels like that courage I feel when I took on something way more powerful than me back in Equestria, coursing throughout the entire Gym, along with feelings of happiness and joy and... wow, so this is what it’s like being near a Mega Evolution? No wonder it’s such a big thing, culturally. That, and the appearance change is amazing. The stinger has become more streamlined and drill-like, fitting the name, and the number of arm-stingers have doubled, as it buzzes around on six wings, darting back and forth as if it’s almost teleporting as it sways, vibrating as the buzzing fills the arena, a high-pitched whine betraying just how fast those wings are moving. This- this is gonna be amazing. The trainer calls for a series of moves in a rapid clip, starting with Electroweb and ending with Poison Jab and Assurance, his pokémon blurs into action, the Gym Leader doing the same, and I can’t see a single thing happening because it’s all happening too fast for me to parse. I notice all the folks next to me are all looking down at their eTechs, and I see one of their screens; it’s the fight, but going at a slower speed. There must be an app for this, but I don’t have time to hunt it down, the pokémon out there are breaking up from each other, both covered in scratches, dings, and cracks in their chitin. Both are breathing heavy. I decide to look up a High-Speed Camera app later and watch the following. First to move wins I suppose, but then that would go to the Beedrill who is still managing to hover, if a bit wobbly as a wing is noticeably been clipped somewhat. The tension is building as the trainer and the leader stare each other down as do their pokémon, seeming to be waiting for the other to move first and leave themselves open. At almost the same time, the two pokémon are given instructions, and the two flash at each other one more time, before landing on the opposite from where they started. The room is silent for a moment, before the Leavanny wavers, collapses. The Gym leader pulls the last pokemon from the fifth pillow waiting, and lets loose... a Vespiquen. I’d be unimpressed, but this leader has obviously been saving her for last, And the beehive pokemon gives a menacing glare towards the Mega Beedrill, and doesn’t even wait before sending out a flurry of tiny, single-comb Combee, which I suppose are them before they’re trio’d up to act as actual workers. The swarm becomes a cloud of angry attackers, and the Beedrill cannot withstand it, and is recalled. The trainer pulls out another pokeball, and throws out a large pokemon, looking like a ball of darkness with a long coat and hat, bearing a massive hammer that glints in the Gym’s lights. I have no idea what pokemon that is, or anything about what it could be. The cloak looks almost kingly... if it was a kid’s story about a king that was short and pudgy. The pokemon hefts it, and I see a yellow star-shape on the hammer’s head, and the trainer calls for a Heavy Slam, which his pokemon goes for with a flying leap and just bowls right into the Vespiquen. The response is a Fell Stinger, and it catches the larger pokemon right in the belly, and is followed up with another Attack Order. The large pokemon goes to take a hammer-swing at the bug, but it turns out to be a feint, and the hammer catches fire and is somehow used as a wheel to charge the Vesiquen. I’d have never credited the attack as being possible, but there it is. The Larger pokemon is told to use Rollout, and the attack’s first strike is right on target. The Vespiquen takes the hit, but recovers with Heal Order, and the Rollout is barely dodged the second time. Suddenly, the rolling pokemon just outright collapses, falling to the ground, hammer striking down with a final-sound thud that echoes throughout the chamber... and with a ‘snikt’, the Vespiquen retracts the eight-inch long stinger it had stabbed the other pokemon in the side with. I hadn’t seen it coming, and it hadn’t been ordered by the Gym Leader. The Vespiquen, acting under her own impulse had landed the final blow, and the trainer doesn’t send any more pokemon out after recalling the large hammer-wielding pokemon. I am thoroughly impressed and, I hate to admit it, but maybe this is the fourth gym after all... I take a deep breath in through my teeth and turn to Twilight. “Looks like we’re heading for the desert.”