Starlight: Redshift

by the-pieman

Chapter 54

We leave the Devon building and head out only to get drenched by the signature rainfall of Great Barrier. Man, I hope the next place we find is called ‘Sunnydale’ or something. Oh well, I’m heading to a Water Type Gym, I’m expecting to get soaked anyways.

Twilight and I go our separate ways, her heading for the library. It takes a minute to remember where the gym is but I soon get my bearings and head for it. You know... maybe I can make my challenge today... Yeah! Just a trial run, but I’m gonna do it! Maybe I’ll even win too, that would be great!

I run to the Pokémon Center and rush to the PC, switching out Geodude for Oddish, and Magomental for Lunaverde. The more Grass types I have, the better, right?

Ghowl flies so that works out fine, and Carvanha is a swimmer. Alright, let’s do this! I make my way to the gym, psyching myself up by taking deep breaths and humming a victorious-sounding tune to myself. I walk inside and I walk to the area labelled ‘Gym’, the opposite direction from the public pool.

I pick out a swimsuit with Feraligatr trunks and even some similarly styled flippers and swimming gloves, with some yellow-tinted goggles to top it all off. I look in the locker-room mirror and I look like a badass! Or a total geek... No, I’m going with badass, this is the pokémon world, and this is not considered ‘weird’ here!

I walk out into the gym area and take a look at my surroundings.

There’s the same design as before, with the vertical sections of the water paths, and on closer inspection, I see that some segments of the gym have metal coverings, meaning I’d have to be upside-down or otherwise not aligned ‘up’ as I go, or diving.

Well, shouldn’t be a problem, I think I’ll be fine. Let’s dive!

After a bit of swimming, I come to a platform which I climb up onto and see another person on it, clearly geared up to be a gym trainer.

“My first bit of competition, huh?” I ask, referring to the trainer across from me, half the small ‘arena solid platform, the other half water. “Well, let’s not waste time. Carvanha!” I shout the name as my second catch materializes in the water, chomping the air as usual.

“Alright, straight to it. Go, Aquana!” A pokémon that looks like a light-blue iguana materializes on the edge of the platform on his side.

Huh, a land-based pokémon? No, it must be amphibious, no doubt. Well in that’s the case, might as well get it into the water where Carvanha can do some damage. But how? A leap would just put Carvanha on the platform, and her dragging skill isn’t exactly spectacular... How do I get this pokémon into a losing position?

“Alright, use Camouflage, Aquana!” my opponent shouts, and the pokémon gets a metallic sheen on it rippling over it up from the metal platform. Well, that cuts my possibilities down, a lot.

Carvanha seems to be growing impatient, too, so I’m on a timer until she decides to do something herself, likely a rash decision.

I need a move I can use that will disrupt it but doesn’t have to physically connect... Hmmm... I got it! “Screech!”

The sound waves ripple out and smack into the Aquana. The pokémon screeches and backpedals, and for a second it looks like it’s going to fall off the platform, but instead hooks its toe-claws into the edge of the platform and swings into the water stream underneath.

I hope Carvanha’s predatory instincts caught it though and shout my command “Aqua Jet!”

The other trainer smirks, and shouts, “Acrobatics!” and I see the Aquana do something under the water, resulting in throwing Carvanha bodily out of the water.

I return my only swimmer and replace it with my next Pokémon. “Go GLaDoS!” The little pokémon appears at the edge of the platform, and... and I forgot to grab the surfboard to use as a floating platform... damnit hindsight!

The potato pokémon just sits there, and looks questioningly into the water, and I hear the other trainer call for Acrobatics again.

“Shockwave, electrify your body!”

Glados complies, but the now-steel-typed Aquana slams into my Voltato like a missile before landing, scrabbling, on the platform on my side.

Hmm... Wait a minute... How does that work again? It’s using acrobatics, but it’s a steel type now. “GLaDoS, return.” I grin as I assure myself this gambit could work in my favor. “Litwick!”

The other trainer guesses at my trick and begins ordering his pokémon back into the water, but I have a moment to make use of Litwick’s speed before the pokémon can properly backpedal into the pool.

“Confuse Ray!” I shout, grinning ear to ear, Litwick having enough trust in me to not question the fact that it’s in a Water gym. That or the little girl’s got serious guts.

The Aquana is struck by the eerie, flickering light, and begins backpedalling off to one side instead, then stops and shakes its head, trying to get its bearings. “Acrobatics, again!!” my opponent shouts, and the Aquana gets ready to make the attack, apparently not confused enough... but Litwick might be fast enough.

Still, Litwick’s fast, so the slight disorientation will probablybe enough for a “Dodge and hit it with Fire Spin!” I was right, he was so caught up in using Acrobatics that he didn’t use Camoflauge in the Water, so it’s still Steel type... “And make it hot!”

Litwick nods, trusting in me, and helix of fire picks up the metallic pokémon, holding it steady and unable to escape back to the safety of the pool’s water, screeching in anger and pain.

“Alright, now Night Shade!” I know Litwick isn’t that High level, but it’s something, and I don’t have many moves effective against Steel.

The ghost-type move rocks the lizard-pokémon’s mind, and it goes limp, fainted from the combined attacks, and my opponent sighs and recalls his pokémon. “Darn... still, I’m only the first. And if you leave now, you’ll have to face me again and again!” he says, smirking at me. He can’t be more than twelve, but he’s got the look of someone with utter confidence. “Also, don’t look up.”

“I’m too smart for that trick, kid.” I keep my eyes locked on him and keep swimming forward... but then the cube runs out and I start falling... up? Oh shit I was upside-down! Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck “Owwww...”

“I warned you!”

I recover from my impromptu belly flop, the second of the week, and continue on, ignoring my stinging stomach. Well, ignoring as best I can. Nevertheless, it’s not long before I come to another trainer.

I climb up onto the platform, this time sure that I’m standing right-side-up. Just to check I spit up ward and it... lands in my face... yep, right-side-up... *sigh*.

Wiping the slob off me I return my attention to the other trainer. “Alright, I’m more prepared this time.” I warn.

“Sure, sure.” she says, snickering. “I saw that belly-flop.” she then winds up and pitches a pokéball, and a heavy crab-looking pokémon hits the metal floor. It has six legs and a pair of equal-sized pincers, and is covered in spikes, barbs, and a barely-visible pair of glowing red eyes.

“Alright time out, that’s a new one to me.” I say and take my éTech, which thankfully has a clip to attach to my trunks so it doesn’t get dropped when I fall freaking upwards...

I hold up the device to the strange crab-like pokémon and let the machine do it’s work.

Crushacean, the Spiny Crab pokémon.

- These pokémon live in the deep trenches and darkest depths found around Otaria. They can withstand incredible, crushing pressure and intense cold.
- The short spikes on these pokémon are sharp and plentiful. They have been known to be able to cut through the armored shells of scouting submarines passing by.
- Their claws are surprisingly weak, though their spikes make up for that. They usually only eat small nibbles of detritus passing by, but have been known to tear apart passing Relicanth when very hungry.

... And it’s not at all a water type. It’s a Steel/Ice hybrid.

Now that’s just begging me to use Litwick again. I grin and call the bluff. “Go, Ghowl, let’s see what you can do!” The pale white pokémon appears, hoots once, and hovers in mid air, flapping only occasionally to maintain position.

I use my éTech and scan Ghowl to check it’s moves. Only level fifteen but... Yes, I can definitely use this. “Hone Claws!”

Ghowl’s claws flash past one another, and my opponent grins as well. “Supersonic!” she calls, and the high-pitched noise rattles past me and Ghowl, barely missing. “Now, Dive, while they’re distracted!” she calls, and the huge crab simply cannonballs into the water. I’m hit with the water from my side of the challenge platform.

“Keep your focus Ghowl!” Luckily I hadn’t removed my goggles so my vision is obscured but not impaired by the splash. Finally foresight works for me. “Use Shadow Sneak!”

Ghowl’s shadow coalesces into a long, stretching streak that darts into the water... moments later Crushacean bursts from the water and begins falling at Ghowl like a giant spiny meteor. “Follow up with Avalanche!” the girl shouts, and a torrent of ice chunks flash out and smash into Ghowl while it’s pinned under the bulky, spiked crab.

I don’t want to lose Ghowl that soon, and I don’t want it unhappy with me as a new trainer. “Ghowl, return!” The little red laser from the pokéball absorbs Ghowl just before the ice crashes down, though I do see that in a split second a few stray... ice... balls? Whatever shape they were they did hit Ghowl dealing some damage before the recall. Yikes, hope it isn’t serious, that’s Ice Vs. Flying...

I ponder my options. A steel type stops grass moves from being super effective and makes poison null so Oddish is out... Doubt Lunaverde could handle a direct hit from Avalanche, the double weakness would crush it. Guess I have to take the initial bait and go with fire. “Litwick, again!”

The girl smirks. “Alright, Dive again!” she says, and the Crushacean simply hops backwards and crashes into the water again, sinking out of sight once more.

“Minimize!” The pokémon is huge and with a small pokémon getting smaller, this’ll either be horrible... or a huge advantage. Given Litwick’s speed, I’d probably bet on the latter. “Then dodge when it comes up!.”

Litwick scrunches down into itself, and she makes to dodge just as the water begins to bubble. The hulking crab pokémon launches from the water once more, and slams down... caging Litwick perfectly, but not harming her. Yet. “Use Clamp!” she says, and the larger pokémon dexterously reaches under itself to take a snap at the trapped Litwick.

“Fire Spin! Heat up the platform” Crabs may be fast, but one thing they have trouble with is balance.

Litwick tries, but the fire just pours off the crab’s armor, and the Crushacean gets grip on her, the water-type Clamp locking her in place as the Crushacean pulls her free, steel spikes scratching her time and again as it brings its arm up to slam her down, ignoring the helical flames.

“Confuse Ray and get out of the way!” Litwick cries out, but complies, the eerie light whirling in front of the pokémon’s eyes, the huge crab reels from it, but doesn’t let go, and begins to teeter back into the water.

“Minimize again! See if that works!”

Litwick scrunches down farther and barely slips free as the larger pokémon slips into the water. However, my opposing trainer simply begins shouting encouragement to her pokémon, who is apparently not out of the fight. How tough are these things?

And how can I beat it... Idea! “Continuous Ember, heat up that water!”

The water begins to steam and bubble almost immediately, but Litwick looks tired. After only a few moments, my opponent yells for another Dive attack.

Well, I got it, time to use it. “Litwick! Super Potion!” I spend my turn healing my pokémon with the advanced medicinal spray and I’m not sure how healthy Litwick was, but now she’s 50HP tougher. “You ready to continue, girl?”

She gives a sigh, but nods. Then, the Crushacean bursts from the water again, armor glowing faintly from the heat, and it lands a foot away from Litwick, and lashes out with its spike-covered claws, missing by another foot and almost catching me by accident. I hope it’s an accident. I mean, I already own one psychotic pokémon...

Though that would get her disqualified for harming the trainer on purpose or not. Her pokémon, her liability.

“Alright Litwick, a little more and you can rest. Confuse Ray again, push it back into the boiling water!”

Litwick sends another blast of light, and the Crushacean makes its first noise of the match besides Supersonic, an unnatural-sounding, metallic shriek. My opponent actually looks a bit scared at this, as the Crushacean slams both its huge, spiny claws into the ground, leaving huge, cratered pits in the terrain, and begins to charge at Litwick, and by extension, me. Whether or not that girl ends up responsible, I’m pretty sure that thing could paste me and Litwick if we don’t move or divert it - and there’s nowhere else to go!

I hastily return Litwick and duck and cover, hoping I can avoid being turned into street pizza by curling into a ball.

The Crushacean barrels past, slamming into the metal gaurdrail and collapsing. It makes another warbling, unearthly shriek, and turns around, weaving drunkenly as the trainer recalls her pokémon, and I realize I’d seen the attempted trails a couple times before when it had been charging me.

“S-sorry. He gets really competitive, and... sorry.” she says, blushing in embarrassment and shame.

“So do I just leave and heal my pokémon or do I win because I’m not the only one with a psycho on their team?”

“You win, you beat him. here, I’ll give you my Super Potion for your Litwick.” she says, fishing the potion bottle from her bag.

I take it and, sending out Litwick to heal her and then recalling her, move on. “Good luck with that thing.” I call to the girl before jumping back into the water. She waves, still blushing.

No more trainers, but a practical maze of water cubes and currents. I’m completely exhausted from swimming in various loops and flips, including the final trip which was like a spiralling waterslide with a cover that made it dark other than vague shapes in glowing colors and the hints of teeth showing on the walls in blurs and passes. It’s a bit like a combination slide and ‘tunnel of terror’ based on the super-deep sea theme.

Neat special effects. I’d be more impressed if my muscles weren’t sore, and the entire thing had been underwater, meaning I’d had to hold my breath for what felt like hours, but looking back was likely closer to thirty seconds at high speed.

Eventually the slide is over and I’m dumped into a small pool of water in front of another, larger platform, still made of steel but painted and such to look like a dock of sorts. I approach who must be the gym leader and unceremoniously flop onto the ‘wood’. “Gimme... a sec... Huuuuuuh.... hahhhh...” A few more deep breaths later I can stand and get an actual look at this ‘Zoli’ guy everyone’s talking about.

He’s a tall, lithe, athletic man, and he nods, sitting on what amounts to a Lifeguard’s chair. “Take your time, no need to hurry. Unless you need to get somewhere else, after this, then you might need to hurry, but... anyways, I’m Zoli. What’s your name?” He offers me a hand both to shake and help me up. his short, dark hair includes a close-cropped beard, which reaches all the way past his ears.

I take his hand as well as his offer. Breathing hard a little still. “Anthony. Jeez, I’m in worse shape than I thought for a trainer...”

“Haha, that’s alright. Swimming takes dedication, man, and it’s not for everyone. Sorry bout Lisa’s Crushacean, by the way. I’ve been trying to find something to help him chill, but... no go so far.” He gives an easy smile and a placid shrug. “Ah well, she’s got promise, and I think she’s the one who’ll get him in line.”

“Lemme guess, you aren’t going to use a Water-type either?”

“Oh, I’ve got my tricks, from years of free-diving and swimming in the currents and undertow of this port city I call home. The whole of the sea is open to me, and I’ve chosen some of the best for this. I even swam in just about every river, lake, and oceanic Route in four regions, not including Otaria. So yeah, I have some pokémon that aren’t water types. But not all pokémon under the waves are.” he smiles and chuckles. “Wow, I really went off there for a moment, sorry ‘bout that.”

I smile. “I actually have a theory that the League plants a chip in every leader’s brain that makes them wax poetic about who they are, why they’re amazing and all that. Seriously, everyone’s got their own little tirade.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me, man, but I do that from time to time without being around a Pokémon Gym. I actually write poetry, so it’s all cool.” He clears his throat. “Anyways, you feeling better? I got plenty of water if you need a drink.” he says, smiling at his own little joke.

“Thanks, but I already had one about partway here. Anyways, I’ll be okay. Let’s start.”

“Alright, let’s get this started then!” he says enthusiastically, and he hits a floor panel, causing the large cube we’re on to shift and expand, revealing it’s four angled corners, a central diamond, and a whole ton of water rushing up from below to fill it. All around, I hear a few trainers shout whoops of enthusiasm, and a quick look around reveals that there’s a small audience of kids and young adults in swimwear on other platforms or floating in hovering pools and watching us.

“Great... I get to suck with people watching it. I’m just lucky my friends back ‘home’ won’t see it.”

“Hahaha, it’s all cool, man. Don’t worry, we’re not recording or anything.” he says, laughing. “Now, lemme toss my first...” he flicks his wrist, and out comes... a Lapras! Ooh, I’m so jealous! The pokémon makes a musical lowing sound, and looks at me for a moment before shaking its head. “Let’s see what you’ve got, Anthony!” he calls, and dives into the water himself. I catch a glimpse of metal around his mouth; I think it’s a rebreather.

Well he did say he’s an adventurous swimmer, I wouldn’t put it past him to have some related toys and tech. Alright... Lapras... Ice and Water... Okay. “GLaDoS! You’re up!” The little potato appears on my side of the ‘arena’ standing on the platform like before, only this time I’m a little less confident. But only a little.

I hear, over speakers, Zoli’s slightly-muffled voice call out, “Start us off with a Confuse Ray, girl!” and the Lapras complies, sending out a charged series of eerie light-orbs, each flickering with ethereal power.

GLaDoS is wobbling around so I give instructions. “Just stand still, close your eyes and wait for it to pass.” I’m aware that leaves him open to an attack but I’d rather he be oriented when it happens.

“Ice Shard next!” he calls, and Lapras begins to fire sharp chunks of ice at GLaDoS, though she still hasn’t actually moved from her position.

Damn, if he wasn’t on metal I’d have him dig underground to avoid that... damn, I knew I forgot to pass that TM around! Oh well, after this. Uhhhh “GLaDoS, Vine Whip, see if you can knock those shards off-course while you dodge!”

The potato pokémon nods, opening his three eyes and dodging one way and lashing out in the other with lengthening vines. Most of the shots are knocked off-course, but a few peg him directly, throwing him back towards my feet. He’s tough (ish) though, and gets shakily back up, defiance in his eyes.

I realize what I should have started with and facepalm. “Sunny Day, weaken those Ice moves!”

My Voltato nods, then concentrates, and the whole room brightens, turning hot. Ooh, that’s actually rather nice; I’ve been standing, wet, in an airy and high-up area of the gym, and I hadn’t realized how cold I was getting.

Also, that means that Lapras and any of his other pokémon will feel the heat. Now I finally have an advantage! “Thundershock!”

GLaDoS begins charging his attack, and send the bolt just as Zoli responds with, “Use Sing!”

A calming, soothing song begins to resonate from the Lapras, who takes the hit with a wince, but without stopping her melody. The song... is... making me... sleepy. H-holy cow.

Just gotta... stay awake... come on. “GLaDoS...” I look to my pokémon. GLaDoS stumbles a bit on his rootlets, but turns, all three eyes drooping. It’s... rather adorable, actually.

“Uh... another... Thundershock...” I point to myself. Hey, if Ash can take it from a hyped-up Pikachu, I can take it from this little guy.

Ow! Owowowowowoowowowowwowowwwwoooooooooaaaah! Holy shit am I awake! I feel like I just chugged a 2 litre of Dr. Pepper or something. Like I just stuck my finger in an electric outlet, wait I kinda did, like I just ate a sirachi-burger, is this how Pinkie feels holy crap this is disturbing as hell but awesoooooome! Okay so I’m seeing quadruples of everything and I can’t hear crap but woah this is a fucking rush!

I take a few deep breaths and look around. I’m still hyped up but not to the extreme of seconds before, and what a couple of seconds it was! Damn! Still rushing a bit, whoooo... I look down and see that GLaDoS didn’t hit himself with the Thundershock and is dozing softly on the platform. That is adorable! I recall him, the sun still bright, but probably not gonna last much longer, gotta take advantage of it.

I take a moment to think over my options and- ah fuck it. “Lunaverde!” I realize now that that’s pretty stupid but I guess I have to try it out sometime.

The moth pokémon appears and flutters over the pool, looking around with its large eyes. It looks back at me over its shoulder questioningly.

“I’m half insensible at the moment dude, just roll with it, ‘kay? Uh... Air Cutter!”

The pokémon seems to shrug and begins to whip up a strong wind, visible scythes of air tearing towards the Lapras, who takes it and gets... scruffed, really. The attack just doesn’t seem strong enough, but she does pause for a moment. “Alright, Lapras, Ice Shard again.” Zoli’s laconic voice calls out, and his Lapras begins to comply.

“Fly up and out of range!”

Lunaverde begins to comply, but is relatively slow, and multiple Ice shards hit my pokémon, driving it to one side. She begins to circle the battlefield, fluttering softly to maintain altitude. Even from this distance, I can see she’s been hit in the wing, one of which has a bend in it now.

Able to think clearer, I return Lunaverde and throw out Oddish. “Start with Stun Spore!”

Oddish spins while materializing, throwing out the paralytic powder in every direction, before even getting a look at where the opponent is, and catches Lapras off-guard, showering her with it. Nearly gets me, too, adding to my ‘close calls of the day’ list.

“Alright, good job, now Absorb!” Oddish nods, and makes an inhaling gesture, and tiny green orbs of energy ‘drip’ out of Lapras and into Oddish’s open mouth. “Alright, now Acid!” It won’t do as much damage, but a lowered Special Defense means Absorb will do more later.

Lapras cries out as the acid splashes across her, and Zoli makes a sad sound. “Alright... Perish Song.” the words make my heart begin to race again, and a mournful song goes up from Lapras. Oddish cries out, and begins to weep, tears streaming. I can almost see a countdown timer ticking away precious seconds as the large pokémon continues its song.

Oh shit, how do I combat that? I can’t remember! Damnit, my brain is still fried, I can’t think! What do I do!? Uh... swap out? Is that it? Yeah, Swap out! But for who? Uh...

A crescendo rises, then falls, and phantom notes fall from the sky, Oddish suddenly toppling over into the pool right in front of me, and Lapras does the same, being called back from underneath.

I recall the face-down bobbing Oddish and continue thinking. Now I really have to send someone new out and the sunlight has faded. Ghowl might work, yeah. “Ghowl!”

The ghostly-looking bird appears on the metal surface as another pokémon appears in the water: Malamar. I’d recognize that squiddy-looking pokémon any day. And I know exactly what it’s going to do. That goddamned Swagger combo.

“Ghowl, use Peck!” If I use Hone Claws I’m digging my own grave.

The command comes for Hypnosis, and the psychic strike pulses from the pool and catches Ghowl before it can land a hit, followed by Ghowl landing in the pool, right near the swiftly rising Malamar.

Damnit, not what I was expecting...

“Now use Psywave!” The psychic attack is launched just as the Malamar breaks the surface, and it picks up Ghowl and throws it at my feet, still asleep. “And finish with Foul Play.” The Malamar’s tentacles get a nasty black veil about them, and it begins to strike viciously at Ghowl, definitely making the pokémon go from ‘asleep’ to ‘fainted’ with only a few uninterrupted strikes.

I return Ghowl and throw out Carvanha. Better than nothing at the moment, really. My pokémon snaps at Malamar, who sinks into the water, and Zoli calls for, “Superpower.” Malamar’s strike literally knocks Carvanha out of the water, making her land at my feet, where she snaps angrily and thrashes about.

I just push Carvanha back into the water. That move was almost it for her after the first battle, but... not many options. “Aqua Jet!”

Carvanha speeds at Malamar, striking the foe dead-on. thankfully, Malamar sacrificed resistance to Water moves for a more effective move pool, so the attack does plenty of damage. “Superpower, again.” Zoli’s voice calls, and I know this is it for Carvanha. The piranha pokémon’s unconscious body sails out of the water, and I return her mid-air.

“Lunaverde again! Silver Wind if you can!” Hopefully the times-four effectiveness will turn the tides. Lunaverde begins to whip its wings, a scintillating metallic wind pouring out to zip at Malamar, who simply takes it, Zoli not throwing a command. Then, the pokémon is returned. “Alright, Malamar, that’s good enough. Go Starmie!” the ten-pointed shape appears under the water, and zips around in a wide circle.

“Absorb!” My pokémon begins to draw immediately, and Zoli responds with, “Rapid Spin!” the pokémon flies from the water at Lunaverde, who is still suckin’ down energy as fast as it can.

“Switch to Air Cutter, blow it away!” The attack begins, but not soon enough. By the time I’d finished my sentence, Starmie had just gotten too close, and smashes into my already-injured pokémon. The characteristic ‘Hy-ah!’ of the Starmie echoes out as it begins spinning in for a second pass.

I have no choice, and it’s Fire against Water... “Lunaverde return, go Litwick!” The candle pokémon appears, looking hale and hearty again after the previous battle’s resolution, but she looks surprised to see the hovering Starmie. “Unless GLaDoS wakes up... you’re my last hope. Gotta try, right?”

“Lit!” my pokémon seems in agreement, and turns to face his pokémon.

“Bubble Beam.” Zoli’s voice comes, slow and calm.

“Minimize!” This ought to work better since the attack isn’t physical. I hope.

Litwick scrunches down and begins to hop between bubbles, dodging deftly and scrunching further at every break, each bubble’s popping sounding like a gunshot. There’s dents in the floor from the Starmie’s attack, and Starmie is missing with every single one. I think it’s fair to saw both Zoli’s and my jaw have dropped a combined length of three meters.

“Holy Arceus...” I breathe. “This might be possible!”

“Alright, switch to... Hydro Pump. Flood the stage.” Zoli says. The bubbles stop coming, but... there’s a brief moment, then a torrent of water pours from Starmie’s gem, doing exactly as ordered and flooding the stage.

“Litwick... you wanna keep trying?” I ask the little burning candle as the water level starts to reach my feet and her... base?

Litwick looks concerned, and backs up, the water cascading off the metal around her, and the torrent of water has stopped only a few feet away from me, likely because any closer would risk, well, me.

“Alright, you’re more important than a stupid badge anyway. Alright! I’ve had enough! I forfeit!” I recall my Pokémon and turn to leave.

The Gym leader surfaces, and I see he’s got a bubble-mask on over his face, which he takes off. He holds onto the side and nods to me as his Starmie stops. “Hey, that was a good try, but you should probably raise your pokémon a bit more. Most of your pokémon were about half as powerful as mine, though you did an excellent job with what you had.” he says. “Also, the slide back to the floor is over there.” he says, pointing.

“At least it’ll be a fast trip back to the center. And... thanks. I’m glad I at least got as far as I did... but I’ll be back. Count on it.” I warn as I head for the slide, getting ready to head down.

“I look forward to it!” he calls after me. The ride back down is a bit bittersweet. It’s much more fun than the first slide to Zoli, but I don’t really feel like having fun now. But I had no idea his pokémon were so tough. Twice my level? How the hell did I even get to him in the first place?

Well, next stop is the Center. Luckily it’s actually not far and I hand the local Nurse Joy my pokémon. “Zoli did a number on us.” I explain, gesturing to my lone badge to indicate how it ended. “Hey, you know where I can go to toughen up before next try?” I figure Nurse Joy is a good source of rumors as, well to be fair the pokémon center is frequented by trainers constantly an she’s like the bartender: she’d hear anything that’s talked about.

“Oh, well... there’s plenty of good spots down here in southern Otaria. In fact, it’s why it’s considered the best place for a new trainer to start off. However, heading a bit further south would get you nearer to the coast, and there’s some more powerful pokémon there. There’s also a few towns in the forests, but they’re further west. That might be a good place to try. Oh, but you would’ve missed the Faire, it was earlier this week.”

“Nah, I made it to the Faire, ran into a bit of excitement there, more than I expected at least. Some kid’s parents bought him an illegal Pidgeotto.”

“Ah, that’s always a shame. Those pokémon can’t be returned to the wild, after all.”

“Yeah... anyways, I guess I’ll just hang out here until my team is good again. Just hope Ghowl and Lunaverde don’t hate me for getting them so beat up in their first battles with me.”

“They should be fine. Just don’t go getting into too many difficult battle like that in the future, okay~?” she asks, almost singing the last word. “I hope you do well on your adventures.”

“Thanks... Still, didn’t expect the second gym to be so much higher level.”

“Well, it is halfway across the continent from the first.” she says, smiling gently.

“Really? Wow, the region is smaller than I thought. It only took us a few days to walk here.”

“Otaria is longer than it is wide by about once again. That is to say, it’s almost twice as long north-south as it is east-west.”

“Ah, gotcha. Was thinking of more of a square shape like Kanto. Though when you factor in the connected Johto region, it’s like an opposite of Otaria, huh?”

“Most maps tend to distort it a little bit; we cover a fairly large area, and it’s big enough curvature makes mapping it properly difficult.” she explains. “It’s a six-week trip from the southernmost coastline to the northernmost coast. Assuming you have bikes, of course.”

“Yeah... still a bit above my budget at the moment, not exactly raking in the money.” I shrug. Anyway, I’ll just go rest a bit. Still kinda sore from the ride up to Zoli...” I yawn, making me realise how tired I really am. “Talk to you later Joy... oh, and be careful with Carvanha. She’s... touchy.”

With that, I head over to one of the larger cushions in the Center and decide to sleep until my team is healthy again. Really damn good job out there though...

Comments

[Booster Spice]

That new crab type is really nasty, would it have the normal Ability of Rough Skin, given the spines?

Distortion World class Water Gym. Wonder how long before it turns up.

Lots of exploring and grinding next, though using Bush, Boulder, Cave and others to close routes off till youre adanced enough can get occasionally annoying. Need at least two to reach next evolution before going back to that gym?

[the-pieman]

6664740 Oh yes, grinding indeed.

[Quantum_Shift]

6664740
Iron Barbs actually, like the Ferroseed line.

[jaxman147]

I now realize the downside to taking a hiatus from reading this, I can't accurately recall all of the Otaria specific Pokemon. *Sigh*