Helix and Hooves: Trainers of the Future

by The Kelduo

Chapter 18: Heroic Reunions and a New Recruit

I landed in front of the stairs leading into Motostoke, with Azure and Stormchaser not far behind. After turning back into Decidueye, I pointed north up the stairs. "Head right up these steps, and you'll find yourselves in Motostoke. Splash Hoof and his Trainer should be getting close to taking on the Gym there, if not already doing so. Just wait for them in the bright red building, the Pokemon Center. I'm sure Nurse Joy will be happy to tend to your injuries while you wait."

"I can't thank you enough for this!" Azure beamed. "We'll never forget your amazing acts of kindness! But Helix, aren't you going to come with us?"

"I'd love to, but I'm pretty busy at the moment." I put a wing on my chest. "I still need to figure out what to do with this Krabby's soul now that his body is no longer intact. And besides, I need to continue my Gym Challenge."

"Suit yourself, then. I guess a Trainer's gotta do what a Trainer's gotta do. As for us..." Stormchaser decisively ran up the stairs, and Azure followed after him. "...we're gonna watch our son win at Motostoke Stadium!"

Now that I had accomplished my mission by returning the souls to their intact bodies, it was time for me to make my way to the fourth Gym.

But before that... breakfast. I completely forgot to eat before taking on the Fire Gym.

So I set up camp in East Lake Axewell and got ready to fix some curry. Corvisquire and Hotshot helped out by fetching some key ingredients from around the Wild Area, such as Large Leeks, Fancy Apples, and Pungent Roots.

Having done a lot of exploring in other regions, I amassed a large amount of different Berries, including uncommon ones such as Roseli Berries and Petaya Berries. After careful consideration, I chose to use the somewhat rare ones; that is, the ones that can weaken super-effective attacks when eaten. For the key ingredient, I used a Fancy Apple.

A nearby Vulpix lent a helping paw by using Ember to get the fire started, so that my Fire-type Pokemon wouldn't have to waste Power Points just to cook some curry. I thanked it by giving it a Passho Berry so it would stand a chance against any Water types that may challenge it to a battle.

From then on, it was smooth sailing. Stirring was especially easy because I was the only person stirring the curry, so there were no people to bump into. Fanning the flames was similarly easy, for working alone meant no telling others to speed up or slow down to keep the curry from being burned or undercooked.

The resulting Sour Apple Curry tasted exceptional, making it a Copperajah-Class curry. The sour Berries went very well with the sweet Fresh Apple, leaving a tingly feeling in my taste buds.

After finishing the curry, I packed everything up to get ready to move on. I was eager to explore the area past the bridge bordering North Lake Miloch, but I felt confident that my team was ready to venture into the western part of the Wild Area. I got ready to head west towards the Watchtower Ruins, but I stopped as the Doctor trotted down the stairs to Motostoke, followed by Kabu.

"Ah, there he is!" The Doctor pointed at me with his front hoof. "Kabu wanted to tell you something once you returned to Motostoke, Helix."

"Kabu?" I asked. "What're you doing outside of Motostoke?"

"Why, to see the two of you off, of course!" Kabu answered with a smile. "Many Trainers never manage to obtain the third Gym Badge, and they just give up after repeatedly trying to defeat me. But you and the Doctor succeeded in completing the Fire Gym's mission and beating me. On your first try, no less! Therefore, I insist on sending the two of you off with a proper, sporty chant!"

With an intense expression on his face, Kabu proceeded to fiercely recite a seemingly improvised chant that caused me to question his prior seriousness: "Hustle, Whooves, hustle, Helix! Show all of Galar your tricks!"

"..." The Doctor and I stood in bewildered silence.

Kabu... completely misinterpreted our confused stares, to my amusement. "Unsure about where to go next to continue your Gym Challenge? Not to worry, just head east to North Lake Miloch and cross the northern bridge. Keep going north, and you'll eventually reach Hammerlocke, your next destination. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to return to Motostoke. I don't want to keep challengers waiting!" He promptly jogged back up the stairs.

"Well..." the Doctor bashfully chuckled, "...that was unexpected. I hadn't the slightest idea he'd see us off with an ad-lib chant of all things." He looked east, towards the bridge that Kabu mentioned. "Anyway, the opportunity to proceed to the next city sounds enticing, but I'm feeling more adventurous now that my Pokemon have gotten stronger." He turned back to the Watchtower Ruins. "Thinking about traversing the western part of the Wild Area?"

"That's exactly what I was considering doing." I looked up at the sky. Clouds were covering the whole airspace, blocking out the sun entirely. "Cloudy skies... Good weather for spooky Pokemon. Hope you're prepared for Ghost types."

We crossed through West Lake Axewell, taking a moment to knock out a Quagsire and some Fighting- and Dark-type Pokemon in the various patches of grass to gain experience.

Closing in on the crumbled tower, I was quick to see an abundance of spectral Pokemon such as Duskull and Gastly.

Yep... It was time for Gyarados to wreak havoc.

I smirked as I sent out the atrocious Pokémon. "You know what to do, big guy." I wrapped a Choice Band around his tail. "Go sink your pearly whites into those poor spooks."

He did just that.

I sat back and watched Gyarados plow through the Ghost types, while the Doctor went further west to battle some Pokemon in a grass patch surrounding a Pokémon Den. To whittle away the time, I gained some EXP of my own by taking on a nearby Dusclops, a bipedal Ghost type with one eye.

After defeating the Dusclops, I was intrigued by the broken tower. Upon further inspection, I saw that it was hiding a massive hole in the ground.

Could it be... A Pokémon Den?

There's no telling what kinds of powerful Pokémon could be in there...

"Hey! Those ain't yours to beat up, ya big-mouthed beast!" My pondering was interrupted by someone angrily shouting. Turning west, I saw a purple ghost head with an angry frown and disembodied hands. "Who let a Gyarados frolic into the Watchtower Ruins?!"

"Oh, sorry about that! Just trying to grind some experience with my Pokemon." I returned Gyarados to his Poke Ball after apologizing to the Haunter. "Name's Helix. I guess you live here?"

"Eh, not really. I'm more of a traveler, so I like to wander here and there in search of ways to entertain myself. But from the times I've been to the Galar region, I don't remember any Decidueye living here. You come here from way off?"

"Yeah, I'm from really far away. And there's something else you should know about me..." I thought about how I should word my next sentence. "The thing is, I'm not any ordinary Decidueye..."

Haunter shrugged. "Duh, you're shiny."

"No, I don't mean that. I..." Admittedly, I couldn't find any other way to break the news to him. "...I'm not really a Decidueye. I'm not even a full-fledged Pokemon!"

"Not a Pokemon?" Haunter laughed off my confession. "Come on, you can't pull one over on the apprentice to the strongest non-Legendary Ghost type in the world! You look like a Decidueye, act like a Decidueye, and attack like a Decidueye, so you're clearly a Decidueye!"

"You can't just go by appearance and actions alone!" I flashed my collection of Galar Gym Badges, which just made him raise an eyebrow. "I am a human-turned-Pokemon, and I am a Pokemon Trainer! Back where I come from, I'm really well-known as a Trainer and a member of the Pokemon Expedition Society, and you'd better believe it!"

Haunter deadpanned while letting out an exasperated groan. "Look, bud, you're really getting on my nerves here. But you said something about being an Expedition Society Member? My pop's a member as well, and he's hanging around the Wild Area too. Maybe you ought to go bother him, 'cause he might know you. More than I do, at least." He pointed towards the bridge leading to the northern half of the Wild Area. "You'll find Big G up in the Giant's Cap, near the Stony Wilderness. Just watch out, 'cause he likes to--"

WHAM! A large boulder landed on Haunter, crushing him under its weight.

"Thanks, Helix!" The Doctor walked up from behind Haunter, with his Drednaw not far behind. "Since you kept that Pokemon's attention, Bite Force landed his Rock Tomb dead in the back of its noggin!"

"Uh... you're welcome." I pushed the boulder away, freeing the squashed specter. "But we were in the middle of a little chinwag, so that unexpected attack was, to put it lightly, less than welcome. Although, he seemed to be nearing the end of his part of the conversation, so I guess it wasn't that bad."

"Really? I didn't mean to cut off your conversation so abruptly!" The Doctor reached into his saddlebag and took out some Experience Candies. "Here, take these Experience Candies I got from my most recent Max Raid Battle as an apology."

"Much obliged, Doctor." I gladly took the candies. "By the way, what Pokemon did you fight in the Max Raid?"

"A feline Pokemon called Espurr. The Pokedex said its ears held tremendous psychic power, but Bite Force didn't even give it a chance to attack!" He laughed. "I knew his Bite was strong, but not strong enough to take down a Dynamax Psychic-type Pokemon in one fell swoop!"

I checked Bite Force's attributes using my Rotom Phone. "Says here that your Drednaw has Strong Jaw as its Ability. That boosts the power of biting moves by 50 percent, so it's no surprise that his Bite could one-shot Espurr."

"Sounds like I made the right choice by choosing Bite Force to take on Espurr!" The Doctor looked south, towards the wooded west portion of the Wild Area. "I'd like to see what's over there, but I fear I would run into some Pokemon that my team won't be able to handle. Why don't we make our way north to Hammerlocke?"

"Yeah, it's time for us to make some actual progress." I looked along the path to what the Town Map called the Dappled Grove. I noticed two Pokemon that could spell doom for clueless Trainers wandering around the Wild Area: a bipedal bear Pokemon with a black body and a pink, friendly-looking head and tail; and a Pokemon seemingly made of wood and having a white shaggy mane, leaf fans for hands, and a pointed nose. "Besides, I don't think you'd want to deal with dangerous Pokemon such as Bewear or Shiftry."

As we turned around to head east, there was a loud boom coming from Motostoke, followed by an insect-like screech. We dismissed it, for it was likely Kabu's Centiskorch Gigantamaxing to take on a Gym Challenger. I expected another boom to represent the challenger Dynamaxing their Pokemon, but that did not happen. Instead, when we reached the stairs to Motostoke, we saw a column of water rising from the stadium before turning into a vortex. It was enough to defeat Kabu's G-Max Centiskorch.

Smiling at the fact that another Gym Challenger cleared the Fire Gym, the Doctor and I continued down the slope leading to the bridge.

The Doctor put a hoof to his muzzle in disgust as we spotted a trash heap Pokemon on the slope. I prepared to battle it, but Bede came by and arrogantly challenged it with his Psychic types, telling us that we weren't capable of winning against the Garbodor. Therefore, we were free to proceed to the bridge.

Before we crossed, our Pokemon dispatched most of the skunk Pokemon in North Lake Miloch so they couldn't offend other Gym Challengers with their noxious gases. Afterward, I punished a Liepard with Acrobatics when it tried to ambush me.

But then...

"That's enough." The sound of large wings flapping was heard, and I ducked to avoid the metal wings of an armored raven Pokemon like the one from the Flying Taxi that Pinkie Pie took to reach Route 4. It touched down in front of us, guarding the path to the eastern part of the Wild Area. "The mistress is perturbed by your aggressive actions. To keep you from further agitating her, I must insist that you leave the vicinity this instant."

"The... mistress?" I asked, not bothering to check the Pokemon's entry in the Pokedex just yet. It wasn't a good idea at the time, considering the fact that the Pokemon looked ready to take action at any moment.

The raven Pokemon assertively loured at me before softening its gaze somewhat. It probably sensed that I did not have any ill intentions. "Yes. The mistress is a highly respected resident of North Lake Miloch who was traumatized by an event that occurred years ago." He looked back east, towards a low cliff looking over the southeast part of the Wild Area. On top of that cliff, there sat a figure with its back to us and a ragged, dark gray cloak covering its entire body. "She has advised me not to allow anyone to disturb her solemn meditation. She especially despises violence without a good cause, for it reminds her of... that day. Even I shudder when I think back to that horrifying moment in recent Galarian history..."

Horrifying moment? Recent Galarian history? That gave me a clue of what he was talking about. I took a second to look up the Pokemon's Pokedex entry so I could address it properly. "I beg your pardon, Corviknight, but did the event you speak of involve... an out-of-control Pokemon, perchance?"

"...!" Somehow hearing my question, the figure quietly gasped. It got up and turned around.

Now that it was facing us, the Doctor and I discovered what species "the mistress" was...

A Lucario.

"You... you know?!" she exclaimed via telepathy. She jumped down to us. "About the rampaging Golurk?!"

The Doctor nodded. "Professor Magnolia told us about how a squad of Pokemon called Falinks escorted a Riolu to her home for safety. As it turned out, that Riolu eventually evolved into Lucario and is now a very good friend of ours."

"...A Riolu?" The Lucario became dejected. "They were supposed to escort both of our children... Something must have happened to one of them..."

"Something did happen, but he ended up somewhere safe nonetheless," I reassured her. "Lucario told us the other half of the story. His brother tripped over a Roggenrola while following the Falinks, and the rock Pokemon exploded shortly after, apparently launching him clear into another region, where the local Fighting-type Gym Leader took him in."

"But how could he have known that? He wasn't the one who supposedly fell victim to the Roggenrola or was taken in by...!" Suddenly, her aura flared up. "That aura... I'd recognize it anywhere..."

Throwing off her cloak, the Lucario took off for Motostoke. She only had five more words to say before leaving us in the dust...

"It's okay, Luke... Mother's here!"

We observed with a smile on our faces as the mother dashed up the stairs, destined to reunite with one of her sons.

Corviknight closed its eyes as it reflected on the events that we just underwent. "At long last, the mourning mistress is about to regroup with one of her sons separated from her during his childhood... I, for one, greatly anticipate the chance to see Luke once more."

"Another heartwarming reunion in the making..." I looked at the Doctor and nodded. "I think our work here in the southern half of the Wild Area is done. It's time to continue our--"

BLAM!

Something pink shot out of the active Pokemon Den north of the first patch of grass encountered when crossing the bridge. We couldn't see what it was, because it was moving too fast. It was launched far past Hammerlocke, sailing northwest.

"I've got the feeling that we should check out that Pokemon Den," the Doctor said. "What say we pop in and see what's causing that ruckus?"

"Do you have to ask? Of course I'm going to check out a Pokemon Den that someone we may or may not know was blasted out of!" So we jumped inside.

---

From the moment we landed in the Pokemon Den, I realized that the Dynamax Pokemon we were up against was no joke compared to the ones we fought in previous Max Raid Battles. I had to quickly jump around to dodge projectiles and protect my teammates from said projectiles, so I couldn't get a clear view of the Pokemon responsible for sending the pink creature flying.

Wanting to know what I was up against, I sent out Cranium to back us up. "Use Reflect!"

Cranium used his psychic powers to create a barrier that greatly weakened the effect of the projectiles, which turned out to be cannonballs... made of compacted sand mixed with gravel. "Now would be an excellent time to identify the opposing Pokemon, Helix."

"Got it." I slashed at a sand ball coming my way, cleaving it in two, before taking out my Rotom Phone to learn the name and skills of the opposing Pokemon.

"Sandaconda, Gigantamax form, the sand snake Pokemon. A Ground type, its sand pouch has increased in size to monstrous proportions. Over one million tons of sand now swirl around its body."

And dang, Gigantamax Sandaconda looked like it meant business! It was a tan snake Pokemon that stood on its tail like a cobra, but most of its body was coiled in such a way that it had the shape of a tornado. Huge amounts of sand were spilling out of three ruptures on the ring-shaped pouch around its neck, which spun around to further give the impression of a sandy tornado.

But the most unsettling part of the Pokemon was its head.

Or, to be precise... its nose.

At first, I had mistaken the pair of large black circles that dominated the Pokemon's face for its eyes; however, I was proven wrong when I saw the Pokemon blast sand from them. Its real eyes turned out to be on the sides of its head, and they were bright red from Gigantamax power. Never before had I seen a creature with such massively out-of-proportion nostrils in comparison to its head, but the fact that it fired projectiles from them made me realize that part of Game Freak's inspiration for the Pokemon was a shotgun.

That relieved me somewhat, but the enormous nostrils were still disturbing. Even when the Sandaconda wasn't Gigantamaxed, a sneeze could probably blast a hole clean through everything in front of it. And I take pity on any Pokemon that have tried attacking Sandaconda's head from the front with moves that make direct contact; for instance, using Mega Punch. Most likely, the attacks could have slipped and gotten rammed right up one of those caverns. That not only likely grossed them out, but it also probably made the Sandaconda really angry at them...

Oh Arceus, and it would have been horrific if any of the Pokemon were small and used ramming moves like Headbutt...

"Snap out of it, Helix!" the Doctor exclaimed, bringing my mind back to the battle at hand. "This is no time to be terrified of those... those... sand cannons!" He sent out Jungle Beat. "We're here to take this Pokemon down and assist the young pink hero of Equestria!"

"You're right, let's--wait, what?"

Sure enough, we weren't the only ones targeted by Sandaconda.

Jumping and sliding around to dodge all the sand balls fired at him was none other than the Star Warrior puffball who led the Star Allies to victory against the Dark Lord Void Termina...

The Name You Should Know

KIRBY

"Hup! Ha! Ya!" The legendary pink demon was too busy avoiding attacks for it to register in his mind that the Doctor and I had shown up to help battle the heavily-armed Sandaconda.

"Don't give up, Kirby!" The Doctor waved towards Kirby. "The two of us have your back!"

"Poyo?" Curious, Kirby stopped for a moment and looked at us. His eyes went wide when he saw the Doctor. "Po... Poyo?!"

He seemed to have his guard down, but he shook himself out of his shock and shot a determined look at G-Max Sandaconda. Rather than avoiding the next sandblast, Kirby took a more aggressive approach, opening his mouth and inhaling the entire ball of sand. Taking aim, he returned the attack to its sender.

The large star projectile Kirby spat out struck Sandaconda's sand pouch, and the serpent teetered as a result. However, it regained balance without much effort, thanks to the spinning motion of the pouch.

"That sac's very durable..." I looked over Sandaconda while avoiding or destroying any sand balls that came my way. "The Pokemon looks considerably sturdy overall. We'll have to find a way to penetrate its defenses..."

My eyes fell to the end of Sandaconda's tail, which was holding up all the rest of it like a top. If we could stop the rotational force of the sand pouch...!

Bingo.

"Kirby!" I flung a blue gemstone that sparkled like the ocean in Kirby's direction. "Inhale this Water Stone!"

"Poyo!" Kirby grabbed the Water Stone with his mouth before fully gulping it down. He flipped into the air to initiate his transformation sequence. A large column of water engulfed the puffball, and when it dispersed, Kirby was wearing a gold crown that held a vortex of water.

"Let's dampen this Ground type's attempts to sandblast us!" I summoned a tornado of leaves to obstruct Sandaconda's vision. "Doc! Think your Rillaboom can get Water Kirby within range of the sand pouch?"

"We'll see what we can do." The Doctor nodded towards his partner. "Jungle Beat, this will be a real test for your drums! Give our pink friend a boost!"

"A boost?" Jungle Beat pulled a stump out from under the leafy hair on his back and put it on the ground, where it rooted itself. "This calls for a rising tempo! Accelerando!" He used a pair of drumsticks to beat the flat protrusions on the sides of the stump, which looked very similar to an actual drum.

"Huh? Wha--!" A pair of thick, intertwining roots jutted up from underneath Kirby, spiraling away from their origin to form a small circular platform. Jungle Beat gradually increased the tempo of his drumming, which caused the roots to rise higher and higher until Kirby was aligned with the sand pouch. Kirby looked at the spinning sac with a confused face. Then he poked the roots with his hand. "Poyo?" Annoyed for some reason, he impatiently tapped them with his foot. "Poyo! Hiya!"

"What're you waiting for, Kirby?" I asked. "Send your water attacks through the holes in the pouch and bring the sand to a standstill!"

Before we got a reaction from the young hero, Sandaconda let out an enraged roar that dispersed the leafy hurricane. His vision no longer obscured, the sand snake belligerently glared down at Kirby. Just like me, Kirby quivered upon being given such a Gastly--er, ghastly--view of the pair of caverns that could spell his doom.

But just like the eighth human that ended up in the Underground against their will, Kirby stayed determined.

In fact, he was wearing a smile that dared the living shotgun to blast him.

It didn't.

Instead, it opened its mouth, and the inside of it shone with a blazing glow. Understanding what Sandaconda was doing, Kirby jumped backwards just in time to avoid being turned into fried puffball by the Fire Fang. The Pokemon, unable to stop in time, kept going and sank its fangs into the roots making up Kirby's platform. They were singed, but showed no signs of weakness. Sandaconda struggled to pull its fangs out of the platform, leaving it vulnerable.

After staggering for a moment on the edge of the root platform, Kirby regained his balance. With a triumphant "Poyo!", Kirby made his move. He fired a high-pressure stream of water from his mouth into Gigantamax Sandaconda's defenseless right nostril.

Sandaconda's eyes watered as its sinuses were flooded by Water Kirby's merciless Hydro Pump. I actually kind of felt bad for the great behemoth, because I know what it's like to get subjected to water up the nose. I was also confused at first that Kirby didn't follow my instructions, but I quickly figured out why.

Due to the sand constantly spilling from the pouch, it would have been hard to push water in through the tears, let alone enough water to compact all of the sand. Depending on the way that Sandaconda gets sand into its pouch, Kirby may have been able to transfer water there via its mouth, but the heat from Fire Fang would have evaporated most if not all of the water. Kirby was smart to go straight for the nostrils, because they were definitely connected to Sandaconda's sand pouch and were a prime target since they were massive and always open.

The Star Warrior made the right choice, for the sand in the sand pouch rapidly slowed down and became compacted by the water, much to the Pokemon's horror. Kirby jumped down from the platform, landing with an audible plop, while the roots retracted back into the ground. "Poyo!" He pointed at us. "Now!"

"You heard him, Helix!" the Doctor said. "Time to topple this terror!"

"Alright, here I go!" I opened my wings, and several leaves swirled around my body. I focused the leaves into a ball between my wings, then I launched them at Sandaconda. The impact was enough to push the Pokemon to the point of falling backward, making it ripe for capture. "You want to catch this guy, Doctor?"

"No thanks. I already got myself a Sandaconda, albeit a regular one. I'll introduce you to him after we take care of this one."

"If you say so. Then I'll be the one to snag this snake!" The fallen Pokemon looked like it had a low catch rate, so I didn't risk using a regular Poke Ball for capture. Instead, I infused a Great Ball with Dynamax energy and hurled it at the serpent. As with a Poke Ball, the Great Ball also had the color scheme of a Premier Ball when Dynamaxed.

We watched nervously as the Dynamax Ball dropped to the ground.

One rock.

Two rocks.

Three rocks.

It shrank back to its usual size. Click!

I pumped my fist. "Gotcha!" I walked up to my Great Ball, now with Sandaconda in it, and held it up triumphantly. "Sandaconda was caught!" I sent him out to see his regular form. Rather than standing upright on its tail, Sandaconda lay on the ground. It was still coiled like in its G-Max form and had the now dark brown sand pouch in the same place, but its head was partially hidden in the middle of the pouch. Its eyes were green and looked somewhat sad, while the nostrils had shrunk down to a less disturbing size. "Let's see what the Pokedex says about Sandaconda's normal form."

My Rotom Phone got right to work. "Sandaconda, the sand snake Pokemon. A Ground type, Sandaconda can contract its uniquely-coiled body to blast over 220 pounds of sand from its nose. While it normally acts tough and confident, Sandaconda will become disheartened if it ever runs out of sand."

"A sandblasting snake whose Gigantamax form resembles a sandy tornado? That's... both exotic and practical. I think I just found a vital addition to my team." I put the Great Ball that was now Sandaconda's abode with the other Poké Balls that made up my six-Pokemon squad, sending Centiskorch to a Box. "And your nickname will be a portmanteau of sand and hurricane... Sandacane!"

"Sandacane? That's a brilliant name! In fact, I think it's better than the one I gave my own Sandaconda, who I caught in a Max Raid Battle as a wee Silicobra while you were taking on the Water Gym..." The Doctor threw a Dusk Ball, and from it came a Sandaconda. "...Gesundhoof!" However, I was left in a confounded stupor when I saw two differences in it compared to mine...

The Doctor's Sandaconda had a light gray body and yellow eyes instead of a tan body and green eyes.

And it sparkled upon being released from its Dusk Ball.

"...!" I recovered from the shock after a few seconds, and I donned an envious scowl. "Ugh... Beginner's luck..."

"You too..." The Doctor put a hoof on the side of his head with a puzzled look. "I still don't understand. Why is everyone left in a state when they see my Sandaconda?"

I started to answer, but Kirby stepped in, to my surprise. "Poyo!" Why would Kirby answer for me? Could he really know about that extremely rare phenomenon? Only one way to find out, so I let him have his fun.

The young warrior of the stars reached into hammerspace and pulled out... A can of yellow spray paint. He must have found it during his adventures through the Mirror World. He sprayed himself with it, making him all yellow except for his cheeks and feet, which were orange.

He used the power of the Friend Hearts to make himself give off a sparkle. "Shiny! Rare!" So, Kirby really did know about that phenomenon that's commonly overlooked by rookie Pokemon Trainers.

"Really?!" the Doctor gasped. "No wonder Meta Knight practically demanded that I catch this guy... Pokemon with different colors that give off a twinkle are called Shiny Pokemon, and they're incredibly rare! I feel so honored!" Dropping the amazed attitude, he gave Kirby a confused look. "But hold on. What brings you all the way out here to the Galar region? You're no Pokemon Trainer."

Kirby gave the Doctor an even more confused look while pointing at himself. "Poyo?" He washed himself off with some water before ridding himself of the Water Ability in the form of an Ability Star and pointing at the Doctor. "How?! Gee foe... Over!"

"I'm sorry, 'Gee foe'?" the Doctor asked. "Helix, I can't quite understand Kirby. Do you have any idea what he's talking about?"

Gee foe... Was Kirby trying to pronounce something? "I think I might." I looked between the two confounded characters while looting the Pokemon Den alongside the Doctor. "But we should heal up first. Kirby, I'm sure you must have gotten hurt by that Sandaconda's attacks. Besides, it's a long story for me and the Doctor, and I'm sure it's the same for you. Let's sort things out back at the Pokemon Center in Motostoke."