Helix and Hooves: Trainers of the Future

by The Kelduo

Chapter 19: The Wild Area gets Wilder

Upon returning to the Pokemon Center, we were surprised to see that we were not alone. Six other friendly faces were busy having a good chat when they saw us, and I recognized each of them.

"Poyo...?" Kirby gazed over at the eastern table, where the first pair of said faces sat: Lucario and his mom.

Lucario smiled at his pink friend. "And here he is now! This way, Kirby. There's someone here I'd like you to introduce yourself to."

"Kirby, you say?" Lucario's mom watched the puffball waddle up to the two. "He looks just as you described his appearance, Luke! What an adorable little creature." She scooped Kirby up in her arms, causing Kirby to giggle. "So innocent and harmless-looking, yet he's managed to save his world from countless dark threats... You said he has limitless potential, but I still find it hard to believe that this little guy could face off against a fiend like Giratina!"

Lucario, whose name turned out to be Luke as I anticipated following my first encounter with his mom, shrugged. "Well, he is a child of the God of the universe where he lives. It wouldn't be far-fetched to call Kirby a demigod."

"True. Kirby does apparently have the ability to copy the powers of anything he inhales and swallows, making him a jack-of-all-trades."

"Poyo." Kirby tapped Luke's mom on the shoulder to get her attention back to him. "You?"

Luke's mom put Kirby down so she had a paw free to rub the back of her head. "Ah, sorry! I was so busy talking about you that I forgot to properly introduce myself. I'm Luke's mom, as you probably already know, but my name is Lucina. Pleasure to meet you, Star Warrior Kirby!"

"Hi!" Kirby greeted Lucina with a handshake.

Meanwhile, I looked left and saw Pummel Fist--er, I mean Dalton--sitting in one of the chairs at the western table while Splash Hoof and his parents were conversing with the Doctor.

"That must be quite the revelation for you! Being the parents of a colt who's become one of the Swords of Justice... You two must no doubt be chuffed to have a son like him!"

Stormchaser bumped the Doctor's hoof. "I always knew little Splash Hoof would grow up to be a mighty hero. My wife was worried for his self-esteem because his brother kept teasing him about being wimpy and telling him to 'man up', but I think that gave him a reason to work hard and become big and strong. They always had a little rivalry, so surpassing his brother would really give Splash Hoof a morale boost!"

"And you were right to have that mindset, Dad!" Splash Hoof said with a smile. "In fact, my big bro was the very reason why I even wanted to become a Sword of Justice and defeat Kyurem in the first place. I wanted to show him that I wasn't a scaredy-cat who couldn't fend for himself, and look how far that determination brought me now. If only he was watching, he'd probably be super jealous of me!"

I sat in the one seat left and joined the conversation. "Be careful what you say, Splash Hoof. Otherwise, you might accidentally do some..."

I glanced at a non-existent camera. "...foreshadowing."

Before he could ask what I meant, our conversation was interrupted by a few shouts of "Poyo!" back at the Lucario's table.

We all walked over to see what Kirby wanted. "It seems like Kirby here has a little story to tell," Lucina said. "One concerning his visit to the Galar region."

Therefore, after the Doctor and I healed our team, we gathered around to listen to Kirby's tale. He took a deep breath and began talking at great length...

If only we could understand the barrage of Kirby gibberish.

"Poyo poyo, poyo poyo poyo. Poyo poyo poyo, poyo... Gee foe, gone!" Kirby looked at the Doctor. "Twi, Dash, Spike... All bye bye..." He clenched his... "fist"... in anger. "Poyo poyo poyo poyo poyo! Poyo... poyo poyo." Kirby looked down in sorrow. "Poyo, poyo poyo poyo poyo. Poyo poyo poyo, poyo poyo poyo poyo. Poyo poyo poyo, poyo poyo. Poyo..." He pointed at me. "Poyo! Boom snake!"

Azure and Stormchaser looked at Luke and Lucina, hoping they could translate.

After using her aura powers to read Kirby's mind, Lucina looked at her son. "Would you please do the honors? I do believe I might be uninformed about the fourth generation that concerns this little pink one. Seeing as you are very close to him, I suppose you have an idea of what's worrying him?"

"Of course, mom. Allow me to summarize Kirby's predicament." Thus, Luke proceeded to translate Kirby's thoughts for us. "Earlier this month, Kirby and I were walking through his homeland of Dream Land on the planet Pop Star and having a friendly conversation. But at one point, Kirby mentioned his eagerness to watch the latest episode of his favorite cartoon. The problem was... The cartoon's current generation, the fourth, had ended, so no more episodes would be made for the generation."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "But I heard Kirby mention Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Spike. What does a cartoon have to do with saying farewell to them?"

Kirby deadpanned at him, quickly followed by everyone else besides Splash Hoof's parents and Lucina.

The Doctor gave them a confused look.

His eyes widened.

"No... You can't possibly mean... They are fictional characters? And by extension, their home planet, which also happens to be mine, is fictional too?! As a resident of a made-up world, could that mean that I, too...?!"

We nodded.

This left the Doctor questioning his life and reality itself. "But if I'm fictional... How am I alive? How could I, a mere figment of someone's imagination, possibly be conversing with a real being?! What kind of absurd paradox have I--"

Discord appeared and handed him a book and whispered some stuff in his ear before teleporting away.

I managed to sneak a peek at the book's title: "Just Accept It: How To Stay Sane After Realizing You're A Cartoon Character."

"W-well..." the Doctor stammered while giving the book a quick read, "this is going to take some getting used to..."

Luke continued, "I had no choice. I told him the truth: the fourth generation had reached its end. As you would expect, this especially jarred Kirby, who had missed the grand finale due to the selfish acts of King Dedede.

"Filled with rage, Kirby stormed off to find and confront the show's creator. He even tried using the Bomb Ability to convince her to continue the generation, but Faust and her Galarian Ponyta wouldn't yield to Kirby's threats."

"Threatening to blow up the creator of his favorite show?" Azure shuddered. "That's... quite the overreaction."

Kirby sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Poyo..."

Luke carried on with the story. "Following the Faust incident, Kirby knew there was nothing he could do about the end of his favorite show. He sadly walked away and went back home to find a way to get his mind off of the loss.

"And then a few days ago, his friend Bandana Waddle Dee told him that he was going to the Galar region to take on the Gym Challenge. It took until today for Kirby to decide to visit Galar himself. He explored the Wild Area some, and a red beam coming from a stone well caught his attention. You all know what happened next."

"Right," I said. "He encountered the Gigantamax Sandaconda, and the Doctor and I came and helped him."

"Oh dear... From what Luke's saying, it sounds like you've gone through a lot in a matter of days." Luke's mom gave Kirby a comforting rub on his head. "But you are not alone, Kirby. I have also suffered a traumatic loss in recent times..."

"You lost someone, too?" asked Azure. "If you don't mind, can you tell us, miss Lucina?"

"There's no need to be so proper, just call me Lucina. And yes, I will tell you." Lucina looked around at us. "I neglected to tell you all this, but that Golurk wasn't just confused. Luke, do you recall anything unusual about the Golurk that attacked us?"

"I believe I do." Luke put a paw to his chest. "If I remember right, the seal on the Golurk's chest was gone, and its energy was red instead of yellow."

"That's right. The Sigilyph must have caused the Golurk's seal to be removed by some means, which made it go berserk. And..." Tears formed in Lucina's eyes. "When it attacked... Golurk managed to land a Body Press on my husband Lucien, exposing him to the unstable energy within Golurk."

"Did he die?!" Splash Hoof exclaimed.

"No... Lucien didn't die from the overexposure. But the energy weakened the control he had over his body. In short, he was on the brink of rampaging himself. However, he still had enough willpower to get away, escaping this very region before the energy overwhelmed him. Ever since then, I have waited on the cliff northeast of Lake Miloch, expecting him to return someday safe and sound."

"But you knew deep down that he would most likely never return?" I asked.

"That is correct. However..." She smiled at Luke. "...the return of one of my sons has restored my optimism. And Kirby... May this be a lesson for you." She picked Kirby up and gave him a hug. "No matter how dark, stormy, or lonely things may seem at the moment, be sure to remember this: tough times will always turn out for the better. After night comes day, after the rain comes the rainbow, and after the loss... comes the victory."

Kirby gave Lucina a hopeful look. "Po... Poyo...?"

"Yes, Kirby. While you will have trouble letting go of the ponies you know and love, the next generation will provide you with an all-new cast of characters to grow fond of."

"Poyo..." Wiping a tear from his eye, Kirby looked up at the Doctor. He had a confused frown on his face. "Uh...?"

"Ah, right!" the Doctor said. "You're wondering how I haven't aged after all these moons! You see, Helix and I aren't from this time. We actually used a time machine to travel here from the past."

"Past...!" Upon discovering that we traveled through time to get here, Kirby beamed and high-fived the Doctor. "Poyo! Poyo!"

"Thanks for supporting my dream of time travel, Kirby! You've no idea how thrilled I am to have pulled this off!" The Doctor took out his Rotom Phone. "Oh, maybe I should call Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash to tell them about my achievement!"

"But they don't have phones for you to contact them with," I reminded the Doctor.

"Oh, right."

"And there's another problem..." Luke read Kirby's mind. "Some time after Kirby jumped in the Pokemon Den but before you came and helped him, someone else landed in there..." He avoided eye contact with us. "Pinkie Pie... And she didn't look very happy."

"Angry?" I asked.

"No. Sad. She seemed like her heart was shattered into countless pieces. The only other emotion she showed besides sadness was fear... And that was only because she looked up just in time for the G-Max Sandaconda to turn her into ammunition, launching her clear out of the den."

Dalton scratched his chin. "Pinkie's a super optimistic pony. Something drastic must have happened to get her that sad."

"And I have an idea of what--or who, rather--may have caused her deep sadness." I looked around at my friends with a frown. "If any of you see the pink-dressed and white-haired Trainer named Bede, challenge him to a battle. And if at all possible, you are to curb-stomp him with enough ferocity that his hopes of becoming Champion are CRUSHED."

"You want us to viciously punish the Trainer who hurt the feelings of the Earth pony known for her amazing optimism?" Dalton looked at Splash Hoof with a nod. The colt Pokemon nodded back. "With pleasure," they both said before taking off.

"Hold on, Splash Hoof! There's no way we're gonna let ourselves get separated from you like that again!" With that, Azure and Stormchaser went after the pair of heroes known as the Kelduo.

Kirby looked around at those remaining. "Poyo?"

"Us?" asked Lucina. "I haven't yet thought about what Luke and I are going to do. We only just reunited." She looked at her son and noticed the band he was wearing on his left wrist. "...! That bracelet... Are you really participating in the annual Gym Challenge of the Galar region? That's a brilliant leap of faith you're taking!"

Luke nodded. "But not necessarily for myself..." He took out the Badge Ring (that's the name I decided to give the ring that held the badges) and showed it to Kirby. "Because you and I have a powerful bond and are skilled in battle, I took it into my own paws to sign us up for the Gym Challenge. It would be an excellent way to further strengthen our bond and train for future threats to any of our universes, or even the multiverse."

Kirby gave Luke an unsure look. "Poyo..."

"Oh? You know more about the Gym Challenge than I expected, Kirby. I understand that you're worried about being too young, but I assure you that they will accept you after learning about your various heroic exploits." Luke slipped off his Dynamax Band and gave it to Kirby. "A proper Pokemon journey will surely make us the best we can be. So how about it, Kirby? Do you want to train me as your Pokemon partner as we strive for the title of Champion of the Galar region?"

Kirby looked up to the sky with an appendage under his chin. "Poyo..." Perhaps he was thinking about how such an adventure would help him and Luke become even better friends.

He looked at the Dynamax Band in his hand.

He smiled at Luke.

Then he swallowed the Dynamax Band. "Poyo!"

Luke gave Kirby a bemused stare. "That... was supposed to allow your Pokemon to Dynamax..." Reading Kirby's mind, he shrugged. "...You have a point. I can still make myself stronger through Mega Evolution. Besides, the band isn't gone, it's just in your stomach dimension."

"Stomach dimension?" Lucina asked.

"It's a weird concept, so I'll explain later. First, I need to make a new League Card for me and my new Trainer so we can continue our adventure together." Luke fiddled around with the Rotomi and got his picture taken with Kirby. A few seconds later, and the duo had their League Card ready.

On the card, Luke was giving Kirby a piggyback ride like Kirby's animal friends would do. The background was a simple pattern consisting of blue and purple stripes.

"Alright, now we are all set." Luke put away the League Card and looked at his mom. "Ready for our journey through Galar, mum? It'll be just like the good old days."

"Well said, sweetie. I'll be with you two every step of the way to provide moral support and advice if you need any." Lucina turned towards me and the Doctor. "Luke told me about why you're going through with this chronological task, so no need to fill me in. Good luck on your own journey to gather a team of Pokemon so you can return to your own time ready to defeat this so-called Lord Tirek!" She joined Luke and Kirby as they left.

Seeing that we were the only ones remaining, the Doctor and I restocked our items at the Poké Mart before returning to the Wild Area to continue our adventure.

---

As we went back to the bridge to resume our adventure, we passed by the Garbodor that Bede smugly challenged earlier. It was nursing its many wounds, which meant that Bede must have succeeded in defeating it. Taking pity on the poor trash heap Pokemon, I gave it a Sitrus Berry to help it heal before continuing.

When we made it back across the bridge to Motostoke Riverbank, I noticed a surprising change in weather.

Before we crossed the bridge, the clouds covering the sky were nice and white. But now, they were dark gray and releasing the icy precipitation commonly known as hail.

My Expedition Gadget buzzed.

Luke had sent me a message: Don't mind any drastic weather changes. The Wild Area is known for unusual weather patterns and sudden changes in weather from location to location. And yes, I read your mind.

I shared the info with the Doctor. "Turns out the Wild Area has some unusual weather patterns, so we should dismiss sudden weather changes from place to place or day to day."

"Good to know." The Doctor raised a hoof to protect his head from the ice pellets. "That saves me the stress of wondering how it's suddenly hailing."

After that quick deluge of knowledge, I saw that we were surrounded by a pack of Sneasel.

I checked the levels of my Pokemon. They were all at least level 35.

"Hmm... Nah." I flash-stepped away from the pack. "You can fight them if you want, Doc. Those guys aren't worth my time. About as annoying as Zubat in caves in other regions."

As I backed away, my tail feathers accidentally tickled the hind feet of a large, fat bear Pokemon known as Snorlax. It woke up from its slumber and looked at me.

"Mmm..." It licked its lips. "Food!"

"I'll take this guy instead." I sent out Leeksalot. The Snorlax tried to eat his leek, but he punished it with a wing slap and struck it repeatedly with his leek to put it back to sleep.

By the time I was done, the Doctor's Hitmontop had taken out all the Sneasel with some spinning kicks. The Doctor deadpanned at me. "That wasn't very nice of you, leaving a relatively new Trainer like me to deal with all of those."

I shrugged. "You'll find yourself doing the same after realizing how common and flimsy they are. I learned patience by running into Zubat or Geodude every three steps in caves in other regions, and I wouldn't be surprised if Sneasel are that common here in the Motostoke Riverbank during hail."

"Well, if you say so. Guess I'll have to get used to these Pokemon."

"There's still a way to easily get them out of your mane if you get tired of stopping to battle them." I demonstrated by walking into the tall grass before me.

As I walked, the Sneasel in the grass ambushed me.

I kicked them away.

"Defensively weak enough to be launched with a mere kick. They should be no match for your Earth pony legs. Just watch out for their claws."

"...Say, that idea doesn't sound too bad. This might be a chance for me to practice the hoofball skills I've learned from watching major hoofball events. I think I'll take your advice!"

So together we marched, teaching the many weasel Pokemon not to mess with us. A few yellow insect Pokemon called Cutiefly also approached us out of curiosity, the Doctor catching one to help fill his Pokedex.

After the tall grass came a less populated area where one could take a short break by a small pond to the west or a tree just east of it. Not minding the nearby Conkeldurr, an old, bipedal Pokemon with a concrete pillar in each hand, we continued through some more grass underneath the stone bridge connecting Motostoke to the outskirts.

On the other side of the bridge, we ended up in the appropriately-named Bridge Field, the area between the two bridges. Other than the massive amount of tall grass that must be trudged through to reach the other side, the first thing that caught my eye was a patch of land to the east that was surrounded by water. It was the same one that Gallade was resting on yesterday.

He was still there, sitting under the tree.

I flew over the water to give him a visit. "Good to see you, Gallade!"

Gallade got onto his feet and walked up to shake my wing. "If it isn't Helix! I've been waiting for you to show your face. Enjoying the Galar region so far?"

"Definitely! Galar is much different from other regions I've been to, what with the Wild Area and all. The local Pokemon are also something to behold! But... How'd you know I would come to this region?"

"What kind of strategic, adventuring Pokemon Trainer wouldn't want to explore a new region?"

"Good point."

After a pause, Gallade pointed towards the Doctor, whose Hitmontop was trying to land a hit on a Linoone that just wouldn't stop running. "Who's your friend over there?"

"Well, he's--"

"Actually, hold on. Aura Master Lucario came by not long before you made it here, and he had some... unexpected information to tell me." Gallade took a glance north, where Luke, Lucina, and Kirby were jumping into a Pokemon Den together. "I know Lucario's mind is telling the truth, but I want to ask you personally. So, Helix... Is it true that you and that tie-wearing equine came to the Pokemon world from the past to prepare for an intense battle against a monster?"

I nodded. "That is true. We built a time machine to get here. And I'm talking the kind of time machine that can travel through both time and space in order to go to different locations as well."

"I see..." Gallade chuckled. "Sounds like something that would put the forest guardian Celebi to shame. Well, I won't keep you much longer." He nudged me back towards the Doctor, who had given up and just switched to Toxtricity for a no-miss Shock Wave to defeat the Linoone. "You'd better continue your journey with your friend. I'll see you again sometime!"

I nodded and flew back to the Doctor.

After defeating Linoone, the Doctor checked its Pokedex entry. "A Dark and Normal type with a thirst for battle... I already have a Pokemon with a strong Dark-type move, and I don't want to have to put up with such a reckless Pokemon as Linoone. Better leave this guy for someone else to catch. You up to it, Helix?"

"Nope, not me. Galarian Linoone is better off with someone who can better control it or shares its wild personality."

We carefully walked through the grass, though the Doctor nearly got tripped up by a couple of Zigzagoon running about. My Corvisquire dispatched them to give us room.

I reached the end of the grass patch that spanned the width of Bridge Field, but the Doctor stayed in the grass a while longer.

His gaze was fixed on an icicle Pokemon that had two heads covered in snow, resembling ice cream. "Ooh, a sundae Pokemon! Wonder if it tastes as scrumptious as it--Gah!"

His fur stood on end when a small blue Pokemon got close to him from behind. It was mostly hidden in the grass, leaving only the top of its head and round ears visible.

Shaking off the feeling and shooting the Pokemon an irked look, he advanced towards the snowy icicle Pokemon, a Vanilluxe. His ears drooped. "What a shame... It's just snow, not ice cream. I knew I shouldn't have gotten my hopes--"

The small Pokemon got near him again, sending a chill down his spine.

"Do you mind? In case you haven't noticed, I'm not too pleased with you touching my leg like that!" He galloped out of the grass in a frustrated attempt to distance himself from the Pokemon, and I saw that there was a sticky spot on his hind right leg.

The Pokemon stepped out of the grass for us to see, and our pupils shrank to the size of a period in a book.

It was a light blue, bipedal bear cub Pokemon that had the revolting peculiarity of having a large drop of mucus hanging from its shiny black nose.

"Dear Celestia, THAT is what rubbed against my leg?!" The Doctor pinned his ears back as he desperately tried to wash off the snot on his leg with water from the pond. "This is bloody disgusting! I want NOTHING to do with that Pokemon species!"

I shivered at the Doctor's unfortunate encounter. "I despise Cubchoo just as much as you do. But at least their evolution Beartic doesn't have a runny nose. Here, let me help with that."

I hurled a Razor Claw at a Gyarados in the water, and it obviously got furious at me. It fired a Hydro Pump, which I deflected towards the Doctor's leg with a quill. Afterwards, I finished off the Gyarados with Leaf Tornado.

The Doctor rubbed his now-clean leg, which was left a tad sore and red from the Hydro Pump. "Thanks, Helix... Let's try to keep away from Cubchoo from now on, okay? I'm not a fan of creatures who don't even try to keep their nose clean..."

"Yeah, let's."

Now that we were out of the grass, the path became much wider. Far to the east, I could see a small building. I went in that direction, as did the Doctor.

When we were about halfway there, we came upon a pair of hikers sitting in front of a hole in the southern wall. They told us that they were called the Digging Duo, and they dug up treasures and rare items in exchange for Watts. The left one excelled at skill, while the other had more stamina.

I paid the skilled one, and the Doctor paid the one with more stamina. I got a Rare Bone, a Lagging Tail, a Metal Coat, and the bottom half of a Fossilized Dino. The Doctor got a Float Stone, two Everstones, a Dusk Stone, a Fire Stone, a Water Stone, a Hard Stone, two bags of Stardust, and a Damp Rock. Talk about stamina...

We continued to the building, which was just the Wild Area's Nursery. I didn't drop off any Pokemon, because the Nursery is only good for people who want Pokemon with good stats, are Shiny hunting, or need a baby Pokemon like Magby or Azurill.

From the Nursery, we retraced our steps until we reached the columns supporting the bridge connecting the two parts of Route 5. We walked between the two columns farthest east, closest to the Nursery, and once we maneuvered northwest past the two grass patches directly in front of us, our Rotom Phones notified us that we had entered the Stony Wilderness.

The Stony Wilderness... Didn't that Haunter mention the Stony Wilderness before getting crushed?

I opened the map on my Rotom Phone. According to it, the Giant's Cap was adjacent to the Stony Wilderness, but way on the other side of the Wild Area.

"...Hey, Doctor?"

"What is it, Helix?"

I pointed west. "There's somebody I need to meet up with in the Giant's Cap before I get back to the adventure. Wanna come?"

"Giant's Cap?" The Doctor checked his Rotom Phone. "That's quite a ways away... Sorry, but I don't think I can walk that far just yet. Need to find a place to get a load off my hooves for a bit."

"Okay. Then I'll meet you at the entrance to Hammerlocke."

"Sounds good to me. Hope the meeting goes well!"

I hurried straight west, passing by several stones and grass patches. I didn't bother with catching any Pokemon, because I felt like my team was just about completed, and there were no Pokemon native to Galar that I hadn't caught.

By the time I reached the middle of the Stony Wilderness, I stopped and looked up at the massive castle in the distance. It greatly resembled a dragon, with the central tower as its neck and head, and the two uniquely designed structures on the sides looked like wings. I couldn't help but think of Giratina, guardian of the Distortion World, when I gazed in awe at the gravity-defying wings.

"That is the heart of Hammerlocke, the majestic Hammerlocke Castle..." A large ghost Pokemon with an imposing red eye, a yellow antenna, and a mouth on its stomach floated up to me. "Impressive, is it not?"

"To say it's impressive is an understatement, Dusknoir," I replied. "Those wing structures seem to be defying the laws of physics! It's a wonder that they haven't fallen over, and how they were built in the first place is yet another mystery."

"There is no shortage of mysteries in this world that we Pokemon live in. But to solve those mysteries, one must first look inside oneself and ask questions that really get one thinking. For instance, why do Shiny Pokemon sparkle? Can a Ditto mimic others' voices if it Transforms into a Chatot? And..." The Ghost type touched my chest with its left index finger. "...why is there a Krabby's soul within your body?"

"Oh, you mean this?" I took out the soul. "This was one of the souls taken by a certain Shiny Litwick known as Frightlight. She sought after the strongest and rarest souls to get as powerful as possible, so I took it into my own wings to end her massacre."

"...So, the phantom menace has finally fallen... That is excellent to hear." He pushed the soul back into my body. "Thank you, brave Decidueye. Let us go tell Gengar about your accomplishment."

I began to walk towards the Giant's Cap, but a purple hole opened up beneath my talons and caused me to fall in.

---

"Whoa--Oof!" I was spat out of another dimensional hole and landed flat on my face. Looking around, I saw that I was dropped off in an area Northwest of my original location. Just to the south were some Rolycoly and Rhyhorn wandering around. I deadpanned at Dusknoir. "You didn't have to use Phantom Force to take us here. I could have just walked."

"While that was an option, you would have most likely had some problems dealing with one of the locals in the Stony Wilderness." Dusknoir pointed south towards a trio of large grass patched. "A Tsareena resides there, and she takes pride in an impressive strategy consisting of the moves Fling and Acrobatics, and the item Iron Ball."

"...!" Fling and Acrobatics are a devious combination, hurling your item to deal damage and following through with a normally underwhelming move that's boosted by the lack of a held item. "I know that strategy all too well. In fact, I've used it before, with different items depending on the situation. To have such a powerful combo used on me, a Grass and Ghost type..."

I turned left and thrust a quill into my shadow. "...would add insult to injury."

My shadow did not respond to the quill.

That is, until a few seconds later. It morphed into a round, spiky shape with short, pointed ears and stubby arms and legs. Then it rose out of the ground, revealing itself to actually be a bipedal, purple ghost Pokemon with a wicked grin.

He reached up to his forehead and yanked out the implanted quill, still maintaining his grin. "Ha ha ha! You've gotten too sharp for me to even get an eyebrow raise out of you, Helix!"

"Rule number 1.5 of pretending to be someone's shadow, Gengar..." I pointed up, and the shadow Pokemon followed my finger. "Never try your shadow play when the sun's bang in the middle of the sky. You always want to wait until it's nearer to the horizon."

Gengar scratched the back of his head. "Well, what do ya know. Even Master Pokemon like me forget stuff every once in a while... Anyway, how's it going, bud? You put the scare tactics I taught you to use recently?"

"Oh, you have no idea..." I retrieved the soul from my body again and gave it a warm smile.

"What the..." Gengar's grin turned upside-down. "I said scare tactics, not murder tactics! Leave the killing to Dark types!"

"How could you accuse me of killing an innocent Krabby? I don't take lives unless their owners committed something awful!" I gave Gengar my best mischievous look. "And that's why I brutally murdered a certain deadly Ghost type in cold blood. Or should I say, hot blood."

Gengar's face was blank for a couple seconds. Then it clicked. "...You mean you actually put an end to the blazing terror known as Frightlight?!"

"Sure did." I held a quill in my right hand, the quill cloaked in spectral power. "And I used one of your scare tactics by pulling a Chara on her before obliterating both her body and soul."

"Ooh!" he giggled. "Not only did her reign of terror end, but you used one of my favorite scares on that genocidal maniac! Gotta say, that's pretty fitting for her. But what about the souls she stole?"

"I brought most of them back to their bodies, which were preserved in ice at Kyurem's lair." I held Krabby's soul up for Gengar to see. "But this guy's body was used to make a seafood dish, so he's still chilling in my body as I figure out what to do with him."

"So he ain't got no body? Well then, there's only one place fit for that soul of his..." Gengar took the soul and put it in Dusknoir's hand. "You know what to do. Take 'im to the spirit world so he can hang out with all the other innocent, bodiless souls."

"With pleasure." Dusknoir opened the mouth pattern on his stomach and put the soul inside. He opened a purple portal. "Farewell, Decidueye, or should I say, Helix. When nature decides your time has come, know that I will take your soul to an area in the spirit world reserved for true heroes." He waved before disappearing inside, after which the portal closed.

I gave Gengar a worried look. "Uh, I don't think that he knows..."

"Relax, pal," he replied. "I'll tell him later that you're not from the Pokemon world. He might be surprised, but don't let that bother you. I still haven't fully gotten over the fact that you're from a whole different dimension where Pokemon don't even exist! Just enjoy your time in the Galar region for now. And maybe save the region if it's threatened at some point while you're here."

"I won't let you down, Ghost Master Gengar." I gave the Ghost-type aficionado a thumbs-up before making my way north through the Giant's Cap on my way to Hammerlocke.

---

I passed two navy blue rock Pokemon called Boldore on my left and a large grass patch on my right. I didn't bother checking for Pokemon because I did not want my team to get too strong due to grinding too much.

I pressed on past an inactive Pokemon Den and another grass patch before coming to a fork in the road caused by a large boulder. The left path was free of tall grass and led north, rising so that I could get to the top of the dirt wall on my left. The right path, on the other hand, went through plenty of tall grass and appeared capable of shaving seconds off of my journey to Hammerlocke.

Having done more than enough grinding in Galar Mine No. 2, I picked the left path.

The short grass-free jaunt was a nice change of pace. With no wild Pokemon ready to jump out at me, I was able to use the opportunity to relax and move ahead as slowly or as quickly as my heart desired. Who knows, I might even be able to...

Oh no. I haven't even made a single entry in my notebook summarizing my adventure in Galar.

Taking out my notebook and a pencil from my pocket, I got ready to write. I had explored too much to jot down everything, so I just wrote down that I beat the first three Gym Leaders, caught a Gigantamax Sandaconda, reunited with Kirby, and made it to the split path in the Giant's Cap.

Putting away the notebook and pencil, I continued north. When I reached the top of the slope, I had a stunning view of the lake that bordered the left side of the path. For such a calm body of water, I was surprised to learn that it was known as the Lake of Outrage. If there was a special Gyarados that lived in the lake, I would be especially tempted to compare it to the Lake of Rage in the Johto region.

Exploring the lake would have to come later, though. Right now, I had to make my way to Hammerlocke.

But first...

I turned south and sent out Corvisquire, alerting the Orbeetle that was floating by the grass patch atop the dirt wall. "Orbeetle, I request a Pokemon battle, you versus my Corvisquire."

Orbeetle sized up my Pokemon. "To have chosen me as your Corvisquire's training opponent... You are as bold as you are wise."

Without warning, he lifted his wing shells and fired a beam of psychic energy at Corvisquire.

"Dodge backward!" Corvisquire used his wings to propel himself backward, and the Psybeam hit the ground instead, which kicked up plenty of dirt and dust. "Now blow it at him!" He flapped his wings to send the dust cloud at Orbeetle.

Orbeetle put his claws up to guard his glowing eyes. "Your creative counterattack was quite impressive. But I won't let this dust deter me for long." He rapidly vibrated his wing shells to create sound waves that dissipated the dust cloud.

However, Corvisquire was no longer in his line of sight by the time the dust cleared. "Wait... That wasn't a counterattack..."

He turned just in time to see Corvisquire jab his face with its beak. "It was a diversion!"

"Indeed it was," I confirmed. "Now use Fury Attack!" Corvisquire chased down the recoiling opponent with his beak outstretched.

"This is only the beginning!" Orbeetle grabbed Corvisquire with Psychic and shoved him away before creating a barrier with Reflect. "I have reason to doubt your ability to get past my defenses now!"

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," I replied with a smirk. "Use Hone Claws!" Corvisquire flew over to a nearby boulder to sharpen his talons.

Suddenly, Orbeetle swerved in front of Corvisquire with astonishing speed. "It's too late for boosting your attack power now." His eyes glowed red, and Corvisquire failed to look away in time. As a result of staring at the hypnotic eyes, the raven Pokemon grew drowsy. "Looks like your hesitancy has cost you the victory, Trainer."

Orbeetle used Psychic to launch Corvisquire at a dirt wall bordering the Lake of Outrage.

"Oh," I deadpanned, knowing that I didn't need to intervene. "Looks like you failed to meet my expectations."

"Pardon?"

"Don't you see? You just put the target to sleep..." Corvisquire fell from the wall into the water, which had the ironic effect of waking him. "...only to accidentally wake him up due to forgetting how effective water is at waking living beings."

"...!" Orbeetle floated motionlessly, looking at how horribly his follow-up went. "I have made... A foolish miscalculation..."

And then, he was punished by Corvisquire spinning around and drilling into Orbeetle with his beak, ending the fight.

I wing-bumped Corvisquire, after which he became cloaked in the familiar light of evolution.

As expected, he evolved into Corviknight.

Orbeetle slowly regained his consciousness. "Hah... hah... Most impressive... Not many Trainers have managed to best me in battle... on their way to Hammerlocke... let alone with one Pokemon." He floated up to me and shook my wing. "But you have managed to do just that, and you knocked out two Tranquil with one stone by successfully evolving your Corvisquire thanks to the battle. Additionally, you even pointed out my fatal oversight. You deserve a great amount of respect, Trainer... Helix, if I remember right from overhearing your talk with Gengar?"

I nodded. "Correct. I'm Helix, a skilled Trainer who became a Pokemon through an experiment to do just that. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"The pleasure is mine. But if you're taking on the Gym Challenge, then our meeting is best short-lived." Orbeetle pointed northeast, towards the entrance to Hammerlocke. "Go and continue your journey. I trust you will clear every Gym, but the real challenge starts when you're up against the other Trainers in the semifinal tournament. Your rivals will certainly be tougher than the Gym Leaders, and possibly even the current Champion."

"Acknowledged. With that advice in tow, I'll be off. And I will return to tell you the results once the Gym Challenge is over." I waved goodbye as I headed to the next city. But first, I made sure to give my Corviknight a fitting nickname: Knightwing.

I challenged a Drednaw further up the path, but after a Counter that nearly one-shot Leeksalot, I decided to use a Smoke Ball to flee the battle and save my feathered fighter the health.

Passing a large grass patch on my left, a massive boulder on my right, and some more grass on my right, I continued north. After I waved hello to the nearby Doublade, a pair of one-eyed sword Pokemon with purple tassels on their handles, I found myself in front of a dark gray and gold castle wall that stretched left and far to the right.

The path went in the latter direction, so I followed it east to a staircase decorated in such a way that it resembled a dragon's gaping maw. Guarding the staircase was a staff member of the Gym Challenge, as I assumed from the white uniform and hat.

It pleased me to find that the Doctor was also approaching the stairs from the opposite direction. I gave him a wing bump while expressing my joy at seeing him. "Glad you made it here too, Doc! Hopefully you didn't run into too much trouble on the way, did you?"

He shook his head. "Nah, I had a pretty smooth jaunt here. Just needed to rest my hooves after all that walking, that's all. I did get dragged into battle against a couple of Excadrill, but nothing my Hitmontop couldn't handle."

"Your one Hitmontop took on the pair of them? Sounds like you're really starting to get the hang of fighting more than one Pokemon at a time! As for me..." I sent out my newly-evolved Flying type. "Corvisquire finally managed to evolve into Corviknight after a duel with an Orbeetle!"

The Doctor beamed upon seeing my partner. "Guess what?" He sent out his own Corvisquire, who had also become Corviknight. "So did mine!"

"Nice one!" I sent out the rest of my team and took a moment to look over my team members. At this point, my team consisted of Cinderace, Corviknight, Gyarados, Orbeetle, Sandaconda, and Sirfetch'd. Then I realized something... "Y'know, I can't help but feel like my team is really starting to come together."

"Oh? What makes you say that?"

"Thanks for asking! I feel this way because I often go out on Pokemon adventures with certain kinds of Pokemon making up my final team..." I pointed at Hot Shot. "The starter I get from the start of my journey." Knightwing. "The bird Pokemon I catch early on." Gyarados. "A strong Water type, usually Gyarados because Magikarp are pretty much everywhere." Leeksalot. "The tough, reliable Pokemon that can both take and dish out lots of damage." Cranium. "The one that acts as a support role but can also attack well." And Sandacane. "And an interesting one that I can find real potential in."

"You certainly seem to have your team all planned out! I, on the other hoof, don't have a clue what to use on my team. I just like to figure out my team as I go along. Improvisation is key to everything, if you ask me!"

"Of course. If plan A fails, you always have to have a plan B or the ability to figure things out on the spot. Now then..." After returning my team to their Poke Balls, I took out the Badge Ring and showed it to the staff member, and the Doctor followed my lead.

The staff member observed the Badge Rings to see which Badges we had. "...Okay! The two of you Gym Challengers have managed to obtain the Grass Badge, the Water Badge, and the Fire Badge! That means you are cleared to enter Hammerlocke!" He stepped aside for us. "Please, go on ahead!"

"Thank you, sir." I grinned, eager to enter the city. "Come on, Doctor! We're well on our way to--"

Then, without warning...

"You two again? I haven't time to deal with your antics." An odd feeling surged through my very being. Immediately following that feeling, none other than the Psychic type user Bede emerged from my body.

I stood speechless, astounded by how he utilized the intangibility of Ghost types to pass right through me. What nerve!

Bede shoved his Badge Ring in the staff's face. "Here, I've all the Badges necessary to enter Hammerlocke." The staff member frowning at his arrogance, Bede turned his head back towards us. "Don't bother looking for that pink horse friend of yours. After suffering such a harsh verbal beating and a humiliating defeat at the hands of yours truly, I doubt she'll ever smile again, let alone gather enough confidence to continue the Gym Challenge." Then he began walking up the stairs.

At that moment, the Doctor and I finally pulled ourselves together. "Hey! We've got unfinished business with you!" I jumped forward and stabbed his shadow with my quill.

Only for the shadow to turn into a now mildly-annoyed Gengar, while Bede continued onward. "Aww, I was fixing to jumpscare that kid! Way to spoil my fun..."

"You were?!" I took a step back in surprise, a sweat drop rolling down my cheek. "Oh... The Doctor and I had a grudge to settle with him, and I was attempting to stop him in his tracks. Should've listened to my own advice about shadows... Anyway, thanks for trying to get the jump on him, and sorry for ruining it."

Gengar's frown became a sad one rather than an angry one. "Huh, so you had a grudge against the white-haired kid I was trying to scare? If only I knew that earlier, or I would've given him the fright of a LIFETIME for ya." He sank halfway into a spectral portal. "Good luck catching up to him. Let me know if you or your buds manage to scare him or any other people that need a dose of humility!" He disappeared completely in the portal, which closed behind him.

The Doctor sighed, having come so close to avenging Pinkie Pie only for Bede to slip out of our grasp. "Well, nothing for it but to keep going."

"Agreed." With a burning desire to hunt down Bede and continue the Gym Challenge, we headed up the stairs. "Here we go!"