39-41

Chapter 39 – Battle Frenzy

 The battle between the gym trainer Eli and his challenger Egon from our own Lavaridge town will now begin! This will be an elimination match with each trainer using three Pokémon, only the challenger is allowed to substitute Pokémon during the match."Let's begin, Magby, I choose you!""Orin show your stuff!"Both of us called out our respective Pokémon at the same time. Eli choosing to lead off with one of the gym's magby. This one in particular was known for being lackadaisical with training, the Magby having stayed unevolved for a good number of years making her the perfect gym Pokémon."Heya Maggie, this time it's me trying to earn a badge don't go too soft on us, okay?""Maaagby!"Maggie's repertoire mostly consisted of fighting and fire type moves. So, this would be the best time for Orin to show off."Confuse ray!""Smokescreen!"My attempt at dazzling our opponent is immediately stopped by a cloud of black billowing smoke expelled from Maggie's mouth. Using smokescreens to block a visually transmitted status move like confuse ray is par of the course in a fire type gym. Since Eli was not allowing me to win by using slyer means, this fight would devolve into a straight up brawl. The kind of situation which would spell bad news for my little candle Pokémon.'Sadly, Litwick's move pool is not expansive enough to do anything more than this.'"Night shade!""Flame wheel!"Night shade was a nifty attacking move, the more battle experienced a user is the more the illusionary mirages brought about by the move sap the victim's vitality. Move tutors theorized that a more battle-hardened Pokémon can conjure up more lifelike threats to use against their opponent's psyche.Eli's decided to close the gap between his Pokémon and mine. Litwick weren't known to be capable of any sort of physical brawling so this would be the correct course of action for Eli to follow. While the only thing Orin could do would be to punish the charging Magby as much as possible. Orin's eyes grew dark and out of them sprang two beams of dark energy accurately hitting Maggie's physical form.As expected, the laser didn't hinder Maggie as much as I hoped it would. My Litwick was at most only around three months old, the images he could conjure not being much of a hassle for a more experienced Pokémon like Maggie to overcome.The flame wheel connected, pushing back Orin a fair bit but not by much. The reduced effectiveness of a same type attack showing itself."Thunder Punch!""Minimize dodge!"As Maggie's electrically charged fist closed in on Orin the candle Pokémon drastically reduced in size. Minimize reduces the user's size so that the air pressure from the incoming attacks helps you avoid taking a direct hit. The decrease in size only lasted briefly but that was more than enough for Orin to get out of harm's way."Night shade again!"Having gained the opportunity to capitalize on Maggie's loss of momentum Orin and myself got the chance to retaliate with an attacking move of our own. Once more twin jet-black lightning crashed into Maggie's body. Sapping another dose of her vitality.There was a limit to how many times a Pokémon could use minimize and now that Maggie knew what to look out for it would be harder to pull off that trick again."Psychic!"Maggie's eyes glowed and Orin's form was enveloped with psychic energies. Lifting the little Litwick up from the arena floor and slamming him back onto the ground with great force."Lit…""It's fine you did great, let's go out with a blast alright? Use Night Shade one last time!""Thunder Punch!"Once more Maggie got hit by Orin's Nightshade but shortly afterwards successfully KO'd my Pokémon with her lightning wreathed punching move. Orin toppled over completely out of it."Litwick is unable to battle! Magby wins!""Return!"Activating Orin's poké ball's return mechanism a beam of redlight shot out and absorbed my Litwick back into its confines. I briefly addressed my downed team member as he was recovering in his ball."You did great out there Orin. The others have multiple years of age and experience on you. Even being able to keep up is praiseworthy. Just leave the rest to them.""Come on out Numsy!"I wasn't planning to drag out the match any longer than I had to. After evolving Numsy was one of my strongest competitors, and I knew the gym couldn't start fielding its own camerupt against fourth badge challengers. My eruption Pokémon took the stage ready to earn another gym badge. Maggie on the other hand was weakened enough that Numsy wouldn't have to do much to faint her. This was a good opportunity to see how far along Numsy had gotten to mastering his newest move."Earth Power!""Low kick!"Numsy's body glows gold, and the ground all around him starts to shake, with glowing gold cracks causing ground type energy to erupt from underneath Maggie. Maggie didn't have enough time to get close enough to execute her low kick attack, which would have been very effective on a Pokémon as heavy as Numsy. The golden energy took its toll and Maggie collapsed on the ground defeated."Magby is unable to battle! Camerupt wins!""It seems Numsy did learn a thing or two while staying with that old Camerupt. Well now he'll have to contend with this guy. Go Torkoal!"A familiar looking tortoise Pokémon appeared on the field. Torkoal's appearance caused the ambient temperature in the room which was already fairly high to rise explosively. This particular Torkoal was proficient in the use of its ability drought, the only known Pokémon in the world with access to this ability. Eli hand raised this Pokémon by himself and was very secretive on how his tortoise Pokémon became able to use this amazing ability. He was part of this secret club of Torkoal trainers who kept mum about how to train up this fabled ability.I was fairly sure this Torkoal's strength was on par with fifth or maybe even sixth badge gym Pokémon. Eli calling out his personal Pokémon now was indicative of him not wanting to let Numsy give me free and easy wins."Is this still a gym battle?""Absolutely Egon! But I am going to have you work for it!""Fine but if we win, you'll have to give me some training advice!""Earth Power!""Protect! Follow that up with Solar Beam!"Numsy's move proved ineffective against the shield conjured up by Torkoal. The tortoise Pokémon, directed by Eli, seemed intent on using defensive tactics to deal with any super effective moves coming his way. Before coming out of its shell to pelt my Pokémon from range.'With the effects of sunny day active Torkoal won't have to let its guard drop to gather energy. We'll have to close the distance.'"Flame charge through the Solar beam!""Ruuupt!"Torkoal, after dropping its crystalline shield, immediately fired off a solar beam in Numsy's direction. At the same time Numsy wreathed himself in flames in order to muscle through the incoming hit and close the gap between him and the tortoise Pokémon. Naturally a fire type's solar beam wouldn't be as strong as one coming off a grass type Pokémon, but it would still pack a wallop.Numsy blazed through the oncoming solar ray packed with grass type energy. His toughness had significantly improved since his evolution since normally a blast like that would've sent him flying. This time his added weight and strength was enough to withstand the impact and give Torkoal an equally powerful body blow to his face. The artificial sunlight acting as a double-edged sword empowering Numsy's flame charge to be more powerful than it ought to be."Withdraw!""Yawn! Gas him out!"Eli made a tactical error in assuming my Pokémon didn't know any gas attacks yet. His Torkoal was now surrounded in a cloud of gas. Withdraw being unable to block against these kinds of attacks. Just like me Eli must have figured out that the gas from Numsy's yawn attack would soon kick in bringing torkoal to sleep since he wasted no time calling on Torkoal to launch another attack."Earthquake!"At this level of proximity there was no way for Numsy to avoid that attack. I was preparing myself to have Numsy faint from the point zero quakes when my long time friend surprised me for the first time in a long while. Without my instruction Numsy covered himself in a turquoise force field very similar to the one our opponent used earlier, halting the earthquake from doing any more damage."Numsy, you learned protect in secret?!""Came."Not having much time to praise him since we were in the middle of a battle the earthquake eventually subsided. Eli's Torkoal coming out of his shell asleep. The yawn having finally shown its effects."Now Numsy hit him with…!"Before I could give the command to victimize our defenseless opponent, Eli withdrew his Torkoal back into his poké ball."Gym Trainer Eli has chosen to withdraw his Pokémon from the battle! According to the rules of a league endorsed gym battle this makes Camerupt the winner!""You've certainly kept up with your training since traveling abroad Egon. Are you ready for my final Pokémon? Go Flareon!"Another one of Eli's personal Pokémon materialized on the field. This time it is his work partner Flareon. Rangers like Eli are frequently sent on search and rescue missions. Flareon was used to suss out the location of missing trainers and also doubled as a therapeutic Pokémon able to calm down emotional and traumatized people. I knew from personal experience that Eli's Flareon was a tricky Pokémon to beat."Keep light on your hooves Numsy! Flareon is strong.""Charm!""Bulldoze!"Before Numsy had the chance, Flareon channeled what I would presume to be fairy type energy through its eyes. The effect was immediate lulling Numsy into a sense of complacency and adoration. I wasn't the recipient of the attack but suddenly Flareon seemed more helpless giving me the urge to protect the floof even against my better judgment.Numsy's half hearted attempt at using the move bulldoze still managed to deal an effective amount of damage turning the battlefield into hazardous terrain. Making me flinch involuntarily since usually it was my job to repair the damaged terrain after gym battles.'Sorry! Poor sap who has to clean up this mess afterwards.'"Earth Power.""Copy Cat!"'Tch.'Normally Flareon would have no way to perform any sort of ground type moves. Eli must have waited for this chance to turn the tables on me. Copy Cat was a move that duplicated the type of energy inside the opponent's body giving his Flareon access to the last move Numsy performed.Both Pokémon had to endure the offensive ground type energy bursting out from underneath their feet. Flareon being light on her feet managed to come out harmed and exhausted but still on her feet. Numsy on the other hand…"Rupt…""It's okay you did well. Numsy return! Go Rena!"Numsy wasn't very maneuverable and with him being hurt from his last fight with Torkoal I figured now would be a good opportunity to withdraw him for my other partner who was still full of energy."The challenger has chosen to substitute his Pokémon. Let the battle recommence!""Quick attack!""Charm again!"Again Eli was using the same strategy to cripple my Pokémon's incoming offensive by artificially lowering my Pokémon's will to fight. However, this time I was ready with a trick of my own."Encore!"This is the move Rena has been working on with Mr. Moore's Ninetales. Encore forced the opposing Pokémon into only using the same move over and over again."Flareon on your feet!"Normally trainers would command their Pokémon to avoid clashing until the effects of encore ran out, but I wasn't letting him go that easy."Follow it up with a disable attack!"Rena released blue rings of energy from her body that made our opponent unable to move.This was my grand strategy. With Flareon's body being forced to keep performing the same move a disable attack would mess up the Pokémon even further forcing its body into a struggle. Flareon had no choice but to damage itself hopelessly."Now finish it. Use flamethrower!"We had to follow it up quickly encore usually only lasted for less than half a minute. Rena fired off an intense blast of fire strengthened even further by the effects of the sunny day Torkoal left behind. However, before the move could connect, Eli just like before withdrew his Pokémon."Gym trainer Eli has chosen to withdraw his final Pokémon. Vulpix wins the battle making Egon from Lavaridge Town the victor!""You did it Rena! Our very first gym badge from Hoenn.""Vuuuuul!" "That was some fine strategy there at the end Egon. I haven't seen the old encore into disable ploy in a long while. In my role as an official gym trainer for the Lavaridge Gym I award you the Heat badge.""Thanks, we couldn't do it without help. Rena has learned a lot from Mr. Moore's Ninetales.""Say what kind of advice were you looking to get from me?""Well, I have theorized that those of the vulpix line could develop the drought ability as well. So, I started off training Rena how to use sunny day. Although she has become proficient in the use of that move there's still something that prevents her from obtaining that ability.""Hmm I see… and you want to learn the training method I used to have Torkoal learn how to do it?""Yes please!""At the moment the method is taught amongst those in the ranger corps. To light up dimly lit caves and the like during rescue operations in situations where the use of flash is too directional, and there is a need for a wider field of view. Seeing as the corps is apolitical it would be bad for me to give trainers running the circuit the means of training up this ability. Since technically speaking all trainers doing the circuit are running for public office in a way.""You can say that this is for science's sake. If my Vulpix manages to develop the ability, I'll even accredit you on my research paper. What do you say? I can also give you a guarantee that I won't catch any Torkoals or spread this information around.""Research paper? I didn't know you had lab sponsorship.""Well yeah, Professor Juniper from Unova. It's just free-lance though, he pays me for discoveries that result in scientific breakthroughs.""Tell you what…I'll lend you a hand with this, but you will also have to give over any relevant data to a lab in Hoenn. I can't have the Unovans getting one over our local professors."We shook hands and a deal was struck. With Eli promising to mail me a ranger instruction guide on training up the ability as soon as he got off work. Since Eli was cheating by using higher leveled Pokémon than what was allowed for a fourth level badge match, I figured I would have also earned a technical machine but that was not the case. Mr. Moore had given him specific instructions to not give out any additional award aside from prize money, since according to the boss a fire type specialist would never take the easy way out on teaching fire type moves.After dropping off my three partners at the Pokémon center, I went back home to pack my things. Tomorrow morning I had a battle appointment with the Mauville gym. In the unlikely case that Victini's teleport didn't work out, we'd have to buy teleportation services locally on short notice, so it was best to already be on our way today. I also had to say goodbye to my grandparents. Later at home*"This is it, if you want to contact me Nurse Mary next door has my number. I'll visit you guys as often as I can. Since Victini learned teleportation, she has been familiarizing herself with the town so it should be doable for her to get us back home on short notice. If I qualify for the Ever Grande conference, I'll make sure to reserve two tickets for you so you can come and watch me live." "Ever Grande Conference that's all the way over at ever Grande city. That's way too far for these old bones of mine.""Shut it you old codger! If our grandson qualifies, we are going.""Thanks Grandma. I am off, wish me luck!"With my family matters settled I set off to pick up Flannery at the gym. Before having Victini teleport the both of us to Mauville. I was hoping she got all her affairs in order because I was not looking forward to having to help her pack up for a long journey.'Who am I kidding this is Flannery. I'll have to double check the supplies she is bringing just to make sure. You will have to be the one to help her pack her things, Tini.'"Why me?!""You are both girls, it'd be less awkward. I am not going into that room unless I absolutely have to. Just make sure she brings two extra set of clothes and a weeks' worth of socks and undergarments. Anything else we can just shop for in Mauville. Oh, and also make sure she picked up her Pokémon partners out of the gym's corral. Knowing her she might leave one behind by mistake."At this point of the conversation the bargaining usually begins where I have to promise some kind of feast for making Victini go out of her way to lend her assistance. Oddly enough, that didn't happen. Instead we made an unspoken promise that she could make me do something unreasonable in return.As we walked inside the gym which was closed to the public we noticed Mr. Moore standing at the lobby desk probably waiting to see his little girl off."Heya, Mr. Moore I am here to pick up Flannery.""Egon, I've heard about you earning our gym's badge today. Good, Eli appraised your skills to be around your average sixth badge challenger. Naturally this means that I will expect you to challenge all subsequent gym leaders at that level."'Ughh… Orin and Halo aren't at that level yet. How does he expect me to shore up their skills while not letting them participate in any gym battles? And sixth level gym challenges are usually four versus four Pokémon too. Maybe I can worm my way out of this.'"Sir… Halo is only a week old, and Orin should only be around three months old. They aren't ready yet for the sixth level.""That's what gym trainers are for! You might not know it because you worked with us, but every other gym makes timeslots available for trainers on the circuit who want to train up their younger and more inexperienced team members. They only pay as much as regular challenges, but the quality and know-how of your opponent is guaranteed."As we were busy talking, I let Victini out of her ball to check up on Flannery. Since the gym was closed for the day and all the staff members were off work, she could have her run of the place without being noticed.My conversation with Mr. Moore continued."How far have you planned out your travels with Flannery so far?""First Victini will teleport the both of us to Mauville where I have a challenge lined up for my second badge. After which we will leave again for Fortree City. The gym leader there has invited me to come over in order to vet Tranquill's adoption there as a gym Pokémon. I'll challenge her for my third gym badge.""Fortree… after which you will be going through Hoenn's archipelago?""Not immediately. I want to check out the safari zone with Flannery and see if they have relocated any fire type Pokémon there for me and Flannery to catch. Then we'll set off to Mt. Pyre, Rena hasn't seen her family in a while... This will also give Flannery the chance to see if any Vulpix living over there are interested enough to partner up with her.""A Vulpix yes that could work…and afterwards?""Well… I don't think there are any other native fire types except for numel and camerupt. But if she was looking to catch one of those, she could have done so by just walking around Lavaridge.""Hmm fine if you two can't find anything in the safari zone I will take measures to ensure she has a full team for next season's circuit."Just like that our conversation came to a close. What ensued was awkward silence, to alleviate the tension a little bit I released Halo. She hasn't gotten any chance to battle yet and she made for a nice distraction. Mr. Moore being eager to know more about her species and their personality traits in general, was quickly distracted by my limited knowledge of the larvesta line."So, the Claydol who was responsible for looking after her mother also shared an accounting of the species' past with me. Sometime in our planet's history the sky darkened due to some sort of cataclysmic event. The absence of sunlight caused the crops to start dying out. The renowned ancestor of little Halo here was powerful enough to act as the sun's replacement, saving the ancient people of that time.""Fascinating.""Larr Vess!"Little Halo was as pleased as Mr. Moore to hear about her heroic ancestor maybe even more so. The bug type puffing up just hearing about the grand feat."Did they tell you what the species of the father is? This could also be relevant to any future training plans.""Well, no I didn't ask… but the ranger who helped me out with her egg told me that her species only couple with other bug types that manage to beat them in battle. That would be a tall order for any wild bug type to accomplish.""Indeed, but some species of Pokémon are near enough related to bug types that they can interbreed without any issues. You mentioned that her mother lives near a desert environment, right? I can imagine that a hardy enough Flygon could pose a challenge to her.""Flygon aren't native to Unova. I've traveled through that desert multiple times there were no signs of any trapinch pit traps."Halo was as absorbed into the conversation as me. She seemed to place some amount of importance as to the identity of her father. Eventually I got the mental signal from Victini to let me know Flannery was done packing up and she was coming down to meet up with us in the lobby.'Did you make sure she packed all the essentials?'"She didn't need any help…"'Wait…? Why is she just now deciding to leave her room?'"She is scared. This is her first time leaving home."'You know what must be done…'Victini could double as therapeutic support Pokémon in a pinch. Of course, she doesn't have the official certification granted by the league, but the power of her fluffy ears was enough to help any person out of their malaise. We tested her efficacy on my grandparents, and they've been back at it with the lava cookie store ever since.'It's understandable leaving home for the first time can be scary. Just let her know she's but a teleport away if the homesickness becomes too much for her.'Eventually footsteps could be heard coming from the gym's empty halls until Flannery finally came into our line of sight. She was cradling Victini in both arms a large backpack strapped to her back. Streaks of dried tears lining her face. Mr. Moore became very protective at the sight of his granddaughter's current state."You don't have to go if you don't want to sweetheart. Grandpa can just buy you a new partner Pokémon. There's this growlithe breeder that…""No!! I want to do this. It's just that… I am going to miss everyone while I am gone."I felt like I shouldn't be watching this vulnerable moment between family members. So, I decided to get gone while the two worked out their emotional affairs."What about me?!"'You are her support bunny. She is supposed to be vulnerable with you. Just stick with it and afterwards you'll get to choose our dining spot in Mauville city.' A short while later* I was standing outside the gym for what felt like half an hour before eventually Flannery showed up together with her grandpa. To my relief she looked much more confident now after getting some private time to work things out with her grandfather."I am ready, Egon! Grandpa says I have to call him thrice a day or else he won't let me go with you. Pffft, it's a hassle but that's the price of freedom I guess."'Who does she think she's kidding? This grandpa's girl…'"Okay…? We'll first be teleporting over to route 110. Victini and I really got along with this pack of electrike living over there, so don't get startled if we suddenly pop out in front of them. From there it's only a ten-minute walk over to Mauville where we'll stay for the night.""Vi Vi." "Hold my paws."Both of us did so."Bye grandpa, I'll call you later tonight!"Lavaridge town disappeared, and we found ourselves facing that very same nanab berry tree. The pack's secret berry spot was deserted but I had no doubt they would sniff us out before long."This is it, route 110. Now then Flannery, how would you navigate us in the direction of the nearest town?""This isn't an educational trip, Egon! I've done enough of those during trainer's school.""Just pretend that I am a completely clueless person.""Hmpff, I don't have to pretend to believe that."'Is this how it's going to be? Did I just shoot myself in the foot by taking this little hellion with me?'"Ruff!!"Out of the tangled bushes came a group of familiar faces. The pack's noses must be better than I thought, noticing our presence not even a minute after we teleported."Hey you guys! It's us, how have you been? Don't mind the extra person, she'll keep your hidden berry spot a secret, promise.""Puppies!!""Arf!?!"Seeing Flannery warming up immediately to the wild pack of electrike assuaged my worries somewhat.

Chapter 40 – Meeting of the Minds Our meeting with the pack of electrike went smoothly as far as I could tell. Although Flannery's penchant for dog Pokémon was a surprise to me. My fellow red head gleefully rubbing their bellies and scratching behind their ears, and even more surprisingly the canine Pokémon letting her do as she wished. She attempted to do the same to the pack leader but he rebuffed her advances.'Understandable, he needs to save face in front of his subordinates. Electrike can't shamelessly submit to the whims of an excitable young girl.'Since we already filled up on supplies at Lavaridge there was no need to imposition the pack by haggling for their berries this time around. Not that Victini didn't give it her best shot."Vi…? Tini!""Ruff!"The pack leader wasn't having any of it unless she offered something of equal worth. While the routes weren't nearly as cutthroat as the unexplored wilderness, giving away free food would surely negatively impact this pack of electrike as a whole."Electrike is bullying me!""It's simple, why don't you offer him some of grandma's homemade lava cookies?""Vi! Vi…" "No! Those are my ahem… I mean ours.""It's fine, when is the next time you'll get the chance to eat fresh nanab berries? Sharing is caring and I bet you these electrike would love the taste of Lava cookies.""Tini!" "Okay, but no more than one cookie per berry!""What do you think Electrike? Is the deal acceptable?""Arf!"The trade being consented to by both parties, I opened up my backpack to retrieve a plastic cookie container. Pulling out two cookies to trade for two of those berries one for Victini and the other for Halo. The little bug type, unlike the rest of my crew, hadn't had the chance yet to taste fresh nanab, so I was determined to trade one for her. Presenting the two lava cookies to the pack leader was followed by an investigative sniff from him. Our goods apparently passed the smell test since the leader motioned for Victini to go ahead and pick two nanab berries from the tree. The leader placed the two offered cookies inside his mouth and wandered off probably to share one of those cookies with his mate."Flanny, we are set to leave. Can you wrap it up over there?""Fineee, just a minute."Just like that our time in this part of route 110 was coming to a close. Remembering our way back to Mauville from last time we didn't need one of electrike to escort us to the city's edge. Not that some of them didn't offer though the pack seemed quite fetched with Flannery's demeanor. I was quite sure that a number of them would be quite willing to partner up with her.'Alas the path of a specialist is a lonely one sometimes.'Flannery finished up roughhousing with a particularly eager electrike and picked up her backpack ready to follow me into the city. I was starting to feel better about our arrangement. Being able to make friends with wild Pokémon on the first meeting was the sign of a talented trainer. Raw charisma could get you far in this profession.'Now if only she could overcome her klutziness...'"Hey?! Tini save that second nanab berry for Halo!" Ten minutes later* "What do you think? Mauville city is located in the heart of Hoenn. It's the place where all traveling trainers pass by at least a couple of times while on their journeys.""I've been to Mauville plenty of times, Egon! It's only one route removed from Lavaridge.""Oh, I figured that you didn't get to go out much.""Grandpa takes me on plenty of trips when he is off from work."My image of Flannery being the sheltered princess type took a glancing blow. Aside from her tomboyish inclinations she tended to be quite shy during first meetings with strangers that weren't Pokémon."Anyway…! As your official minder I'll show you the basics of a traveling trainer's dos and don'ts. The first of them being reserving a room at a local Pokémon center. Follow my lead apprentice, you have much to learn indeed.""Stop acting all high and mighty Egon. I am older than you!"Despite her failed attempt at undermining my authority by pulling the age card, she obediently followed me through the busy and darkened streets of Mauville city. To reduce our chances of someone or something accidentally bumping or crashing into us I released Orin from his ball. The ambient light of his flame doing much to lighten our path forwards. Since I've already been to Mauville two weeks ago I wasn't as lost as the last time, and we made an accurate beeline towards the nearest Pokémon center."Okay so, when we step in, take out your trainer's license which also serves as your ID and ask the nurse Joy or chansey at the reception desk if you can book a room at the center. The league association will cover the cost of our stay here and you are free to use the amenities like showers and stalls for some of your bigger Pokémon partners. There are some trainers who get so enamored by the free living on the routes that they often forget that living like a hobo in the wilderness is bad for your personal hygiene. Don't become one of those trainers.""Really?!~There are trainers that don't take regular showers?""Well yeah, I met this hermit in Mistralton city who by the smell of him only uses soap once a month. Kooky old men like him can get away with it but strapping young trainers like us have an image to maintain especially since we are representing the Lavaridge gym. Now sometimes you don't have a choice, like say if you are stuck in an arid desert encampment with no running water. Then the best you can do is ask a fellow trainer's water Pokémon to hose you down once in a while."As I was sharing my worldly experience with Flannery, we got to the front desk where this center's chansey was waiting for us to state our business with the Pokémon center to her."Good evening Chansey. We'd like to book two dorm rooms please. Separate.""Sey Sey!"We both handed over our trainer's licenses and while Chansey was busy looking us up in the computer this center's nurse Joy finally revealed herself. She appeared from a backdoor nursing a cup of coffee. As our eyes met I recognized this specific nurse Joy as the same one that I met here exactly half a month ago."You!" "You!""The trainer with that special egg! Did the hatching go smoothly? Can you show me the baby Pokémon please?!"'The same overly eager nurse Joy from the last time. I just know she is going to be overly touchy with Halo, maybe I can shake her off.'"Uhm yeah, the newborn Pokémon is perfectly healthy. The nurse Joy at the Lavaridge center was there to assist with the delivery. Chansey here is almost done helping us out with booking a room and I am kind of getting tired. Maybe we can talk further in the morning.""Hold it! The journey from Lavaridge to Mauville must have been a long one. Why don't you leave your Pokémon with me for a while?""That's quite alright we teleported over so none of us are fatigued."Chansey finished up registering us into the computer and took off two keys from the wall before handing them over to us."Alright then but be sure to meet up with me in the morning. I want details, young man."After receiving our keys, I guided Flannery to the center dorms, while giving her my final lecture for the day."Since this is a Pokémon center there are no guarantees that you won't have to share rooms with other girls. In that situation it is common courtesy to not make loud noises after ten pm, and if you wake up early try to be as quiet as possible when sneaking out of the room to get breakfast. Of course, this is also a good opportunity to make friends, if it seems like the both of you aren't anywhere near close to falling asleep. If you don't know what topics to talk about to initiate a conversation just keep it simple and talk about how cute your Torchic is. That should get the ball rolling.""You think my Torchic is cute?""Is that the only thing you take away from my sterling words of wisdom? Whatever, this is my assigned room. I'll see you at eight in the morning, don't make me come get you.""Even cuter than Victini?""…Good night."With that I closed the door behind me, and A certain member of the team didn't waste any time by popping out of her ball to question me on my life's choices."Vi Tini?" "I am the cutest right?!""Has this become a competition…? You are my partner Pokémon that alone automatically makes you the cutest. Plus, your fur's all soft and you make for a way better sleeping companion. Flannery's Torchic's grasping talons don't facilitate for a good long-time bedrest."Due to tomorrow's hectic schedule, I was adamant that we all go to bed a bit earlier than usual. Since we had a gym battle with leader Wattson first thing in the morning. Halo took the second pillow on the bunkbed next to my own as a nestling spot while Glove the ever vigilant protector laid down on the remaining section of that bed. Victini was content just cuddling me to sleep as if to prove my point. The following morning*"Vi!" "Wake up!""Whaaa… What time is it?""Ten minutes before you have to wake up Flannery.""Thank you, Tini, I forgot to set the timer on my Xtransceiver."One surveying glance around the room informed me that only the two of us were awake at the moment. Careful as to not wake up the baby bug type that was still sleeping like a cute little loaf of bread. I tippy topped my way to the adjoining bathroom to brush my teeth and wipe my face with a moist towelette. I didn't know how many sleeping hours an infant Pokémon needed each day, but I tended to prefer erring on the side of caution.As soon as I was done with that I made my way out of the room bringing most of my team with me except for Glove and Halo whom I decided to wake up after being finishing preparing our breakfast. It was forbidden for men to enter the female part of the dormitory so I released Rena from her ball and asked the fox Pokémon if she could wake up Flannery for me."Pix Pix?""I don't know which number, but you can track her scent right?""Vuuuuul!""Sorry I know… How about after we beat that gym, we all go shopping and you can pick out something shiny from the market stalls?""Pix!"My attempt at bribery seemed to have worked since Rena darted off immediately into the women's section without having to be asked twice. My next course of action was to head on over to the communal kitchens. The centers didn't provide breakfast like some other trainer hostels, but they did have a fully equipped kitchen free for anybody to use as long as they cleaned up after themselves.Over the course of my journeys, I have become a practiced hand at preparing meals for my Pokémon. All my team members had a particular flavor which they preferred. Just like Victini, Halo also seemed to prefer sweet tasting dishes with a particular leaning towards honey. Combee honey directly imported from Sinnoh; anything else wouldn't satisfy her unnatural cravings. Strangely enough the cost of raw ingredients directly correlates to her enjoyment of my dishes. Being frugal with the amount of honey I incorporated into her food bowl was one way I managed to keep down costs. As long as it was in there, she would eat the whole dish with gusto. I blamed Mary for offering her that combee honey flavored lollipop on her birthday. There were plenty of wasp and ant Pokémon capable of producing honey, but the woman just had to give her the most expensive and exotic variety.'When my sponsorship with the Gym ends, I really have to look for alternative means of financing our expenditures… I should be grateful actually if by some chance Mary kept a stock of royal vespiqueen jelly I would become bankrupt within the same day.'"Vespiqueen jelly?"'No! Bad bad!'"Heyo Egon, what are we having for breakfast today?""Vuuul.""Great job bringing the sleepy head here Rena. Just take a seat, breakfast will be ready soon."Suddenly an unfamiliar voice rang out from behind Flannery."Is there room for one more at your table?"An elegant looking brunette wearing a schoolgirl outfit who was following Flannery through the hallway cut into our conversation. This was my first time seeing the girl so I assumed Flannery must have been bunking with her at the girls' dorms last night."Oh yes! Egon, meet Roxanne. She is a nerd just like you but better looking and stylish."'Calm down Egon, Flannery is making friends just focus on the positive.'"Of course there's room at our table. Did you bring your own meal?""You won't have to worry; I'll eat together with my Pokémon later."With that Roxanne took a seat at the nearest table together with Flannery and my Vulpix. I was planning to start Flannery on part two of my curriculum. How to make nutritious food for your Pokémon partners, but seeing as she was socializing, I figured I could let her off the hook for today. When I was around halfway done with the food the door leading to the hallway opened and Glove and Halo popped out. Glove scanned the crowd for a moment before finally spotting me and walking over with Halo cradled in his arms. As he did so he and Halo garnered a good amount of curious looks from all the other trainers making use of the cafeteria. It wasn't every day that you see two unusual nonnative Pokémon, especially not ones from Unova."Dar?""Ves?""Food's almost done, just take a seat at that table over there. Don't mind the newcomer, she seems like a good girl."Giving me a quick nod Glove walked over to where the trio of gossiping girls were sitting Rena included, and placed Halo on the tabletop. Flannery was quite used to seeing the duo and gave them an enthusiastic morning greeting, but Roxanne seemed to be struck from left field not expecting to encounter such rarely seen Pokémon.I wasn't standing close enough to understand what they were saying but Roxanne seemed to be eagerly firing off a series of questions at Flannery probably pertaining to the duo. Halo from a distance looked a tad bored as if it were a natural thing that she should be the center of attention.'This is the first time Halo is surrounded by a crowd of people I'd best hurry along and finish up.'It took another ten minutes before I finally finished everyone's breakfast. It took me longer than usual since I needed to make food for Flannery and her team. Mr. Moore passed along the dietary information of Flannery's four Pokémon. Torchic just required the usual Pokémon feed, Torkoal needed extra coal in their diet, Ponyta required extra grains and Slugma didn't eat regular food at all, only requiring a steady supply of minerals to keep himself going. Since I only had two hands I signaled Flannery to come help bring everyone's food to the table."Here we go this is for you three, make sure to eat it while it's still hot else you'll have to heat it up yourselves.""Vuuul!""Nitan.""Laaar."With that I released the rest of my team as well sans Victini of course. In situations like this we'd bring her filled bowl back into the room with us afterwards. Orin liked to come out in situations like these to set the atmosphere; his flickering flame did wonders for the décor, and he enjoyed all the extra attention as well. Seeing as I haven't fed him, yet I gave him leave to suck up some of my energy while we were busy eating.Roxanne took this moment to satisfy her curiosity regarding my team."Your name is Egon, right? Flannery told me all about you. You must have caught lots of interesting Pokémon like these two while abroad.""Yes, fire type specialists like me and Flanny basically have to. The variety of fire types available for capture inside Hoenn is too little to form a proper team. Glove here is a Darmanitan, a species native to Unova and Orin is a Litwick I caught while staying near the Celestial tower.""Hey Egon, get this. Roxxanne has already earned six badges so far! That's way better than your one even if you count the two you earned while in Unova."To say I was impressed was an understatement. That meant she had five months' time to train up her team for the conference. With only two remaining badges to earn. Roxanne seemed to be around the same age as me which meant she was a first-time trainer like myself. For a ten-year-old to get this far she must be a generational talent."That's really impressive Roxanne. I still have a lot of catching up to do it seems. Which major gyms are still left on your shopping list?""The Mossdeep city gym and the Sootopolis gym. Although I am not confident of my odds at beating the latter one. You see, I specialize in rock type Pokémon. The Sootopolis gym insists on having their challengers battle on a water battlefield the floating platforms not being nearly enough foothold for my team members to use their better moves.""That's a hassle… my fire types probably won't be able to beat leader Juan's challenge as they are now. Have you considered adding some rock and water type Pokémon to your team?""You mean a Corsola?""Yes, I've heard tales you can fish them up in the waters surrounding Ever Grande City. There's also relicanth, although I believe they live deep beneath inside the ocean's trenches. You'd have to be extremely lucky finding one in surface waters. Of course, the best way to add variety to your team will be fossil hunting.""Fossil hunting…?""I've heard rumors that a Kanto lab located on Cinnabar island has been making impressive breakthroughs in regards to fossil revivification. I estimate that sometime next year they will have their first successful experiment and their machine needs fully intact fossils to work. Can you imagine flying around on an aerodactyl you dug up yourself? Not even mentioning the fact how much you could learn about ancient Pokémon by training them yourself."My story seemed to have firmly gripped Roxanne's attention. The girl entering an euphoric state probably imagining all the things she would do with a posse of extinct Pokémon."Most fossil Pokémon are rumored to be coastline predators and those would all share a common rock typing. The best future investment for rock type specialists like yourself would be acquiring as many fossils as possible. Well, I think so at least… don't just take my word for it."Our conversation from that point went very smoothly, mostly speculation on how a revivification machine would work. My personal theory consisted of lab grown ditto stem cells building up the fossil based on the genetic material already present within the fossils themselves. While Roxanne on the other hand believed that such a machine would work based on extracting the genetic material inside the bone marrow and fusing said material with infertile Pokémon eggs.Halfway through our conversation Flannery just dozed off not finding the topic discussed all that interesting. Flannery was more of a doer than a dreamer like the two of us, so it was understandable that she found speculation on fossil revivification boring.It was nearing the time for my appointment at the Mauville gym so I sadly had to cut our engrossing conversation short. I gathered up all the bowls, which my team had already cleaned up, stuffed them in my backpack and recalled my entire team. Before I left the cafeteria Roxanne still had something left to say to me and Flannery."Thank you, Egon! I'll be sure to use all the advice you gave me. How about we all exchange numbers? You too Flannery.""That's okay, Flannery has my number she can give it to you."I turned around to address the supposed oldest at the table."Flanny, how about you go do your own thing for a while? I'll be right back as soon as I finish up at the gym. Maybe you can spend some time with Roxanne here? She can teach you loads of stuff about being a travelling trainer.""That sounds like more fun! Roxanne, do you have any plans today?""Well actually I have come to Mauville in order to evolve my Nosepass. As you know a Nosepass can only evolve if they are in close proximity to special magnetic fields. Hoenn's magnetic field intensity pattern is strongest here in Mauville but so far, I am not having any luck triggering his evolution."Not wanting to leave her guessing I decided to help the girl out with her short-term goal."Well, the strong magnetic field in Mauville can't be a natural one… This could have something to do with leader Wattson's scrapped new Mauville project. Wattson had an entire underground city built some time ago but discovered that the place served as the perfect habitat for wild electric type Pokémon. Not having the heart to take away their new home he scrapped the new Mauville project. Rumor has it that before the project got scrapped, leader Wattson built a giant reactor in the heart of new Mauville. Maybe if you could bring your Nosepass closer to that reactor and the magnetic field it generates that would be sufficient enough for him to evolve.""That's brilliant Egon! Do you have any idea where the entrance to new Mauville is located?""Well, no but I am heading towards the Mauville gym to have a match with Wattson. Maybe you could ask him yourself?" At the entrance of the Mauville gym* It wasn't in my plans to take these two with me to the site of my oncoming gym battle, but Roxanne was not the type to waste time. After she made the decision to go with me Flannery decided to follow the both of us.'Maybe Flannery can learn a thing or two about how to operate a gym facility by watching how other leaders handle the day-to-day operations.'Our little band walked past the automatic doors. The first thing that I noticed was a major difference between the Mauville gym and Lavaridge's gym design choice. Whereas Lavaridge kept the gym's interior simple aside from the many amenities for trainers the Mauville gym had multiple pylons that resembled tesla coils supporting the building's high ceiling. My fervent hope was that they were not meant to be used to shock the challengers. One of the gym's trainers walked up to us presumably to welcome us to the gym."Hello there young trainers, I presume you are here to challenge the gym leader?""Yes, I have an appointment for a gym battle. The other two are here for a quick chit chat with leader Wattson.""Electrifying! Just follow me, leader Wattson is all set and ready for the first challenge of the day."'I don't remember Mr. Moore making his staff use theme appropriate puns. Maybe it's something to look into to increase the gym's popularity. I am hoping Flannery is taking notes.'One quick look behind informed me that this wasn't the case. Flannery seemed to be more interested in talking about girl stuff with Roxanne as we were being led through to the gym's battlefield. With the duo busy I figured I could ask the gym's staffer for any tips or tricks."So, any advice for a fourth badge battle?""Yes, bringing a team of ground types won't work. At this level Wattson has numerous strategies at his disposal to circumvent a ground type Pokémon's innate advantage.""Do people actually catch a load of ground types just to win a badge?""Sometimes, we do have the occasional ground type specialist coming through. Ah! We have arrived."The hallway he escorted us through ended up leading to the gym's battle facilities. We saw multiple battlefields lined up right next to each other. An old man in a brown aviator jacket was sitting on a bench polishing off a Magnemite."Leader Wattson, today's first challenger is this young man here. The two young ladies with him wanted to ask you something…?"Roxanne stepped forward to inquire about the reactor, but before she had a chance to Wattson addressed her first."Hahaha! Little Roxanne, this year's top graduate from Rustburo's trainer school. Didn't you already earn your gym badge here?""Yes, Leader Wattson this time I came here for a different reason. I am looking to enter the underground city of New Mauville but I don't know how.""New Mauville… and why would the smartest young girl in all of Hoenn want to enter my failed project.""Yes, after some discussion with Egon here I decided to chance my luck at evolving my Nosepass near New Mauville's reactor. The special magnetic field it puts out might just be able to trigger his evolution.""Brilliant! To have come up with that all by yourself. Yes, Pokémon needing special magnetic fields to evolve could make use of the reactor room in new Mauville. However, evolving a Pokémon before its ready could lead it to having problems later on. Are you sure that your Nosepass is sufficiently prepared?""Yes!""Fine then far be it from me to question such an ambitious young lass like yourself. After I finish battling this youngster, I'll lend you the key required to open up the underground entrance. Now, you two young ladies go sit on the spectator seats over there. We'll finish up soon enough."Doing as they were told Roxanne and Flannery each took a seat on the bench Wattson pointed out. The bleachers at this gym were covered by a thin protective film made of rubber probably to protect the audience from any stray electrical attacks. Screening the battlefield, I couldn't help but notice the grounding rods impaled into the ground flooring on each of the battlefield's corners. Wattson and I took our positions on opposite ends of the battlefield."Wahahahah! Coming up with new innovative construction designs and testing young trainers like yourself are the things I live for now! Then I, Wattson, the Leader of Mauville Gym, shall electrify you!"Chapter 41 – An Electrifying Battle "And now the Mauville gym battle will begin! Each trainer will use three Pokémon; the battle ends when all three of either trainer's Pokémon are unable to continue." "Go! Magnemite!"My finger hovered over Numsy's poké ball, but eventually shifted to Orin's.'I could lead off with Numsy and attempt to sweep his team, but Orin needs the experience.'"Go! Orin!"The little candle Pokémon materialized on the field. His little stubby arms raised as if he were preparing to engage the Magnemite in a fist fight."Thunder wave!""Will-O-Wisp!"Blue flame darted towards the floating screwball while at the same time streams of electricity connected the little candle Pokémon with Wattson's Magnemite.Will-O-Wisp came as easy as breathing for the ghost and fire type Pokémon. I didn't even have to ask Rena to teach him the basics. The move was crucial in my strategies until Orin learned some stronger fire type moves.Magnemite having to keep up the connection to my Pokémon in order to paralyze him didn't have the reflexes to dodge the blue flame. Similarly, Orin wasn't the most mobile of Pokémon. Until their evolution the Litwick species had to rely on awkward hopping to maneuver during a battle which basically made them sitting ducklett. That's why, until that special time, Orin basically had to spray and pray during our battles.The will-o-wisp was taking effect leaving Magnemite with a perpetual ghostly burn which sprang up and hurt him every time the magnet Pokémon executed a move."Hex!""Electro ball!"Magnemite charged up an orb of electricity and launched it towards my Pokémon. Electro ball was a nifty move that increased in power the faster the user was in comparison to the target. Magnemite in general weren't all that fast, but it was in comparison to my Litwick especially since the little candle Pokémon was now also paralyzed.The attacks made contact hex acting more like a curse following its target everywhere. While the electroball hit Orin straight in the face. Electric currents raged through his small body damaging the candle Pokémon from the inside out. While simultaneously the hex's dark flames did substantial damage to our opponent."Liiiiit!"'Orin can't take much more than that, our next attacks will decide this round.'Magnemite wasn't looking too hot either. The burns and Orin's last move taking a toll on its steely exterior providing none of its usual defense. Unless Orin suffered from a bout of paralysis this would probably turn into a double knockout."Night Shade!""Mirror Shot!"Orin's bright green eyes were already darkening up in preparation for the attack, but before he could perform the move a flash of energy shot out from Magnemite's body. The flash of light blinding my little candle and resulting in his eyes being forced shut. The invasive steel type energy took its toll from Orin's body."Lit…""Return!"'Temporarily blinding his opponent when faced with gaze attacks. Wattson isn't a gym leader for nothing.'"Sorry for having you face two gym battles in a row Orin. When we get back on the road we'll slowly build up our strength again.""Magnemite return!""The leader has chosen to withdraw his Pokémon. According to the gym's rules this means the score is evened out at one to one!""Huh!? Why?""Magnemite here was on his last legs as well. That Hex attack really packed a wallop! Now let us field some of our stronger competitors. Go! Electrode!""Numsy you're up!"We both called out our stronger competitors. His choice of an electrode made things really simple on our side. Electrodes have a fairly hard time learning any other moves beside electric ones. We'd have this in the bag as long as the sphere Pokémon didn't try to blow up on us. Numsy using the protect at the right time would be the key factor for us making it out of this unscathed."Bulldoze!""Magnet Rise!"My Camerupt tore up the battlefield turning the entire terrain into a series of nooks and ridges. Wattson's Electrode would surely have trouble using its superior mobility on uneven ground. However, before the ground shocks could reach Wattson's electrode its use of Magnet Rise lifted up the spherical Pokémon completely avoiding our attack. Using its magnetic powers to float a few inches above the ground left Wattson's Pokémon safe from our attack. "Don't think using ground type moves will work on us! Here at the Mauville gym we pride ourselves on dealing with ground types! Swift!"'Even in the air electrode's speed is incredible, so we just have to use moves that hit everything in their vicinity.'"Lava plume!"Stars formed by normal type energy hit Numsy on the side, but I wasn't too bothered about that. As long as Electrode couldn't hit us with electric type moves Wattson could pelt us with weak attacks all he liked.Scarlet flames erupted from the miniature volcanoes on Numsy's back dousing the entire field in flames. Electrode was fast but not fast enough to avoid getting hit. The impact resulted in the ball Pokémon being covered in soot sagging back onto the ground. Heat weakens magnetic fields so I was sure turning the ground molten hot would also ruin Wattson's strategy of staying afloat.'Now there's only one strategy left available to him…'"Selfdestruct!""Protect!"Electrode glowed bright for a split second before exploding like a frag grenade tearing up the battlefield even further and forming a small crater at the explosion's epicenter. The crystalline shield protecting my Pokémon held firm, blocking Electrode's final attack. The dust settled down and Numsy reappeared from the smoke a bit dazed but relatively unharmed."Electrode is unable to battle! The match stands at two to one!""You were anticipating our last move, well done challenger! Return Electrode.""Go! Manetric!"'A Manetric this guy's way bigger than the wild Electrike on route 110.'The Pokémon had a big blonde mane that seemed to be in a frizzy state as if it held an electrical charge which considering the Pokémon's species it probably did."Earth Power!""Double Team!"Manetric moved so fast that he left after images in his wake. Numsy now confused as to which one to hit whiffed on hitting his target. The Earth Power erupts harmlessly under one of the after images.'Speed is the only thing they have over us but as long as the battle is confined in an enclosed space, we'll be able to pull through no problem.'Not wanting to waste our time tearing up the field with a bulldoze and giving the gym staff extra work to do, I resorted to what worked the last time."Lava Plume!""Rain Dance!"Just as the lava plume was about to impact the battlefield again a cloud of rain was summoned inside the building lowering the ambient temperature and reducing the effectiveness of our attack. Manetric still took a wave of fire to the face though the effectiveness of the move had been reduced significantly."Switch to ground moves Bulldoze!""Magnet Rise!"'Rain Dance and Magnet Rise? Ugh… I'll have to dry my clothes after this.'Just like with Electrode, Manetric floated up from the ground dodging the ground quakes rocketing the arena. Water filled all the crevices on the cracked land forming small puddles, the largest of which was the hole Electrode left behind after using Selfdestruct.'I refuse to believe Manetric can maintain its speed after floating off the ground. Unlike Electrode or Magnemite, animal type Pokémon using Magnet Rise to float must come with some drawbacks. If ground based moves don't work anymore and my firepower is weakened I'll have to try something different.'Indeed, as I speculated, Manetric slowed down a fair bit and its maneuverability was gutted. The Pokémon only being able to move in straight lines. Being a four badge Pokémon, I wouldn't expect it to be proficient at everything."Rock Slide!""Hyper Beam!"'Going all in? If Numsy can withstand this attack, we'll have a clear shot to finish this.'The hyper beam impacted Numsy first, blowing him backwards, the beam forming faster than we both anticipated. Still Numsy being in relatively fine condition it wasn't enough to knock him out. He retaliated by forming large boulders made out of rock type energy and the surrounding materials and blasted those stones outwards towards the now prone Manetric. The attack hit its target pushing Manetric on its side, the effects of magnet rise now broken. The canine Pokémon is still active but now a sitting duck for a follow up attack.Hyper beam's drawback was that it used too much of the Pokémon's energy all at once, leaving them vulnerable for a counterattack. When they inevitably had to remain still to catch their breath an opponent's Pokémon would get a free shot at them if they hadn't fainted by then."Let's finish this…""Earth power!""Return!"Before the ground ripple had a chance to reach Manetric, Wattson decided to forfeit the match by returning his Pokémon.Having your Pokémon be needlessly injured when the outcome of the match has become apparent was the last thing a responsible trainer should do and I respected his decision to spare his Pokémon from any unnecessary pain."Wattson, the gym leader, has chosen to withdraw his last Pokémon. That means Camerupt wins. the victory goes to Egon from Lavaridge Town!""You did it buddy!""Ruupt!""Now let's get you out of this rain, make sure to take it easy for the rest of the day. That Hyper Beam attack was no joke. Return!"Numsy dematerialized into the beam of red light, having gotten my fire type out of this cold and clammy rain I walked in the direction of the bleachers where Flannery and her new friend Roxanne were waiting for me and Wattson. The gym leader did the same even though he just lost the match he didn't seem to mind at all still being his old cheery self."Wahahaha! That was some battle youngster! As the gym leader I hereby award you with the Dynamo badge. Your Camerupt is a tough customer. Make sure to train up that cute little ghost of yours so he can compete at the same level as his teammate."He didn't seem to find the battle deserving of an additional technical machine award. Not that I minded, out of all my Pokémon only Victini was capable of learning electric type moves. Her being able to use thunder punch was enough for now."Thank you, leader Wattson, for a great battle. And my apologies in advance for tearing up the field with my repeated use of the move bulldoze. I've worked as a gym intern before and fields like that are always a hassle to clean up afterwards.""Lavaridge gym right? So, Tim must be your sponsor. Are you the one that'll be taking over for him in the future? The rest of us gym leaders have to accept many more high level challengers since his gym is only half operational.""Ehem no that would be…""Egon! Finish up quick! Roxanne is inviting us to go with her to that New Mauville place."At Flannery's prompting Wattson got reminded that he promised to lend Roxanne the key to his failed project."Right, yes! The key, just wait one second..."Wattson pulled out a ridiculously oversized keychain with at least 20 other keys hanging from the center ring. It took him a while, but he finally identified the key that opened the underground city of new Mauville. He removed that particular one from the keychain before handing it over to an eagerly waiting Roxanne."Wahahaha! We just have way too many keys! Watt! Note down that we'll have to completely transition over to digital locks as soon as the budget frees up."The young man who acted as the referee during our match caught up to us before engaging in a heated debate with his boss."But sir we spent an entire two years of our budget on the fake Raikou mecha! You wanted it to be able to fire off real thunderbolts!""That investment will pay off for us big time in the long run! Just imagine how much people would be willing to spend on a theme ride featuring a legendary Pokémon. Electrifying!"Flannery couldn't help but butt into that conversation."No way! An Entei ride would be way better! Just the rumor of being able to see that Pokémon's likeness will have all the hottest magazines raving about it! Egon! Remind me when I take over the gym to put in a Entei themed rollercoaster!""What?! I am your minder not your assistant! And you are not the boss of me, yet!""Wahahahaha! So, you are our esteemed elite four's heir? When will I be accepting your challenge?""Grandpa says I'll have to wait for next year to start my first circuit run. Something about me not being ready yet. I am older than Egon and he gets to do whatever he likes, not fair!""Well well missy, I'll be looking forward to it. Your Grandpa is a stick in the mud during meetings, but I can already tell you'll be an electrifying colleague to have!"With that the three of us were escorted out of the gym by Leader Wattson's overworked employee Watt. Being the one that has to manage the gym's finances in addition to having all the other regular gym duties must be taking a toll on him. Not to mention having to curb some of the eccentric behavior of his enigmatic boss made me feel like he was a kindred spirit. He also explained how to get to New Mauville while we were walking to the exit."New Mauville can only be accessed from a cave underneath the cycling road on route 110. It used to be a natural one until Wattson decided to expand the cave's interior in order to house all the new prospective residents. You will have to have a water or flying type Pokémon carry you over the river."Roxanne was the first to despair at hearing that news."But I don't have any on my team… Flannery Egon, you wouldn't happen to have any?""I don't! Egon has that a gray colored bird Pokémon on his team though!"Exasperated, I decided to expand Flannery's knowledge on Unovan Pokémon."That Pokémon is called a Tranquill. You've met her a bunch of times, don't tell me you can't remember her name?""Sorry! I only remember fire types.""Haaaa… in any case she is too small to ferry us over that river. We could try bribing some of the local water type Pokémon to transport us over. They'll probably demand a good number of berries though. I know some wingull that live on that route. They could negotiate a better deal for us. Do you girls mind if I drop off Numsy and Orin at the Pokémon center before we go?"Roxanne seemingly approved of my plan perking up at the mention of trading for wild Pokémon's services. This is the one area where generalists have us specialists beat having members of your team suited for each type of terrain and it could be a real hassle traveling safely over Hoenn's sharpedo infested waters with only fire type or in Roxanne's case rock type Pokémon."That's a great idea Egon! We are lucky that you made some Pokémon friends on route 110."I didn't really have much interest in going spelunking, but Mr. Moore would have my hide if I let Flannery go alone in an underground complex filled with voltorb and electrode. She was terrible at lying to her grandfather so the truth would come out eventually. The upside to all of this is that I would get to watch how one of the more obscure methods of evolving Pokémon worked. Half an hour later on route 110* We were gathered outside the hidden nature trail that led to the manetric's territory. I've spent the last five minutes looking at the skies trying to spot the wingull flock we've gotten familiar with half a month ago. I sent out Tranquill to survey the areas where she met up with them the last time and to convince them to come meet with us for this important matter."Quill!""Win Gull!""There she is Egon! She brought the flock of wingull over just like you asked."The wingull led by Tranquill landed on the branches of a nearby tree while tranquill herself landed on my shoulder eager to receive her payment, one whole crushed up Lava cookie."Here you go girl you've earned it.""Quill!""Gull? Win?""Wingull is asking what he can help you with. He also wants more of our Lava cookies…!"'Relax I'll ask Grandma to send over another batch when we arrive in Fortree city. We are in Hoenn now, shipping anywhere within the same region will only take a few days.'"Heya old buddy, these are my friends Flannery and Roxanne.""Gull Gull!"The girls and Wingull exchanged their well wishes before I got down to the brass tacks."So do you know the cave that's situated underneath the cycling road?""Gull!" Wingull gave me a quick affirming nod."You see, we need to get over there. It's a bit complicated since we don't have any water or flying Pokémon big or strong enough to carry us over. Do you happen to know any such Pokémon living nearby? And could you maybe convince them to help us? We can pay in berries or cookies as you can see."I opened up my Tupperware displaying the various type of berries I've collected or bought in preparation for our journey."Winnngull!!"At the reveal of my stash of berries large enough to feed me and flannery's pokémon for a couple of days, wingull and the rest of his flock got a bit overeager, throwing what I imagined to be offers of cooperation in exchange for my food supply."Okay hold up, calm down! How about this? you each get half a berry now and after you've completed the job, you'll get the other half.""Gull!"Not needing to have Victini translate their acceptance of the deal. I fished out six oran berries dividing them in half before laying them in row on a nearby tree stump jutting out of the ground. There were seven wingull in this flock, but the leader and my erstwhile friend demanded to be fed the same thing as his romantic interest Tranquill. So, I measured out half a Lava cookie, crushing it and giving that to him instead.The Wingull greedily munched on the half berries put on display, their feathers getting all rumpled up as a consequence of their eagerness while me and the girls looked on. Eventually they finished up each of their respective meals squawked loudly at each other and flew up in the direction of route 110's meandering river.Roxanne was the first to speak up."They are heading towards the direction of the river. That means they'll be likely to ask the local water Pokémon to give us a ride.""Egon, I don't want to get wet! Tell them to ask one of their flying type friends to carry us over!""Flannery… you do realize that there aren't many flying types living in Hoenn big enough to give you a comfortable ride. Skarmory live up to the north in route 113 and Tropius live in the areas surrounding Fortree City. Not to mention the impossibility of flying on any wild Salamence. More than likely the wingull will ask a group of wailmer or a singular gyarados to ride us over.""Gyarados!?""Relax, if there is a wild Gyarados living in the river that could be swayed by a flock of wingull to come and meet us it would most likely have a docile temperament."While Flannery was panicking about the possibility of having to hitch a ride on a wild Gyarados. Roxanne was impressed by something else entirely."You really are knowledgeable Egon, we should compare notes sometime.""Thanks, before setting off on my journey I researched the wild Pokémon commonly encountered on each route. You must have done something similar in preparation for your journey right?""At the Rustburo's trainer's school we don't spend much of our study time on pokémon habitats. Which is a shame but I did manage to study up on the ecological backgrounds of most rock type pokémon.""Are you aiming to become Rustburo's gym leader? I've heard that the city's gym leader is elected based upon academic merits. In contrast to the position being decided based on the previous gym leader's familial relations.""Yes! I've even undertaken an internship at the gym when I was just seven years old. Our gym leader is holding on to the position despite her reaching retirement age until I've further proven myself by reaching the top sixteen at this year's Ever Grande conference!"Our talk about academic achievements and Rustburo's meritocratic system seemed to have unnerved Flannery a bit. The redhead shuffling her feet and not having much to add to the conversation. Feeling bad for Flannery I decided to extend her an olive branch."There is something to say about keeping a gym in the family though. There is never a struggle to find a worthy successor and the leader's family usually grow up inside the gym itself, gaining much needed experience just by being around daily goings-on of a gym."We reached the river's shore and while we were waiting, Roxanne and Flannery decided to call out their teams and relax. Having no idea on how much time the wingull flock would need to try and convince wild water Pokémon to help us reach the other side of the river, I decided to kick back and watch how Flannery would interact with another trainer's Pokémon.Roxanne's team composition surprised me with some of her more exotic partner Pokémon."Hello everyone, say hi to my new friends.""Noseee""Leeem!""Lair!""Shuck""Woodo!""Cargo!"Roxanne had a total of six Pokémon with her. The Nosepass which we already knew about but also a Golem, Lairon, Shuckle, Magcargo and strangely enough a Sudowoodoo. I wasn't knowledgeable enough to determine the strength of most of her Pokémon, but that Magcargo was keeping active even though we didn't find ourselves in a volcanic environment. This meant she had trained it well even Flannery was impressed."Your Magcargo is looking great Roxanne! I can't wait for my Slugma to evolve as well!"Flannery decided to show off her team as well minus her Slugma who didn't like being out of his ball in river country like this."Your Ponyta and Torchic are the cutest Flannery!"Flannery's Ponyta walked up to Roxanne and gave her a playful nuzzle to the face. Which the girl reciprocated by stroking its fiery mane.'This is discrimination! I've fed that Ponyta dozens of times and even cleaned out her stall and she won't even let me pet her without burning my hand!'"Calm down Egon!"'Okay count to ten… and move on. That Ponyta is clearly biased against boys.'"Say Roxanne I didn't know Sudowoodo lived in Hoenn. Did you catch it while on a trip to Sinnoh or Johto?""They do actually, I caught him while on a school trip to Metallica island.""Isn't that the place where they are building up the battle frontier facilities?""Yes, the league hired professional trainers to remove the local bonsly and sudowoodo population. This one was in the process of being caught and relocated but I managed to convince the frontier's hired personnel to gift him to me. We've been best friends ever since, isn't that right Woody?""Woodo!""Did you know some professors in indigo are still convinced that Sudowoodo is a grass type? As they say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover." 30 minutes later* We were starting to get worried that the wingull might not come back, when finally we saw the lot of them streaking across the water with their new friends in tow. A trio of jolly looking wailmer followed behind the seagull Pokémon bouncing up and down the river's waves. What came as an unexpected surprise was the Hoenn Pokédex that Roxanne pulled out to scan the trio of whale Pokémon.Wailmer the Ball Whale Pokémon. Wailmer's nostrils are located above its eyes. This playful Pokémon loves to startle people by forcefully snorting out seawater it stores inside its body out of its nostrils. It swims along with its mouth open and swallows down seawater along with its food. On sunny days, it lands on beaches to bounce like a ball and play.In hindsight it was pretty obvious that this year's most accomplished trainer school graduate would be a Pokédex holder as well. The three bouncy pokémon beached themselves on the river's edge and bounced up and down on the ground in front of us, each of them as tall as a professional basketball player."Waaaail!""Keep your distance Egon! Wailmer love dousing people in seawater!""Calm down Flannery, a little spray of seawater won't kill you."'Feeding these three is going to be expensive, unless they'd be satisfied with only a handful of berries each.'"Why hello there I take it Wingull here has informed you of our plight to cross this river?"The middle one who I supposed was their leader came forward to discuss terms."Waaaail!""What a beautiful dream…"'Wait… what did Wailmer say?'"Wailmer's goal is to taste every kind of berry in this world at least one time. Being relegated to stay inside the water makes it tough for him to achieve his dream. If you have a berry with you that he has not tried before he'll let you ride on him and his subordinates' back.""Okay Wailmer here says that if we give him a berry he hasn't tried before that he'll help us cross the river.""Amazing Egon! Do you understand pokéspeak?""Well uhmm… something like that."Not wanting the direction of this conversation to come to its natural end point I quickly tried to focus Roxanne's attention on the matter at hand."Anyway! let's open up our supplies and see what we got."It turned out that Roxanne by virtue of being a rock type specialist had little to no berries with her. Rock types rarely needed to ingest organic food since their diet mostly consisted of minerals scrounged up from underneath the earth. The only Pokémon on her team that needed to eat berries was her Shuckle. Which fermented them inside its shell to convert into berry juice before sipping from it throughout the day."It's got to be this one.""No!"'You just told me that his dream was beautiful. The chances of Wailmer coming across a custap berry is slim to none. Besides with the extra money incoming from Mr. Moore I'll be able to afford all kinds of expensive berries. I'll just buy cheap grains for that darned Ponyta to make up for the difference.'"Okay… for his dream.""Wailmer try this one. I bet you haven't tasted a custap berry before."Placing the custap berry in the Pokémon's mouth we watched as Wailmer slowly chewed his mouth's new contents intent on savoring and analyzing the flavor for as long as possible.'Truly this Pokémon is a gourmet enthusiast.'Having finished tasting the most expensive berry I had on hand the wailmer was bouncing around energetically. Spraying seawater all around him in pure joy."Waaail!"