33-35

Chapter 33 – Small City Goodness

"Thank you! for showing us the way to the city. If we are ever back in the area again, we'll come visit you and the pack for sure!""Ruff!"After sharing a pleasant meal with the electrike pack I decided it was time to head into Mauville city. The pack's leader decided to escort us to the City's borders in exchange for the pleasant meal and conversation we had. Not to mention the copious amount of ear scratches I gave him. Canine Pokémon really are man's best friends.'I should totally catch a growlithe, houndour or a flareon someday. Rena does her best, but she has too much self-respect for belly rubs.'"This is it Tini, Mauville the region's capital and also the largest city in all of Hoenn. There are CCTV cameras everywhere so make sure to stay invisible at all times. We probably won't be here for long; the gym should be swamped with matches. We'll make an appointment of our own and be back in a couple of weeks.""It's small."Mauville wasn't as big as Castelia, not by a long shot. Unova had a much bigger population size for starters not to mention having the available landmass to accommodate that growth. Hoenn, just being an archipelago, a region consisting of a set of small islands circling around on a larger mainland, didn't have that advantage. Victini, being used to the sight of Castelia and Virbank City from the perch of her lighthouse, wasn't particularly impressed by the opulence of our capital city.I found out that I wasn't much of a city person anymore after visiting Castelia. The crowded streets and the polluted air didn't do it for me. Overall pollution wasn't really much of an issue in this world. The league even left some contaminated zones dirty just so poison types had somewhere to feel at home. The koffing line were universally employed in all factories. Those little balls of joy loved taking in fumes and gasses filtering them inside their bodies and expelling it as clean air. You could find members of the koffing line in industry areas but also in places where volcanic gasses are naturally expelled like Lavaridge and its surroundings. It wasn't weird to spot a koffing inside Lavaridge just wandering around looking for a sulfur vent.The city's gym leader Wattson had big redevelopment plans. A good chunk of the changes were already underway. Most of the older single-family buildings have been replaced by condominiums and most of the city's amenities were being placed inside the large sprawling shopping complex. Rumor has it that leader Watsson was inspired after visiting Kalos on one of his journeys as a trainer.Ignoring the hub and bub of this medium sized city I made my way towards the gym. A good chunk of the population roomed somewhere else while the city was being reconstructed so I had an easy time of it. The gym's entrance was located in the shopping complex on the ground floor. Walking in I immediately made my way to the receptionist to make an appointment."Excuse me sir, is the gym still open for making match appointments?""You are lucky kid, just one more minute and we'd have closed up for the day. Trainer's license and ID please."I handed over my personal documents to the receptionist and he got to work tapping on his keyboard. After half a minute or so he came back to me to work out an appointment date."We can squeeze you in sixteen days from now.""Can't you make it any earlier?"It wasn't like I was too impatient to wait, but I still needed to earn all eight badges. If I had to wait for over half a month for each gym match plus all the additional travel times getting from one town to the next, I would never make it in time to qualify for the conference."That's too bad, we are booked solid for the next two weeks. It's the middle of the season kid, what did you expect?""I'll take it. Could you book me for a fourth level badge match?""I am seeing here that you haven't earned a single badge yet. Isn't it a bit foolhardy of you to assume you are at that level?""Don't worry about it, me and my team are ready.""You're the boss, just make sure to bring at least four Pokémon to compete. If you want an edge, I suggest catching a ground type from the desert in route 111.""It's fine I already have a ground type on my team. Does that type of advice actually work for any matches higher than second level?""Usually, it doesn't. Having ground types on your team definitely makes it easier on the challengers though. Wattson only has a few ways of dealing with ground types at the fourth level."I thanked the guy manning the reception for his sage advice before making my way out of the gym. With my appointment being made I followed the signs pointing me towards the Pokémon center. We didn't get any serious battling done on the route since all the trainers looking to battle take to the cycling road, so there was no need for my Pokémon to get a checkup. I did however want a Nurse Joy to check on my egg's progress, not to mention getting access to a computer and a warm bed.I was walking with Glove out of his ball. He did garner some interested looks from Mauville's local residents because of his status as a foreign Pokémon."You can't wait for the egg to hatch as well, right Glove?""Dar!""It'll be so cool taking pictures of the baby's first moments out of the egg. Or seeing him or her fire off her those first sparks of ember. We need to get a video camera to record the hatching for sure.""Nitan!""We'll be the best uncles ever!"Just then the Larvesta inside the egg moved again, the egg slightly getting tilted to the side."It seems like Larvesta agrees with me. When we get to the center, I'll ask nurse Joy for a checkup. And to see what options that Pokémon centers have for this one's special day."Our excitement didn't lower one little bit and actually grew bigger as we saw the distinct silhouette of the center building appearing into view. This center was placed right inside a large shopping mall squared around the middle plaza with a large fountain sporting a poké ball motif."Last one there is a rotten exeggcute!"We both raced to get to the center's doors first. Naturally being a Pokémon Glove overtook me quite easily. Even having to wait for me at the finish line. The passersby were easily startled by the six feet tall flaming gorilla sprinting in their direction. After I got there, I had to explain myself and offer an apology for our antics to one particular lady who stumbled over almost dropping her grocery bag."What are you doing!""I am sorry miss we were just too excited. You see my Pokémon egg is close to hatching."Showing her my incubator seemed to do the trick. She let me off without calling an officer Jenny to report me for reckless endangerment."Phew… that was too close Glove. Let's just get inside before that lady changes her mind."Glove, having also been chastised during the dispute, gave me a soundless nod of his head before following me inside the center. This center was much larger inside than the typical storefront inside this mall. Being large enough to accommodate traveling trainers and all the medical equipment the staff might need. We wasted no time getting in line to speak with the local nurse Joy."Excuse me, Nurse Joy? Could you take a look at my egg please to check how it's coming along?""Certainly, young man! We have screening equipment available to test the overall health of the Pokémon inside. Free of charge of course! If you would please hand over the egg to my assistant.""Chansey!"A large round pink blob walked on over with open arms ready to receive our precious bundle of joy. I handed the incubator over to chansey, completely confident that this egg-bearing Pokémon would take great care of our little one.'You know I am pretty sure a chansey helped deliver me when I was born. If I were to ever catch a Pokémon that isn't a fire type I am sure it would be a chansey.'"Why?"'They are such joys to have around always nurturing and caring to those around them and I hear their eggs are super delicious.'"Delicious eggs…?"'You probably wouldn't know this since they don't have chansey over in Unova, but their species grows a nutritious egg every day. In the wild they share that egg with Pokémon who are sick or injured. I don't know how they developed that way in nature, but most Pokémon will refuse to attack a chansey.'While I was having a mental conversation about chansey trivia with Victini and having left the egg secure with nurse Joy I made my way towards the computer room. I still needed to check for a response from the Fortree City gym and look at cute baby Pokémon videos with Glove. Luckily the computer room wasn't overcrowded."Now let's see if they've had time to respond to my email…"Salutations Trainer Egon,We at the Fortree city Gym would be happy to take care of Tranquill. However, due to our busy schedule we can't go pick up the special lady ourselves. That's why we would like for you to come visit us at the gym. Included within this email is a voucher for a single use teleportation service. We understand that as a traveling trainer you will most likely have other responsibilities so feel free to come visit us at your leisure.Hope to see you soon,Leader Winona"Come on out Tranquill!"I activated the release mechanism of my poké ball releasing our feathery friend in order to share the good news. Tranquill was quite miffed, being released from her ball while she was resting having flown around on route 110 all day."You see this girl?""Quill?""No, the letter on the computer screen."Her gaze shifted to the screen where the email was displayed. Before looking back eying me like I was an idiot."Oh yeah, sorry forgot that most Pokémon can't read human script. Anyways, Winona THE gym leader of Fortree city is very interested in having you! She is the foremost expert on flying types in our entire region. If you manage to impress her, she might just make you a permanent fixture on her team!""Quill! Quill!""I know right, that's awesome! You'll receive the best training hands down.""Quill…?""She is asking when we'll be going.""Hmm, we still have to go back home to Lavaridge first. After finishing my business there, we'll need to come back to Mauville for my gym match. When that's done, I'll be free to go to Fortree City. So, in about two weeks.""Quill?!""It's fine she said that they'll be waiting for you. Which reminds me… I'd best print out that voucher before I forget to. In the meantime, how about I put on one of Winona's gym matches on screen. That way you'll have an inkling on what type of trainer she is."Before visiting the Fortree gym's webpage I clicked print on the email containing the free voucher. Then I made the effort of finding a battle demonstration video showing off Winona in a higher-level match and left Tranquill to it.'It's good that we found a trainer for Tranquill. Now I can rest easy knowing she will be taken care of by the experts of the Fortree gym.'After watching the match together with Tranquill I had to quickly return her to her ball. The bird Pokemon couldn't keep still getting all pumped up from viewing the televised battle. With that concluded I made my way back to the reception desk. Nurse Joy and Chansey are already waiting for us with the egg placed on the counter."Young man, the little one inside the egg is completely healthy but could you answer a couple of my questions? This is the first time any nurse in Hoenn has come across this particular species of Pokémon.""Okay…?" The following morning* This Pokémon center's nurse Joy was very eager to learn all there was to know about the egg and didn't want to let me go to bed even after complete sundown. Naturally I could have refused her inquiries into the subject but so far, every Nurse Joy I've come across has been nothing but helpful and professional leading me to give her some slack in this regard. Since all nurse Joy share information freely between each other they were not limited to the usual interregional restrictions. This is what led her to look up the little ones information after confirming the species wasn't Hoenn native. She finally left me to my own devices after extracting a promise from me that she would be allowed to see my Larvesta after it hatches. I was planning to come back to Mauville City in any case so it wouldn't take much effort from me to fulfill that promise.After having breakfast at the center dorms I wasted no time in setting out for Lavaridge Town. Seeing as we'd have to wait a bit more than two weeks to get that gym battle. The best use of my time would be spending some training hours at my hometown's gym. I was also looking forward to seeing my grandparents again and meeting back up with some of the locals."Tini are you sure that you'll be able to teleport us back all the way over from Lavaridge?""Maybe…? I think so."Victini got to practicing long distance teleportation last night while it was dark out and not as many people were wandering the center corridors. She managed to teleport from the center dorms all the way over to the nanab berry tree on route 110. Trained psychics usually need to acclimate to their teleport destination for a long time to make sure there weren't any accidents, but Victini got the gist of it quite quickly. Wherever and whenever there's food involved, she could get really focused. Having spent time under that tree enjoying berries might have fastened the acclimatization process.To get from Mauville city to Lavaridge town one needed to cross both route 111 and 112. The former route had a completely paved road which wild pokemon tended to avoid. The route featured a lake but more importantly a permanent artificial desert in the northern parts of the route. Rumor has it that a colony of vibrava and flygon forcefully keep the desertified area in its current state with liberal use of the move sandstorm. When Pokémon came together like that to accomplish a single goal nature tended to bow to their whims. For this trip I wasn't planning on entering the desert area of route 111 since it would take a significant chunk out of our training time. The overall trip towards Lavaridge would take us about two whole days if we didn't get distracted.'I'd really like to check out that desert sometime though. It is a man's dream to go digging for fossils and having an amazing story to tell afterwards.'"Me too, I want to meet Regirock!""How long have you been snooping around in my brain for!? Nevertheless, the five legendary giants have been sealed by humans for a very long time. I don't think they'd be all too happy seeing me. Maybe if we get a bit stronger, we can come back to see if Regirock is actually living in that desert cave."Just like that we entered route 111, similar to all other route entrances this one had a warning sign informing passing trainers not to go into the desert without proper equipment and a pokégear. All pokégears had a mapping function helping the user navigate himself out of hazardous terrain like the perpetual sandstorm desert found on this route.We made some good time traveling on the route until we came upon a large homesteading. The ambient heat from the nearby desert and Mt. Chimney makes it almost impossible to grow crops here, making me wonder what type of produce this farm churned out.'Summer squash, Sweet potatoes, maybe Okra?'"You are making me hungry!""Oops! Sorry, let's have a picnic right here. This farm makes for a very welcoming sight."Victini got out of her ball and helped set up the picnic blanket and bowls while I fished out the Tupperware boxes each labeled with the name of one of my team members. The only one who didn't have his own labeled box was Orin on account of him not needing to eat. To keep my body in tip top shape for his twice per day feeding sessions I started eating slightly bigger portions. Nonetheless I called him out with the rest of my Pokémon to share in the pleasant weather and good company."Okay gang let's eat!""Rupt!""Vuuul!""Nitan!""Vi!""Wick!""Quill!""Excuse me, young fella!"I turned around to spot an elderly lady watching us from the windowpane of a nearby farm shed. Victini froze up and quickly turned invisible, while the peeping tom made her way outside to confront us. I quickly tried to diffuse the situation anticipating a reprimand for trespassing."Uhm sorry ma'am we didn't know this was private property we'll be sure to leave immediately!""Naw, I ain't calling you out for that. As long as you are not damaging our family's crops there'll be no need for you to pack up and leave. Young'un how's about you come inside our home and tell us all about your adventures. You are a Pokémon trainer, right?""Yes…?""My oldest grandchild is set to leave for his own journey soon. Would you care to give him some advice?""Sure? I am not an expert or anything like that. I've only earned two badges so far.""That'll do. Your team seems happy and well cared for. Although… I am pretty sure I saw six of you just now.""That's strange I only have four Pokémon plus this little one. No extra Pokémon over here that's for sure.""Hmmm if you say so. The name's Vicky Winstrate and this is our family's farm.""Egon from Lavaridge Town. Representing the Lavaridge Gym this year at the conference. Hopefully.""Aww shucks young man this is your first year as a trainer, right? Most firsties don't make it in their initial seasonal conference. Buck up and show some confidence!"Vicky moved to sit down with us while I hurriedly try to hide Victini's half eaten bowl behind my back."I see you have some unusual Pokémon with you. I don't recognize most of these."My team, seeing as the old lady just wanted to have some casual conversation, went back to enjoying their meals. Victini went around my back and started eating from the bowl I had hidden from the nice old lady's sight."Well, yeah there aren't enough different native fire types in Hoenn to form a team. So, I set out to the Unova region. I just now made it back to Hoenn to start my actual conference run.""Good for you, not many trainers would have wasted their conference time trying to catch a full team first.""Since I am sponsored by the gym, if I ever were to catch more than six, my benched Pokémon would have to be taken care of by the gym. They only have the proper facilities to house fire types. So, I figured why not specialize since I was interning there.""Smart thinking boyo, my own grandson can just leave any extra Pokémon here to live with us on the farm and he doesn't have any typing preferences either."Like that we started finishing up our meal with Grandma Vicky asking all sorts of questions about my Unovan team members. She was a retired trainer herself, most of her team members passing on or leaving to start their own families. The only Pokémon that was technically hers was the family Camerupt whose job it was to scare off any Pokémon looking to scavenge the farm's crops.Her mentioning their family's own Camerupt made me think that It's been a while since Numsy had the opportunity to graze and make merry with his same species members. I'd rectify that as soon as we made it to the Lavaridge gym. Cleaning up after breakfast was very simple. Each member of my team was responsible for cleaning up their own bowls arsonist style to conserve our drinking water while traveling. The bowls being made out of porcelain are a pain to carry but a totally worthwhile investment for easy cleaning. Rena didn't mind helping Tranquill with her own bowl since she couldn't produce any flames of her own. Once that was done and I stuffed the picnic blanket together with the clean bowls and Tupperware in my backpack we were ready to follow Grandma Vicky into her house to meet the rest of the family."So, my grandson just celebrated his tenth birthday, and my granddaughter is six years old. She is not old enough yet to be responsible for taking care of her own Pokémon. We've been looking to catch her something from the lake situated behind the farm. A water type would be real useful to have during the dry season."We walked through the front door and immediately came upon the family having breakfast at their dinner table. The only adult man was the first to greet me. Victor was his name after shaking the man's hand he introduced me to the rest of the family. His wife Victoria, their eldest son Vito and their youngest a peppy little girl named Vivi.The family quickly bade me to take a seat and encouraged me to tell of my experiences traveling as a trainer. I decided to regale them with the story of my stay in the relic castle. Leaving the sensitive information out of the tale."And that giant Cofagrigus was like really chill. Sure, it must have killed quite a few tomb robbers back in its day but as long as you make it clear that you aren't looking to steal his treasure, you'll be fine. Not that I'd encourage any novice trainer to enter such places alone. I had the benefit of having a more experienced trainer looking after me while doing so."As a useful visual aid, I pulled out my Pokédex and showed the family what a Cofagrigus looks like."Woooow…"Vito was the one to get fired up the most by my story."Dad, I'll do it! Me and Abra are going to find the mirage tower and…"Before he could finish that sentence, he got clobbered over the head by his mother."Young man didn't you hear Egon telling us he had a more experienced trainer looking after him?! When the season starts next year, you will be sticking to the official routes, no wandering around and getting yourself into any sticky situations!""Abra can just teleport us out if things get dangerous!"I decided to back his mother in this argument. I wouldn't recommend any other trainer my age pulling off any reckless stunts the way I have."Vito, ancient ruins like the relic castle or mirage tower surely have ghost types living in them. One mean look and you and Abra will be prevented from teleporting out. Ghost types are still one of the more dangerous types out there. My childhood friend's family runs Mt. Pyre she can tell you that entering such places without a medium or spirit channeler by your side is a bad idea."Suitably chastised Vito let the subject drop before he got into any more trouble with his mother. I was also interested in finding the mirage tower for myself. So, to make sure Vito wouldn't run off into the night I decided to make a deal with him."How about after this season ends, I'll take you along with me to take a look around in the desert? I've heard rumors that there are fossils buried deep beneath the sands. Instead of braving dangerous detritus we could dig around the sands for fossilized remains. Fossils are just as cool as any other type of buried treasure.""Okay, I guess… Can you show me some of your Unovan Pokémon?"Seeing as Glove was a tad too big for this crowded dining room, I released Orin instead. The litte Litwick hopping around the table for a bit obviously confused by the unfamiliar people seated at the table."This is Orin my Litwick. A ghost and fire type.""Lit…!"Orin jumped on top of my left shoulder and waved to the rest of the family showing off his people skills."Now the thing about the Litwick species as a whole…" A good while later* After having a pleasant conversation with the family. Vito still wanted to show off his abra to me and Victor invited me to come fishing at the lake with him. I agreed to one of the proposals since it wouldn't take much time away from my schedule. Abra were known for sleeping eighteen hours a day at least and at this stage they couldn't do much except project emotions. Seeing Vito fuss over the sleeping psychic type was a gratifying experience."Abra aren't known to live on this route. Where did you two meet?""Our family went on vacation to Dewford town. Dad wanted to go fishing as always and mom had to watch Vivi, so grandma took me on an expedition tour inside the Granite Cave. Have you seen the large mural depicting those two giant Pokémon battling it out? That was an amazing experience. Even more amazing was meeting up with Abra. He was sleeping on the stone staircase leading up to the mural. Grandma had a spare poké ball with her and she allowed me to use it to bring abra along. We have been bestest buddies ever since then, isn't that right Abra?""Aaaabra…"I wasn't really sure if that response was Abra agreeing with him or just random murmurings the Pokémon made while still asleep.I eventually bid the pair goodbye to continue on my journey. The Winstrates are a pleasant lot, and I wouldn't mind going spelunking with Vito once he and Abra are a bit more experienced. Their family home was right near the desert so it would take no time at all to bring him along. Grandma Vicky was there to see us off."Now you come visit any time you like dearie. I am sure a trainer like you has lots more stories to tell.""Sure! Whenever I am traveling on this route again, I'll come by to visit you nice folk. If any of you are ever in Lavaridge Town just give my name to the nice lady manning the lava cookie store and she'll give you ten percent off."With that I continued on my journey through route 111. I spent a good chunk of the afternoon at the Winstrates so I still had plenty of ground to cover on my way to Lavaridge."Are you sure you don't want to go fishing?""Not really, Victor told me that the magikarp in that lake are real sweethearts but with my horrendous luck fishing up water types… I'd probably manage to agitate one enough to induce an evolution.""Phooey!"

Chapter 34 – Home Sweet Lava Camping out on route 111 was a treat. The closer we got to Mt. Chimney the more the ground around us started heating up. Sleeping on this soil felt like taking a nap on an electrically heated blanket. I knew for sure that, just like me, my team appreciated feeling nice and toasty. The ranger corps route 111 recommendation to sleep during the daytime and travel at night seemed a tad over exaggerated. The upcoming route 112 consisted of the entire base of Mt. Chimney. The route used to be off limits for travelers due to a local population of geodude, graveler and golem living on the slopes of the mountain. That species' favorite pastime is rolling down mountain slopes making the entire route seriously dangerous. The corps intervened and relocated all of them to the safari zone a long time ago. Nowadays you can still find a few geodude here and there but nothing coming even close to their previous numbers. The rangers' justification for the whole ordeal was since the species aren't technically native to Hoenn that they should be relocated to create more space for native Pokémon. It did work somewhat but not like the corps intended. The mountainside was now being used by fighting types to live and train on. Specifically, machop but you had a few tyrogues and mankey in the mix as well. None of them being native to the Hoenn region like the rangers originally intended. "Tini when we get to route 112 could you levitate me past the steep cliffs separating the route from Lavaridge town? I really don't feel like taking the cable car all the way up to Mt. Chimney and hiking back down the other end." "Leave it to me!" It was a blessing that I had Victini with me for this. Since Tranquill wasn't big or strong enough to carry me all that far. As we got closer to the mountain and route 112 the vastness of the mountain range became clearer and clearer. Mt. Chimney being a massive active volcano it wasn't strange to see vast clouds of soot drifting along the passing north wind. Route 113 was permanently caked in layers of soot which acted great as a fertilizer but left that landscape permanently gray and dour.We finished trekking through the last part of the route finally ending up at the base of Mt. Chimney and the start of route 112. From here we were only around an hour's walk away from Lavaridge Town. "I can't wait! Just a bit of walking left and we'll get to eat grandma's cooking again!" After hearing the words "Grandma's cooking" my oldest partner popped out of his ball. "Rupt!" Numsy was also a big fan of her cooking recipes. It's been a while since anyone on my team had her Lava cookies. A few days after Victini joined the team we completely ran out of that fermented Pokémon snack. The folly of the old me thinking I could trust her to save some of the cookies for the rest of my team. "We're not there yet Numsy! But… since you are out you can accompany me the rest of the way. Julie's ranch should be quite close and it's around the time where she lets out her herd of Numel to graze. It should be fun showing off your new size over them." Julie is an ex-coordinator who recently took up ranching to pass the time. The league association pays her to keep this side of the mountain clear of weeds and bushes. Numsy was familiar with her herd of Numel, the two of us running into them quite a number of times while living in Lavaridge. Just as expected about a hallway through our trek we came across a large grouping of Numel chowing down on some grassy leaves. The small camels acting starkly different from my own partner even before he evolved. Because these Pokémon weren't being trained to battle and their diet consisted mainly of low energy foods like grass and weeds with the occasional berry gifted to them for good behavior, they were always either sleeping or eating. Numsy, excited to meet up with his old friends again wandered off to give them a good scare. While he did his own thing I looked for a nearby rock to sit on. I've been walking all day so far and could use a bit of rest. "Fuuuurrrett!" "Hello to you too Furret, don't mind the Camerupt Numsy evolved." Furret's job was looking after the herd and making sure none of them wandered off. With how absentminded the typical Numel is Furret has to pay attention twentyfourseven. "Heya Egon, we haven't seen you in a while." Furret's trainer followed behind her overly energetic Pokémon to come greet me. "Is that Numsy? He's gotten so big!" "Yep, he recently evolved. We've decided to come back and visit Lavaridge while on our journey." Julie sat down with me to observe Numsy interacting with her herd of Numel. Numsy was showing off his stuff by play-wrestling with the little Pokémon. He used to be even smaller than them so now he was milking the situation for all it's worth. "The townspeople will be so happy to see you again. They might have complained about you and Numsy messing up their gardens, but your presence brought some liveliness into our quiet town." "Well… he's too big now to sneak into anyone's garden unnoticed." Julie used to live in Lavaridge town until she set off on her own journey. Nowadays she just visits occasionally to pick up supplies and gossip with the locals. "Are you ready to make the walk down Jagged Path? Or did you manage to finally catch a flying type to carry you over the cliffs?" "Something like that, one of my partners is a psychic type who is skilled enough with telekinesis to carry me aloft." "Hmm I figured you would exclusively train fire type Pokémon since you worked for Mr. Moore for such a long time.""I still do, I went overseas for a bit to look for team members abroad. Hoenn's native fire types aren't even enough to fill a standard team of six, and no way was I getting a professor issued starter. Mr. Moore did the same thing in his younger years he didn't catch his Thyplosion in Hoenn you know." "Hooo… So, you are ready to amaze and astound the crowds with all your exotic Pokémon." "I am not a coordinator like you but pretty much yeah. At least my opponents' ignorance on foreign Pokémon should help us in the qualifying rounds if we make it to this year's conference." Numsy seemed to have had enough from all the brown nosing and decided to come say hi to Furret and Julie. "Rupt!" "Hello to you too, Numsy!" "Furreeeett!" Furret and Numsy touched noses for a while before the long-bodied Pokémon ran off to resume its duties."I'll be around Lavaridge for another two weeks before setting off again. If you want to catch me beating Mr. Moore for a gym badge you should come visit at the last day.""If I have someone to babysit the Numel by that time I'll come and cheer you on with Furret."We said our goodbyes to Julie before setting off again. Numsy escorting me the rest of the way, the eruption Pokémon looking awfully pleased with himself after getting praised by Julie's Numels. All Pokémon admire strength, even the non-battlers. "So… Did one of those pretty Numel ladies catch your eye?" "Came… Rupt!" "No need to get defensive, it's perfectly natural. After evolving your body's hormones are all out of whack and you finally started noticing girls. Aaaack!" Numsy's retaliation for me teasing him was swift. Expelling soot from his nostrils and covering me in it. His surprise attack left me completely disoriented, not to mention ruining the set of clothes I was wearing. "No need to mess up my clothes! Numsy! That was just some good-natured ribbing. Great! There's no flowing water around here, I'll have to walk into Lavaridge looking like this. Let me use your fur coat to wipe off!""Rupt!""No way buddy! You can just scorch yourself clean. As a human I would suffer second degree burns if I tried that. This is your doing, just let me get the worst of it off of myself."Our disagreement turned into a racing match seeing as Numsy was not willing to let me wipe myself off of him."Stop running! I just want to give you a hug my friend!""Rupt Rupt!" We kept racing like that until we finally hit the steep cliffs separating route 112 from Lavaridge town."Now what are you going to do Numsy…? There's nowhere for you to run anymore!""Came!"Numsy started covering himself in flames as if to warn me that any further attempts from me to cover him in soot would end up with me getting burned."Fine you win pansy. Return!"I pulled out his poké ball and activated the return mechanism, placing him back inside his ball to give him a timeout. After which I quickly surveyed my surroundings noting that no one else was watching us. I called out Victini to come out of her ball and enact my master plan."Just like this?""Yeah, be careful though, this is the only body I got after all."Following my directions Victini levitated me off the ground and over four sets of increasingly steep hills. I was deathly scared since we've never done this before and also because I am afraid of heights. Being picked up telekinetically was a weird experience. Unlike being pulled up by my collar or other singular places on my body it was more like an all over type of bodily experience. Victini was psychically strong enough to crush me, but not once did I feel discomfort from her gripping me too strongly."You are doing great, Tini. You'll be sure to get some extra lava cookies today when we arrive at my grandparents' house."After helping me get over the final cliff she retreated back inside my backpack. Eagerly awaiting the time of our arrival feast. The town's main entrance was right in front of us. With a spring in my step I returned to the place of my birth.  We were waiting in front of Lavaridge's trainer school. When I entered my old town, I noticed it was around the time that the students would be let out. Since a friend of mine was currently taking extra curricular classes and it was a school day, I figured I might as well wait outside to surprise her. The school bell rang and one by one the students slowly exited from the school's main gate to return back to their homes. This lasted for a while before I finally spotted my childhood friend's signature red hair. She didn't notice me at first probably due to the amount of soot marring my features. That lasted until I called her out."Flanny, wait up!""Egon…? You look terrible!""Why it's nice to see you too. How have you been?""Miserable thanks to you! Grandpa wouldn't let me go on my journey alone since he thinks I am too immature. I finally struck a deal with him to let me go if you accompanied me and then you bailed to go adventuring on your own!""Yea… sorry about that, but hey I caught a lot of new friends, and I am even looking after a Pokémon egg I received. Pretty cool huh?"I showed her my incubator. Luckily glass is easier to clean than clothes, so it was easy to see through the glass and watch the red flecked egg within. I knew my distraction worked since Flannery temporarily stopped shouting at me. The timing was perfect as well since the egg started twitching a little as we looked at it."You…! It isn't faaaaair!""Sorry! I've decided to come back to Hoenn and participate in the Ever Grande conference. You can still come with me I suppose. Do you want to come visit my grandparent's place? I still need to clean myself up, me and Numsy had an argument and he sneezed over me.""Fine! But you'll have to help me convince grandpa!"Just like that we walked over to my grandparents' house. Flannery kept asking questions about the egg the entire way over. How I got it, how long it'll be until the egg hatches and more annoyingly. If she could catch the Pokémon for herself once it did. I was sincerely hoping she was just joking with that last one. I told her almost everything except for the species of Pokémon this little one belongs to. Since I was planning on having the egg hatch while in Lavaridge she could discover that for herself. That didn't stop Flannery from trying to tease the truth out of me."C'moon Egon be honest! It's a tepig right? The egg comes from Unova so it must be!""You'll find out soon enough, and please take your shoes off before exiting the hallway. You know how my grandma gets."We walked up to the front door. I dug up the house key buried in grandma's flowerbed for situations like these. I trusted Flannery well enough not to blab about our secret key hiding place. After turning the key over inside the lock, I stepped inside my childhood home."Grandma, Grandpa, I am back home!"For a second, I thought both of them were out manning the store but then I heard gramps call out to me from the garden."Egon! We are in the garden!"I rushed back out to the other side of the house and there they were, lounging about on lazy chairs. This would usually be around the time that at least one of them was taking care of the store. To see both of them here was highly unusual."Grandma…!""Now look at you this is no way to walk out and about. Go upstairs and clean yourself up, we'll talk after you look more presentable."Being told off like this was heartwarming and embarrassing at the same time especially so in front of Flannery. Grandma seemed set to destroy my mature image in front of the eleven-year-old girl."Can I leave my Pokémon here? I caught lots of friends and they've been excited to meet you.""Fine but then it's bathtime for you. Trekking all that soot across my pristine living room floor just what were you thinking?"Having gained the tacit permission from my grandmother I unfastened my belt and dropped my backpack before individually prying off the poké balls latched onto my magnetized belt."Come on out everybody!"In a flash of light my entire team materialized. Inside the small garden of our home. Numsy immediately bolted towards grandpa to say hello while Rena jumped on my Grandma's lap eager to receive some female attention. Both of them had their own favorite grandparent and it showed. The rest of my team were eager to explore their new surroundings. Having heard much about this place from my night time stories. I assumed they would each try to introduce themselves after Numsy and Rena were done reacquainting themselves but before they had a chance to do anything Flannery jumped them."Oh my gosh is that a Darmanitan. You CAUGHT a Darmanitan! We don't even have a single one at the gym!"Flannery, who I had temporarily forgotten about, was standing at the garden's backdoor when I released my Pokémon. Naturally she had to get all close up and personal with my newer teammates. She didn't seem as impressed by Numsy's evolved form but that was sort of understandable seeing as the gym took care of a dozen or so camerupt.Victini remained in my backpack still a bit too shy at the prospect of meeting my family and friend. She would probably attempt to introduce herself once Flannery calmed down a bit. This was the first time I saw Flannery fangirling and it was a very odd sight. She kept poking her finger into Glove's flaming eyebrows like she's never seen anything similar before. I happen to know for a fact that she goes ponyta racing every weekend."Flanny, can you calm down a bit? And properly introduce yourself before you go touching. If Glove was a wild Pokémon you'd be in a heap of trouble."Properly chastised Flannery gave an apologetic bow before introducing herself."I am sorry! The name's Flannery, future gym leader of Lavaridge Town. It's a pleasure to meet you."Glove who was allowing Flannery to manhandle him up until this point just gave her a quick pat on the head to let her know that he was agreeable with her overenthusiastic ways. Glove has been working on his patience in preparation for the egg hatching, a scant minute of Flannery using his body as a playground was nothing to him."Lit!""Orin also says hello."Flannery turned around to watch my ghost type waving at her from the garden table."You also caught a Litwick?!!"'It's going to take a while before she calms down. Do you want to go up to my room?'"Yes."I left Flannery in the garden with Grandpa and Grandma while I set out to clean myself in the upstairs bathtub. I figured Grandma would keep Flannery from going too far with her antics, so I also decided to leave my team with them. Quickly undressing I slipped inside the warm water while Victini explored the rooms upstairs.  After I was done washing myself, I opened my old closet and fished out some casual wear. Even without Numsy dousing me in nostril soot I would have taken a bath on the first opportunity regardless. Camping out in the wild with no flowing water in sight would make anyone have bad body odour. With me now finally presentable enough so that even my grandmother wouldn't complain I made my way back downstairs. Victini floating behind me holding on to the back of my shirt.The scenario I encountered in the garden was oddly quiet. Flannery was indulging Litwick by playing cards with him and grandma. Somehow or another grandma got Flannery to calm down enough to focus on playing the game without making too much noise.I sat behind Litwick, on a lawn chair, content by quietly observing the game. The little candle Pokémon drew a good hand he should be able to win from here. Grandpa was busy combing out Numsy's fur. It was his favorite pastime before we left on our journey, it reminded him of how he used to take care of his old Arcanine.'Darn now I am feeling sad, well there is one way to get myself out of this malaise…'"Uhmm Flannery, grandma, grandpa there's still one member of my team you haven't met yet.""Nooo…"I pulled out the floating bunny from behind me and presented her to my family and friend."This is Victini, she was feeling a bit shy before but now she wants to get along with all of yo… Wait.. where…?"I looked around and Flannery was no longer sitting at the table playing cards."Victini is mine now!"I turned around and somehow Flannery managed to grab a hold of Victini at such speeds that it didn't register quick enough for my brain to comprehend what was happening in time. Flannery stood triumphantly behind the garden door holding Victini in both arms. Stroking her ears every way I thought imaginable and then some ways even I couldn't."Vi Vi…!" "Don't let her steal me!""Now calm down Flanny. Of course, Victini wants to be friends with you but firstly I have to explain some things about her circumstances.""What kind of Pokémon is this Egon? Grandpa told me all about fire types from different regions. He never mentioned anything about Victini.""Just come sit down and I'll explain everything."A few moments later which involved following Flannery up the stairway because she refused to hand over her new bestest cuddle Pokémon. I finally got her to agree to sit down with Victini in the garden to listen to my story. Grandma was quite smitten with Victini as well but not exaggeratedly so like Flannery. She offered Victini one of her special surprise Lava cookies which Victini was now in the process of munching on as I tried to start this important and serious conversation."So, what do you know about mythical Pokémon?""Like Entei? Grandpa caught a glimpse once during his first year traveling Johto. He says feeling that Pokémon's presence is what inspired him to only specialize in fire types.""Well yes and no. Scientists and the higher ups of the league association know that legendary Pokémon exist as they are oftentimes documented in old texts, and there are brief sighting reports. The distinction between mythical Pokémon and legendary ones is that the former have almost never been documented and there have been no sightings of them. Their existence is mere hearsay. Victini is such a Pokémon."Victini, now done with her cookie, started ballooning up with pride, obviously pleased with me acknowledging her specialness. I made it a point to always treat her as I would any of my other partners. Indeed, in my mind each and every one of my partners was just as special."Vi!" "That's right! Acknowledge my Amazingness!"This time the message wasn't sent only to me but to Flannery and my grandparents as well."She is a psychic type?!""Well yes partly, she's really good at levitating and she's an expert at turning herself invisible but don't let her play cards with you she cheats.""No, I don't! Egon is just a sore loser!"Flannery was obviously stumped by the knowledge that this little rabbit she was holding was that unique of a Pokémon. She quickly got over it though after stroking Victini's ears some more."Egon we've got to show my grandpa! He'll want to know that you caught such a special Pokémon.""About that Flannery… I am fine with showing your grandpa but it's important that you don't go around telling other people about Victini. If it becomes known that I am traveling around with her, bad people will show up and come to take her away forcefully."It was at this point that my grandpa injected himself in this conversation."That is true little lady. I've dealt with my fair share of Pokémon thieves while working for the police. The things they'll do to little Victini here if they were to get their hands on her won't be a pretty sight. Egon, who else knows?""Unova's regional professor and his daughter, Phoebe, Phoebe's friend Kira, a strange old hermit living in the woods, Champion Drake and now you three.""Hmm Champion Drake is known to be an honorable man and Phoebe knows how to keep secrets, but how come you told those other three?""Phoebe invited me to stay over at Kira's house but it's impossible to keep any sort of privacy living in a haunted house. The old hermit could sense Victini's unique presence using some form of aura sight and I needed the professor's help to conceal Victini. He gave me a legal unregistered poké ball but in return called in his daughter to come and observe Victini for a couple of weeks.""Also, I want Victini to be able to make more friends. She has lived a very lonely life. To make up for that I want her to make friends with as many people and Pokémon as possible."At my declaration the tension in the room eased. Victini was so embarrassed at my declaration that she pulled her ears over her eyes so that nobody could look her in the face. Naturally, that endearing sight had the exact opposite effect."Don't you worry , Egon, Victini and I will be best friends!""Oh, dearie of course we already consider Victini as part of the family, isn't that right Ralph?""Sylvia, let's not use our first names in front of the children we discussed this, but yes any Pokémon belonging to our grandchildren are automatically part of the family." Flannery automatically being considered friends with Victini has allowed her to do away with even more of her scruples. The eleven-year-old was now openly planning to go do all sorts of girly stuff with Victini. She didn't get to act like a girl most of the time since her abrasive personality combined with the constant smell of sulfur surrounding her scared off most potential female friends."First, we'll go clothes shopping and then we can play dress up in my room. I am sure grandpa won't mind you staying over for a slumber party!"Normally Flannery would never admit to strangers that she was into girly stuff too. The bonding process was happening alarmingly quickly in front of my eyes. In the end I considered this a good thing. I hadn't even thought about letting my female Pokémon have a classic girl's night out. We were always roughhousing it in some part of the routes or training for upcoming battles.'I should probably send Rena along with them. She likes these sorts of things as well.'I glanced at the sleepy vulpix still resting on my grandmother's haunches. Her ears twitching a bit every time Flannery used the words dress up or shopping."Egon you might think that you have moved past me in terms of capturing more Pokémon but you'd be wrong! I have also gotten more additions to my team. Grandpa gifted me with two more Pokémon as well while you were gone.""Wait, does that even count as catching?""Shut up! When you see my new team members, you'll be sure to die of jealousy. Come on out!"Flannery hurled two poké balls out into the garden. One formed the all too familiar silhouette of a Ponyta I knew personally. It was the one Flannery used to prance around with, through town rubbing my face in the fact that I couldn't have one. The other Pokémon that materialized was truly a surprise and not something I expected Flannery would be able to get a hold of."Chic?""Flanny, have your grades suddenly so drastically improved that Professor Birch decided to take you on as a fellow in his research projects?""Oh no not at all. Grandpa bought Torchic for me from the breeder who also gifts them to the lab every year. He said that if I earned my trainer's license, he'd give me something special as a reward.""…unfair. I am sorry little Torchic you'll have to put up with her for the unforeseeable future.""Tooor Chic!"Regional starter Pokémon like this Torchic would cost an arm and a leg to any native Hoenn citizen looking to buy one instead of earning them the traditional way. This little one should be a boy. The league association kept a close eye on any trainer permitted to train a female starter Pokémon."Isn't my little Torchic just the cutest? She is just as cute as Victini!"'She!? Well as the daughter of an elite four and gym leader of the region the chances of Flannery suddenly deciding to start breeding torchics for rival regions was little to none, but still… The power of money is fearsome indeed.'"Now I have four Pokémon to your five Egon! Don't think you are that far ahead of me!"Unlike their trainer the released Pokémon calmly walked up to my team to introduce themselves. Mr. Moore must have picked out the more even tempered Pokémon for his granddaughter to balance out her hotheadedness a bit. It was starting to get a bit crowded inside the garden with the extra newcomers joining in and I still had some things to talk about in private with my grandparents. So, I gave Flannery the signal that it was time for her to head back to the gym."Why Egon? We are having a good time!""Your grandpa doesn't know where you are right? It's best to get back to the gym before dinner time. I'll meet up with you shortly. I still have some things to do around here.""Can I bring Victini with me? I want to be the first to show her off to grandpa!""You can but only if I am there. Just wait for a bit, okay? How about giving Victini a tour of the gym? I don't think she's ever been on the inside of a volcano before. Just make sure the gym staff don't spot her accidentally.""Okay!"Without much preamble Flannery took Victini along with her out the front door. It was strange that she didn't also want to show off some of my other Pokémon to her grandfather as well. The power of those big blue eyes must have distracted her by my estimations.'Such a kid…'"Egon, she is rubbing me against her forehead now…"'Hold on I'll come along just wait ten more minutes.'I felt comfortable leaving Victini with Flannery because our mental connection could be maintained by her over long distances. If anything, untoward happened Victini could inform me within a second's time.I was left alone with my grandparents and the rest of my team. Talking about Zinnia in front of Flannery would put unnecessary stress on the girl. This was a matter that only concerned family members."Grandpa, Grandma, I want to take Zinnia back home."Chapter 35 – Trial by Fire My grandparents lounging in their garden, instead of managing the cookie store, set red bells ringing off in my head. Grandma loved that store and badgering passing trainers to buy from her. I was afraid that with Zinnia gone they'd feel too out of sorts to continue managing their passion project."Egon, we can't do anything about it. Even if we disagree with Willow's handling of the situation, Zinnia is still her daughter.""I don't trust that man, grandma. I am sure he only took Zinnia with him for selfish reasons. If he didn't care for her the eight years prior, I don't see him being all that interested doing so now.""Vuuuul!""Thank you, Rena. I spoke to Champion Drake, he confirmed my earlier speculations of that tribe living inside Meteor Falls. All I need to do now is grow stronger with my team, if we can beat back the roaming dragon types surrounding that place, I'll demand they release Zinnia back to our care. Don't worry about anything, I'll take care of it I promise."My grandparents were clearly exasperated by my bold claim but in a good way. Although they couldn't help but fuss over me in their own way."Are you crazy? No grandchild of mine will go anywhere near that place without at least earning himself eight badges!""Egon let grandpa handle it. I'll talk some sense into that whippersnapper!"I gave both of them tight hugs of appreciation before letting grandma know I wasn't suicidal and telling grandpa that he was too old to get into a fight with my stepfather."I'll be staying in Lavaridge for the next two weeks. I know that I am officially emancipated but could I still stay here during that time?"I knew what their answer would be, but I still asked for propriety's sake. After getting their consent for my continued stay. I left them to enjoy the rest of their afternoon while I set out to join Flannery and Victini at the Lavaridge gym. After asking for volunteers to keep an eye on the elderly couple Rena and Numsy opted to stay to keep them company. Leaving Glove and Orin to accompany me to the gym. Glove insisted on keeping the egg close during this crucial time in its development, so I brought my incubator along with us as well.'How are you holding up over there?'"Flannery's bed is really comfy!"Getting confirmation that she was being treated well I continued my leisurely walk towards the gym. We passed by the sand baths at some point, and I was eager to greet my old master but not without Numsy. My first partner would be distraught if I tried to get one up over him by going to see master Quagsire first without including him.The townsfolk didn't have a particular reaction seeing me walking the streets again. Maybe three months and some odd weeks wasn't enough time for them to notice me missing. Old lady Greta was still giving me the evil eye though, probably expecting us to go rampaging through the communal gardens again.Walking past the sand baths I could already see the gym's entrance and the Pokémon center. Which reminded me to meet up with our nurse Joy later to clue her in on the impending birth of my newest Pokémon. She has been a long-time family friend and an adept hand at delivering newborns. Nurse Joy was there for both mine and Zinnia's births so having her there to welcome Larvesta into this world seemed appropriate.I made it to the front gate. It was still during the gym's opening hours. Although Lavaridge gym was the most unpopular gym of the circuit, people still needed to come here to earn their heat badge. Seeing as it was still opening hours there was a good chance I could watch a gym battle going on by just walking in. Naturally since I was a familiar face to the gym's staff, I had free reign to walk around unsupervised.Walking past the reception desk the first familiar face I met was Keegan the charcoal maker. Obviously on his way to bring any injured gym Pokémon to the center next door."Egon! It's been a while, how have you been doing on your journey? And I see you've brought an egg with you.""Yes, I just came back from Unova, and I have some interesting new partners to show for it. I see you are busy, so I won't hold you up.""Egon, Leader Moore already heard from Flannery that you're back. He's waiting for you inside the volcano's main chamber. Finish up what you were planning on doing and head out to meet him. The gym's been sponsoring you for quite a while and he'll surely want to measure your progress."'Okay now I am worried! No wait, calm down I've clearly made some progress filling up my team and earning two badges. That's completely respectable.'Not wanting to keep Mr. Moore waiting any further I telegraphed in my mind to Victini that I made it to the gym and that I was looking to meet back up with Flannery. Clearly, I wasn't planning on barging inside a preteen girl's room. So, the only other option was to wait for the two of them to come out. I knew roughly where Flannery's room was situated. The gym had a side building meant for the leader and his family to live in. From an early age I've done all I can to avoid that part of the gym. I didn't want to invade Mr. Moore's personal space and lose my prospects of a sponsorship from the gym. Thus, I waited until Flannery finally appeared from a side entrance."Egon! You ready to meet up with grandpa?""Yes, I hope I've done enough to impress him.""It'll be okay Egon! Grandpa likes you.""Liking me doesn't matter. Being a sponsored trainer means that I represent the gym. If I do well in the circuit that shows the rest of the region that the Lavaridge gym raises competent trainers. Inversely if I perform poorly that will reflect badly on the gym. In the worst-case scenario, they might even pull the gym's license. Arceus knows the gym hasn't been offering competitors high level matches for a while.""Geez Egon! Now I am getting worried too, stop being such a sour meowth."Having invisibly followed the two of us through the hallway, Victini took that moment to reappear at my side followed by a quick activation of her ball's return mechanism. The two of us agreed it would be wisest for her to stay in her poké ball for now. I knew for a fact that the gym housed a good number of security cameras. This could also be the reason why Mr. Moore requested for us to join him in the gym's caldera battlefield. That being the only place where cameras couldn't be mounted due to the ambient temperature. The battlefield was mostly just used in gym advertising since most non fire type Pokémon couldn't handle the heat, especially grass and water types. If at some point in the future the gym started doing fifth level badges and higher again, this battlefield could be seeing some use.Me and Flannery entered the gym's deepest sanctum. The ambient torridness grew stifling. No matter how much I liked sweltering heat this went a bit overboard. The air surrounding us was bone dry which would normally help but not at these temperature levels. The volcano we were in was directly adjacent to Hoenn's biggest most active one Mt. Chimney and it showed. Consequently, this was also the place where all the slugma, magcargo and magmar were kept. The kinds of fire types who did very well in extreme environments. Normally you wouldn't see them since they liked staying inside the magma."Grandpa! I brought Egon!"There standing in the center of the raised battlefield was Mr. Moore waiting for us. He seemed sharper than usual, completely different from the usual doting Pokémon poetry obsessed man. Flannery as usual couldn't read the atmosphere and walked up to Mr. Moore waiting to get praised by the old man like usual."Flannery dear not now. Why don't you go sit over at the bleachers? Egon and I have some important business to go over.""Grandpa, Egon's been really good! And he brought all these cute Pokémon over from Unova. Please don't fire him!""That depends on the outcome of this …Flannery. Now go do as grandpa says, if you are good, we'll all go out for ice cream later."Unbeknownst to Mr. Moore those magic words triggered a reaction from a certain Pokémon currently inside her ball."Ice cream?"'Sure, after this you can have some too. For now, we'll have to put on a strong united front.'Flannery appropriately cowed did as Mr. Moore said and vacated herself to a nearby spectator seat. Now it was just me and the old man."Egon, I have heard you experienced some success all the way over in Unova. However, I also know that you haven't earned even a single badge here in our home region where it matters most. As your sponsor I am curious, how do you intend to rectify this matter?""Well, I have already scheduled a match at the Mauville gym. And I was hoping to earn my Lavaridge gym by the end of my stay here. After that I'll go to Fortree city and book an appointment with the gym leader there. My team is strong! and we are planning to go all the way this season.""If you are that confident, I suppose I'll have to test you… Bring out your strongest Pokémon against one of mine. If you manage to impress me, I'll let you keep your sponsorship."With that Mr. Moore retreated to the other side of the battlefield. Waiting for me to take a position on the opposing end of the arena to start the battle. Before taking him on I had to secure my egg. It was quite common for attacks to veer off course and accidentally hit one of the trainers. I had to make sure the egg was kept safe. So I bolted to Flannery's spot on the bleachers."Can you look after my egg? Mr. Moore wants to test me in a battle."I also released Victini and Orin to stay with her just in case."You two watch my battle from over here, okay? If I know Mr. Moore, he'll probably want to test me with a higher-level Pokémon. I have to bring out Glove just to stand a chance.""Lit!""Vi Vi!"Rushing back down to take my position on the field I faced what would probably be my toughest battle yet."Standard rules! We won't be needing a referee for this. Go! Rapidash!"I recognized the Rapidash Mr. Moore brought out. It was one of his personal Pokémon he used when teleportation or a flying type wasn't available. Even though this Rapidash was mostly used for transport it still had a spot on his personal team. Making it at least an eighth badge level Pokémon. As luck would have it, I had my own unfairly powerful Pokémon to call on in situations like this."Glove let's do this!"For the first time I released Glove to do battle. The Blaze Pokémon materializing on my side of the field."Dar?""I am sorry for calling you out like this without notice, but would you engage in battle with me? Our opponent this time is too strong for the others.""Nitan!"My Darmanitan knew all the higher level moves his species can learn naturally. This meant that before he got stuck in his other form he could be classified as an elite level Pokémon. I didn't know how much of his old strength remained, but this would be as good of a time as any to find out.I mainly battled with the others on my team to help them catch up to Glove as fast as possible. Glove didn't mind overly much not having to battle for a while since he was kept busy with looking after the egg most of the time."Work up!""Agility!"Both Mr. Moore and I called out our commands at the same time. He opted to increase his Rapidash's maneuverability while I intended to increase Glove's power. I figured it was meaningless to expend energy chasing after a Pokémon known to move faster than any top-of-the-line car. If we had to wait for Rapidash to get close we might as well prepare in the meantime.Smoke wafted off Glove's body signifying the successful execution of the move. Mr. Moore's Pokémon even while restricted in the finite space that was the battlefield was hard to keep track of with just my eyesight. Blurring slightly at the speed it was going."Once it gets close Hammer Arm!""High horsepower!"Rapidash jumped up intent on crashing down from above with its full body weight. The problem was Rapidash couldn't take any evasive maneuvers while in the air making Glove's hammer arm sure to hit. Their bodies collided into each other; Gloves arm imbued with fighting type energy struck Rapidash' exposed midriff at the same time that the horned Pokémon's hooves hit Darmanitan on his exposed head. The blowback from Glove's fist alleviated the power of Rapidash' strike somewhat but those hooves got a solid hit in while imbued with ground type energy.Glove was left reeling the concussive force combined with the type effectiveness taking its toll. I knew he was just one blow away from changing forms. Meanwhile Rapidash looked to be the winner from their exchange but not by a whole lot, the horse Pokémon panting slightly."Thrash! Don't let it build up speed again!""Double edge!"Thrash was a risky move. The Pokémon using it would abandon the entire notion of self-preservation and keep slamming into its target with reckless abandon. Once the move ended it left its user in a confused daze. However, I couldn't afford for Rapidash to keep on with its harrying tactics.The two Pokémon collided again. Mr. Moore, seeing as I wouldn't let up, gave the Rapidash' instructions to close in with a full body blow. Rapidash' reach being slightly better due to its long neck and horn impacted first blowing Glove away the only thing my Pokémon could do in that time was give a glancing blow to Rapidash' head.That's when it happened, Glove's body petrified and turned blue, his rapid change into his alternate form. Greatly surprised Mr. Moore momentarily giving me an advantage. Confusion was too weak a move to deal much damage to an experienced Pokémon like Mr. Moore's Rapidash pushing me to rely on what we in the Lavaridge gym call the good old classic."Flamethrower!"The short surprise was all we needed to get that singular move to hit. Glove, now empowered by his other form, no longer relied on his breath to execute the move. Using pyrokinesis on the flames his body can naturally generate. The blast of fire caught Rapidash head on. Naturally the thermal energy or Fire TE of the move wouldn't do much against Rapidash but the blast could still knock her over for a short spell which it did in short succession."Very interesting Egon. I've never heard of a Darmanitan capable of switching forms! Let's see how you deal with this. Megahorn!"Somehow Mr. Moore accurately guessed that a bug move would now deal more damage. I knew for sure that Glove was on his last legs taking one more hit would result in our loss."Levitate! Don't let Rapidash catch you!"While in this state Glove should be able to move in the air to evade that attack. This was why I was adamant on him learning confusion first. Not for its use as an attacking move but for its other application.Glove's eyes started glowing blue and he managed to swiftly float high up in the air. I was very impressed with his quick mastery of this skill. As was Victini who was cheering from the sidelines."I taught him that!""You think my Rapidash can't reach up there?! Bounce!"Again, Rapidash showed its impressive range of learned moves. Bounce allowed normally landlocked Pokémon to imbue their legs with flying type energy to jump great heights. Managing to make her Megahorn connect even at such a high altitude. My Pokémon immediately fainted once the move connected and started falling down to the ground.'At this height he could seriously injure himself!'"Glove!""Leave it to me!"Glove's descent slowed down instantly as if he had an invisible parachute wrapped around him. He slowly moved down until he gently landed back onto the arena."Glove return!"I activated the return mechanism of my poké ball sucking up Glove inside. I addressed him briefly the adrenaline in my body slowing down enough to allow for my mind to judge the battle's conclusion."You did great. I'll give you plenty of berries after dropping you off at nurse Joy's. With some extra training we are sure to beat that Rapidash no problem."After the battle's conclusion Mr. Moore moved to address me his Rapidash trailing along at his side. Before he had the chance to speak his first words. Mr. Moore got heckled down by the singular spectator at the bleachers."Unfair! Don't be a meanie grandpa! You sent out Rapidash while Egon doesn't have a single badge yet! Don't fire Egon he did really well!""Flannery dear, let me talk with the boy, I haven't even said anything yet.""Uhmm I could always come back later? Glove still needs to be cared for at the Pokémon center.""Hush, that Darmanitan is tough enough to wait the entire evening if it has to. Now as for your sponsorship… It can continue but with certain requirements." "You'll at least earn yourself seven badges this circuit. With Darmanitan's strength that should be easily doable. As for the second requirement… You'll accompany Flannery here to catch her own Pokémon.""Really, you'll let me go out grandpa?! I love you!""As she is now, she won't be able to complete the circuit in one go, but she also desperately needs the experience in order to grow as a trainer. Flannery is my heir so I can't have her fail the circuit on her first attempt. And as an elite four I have too many duties. She wouldn't grow as much while stuck under my care. I want you to accompany her. Let her catch a Pokémon or two on her own. Have her get some practice battles in with wandering trainers. While making sure she doesn't do anything reckless or crazy."'Looking after Flannery as a side gig? Hmm I don't know… this could be even more exhausting than trying to survive off prize money.'As if she knew what was going on inside my head. Flannery preemptively tried to use her baby-doll eyes on me.'Fool! that move only works on Mr. Moore.'"There is also of course an increase in your allowance since you'll have to take care of Flannery and her team as well.""I'll do it!""Grandpa, I can take care of myself, you know! Just give me that money!""Flannery dear, you are liable to get scammed. Egon has more experience in this. Let him handle the money issues while you focus on training your Pokémon. Now… Since that is settled, I would like to hear all about your experiences in Unova. Mayhap you can introduce me to that 'special' Pokémon you described during our phone call." Sometime later* It had been decided that Mr. Moore and Flannery would come over for dinner where I would regale them with all of my Unova adventures. Before that happened though, I needed to drop by the Pokémon center."Nurse Joy!""Oh my! Egon, how good to see you again.""Can you restore the health of my Darmanitan? He's been in a tough battle back at the gym.""Certainly, just place his poké ball on the counter. Chansey, we have another patient.""Sey!"The pink ovoid Pokémon picked up the tray containing my singular poké ball and brought it with her into a side room."So how have you been? We have been worried about you and Zinnia since the day your parents came into the center to have that talk with you. I haven't seen her around since.""Our mother and her father thought it best that she live with them. I've come back early from Unova to convince them otherwise.""How unfortunate that you had to cancel your journey early… Did you at least have a good time?""Yes, I've made lots of Unovan friends. One of them even gave me her egg to take care of."I showed Nurse Joy the insides of the incubator I was carrying. The egg was at a stage where it twitched once every hour or so."The Nurse Joy in Mauville city said my egg would hatch somewhere within the next two weeks.""That's great news Egon! It's always a special time when a new life comes into this world.""So… I was thinking that I'd like you to be there for the hatching. At this point it's tradition for my family to have you be there for the deliveries.""I'd love to! During medical school I specialized in Pokémon obstetrics. You know the species of the mother?""Uhmm yeah, the mother is a Volcarona.""Such a rare species of Pokémon! There are so few left that scientists speculate they are close to extinction. Then certainly I'll have my work cut out for me. Now I'll be twice as motivated! To provide this little one with the best healthcare."I thanked my lucky stars that she left it at that and didn't start grilling me about the egg's origins like the nurse Joy from Mauville city. While we were busy talking, she grabbed a medical chart and started scribbling on it and asking questions only pertinent to the egg's overall health. She was surprised when I told her that the egg was probably decades old. That it only started showing signs of activity after putting it into the incubator."You are being really helpful, Egon. Would you mind if I shared this information with the rest of my family? The specific incubator settings alone could help other joys when they encounter similar cases.""Go ahead, I don't mind. Does the center have any recording equipment? I also made a promise to tape the hatching for the ranger who helped me by gifting me this incubator.""We sure do! I'll ask Chansey to record the whole process. Speaking of… We printed out that photograph of Zinnia's reaction after receiving her Horsea. Would you like to have it?"Yes please!"In the end I left the Pokémon center with a new addition for the family scrapbook and Glove attached back to my belt with the recommendation to let him rest for the next twelve hours. Coupled with some sage advice about the egg hatching process. If the egg starts twitching as frequently as three times per hour it means that the egg would hatch within twenty-four hours. This is a golden rule among all the different species of Pokémon with few exceptions. Nurse Joy recommended to come stay at the center with her as soon as that happened. With my business at the center finished I finally headed back home for the final time this day. Mr. Moore and Flannery should have already made it over. Re-entering my grandparents' home I already found the two of them sitting at our dinner table together with grandpa and grandma. It seemed that grandma made her special region famous falafels with sitrus berry glaze, my absolute favorite."Egon, come sit quickly, your dinner is getting cold!""Coming grandma!" Nearing the end of the regaling* I decided on telling my family and friends most if not all of the noteworthy events that I experienced while in Unova. Including the fact that it turned out that I was their champion's grandson. If my grandparents suddenly got a surprise visit from anyone on my father's side of the family, I wouldn't want them to be left flatfooted."You are a Champion's grandson?! How come you are still mooching off grandpa then?""I am not mooching off of Mr. Moore! Sponsoring trainers to represent a gym, company or other organization is common practice.""Oh really? Are you sure that champion grandfather of yours didn't gift you that Darmanitan? No way could a nerd like you catch such a strong Pokémon on your own!""Says the girl who got gifted all the Pokémon she ever owned! Every member of my team chose to come with me on their own volition!"'Wait, why am I arguing with an eleven-year-old girl?'The other adults in the room were bemused enough to watch our verbal sparring play out. Content to nurse a drink while doing so. Alcoholic beverages made from fermented berries were quite popular in this world. I wasn't much of a drinker even in my heyday, but it still would have been nice if I got offered one. Seeing as I was technically considered an adult. Mr. Moore was the first to break the gap in our conversation."Now then can I finally meet this so called "Victini" at this point I am questioning if my granddaughter's descriptions of the Pokémon are even real."Victini was at this moment busy having dinner with my other Pokémon. I made it a point to have breakfast and dinner with them during those moments. Sadly there wasn't enough space inside the house for Numsy to come eat with us. So we collectively decided to have my team eat dinner together with Numsy so he wouldn't feel left out."Victini was eating dinner outside. They should be about done. I can ask her to come back inside if you'd like?""Yes."'It'll be fine, this is the man who is paying for all the food you've eaten so far. Just a quick paw shake and you can spend the rest of the conversation on my lap.'Victini was unused to being introduced to multiple people in a single day. Meeting my maternal grandparents and Flannery was still doable for her. Since I know the three of them very well and she could experience their personality types through my memories. Mr. Moore was a bit of an unknown factor since we generally didn't speak with each other."Okay…"Victini turned visible right in front of Mr. Moore, her paw extended in an attempt to get the handshake and fly off as quickly as possible. Naturally Mr. Moore was quite surprised. He wasn't as slow witted to not understand the gesture though. Using two fingers to grab her tiny paw for a shake."Why it's nice to meet you as well, Victini. My name is Tim Moore, but everyone just calls me Mr. Moore.""Vi Vi."Having done her due diligence, she floated off the table and right onto my lap. Her two ears still sticking out from under the tabletop."Didn't I say that she was cute grandpa? Not as cute as Torchic though!""Egon, now that I have had her in front of me. I could sense the great power she holds, why didn't you choose her to face me in battle with? I have no doubt you could have defeated Rapidash with her by your side.""Well… Tini has never been in an actual battle before.""Vi Vi!" "Yes, I was!""That Litwick doesn't count! The poor thing just got blasted away. A proper battle is more than that.""Hmmmm… You find yourself in a precarious situation. She has the power but not the skills to use them in battle. It would be best if you and Victini trained at the gym for a while under my supervision.""Really!?"The opportunity to study under an elite four like Mr. Moore was something most trainers would shell out a truckload of pokédollars for."Yes, I can't have you walking around with a Pokémon that valuable who doesn't know how to defend herself. I'll ask Drake to give me a week's leave but during this time I expect you and Victini to give it your all.""We'll happily accept! But ehm… Asking Victini to give it her all is kind of dangerous for her sparring partners.""You think this old man's team is that brittle? I'll have you learn the true meaning of firepower!"