A Wild Encounter

Traveling through the Lumiose Badlands is more troublesome than expected as just an hour in I discovered that my repel is no longer much of a help. Repel uses odor to drive away wild Pokémon however in the Lumiose badland several Pokémon tend to attack from underground by sensing the vibration made by their target much like Zweilous and Steelix who in fact became the star of the show as I realize that they could sense any Pokémon underground and inform me if anything is getting too close to us so with that I had them take turn traveling outside with me.

The prime aggressors were the Pokémon Trapinch. They are usually ambush predators that use sandpits to trap their prey but there are some that hunt by stalking their prey underground.

(Well, not all can play the waiting game and as I'm also very tempted to catch one of the buggers and be on my way but there's another possible Ground Dragon-type I'm after)

There are other kinds of Pokémon roaming the area such as the Geodude line and the Diglett line. The Geodude line as far from what I can tell usually keeps to themselves however best to not get close to them as their way of telling interlopers to stay away is attacking with rollout but luckily they tend to stay above ground so my repel works perfectly. I still personally do not want several living rocks and boulders rolling toward me so I tend to take the time and avoid areas where they are known to stay at as it's hard to know if the random stone or rock I'm stepping at may be alive.

Another troublesome Pokémon is the Diglett line as by nature they are not aggressive but the problem they pose stems from the large tunnels they build as it is also unintended pitfall traps. The tunnels that the Diglett line built are strong when newly created however the tunnels deteriorate over time and thus become a hazard to those above ground. I already experienced falling in one of their tunnels and it happened just a few hours into my journey which became one of the two things that hinted that I need a travel buddy that can act as a sensor for troubles to come.

(I never thought that I will get to experience falling through a hole like the main cast of the anime as I had the audacity to think that no one is dumb enough to fall for such traps but it's truly a different thing when walking through someone else's shoes)

The unexpected pitfalls were once again solved with the help of Zweilous and Steelix as they are also capable of sensing the hollow spots underground but by different means where Steelix can sense it naturally, Zweilous have a harder time as he needed to do some stomping motions to sense changes in the ground so right now whenever I'm traveling with Zweilous it's like I have my own marching Dragon.

(Zweilous must be feeling bad that he was with me when I fell underground but it is really not his fault as at the time we did not know of its existence to be prepared for it ... well I actually knew about it but from the information I got it said that it's very rare so I did not put it to mind but that backfired quickly.)

My first day through the badlands ended with a lot of problems and to add insult to injury I did not even spot a single Gible but I'm not worried as I'm sure I will find one even if I had to turn over every single rock in this place.

I set up camp for the night and called out my team for their food and for them to be able to stretch for a bit. The portable stove came in handy this time around as there was no firewood available from anywhere insight to start a campfire .... well to be honest I could have just stocked up some firewood but in the end, I just wanted to have a reason to use the stove as it's less of a hassle to use with no preparation needed.

My team and I took our time to relax and even sing some of our favorite tracks. Night at the Lumiose badland is cold, unlike the scorching heat during the day which Steelix and Milotic thoroughly enjoyed however it was a not-so-pleasant experience for Zweilous which made it clear that Steelix and Milotic will be on night guard duty during my stay in this place.

The next morning I change into some workout clothes and trained my team a bit. After training, we ate breakfast and then I had Milotic use Rain dance so I could get a small shower before we hit the road.

We spent the next several days in the badlands and sadly there was still no sign of any Gible. Even tracks like footprints or bite marks could not be found however I'm still far from giving up so I made sure to call home in order to inform them about my plans of staying in the badlands for a few more days.

At this time the Lumiose powerplant shown in the games and anime is not yet built as the current powerplant is a hydroelectric power plant situated southeast of Lumiose city. Even though I did not get to play Generation six of the games I was still able to watch a few gameplays to pass the time which helped in bridging a bit of information about the situation of the world I am in.

(As the city expands in the future the electricity produced by the powerplant must not have been sufficient so the construction of the one in the Lumiose badlands must be the way they solved the problem... that or they just wanted to upgrade since the current Powerplant is located southeast of Lumiose city and is a Hydroelectric powerplant.)

As a few more days passed I was getting desperate as I've already found several different kinds of Pokémon, heck I've even found a group of Slugma which is not known to be inhabiting this area but not once did I see a Gible.... not even a clue so I decided to use drastic measures and get the answer from the locals.

With the help of Zweilous, I was able to corner a lone Trapinch and do some interrogation tactics of the classic good cop bad cop routine, surprisingly enough Zweilous wanted to be the good cop.

"So, do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way"

'Zwei Zweilous Zwei'

'... Trapinch Pinch'

The small Trapinch was greatly frightened by the large Zweilous in front of it that is somehow trying to comfort it however Zweilous intimidating outward appearance was not helping its case as the good cop.

"Ohh we have a feisty one here Zweilous, what do you think we should do about that"

'Zweilous Zwei'

"Ohh, that's nice but I have a better Idea"

'Trapinch .... Trapinch' 'shiver'

"Ohh you don't half to worry about a thing"

"Zweilous Zweilous Zwei"

"Were not singing that Zweilous"

'Zwei'

"Okay, maybe later"

I fed Trapinch a piece of Poffin and told the little guy he will only get more if he told us what we wanted to know. The Trapinch was uncooperative so I ate a Poffin each time it refuse to spill and told it that the supply is limited however to my surprise instead of Trapinch, Zweilous was more distraught almost tearing up at the sight of me munching down the Poffins thinking that I was eating even his share which made it clear that Zweilous did not fully understand the situation.

In the end, the Trapinch pointed at several places to answer my question regarding the location of the Gible line after its little stomach grumbled so in exchange I gave it a full meal in addition t several Poffins as a reward before parting ways but Zweilous was still out of himself which I was able to quickly fix after explaining that I did not take any of his share of Poffins.

The place that the Trapinch pointed at was the peaks of the plateaus which immediately made me realize why I was not able to find a single evidence of the Gible line in the Lumiose Badlands and that is because I was looking down when I was supposed to be looking up. I went to check one of the larger plateaus and sure enough, I was able to see one Garchomp jumping off the edge and flying away most likely to hunt.

Catching a Gibe just went from difficult to nearly impossible as getting up to the top of the plateau is just a foolish dream with my team since both Milotic and even Steelix with Magnet rise can't float that high, and digging upward is also a no go as the Garchomp's above will certainly notice us due to the vibrations we will cause and for all I know they could use earthquake and end my journey in the game of life right then and there.

I spent some time looking for a way to get up the plateaus to be able to catch a Gible but no idea came up even after circling several of the Plateaus for any possible clues so I decided to use the remaining time to train my team. Milotic was ecstatic to get out of her Pokeball and let out some steam even after our morning training which is why I allowed her to do her thing which primarily comprised of practicing her battle tactics such as counter shield and tail attacks.

Steelix was still training for our match against Gurkinn but I'm sure we could handle it as I plan to steamroll the competition. For the past months, we were able to complete several strategies to use which I'm very excited to put to the test against a Mega evolved Pokémon.

While doing one of his wing exercises, Zweilous was able to learn Steel wing which I thought was only possible after he evolved into a Hydreigon. Steel wing was a very good move to have in Zweilous's arsenal as it will be a big help in against Fairy types in the future.

"Zweilous congrats on learning Steel wing!"

'Zwei Zweilous!'

"Ohh is that so? then go ahead, show me what you got"

'Zweilous!'

'Boom!'

With a single swipe of his wing a large boulder was broken to bits, It was certain that Zweilous needed to practice his newly learned move for it to cut instead of crushing the target upon impact. Zweilous wings are large in the sense that it's proportionally twice as large as they should be with even his body size but that's not bad as with that he is able to fold his wings in front of him and with the use of steel wing may act not only in offense but also as a defensive tool.

The next day, I was able to meet a group of trainers that looked like the carbon copy of the Hiker trainers in the games just younger. In front of the group was a guy named Corwin who is the hired guide of the group through the Lumiose Badlands and unlike me who was going around the place like a tourist on vacation they are going through a straight path towards Coumarine city. We spend the night together and they were surprised to hear that I had just started my journey a week ago but after seeing my team they had less worry about me traveling alone through this place.

The trainers told me stories of their travels so I did the same while my stories mostly comprised of being the Lakeside Landlord which gave them another surprise as it seemed that they stayed at the penthouse a day after I left and one of them even challenged Cofo but sadly lost.

As our talk progressed the topic shifted to the dangers of the Lumiose badlands where I was finally able to share at least several of my experiences but when they told me one particular trouble they had on their way here my curiosity got peaked. They exclaimed the story of their campsite being attacked a few days ago while they were sleeping leaving a few of their bags and some supplies filled with bite marks and worst half of their food supply gone, Luckily the stuff remaining was still enough to last them through their journey to Coumarine city. When they showed me some of the damaged bags filled with bite marks I was sure that they are not from a wild Trapinch but from a Gible.

In my excitement, I immediately asked the location where it had happened, and low and behold it was only a mile away from one of the plateaus situated in a rock quarry that was once an active mining area.

The next morning I parted ways with Corwin and his group and went to the place they described which took me two days to reach. I immediately set camp and surveyed the area and to my amusement, I was able to find bite marks and fresh Gible tracks that end in small tunnels leading underground.

I decided to wait until it was nighttime which is when the perpetrator is said to strike in order to set an ambush where I had my team's Pokeball ready with them prepared to immediately attack when called out because if I keep any of them outside it might scare away the Gible.

I put a plate of high-quality Pokémon food on the ground hoping it would entice the target and so I lay in wait for a few hours. When it was two hours past midnight a creature appeared making a ruckus while tunneling toward the bait, its presence made clear by the trail of the disturbed ground it leaves in its wake.

I immediately called out Steelix and commanded him to use earthquake to drive it out of the ground and with the help of the dim moonlight I was able to make out the Silhouette of a Pokémon that was shot out from the ground due to the shockwaves and sure enough, it was a Gible.

'Swoosh"

'Gib! Gible!'

"Steelix don't let it escape use Bind!"

'Steelix!'

'Swoosh'

Steelix charged toward Gible and wrapped its tail around it making it so that Gible is unable to move even an inch much less escape.

"Good job Steelix now squeeze slowly until it faints"

' .... Steelix'

"Hmm? it already fainted!?"

(I forgot that Steelix is an Elite level Pokémon, an attack from him is like getting hit by an Ice truck. Considering this Gible might only be at 2nd or 3rd badge level, Steelix's physique in addition to his cold body even the simple bind must have been overkill.)

"Well, that's rough buddy but I'll fix you right up after this"

"Swoosh!"

"Pak!"

The Pokeball hit true and Gible was absorbed inside, after which the Pokeball did not even wiggle but just stayed still signifying that it was a successful capture.

(Using the Level ball was the right call after all with the level difference but I don't think it will make much of a difference as Gible fainted anyway)

I called out the fainted Gible that was in a deep slumber with a snot bubble on its nose and since I was already very tired from all the things that happened I was not able to get acquainted and fully study my new fainted companion and so I just made sure to douse it in Full-Restore before recalling it back in its Pokeball.

"Yes, finally! it took a while but I now have Gible! .... ahhhh 'Yawn', need to sleep, Steelix return Milotic is in charge of guard duty for tonight."

I called out Milotic and she was all too happy to sleep outside with me and with that I dozed off happily knowing that even though it took more than a week I now have a new team member.

The next morning I was able to come to my senses on account of my actions in the past few days. In the excitement of the prospect of catching a Gible, I disregarded the dangers and did not put to mind that a Gible would almost always have its parents close and I was dumb not to question the situation of a lone Gible not living atop one of the plateaus.

(Well, what done is done but I really must not let my excitement cloud my judgment in the future, or else it might be my undoing but still I regret nothing! as I now have a Gible.)

After contemplating my mistakes I decided to properly meet my new teammate after calling out my other Pokémon.

"Okay everyone, I will call out our new team member so get ready to greet him or her? well will know soon enough .. anyway come out Gible"

'Gib Gible? Gible!'

(What the ....)

After calling out Gible I was expecting to see a surprised Pokémon but it seems I also ended up surprised by the situation as from what I can see the Gible I caught has a color mutation and what's more it's different from a normal shiny mutation.

Gible's pigmentation is was that of a deep russet which replaced the dark blue and a light brown color has replaced the red Belly while the light blue stripes remained the same .... maybe a bit more on the aquamarine. It must be due to the dim moonlight last night that Gible blended with the surroundings making it hard to discern its pigmentation. In that sense even during the day, Gible's color scheme let it blend with the Lumiose badlands quite well which must have made it easier for it to hunt for food.

The term shiny does not exist in this world as people at this time have just put it is so as a Pokémon with a color mutation and from what I had learned from my parents there are two situations where color mutation may occur with the first being possibly a rare gene acting up which causes a rare color mutation that may happen to any Pokémon species around the world and with their color being the same in any specimen who has the gene and leads to the Shiny Pokémon that I'm familiar with.

The second type is a color mutation caused by a shift in the environment which has varying effects with major shifts in an environment having more drastic effects on a Pokémon that goes beyond a simple change in color. I theorized it to be the starting point of regional variants as this mutation is a way for Pokémon to adapt to a new environment and takes varying amounts of time depending on the species of Pokémon and this mutation always results in a change in the pigmentation of the Pokémon to better suit the environment it's on while other changes may take hundreds of years through generations to occur until it ends up as a regional variant.

Gible's mutation itself must be due to the environment as the Gible line is normally found in sandy desert areas letting them dig easily underground but the Lumiose badlands are more in line with a rocky desert which must have made it so that they are unable to traverse the underground fluidly like that of if it were sand, that may also coincide to why their line in this place lives on top of plateaus as only after evolving are they able to adapt to the area with their stronger physique.

(Well that explains why this Gible is alone, as Pokémon with a color mutation are usually shunned and cast away by the group and thus are forced to live a loner lifestyle until it meets others like it. On the upside, differently colored Pokémon like shinnies are usually stronger than others of their kind due to growing up needing to fend for themselves.)

'Milotic!'

'Zweilous!'

'Steelix!'

(Ohh ... I spaced out)

'Gible?'

"Hi Gible, I'm Al and I will be your new trainer"

'Gible?! Gible'

"Yeah, I caught you and so you are now the newest member of our team"

'Gible! Gible Gib Gible!'

"Well we're also happy to have you onboard"

As we welcome Gible into our team he jumped toward us tearing up as Gible finally found a group to be a part of. Gible must have wanted company for some time now, just makes me wonder who's the true lucky one in this encounter.

We introduced ourselves one by one to Gible with Milotic explaining our goals to Gible and the training that we will be doing. Gible has a height of one meter which is a bit more than the normal size known of its species however one key difference aside from its color was that its scale seemed to be more rugged and after a bit more investigation "touching" I realized that Gible must have the hidden ability Rough skin in addition to Sand veil which his kind is normally known to have.

During the course of Gible's and Milotic's conversation, I saw Gible's facial expression change at least five times alternating between doubt, excitement, and Food. I don't know what to call the expression of something salivating and dozing off aside from hungry but it's clearly a reaction to food.

(Well I grew up with dragon types and I know that expression well just from watching my mom's team and not to mention Zweilous who can do the expression twice at the same time)

Milotic informed me about what Gible told her and to be honest the only important information I got is that Gible is male as the other stuff Gible shared was how to hunt well at any time of the day or night.

After the introductions, I immediately prepared our meals with Gible being served with a full serving of High-quality dragon-type food and after tasting the stuff he made an expression as if ascending to a higher state of being while Zweilous was looking at him with an expression of understanding.

'Gible, Gible Gib'

'Zwei Zweilous'

When breakfast was over we proceeded with training and since we have a new member I decided that we will start by figuring out what moves Gible has in his arsenal.

"Okay, Gible are you ready?"

'Gible Gib'

"Then start us off by showing us the moves that you know by using that large boulder as a target, Go!"

'Gible Gib Gible!'

Gible proceeded to use several attacks on the large boulder and when everything was finished what was left is only half the bolder that is filled with burn marks. From what I can tell Gible used the moves Bite, Bulldoze, Dragon breath, and Dig respectively to create this piece of art. Gible was pretty happy at work that he hopped around the boulder admiring his craft.

My team proceeded with their own training while Gible watched, for now, in order to get acquainted with our routine. I also decided to call home and inform my parents of my new team member and while at it ask my mother for some tips on raising Gible. Even though I know the important details in raising the Gible line there is still some information that I could get from my mother considering she's from a clan that trains Gible Religiously in the Sinnoh region. I also asked my mom if she has any recipe for high-quality food for the Gible line which of course she has and thus it was included in the Pokémon food to be delivered at the next Pokémon center I stop at.

During one of our breaks, we introduced Gible to our favorite pastime aside from eating which is singing, and then and there I learned that our little Gible is more of a dancer than a singer. It's sad considering the Gible line can't learn Dragon dance.

Since I already caught Gible there is no more reason for me to stay in the Lumiose badland and with that we continued on our Journey. After more than two days through the Lumiose Badlands, we finally arrived at the Oasis which was a landmark signifying that we are only a day's worth of journey away from the Coastal City of Coumarine, home to the Coumarine Gym.

The Oasis was inhabited by several kinds of Pokémon with the prominent one being the Spoink line. The Pokémon in this area are well known for being welcoming unlike the Pokémon in the other parts of the Lumiose Badlands and the place was filled with bountiful fruit trees that is active all year round.

I decided to stay at the Oasis to start Gible's training and like Milotic when she was a Feebas our first agenda is speed. Gible final evolution is a fast physical attacker so I divided to focus Gible's training in that direction.

'Milotic Mi Milotic'

"Don't worry Milotic, improvement takes time as of now you're on a bottleneck but we're gonna challenge the Coumarine gym and that most likely help you develop further"

'Mi Milotic'

"True, it will be a challenge but for now let's just go over our strategies, and since the Gym is Grass-type oriented better prepare some contingencies"

'Gible! Gib Gible!'

"There are still 10 minutes remaining Gible, so keep up the laps"

'Gible!'

(Gible's really an energetic little fella just like Zweilous when he was still a Deino but overall less of a hustle to manage)

Aside from the Steel wing training for Zweilous I also started thinking of ways of using Spatial rend and Roar of time as a baseline to develop a new Dragon-type move for him to use and in terms of an idea, there's already one that involves Roar of time. While I was still uncertain about the time aspect of the attack we started on the basics of changing the type used. We began experimenting on the move Hyper voice with the idea of replacing the Normal-type energy with that of a Dragon-type and as of now there has yet been a success in changing the energy used on the attack as it may seem simple but it was a difficult challenge on a Pokémon as moves are something that is learned by Pokémon that fits certain criteria's to use them and even if its possible to create a new move it's still uncertain if Zweilous fits the yet known criteria for that move.

(Since Hyper voice and Roar of time are likely both sound-based moves judging by their names, I'm expecting that Zweilous could develop a new move based on those two ..... well I'm really not certain if Roar of time is a sound base move but nothing to gain if we do not try right? Although if I remember correctly Roar of time is more in the line of a Dragon-type Hyper beam so I may need to teach Zweilous that move also since everything is still on theory and having another tool is a big help in painting the bigger picture)

Steelix training is also proceeding as planned as while we are in the badlands I made it so that we would train earthquake as much as possible due to the area being perfect for it. While training Steelix was able to go all out without worrying about the surroundings as I made sure to move half a kilometer away from the Oasis for Steelix's training.

The next day we proceeded on our way towards Coumarine city. Along the way we encountered an aggressive Geodude who I thought will serve as a great first match for Gible to see what he is capable of in combat and to no surprise, Gible was able to do quite well in following commands just like when in training. Well, he is still rough around the edges as his battle style seems to be that of a literal land shark with the main way of attacking and dodging which always includes diving down the ground with only his fin visible from above. I advised it to tunnel underground a bit deeper so that his fin won't be visible and give away his position but he rejected the idea stating that the fin is an intimidation tactic, instilling as much fear in the prey.

(Well it does work so it may be best to make tactics and strategies that could work well and adapt with Gible's specific battle style instead of forcing him.)

Little did I know however that this decision would spark this world's version of the Jaws movie in the future.

As we were getting closer to Coumarine city the rocky terrain slowly starts to turn into one of grassy fields and then fully transitioned into a lightly forested area but most importantly we began encountering a lot more trainers along the way. I made it so that Gible would be the one to fight the battles with Pokémon under five badge level meaning low ace level Pokémon while anything higher would be for the big guns however just like many of the Dragon types Gible was a battle maniac almost hogging all the actions since most of the trainers we encountered are below that of Ace level which is really not that unexpected as the chances of regularly meeting Elite trainers in a single Route is highly unlikely ..... well unless its the route leading to the 7th-8th regional gym. Gible had gone through battle after battle seemingly filled with endless energy.

(I'm still not sure if Gible's energy comes naturally or from the Full restore I keep pumping into his system after every battle ..... well nothing in the stuff that says it's unsafe to use and my team seems fine with it since they have been chugging up the stuff for years when we were battling guest of the Penthouse)

While passing through the forested area we encountered in total of six trainers who asked for a battle. Gible participated in all six of the battles and lost three of his matches which is not a surprise since he is still a three badge level Pokémon that can be considered a rookie battling against ace level Pokémon, for the most part, heck it was already amazing that he could win three out of six but in the end, Zweilous was the one who had to finish most of the matches.

Sometime late in the afternoon I was finally able to reach Coumarine city, which was a scenic place where mountains and the sea meet while the infrastructure of the City itself blends well with the overall aesthetic.

"Woah ... that's a view, now where is the Pokémon center"

After checking the map I found the location of the Pokémon center which was located on top of a hill in the southern part of the city which is the far side from my current location.

(Why did they have to put the Pokémon center in such a peculiar place? Just looking at the map I would need to go through several slopes and farms to reach it.)

Upon reaching the Pokémon center I asked nurse joy to heal up my team as well as a check-up to see if everything is in order after which I booked a room for a few days. The Pokémon food had already arrived a day prior to my arrival so I was able to immediately pick it up from Nurse joy on the counter. The Pokémon food that arrived mainly composed of Poffins with a few high-quality Pokémon food which includes some specifically made for Gible which my mother provided the recipe for while my father's company took charge of manufacturing.

The following day I decided to give myself and my team a break and so I took my time exploring the city and buying some treats for myself and my Pokémon. After some sightseeing in the city, I took the opportunity to go to the coastline to let both Steelix and Milotic have a swim in the sea for a few hours while Zweilous, Gible, and I enjoy the view while sunbathing, well that was the plan but never would have I thought that Gible is actually capable swimming in water .... quite well too in fact to the point that from afar he looked like a mini Sharpedo.

(Considering that Gible line is the land shark it does make sense and now that I think of it there was that one episode where Garchomp and a Flygon had a swimming contest.)

We returned to the Pokémon center when it was about to go dark in order to rest for our battle with the Coumarine Gym tomorrow as I'm confident my team has trained enough for the fight, well except for Gible who is gonna watch the match in the sidelines in the meantime.

I left the Pokémon center early in the morning and walked my way to the Gym which was located outside the city in a secluded field on the top of a cliff overlooking the sea. It was not far from the Pokémon center which is only about half an hour's walk.

"Now that's a big tree"

The gym was situated on top of a giant tree where a platform spirals around the trunk of the tree leading to presumably a base at the top and the location where the main branches converge is where the battlefield is located.

(I see, so that's why the Pokémon center is located in that place, its to facilitate trainers challenging the Coumarine gym. In that sense is the Gym built first before the Pokémon center? highly unlikely since Coumarine City had been here even before the gym which means the Pokémon center had probably been relocated)

I climbed to the top of the tree and when I reached the end I was faced with strange scenery as the place was like that of a garden with a large battlefield in the middle while some of the large branches of the tree were hollowed out and used as rooms.

"Hmm, a challenger?"

"Hello, I would like to challenge the Coumarine Gym to a battle"

"Good day to you young trainer, If you're here for a gym battle please present your trainer id so we could run it over the system"

"Okay, here you go"

"Thank you, please wait a minute ... so your Albert Ryuma from Lumiose City and currently with no badge so it's gonna be your first gym battle"

"Yes, but I would like to challenge the Gym leader's main team"

Just after hearing my proclamation of wanting to challenge Ramos's main team the gym employee's expression quickly turned sour.

"Not one of these rookies again. Kid listen to me for the safety of your Pokémon I would not recommend tha...."

"Let the whippersnapper, Jason. He has a reservation from an old friend of mine"

Just as I was about to be denied the battle I requested a middle-aged man carrying a pair of sheathed ornate scissors suddenly showed up on top of a large Gogoat and just from looking at the strange beard in the shape of four leaves adorning his face I was certain this person is the Coumarine Gym leader Ramos.

"Good morning, Sir Ramos! but sir he is still a rookie"

"Well well, I thought I told you not to look at things one-sidedly .... especially with this one as this lad in front of you is Drasna's sprout."

"You know of ....."

"He's the prodigy of Lumiose?"

"Wait, the what now?"

"Haaah, this conversation is going nowhere. Just prepare the field, Jason, and tell the other staff to leave the gym for the rest of the morning and return later in the afternoon. Now, where was I ... Ohh right, So you're the Kid Gurkinn told me about."

"Gurkinn informed you of my arrival?"

"He did, gone in and called me unexpectedly and told me a whippersnapper from Lumiose city be challenging me in a weeks time as a practice match before battling him, and well I took offense at that and immediately hung up on him so I did not get any more details aside from that hahaha."

"....."

"Still I was wondering who was the kid that I was supposed to battle and Imagine my surprise when I saw you"

"Wait, so you know of me?"

"Haha, even if I did not want to your mother is quite a storyteller, just been a few months since I was told her tales were true along with some other stuff"

"...."

"Well never mind that what took you so long. I was expecting you to arrive a few days ago from what Gurkinn told me but still what matters is that you are here now so follow me and do forgive Jason he is not informed about your arrival..... well partially my fault for not telling him beforehand as I consider this battle as more of a personal matter and not of the Gym."

"Although my goal was to challenge you in order to gain somewhat an experience battling against a Gym leader I'm still aiming for a badge and some additional cash wouldn't hurt"

(Well I'm not really worried about money but continuing to increase my fund just in case some thing in the future come up)

"Ohh really? you better win then as I don't give those stuff for free when my main team is stepping up the plate"

In the case of Gym battles, Prize money is not really given out unless one is to challenge the gym leader's main team with the Prize money given always at a minimum of 20,000 Pokedollar however it is a gamble as before the match the challenger is to pay a 5000 Pokedollar as a fee which will only be returned if the challenger wins the battle. It is only one of the incentives because if an individual is able to defeat all eight Gym Leaders' main teams it gives them the right to challenge the Victory Road which involves needing to get through a labyrinth while defeating others who accomplished the same feat and if they are lucky enough to be the first one to get through, just like a Pokémon league competition winner they are allowed to battle the Elite Four and the Champion in scheduled battles and have the opportunity to be crowned the new champion of the region.

Very few choose this method though due to the fact that there is little publicity on those who challenge the victory road as their battle is unrecorded as the public is barred to enter the Victory Road in order for information about its terrain to remain a mystery for those who want to challenge it however one thing is known and that is challenging the Victory Road is open each month, unlike the Pokémon league circuit that takes two years to end. In the end, a lot of trainers want to be famous and the publicity provided by the Pokémon League competition is sure to make it happen.

"So are you ready for the battle?"

"I'm ready but I only have four Pokémon and only three of them are ready for a Gym battle"

"It's fine so will have a three on three then"

.... A few minutes later ....

After the battlefield was prepared and most of the staff left the match immediately commenced. Gible was stationed beside me to watch the gym battle in order to see what an Elite level battle is like.

"This battle will be between Ramos the Coumarine Gym leader and Albert Ryuma of Lumiose city. The battle is a three on three and only the challenger is allowed to substitute his Pokémon now begin"

"Then I will start us off, let's teach the young ones some lessons, shall we Gogoat"

"Gogoat"

Ramos's first Pokémon was the Gogoat he was riding earlier which was truly a big Pokémon.

(So is he trying to intimidate me with his Pokémon? but if a competition of size I ain't one to be challenged in more ways than one.)

"Zweilous time to shine"

'Zweilous!'

"That one big dragon you have there but Gogoat lets show them how we wrangle up trouble shall we, Use vine whip"

'Gogoat!'

Gogoat started the battle with a vine whip which is aimed at Zweilous feet and if it successfully makes contact it will surely immobilize Zweilous by wrapping him up.

"Zweilous, prepare to intercept"

'Zwei Zweilous!'

'Gogoat!'

Zweilous caught the vine whip with his mouth and then pulled on it causing Gogoat to be dragged and fall over half of the battlefield.

"Now don't let it escape, use Fire fang"

'Zweilous!'

'Pak!'

'Go Gogoat!'

The Fire fang was super effective and Gogoat received some damage but not enough since the attack is used on the extended vine and far from the main body however Fire fang was able to deliver a lot of pain to the recipient.

"Gogoat, pull on your Vine whip as hard as you can then jump"

Gogoat pulled on the vine whip causing tension to build up and when Gogoat released the tension by the leap, Gogoat was pulled speeding towards the other end which was Zweilous.

"Now use Horn Leech!"

"Zweilous let go of the Vine and use Hyper voice!"

'Zweilooooooooooouuuuuus!'

Gogoat's momentum due to the maneuver was stopped and Gogoat was blasted away back to its original position.

"Ohh? that's a nice way to counter Gogoat's charge, ill give you that but it's not enough to put us down. Gogoat use Synthesis!"

(Not this type of battle again!)

"Zweilous don't allow them to recover use a flurry of Incinerate!"

'Zwei Zweiloooous!'

'Boom'

'Boom'

'Boom'

'Gogoat!'

Due to still in the midst of using Synthesis Gogoat was unable to evade the attack and was hit by a face full of flames causing the move Synthesis to be halted and stopping Gogoat from healing any further and even be heavily damaged in the process.

"That Zweilous of yours is strong but you will need more power to put Gogoat down or else we would just need to outlast that dragon with Synthesis."

'Then we will just stop Gogoat from healing"

"Ohh let's see how you stop something you can't see, Gogoat use Razor Leaf!"

Gogoat used Razor leaf but in a way, I did not expect as Gogoat continuously released Razor leaf and flooded the battlefield with leaves not only attacking Zweilous but also blocking vision for everyone present.

"Now Gogoat use Giga impact"

'Gogoat!'

'Wham!'

'Zwei Zweiloous!'

Zweilous was unable to dodge Gogoat's charge due to the Razor leaf that keeps attacking him and with a head-on collision Zweilous was greatly damaged by the attack.

(There won't be enough time to clear the leafage to be able to stop Gogoat's attack ..... Wait I don't need to bother with it as Zweilous can just use the vibrations in the ground to locate Gogoat besides Zweilous is getting irritated by the barrage of leaves that kept on hitting him anyways.)

"Zweilous attack them with something they can't hide from use Draco meteor!"

"Gogoat power through!"

'Gogoat!'

'Boom'

'Boom'

'Boom'

.

.

.

.

Gogoat was hit by several fragments of Zweilous Draco meteor and with Giga impact countering most of the force it was able to withstand some of the damage and still deliver a hard hit to Zweilous.

"I never thought I would see the day that someone as young as you could command a Dragon-type Pokémon that is capable of using that move but it's not over, Gogoat once again Giga impact!"

'Go Gogoat Go'

"Zweilous use Hyper voice then Steel wing!"

'Zweilous Zweilooooooooooouuuuuus!'

'Wham!'

Zweilous was able to endure the impact due to using Hyper voice to slow down the Giga impact while using Steel wing defensively to absorb the impact.

"Zweilous use Incinerate!"

'Zweilous!'

'Boom'

Because Gogoat was still close to Zweilous it was hit by a head-on Incinerate and was once again blasted away.

"Zweilous barrage Incinerate!"

"Gogoat quickly dodge!"

Not allowing Gogoat to be able to recover from the first hit, Zweilous bombarded the Grass-type with a barrage of Incinerate and since Gogoat was still getting itself together due to being blasted away it was unable to dodge the attack and fainted due to the continuous damage dealt by Zweilous. The referee announced Zweilous victory and with that Gym leader Ramos called out his next Pokémon while on the side Gible is having a blast cheering on Zweilous on the side effectively raising his ego.

"Gogoat return, Have a good rest, my friend. That's truly one fine Zweilous you have there but let's see how it can handle what's next Come out Victreebel"

'Victreebel!'

(Well doesn't that bring back memories, this is the first time seeing a Victreebel in person, and to be honest, I can't imagine anyone surviving after being gulped up by that thing as even now its top is dripping with acid and those that fell in the ground caused smoke to arise from the location although in the upside it does smell nice.)

"Zweilous since it's a Grass Poison-type prepare fo ....."

"Victreebel use Poison powder!"

"r that! Dodge it Zweilous!"

Zweilous was not fast enough to dodge the poison mist that quickly covered the battlefield and was poisoned by the attack.

'Zwei!'

"Now Victreebel use Growth"

(Well that's not good first they poisoned my boi and then they boosted their attacking power what's next must be chipping away at Zweilous better stop their momentum)

"Zweilous use Draco Meteor!"

'Zweilous!'

"Victreebel use Substitute then Protect!"

(Why does it half to know Protect and Substitute of all things!)

Protect is a strong defensive move that creates a protective barrier in front of the user. It's a very useful move that can be used by a large number of Pokémon however the problem is that moves such as Protect, safeguard, Reflect and other similar defensive moves can't be taught and it all depends on the Pokémon if they are enlightened either from seeing the move used against them or going through varying situations where they will suddenly learn and use the move due to sheer necessity. Most Pokémon learn such moves with the second method unless the Pokémon in question is one in a million of talent.

(Even in this world Poison Stall exist, this sucks but at least its not toxic)

"Zweilous return"

(No point in making him suffer through this mess when my partner in crime is built for this situation)

"Come out Milotic!"

I called out Milotic who upon entry into the battlefield immediately used Rain dance to set up for the battle.

"In all my years I've seen a lot of beautiful Pokémon but I got to admit, that right there beat them all as it's not even a competition. I'm more impressed that it's trained enough to know to set up a stage for itself upon entry while showing everyone a captivating dance"

All present was awestruck when they saw Milotic and adding to the fact that she immediately put on a show made it so that the event is something to be remembered.

'Milotic Mi Milotic'

"It's not much huh, still modest as ever but better show them you're not only a beauty pal"

'Milotic Mi'

"Still no matter how beautiful your Pokémon is from what I can tell it's a water type, you sure you're fine with it fighting in a grass-type gym?"

"Types are not everything, you as a Gym leader of all people should know that"

"Well that's true but do understand that it does make a big difference, especially in battles of this level watch, Victreebel use Poison powder then Giga drain"

"Milotic Recover!"

Milotic did not dodge the Poison powder and Giga drain and thus was poisoned and was also hit by Giga drain however the damage received was quickly healed with Recover. Giga drain is a very strong move not due to the damage and sustains it gives the user but because of its stages of mastery.

Like the games, Giga drain does not need contact to work but directedly absorbs the opponent's energy making it almost undodgeable except for a few situations however the move does not start this strong as there are stages of mastery in which it can be performed. A less experienced user would need to create vines of energy to pursue the target and acts like a straw to absorb the target's energy, this version of the attack is much like the one I remember seeing in the anime. The second stage is when the user becomes more skilled with the move where the attack turns into the form of a beam that needs to hit the opponent for it to take effect and finally when the move has been fully mastered, any and all form of contact becomes obsolete.

"Here I thought your Zweilous can take a hit but that Milotic was not even visibly hurt by the attacks yet you still made it use recover"

"Not really a surprise as sustain is an important factor in making sure a Pokémon can outlast the opponent in a battle"

(That and Milotic's defensive ability both helped)

"So the roles have reverse haha, your one tricky kid"

"Were more than tricks, Milotic destroy their Substitute with Surf follow up with Ice beam!"

'Milotic!'

'Swoosh' "Boom!'

The attacks landed successfully removing the substitute however Victreebel used Protect once again to defend against Ice beam.

(Those Protects can't last for long as each time it is used it gets weaker!)

Like in the games, Protect when used successively will have a high chance of failing which is due to the barrier weakening each time it is manifested until it becomes unusable in the match.

"Victreebel use Leaf Storm"

"Milotic use Draconic Counter shield"

'Boom'

Milotic defended against all the attacks while also boosting her speed and attack. It took a long time but Milotic mastered Counter shield with Dragon dance so she is now able to boost two of her stats while defending.

"Milotic full power Hydro pump"

"Victreebel use Leaf storm to intercept"

Milotic's Hydro pump was weakened by leaf storm but was still able to hit Victreebel while also effectively dousing the battlefield in water.

"Now freeze everything with Ice beam!"

"Victreebel use Leaf storm to stop them!"

Even as Victreebel was able to hit Milotic with a head-on Leaf storm it was not enough to stop Milotic from Freezing both Victreebel partially and the battlefield and thus the arena became a frozen scape.

"Victreebel Breakthrough use Vine whip

'Victreebel!'

'Wham'

Victreebel was able to free itself from the Ice covering some part of its body but due to the attack, it was heavily injured.

"Victreebel use Vine whip to catch Milotic then Giga drain!"

(Looks like they are out of options but too bad we also can be defensive)

"Milotic use Safeguard then use Recover"

Milotic Deflected the extending vines away not letting them wrap around her after which used Recover to heal.

'Victreebel!'

Even though Victreebel failed to breach Milotic's defenses with Vine whip it still continued on using Giga drain to heal however like before the damage was immediately healed by Recover while also healing the damage which is also received from poison.

"Milotic use Ice beam!"

'Mi Milotiiiic!'

Milotic hit Victreebel once again freezing some parts of its body but it was still not yet defeated. Victreebel once again used Vine while to free itself from the Ice covering.

(That Victreebel is still standing, a bit disoriented but still standi ....)

'Victreeeebel!'

While admiring Victreebel tenacity it had fainted from the damage that stacked up while it was unable to recover from while in battle.

(It seems that Giga drain was its last stand to try and heal, too bad. Now that's 0-2 to my advantage well this is going smoothly)

"Amazing, truly amazing but I have a title to uphold so you better prepare. Come out Venusaur"

'Venusaur, Vena? Venasauuuur!'

Ramos called out his last Pokémon which is also his well-known ace Venusaur. Unlike most of Ramos's team, this Venusaur is famous for being a force of nature. After being called out Venusaur look above seemingly irritated by the rain so it roared at the sky and after a few seconds the rain disappeared and heavy sunlight enveloped the battlefield.

"Venusaur use Solar beam"

"Milotic use Safeguard"

'Wham!'

(It failed huh, looks like the damage was just too strong)

"Milotic use recover"

"Venusaur use Frenzy plant"

"Milotic Ice Counter shield!"

Milotic was able to freeze several of the thick vine-like roots however a number of them still broke through to Milotic's counter shield by focusing the attack on a single point.

(This is the firsts time that Counter shield was ... well countered but luckily Milotic is still okay as spamming recover is something we mastered a long time ago)

"I heard stories of some of your Pokémon even before Gurkinn told me of your arrival and as far as I can see those stories are in no way false and it seems that most of them were underestimating your capabilities as a trainer. When Gurkinn asked me something to do to prepare you for your match against him, I was at first skeptical of the situation as of needing to use that but I see now that you're more than worthy of it. By our bond show the world your growth Mega evolve!"

'Venusaur!'

After giving a short speech Ramos suddenly did something I did not expect to experience before my match with Gurkinn, and that is battling a Mega evolved Pokémon. A blinding light extended from the small gem socketed in Ramos's ornate Scissor and the band tied to the upper stem of Venusaur's flower, the light took the form of tendrils and when connected caused Venusaur to start to shine brighter changing its form to that more robust once again undergoing an evolution albeit temporary.

"Ahh! what happened to your Venusaur? Why did it get so fat!?"

"Well you mus .... that's rude"

'Venusaur!'

"Um.... sorry it was insensitive of me"

(I would never have imagined that my first ever gym battle will have Mega's involved but here I am acting surprised which is really tiresome work but explaining my knowledge about things I can't really explain in a believable manner while not being perceived as a lunatic. I practiced making this surprised expression for weeks to use when I'm to face Gurkinn but it seems it was destined to be used earlier than planned)

I still don't have the brainpower to think of an explanation to this day to explain my future knowledge but good thing I can always go back to good old deceptions with my top-class acting.

"Ahem, Judging from your reaction you must be both surprised and confused about the situation but it's not my place to explain and all I can say is that this is what you will expect to face when battling against Gurkinn."

"So what if your Pokémon suddenly gained some weig .... bulk your still far from beating us"

"Ohh really? Venusaur show them the wrath of nature use Nature's fury"

Right after hearing Ramos's command, Venusaur used Leaf storm to surround the battlefield while attacking Milotic and after which Venusaur launched a series of Frenzy plant which are twice the size of the one Venusaur used before Mega evolving.

"Milotic use Ice beam and freeze all of them!"

Without knowing which direction to aim due to the Leaf storm blocking Milotic's vision of the battlefield she was continuously hit by Venusaur's attacks that she was not able to hit with Ice beam and when the dust settled Milotic was shown fainted on the spot.

"Milotic return, you did great but it seems that we are not yet ready to tank that much damage without any prior preparations"

(Still, that Frenzy plants power is truly a surprise even though Milotic is at a disadvantage type wise I still expected her defenses to be enough to give her time to heal with Recover but sadly the barrage of attacks was too much.)

"So kid let's see how you can handle this situation"

"I ask you the same question as there's a teammate of mine who is expecting a hard battle and to make it fair best to make it so that his opponent is on the same playing field. Steelix get ready for battle!"

'Steelix!'

"What a specimen, so this is the newly recorded variant of the Steelix line that the Cliff clan was clambering about. From what I've seen from your team you have a knack for catching rare Pokémon. If I recall correctly this Steelix is an Ice and steel haha ... now I understand since it's Steel-type it can't be poisoned and it's also Ice-type which puts us at a type disadvantage but poison is not the only thing we can do. Venusaur use Sleep powder!"

'Venusaur!'

"Steelix use Dragon breath!"

'Swoosh'

'Boom!'

Steelix was able to destroy the wave of Sleep powder that Venusaur used however it was just a decoy as Venusaur immediately set up Natures fury once more.

"Leaf storm and Frenzy plant again?! Steelix Gyro ball!"

With Mega evolution, Frenzy plant now hits like a truck and the truck has homing capabilities which made it worst. Even though the surrounding is blurred by Leaf storm Steelix is still able to perceive things by using the ground which is something we had trained quite a bit in the badlands.

'spshhh'

'spshhh'

Venusaur's Frenzy plant tried to bring down Steelix like Milotic however it was easily shredded by Steelix's momentum as by using Gyroball Steelix became a large weeding machine cutting up anything and everything that came in contact that was not repelled by the force of impact.

"So it seems Grass-type attacks won't work but here's something your Steelix might enjoy, Venusaur use Earthquake"

(Wait earthquake? Were on a tree!)

"Steelix maneuver Spring-loaded Magnet rise!"

In order to evade the earthquake, Steelix used Iron tail to hit the ground propelling its body upwards quickly as Magnet rise takes a few seconds to fully make the Pokémon levitate, and when Magnet rise finally took effect Steelix was able to remain floating in the air. Just as Steelix lost contact with the ground the whole battlefield started shaking, rustling the large branches and many leaves of the giant tree which it is grown upon.

"Steelix let's show them how we rock and roll use Stone edge!"

'Steelix!'

'Boom!'

The Stone edge hit Venusaur dealing damage but even being an Ice-type attack it was not able to take down the Venusaur.

(Tchh ... Must be Mega Venusaur's ability Thick fat)

"Strange Stone edge is a Rock-type move but from what I can see it was like Venusaur was hit by a super-effective move like it came from a Fire or Ice-type attack but still it's not enough, Venusaur use Synthesis!"

Using synthesis with sunlight Mega Venusaur was able to heal most of the damage received from Stone edge. It was a stalemate as Mega Venusaur is unable to get past Steelix Defenses but we have no way to stop Mega Venusaur's healing which made it clear that in order to win it must be done with a single strong attack.

(I need to use one of those huh ... too bad I hoped that they will have their debut in my battle with Gurkinn but I don't want Venusaur to keep healing and win with the battle of aggression.)

"Steelix let's put everything in this attack use Heavy Impact!"

While mid-air Steelix started generating a large quantity of electric charge by using a combination of both Gyroball's centrifugal force and Magnet rise's magnetic pull and thus becoming like a large dynamo and using the energy to power up the magnetic field that surrounds Steelix that came about from using Magnet rise. The powered-up Magnetic field is then used to propel Steelix very quickly towards Mega Venusaur and while rocketing towards the target, Steelix used the move Heavy slam to insure to deal the finishing blow.

This was one of the tactics Steelix's trained in the past year for our scheduled battle with Gurkinn which started when I questioned if it's possible to weaponize a 600 kg floating Steelix and the answer I arrived too was yes, yes it can. It took months of practice however Steelix was able to fully control the magnetic field he emits when using Magnet rise giving him the option of propelling itself at high speed in any direction as long as he has enough energy to power it however going anywhere higher than a few feet is currently impossible due to the strain Steelix body undergoes.

"Haha now it's getting fun, Venusaur show them that a good offense can be a good defense, face it on with Giga Impact!"

'Wham!'

'Boom!'

Both Pokémon charged at each other and with Steelix's speed, it was able to overpower Mega Venusaur's attack and blasted it a few feet away. The collision was so great that large debris from the battlefield was uprooted creating a crater at the location of impact. It was however still not enough to knock out Mega Venusaur and so Steelix immediately charged toward Mega Venusaur who was now close to him not allowing it to have time to defend as Heavy Impact is not only Steelix's strongest combination move but also a way for him to get close to the opponent if it was able to handle the attack and so Steelix can follow it up with another strategy that can hopefully win us the battle.

"Venusaur use Synthesis!"

"Steelix end it, use Ice burial!"

Wrapping its body around Mega Venusaur then used a barrage of Ice fang effectively incasing Mega Venusaur and a large part of itself incased in Ice. When everything settled what everyone saw was a fainted Venusaur no longer in its Mega form encased in Ice.

"Venusaur is unable to battle and with that, the winner of the Coumarine Gym battle is Albert from Lumiose City"

Gym leader Ramos called back Venusaur after Steelix removed the ice covering them both, he had the expression of both sadness and pride for his Pokémon.

"Good job Steelix"

'Steeeeeeeeeelix!'

In its victory, Steelix gave a mighty screech towards the sky and with that, we won our first gym battle. Gible who was initially watching from my side immediately charged toward Steelix jumping with joy with the victory and congratulating Steelix by chomping on one of his spikes which it quickly regretted due to the cold temperature it emitted.

"Better get you some rest too Steelix so return, for now."

'Steelix'

"You too Gible"

'Gible'

I also called back Gible as he is getting too excited but I really can't blame the little guy as he might have just witnessed the greatest battle he had ever seen.

(That was a hard battle, but luckily I had a lot of experience battling against Elite level trainers that stayed in our penthouse with the biggest challenge today is having to battle against a Mega evolved Pokémon)

"Congrats Albert, you were able to overcome a nearly impossible challenge. I planned to give you a glimpse of what you can expect when challenging Gurkinn but who would expect that it's me that would have my eyes opened haha. Now I can see why Gurkinn made it so that battling against me is a practice match and if my line of thought is true then you better prepare as the battle to come is one that goes beyond the boundary of an Elite."

"Umm thanks but aside from that can you explain why your Venusaur had a temporary form change in midst of battle?"

"As I said earlier it is not my place to tell you as Gurkinn already said that he is the one to explain and make sure you don't tell other people about what you had just witnessed willy-nilly as I promise you that it would be more trouble than its worth, even our referee Jason is specifically selected since he has prior knowledge of it already. However you're not getting out of this empty-handed though, Here's the Plant Badge you earned it."

"Thank you, But in the end, I still need to battle Gurkinn to get the answers huh however I'm now more confident in my odds and you can expect us to train a lot more"

(Wait from what he said earlier our battle is only a glimpse of what to expect when battling Gurkinn then don't tell me he's gonna use several Mega evolved Pokémon in our match?! .... No, high likely not, I may have just read too deep into it as I don't even know if that's possible or even allowed)

After everything was finalized and I got both the badge and the prize money I quickly headed towards the Pokémon center to get my team healed and do some extra preparations for the future before taking a rest myself.

...