Chapter 62 – Weather Battle
It was the following morning after having ourselves a scrumptious breakfast at the Pokémon center, me and the team made our way towards the Lilycove city gym with the objective of earning our fourth Hoenn gym badge. I wasn’t expecting to have a difficult time even at the sixth badge level due to the overwhelming advantage I held as a fire type specialist. Victini wasn’t particularly worried about our chances of success so she was off on one of her many excursions. By my estimation she was again off to help those kecleon manage their store. The little rabbit had quite the entrepreneurial spirit judging by the many late-night conversations we had on which naturally occurring items would hold trainers’ interests.
For my walk on over to the gym I had Raven accompany me. The little pooch eagerly sniffed the morning air and saw the urban sights. Her species not being native to Hoenn meant that during our walk over quite a few of the urban youth came over to pet her and satisfy their curiosity. Although it was mostly boys who did so, finding her appearance to be “cool and awesome”. Nonetheless Raven was quite pleased with the attention content to let strangers touch her bone spurs and skull dome. Dark types like her rarely got any positive interactions with strangers outside of their own pack and experienced trainers, there was a sort of stigma attached to them that the type as a whole favored underhanded tactics in battle. Which wasn’t untrue but had a negative effect on the individuals who fell outside of the stereotype.
As I watched my cute doggo having positive interactions with complete strangers, I was pleased with myself for having the wisdom of picking her out amongst the pack. She got along well with almost anybody and her inclusion on the team had been a boon for my mental wellness. Raven was responsible enough to take on my role as a trainer for brief stints of time while I was otherwise occupied and acted like a responsible big sister for the younger Pokémon.
It didn’t take too long before we found ourselves in front of the giant greenhouse that acted as the Lilycove city gym. This time the front gate was left open leaving challengers to come and go as they pleased. However, the gate was looked after by a familiar figure who we had come to know better the last time we visited.
“Hey Sceptile! Overworked as always, I see.”
“Scep…”
“Is the gym leader inside? We’ve come to earn that gym badge!”
“Arf!”
“Excited I see! Then allow me to welcome you as the Lilycove city gym leader! The name is Violet.”
A woman appeared from behind Sceptile who was wearing stereotypical gardener’s attire. Overalls covering a green shirt and a large sun hat to block excessive sunlight. In one arm a trowel and in the other a watering pail I couldn’t come up with more appropriate wear for a grass type specialist even if I tried.
“My name is Egon. It's nice to meet you! We scheduled for a battle the other week with Sceptile’s help.”
“The boy who scheduled for a sixth level gym battle and a single one versus one for a beginner Pokémon?”
“Yes, that’s me. The youngest of our team wants to start participating in battles as well and I figured this place could offer her a battle with an appropriate level of difficulty.”
“You specialize in fire types?”
“Yes...”
“Then you wouldn’t terribly mind if we had our battle outside of the gym? The plants we cultivate around our battlefield are resilient but repeated blasts of fire would set off the sprinkler system.”
“Our battle against the gym trainer will also be held outside?”
“Naturally, but our gym doesn’t have gym trainers.”
“Wait… but who is responsible for providing all the gym’s services? I’ve worked at the Lavaridge gym; there's no way one person can do all of it alone.”
“That’s true if it weren’t for the fact that I have a team of wonderful Pokémon supporting me. Isn’t that right Sceppy?”
“Tile…”
“The city’s budget all goes to maintaining that garish, overly large contest hall. The only reason we get by is that my grass types can subsist off water and sunlight in addition to the food that we cultivate ourselves.”
This was the other side of the gym business few trainers know about. Every region unilaterally supported their major gyms. The entrepreneurial trainers who earned the right to have a gym charter and begin their own gyms in their hometowns usually had to make do with insufficient funds and resources. The fact that Violet managed to make do without told me she was no stranger at keeping a tight budget.
“Follow me we’ll battle on one of the city's public battlefields.”
“Who is going to referee our match?”
“In situations like these I usually ask a passerby to act as referee. Is that okay with you? Since this is a gym battle you can request that the gym hire an official one.”
“That’s okay I know what it’s like living on a tight budget.”
I knew that each city in Hoenn hosted multiple venues where trainers gathered to come and battle under the auspices of an audience. Part of a gym’s revenue consisted of selling battle video subscriptions online so having battles out in the open was usually not done. The gym’s subscription sales were probably not lucrative enough to justify recording every single one of them. The subscriptions didn’t cost a whole lot and were an easy way for the citizenry to support their local gyms. I figured that battling wasn’t as popular a past time in Lilycove if Violet just opted to have our match out in the open.
“Keep following, there’s a quaint little field right next to the Pokémon center I frequent.”
Violet took the lead as me and Raven followed her all the way back from where we came from. The center we had used for lodging because it was closest to the gym was also the place where we would have our battle. While on the way over there were only a handful of people who recognized their gym leader and bothered to greet her properly. A stark contrast to how Winona or other major gym leaders were treated in their hometowns. Mr. Moore was a recluse but on the rare moments he decided to show his face around Lavaridge town during important festivals everyone treated him with great respect.
“Is there something on your mind?”
“Well, it’s kind of strange I figured that the city’s gym leader would garner lots of attention. Back where I am from, the leader can’t get anywhere without people swarming him.”
“In this city traditional battling takes a backseat. Lilycove is the birthplace of contests and the first place where coordinators could go to earn themselves recognition for a Pokémon’s other attributes aside from strength.”
“Maybe you could participate in a couple of contests to get some eyes on the gym? I am sure there are at least a couple of people who’d be interested to see grass types showing off on stage.”
“We are a gym not some propped up contest hall! The gym will get popular I am sure of it. It’ll only be a matter of time until the league association recognizes our importance and adds us to the monthly conference call.”
“Monthly conference call?”
“It’s a monthly online meetup for all the major gym leaders and high-ranking league personnel. Which they use to catch up with each other and discuss topics of importance. Getting called in is a sign that you’ve made it to the big leagues.”
While I was left pondering the veracity of her words we finally made it to the Pokémon center. While Violet didn’t actually lead me into the building we did walk around until we reached a collection of battlefields. There were numerous trainers busy polishing their skills against each other. As well as the bookies that made bank trying to get bystanders to bet away their hard earned pokédollars. Whether it was this world or my previous one you could always find opportunists looking to make a quick buck off small-time sporting events.
We were lucky enough that one of the battlefields wasn’t in use, so we hurried on over. Me being left standing there while Violet went around looking for someone to act as referee. Eventually she did find an older gentleman who was willing to help us out. Apparently, the guy spends most of his free time volunteering at the Pokémon center since his retirement. Today he was on lookout duty to prevent rookie trainers from overdoing it. Safety while battling was always a concern with trainers who were too inexperienced to tell when their Pokémon had to be withdrawn.
“Egon, we'll start with the practice battle. Is that alright with you?”
“Yes.”
Violet gave a quick nod to the old man who had already positioned himself on the outer rim of the battlefield. To my surprise there were quite a number of people gathering in the stands that had come to watch our battle.
‘Someone must have let slip that Violet is the Lilycove city gym leader.’
“Go Budew!”
“Go Halo!”
“The battle between trainer Violet and her challenger Egon from Lavaridge town will now begin! This will be a single elimination match with each trainer using only a single Pokémon.”
“Keep focused, that Budew sure looks feisty.”
“Vess!”
“Dew!”
This being Halo’s very first official battle the little bug type couldn’t contain her excitement. The flames flaring out of the tip of her horns serving as good indication to her overall state of mind. The crowd of trainers watching us grew more numerous with one of them whipping out his Pokédex in an attempt to scan this previously unknown Pokémon. Sporting an all too familiar frustrating expression when his Hoenn issued Pokédex failed to identify the nonnative species.
Suddenly one of my poké balls started wiggling. At first, I was confused but then I realized whose ball it was and somewhat reluctantly pressed the release mechanism to let out my overly concerned team member. One flash of light later and Glove was standing right next to me in the challenger’s box.
“Nitan!”
“This will be her very first battle. Just stay on the sidelines if you want to observe. Halo’s been asking for this opportunity for a long time.”
I could tell that the referee and Violet were startled by the sudden appearance of my Darmanitan but seeing as Glove technically hadn’t crossed over the demarcated lines of the field. We hadn’t broken any rules yet either. The three of us watched as my Pokémon awkwardly walked along the outer perimeters of the field and sat on the little side bench usually reserved for family and friends. All the while embarrassing Halo who tried to recede back into her fuzzy mane with little success.
“Ahem! Let the battle begin!”
“String Shot!”
“Poison Powder!”
Immediately I put our long hours of target practice to use. If we could bind those little stumps Violet’s Budew used as legs the grass type would be a sitting duck. Halo spewed out copious amounts of silk string and just like I had thought she aimed to wrap Budew’s limbs to make movement more difficult. Budew at the same time let loose purple colored spores from her now opened rose buds filling the battlefield with the dangerous substance. A solid defensive move in the wild to scare off predators but in an open air battlefield like this one a danger to the surrounding people. Luckily the little Budew proved skilled enough at releasing her spores to only cover her intended target.
Halo’s strings hit, wrapping up the rosebud Pokémon in her sticky strings. However, that didn’t prevent the spores from covering Halo’s form. Already I could see the beginning symptoms of poisoning starting with her shortness of breath.
‘It won’t be long until the poison does its work. Now that Budew has nowhere to run, it's time to wrap this up.’
“Flame Charge!”
“Bullet Seed!”
Halo covered her entire body in flames and charged in horns pointing forward intending to knock out Budew in one go. Violet, seeing the futility of dodging, intended to lessen the impact of the blow by slowing down Halo’s momentum with a barrage of Budew’s seed projectiles. In the end it didn’t matter, grass type moves in particular have almost no effect on Halo. She barreled on through ignoring the Bullet Seed and crashing headfirst into her opponent.
“Deeew!”
The little grass type was reeling burn marks visible where Halo’s horns had penetrated the upper layer of epidermis. Now with Halo in close proximity it was time to finish the fight.
“Venoshock!”
“Ember!”
The poison coming out from the bulb on Budew’s head now came out in a liquid form. Trying to drench my Pokémon in a last attempt to salvage the situation. However, Budew seemed not as proficient with this move, struggling to produce enough of the liquid to fully cover Halo’s form. The amount of liquid that did reach the bug type exacerbated her poisoning symptoms causing her to start wheezing in a fit. The retaliation was something fierce I’ve never seen Halo produce an Ember attack strong enough to be likened to a Flame Burst. Budew who was hit point blank by the fire type move passed out immediately cooked to a crisp.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“Budew is unable to battle the winners are Egon and his Larvesta!”
“Laaar!”
Halo squeaked out a victory cry before coughing up a storm purple mucus out of her mouth and spiracles. Glove, not being able to hold still, immediately took off onto the battlefield picking up Halo like a worried mother Blaziken. Gently swinging her back and forth like that would make her feel better.
“Try feeding her a pecha berry from the backpack, that should alleviate her condition. You know where I keep them right?”
“Dar!”
The big lug shuffled back off the battlefield still carrying Halo in his arms. As the only Pokémon capable enough to be my cooking assistant he naturally knows where I keep all of my berries.
‘I was actually planning to have him battle today… If Violet turns out to be too tough to handle for my other Pokémon. Whatever, this should be one of our easier gym matches.’
I refocused on the battlefield. Violet had already recalled her Budew and was patiently waiting for me to confirm our readiness to continue with the real gym battle.
“That was a good practice battle, Egon. Are you ready to continue?”
“Sorry for the delay, we’re ready to continue.”
“Alright, The Lilycove city gym battle will now begin! Each side will have the use of three Pokémon and the battle is over when all three Pokémon on one side are unable to continue. Furthermore, only the challenger is allowed to substitute Pokémon. Now begin!”
The referee’s loud proclamation of Violet’s status as a gym leader caught the attention of the crowd drawing even more spectators to come watch our battle. Unlike before when her status was unknown, the beginning of our official gym battle required our battle judge to pull off the lid from our activity.
“Go Rena!”
“Let’s show them Jumpluff!”
Following the simultaneous release of our Pokémon the sun’s ray intensified Rena’s newfound ability already working its magic. The rookie trainers watching from the sidelines who didn’t know what was happening started pulling on their clothes clearly uncomfortable in the sudden sweltering heat. Even Violet looked surprised clearly not expecting a Ninetales to have the drought ability. This surprise however lasted only for a short period after which she was sporting a smug looking smile.
“Fire types aren’t the only Pokémon who benefit from strong sunlight! Acrobatics!”
“Flamethrower!”
Jumpluff was like a speeding ninjask riding the winds unfettered. The Pokémon’s unnatural speed confirmed my suspicions. The Jumpluff we were facing had its ability Chlorophyll trained up and activated. Jumpluff were known to be frail so I knew that if we could just land one fire type move on it that the fight would be over. Jumpluff dived down at Rena, slamming into her multiple times. As it flew through the air, it moved so fast that Jumpluff seemed to leave behind afterimages. Meanwhile Rena was too confused firing off her flamethrower multiple times in a futile effort to hit the blue puffball.
‘We need to arrest Jumpluff’s movement in order to win.’
“Leech Seed!”
“Confuse Ray!”
Rena unleashed a flash of sinister light causing temporary blindness and confusion in our opponent. Figuring that a dazed opponent would be easier to hit I opted for this stratagem. The leech seed Jumpluff fired off landed everywhere except for its intended target. Sparing us from having to deal with vitality sapping creepers.
“Incinerate! Rapid fire!”
“Stun Spore!”
Rena propped up her tails and at the tip of each one of them orbs of flame spontaneously came into being. Since her evolution she’s been able to use her tails as a launching point for her fire type moves. Jumpluff on the other hand following her trainer’s command started releasing stun spore everywhere heedless of her surroundings. The spores actually managed to cross the battlefield threshold giving the audience quite the scare. Rena couldn’t help but inhale some of it as she launched the balls of fire into Jumpluff’s direction scoring a direct hit with one of her projectiles despite her opponent’s speed. That one hit was all it took to bring down her dazzled opponent, the grass type sadly wilting to the ground, her excess pollen puffs completely burnt away.
‘I better return her just in case. The stun spore’s effects could spell trouble if Violet decides to send out another speed demon.’
“Rena Return!”
Our opponent returned her fallen competitor before sending out her next Pokémon.
“Go Shiftry!”
“I choose you Raven!”
In a flash of light my trusty pooch materialized onto the field. Much to the dismay of some of our captive audience.
“Hey you there! Stop bullying our gym leader with your fire type Pokémon!”
“We’re rooting for you Violet! Show this brat that type effectiveness isn’t everything!”
“Two fire type Pokémon in a row? Skill issues much?”
“Who said that last part?! Come out and battle me yourself!”
‘No! You can’t let those posers get to you. It’s not like I can change my specialization mid battle. This Shiftry’s ability would undoubtedly be Chlorophyll as well. We’ll have to use that strategy…’
The crowd started getting restless and somehow, I found myself being painted as a bully. Being seen as the antagonist against the viewers shared underdog mentality. What was even worse was that Violet was basically glowing enjoying the praise being heaped upon her by the locals. Thank Arceus the referee stepped in to intervene.
“Can the crowd please stay quiet until the match has been concluded?! This is an official gym battle you darned kids!”
Our battle judge’s outburst caused the bustling crowd to quiet down, the old man’s reputation being more credible than I had originally thought.
“Solar Beam!”
“Smog! Cover the field!”
As things stood now our opponent’s speed would put a serious damper on my strategy. That’s why I opted to make the sun a non-issue by covering the field in poisonous soot but before the airborne soot had a chance to block out the sun Shiftry’s Solar Beam connected, throwing the fire type back to the edges of the field. Despite that Raven kept on filling the field with smoke, the blowback not deterring her from executing our strategy. Soon the entire field was covered ensuring that Violet’s Pokémon would no longer enjoy the benefits of harsh sunlight. Of course, we had these tactics tested beforehand figuring out that Raven’s hit and run tactics while covered in smog are sublime.
“Fire Fang”
“Hurricane! Blow the smog away!!”
"We'll only have a brief moment to take advantage!’
Without the benefit of the sun Shiftry was slow enough that we would be the ones that had the benefits of striking first. The inside of Raven mouth was set aflame as the canine Pokémon leaped atop her opponent in order to deal a decisive blow. Before Shiftry could work up the typed energy to execute a Hurricane, Raven had him tagged by the arm dealing super effective damage. A startled cry was heard from inside the fog before a Hurricane was summoned dispelling our field advantage and taking my trusty pooch with it blowing her around like a spinning top.
Eventually she managed to land back on the ground but it was obvious to me that being hit point blank by Shiftry’s move had taken a toll on her. Her rapid shallow breathing was a testament to the fatigue that was already settling in. She gave me a single glance which told me all I needed to know about her resolve to continue battling.
“Hold on! You can do it!”
“Awooooo!”
Raven’s form started glowing and a piercing white light shone in all directions with her at the center. The crowd watching us let out a series of “oooh’s and aaah’s” at being witness to the spectacle. It wasn’t every day that one beheld a Pokémon’s evolution. Even Shiftry kept a respectful distance. All Pokémon hold a certain reverence towards evolution and leave the one undergoing it alone in fear of messing up the process. Raven’s form changed to grow about twice as large her skull cap came undone growing into two distinct backwards curving horns, she grew another bone spur around her neck featuring a skull collar and her otherwise short and unremarkable tail elongated growing a sharp looking spade at the tip.
Raven, now a Houndoom, looked more determined and energetic than ever. The evolution somehow enabled the dark type to overcome her battle fatigue. The evolution process’ duration meant that when Raven finally finished evolving the sun had let up taking away our previous advantage but also that of our opponents.
“Are you good to go?”
“Ruff!”
“Okay! Flamethrower!”
“Rock Tomb!”
Shiftry materialized boulders out of thin air threatening to bury Raven alive as they hurled towards her. However, it seemed that the speed advantage which was previously firmly held by Shiftry now belonged to us. With a deftness that was probably brought on by her evolution she narrowly avoided the falling rocks and retaliated with a gout of flame more powerful than what she could usually unleash. Shiftry got hit with a direct blast and with a single screech of pain dropped to the ground fainted.
“The gym leader’s Pokémon is unable to battle! Houndoom wins the round.”
“Boo! Boo!”
The crowd was getting rowdier, their goodwill for the gym leader increasing while my own public image was getting dragged through the mud. Halo who was also watching from the sidelines finally couldn’t take it anymore. If it was one thing, she couldn’t handle it was public humiliation and as her trainer/parent all the jeering from the crowd towards me felt the same as being insulted herself. So I wasn’t surprised that she turned around and fired off multiple String Shots at the loudest hecklers.
“Vess!”
“Mmmmpff! Mmmmpff!”
‘Her aim is amazing. To succeed at silk wrapping that many heads.’
“Don’t worry everyone, my next competitor will show him! Go Ludicolo!”
The pineapple like Pokémon materialized on the field immediately breaking into a heated dance after hearing the crowd cheer it on.
“Ludi! Ludi! Ludicolo!”
‘A dance show and battle combined into one. Violet’s really milking the spotlight. Well at least they’re not focused on us anymore.’
“Are you ready for round two girl?”
“Arf!”
“Ludicolo versus Houndoom, let’s begin!”
“Snarl!”
“Rain Dance!”
Waves of dark type energy hit our target who solidly ignored us to dance some more but this time it was an actual move. Clouds started gathering overhead and it began pouring a moderate amount. Not to the levels of a heavy rainstorm but enough so that the average person would seek out cover to wait it out. All of us, even the audience, got drenched. Luckily for me Glove and Halo were already sitting under cover.
‘Rain Dance… so it’s ability must be Swift Swim, the best thing we can do is to continue to cripple Ludicolo’s ability to mount an offensive.’
“Another Snarl!”
“Hydro Pump!”
Before we could execute our move Ludicolo with an astonishing amount of speed managed to fire off a rapid Hydro Pump. The large jet of pressurized water flew straight into my Pokémon. Its speed meant that there was no chance of dodging. Raven got sent flying by one of the most powerful water type attacks flying all the way across the demarcated lines. My pooch made for a sorry sight soaked to the bone while fainted on the floor.
“Houndoom is unable to battle! Trainer, please select your next Pokémon!”
“Raven return! Go Rena!”
My fox’s appearance on the battlefield marked the beginning of a large change on the battlefield. The rain clouds got pushed away and were instead replaced by strong sunlight. The crowd who had gotten halfway soaked didn’t seem to overly mind that their gym leader’s field advantage was gone if it meant that they had a chance to dry off under the sun.
‘She’s still suffering from intermittent paralysis from the stun spore. We’ll have to finish this quickly.’
“Begin!”
“Fire Blast!”
“Hydro Pump!”
We’ve never used Fire Blast before because of a multitude of reasons, the primary one being that as a vulpix Rena just didn’t have the necessary fire power. Now under the sun and her having evolved I figured that would no longer be the case. Without the rain advantage Ludicolo could no longer fire off its moves with the same speed as before, meaning that our moves collided in the middle of the battlefield. Even though normally a water type move would cancel out a fire type one with ease the effects of Raven’s snarl still held sway over Violet’s Pokémon coupled with the harsh sunlight the tables got turned on our opponents.
The weakened water move got pushed back turning into a copious amount of steam that drifted off into the atmosphere. Meanwhile Rena’s fire type move bulldozed on through hitting the pineapple like Pokémon square in the face.
“Ludi!!”
Ludicolo was now peppered with soot-covered scorch marks but was still looking able and willing to continue on battling. Seeing as Ludicolo was also part water type, that level of resilience was about what I would expect from a gym leader’s Pokémon.
“Quick, Rain Dance!”
“Disable!”
Already anticipating her next move, I was quick to call out my next command. In time to block Ludicolo from dancing up his next rainstorm. Ring of energy stopped the Pokémon mid dance halting what would be a disastrous circumstance for my prospects of winning the match.
“Solar Beam!”
“Fire…!”
Before I could order my next move Rena started struggling clearly unable to move her body. Rena’s paralysis condition acted up stopping her from performing her next move. I watched on as she got hit square in the face by a sun powered Solar Beam. Despite resisting grass type moves the power behind this Solar Beam was no joke. I knew Rena couldn’t take any more of those.
“Solar Beam Again!”
“Return!”
Before the second Solar Beam had a chance to hit, I made the conscious decision to recall my Pokémon.
“Ninetales was withdrawn during the execution of a move and thus is no longer allowed to battle! The match is now one to one. Challenger, please send out your last Pokémon!”
I could call out Numsy again, but he was even less suited to battle against a water type than my other Pokémon. That’s when I decided to call out my ace in the hole. A brief exchange of hand signs made it clear to Glove that I needed him for this battle.
“Dar!”
The technically oldest member of the team stepped onto the battlefield. His inner fire expressed through his flaming eye brows set ablaze showing off his intent to do battle.
“Begin!”
“Rain Dance!”
“Taunt!”
As predicted now that Rena was off the field and the disable’s effect has waned Violet intended to try another attempt at regaining the home field advantage. Luckily my experienced fighter had all sorts of tricks up his sleeves to stop those sorts of shenanigans. Glove gave the universal come fight me sign all the while calling Ludicolo the equivalent of a scaredy meowth in pokéspeak. The Taunt’s effectiveness spoke for itself as Ludicolo stopped its dance and could now only think about proving Glove wrong.
“Flare Blitz!”
“Whirlpool!”
Glove set himself on fire and charged in heedless of the coming maelstrom of water. Diving right in and out as if it wasn’t there, he rammed himself into Ludicolo with an astonishing amount of force. Ludicolo, who had already taken a beating from my other two Pokémon, was knocked out cold, showing off how scary Glove could be when becoming serious.
“Ludicolo is unable to battle! The winner is Darmanitan and so the victor is the challenger Egon!”
The crowd gave a respectful ovation this time for the both of us. Violet’s use of her Ludicolo seemingly alleviating the perceived notion that I had an unfair advantage. Any experienced specialist trainer would have measures in place to counter the obvious type weaknesses of his or her team. At a sixth level gym battle a mixed water type like Ludicolo being the obvious solution.
The both of us returned our Pokémon to their balls. Halo is still standing on the sidelines with a smug satisfaction. Happy that her personal bodyguard showed off his prowess in front of all the bystanders who had come to watch. Both Violet and myself walked towards each other to officially acknowledge the results of our match.
“That was a great match, Egon. You have proven yourself worthy of receiving the Cloverbadge.”
Violet handed over a badge shaped in the form of a four-leaf clover with a yellow glass marble slotted into the center.
“Also, since this battle has been a boon for the gym’s popularity, I’ll let you pick out one of our technical machines if you forgo the monetary award.”
‘I was planning to use the reward money to pay for our seafare but still… she already warned me that minor gyms don’t pay out as much as the major ones. A good technical machine that we could use would trump that any day of the week.’
“The technical machine please.”
“Great! You can follow me and Sceppy back to the gym. I’ll even help you pick one out!”
‘Of all the grass type technical machines out there, there’s really only one I would be interested in.’