Cashe put a comforting hand on Lindon’s back. The boy looked paler than Yu at Maeve’s announcement, and Cashe could see why. Learning that a team of dedicated pokemon catching specialists were moving to the exact area where you were looking for an ultra rare pokemon did not instill confidence that you would find that pokemon. On his other side, Cashe felt Emilia tense, her stance subtly shifting back to confrontational.
If Dee and the others noticed Lindon’s sudden pallor, they showed no sign of it. Dee still smiled his charming smile, displaying it for all it’s worth in the warm, midmorning sunlight, a breeze picking up and passing over the deck of the ferry, tousling his hair gently.
“That’s interesting, and probably a good idea.” Cashe said, “But I’m not sure why we’re talking. You said you were fans? Did you want an autograph or something?”
“Uh, no,” Dee’s smile shrunk a molar or two at Cashe’s abrupt redirection of the topic, “I was actually hoping you might be able to help us with catching a few pokemon.”
“We’re trainers,” Emilia said, “We have a circuit to complete and we’ve got a pretty tight schedule. We’re going to be hard pressed to find our own pokemon. We can’t help you find yours as well.”
“Isn’t this normally the other way around?” Lindon said, finally finding his voice. Much of his paleness had cleared now that Cashe and Emilia were pushing back against the catching specialists, “We are supposed to be asking you for help, aren’t we?”
“We have an exclusive deal with our breeder team, sorry little guy,” Maeve said, smiling down at Lindon. She reached forward with her hand and rubbed his head affectionately, but was pulled back by Yu.
“Maeve, I thought we talked about this,” Yu pulled Maeve tight to her side, tucking her arm firmly against her chest, “You can’t treat kids like pets. Remember how mad the gym trainer got? Dee basically had to beg not to get us kicked out of the gym.”
“But he’s so cute!” Maeve whined.
Lindon shook his head so his hair moved back to its original position and frowned at Maeve, “I’m not a kid!”
Dee pinched the bridge of his nose, “Sorry about her, Lindon. It was Lindon, right?”
Lindon nodded, but continued to scowl at Maeve.
“Maeve is right, we can’t catch any pokemon for anyone else right now. And I think you are misunderstanding us,” he turned to Emilia, “We are just looking for a bit of information. We know how busy up and coming trainers are,” he grinned, “And we don’t need any help with the catching. We’re just looking for a bit of information.”
Emilia blinked, “Oh.”
“You have a Sneasel that you didn’t have before you arrived in Alola,” Yu said. She was still holding Maeve close to her chest with one hand and had her umbrella in the other, “We were hoping you could share how you caught it. We are heading up to Mount Lanakila in hopes of finding a few Sneasel or even a Weavile.”
“Well,” Cashe hesitated.
“They’re notoriously crafty, as I’m sure you know,” Dee said, “Any hints you might have or areas where we can search would be much appreciated.”
“I traded my Sneasel from a breeder, sorry,” Cashe said with a small shrug, “I can tell you he doesn’t like the sun all that much and really likes eggs, but that’s about it.”
“Eggs as in…” Maeve glanced at Emilia’s chest, where her pokemon egg sat, conspicuously.
“We’ve stuck to chicken eggs so far,” Emilia said, attempting and failing to cross her arms, again.
“Maeve!” Yu scolded, “Don’t say things like that! It’s horrible!”
Maeve just shrugged, “Trainers come in all types.”
Dee sighed in frustration, glaring at Maeve. He turned back to Cashe, “Thanks, anyway. We’re going to go now, before Maeve figures out how to put another foot in her mouth.” He shot another withering glance at Maeve, “You’d think it would be impossible with only two feet, but she’ll find a way.”
He turned around and took hold of Maeve's other arm, scolding her as they walked away, “I can’t believe you! That was Emilia Oak! Oak! I absolutely wanted an autograph. Now they think we are a bunch of freaks. How could you be so-”
Cashe turned back to his friends as the catching specialists’ argument faded behind the noise of the ferry’s engine and the wind of the upper deck. “That adds a little wrinkle to our plans.”
Lindon nodded, worried expression on his face, “They are going to be in the same area that we are, but there way before us.”
“We will sign up for our gym battles right away,” Cashe said. He looked at Emilia, “Is there any way you can use your connection to your sister to get us fights faster?” Lindon nodded hopefully, eyes wide
Emilia fixed him with a flat stare.
“I know you don’t like to do it,” Cashe said, looking down at Lindon, “But Lindon’s right. A bunch of specialists in the same area with a big head start does not bode well. Even if they are going up Mount Lanakila, they will probably stay in Tapu Village as their base.”
Emilia wrinkled her nose, but pulled out her phone, “I’ll text her and ask.”
“Thanks Emilia,” Lindon said, relaxing, “I really appreciate it.”
“You won’t,” Emilia said, sending the text and shoving her phone back into her pocket, “Every time Ellie teases me about it, you owe me a favor.”
***
Malie City was about as dissimilar from Hau’oli city as a place could get. While Hau’oli city had the urban sprawl and low buildings that spoke of several villages coming together over time to form a single metropolis, Malie City was clearly the result of a single settlement being built up over time. Towers of glass and metal dominated the skyline and ran along the beach, towering over the ferry as it arrived in port. The city was tight and compact, the flagstone streets shaded by the trees that lined them, thick with vegetation and wildlife. Bird, and other arboreal pokemon were everywhere, ignoring the citizens of the city as they passed below them. Cashe spotted no shortage of Pikipek and Trumbeak in the trees, and even a few Toucannon moving laboriously through the air, weighed down by their giant beaks.
The city was much busier than Hau’oli City, the streets crowded and bustling even in the late afternoon rather than welcoming and relaxed. It was much more modern, too. Cashe saw stylists, restaurants, and trendy coffee shops by the dozen as they walked through the city, all filled with men and women in business suits, too distracted by their phones or laptops to speak to each other.
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On more than one occasion, Cashe, Emilia, and Lindon had to dodge out of the way of a bike messenger or delivery person racing through the streets, earning glares and shouts from the rushing cyclists.
“This place feels very different,” Lindon said as they entered the street after their most recent dive out of the way from a rushing delivery person, “I liked Hau’oli City better.”
“Malie City was built up by architects from Johto.This is actually where the first traditional pokemon gym was in all of Alola because of all the people from Johto. It was one of the first major sites of international interest in Alola,” Emilia said, “The city is a lot busier because of it. A lot more people in a much smaller space.”
They continued through the city, making their way directly to the gym. Unlike Hau’oli City and Iki Town, Cashe did not see many trainers walking the streets, until he realized he was simply missing them, when he saw a man in a tight spandex outfit get into an argument with a woman in a fashionable dress and loudly challenge her to a pokemon battle. He was used to trainers sticking out like a sore thumb, easily spotted by their dirty and practical clothing, large backpacks, and high levels of exhaustion. The two trainers arguing looked more like amateur models with their expensive clothes and sleek appearances.
“What’s with the trainers here?” Cashe said, commenting on the phenomenon once he noticed it.
“Hm?” Emilia craned her neck to look in the direction Cashe was indicating, taking a quick glance at the pair of arguing trainers, “What do you mean?”
“Trainers usually look a lot more like us than like them, right?” Cashe said, gesturing to their pragmatic appearance.
Emilia laughed and Lindon frowned, giving Cashe a funny look, “No?”
“We’re in a city, Cashe,” Emilia said, as if that explained everything.
“So?”
“So half the job of trainers is in presentation,” Emilia rolled her eyes, “Have you forgotten already how people treat poisoners? We are entertainers just as much as we are athletes or anything else.”
“If trainers went around dressed like they were on the road for every gym battle, people would be upset,” Lindon nodded along, “My dad wears a costume for his battles. I think it looks dumb but my mom says it makes him look handsome.”
“Do we need to get stylish clothes like that then?” Cashe said, glancing over his shoulder to where the trainers had been.
“Not until the Second Circuit at least,” Emilia said, “Nobody pays much attention to the Third Circuit, outside a few tournaments.”
Cashe nodded as they made their way farther into the city. They passed a few Pokemon Centers and trainer residences, but did not stop. None of their pokemon needed the Centers and they were trying to register for the gym as soon as possible. After an hour or so of walking, they came across the gym.
The sun was beginning to set, and the tall buildings of the city cast long shadows of the gym. The gym was a towering arena, built on the western edge of the city, dominating the sightlines for all those heading in that direction. The gym’s exterior was designed like some sort of modern colosseum. Huge pillars of stone lined the walls, with crisscrossing strips of metal running between them. They bulged and twisted in places, making the building appear as though it was containing some great energy.
“Something’s been bugging me about the gyms here,” Cashe said as they approached the gym's entrance. He craned his neck to peer all the way up the side of the huge building, “I thought the gyms had type specializations. Your sister, Selena, uses a lot of ground and rock types, and in the one battle I saw her fight, her opponent was using a water team. But Iki Town’s gym didn’t seem to have a type specialty, even though all the trainers had at least one fighting type on their team.”
“My dad uses a lot of electric types,” Lindon answered, “But gyms aren’t one type only. That stopped so long ago. You sound like an old geezer complaining about how pokemon is different now.” He squinted at Cashe, “I guess you are old, but I didn’t think you were that old.”
“Hey,” Cashe complained.
“No, he’s right,” Emilia agreed, “You do sound like an old man.”
Cashe frowned at the pair as they grinned at him, obviously pleased with the opportunity to tease.
“Gyms were typed when my Dad was going through the circuits,” Emilia said, rolling her eyes at Cashe’s frown, “But that stopped a long time ago, right around the time the league started to get serious. A lot of things changed when people started seeing pokemon as a serious competition. Except for a few special circumstances, single type teams are simply too weak to justify.”
“Old people like to complain, but nobody wants to lose,” Lindon said.
“Actually, type specialization might be why my sister got to be a gym leader at such a young age, even though she is a Champion,” Emilia said.
“Really?” Lindon looked up at her, “But she doesn’t have a single type, I thought.”
“Yeah, but she has the same aesthetic as a type specialist, which is what matters,” Emilia said, “Viridian is pretty conservative, so when they were choosing a new gym leader after the previous one retired, she had everything going for her. Pedigree, family ties, and a team that could appease everyone upset that she was a pretty, young woman.”
“Why do they even care about that?” Lindon said.
“I don’t know, but they do,” Emilia complained.
“So no one specializes any more?” Cashe said.
“Some people do,” Lindon said.
“Traditionalists,” Emilia nodded, “But gym leaders don’t, as a rule. It’s too easy to counter a team if you know every single pokemon on it is going to be the same type.” Emilia held open the door for Cashe and Lindon as they reached the main entrance of the gym, “Trainers usually use archetypes now base around certain strategies. Lindon’s dad uses electric terrain, so he has a good number of electric type pokemon. Selena has a sand team so she has a bunch of rock and ground type pokemon. Ace Trainer Til had a rain team and had a lot of water type pokemon. But Ellie uses a hyper offense team and has a large type variety.”
“So why did everyone have a fighting type in the Iki Town gym?” Cashe said.
“Fighting types are good,” Lindon shrugged, “Maybe they just wanted to.”
“It has to do with the pre-League Trails that Iki Town used to host,” A confident man’s voice said as they entered. The man was tall and dark, his skin so black he almost looked like he stepped out of a grayscale photo. His head was shaved bald and white teeth gleamed through a welcoming smile. He was wearing a tacky Alolan shirt, board shorts, and sandals. “You must be Emilia Oak, Apollo Cashe, and Lindon Stroute. I’m Kev, welcome to my gym.”
***
Connie let go of the gacha machine, dropping her hands to her side in embarrassment. She nudged Daryl so he would talk to the older man.
“Hello,” Daryl said, “I am Dr Arbutus and this is Dr Elliot. We are here on behalf of the Pokemon League and the Mossdeep Space Center. It is our understanding that you have a rather strange tree you would like to show us?”
The man wrinkled his brow as Daryl spoke, adding a few to his already much wrinkled face, “I reached out to the League months ago,” he said, “I thought you weren’t coming.”
“We’re an understaffed department,” Daryl sighed, though he was thankful they were. Dealing with one coworker was hard enough, even if he did like her.
“Are you Holston or Son?” Connie said.
Case in point.
But Holston or Son only laughed, “I was Son at one point, but if that were still the case my father would be naught but skin and bones.” Holston made his way around the workbench, somehow managing to move without disturbing anything as he approached, “Shai Holston. Nice to meet you.”
Daryl took the older man’s hand, careful not to crush it in his firm grip. “Nice to meet you, Mr Holston.”
Connie shook his hand after, doing so with much less care, and large, emphasized movements, “Lead the way, Mr Holston!” She grinned.
“Very well, follow me.” Mr Holston gave Daryl a quick look, “It might be a bit of a squeeze-”
“I’m used to it,” Daryl grumbled, following behind Connie and Mr Holston as they moved through the storefront and into the shop in the back. This was filled with machine parts and tools, workbenches and broken toys. Daryl even saw a line of plushies made to resemble pokemon that all needed stitched. It looked like Holston and Son repaired everything.
They moved through the shop as well, eventually emerging in a small yard out back. Like many places in Nacrene City, Holston and Son was built around nature instead of on top of it. The shop’s yard was not large, but was thoroughly wooded, the trees from Pinwheel Forest not pushed back at all and looming tall over them as they exited the building. It didn’t take long for Daryl to spot the reason they were here.
“A strange tree indeed,” Connie mused, staring up at it.
*****