I had a notion that Professor Rowan might try to check in on us while we were in Jubilife, based on how Lucas seemed to be getting more and more anxious as we approached the largest city in Sinnoh, but he finally confirmed it the night we stayed at the Pokémon Center, telling us that he needed to meet the professor the following morning. Despite the short notice, I didn't even consider it an inconvenience; we were way ahead of schedule to make it to Floaroma town for the contest, to the point where I was wondering if we could find adequate lodging for over a week. Pokémon Centers were crowded at the best of times, and if this contest was as big as Ursula was making it out to be, then staying there might not be a whole lot of fun. Besides, they weren't exactly the best place to practice if you were planning on keeping your plans for the appeals round of the contest a secret.
I won't lie, I am a bit nervous about meeting the professor and having him evaluate the progress I had made so far. This whole thing smacks of getting one of my final papers or tests graded when I was in college that made the difference on what grade I would receive for the entirety of the class. While I didn't think I was doing a bad job, considering there were trainers out there like that dude with the Sandslash I had beaten, a part of me felt like the professor would have some significant criticism to offer.
As a result, I wasn't all that eager to meet up with him first thing in the morning, before I could get a speech rehearsed or some explanations ready as to why I was doing certain things, but Lucas wasn't having any of that.
"Will you two hurry up! The professor has been expecting me to meet up with him all week, and I am not going to keep him waiting!" Lucas urges Ursula and I, as we slowly make our way up to the front of the Pokémon Center to meet him, where he is tapping his foot impatiently, looking like he is considering dragging us out by our collars if we don't start moving any faster.
"It is a wonder that you were hired at the laboratory with those types of manners. Did your parents not teach you anything, such as it being exceptionally rude to rush a lady when she is getting ready in the morning?" Ursula snipes back sourly.
"They did, actually, and one of those lessons they taught me was not to make my boss angry. Trust me, you don't want to see Professor Rowan when he gets mad."
Ursula isn't yet convinced, though I know exactly what Lucas is talking about. I remember meeting Professor Rowan and being more than a little intimidated by his intense demeanor and his perpetual poker face. "I thought he was in his sixties? One would think that becoming a grandfather would help mellow out even the sternest of people."
Lucas shrugs as he pushes open the door. "He just turned sixty, so there's plenty of life in him yet. I'm sure the Professor is kind with his grandchildren, but that doesn't mean he still doesn't hold people who work for him to the highest of standards."
We walk up the several blocks between the Pokémon Center and the Pokétch Company headquarters, the location where we were supposed to meet the professor at precisely nine in the morning because he had business there after seeing us off. Only there was no Professor Rowan to be found. Which is something that Ursula absolutely would not let go.
"To summarize, you badger us all morning to make sure we are on time for the meeting with your precious professor, and he is nowhere to be seen!" the coordinator rants, brandishing her watch and shoving it in Lucas's face. "So much for professional courtesy!"
Rowan's assistant pushes the arm out of his face, looking more concerned than I had ever seen him. "The professor is never late," he says firmly, causing me to look around in all directions in case I had somehow missed a tall, white-haired man with an enormous mustache. Lucas shakes his head. "That's not what I meant. I've known the professor for a couple of years, and he's as meticulous with his schedule as anyone I've ever met. He doesn't even come back from lunch late! It's not possible that he would be late for a meeting like this."
"So… he got lost then?" I throw out the idea. Not because the professor was old and losing it, because clearly his mind was as sharp as ever, but it was a possibility in such a large city. The more I think about it though, the less I believe it. We picked a landmark building, close to the Pokémon Center and I have a feeling that Professor Rowan has been here more than once before.
It's as if Lucas can read my mind. "That's highly unlikely either, because the Professor teaches some classes at the trainer's school, and he knows this city extremely well. Which means the only possible reason that he is late is that he was attacked, either on the way here, or within the city," he finishes grimly.
"Let's not be too hasty and jump to conclusions," I reason. "Isn't he one of the most famous men in Sinnoh, well-known for his research? Everyone must know what he looks like." I certainly wouldn't miss that mustache anywhere. "What kind of moron would try and attack him?"
Instead of soothing his worries, my words seem to have the opposite effect. "Exactly! He must have a hundred, no, a thousand rivals, waiting to pounce like a Luxray, to steal his research and use it themselves! We have to stop them!" Lucas shouts, pulling out his only Pokéball from his pocket. "Chimchar, come on out and help us!"
His Pokémon waits for instructions, which Lucas quickly provides. "Chimchar, climb on top of this streetlight and see if you can spot Professor Rowan anywhere."
The Sinnoh starter gets straight to it, clambering up the light pole acrobatically, scanning the city like the lookout of a pirate ship. I hold my breath for a second when Chimchar jumps straight up, high into the air, to try to get an even better view, but the fire monkey lands firmly on top of the light. Eventually, he yells down to us, pointing north towards an apartment complex.
"Nice work Chimchar! Come on!"
Ursula and I look at each other in exasperation, but we follow Lucas regardless. He's faster than us, and slightly less caring about pedestrians than we are, but eventually we manage to catch up with him, finding Lucas standing next to Professor Rowan in a fairly secluded area; when I think about it, it's right where Tropius dropped me off when I first arrived in Jubilife. What's far more interesting than a tiny bit of nostalgia is the two individuals opposite from the Professor and his assistant.
Seemingly everyone in the games comments on how ridiculous Team Galactic's uniforms are, but seeing them in person, I'd have to agree resoundingly. I don't know who came up with these abominations, but whoever they are, they definitely need their eyes checked. Astronauts don't wear rubber pants, tinfoil socks and sleeves, and white rain boots. I get the high collar; the only issue was that there was no astronaut's helmet to go with it, so the grunts look even stupider, like they don't have necks. And to top it all off, they had hair the color of toothpaste in a middle school style bowl cut. I also didn't get why these villainous teams advertised themselves with their giant logo either. Shouldn't these guys try and operate in the shadows or something? Whoever was in charge of this operation, either Cyrus, or one of his three planetary minions, clearly did not know the meaning of the word stealth.
The only thing that could have potentially saved them from looking and sounding like total nitwits was the Team Galactic Battle theme, which shamefully doesn't exist in this universe, because that music was fire. But then again, everyone in Pokémon had an awesome battle theme.
They were trying to sound intimidating, but unfortunately for these two grunts, their appearance doesn't match their words.
"Now, now, Professor Rowan, all you need to do is comply, and there will be no need to make this messy. Hand over all your research findings. For free, naturally. Failure to do so, however, will mean that we will have to destroy your little assistant in a Pokémon battle."
Rowan looked like he could not believe that two idiots dressed up like spacemen were trying to strong arm him into handing over his research. The professor literally had published several papers on the subject of Pokémon evolution. You'd think these guys would be able to go to a library and find it there instead of resorting to this foolishness. He turns to Ursula and me as we approach, greeting us with a stern smile, completely ignoring the words of the Galactic grunt. In fact, he's acting like these two aren't even there.
"Ah, Luna! Marvelous timing, my girl. Splendid seeing you. How has your Pokémon journey been progressing?
"Nice to see you too, professor," I reply, eyeing the Galactic Grunt before returning my gaze to Rowan. Might as well play along with the Professor and act like these guys are invisible. Even though their outfits make them stick out like a shiny Raikou amongst a pack of Electrike. "I think it has been going pretty well, all things considered. We just came back from Oreburgh City, and now we're on our way to Floaroma Town."
He strokes his beard in thought. "Oreburgh, you say? I assume that you challenged the gym then?"
I pull out my badge case and show off my Coal Badge in response, which draws a genuine, if fleeting smile from the Professor. "It feels like yesterday when we met, and I gave you Charmander to raise. To think that you have beaten Roark in a gym battle already? Perhaps being a trainer truly is second nature to you. Actually, when I think about it, I've met several interesting trainers over the past few weeks. When we get some free time, I simply must tell you about them."
The Galactic Grunt on the left interrupts our conversation, speaking professionally. "Oh, professor of Pokémon, must you be so difficult? As a professional, you must understand that we are speaking to you for business purposes. This is work for us. But perhaps I was being rude and didn't account for you losing your hearing in our old age. Several other noted academics have already joined us in our noble quest for knowledge. We wish for you to join as well, but if you cannot be persuaded, then know this: we are not asking to borrow your research. We are demanding that you hand it over."
"Quiet, you insolent fool! Why do you insist on being such a nuisance!" Rowan barks. He starts lecturing the Galactic grunts about everything they were doing wrong. "Let me list some lessons that you still need to learn. First, don't loiter about for no reason. Second, don't interrupt others while they are making conversation. Third, if you don't get your way, don't raise your voice in an attempt to be intimidating. Fourth, don't think you are strong just because you are in a group. Fifth, don't wear such an outlandish outfit when trying to make a business proposal."
"My goodness," he mutters, finally finished with his impromptu lesson. "You call yourselves adults?" "Lucas, Luna, please promise me that you won't grow up to be like these sorry specimens."
We both nod, causing him to relax just a touch, as the Galactic goon completely loses his cool composure. "Eyaaaaaaiiiih! You just had to make this personal! Well, now my trusty partner and I will personally demonstrate our power!" He challenges us, pulling out a Pokéball, as his partner mimics the action after a second's delay. "We will make you regret the day you crossed Team Galactic!" The funny thing about the Pokémon world is, since every dispute seemingly is settled with a Pokémon battle, any passerby wouldn't even give us a sideways glance. The only abnormal thing about this whole situation is the Team Galactic uniforms.
Rowan harrumphs. "As if. Do an old man a favor, and give these moronic thugs a lesson in civility, will you?" Lucas looks eager to show off how far he has come since Sandgem Town, and I feel the same way. And what better punching bags are there than a couple of low-level grunts? We'll wipe the floor with their Wurmple and Zubat and send these goons packing. Even if this is the first double battle or tag battle that I've ever done.
I probably shouldn't use Charmander, considering that would be stacking types since Lucas was obviously going to use Chimchar. But all these villain teams like to spam Poison-types, especially Zubat, which wouldn't be great for Oddish even if she had much better synergy with a Fire-type, and Glaceon seemed like overkill for the likes of these two. A part of me also wanted to show off how far Charmander has come while Professor Rowan was being an audience.
We all send out our Pokémon at the same time, with Lucas just pointing his Pokémon into position, as Chimchar was already out of his ball.
"Go, Stunky!"
"Go, Drowzee!"
"Charmander, you're up!"
"Get 'em, Chimchar!"
Our opponents, one a purple skunk with a white fur on its back, and one a yellow and brown tapir looking creature, stare our Pokémon down, looking angry.
Well, I was totally wrong in my predictions of what Pokémon they were going to send out. That isn't an ideal start. Neither is Lucas's reaction to what Pokémon I selected. "Charmander? Of all the times-" he cuts himself off, breathing deeply a couple of times. We really aren't the paragon of teamwork here, huh.
Strangely enough, our opponents actually do have some semblance of cooperation. "We warned you not to mess with us! Now, have a taste of our unstoppable technique: the Ultimate Noxious Gas Combo!" They whirl their arms in circles five times before leveling a finger at each of us.
"Poison Gas!" they shout in unison.
On the grunts' command, both of their Pokémon release matching purple noxious fumes, Drowzee from its mouth, while Stunky turns around, raises its tail and releases from… well, you can probably guess. The combined attack billows into a massive toxic cloud that slowly rolls towards us and threatens to engulf us whole. Should I tell Charmander to try and hold his breath? Should I hold my breath? There had to be an antidote to these types of poisons, right?
I stare uselessly at the massive purple cloud, my mind totally drawing a blank on how to counter this method of attack.
"Fire Spin!" Lucas's voice comes from next to me. Chimchar sends out a fire vortex which catches the fumes and starts sending them upward harmlessly.
This is the same thing that happened in my Gym Battle, with Sandstorm and Smokescreen. Thank goodness one of us managed to keep our cool. I shake myself out of this stupor and make a contribution to the battle.
"Give it more juice Charmander! Use Ember on the Fire Spin!" My Fire-type adds its attack to Chimchar's and the vortex grows in power, maintaining its shape until all of the Poison Gas has been spun away into the sky.
I really should take these guys more seriously, especially after that attack, but they continue to make it extremely difficult.
"Partner!" The Galactic grunt who sent out Stunky, who I dub grunt number two for now, looks absolutely dumbfounded that we aren't unconscious on the floor or coughing up a storm. His arm trembles as he waves it in our general direction. "Our Ultimate Noxious Gas Combo didn't work!"
"Gah! Kids these days," grunt one, the leader of this twosome, grumbles. "You brats are tough. Super-tough, even! But you can't stop our Ultimate Noxious Gas Combo so easily!"
"Drowzee, use Disable attack on that Chimchar!" The Psychic-type Pokémon's eyes glow blue, as it readies the move.
"Charmander, jump in front of Chimchar!" I order, as Drowzee releases a flash of white energy towards the fire monkey. My Pokémon obeys without question, shielding the fire monkey and absorbing the strange energy in his stead. Charmander looks surprised when he seemingly hasn't been harmed, but I knew better than to think there isn't a cost for doing that. Charmander won't be able to use Ember again this battle but that's a fine trade to make, considering the alternative is losing Chimchar's Fire Spin, which would leave us wide open to another 'Ultimate Noxious Gas Combo.'
"Don't take us for fools! This poison is even more effective than the last! Stunky, use Toxic!" Grunt two shouts; as soon as the words come out of his mouth, Lucas orders a response.
"You know what to do Chimchar! Stop that!"
What the heck did that mean?
When the skunk Pokémon starts to use the attack, it thankfully does not turn around again, instead opening its mouth, showing how an orb of poison was forming in its maw. But Chimchar does his move at the same time, and whatever it is, it causes Stunky to clamp its mouth closed, so only a dribble of toxin drools down from its mouth before before the enemy Pokémon goes berserk, the red arounds its eyes somehow magnified as it lengthens its claws and charges at us with unrestrained fury.
"Wait, wait, waaaaiiiiit!" grunt two frantically pleads with his Pokémon. "I didn't say to use Fury Swipes!"
I couldn't care less about Stunky's hearing problems. I had an opening, and I was going to take it. "Go for Dragon Rage!"
Charmander manages to get off the attack before his face is mauled by an angry skunk, sending out a ball of blue flames that explode on contact with the enemy. Stunky is blasted back, singed and unconscious, skidding to a halt at its trainer's feet.
Dragon Rage has to be one of the most broken moves ever. It's just taking everything out in one shot!
Both Galactic Grunts' jaws drop in disbelief, and they stand like statues in that pose for several seconds before I finally turn to Lucas.
"What kind of move was that?" I mutter lowly to him, out of the hearing range of our opponents.
"It's called Taunt," he murmurs. "When affected by it, a Pokémon becomes Taunted, and it's only able to use attacking moves. I didn't expect for Stunky to fly into a rage like that, but you handled it well."
At first, a move that only allows your opponent to attack always seemed a bit counterintuitive to me, because wouldn't it be better for the enemy not to attack you? As time had gone on though, Taunt had proven useful many times, even in game, by preventing Pokémon from using status or recovery moves. Here, being forced to only attack made your opponent much more predictable, all of which is making me wish I had it in my arsenal of moves.
"Is that the move you were talking about using to capture an Abra? I would have thought that was a foolproof plan, taunting them so they can't use Teleport to get away," I ask, now feeling even worse about giving him a hard time about going after one. Had I not antagonized him and asked for an explanation, I would have cosigned wholeheartedly on that plan.
He sighs sadly, readjusting his scarf. "I thought so too, but somehow Abra has a telepathic sense even while it's sleeping, and everyone we managed to find escaped before we could even engage it in a battle."
While we are slowly making peace, our opponents have chosen violence. Well, one of them has, to be exact. Grunt one has grunt two by the collar and was shaking the poor guy back and forth, demanding to know why he was such a miserable failure. "I don't care if Stunky is a company Pokémon or not! I told you to pick that Grimer instead! If you're such a weak trainer, then you need to have the strongest Pokémon possible to make up for that!"
Grunt two is trying to pull the other one off of him, but his cohort has a vice grip on the front of his outfit. He stammers while trying to explain his line of thinking. "W-well, I was thinking ahead you know. St-Stunky knows Venoshock, so I thought after we poisoned them, we could finish them off with that!"
Fuck me. I can't believe that these guys were out here trying to use a real battle strategy!
Grunt one drops his partner, not having an argument against that, and eyes the battlefield in disgust. His teammate is out of the fight, and he can't tell Drowzee to use any status moves because Chimchar will just taunt the Psychic-type like Stunky. He clenches his fists in anger and orders a futile attack.
"Drowzee!" he roars. "Use Zen Headbutt!"
Seriously, dude? Get out of here. We just came off facing a real Zen Headbutt, in a gym battle. No way your Pokémon is even a quarter of the threat that Roark's Rampardos was. Rather unlucky, to get stuck with a Team Galactic Grunt as your trainer.
"Chimchar, dodge and use Fury Swipes!"
I don't even need to order a dodge. "Just finish it with Metal Claw, Charmander."
Both Fire-types leap into action, claws extended and glowing. Chimchar, ever cheeky, even adds a bit of flair to the battle, jumping up and using Drowzee like an olympic gymnast would go for a vault, springboarding off the glowing head of the enemy Pokémon to get behind it. Unfortunately for Drowzee, it can't whirl around to face Chimchar, because Charmander is still in front of it ready to attack.
There's nothing really much left to say; it's just an utter beatdown from here, with both Pokémon slicing and dicing away at the Psychic-type until it collapses in defeat. Charmander and Chimchar give each other a high five over the fallen Pokémon's unconscious body, dancing a circle around it.
"How is this madness possible," grunt two, who has gotten to his feet, mumbles in shock. "We lost to children! How are we supposed to get that bonus they're offering now? Everyone else's plan must already be in motion!"
"Hopefully the commander isn't too angry that we wasted all this time to try and bring back evolution research. I won't mention it to her if you don't. But the mission isn't a failure yet. Go ahead and start the retreat, while I cover you, and hopefully we can still participate in the main plan," grunt one mutters back to his partner. Grunt two, having already recalled his Stunky, takes off, and while there are a few fingers pointed and questions asked about what this guy was wearing, he vanishes into the city streets in no time at all.
Grunt one recalls his own Pokémon after his partner leaves, flickering his eyes from person to person. "Know this. While we have no option but to retreat for now, we only do so because Team Galactic is benevolent to all. This is not the last you have seen of us." Maybe when he stops at the library to actually look over Professor Rowan's research, he can check out a dictionary, because I'm sure benevolent doesn't mean what he thinks it does.
We did end up beating them, fairly convincingly, after Lucas was able to stymie their little Poison Gas stunt, but it wasn't even close to my best performance. Add double battles to what is quickly becoming a very long list of things I need to work on.
Rowan watches the lead Grunt disappear before turning back to us, frowning deeply. "That Team Galactic… I've heard whispers of them, but this is the first time I've encountered them in person. I couldn't make heads or tails of what they were saying before you showed up, however. What could they possibly be up to?"
I probably should tell them that Team Galactic's boss had dreams of creating a new world using the power of the legendary Pokémon Dialga and Palkia, but not only did that sound ridiculous in the first place, after meeting Team Galactic in person, it seems even more farfetched. Does Cyrus really think he's going to manage to conquer Sinnoh when he employs stooges like those two to do his dirty work? Surely, he could afford some better help, if he has the clout to be able to form an organization like this from scratch. Speaking of which, I should probably at least volunteer some information.
I raise my hand, and everyone looks at me. "Maybe when we get to Eterna City, we can learn some more about them. There's a building there called the Galactic Energy Corporation. It could be just a coincidence that their names are the same, but it's worth checking out, right?" Obviously, I knew that's a Team Galactic building, no matter how it's dressed up, but if I seem too well-informed, they might suspect me of actually being a member!
Stolen novel; please report.
Lucas scratches his cheek. "Sometimes I forget you aren't originally from here. Galactic Energy is one of the oldest and largest companies in Sinnoh. Their headquarters is in Veilstone City, and they supply power to basically every city on the east side of Mt. Coronet. Their commercials play all the time, though I don't know why they bother. Galactic Energy basically has a monopoly over there."
Huh. Well, my point still stands. Cyrus is the owner of a giant corporation, and he probably pays these Galactic Grunts minimum wage. No wonder they were trying to take initiative and impress their bosses for a bonus. You get what you pay for, and if Cyrus would rather fill his pockets with cash then spend it for some decent help, then it's no surprise that a random trainer could just waltz right in and foil their plans single-handedly.
"Not for long," the professor corrects him. "I have it on very good authority that Sunyshore is installing solar panels throughout their city, to take advantage of the constant sunshine that they receive so they can break away from reliance on Galactic Energy. Perhaps that is why an advertisement for them seems to appear every commercial break. This might simply be the work of a few idiots, trying to use a large company's name as their cover, but there may potentially be correlation. If you do decide to investigate, please be careful."
"Anyhow, that's enough about them," Rowan says, shaking his head rapidly as if to remove all stray thoughts of team Galactic from it. "Excellent battle, you two. Charmander has certainly come far under your care, Luna. I am very glad that I put my faith in you by letting you take him. And you as well, Lucas. Great thinking, using Fire Spin to dissipate that Poison Gas. It always warms an old man's heart to see how well the younger generation of trainers is doing, you know. "
That comment reminds me of something that Rowan had said earlier. I pose the question to him. "Didn't you say that beforehand, Professor? Something about meeting other trainers?"
"Ah yes, I did, before those hooligans so rudely interrupted us. I've run across several interesting characters. One should be quite familiar to you Lucas, since you hail from the same hometown. Do you remember Johanna's daughter, Dawn? I met with her and gave her a Piplup to start her journey as a coordinator."
Ursula, who had been observing the battle, and now was standing by listening with disinterest, raises her head like a Watchog. "A coordinator you say?" The girl questions, barging into the conversation. "That certainly sounds interesting. Starting your journey as a coordinator is not something just anyone decides to undertake. It is not to be done lightly, you know."
Rowan nods in agreement. "Indeed. But Dawn should know better than most. Why, her mother was a fantastic coordinator back in the day. If my memory serves me right, she managed to enter the Grand Festival and win the whole thing!"
Our resident coordinator puts on a haughty sneer. "Oh, I see. Another one of those coordinators. It was good to meet you Professor. If you'll excuse me." She stalks off angrily, without actually giving any reason to why she had left so abruptly.
We watch her go, not sure what to think about her vitriol at someone she hadn't even met. "Anyone else worth mentioning, professor?" I ask, trying to change the subject.
"Yes. I brought up Dawn because she is traveling with two other individuals. One by the name of Brock, a former gym leader in Kanto, who has taken up Pokémon breeding, and his friend, Ash, who has also come all the way from Kanto. I believe Ash has struck a fierce rivalry with another trainer, named Paul, due to their polar opposite philosophies."
My brain starts to short-circuit as Lucas asks Rowan what exactly he meant in his last statement. Ash? Like the Ash from Pallet Town, the protagonist of the whole anime? He's an actual person? And he was here, in Sinnoh? Does he actually not keep Pikachu in a ball and let it ride on his shoulder? And does Pikachu actually get stolen every day by Team Rocket? I have so many freaking questions! Maybe I could learn something by listening to the professor and his assistant.
"I actually observed a battle between Paul and Ash, actually. It all came about due to a couple of Starlys, of all things. Paul was out catching as many as he could in order to try and find the best one, which Ash took exception to, having caught the first Starly he had seen and committing to it, despite this particular Starly not knowing Aerial Ace. Paul's seeming indifference to every Pokémon he caught, releasing the ones he didn't deem strong enough, was in direct opposition to Ash's method of training, which caused both to battle, though it ended up in a draw. Both of them impressed me as trainers, however, regardless of how polar opposite their training styles are."
Paul sounded eerily like the guy we encountered the other guy, who released his Pokémon right after we battled. I could see how he made an impression on the professor, but Ash? Granted, I don't remember most of the anime, but what I do remember about Ash was a guy bumbling his way through every episode. I mean, how many gym badges did he actually win legitimately, without Team Rocket interfering, or some plot armor bullshit like Pikachu beating a Rhydon by aiming for the horn?
I'll give you Lt. Surge, but other than that? The Viridian City Gym Leader wasn't Giovanni and his army of Ground-types; instead, Ash battled Jessie, James and Meowth for the thousandth time. Talk about an easy win!
One could argue that Ash proved his merits during the actual tournaments. But again, he's the main character. What chance did some random trainer have against the power of the plot? Zero. Unless you were at least a recurring character, you might as well go ahead and forfeit against Ash.
An alarm beeps, and Rowan looks at his watch. "It was a splendid meeting with you both and I truly enjoyed watching you both battle. Keep me updated on how your project goes Lucas, and best of luck on your gym challenge, Luna. Now, I have a meeting with the Pokétch chairman, and I must be off."
We say our goodbyes to the professor, thanking him for giving us our Pokémon again, before we go north, meeting up with Ursula at the gate, who still looks grumpy. After a quick bite to eat for lunch, we start making our way out of the city, away from the skyscrapers and back into the countryside, though my mind is still spinning with thoughts of the anime.
I'm trying my best to remember what I can, but all I'm getting beyond the first season are bits and pieces, memorable moments that stuck in my brain, like when Charizard beat Blastoise with Seismic Toss, when Team Rocket released Arbok and Weezing, some stuff from the movies, that thunder armor Ash used in one of his gym battles, along with random things from a few other various episodes.
Not nearly enough, though. Maybe the best policy I can take is avoidance. Yeah, I've battled Paul, but that doesn't mean anything. He probably won't even remember some random trainer he met and battled against on his way to Oreburgh. He's the only anime person that I've met, let alone interacted with closely, right? Surely that meant I wasn't destined to run into Ash.
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The route north of Jubilife was almost too nice, as if it wasn't a true wild area. I could see why so many people chose to make their home in this city, considering that they could easily spend a weekend as a mini vacation right here, in an area filled with fishing ponds, flowery gardens, and plenty of camping spots. Lucas informed me that the trainer school made a lot of field trips to this area, which explained how domestic the whole trip was feeling. There wasn't much to worry about on this route, compared to when you traveled to Oreburgh. I'd bet the leadership of Jubilife spent a whole lot of money ensuring that almost all the Pokémon you'd see had kind dispositions. There would be no nasty surprises in these ponds, that was for certain.
Which is why it's so unexpected that there's such a commotion as we neared the entrance to the Ravaged path, the cave formation that connected Jubilife City and Floaroma town, after the extremely peaceful journey north of Jubilife. Ravaged Path was a bit dramatic, in my opinion. No, it wasn't developed like Oreburgh Tunnel, which is essentially a normal road built through a mountain. But these guys who named it were acting like it was some incredibly treacherous cavern, unexplorable to all but a select few trainers, like Mt. Silver or Cerulean Cave.
It's literally placed in between the largest city in Sinnoh, and one of the most touristy cities. There's no way that anyone with half a brain would make it more difficult than a somewhat strenuous hike to travel between Jubilife and Floaroma. Which begs the question of why there are so many people milling around the area, which is covered with yellow caution tape, most of them shouting their displeasure about not being able to get through. What the heck was going on here? Some extremely ill-timed construction? They must know better than to start right before a major contest.
The only other thing I can think of is some Team Galactic shenanigans. Those two grunts did run off this way, and they mentioned something about a mission. We were traveling fairly slowly, so it was definitely possible that those two beat us here by a significant margin. Perhaps the mission was to prevent anybody from Jubilife interfering in Team Galactic activities? I remember that they are doing something at Valley Windworks, though I'm not sure exactly what. Did they collapse part of the cave and now the Pokémon inside are angry?
Even on my tiptoes, I can't get a good look at what was going on. "Lucas, can you see what's happening at the front?"
The taller boy copies my actions. But after several seconds he returns to his normal height and gives an underwhelming report. "There's someone standing at the entrance trying to calm people down, but I don't know why it's like this. We can just wait until the crowd clears; I'm sure they'll get tired and leave soon enough."
That course of action didn't suit Ursula, who was not about to get interrupted on the way to her next contest. "If you think I am going to sit still and wait for this rabble to move on, you are sorely mistaken." She circles around the crowd like a Sharpedo looking for the weakest member of a pod. Once the optimal entry point has been located, she casually strides up and sharply elbows the fellow in front of her in the small of the back, causing him to flail in startled pain, one hand smacking the guy next to him in the face. While they argue, Ursula has moved on to her next target, stepping on a lady's heel with her boot, using each commotion to slip further into the crowd. Lucas and I look at each other before quickly following the space she creates for us, with Ursula acting as a human tornado, a whirlwind of bony elbows, precise shin kicks and even a sharp yank on a woman's ponytail. We push and shove until all three of us make our way to the front, where we can see what the ruckus was about.
The person standing in front of the entrance is a man with long blonde hair, who I'd estimate is in his early twenties, wearing what looks like gear that I would see at the zoo, or on a Safari. The only difference is, instead of wearing tan or brown, this man is wearing mostly black, except for his vest, his boots, and his cap, all of which are bright red. His whole outfit is immaculate, like it had just come from the dry cleaners. The man has all sorts of things around his waist, including a rope, a large water bottle, something that looks like a walkie-talkie, a climbing axe, and a travel-sized first aid kit. He's tanned, like he's spent his whole life in the sun, and he speaks with an accent I haven't heard before, making me wonder where he was from. He takes a deep breath before shouting to make himself heard over the crowd. This man cut a striking figure, and is certainly handsome, but something just seemed off about him. The same vibe that I got when I first met Ursula, in fact; that his appearance looked a little too picturesque to be genuine.
"As I have told you, repeatedly, it's not possible to travel through the Ravaged Path at this time! I suggest you wait until we rangers can resolve the rockfall causing the blockage, and then you will be able to go through once again!"
I suppose Team Galactic is laughing at us from the other side of the Ravaged Path. This shouldn't be that hard of an issue to solve though. Can't a Pokémon just use just Rock Smash to break this rock and clear the way? The move might not be special or anything, because as far as I knew, you didn't need a specific move to fly on a Pokémon or ride it over water, but it should get the job done. I nudge Lucas as the crowd starts to trickle away, still grumbling under their breath. "Isn't there a move that can break rocks?"
"Rock Smash, but it doesn't have to be that specific move; any strong Fighting-type move should be able to do it. I think Rock Smash was the first recognized Fighting-type move, because so many people liked to train their Fighting-types by smashing rocks."
Seems like I'm on the right track. Good thing we have exactly zero Fighting-type Pokémon or Fighting-type moves between the three of us, and I don't expect to get bailed out by Lucas's Chimchar evolving into Monferno right this instant. We wait around while the remainder of the crowd finally leaves, as the blonde man takes off his safari hat, wiping some of the strands of his blonde hair off his sweaty brow with the back of his arm, and grabs his water bottle and chugging what seemed like all of it in one go with the other.
The three of us shuffle over as he finishes drinking, swallowing with an audible gulp and sighing. The ranger sees us when he goes to put back his bottle where it belongs. "Huh? Did you three just arrive? Sorry, but the tunnel is closed. A huge rock fell and is completely blocking anyone from coming to and from. You'll have to come back later, once we can clear it."
"About that," Lucas says, his tone making it clear that we were not here to antagonize or blame him. "We were wondering if you had tried to break the rock with a fighting move."
That gets him ticked off. "Of course I have, I'm a Pokémon Ranger, after all. Now, unless you brats have any more amazing suggestions, I would suggest you piss off and find something to do and let me do my job."
Ouch. His harsh words make us turn around; all our inquisitiveness lost. We discuss if we would camp out close to the entrance or try to rent out a cabin a little further back before his voice calls out in apology.
"Ah geez! Hold up, I didn't mean it like that!" We turn around slowly, not quite trusting him. The ranger looks abashed, having taken off his hat and running his hand through his long blonde hair nervously. "Look, I'm really sorry. I'm just fucking nervous about this whole thing. I really need a mission to go well, and I shouldn't have lashed out like that."
"Let's start over, shall we?" He says, as we remain silent. "I'm Miles, a Pokémon Ranger, and I was sent here to deal with the blockage in the Ravaged Pass." He pauses. "Maybe I should show you, I think that might help me explain better."
We move over to the entrance, walking inside, as he lights a torch before replacing the yellow caution tape and following us. We walk in near darkness and silence for what seems like an eternity, with the only interruptions being when everyone ducks under a bunch of Zubats who roost here and are flying about, and it's driving me crazy. I try to make some small talk as he directs us to the roughly cut out stairs leading to the upper level of the cave.
"So, where are you from Miles? You don't sound like you're from around here." I ask, trying to break the wall of ice that had formed between us since our first interaction.
"Neither do you," he laughs. "I'm from Mossdeep City, which is on an island in Hoenn. It's absolutely beautiful, we've got white beaches on all sides, great scuba diving spots, one of the most unique Pokémon gyms ever, and even a newly constructed facility that launches rockets into space. It's where I met my partner, too. But even paradise can start to get boring when it's all you know, which is why I went to school to become a Pokémon Ranger, so I could see more of the world, and hopefully help some folks out."
"Partner?" Ursula questions? "Are you already married?"
"Course not," he chuckles. "I meant my Pokémon partner. Ah, here he is now." As we approach the top of the stairs, we're greeted by several loud claps, made by an adorably round, blue and beige seal.
"This here's Spheal." Miles says, patting the seal on his head. "There's an enormous colony back home that shows up during the winter, but this guy must have somehow dozed off while the sea ice he was sleeping on broke off, and he ended up washed up on the beach, where I found him. I took in Spheal for the year, but when his colony came back, he decided to stay with me instead."
"I didn't think that Rangers were allowed to keep Pokémon," Lucas muses to himself, scanning the round seal with his Pokédex.
"Spheal. The Clap Pokémon. Spheal is much faster rolling than it is walking or swimming. When groups of this Pokémon eat, they all clap at once to show their pleasure. Because of this, their mealtimes are noisy."
The blonde ranger gives us a wry grin. "We don't keep a team of Pokémon like trainers, but rangers are allowed to have one as long as they have an extremely strong bond. Besides, we may be experts in the outdoors, but it's never a bad thing, having a Pokémon at your side." He looks down the tunnel, which should be showing light, indicating where the exit is, but it's pitch black other than his torchlight. "Spheal, can you lead us over?" The seal Pokémon barks once, then turns on his side and starts rolling down the tunnel, giving us a firsthand demonstration of what the Pokédex said.
We run down the tunnel in order to keep up, only stopping when we finally reach the rockfall blockage. Once again, the games do it no justice. It's not a knee-height rock that someone could climb over. It's literally a giant boulder, surpassing even the staggeringly large lump of coal that we had seen at the Oreburgh Museum. It must weigh over a ton, but it has somehow completely wedged itself into the narrowest part of the tunnel. I suppose it could have been a natural occurrence, because I don't know how those two Galactic Grunts could manage to place it here, considering what Pokémon they were using. That mystery aside, we look at the corners for any possible way to slip through, though it looked impossible unless one had a liquid body, like Grimer or Ditto, or a Ghost-type Pokémon, which could pass right through.
Miles takes his hat off and runs a hand through his hair again, before replacing it on his head. "Yeah…now you can see what we are dealing with. Spheal knows Rock Smash, funny enough. Course, it made me open my big mouth, thinking that he could instantly destroy this boulder." He points to a small fracture near the bottom. "That's all we could accomplish. Which is why I got so defensive when you mentioned that earlier. Kayla, that's the lead ranger assigned to this mission by the way, went off to go to either Oreburgh to borrow one from the mines, or search around Mt. Coronet for a Machoke or another Fighting-type strong enough to shatter this thing. And I get to sit around telling people to wait until she comes back."
Ursula's expression turns to one of horror. "So, we have to wait at least a week for this Kayla to come back from Mt. Coronet?"
"Nah, she befriended a wild Staraptor, so the trip won't take nearly that long. But still, it doesn't sit right with me, that she might be out there risking her life in one of the most dangerous places in Sinnoh, and I'm just twiddling my thumbs over here." He sighs heavily. "Not that it's anything new. Ever since I totally fucked up my first serious mission, I've been getting stuck doing tasks like crowd control for this one, delivering the daily newspaper, rounding up Bidoof for the local school to play with, or getting an old lady's Skitty down from a tree." He flicks off some imaginary dust off his uniform. "Which is fine and all, but as you may have noticed, my uniform is squeaky clean, because I'm unofficially banned from doing anything even a little challenging, that might actually get it dirty."
Might as well get this man's whole backstory while we are cooped up here. "And what happened on your first mission to get you stuck doing those things?"
The blonde ranger grimaces, rolling up his right sleeve to reveal a nasty white scar and several more precise ones, like someone had gone in with a knife on his tanned arm. It looked like something had grabbed it, painfully. Something strong, and with claws.
"Ever seen a Crawdaunt?"
We shake our heads. I could see where this was going, though.
"They're native to Hoenn. Nasty assholes, all of them. Super aggressive and super territorial. They basically take over a pond and drive every other living thing out, turning it into a dead zone. One of them somehow had gotten into a fishing pond in Celestic Town, and me, thinking that I knew more about Crawdaunt than anyone else in my base, convinced my Head Ranger that I should be sent out to capture it, so we could release it somewhere else." He mimes something clamping down on his arm with his free hand. "Bastard got me pretty good with his Vicegrip, as you can see. Woulda ripped my whole arm out of my shoulder had Spheal not taken off Crawdaunt's arm first." The blonde ranger looks down gratefully at his round Pokémon. "Crawdaunts aren't so tough without their main weapons, so it was dealt with easily enough after that. Still, it shattered the Radius and my Ulna bones in my forearm, my capture styler, and my confidence. I needed surgery, then a long rehab, so I couldn't do anything, not even paperwork, for months. My one-year review is coming up too… I'm afraid if I can't show my worth somehow, then I'll be let go."
Miles stares glumly into the giant boulder, as Spheal tries fruitlessly to cheer up his partner.
Aside from the terrifying mental image of having your arm wrenched out of its socket by a giant crab, I do feel bad for the guy. He seems like a genuinely nice bloke, wanting to help out people and Pokémon in the selfless spirit of Pokémon Rangers. It looked like my companions had been moved by his story, and so had I, to be fair, but something else in his words had piqued my interest.
Pokémon could take an almost unnatural amount of punishment. Crawdaunt is an evolved Pokémon as well; it wasn't your average crustacean, where you could easily tear off its claws. Maybe Spheal just hulked out in the moment in order to save his partner, but even if it was temporary, I had a feeling that there was some serious strength underneath his round, cute exterior.
So, Spheal has enough power, and he has the right move. In Pokémon Ranger, that's what you needed to clear an obstacle. But sometimes you needed to do something extra, like dousing a burning log before cutting through it. So now the question is how to get this boulder to the point where Spheal can smash it.
Weirdly enough, something from the anime springs to the front of my mind, possibly a result of it being a focus of my thoughts ever since leaving Jubilife City. In this particular episode, Team Rocket catches the twerps in a metal cage, and Ash and friends manage to break out by weakening the bars by alternating between Pokémon moves that superheated them and then rapidly cooled them down, before smashing through with one powerful blow. Why Team Rocket left them some Pokémon to do that, I have zero clue; you'd think those three would have perfected their plans at some point.
We have all the tools to replicate that here. Everyone looks at me as I get up and pat some gravel off my butt. "I guess we'll just have to help you break this thing before your partner returns then, huh."
That statement garners three confused looks, from questioning to downright nonbelieving. "Not to be a downer Luna, but we don't exactly have the means to do so."
"Yeah, we do," I respond, gesturing to Spheal. "Spheal here knows Rock Smash."
"That has already been tried." Ursula points out irritably.
I cross my arms. "We've been looking at this problem backwards the whole time," I insist. "We have to be boulder in our strategy." When no one reacts, I continue with a mental sigh. "Instead of trying to get a more powerful Pokémon to shatter the rock as is, we should try and weaken it to the point Spheal can take it out."
Miles startles me as he jumps up in excitement. "Is there a move for that?' The ranger asks, his voice cracking on the last word as he looks towards me in hope.
"Not a move. But I think with some coordination between our Pokémon, we can pull this off." I lay out the plan, and both Lucas and Miles immediately jump aboard the bandwagon. Even though one works in a lab, and one works, or wants to work, in the great outdoors, they both tell me what I'm thinking of is a scientific term called thermal expansion, where rapid changes in temperature cause an object to change its shape.
Ursula isn't quite as enthused, though I can tell she wants this to work as much as any of us. "Do you really think we can do this?"
I glance over at the rock, for what I hope will be the last time. "Only one way to find out."
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We array our troops in two formations, the heat brigade of Charmander, Chimchar and Gible on one side, and the frost brigade of Surskit, Glaceon, and Spheal on the other.
"Everyone know the plan?" I ask, getting several confident nods and cries from both sides. "We're starting off with fire!"
"Fire Spin!"
"Dragon Rage!"
I add an order for Ember to those of my companions. I'm not sure about the ratio of regular fire to draconic flames, since I've never actually tested how hot Dragon Rage actually is, so I just stick to what I know, which is juicing up Fire Spin with some extra heat. The blue and orange flames start working their magic, especially Chimchar's Fire Spin, which surrounds the whole rock and heats the entire thing at once. The only issue is us possibly overheating from such an intense fire, but Spheal sends out a Water Gun that turns into a sprinkler, to cool us right down.
After fifteen long minutes of constant flame, the rock was glowing an angry red, like a hunk of metal straight from a blacksmith's forge. Now for part two.
"Icy Wind!"
"Water Gun!"
Spheal's water is naturally cold, but even if it wasn't like Surskit's, combined with Glaceon's Icy Wind, being doused the combined Water Gun would be akin to jumping into an ice bath. The rock quickly starts to steam and cool down. We hear a loud crack, as the face of the boulder splits near the top, leaving a large crevice. That gets a huge cheer from everyone, as our Pokémon redouble their efforts, causing more cracks and fissures to appear. The rock is starting to get so cold when it's the frost brigade's turn, that when water starts to seep into the crevices and fissures made by its weakening integrity, the water is freezing, splitting the stone open even further.
When I finally call for us to stop, it's been well over an hour, and the rock is a lattice of cracks of all different sizes. We all step aside to let Miles and Spheal have the honor of blasting it into a million pieces.
Even in the dimness of the cave, the white of his ear-to-ear grin is blinding. "Alright, Spheal! Use Rock Smash!" he roars, pointing dramatically. His Pokémon glows orange before bouncing up and body slamming into the boulder like a sledgehammer, crashing into the rock and shattering it like it was made of eggshells instead of stone.
Everyone seems to have their own way of celebrating, Lucas does a fist pump, I thrust both my hands into the air, and Ursula just tosses one of her hair tails and cockily looks around, as if daring anyone to say that they could've done better. Chimchar does a backflip, Charmander shuffles around in a happy dance, and Spheal lives up to his namesake by clapping up a storm.
Miles rushes over and snatches all three of us up in a giant hug, even managing to lift us off the ground a couple of inches with his sheer euphoric strength before he finally lets us go.
I can see his eyes glistening as he speaks to us, his voice choking up in raw emotion. "You guys… really fucking did it. I mean, I didn't doubt you, but this is just…"
He looks down the cave shaft, where we can see some faint light in the distance, signifying the Floaroma town exit. "Shouldn't you guys be going, though? You wanted to get through, right? Keep heading down this way following the light hugging the right-side wall, and you'll be out of here pretty soon. It's an easy journey the rest of the way to Floaroma Town."
Honestly, it feels great to be able to help someone out like this. It would be a shame if he still lost his job though, and looking around at my companions, I can tell they are sharing my thoughts. "Pull yourself together man," I tell him, grabbing a piece of stone from the ground and rubbing some dirt on my fingers. "We're not done yet."
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"So let me get this straight," an equally tall and fit, though dark-skinned and female ranger says, after thanking and dismissing the Machoke and Staraptor she had brought back with her. "Miles managed to quell the crowd. And he convinced you three that he had a genius strategy to clear the rockfall. And it worked to the point that Spheal was able to break the boulder with his Rock Smash? Miles?"
"I dunno, I guess he just has a great Spheal for things like this."
This is the second time she had repeated our account back to us, in utter disbelief, but we remained steadfast in our story. Personally, I think it helped that Ursula and I ended up giving Miles a bit of a makeover, though not in the traditional sense. We smudged his face with a little bit of dirt, dragged his red jacket through the gravel a couple of times and scratched up his boots a touch. Now he looks more like a proper Pokémon ranger, instead of a mannequin modeling a ranger's uniform in a department store.
Kayla is flabbergasted, and when she remains speechless, her partner Pokémon, a Roselia, pokes the lady ranger in the leg with a thorny arm.
"Ouch! What was that fo- Oh right. Well, Ranger Miles," she states formally, trying to regain some of her composure, though the proud expression on her face tells us she's excited as her counterpart is. "It seems that the rockfall has been destroyed, and that traffic can once again flow through the Ravaged Path. I call that a Mission Clear!"
She looks to Miles expectantly, but the blonde ranger just scratches the back of his head and laughs sheepishly. "I haven't come up with a Ranger Pose yet," he admits, causing Kayla to chuckle and smack him on the back.
"Eh, it's no big deal. Just make sure when you think of one, you perfect it so it's ready for your next mission! I'll give you a second to say your goodbyes, but then we need to go inform the mayor of Jubilife that the Ravaged Path is cleared." Man, she's barely giving him a minute to bask in his success, though the expression on Miles's says he couldn't care less about the increased workload.
"I'll be right there," he promises as Kayla leaves to give us some privacy. He whirls around, looking serious. "I can't thank you guys enough for what you've done for me today. I swear that I won't waste this second chance. This isn't even close to an equal trade, but take these."
The ranger shoves some papers that look like vouchers and a bag of something soft into my arms. Ursula relieves me of the bag and gasps once she sees what's inside. "These are some of the highest quality berries I have seen!"
Miles quickly shushes any more of her protests by shaking his head firmly. "Trust me, that's nothing compared to what you've done for me. But how about this? Whenever you guys are competing in the gym circuit, the contest circuit, or anything else, you can be sure that Spheal and I will cheer for you, no matter what."
I think I just gained my first fan, so I hold out my hand to seal the agreement. "Then know we'll be rooting for you to make Top Ranger as well."
He clasps it with a grin. "It's a deal."