The Journal of Arthur Lindt

June 14th, 20XX

So, I’ll honestly say things aren’t looking great. They are not bad per se, but they are more complicated than I had initially hoped. Ethan’s return to town was honestly great for Lyra and me since we haven’t had the chance to talk as much during all the preparation for our gym battles. We had our trainer battles on the 16th, and the gym battles themselves the day after. We had both been training hard this whole time.

With Ethan back we had the perfect reason to take a day off and meet up with one another. That’s what we spent all of yesterday doing, just taking the chance to meet up and slow down after all of Ethan’s traveling, and our training. It was nice to just get the chance to relax, and Ethan filled us in on the details of his journey. How he collected an egg from Professor Elm’s friend, delivering it back to the professor as quickly as he could. How he finally got the chance to begin his journey in earnest and the opportunity to travel alone with Chika was productive.

They explored a small cave system on the North end of Route 30, and he happened to get lucky and encountered a new friend. At least that’s how he worded it. In truth, lucky didn’t even begin to cover things. That ‘small cave’ he explored was mostly likely the Dark Cave. A large interconnected tunnel system that runs through most of the western side of Mt.Silver. As far as my memory served the section of the tunnel on Route 30 was still pretty isolated, but it did connect to the much larger cave systems in the mountainside.

Rangers usually kept a pretty tight eye on the tunnel in case anything dangerous got spooked from the larger caverns into the smaller areas, but given that Ethan didn’t even realize that was the cave he was exploring it meant there were no Rangers keeping people away, so it was safe enough to explore. This meant that the only Pokémon in the cavern should have been the occasional Geodude, Zubat, or Diglet. Instead, Ethan had managed to find and befriend a Phanpy.

Lyra and I were both shocked to hear this. Phanpy was pretty rare in Johto, only grazing on the mountainside paths of Route 45. While there was an entrance to the Dark Caves on that route, to make it down to Route 30 was quite the distance. Lyra was the first to voice her concern that this Phanpy was chased down there, and was separated from its family. Ethan looked very concerned at this possibility, immediately releasing the ground-type elephant to speak to. It was at this point I nearly lost my composure.

This Phanpy, nicknamed Ella by Ethan, was not the standard blue and red of the Pokémon species. Its blue skin was instead a pale white, giving a greater accentuation of the red pads on the ears and nose. He had found a shiny Phanpy.

That unlikely chance aside, we were at least relieved to learn that Phanpy wasn’t lost or looking for her family. She intentionally went exploring the caves because she was looking to explore the greater world. Partnering with Ethan let her do even more of that, so she was happy to travel with him.

That was a relief for everyone to learn, and from there our conversation continued like normal. Neither Ethan nor Lyra commented on Phanpy’s strange color, so I decided to leave things as they were. I’m sure they would learn soon enough that the Phanpy was shiny, there was no need for me to spoil the surprise.

Another cause for concern was Ethan didn’t mention anything about a robbery at the lab, or anything about battling a red-headed stranger on his journey. I couldn’t question it further without sounding suspicious, but his refusal to mention things was a cause for concern. Ethan didn’t strike me as the type to keep that sort of thing secret, which meant Silver didn’t rob the lab. I’m not sure how that was possible, I hadn’t done anything to cause significant change. I was pretty sure I had even seen him at the lab when Ethan was receiving his Pokémon. And yet there was no sign of him to be heard of.

I hoped he was alright at least. Even if he was the rival of the second-generation games, it’s not like he was a bad kid. He just had a rough home life that had shaped his beliefs to be a little more brutal than most. My greater concern was what this meant as a whole. Sure the events of Gen 2’s plot were pretty negligible. Rocket would mount an attack to try and call back Giovanni, but would be defeated and wiped out for good, or mostly for good anyway. If the special events were canon then there would be a need for a small bit of time travel to stop Giovanni from returning, but that would be up to Ethan to handle.

It wasn’t like the events of Gen 3 or 4, where the plot put a huge portion of the world, or the universe itself was actually at risk. My presence couldn’t have consequences too important, and by the time those later games came around, I should be strong enough to lend a hand if needed. There was no rush and no need to panic. At least that’s what I had thought, but If my existence had already thrown the plot off course without even trying anything, well then the trouble we were in got more concerning.

The consequence was that I would need to consider getting involved in the main story. Not ideal, but sometimes these things have to happen. Rocket returning wasn’t the worst event in the world, but it still wouldn’t be great, and I’d rather avoid it if possible. No matter what I thought of it though, it wouldn’t change things in this moment. I couldn’t worry concerning myself with what I may or may not need to do. I had my trainer battles tomorrow, and my recent battles made it clear there was more work I needed to do.

Ethan’s return meant Lyra and I finally had a chance to battle him once again. She claimed dibs on fighting his Chikorita this time, and Ethan wanted to test Ella against my newest member Bastion. We spent yesterday afternoon at the battle courts participating in these fights.

Lyra made her efforts to challenge the Sprout tower clear, as Chikorita could barely lay a scratch on her Zee. Razor leaf just seemed to restore her health, and it became clear that Marill had unlocked her sap-sipper ability. Chika still did her best and put up a solid fight, but pure power made a close combat fight an unfair arrangement, and with sap sipper, the Pokémon had no way to effectively damage the Marill from a distance.

Even watching the battle I was struggling to come up with a way for me to counter her Marill. Pure power and sap sipper combo made Nova practically useless, and Bastion had no method to counter her water gun or bubble beam. Zee was also getting pretty close to their evolution from what I could tell. The Marril line was one of the strange ones. Like most baby Pokémon lines it required friendship to evolve out of its first stage but the difference came when evolving to its third stage. Most baby Pokémon require a stone or some other convoluted method of final evolution, but Marill is an exception.

Marill will simply evolve into Azumarill at a certain level of strength and experience. Most Pokémon evolutions work this way, taking effect once the Pokémon are appropriately advanced enough for it. It is important to note that this is tied solely to combat experience and physical readiness, not age. Evolution is the process of that abundant type of energy all Pokémon have, being trained to the point of being too much for their bodies, forcing a rapid change to support that new strength.

Pokémon do not have concrete levels like they do in the games, but they still grow and change with experience at a similar point. While there’s no set ‘level 16’ that will cause Chikorita to evolve into Bayleaf, all Chikoritas will evolve into Bayleafs at a similar level of combat experience and physical strength. This is what makes Azumarill a particularly powerful exception for baby Pokémon. Without a stone requirement for evolution, they evolve at relatively low levels compared to most Pokémon of equivalent strength. Now the usual trade-off is that they aren’t as strong as most three-stage evolution Pokémon, but as we know I think that take is bullshit anyway.

An Azumarill with pure power and sap sipper is just a threat, particularly to any grass types around. It’s a shame Johto didn’t have a grass-type gym, but I can still imagine Lyra surprising any trainers who try to use grass to counter her starter.

Not all evolutions occur with experience alone, however. Some Pokémon require more obscure methods. The most common alternative method is stone evolution. Now, these stones aren’t technically required for evolutions, if they did there would be almost no stone-locked Pokémon in the wilds. Stones are simply high concentrations of type energy that accelerate a process that would take years.

Nova is a great example of this. Sunkern evolves into Sunflora with a sunstone but there are other methods for Sunflora to exist. Sunkern can also evolve by just absorbing enough sunlight over a long enough period. But this process will take years of constant sunbathing to occur naturally. A sunstone will simply cause evolution automatically when exposed to a willing recipient.

There is the key word of willing, however. A Pokémon, no matter the method of evolution, can deny the process if it does not wish to evolve. Very few Pokémon would have reason to deny evolution if it were available, but in the case of stone evolutions, triggering the evolution early can be detrimental to the Pokémon’s development. Pokémon will find it much more difficult to learn moves in their later evolutionary stages, especially stone evolution Pokémon. It’s important that even if you have the matching stone for your Pokémon, you save it for when your Pokémon is ready to evolve. It’s not a change that can be taken back.

There is one other category of evolution. Well, more than one, but one more major one. Trade evolutions. At least that’s what they are referred to in my old world. Here they don’t have a direct name, but I’ve taken to referring to them as artificial or situational evolutions. In the games, some Pokémon could only evolve to their final stages if traded with someone else who owned another copy of the game. While trading Pokémon is something people can do in this world, it doesn’t cause evolution.

Pokémon that would require a trade evolution instead require more abstract efforts. Lots of these methods are very closely guarded secrets, and others are just a pain in the ass to get done. For an example of the first, Haunter traditionally evolves into Gengar when traded. In this world, however, the secret to evolving Haunter into Gengar is unknown. There are several individuals with Gengar out there, but they have neglected to share the method of evolution with the rest of us.

For an example of the pain-in-the-ass evolutions, in the games Onix evolved into Steelix when traded while holding a metal coat item. In this world, it’s fairly well known that for Onix to evolve to Steelix it must switch to a diet heavily consisting of iron and other metals for many months, possibly years. If a faster option is wanted, a molten steel bath at a specialized foundry can get the job done in a quicker and more specialized manner. The foundries often charge a lot for this service, however, although it would be cheaper than getting your hands on the information for the more secretive evolutions.

It’s the same problem many trainers will find, any evolutions that do not occur naturally with growth in power will cost either time or money. Unfortunately, most young trainers don’t have much of either, so Lyra and Ethan have gotten lucky in that their starters will evolve naturally. In Lyra’s case, she’s even luckier since it will evolve young compared to most 3-stage Pokémon.

I have to put concerns about evolutions aside for now though. I’m a long way off from being able to afford a stone for Nova, and Bastion doesn’t evolve at all, so I have to plan around the gym battle with my team as they are now.

I’m not the most concerned thankfully, most flying types won’t have special attacks until they’re stronger than first-level badges, which means that Pyukumuku is a hard counter to pretty much anything they send out. If I can get a leech seed down with Nova to start the fight, and then use my switch to put in Pyukumuku we should be able to sweep the gym effectively.

That’s the plan of course, but I just have a sinking feeling things won’t turn out that way. While we effectively have most first badge level Pokémon covered, it’s well known that Falkner has several Fletchlings and Fletchinder. His elite team even has a Talonflame on it. The problem with that is unlike most other flying types, Fletchling knows ember innately. While Fletchinder would be considered too strong for a first-level badge challenge, Fletchling is still a pretty solid counter for my team. The fire-type move against Nova and the fact the move is special and wouldn’t trigger Bastion's counter. I just had to hope he didn’t send out Fletchling to start, and we should have things under control.

In preparation, however, I have decided to change my plans. Nova, Bastion, and I will be challenging Sprout Tower today. While I was hoping to challenge it after the gym battle and clear it completely for the bonus TM on top of the cash reward, I think I should challenge it beforehand for the added experience.

Ah almost forgot to mention, that Bastion's fight with Ella wasn’t even close. Unfortunately, Phanpy doesn’t learn any special attacking moves naturally, so they had no way to hurt Bastion without taking a counter in return. After three traded blows I called it. It wasn’t going to be a fair match with Ella and I didn’t want to get her down from losing a nearly impossible match. Ethan didn’t look bothered by the loss and was instead researching ways to teach Ella a special move. She can learn mud slap or mud shot through TM‘s so that was always a possibility, at least eventually.

Bastion seemed to enjoy having won an actual fight though, so I hoped he could make it through some of Sprout Tower. His water typing was going to be a disadvantage but the vast majority of Pokémon in the tower would be part of the Bellsprout line, which could only really learn physical moves, with a minor exception. Acid and Acid spray were scary moves, but only stronger Bellsprout would have them, and it would be good exposure to poison type-energy for Bastion since Pyukumuku could learn several poison moves.

It wouldn’t do me any good to be overthinking it, however. I could spend weeks planning and planning but in the end, all I could do was attempt. The tower, the gym. These things were always going to be obstacles, and at a certain point, planning became an excuse to hide a fear of failure. Today we would climb the tower, and tomorrow we rest before starting our gym challenge the day after. And even if we didn’t succeed today, we would take time and prepare before trying again.

I had no misconceptions that I had a team that could go undefeated, especially against gym leaders. Even if it wasn’t against Falkner, winning would be hard fought for us every single time. But I wouldn’t let that fear stop us, even if we lost a hundred battles, or had to try the same gym a dozen times we would find a way to win. Nova, Bastion. They wanted to be the best, and by Arceus, I would do what it took to get them there.

----------------------------------------

Arthur Lindt

I felt the wind blow through my hair as I stood on the bridge. The open water of the wide but shallow river left a tunnel that the wind could blow freely in. Unlike back in Cherrygrove and New Bark, Violet City was a windy place. Probably had to do with our proximity to the mountain ranges, looking east I could see Mount Silver climbing high into the sky, and I could follow the range as it filled the majority of the North East. The wind blew off the ocean and followed the mountain range, leaving some of the cities along its base a place of extreme winds.

Probably why the flying gym ended up located here. Wind carried flying type-energy, or so the studies claimed anyway. All the winds made the tower in front of me more impressive. The wooden five-story tower could be seen visibly swaying in the wind. Shifting side to side under the heavy winds that would buffet the tower as it rose above the tree line.

“Sunkern,” Nova spoke loudly from beside me, staring at the tower with a look of determination.

“I know buddy. We are going to see how well we do. But I’ll be keeping you in reserve for the first while. Bastion is the one who needs the practice battling first.” Nova shrunk a little at my words before nodding in agreement. We had discussed all this before making our way to the tower as a team, but I could tell he was trying to convince me to change my mind and send him out first. He was always excitable when it came to battling.

“For now wait in the ball okay? I’ll call you out when it’s your turn. Until then rest, prepare yourself. Clearing the tower won’t be easy.” Nova sags for a moment, his little leaf wilting for a second before it perks up and he nods, turning to face me.

With a click of the Pokéball, he is called in a beam of bright red light and I’m left alone on the bridge. I walk forward, ignoring the feeling in my gut. Anxiety, doubt, fear. All feelings that come with a battle, with that chance of defeat. I push them to the side and breathe out for a moment, clearing my mind. Defeat wasn’t something we would worry about, only the battle itself.

I approached the tower, my pace even and focused. I wasn’t going to run or rush, the tower wasn’t going anywhere.

I lasted all of 6 steps before I picked up into a jog. Walking was so slow and since waking up as Arthur I had such boundless energy. With a jog, it was barely a minute before I was at the foot of the tower. The whole construction was made of wood but having got close to it now I could see carvings in the side. Each of the thick pillars that divided sections of the walls had intricate but faded carvings of vines climbing the entire height of the tower. The doors themselves had a Bellsprout carved into the wood facing each other with their viney bodies waving with some clear artistic interpretation.

I pushed the door open with much trouble, the room in front of me was larger than I expected. Support beams filled the space, evenly spaced around the open concept plan the building used. The beam in the center of the building was larger than any of the others, and unlike the others, there was a hole in the ceiling for it to rise through.

As I walked further in I noticed that there was a field built into the floor, the lines drawn out and the wood reinforced with metal struts holding the joints together. There was an older man in monk robes sat in the center of the space, while a few younger monks in similar clothing milled about. There were also several Bellsprout roaming the tower, either helping the younger monks with work or gathering near where the windows let in sunlight.

As I walked forward one of the younger monks noticed me, setting his broom down he walked over briskly.

“Hello there, are you here to challenge the tower?” He spoke calmly but seemed excited to see me.

“Yeah, that’s the plan. Is it a good time?” I wanted to be sure things were alright, the sweeping they were doing as well as the busy behaviour made me think someone had just come through here.

“Ah now is fine, we just had someone start their challenge but they’ve already progressed to the next floor. There are only two rules. First, only those below their second badge may attempt the tower, so we will require your trainer ID. Next, no fire types or fire-type moves are permitted in the tower. Afterwards, feel free to approach the elder and your challenge will begin shortly.” He smiled at me and I was quick to hand over my trainer ID. He glanced it over before pulling a Pokégear from out under his robes and double-checking the information. He nodded after a moment and turned my ID back to me, before turning back to his work and leaving me alone. He seemed nice enough but I noticed quickly he didn’t introduce himself. He must see a lot of trainers like me attempting the tower.

Without any other guidance, I make my way towards the rather small arena. The monk seated in the center turns to me as I approach, rising to his feet.

“Greetings young man. Your journey through the tower begins here. Waver not and climb as far as you can, each battle will be of increasing challenge. Conquer them all and face our elder at the tower’s peak. Defeat him and earn your reward.” It was all he said as he approached the other end of the field. A younger monk approached from the side, standing along the edge of the small battling square.

“Challenger Arthur will begin with the Tower’s first floor. He will face a single Pokémon. Challenger, Elder, release your Pokémon.” He spoke clearly, and as he did more monks, and even several Bellsprout approached the edge of the Arena to observe.

I was caught off guard by the speed at which I was being pushed into a battle already, there was no build-up, no discussion of switches or team limits. The Tower seemed to have its own rules, and those were all that mattered. I grinned, excitement flowing as I realized this would be kind of like my first real challenge. This isn’t a battle for training or a one-and-done deal. It was sort of a mini-tournament. I laughed to myself, grabbing the Pokéball from my hip.

“Go Bastion.” I toss the ball high and in a slow arc, letting it spin as I do. It stops at the height of its arc, letting out a red light and depositing my team’s tank on the field.

The monk in front of me takes a moment, walking to the edge of his corner of the arena and looking over a group of Bellsprout that have gathered there. He takes a moment, looking over them before raising a hand and patting one of them on the head.

“You, you will start this challenge. Battle with honor.” His voice is soft and the Bellsprout shivers with anticipation before quickly walking onto the field. Its walk is strange, halfway between steps and a slither as it carries itself on its roots onto the field.

Interesting that they chose from the Bellsprout in the tower, but it made sense, given the challenge was designed for newer trainers any specifically caught or trained Pokémon would quickly grow out of that range, or the Tower would start having to take a gym approach.

Bastion stares down the Bellsprout in front of him, while the Bellsprout looks both excited to battle and confused by the Pokémon in front of it. Not that I could blame them, I doubt any had seen a Pyukumuku before. I would use that to my advantage.

“Begin.” The young monk serving as a referee speaks and we begin immediately.

“Bastion charge forward and tackle.” Bastion couldn’t learn tackle of course, but most trainers and Pokémon in Johto wouldn’t know that. What they would see is a Pokémon slowly dragging themselves towards them with the order to attack.

Given how slow Pyukumuku was dodging wouldn’t be a necessity for anyone seeing them coming, so they would do the obvious and attack first.

“Bellsprout use Vinewhip. Strong as you can.” The monk's order was exactly what I expected and was hoping for.

This would only work so long as me and Bastion weren’t well known, eventually, people would learn that he could only attack with counter and try and find ways around that. That or they would avoid attacking him altogether and take advantage of arena moves or switching. I had plans for once that happened, but right now I could take advantage of not being well known.

There is a a moment of silence as the Bellsprout takes its time, charging a bunch of grass type-energy into their vine before bringing it down as hard as possible on Bastion’s back. I imagine my neglect to order Bastion to try and dodge or a change to my plan was surprising to those watching but it became clear as the Bellsprout made contact.

There is an audible crack as the impact is made and Bastion immediately goes with a counter. The speed with which his fist appears and slams into the Bellsprout is unlike any use of the move I had seen before. He had been hit harder than anyone had hit him during our training, and the super-effectiveness of the move didn’t help. This led to the fist being nearly the size of Bellsprout as it hit them, and it sent them flying. Out of the arena and smacking against the wall of the tower. They slid to the ground, having fainted in a single blow.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The room is silent for a moment, as the surprise passes over everyone. The monk who served as the ref’s jaw is wide open, and it takes him a moment to collect himself before he speaks.

“Um. Bellsprout defeated, the first challenge is completed you are welcome to climb to the next floor.” He looks confused by what happened. As far as they were concerned I ordered a regular tackle and Pyukumuku just one shot the Bellsprout once it was in range.

Only the older Monk looked like they understood what happened, nodding as he looked from my Pokémon to me.

“Well done young man. I’m curious how far that trick can carry you through our tower.” He gave me a nod and tossed me a potion before walking over to apply one to the fallen Bellsprout.

I felt a little bad for the guy but it only happened because he hit Bastion so hard. Grabbing Bastion close I can look over at him.

“Pyu.” He speaks softly, wincing as I pick him up. Looking him over and how he sounds I can tell that while he might have been able to take another blow like that, it would have been close.

“Yeah, that was rougher than I expected. Type weaknesses suck huh.” He nods his body in agreement. “Next time we will start with a harden, it won’t be a full-stage increase, but it should still help.” Bastion nods again in understanding, sticking out a thumbs up with his guts. I spray the potion on him immediately, patching up most of his wounds. He was going to lead the next fight as well.

With Bastion ready I recall him back into the Pokéball and make my way to the ladder that gave access to the next floor. The lack of stairs felt sort of like it could be an issue. Aren’t some of the monks in this building old men? And what about any potential trainers who are physically impaired? It felt weird, but perhaps it was just a mentality from my old life. There is probably some Pokémon way to take care of it, either with teleport or just carrying someone. Not something I needed to overthink. I made my way up the ladder. I wondered exactly how far we would go.

----------------------------------------

I was riding high. Nova was hopping around excitedly as the final Bellsprout continued to try Vinewhip after Vinewhip. He missed blow after blow, his attacks becoming too slow to have any chance to hit Nova’s mobility. The Leech seeds drained his opponent’s health, healing the few hits he had taken at the start of the fight.

We were on the fourth floor, and this was the first time I had to bring Nova out. The first three floors were simple. One Bellsprout for one floor, two for the second, and three for the third. They were all around the same strength, and while Bastion struggled to handle three enemies back to back his health and defense got him through just barely. They had no non-physical ways to attack him so in the end they couldn’t find a way to best him. We had to use the potion we won for each win after each battle, but we were making progress.

Until the fourth floor. There were only two Bellsprout to battle here, but it was clear these ones were different from the others. The first was countered easily but the second started with wrap, not vinewhip. And while Bastion could counter it, the Bellsprout didn’t let go like the others had, and instead sprinkled a powder over Bastion, and he quickly fell asleep. He knew powder moves and could fight much smarter than the other Bellsprout could. It was a problem. Thankfully Bastion woke up quickly, and we were able to get a taunt off. It kept the Bellsprout from using more powders which it was prepping for. Bastion was too weak to continue however I could tell, and I wasn’t going to risk him fainting when I wanted both of my teammates ready for the last floor.

As such we used a baton pass, bringing Nova to the field finally. He showed off his excitement, quickly throwing out a leech seed and following it with multiple razor leaves. That led us to where we are now. Finally, despite the ineffective moves, the Bellsprout fell and collapsed unconscious. I had an entourage of people at this point, several of the younger monks had been following me up the tower, interested to see how my team battled and how far I could get with my counter trick. There were some sighs and the passing of money when Bastion had been trapped, but when he awoke and used taunts there were a couple of shouts of surprise and cheers and a rush to regather money.

I didn’t think monks were supposed to gamble but it was exciting to have fans who had bet on me. I accepted my potion as the reward for winning and once again used it on Bastion, reassuring him that we won after he had been switched out. He was happy enough to hear that, and once he saw that Nova was uninjured from his battle, having healed any hits he had taken, he accepted the potion. I was proud of the little guy, he had done much better than I expected honestly. Almost four floors without needing to switch, and it wasn’t even his fault. If I had remembered to taunt we wouldn’t have had to worry about those powder moves. My arrogance almost cost him the battle.

I chatted with the monks a little, they were guessing who the other Pokémon on my belt had been, the running theory was a fire type and I hadn’t used them because of the Tower’s rules. No one had expected a Sunkern, but they were all impressed after having seen him battle. Most Sunkern they had seen couldn’t move as fast as Nova did. I told them the truth, he was almost always outside of his ball, so he hopped around everywhere. It was movement training just by existing. I felt no need to share that he would almost always be faster than most Sunkern anyway, it would take away from all the hard work he did.

I made my way to the ladder, the first to climb again. Each floor had been cleaning up from battles before me. Whoever was climbing the tower ahead of me was doing well, making fast progress and they had made it to the final floor. I was interested to see who it was. Had they challenged the tower after the gym? Or did they come before like I did?

As I reached the top of the Tower I got my answer. Unlike the other floors, the roof on this level was peaked like the exterior. The arena on this floor was also in better condition than the others, appearing more solid and like a newer feature. Perhaps it just saw less use. That twist in the difficulty of a single Pokémon as the second last battle probably caught lots of people off guard.

The thing I noticed however was not the tower itself. It was the person ahead of me receiving a TM from the Elder. He had seemingly won his battle. He stood out. Bright red hair at more than shoulder length curved out as it reached his neck. He wore a blue long-sleeve jacket and had simple jeans. He was easily recognizable to me. Silver. The rival.

He snatched the TM that was handed out to him by the Elder looking down at it for a moment before scoffing and throwing it in his pocket. He turned and walked away, mumbling to himself as he did so. Walking beside him, looking almost unharmed, and walking with extreme pride was a Pokémon I had not expected. An Absol.

It caught sight of me before his trainer did. It immediately lowered its stance, raising its hackles and growling at me. I was surprised by the sudden hostility, and so was Silver it seemed. He looked back at the Absol for a moment, before looking to see where it was staring. His eyes landed on mine, and there was a moment of instant recognition before his scowl reappeared.

“You.” He marched towards me, stopping right in front of me. Absol was still growling at his side but seemed to be waiting to do anything.

“Um. Me?” I asked the question that came to mind immediately. He probably saw me in Elm’s lab but that should be it. He should recognize me personally, and I definitely shouldn’t recognize him.

“You. I want to battle you.” Oh okay. I’m not sure where that came from, but this was kind of bad timing.

“Sorry man. Kind of in the middle of the Tower challenge right now. Besides your Absol looks pissed. Not interested in fighting a Pokémon that looks like it wants to tear my throat out.” The Absol only growled deeper as I acknowledged it, but still maintained its position.

“He’s fine. He listens to me. And fine, battle me after your challenge.” What was with this guy making demands of me?

“No. I’m going to need to take my team to the center after the battle, and my gym battles start in only a couple of days. I’m not risking my team getting anymore hurt than is necessary.” I take a step to walk around him, the side away from Absol since it was still glaring at me. Silver instead stepped back in front of my path.

“No. I need to battle you. I’m not taking no for an answer.” Really? This guy, why was he all focused on me? Shouldn’t he be obsessing over Ethan? Him having an Absol wasn’t right either though, so there seemed to be more going on here than I knew. I gave him and his Absol a look before I sighed.

“Fine, but not until after my gym challenge. Trainer battles are on the 16th, and the gym leader is on the day after, so I’ll battle you on the 18th. And only if your Absol isn’t looking ready to kill me. Is that fine?” He looks me in the eye for a moment before looking down at his Absol. He snaps a finger low in front of where the Absol is looking. It immediately quiets down, sitting politely as he does so. As though any anger vanished in a moment.

“Perfectly manageable. The 18th then.” He gave me a nod, still scowling before he recalled Absol and made his way down the ladder behind me.

He seemed intense, and his focus on me made me more than a little uncomfortable. I seemed to have changed things just by existing. Not exactly sure how I managed that but oh well, not much I could do about that. I was curious as to where he got an Absol though. They weren’t supposed to be native to Johto or Kanto, yet here he was. Although they did supposedly follow disasters, either bringing them with them according to rumors or to try and warn people of them if the movies were to be believed.

Its hostility towards me suddenly made me more nervous. They could sense disasters, and they reacted as though I was an immediate threat. I’ll be honest in not liking the feeling that thought was giving me. I pushed it aside though, as I focused on the task ahead of me. The Tower Elder was still sitting in his chair at the end of a marked arena. He was the oldest man I had seen in the tower, and he smiled at me as I approached, my entourage of younger monks spilling to the sides as I reached the Arena. I noticed Silver didn’t have any monks around to watch his battle. I wonder why that was, but my thoughts were interrupted by the Elder speaking.

“Welcome young man. You’ve done well to climb this high, but this challenge is unlike the others. The other floors are meant to test your bond, your trust in your Pokémon, and their trust in you. This floor is to test your skill as a trainer. You’ve shown your heart. Now show you have the strength to support it.” It was all he said as he reached for a Pokéball hanging from his neck and released it. The beam of red light marked its spot on the field and filled in shape, growing larger and rounder than any of the Bellsprout had been. I prepared myself, I expected the final battle would be against a Weepinbell. Evolution increased a Pokémon’s strength by no small margin. This would be far tougher than the last battle was.

“Victree!” The Pokémon cried out as it finished forming, shaking itself off as it appeared. A Victreebel. Weepinbell’s evolution.

“Oh, Shit.” I didn’t even know what else to say. I agreed my team would probably have been able to handle a Weepingbell, they were stronger but Bastion could wear it down with taunt and Counter, and then Nova would finish it off. Victreebel made this plan impossible. It could learn more than a few special grass moves, and it was guaranteed to learn one upon evolving. Bastion wouldn’t be able to fight that, even if he used taunt.

“Fear not young man. Your opponent was chosen by your showing on the lower floors. He is within your capacity to defeat.” The Elder across from me chuckled as he saw my reaction, and I stood on the spot, my mind racing as I thought things through.

It was possible that the Victreebel wasn’t as strong as I was worrying. It was a stone evolution, so it could have been newly evolved after becoming a Weepingbell. It would mean that it was only a small margin stronger than its Weepingbell form. But still, that special move leaf storm would be a problem. I fiddled with the balls on my belt as I thought things through. He released this Pokémon early, without any call for me to do the same. He wanted me to see my opponent and weigh my options.

“You can always forfeit the challenge as well if you're that nervous, you will still receive the momentary rewards for climbing four floors, you will just fail to receive the TM.” He smiled at me as he spoke, laughing slightly. He was having fun with me. Seeing my reaction and the nervousness that had come over seeing my opponent.

Looking around I could see the Monks watching with smiles and anticipation, the ones who had bet on me weren’t handing money over just yet. They thought this was a battle I could win, at least possibly. I was certain this Victreebel must have been a recent evolution then. Not that it changed my answer.

“No. We’ll fight.” There was no other option. I already knew Nova and Bastion well enough they wouldn’t accept me surrendering. We would fight, and if we lost so be it. It would teach us where our plans failed. Once we reached the higher level gym challenges we would be punching this far above our weight class regularly. I couldn’t back down here.

I think for only a moment, before grabbing the Pokéball. Bastion would maybe be able to take two hits from a Victreebel, his defensive stats were just that high. The problem came if he used the special move there would be no countering it. Taunt only kept Pokémon angry enough to refuse not to attack. It didn’t guarantee physical attacks. At least not usually. I thought back to my training with Bastion. Every time he had used taunt Nova had charged him to attack physically. Either razor leaf or Tackle. Granted I never ordered him to use a special move instead since there’s no training in that for Bastion. But Nova always went for the physical attack even without orders to attack at all. It was the only hope I could think of. This battle would be tight.

If it was possible at all.

“Go Bastion.” He appeared on the ground in front of me looking ahead at his enemy without hesitation. He didn’t even look back when the enemy was so different than what he had faced so far. He had full trust that I had a plan for him to battle a Pokémon that was stronger than him.

“Be careful Bastion. Your opponent will be much stronger than the enemies we have faced so far.” I had already started my plan, even before the battle had been called to start. One of the Monks on the side stepped forward at my release, waiting for the sign I was going to fight.

“Final challenge of the Sprout Tower, Arthur Lindt versus Elder Li. The Limit on fire type Pokémon or moves has been lifted for this challenge.” That caught me by surprise, and I caught something I had missed before. An Exeggutor was sat behind the Elder's large chair, only the leaves of his head visible behind the large curtained seat. I watch as a barrier is erected around the edge of our arena. I twinge with nervous excitement. This battle would be different than the others.

“No switches, the battle will continue until the Challenger is out of usable Pokémon or Victreeble is unable to battle.” That was fine, Baton Pass was a switching move and ignored switch limits anyway, so it wasn’t a concern to my plans.

“Ready.” A nod from me and the Elder. Bastion shifted, and the Victreebel slapped a set of vines against the ground. The impacts were loud and showcased a clear strength. I mentally adjusted Bastion's chances of surviving two hits to one. We had to set this up perfectly.

“Begin.” The Monk serving as Ref spoke and I was the first to respond.

“ICE SHARD NOW!” I shout the order as loud as I can, each member of the audience gasping. Until now Bastion had only used counter to attack. Ice-type moves are super effective against grass, saving a move like that until now would have been a brilliant surprise.

I watch as even the the Elder flinches at my cry, and is quick to order his Pokémon.

“Protect!” Victreebel stiffens, raising his vines in front as a barrier forms. I smile to myself, as not only did we bait his Pokémon to take action, but we just confirmed he had a TM move. I simultaneously raised the threat level of Victreebel while lowering my odds of winning. Seriously they thought this was going to be manageable?

Bastion simply stayed where he was seated, a slight sheen coming off his surface. We had agreed during training yesterday that if I ever released him with a call of ‘be careful’, then no matter what move I called at the start of the fight he was to use harden. I still know we needed three uses to get a stage increase in defense, his speed had not been increasing fast enough to get it to two, but it was all we could do.

“Ha, you tricked me with that one. Well played. Victreebel, sunny day.” Elder Li laughed as he gave his command, and suddenly the room was filled with heat, the lights coming in from each of the windows increased and it felt as though I was standing outside in a field. That move was an interesting choice but made me nervous.

Bastion got off another harden while the move was done. One more, and we would get his defense up to one stage. Yeah, we needed to work on that move after the gym battle. Three uses of the move for one stage were too much. Although it did have an upside Pyukumuku had a ludicrous defense by default, a fifty percent increase of that initial stat was more than most Pokémon got from the move.

“Alright Bastion that’s enough hit him with Aqua Jet.” My next fake move had to be believable. An ice move was to cause them to flinch, this was just to encourage a dodge or slower approach. In reality, Pyukumuku was going to use harden again. He knew that if I called harden it was his job to use the move until he got a stage increase.

“Nice try. Growth please Victreebel.” Well, shit. Victreebel stood on the spot, as a sheen glowed over his body and his vines thickened, whacking the ground with more speed and force than before. That did more than fifty percent. Stupid sunny day. This was getting very bad. Bastion was still alit as he was finishing his last use of harden.

“Should we match them Victreebel? I believe we should. Growth again.” Okay nope, that wasn’t allowed, I could see from Bastion that he had finished his final use of harden.

“Taunt now!” We didn’t have time, two growths during a sunny day would make Victreebel nigh unstoppable with a two hundred percent increase in attack stats. With nearly three times the damage was I supposed to win this somehow?

Dark energy pulsed across the field as Pyukumuku stuck out his guts, forming a hand and giving a middle finger. I nearly laughed out loud as I saw it, he hadn’t done that before. Elder Li flinched for a moment. Victreebel did not.

“Victree!” It let out an aggressive cry, charging across the field with a remarkable and unexpected speed. It moved faster making it clear Chlorophyll was its ability. That was good for me for once. It raised a vine, preparing to bring down a brutal vine whip on Pyukumuku’s form.

“No Victreebel, use leaf storm!” Elder Li shouted out his command this time but Victreebel was too focused on Pyukumuku. I was thankful for the Elder's arrogance and not ordering an attack originally. I doubt Pyukumuku could have encouraged a physical attack over a special one. But a physical attack over a status move? That he could manage just fine.

The vine impacted Pyukumuku’s form with enough force that it raised a dust cloud, one that was immediately knocked away with the shockwave and audible clap as Bastion hit it with a counter. Victreebel, much like the first Bellsprout was sent flying slamming into the barrier before sliding down. It tried to stay standing for a moment before it eventually rolled forward collapsing on the ground. On my side of the field, the dust settles. Revealing Pyukumuku sitting on the ground. He looked partially deflated, and one of the pink spines on his back was cracked off, but he was still conscious, as he turned to face me.

“Pyu!.” He cried out to the air, and I couldn’t help but step forward to him. I had been expecting to need to switch out with Nova and have him finish the fight. I was not expecting Pyukumuku to one-shot a Victreebel with a counter. That was not the sort of strength I expected to see from him that early. He earned the position of tank with that last move.

That Counter sounded like a canon going off.

“Hahaha fucking fantastic Bastion, that was incredible. I scooped him up quickly lifting him to the air as he celebrated. His little eyes squinted at me happily.

I quickly released Nova and when he saw there was no fight to be had, he looked disappointed. Bastion quickly chattered away explaining what happened I’m sure, even if I couldn’t quite understand it myself. Nova glanced from Bastion over to the fallen Victreebel who was being tended to by a younger Monk. He looked back to Bastion and after a moment hopped excitedly around him. I could understand Nova better as I knew he was asking for every detail. He was just excited to know how his teammate had beaten such a foe.

“Hahaha. Well done young man. I must say when my fellow monks said you had won most battles with counter alone I was unsure of your potential. Yet you even managed to beat my Victreebel with only one use of the move.” Elder Li smiled at me, not rising from his seat but waving me and my group over. Nova and Bastion were still chatting away about the battle.

“Thank you, sir, although that’s more of a testament to the strength of Victrebell’s attack as opposed to our own. I’m sure if you had got that second growth off we wouldn’t have made it through the attack, and Nova would have struggled to take him down uninjured.” I spoke the last part a little quieter, not wanting to mention directly to Nova how it would have been much harder for him to win that fight. Granted Bastion only won it because things managed to go so in our favour, and it was still very close.

“Do not underestimate your bond. Your friends are strong, both of them. Show them trust and they will take you far.” Nova and Bastion both stopped at the praise turning to face the elder before beaming with smiles. Praised for their strength. That’s all they wanted. They had done it on their own power.

“Thank you, Elder. That means a lot to us.” The Elder simply waved his hands at my words, dismissing my thanks.

“Simply the truth my boy. Now, onto the rewards for completing the challenge. While I do try to specialize the TM that we reward based on the performance of the trainer, we focus on grass moves learned by the Bellsprout line. As such I sincerely doubt there is any move we could offer your Bastion there.” He glanced at Bastion, who sagged at the words. I think he had been excited by maybe getting to learn a new move.

“I understand. Pyukumuku isn’t capable of learning attacking moves anyway, at least not traditionally, so the moves he can learn would be limited even for the other types. Elder Li looked shocked for a moment, glancing between Bastion and me again.

“Incapable. Ha, you really did play us then. Counter as the only option for dealing damage. I had started to suspect throughout the battle but to have it confirmed. Victreebel and I played right into your hands.” He looked back at me and I couldn’t help but grimace as I rubbed the back of my neck. It wasn’t embarrassing, we won of course, but it felt strange for him to notice how well we had manipulated things.

“Hm, well even if the TM I give can’t reward your little friend directly, it should be a great boon to your team.” He gestured back to one of the Monks beside his chair, who pulled a small plastic case from his robes and handed it to Elder Li.

“This move will be of benefit to your Sunkern. It will add a layer of survivability and longevity to your entire team and should grant him better insight in grass type-energy. Make use of it. I’ll be watching your coming Gym Battle with interest.” He smiled at me and held out the plastic case towards me. The green plastic was translucent enough to see the TM disk inside. Written on the outside of the case in simple black marker was the TM‘s name. Grassy Terrain.

I felt my breath hitch for a moment, as my heart rate increased. This move had the potential to be hugely beneficial to our team. Passive healing for all ground-level Pokémon. Particularly against Falkner, this would be huge.

“Thank you. This is. I can’t even explain how big this is for us.” Both Nova and Bastion glanced up at me with curiosity, clearly wondering what we had been given. I would explain as soon as we left of course. Nova would be super excited.

“Of course. You earned it. Take pride in your accomplishments. You’ve also been transferred two thousand Poké as earnings for beating each floor. Congratulations again Arthur, on completing the Sprout Tower challenge.” He smiled at me, spreading his hands to gesture at the tower itself before he settled in. It was clear to me he was done. I nodded in thanks, the money feeling secondary to the move we had just won. Before leaving I turned to my team.

“Alright guys, you did awesome today. I’m going to ball you both and get you back to the center for healing and then we will go over the battles. I got some new ideas for the gym trainer battles tomorrow.” They both nodded in agreement, although Nova looked disappointed about being in the ball again he didn’t argue. With a flash of red light, they both vanished.

I stood, turning back to face the Elder. There was one thing I needed to know, but I didn’t want to subtract from my team’s victory.

“Elder Li. That Victrebell was recently evolved wasn’t it?” The Elder looked surprised for a moment before chuckling.

“Yes. He was. He evolved into a Weepingbell only a few days ago. He managed to sneak into our storage and consume a leaf stone the same day. Desperate for quick strength that one was. Arrogant. He needed to lose a battle he felt confident in and learn how he had crippled his growth by rushing for easy power. I could tell from your team you were the perfect one to teach that lesson. Your team is strong, but against one of my trained Victreebel, you would have lost. You aren’t there yet.” I could only nod to his words. I figured as much. It didn’t take away from the victory in my mind. We were still swinging above our weight class, and that was where we needed to start. We would end at the top, no matter what.

“I would like to fight your personal team at some point after we finish this circuit. See how we’ve grown.” I locked eyes with the Elder, and I watched his gaze harden as he smirked. He turned to look at the head of the Exeggutor behind him. It simply shuddered and shook its leaves. Elder Li smiled and looked back at me, his eyes alight with the promise of challenge.

“Very well. I look forward to seeing you and your team again Arthur. Make sure you grow, I would hate for you to disappoint Exeggutor after a challenge like that.” The large tree-like Pokémon shook again, and I felt the psychic touch of the Pokémon.

“Growing. Always growing. One will help the other grow again.” It was a set of voices, overlapping perfectly in conjunction, and I felt my head pulse at the presence. It was unsettling, but I could feel the excitement. We had a match to come back to, once we were stronger.

I gave my thanks once more making my way to leave the tower and glancing at the TM in my hand. There were small words of encouragement or thanks from the Monks who had made money betting on my challenge as I left. It felt good, having won. Being praised for the victory. It was a feeling I could get used to.

The excitement and thoughts faded as I exited the door to the Tower, seeing someone waiting on the bridge for me. Silver, and his Absol at his side. The Absol noticed me first, letting out a small growl that brought Silver’s attention back to me. He looked me in the eye before his gaze glanced down to the TM case in my hand.

“Hmph, good. At least you managed to win. Wouldn’t want to waste my time on someone who could defeat two Weepinbell.” He half spoke to me, half spoke aloud in general.

I realized the final challenge was different for us. He had defeated two Weepinbell instead. Depending on their strength it could have been a much harder challenge than mine, especially given it looked like he had only Absol as his Pokémon. For the first time, I kind of felt excited to battle him, just to see how strong he was.

“Remember, we have a battle in four days. You better not try to avoid it.” He stood not waiting for my response. Walking away down the bridge. Looking at where he had been leaning on the bridge I could see a similar plastic case. Similar to my own but grey. I grabbed it quickly stepping forward.

“Hey, you forgot your TM man.” Silver stopped, turning back to me glancing between the plastic case I was holding out and me.

“That? It’s useless. Absol can’t learn grass moves so they had to give me the default TM. I’m not wasting Absol’s time teaching him a useless move like flash. Throw it away for all I care.” He turned away, sticking his hands in his pocket as he walked away. I glanced back down at the case.

Flash wasn’t a typically used move in battles, but it had its utility. A sudden blinding light was pretty damn good at surprising folks. I could already think of several uses for the move. I slid it into my pocket, a plan already forming in my mind.

If Silver was going to underestimate the move Flash maybe I should beat his Absol with it. I may have considered throwing the match just so he wouldn’t be so focused on me, but his attitude from two conversations was pissing me off. Perhaps my time would be better spent putting him in his place. I smiled, tapping my pocket with the two new TM‘s. Nova and I had a lot to work on before the gym battle. Falkner wouldn’t know what was coming.