[PKMN FULL] Hoenn: Square One [IC]

15:00 - 15:10, Littledale's Gym... Apparently
"You the new challenger?" The short farmer–apparently Gym Leader– standing in front of me says. "I'm Leader Merry Richtide. My pronouns are they n' them."

"Oh, that's a nice coincidence," I say, extending my arm at them. "Jordie Hughes. Going by they and them too."

"Aye," Merry nods, accepting my handshake. "Lemme explain the rules b'fore we begin. I battle exclusively in singles. We gonna use up to 4 Pokémon, n' once one goes down both of us are choosin' another one, 'kay? If you manage to take down three of my Pokémon, you win."

"Understood."

"Aye. Now follow me." Merry starts walking towards an open field, away from all the wild Skiddo and Wooloo walking around the old Route 101, and each time getting further away from the building the gym is supposed to be at. In the middle of a dirt patch stands another person, who nods at the Gym Leader as soon as he sees us. That must be the referee. "As you might've noticed, I like havin' my battles in the open. Gives Pokémon more freedom to move."

"Challenger… Jordie Hughes, right?" the referee asks as soon as we arrive, checking the notepad on his hands, while Merry starts walking a few feet past the dirt patch. "Frank Douglas… Erhm... He and Him. I'll be your referee for this battle."

I nod, accepting his handshake.

"Three badges, alright," he mutters as he reads and then looks back at me. "Can I ask your…" he looks at his notepad and starts doing some maneuver with his left hand.

"Pronouns? They and them."

"Yeah, that, thanks. Sorry this whole thing is a bit new for me. Don't wanna make anyone-"

"No, you're good."

"Okay. Know the rules, right? Three Pokémon, single battles, once one faints-"

"I know." I nod again, and after he nods back, I start walking towards the other edge of the dirt patch, trying to calculate the area between Merry and I, since there's no marked battlefield here.

The referee looks at both of us to make sure we are ready and then clears his throat. "Starting the battle between Leader Merry Richtide and Challenger Jordie Hughes!"

The moment he says that, people start gathering around us. Most of them are kids. This is just like Brawly's battle, alright.

"Your first Pokémon, if you will."

"Right." I carefully choose one of my Dusk Balls. I don't have too many choices really, it's either Bane, Gabby, Dewey or Maroon. I think I'll keep Gabby out of this battle though, she's not a single battler herself. "Dewey, you're up!"

The Dusk Ball opens, and the Dewpider manifests, the green sparks from the seal flying upwards.

"Heh. Flashy. Y'like showin' off, don't ya?" Merry says and then stops to think for a bit before sending out their first Pokémon. "Skiddo! Go get 'em!"

The Skiddo lands on the dirt patch, and as soon as the referee says "Begin!", grass and flowers start growing from around its hooves.

"Not this shit again…" I complain to myself, and that complaint gains more relevance when I see the leaves around Skiddo's mane growing larger, to the point of covering its body.

It's not all that bad, though, y'see? The grass is tall enough for Dewey to camouflage on it, and regarding typing I also have a slight advantage here. This shouldn't be too difficult to deal with if I'm able to keep Dewey on the ground.

Soon after setting up the Grassy Terrain, Skiddo raises its head and charges a green Energy Ball from its mouth. It flies through the battlefield, cleanly mowing through the grass with it. Dewey tries to jump somewhere else to hide, but is too slow to dodge efficiently, getting struck by Skiddo's attack and bouncing backwards.

The Dewpider lands on her three legs, and as the grass grows back to its previous height she looks at Skiddo and shakes her head from the surprise attack she received.

Dewey starts to erratically zig-zag across the grassy field, trying to get closer and closer to Skiddo, who, on Merry's command, sets its hooves to circle around the battlefield, jumping at great speed.

"Dewey, stay where you are…" Seeing the jolts of electricity coming out from Skiddo's hooves, is only the implication of an upcoming attack, and I have to be ready to counter it. If Merry wants me to be in a safe spot so they can strike Dewey, that's exactly what they'll have.

Skiddo has run a bit too far away from the Grassy Terrain it had set, meaning it's not even in the battlefield anymore, in fact, some of the kids have walked away from us, yet they are still watching.

Giving the Pokémon more freedom to move, right. That's what this is all about.

Merry raises their hand and gives a signal, that's when I notice Skiddo running towards us. It's far away, but still comes here at blinding speed. I have enough time to make Dewey dodge, but that won't stop the Pokémon from building up speed, I just have to stop it on its tracks somehow.

"Dewey, shoot a Spider Web at its hooves!"

I'm not sure, but I believe I see Dewey nod after I say that, and then use her front legs to lean back and aim her spider web at Skiddo's hooves. The Spider Web sticks both of its hooves together, making it trip and fall headlong over Dewey .

Skiddo battles hard against the web around its hooves, ultimately using its hind legs to kick it off. Meanwhile, Dewey is battling to get out from under the Mount Pokémon, verifying if her Water Bubble is untouched first after making it.

"Infestation!" the fact Skiddo takes more time than Dewey to get up gives me an extra shot here. Infestation is a deteriorative move, almost in the same vein as Poison Gas, except it's just temporary. Against a Pokémon that likes exploiting the regenerative properties of Grassy Terrain, having this move up to do some extra damage is necessary.

Dewey once again lifts her body and shoots some yellow-ish gas at Skiddo as it's getting up, forcing it to stop moving as the burning sensation pierces through its leaf shield. It's a bit of a painful sight to bear, but it's a Gym Leader's Pokémon, it'll be fine.

"Grass Knot 'em!"

Two vines coming from Skiddo's mane start following Dewey. They are fast and have no problem maneuvering around the Grassy Field, in fact, it makes it easier for them to be unseen. Dewey tries her best to knock them off, shooting a series of Water Guns at them, but it's useless, she's still too slow to dodge once they retaliate after being hit.

One of the vines holds her body, while the other one holds her legs, making it impossible for her to turn upside down and try to escape. Merry calls for a Horn Leech, and Skiddo pulls Dewey, dragging her throughout the ground, lowering its head and lifting her upwards with her horns on impact.

Dewey tries to get up, her six legs on the ground, squirming after having her Water Balloon suddenly bursted by the hit.

Skiddo Wild Charges at her at great speed once again, and Dewey is having too many problems right now to even try to dodge. She starts getting beaten up really hard, and I have no idea what to do now. I don't want to retire her now that she's all pumped up.

I could–or should– request a time out, but that would be drowning out the flow of the battle, plus there's no really need to do that now that apparently Dewey is starting to use her Bubble Beam to send small bubbles towards herself in the form of a ring, in what seems to be a new defensive way to use the move. The bubbles start growing bigger and bigger, until they completely fuse with each other around Dewey's head, also forming another ring of bubbles around her head.

"Heh. Aqua Ring, I'm guessing." I smile. "Dewey, start charging a Water Gun!"

Dewey nods, once again with only three legs on the ground, and starts blowing perhaps the biggest water balloon she's done so far. It acts as a cushion for her to sit on, as she raises above the tall grass, appearing once again on Skiddo's visual area.

"Skiddo, hit 'em with Nature Power!"

Skiddo charges its attack faster, of course, being standing in grass and all. Another Energy Ball forms in her mouth and flies at full speed towards Dewey, who extends her legs vertically and jumps backwards, sending the heavy water balloon rolling a very disappointing distance, yet enough to block the Grass-type's attack.

"Skiddo, Grass Knot 'em again!" Merry calls immediately.

The vines come crawling really quick through the increasingly growing grass.

"As if I'm falling for that same trick twice!" I mutter "Dewey, Spider Web!"

Dewey manages to shoot down one of Skiddo's vines with her web, but the other one is capable of dodging the attack and grabbing her, restraining her as Skiddo tries to liberate her other vine.

The Dewpider tries walking away from Skiddo, but without Bubblebeam anymore to gain some impulse, it's impossible for her to do so. So she takes another risk by using one of her upper legs to pop her Water Bubble and use Bug Bite on the vine before the Aqua Ring around her head grows big enough to cover her again. Skiddo bleats in agony after being forced to let Dewey free.

"Skiddo, retire!"

The grass-type escapes the battlefield, once again running far away from us as soon as Dewey tries to use Infestation against it a second time. Skiddo doesn't start building up speed this time, though, it just stands there raising its head upwards.

"What's going on?"

"Synthesis. She's healin'," Merry answers.

Added up with Grassy Terrain, Skiddo might be recovering her lost energy really fast, while Dewey is clearly having more trouble to keep up.

"Dewey, heal with Aqua Ring!"

"Not gonna go after 'er?" Merry asks.

I stare at the Skiddo and consider that option carefully, there's nothing good that could happen from it, so I shake my head. "You'd love that, wouldn't you."

Merry just lowers the tip of their hat without giving an answer.

Synthesis, Grass Knot, Grassy Terrain, Wild Charge, Horn Leech, Nature Power. Now that I know what Skiddo can do, it's easier for me to make predictions.

I take a quick look at my XT. Despite all that's happened so far during this battle, it hasn't even been two minutes we've been battling. Terrain and space altering moves like Trick Room normally have an average duration of three minutes, which means that in one minute or so, the shield that grew from Skiddo's mane might lose power. I probably won't be able to defeat Skiddo before that, considering all the healing done and Dewey's current state, so stalling for time is the best option I have now.

"One minute…," I mutter, before putting my shades on.

I think that Merry would prefer keeping distance between Skiddo and Dewey, or at least, that's what I would've done, but instead they take a different approach.

Skiddo charges again, sparks coming out of her hooves and tries to strike Dewey directly, really easy for her to dodge. The goat Pokémon drifts with her hind legs, building up momentum and speeding up against Dewey once again.

"Climb up with Spider Web!"

Dewey quickly raises her lower body and shoots a thread of her Spider Web at one of Skiddo's horns. She manages to dodge her second blow, but is dragged through the floor as Merry's Pokémon runs away.

"Don't let go…," I whisper, clenching my fist and feeling my chest full of air seeing how Dewey tries her best to hold from her thread with her three legs, but exhale in relief once I see her getting a hold of herself as the Skiddo forcefully tries to shake her off. "Keep it up, Dewey, don't let go!"

The Dewpider keeps climbing up, until after a few more forceful shakes done by Skiddo, she manages to stick on her horn.

"Jump to the back of her head!"

Dewey wraps her two front legs around Skiddo's horn, tries rotating around it to shoot another Spider Web, this time at Skiddo's nape, using her hind leg as an aim, but Merry orders Skiddo to drag her horn against the ground, interrupting her and forcing her to climb back up.

"Don't let go."

Merry looks at me with certain disbelief, as if telling me that won't work, but I just grin at them. It's almost been one minute, and as long as Dewey doesn't fall, this works perfectly.

Skiddo starts jumping and shaking her head wildly, all to try to make Dewey fall, who is still sticking to her horn without even budging after using another load of Spider Web to keep her body there. It's really just a matter of time Skiddo gets tired, Merry definitely didn't count with Dewey's stubbornness.

Skiddo's energy starts draining out and her legs start becoming slower, but before falling from exhaustion, she lays down to rest in the middle of the battlefield. Synthesis starts recovering some of her energy, but at the same time the Grassy Terrain starts disappearing, and since Skiddo is immobile right now, it gives Dewey time to jump to her nape and attack with Infestation once again, which forces Merry to call their Pokémon back.

"Good one, ain't nothing I can do against that Dewpider of yours now that Grassy Terrain is down."

"Leader Richtide withdraws their Pokémon, Jordie Huges wins the first round!"

"Great job, Dewey! Come back," I smile, recalling Dewey back to her Dusk Ball, and getting ready to choose my other Pokémon. "Bane boy, it's your turn now!"

Merry stops to think about their next choice after seeing the Aron jump out of the Dusk Ball. They pick a PokéBall but before sending out the Pokémon inside it, they start walking to a different part of the field, Frank following behind them, who tells me to come with them as well. We don't walk too far away, though, just take enough distance from the dirt patch we battled in before to a more grassy battlefield, which makes me think Merry might have something planned here. After they take enough distance from me once again, they finally send out their next Pokémon, a Wooloo. The kids seem to love that one, but I don't blame them, y'know? Who doesn't love a round Pokémon?

Before Frank asks us to begin, I request some time to check on Bane, more to check if the Eviolite I put around his leg is placed properly, just so it doesn't fall during the battle, and also make sure Frank notices it and writes it down. Once that's done, I go back to my position.

"Wooloo, Grassy Glide!" Merry orders, making the first move again. I'll take it this time, though, I need Wooloo to get closer.

The sheep Pokémon bleats and lowers its head, to hide it inside that huge coat of wool before it starts spinning in circles around the grass before storming against Bane at great speed. It's clear, by the way they look at the battle, that the kids love watching that big ball of fluff roll around, and I'm so sorry, but this is my battle, y'know? I won't give them the pleasure of enjoying themselves if it means it puts me at a disadvantage.

"Bane boy, Protect!"

Bane stands still, slightly tilting his head forward before stopping Wooloo on its tracks with a barrier surrounding him, also stunning it for a bit, giving him extra time to jump at Wooloo with a headbutt, which sends it rolling back a bit. Wooloo retaliates, rolling back and then oscillating to strike Bane from his right side. The Aron is slightly pushed away, but is barely affected by that move, so he doesn't have trouble blocking Wooloo's almost consecutive Double Kick with another Protect.

Bane attempts another Iron Head, but Wooloo sorta bounces his attack back by pumping up the wool covering its body.

"Oh, shit… Cotton Guard, right?"

"Aye. Y'know yer moves don't ya'?"

"I-I g-... y-yeah, I do."

Cotton Guard is but one of the best physically defensive moves out there, y'see? Most of the few Pokémon that learn it have a lot of fluff, just like Wooloo or Altaria, and they are capable of pumping it up even more to protect themselves from any kind of physical harm. It's like Protect except it's just difficult to get through, but not impossible. This is going to take longer than I thought, though.

"Change of plans. Bane, use Curse!"

Merry holds the tip of their hat before calling for another Double Kick. Wooloo rolls towards Bane, swiftly maneuvering through the grass, bouncing and supporting itself with its front legs while landing two consecutive kicks with its hind legs at Bane's face, who tries to block the move with Iron Head with little success, but allows for a direct counter attack. Despite being hit by a Fighting-type move, Bane is still capable of holding on with no issue, that Eviolite really does wonders.

"Great job, Bane boy!" He turns his head at me and then hops to turn around and face me with a joyful bark, but I click my tongue and shake a finger at him once he does that. "No, no. Not now. Eyes on the battle."

Wooloo resumes its attack, starting once again to maneuver across the grassy field at great speed. Bane blocks the attack with Protect, and just as before, Wooloo attempts a second direct hit at him, but this time it attacks from the front. It's easier for Bane to block with Iron Head and push Wooloo back this way, but the sheep Pokémon uses that momentum to retaliate with another increased speed Grassy Glide after being pushed and attack from Bane's left side. The attack is too fast for Bane to react accordingly, and he's pushed to his right a bit, almost losing his balance and falling.

Bane manages to stand correctly, looking at Wooloo roll away from him and growls with irritation, releasing a short yelp after bulking up and strengthening the armor around him with a second Curse.

Wooloo builds up momentum once again, and attempts another Grassy Glide towards Bane. My first instinct is blocking with another Iron Head, but that's proven not to work. Bane comes up with something, though. He stands on his hind legs and growls, he might think he looks like a fearsome grizzly bear, but he's actually looking like a kitty trying to hit its toy. I keep forgetting Metal Claw is a move, Aron themselves don't have really sharp claws, y'know, so I've kept using Iron Head all this time. Despite all that, it's quite effective, Metal Claw not only damages Wooloo, but it also stops it from rolling back as it falls down.

It's still not a really strong move on its own, a bit of extra bulk might be good for Bane.

"Curse."

Merry's Wooloo takes a different approach now. It pumps the wool covering its body, and instead of rolling, it starts bouncing towards Bane, rolling in the air as it goes. It tries another Double Kick, but it's easily blocked with Protect, which in turn makes the sheep Pokémon fall down. Bane takes that time to charge at it and swipe another Metal Claw at it.

Wooloo rolls away before Bane is able to connect the second Metal Claw coming after her and approaches him from his right side. Bane, apparently losing any sense of where he's standing on, takes time to react to the move and is unable to do anything about it, allowing Wooloo to roll over him with Grassy Glide, pushing him to his left while also turning him upside down.

Bane tries turning around and getting back on his feet to no avail, that's when I realize, he's gotten too heavy with the extra bulk after the third Curse for him to move easily, and that metal thing coming out of his back apparently got him stuck on the ground.

I make a signal with both hands at Frank to request a time-out, and after he nods I rush to help Bane. He starts shaking violently and screeching once he feels I touch him, nearly scratching my hands with his claws.

"Bane boy, calm down! It's me!"

Bane glares at me, really pissed off, definitely, but after a few seconds he seems to recognize me. I put my hands behind his back and try to pull him up.

"Y-yep… Heavy." The Aron starts growling again, but it's not against me this time, since his glare is now directed at Merry's Wooloo. "Calm… down, okay? No need to make a scene out of this, we are winning still, despite what happened just now… Shit you're really heavy, y'kn- There!"

I grab Bane in my arms, but I can't really take his current weight much. He's already pretty heavy despite his size, even more with all those three times he used Curse. I manage to put him back on the ground safely, though, and give Frank a thumbs up before he resumes the battle.

Bane growls, full of rage, as he starts walking at a slow pace around the battlefield with his glance still stuck on the sheep Pokémon who just gets ready to deliver another Grassy Glide. I tell Bane to get there and prepare another Metal Claw to receive Merry's Pokémon, but he completely ignores my command by using Curse a fourth time and then starts following Wooloo as it keeps rolling in circles around him.

Bane is, obviously, unable to catch up with her. She's just too fast and he's too heavy to move around freely, however, it's clear he is unable to think straight. In the end, Bane grows tired and gives up by standing still in a single place. Good.

Wooloo comes rolling with all of her might and once again, Bane stands on both of his hind legs, except that this time he's unable to stay up much time and ends up falling due to his own added weight in in a strange kind of body slam that would normally hurt him more, but when he gets up he just shakes his head and keeps going.

Bane charges at Wooloo again, ready to go for another direct attack, trying to slam it with his whole body just like he did before, but again, he's just too slow to do that effectively. It's clear that he's growing more desperate to attack Wooloo, but there's no way he's doing that in his current situation.

Wooloo dodges Bane's next attack with ease and Bane once again follows it as it rolls away from him until he gets tired. The sheep Pokémon crashes against Bane once again, and he manages to connect another Take Down on it, not only leaving the Pokémon stunned, but also being visibly shaken by that attack, which allows for an Iron Head to Bane's own satisfaction, sending Wooloo rolling away violently.

Merry's Pokémon, visibly weakened from Bane's last few attacks, rolls away from the battlefield and starts resting. This time Bane stays on his own place and brutally slams the floor with both front legs, materializing a batch of stones above the sheep Pokémon. Merry calls for Wooloo to use Sleep Talk, and while it manages to use the move successfully, turning it into Cotton Guard, at this point Bane's strength has grown so much, the stones pierce through with no problem.

"Wooloo can't keep battling anymore, Jordie Huges wins-!"

"Bane! What the hell do you think you're doing!? You won already!"

Merry is the first one to get their Pokéball once both of us see Bane charging towards Wooloo with the intent of delivering another blow. My instinct is the same as the Gym Leader, as I quickly grab Bane's DuskBall and send him back inside.

"Shit… S-sorry about that." How embarrassing. "Anyways. Final round, right?"

"Depends." Frank nods.

---

Dewey forgot Bubblebeam and learned Aqua Ring!
Bane forgot Metal Claw and learned Take Down!

---

Jordie's Party:


Battle Subway:

---

Inventory:

15:10 - 15:13, Littledale's Gym... Apparently
"I-" Frank hits his forehead and shakes his head. "Sorry for that I didn't mean to…"

"What?"

"I… I messed 'em up. The… pronouns, y'know?"

"Oh… y-yeah sure. D-don't worry about it." I wasn't even listening, been thinking about Bane's recent actions. Seems like his wild self from Granite Cave is still there, despite him acting like a puppy most of the time.

"You good?" Merry asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Merry nods. "Next Pokémon, right? That's what Frank said?"

"Jordie is about to send their next Pokémon!" the referee calls.

I sigh and nod. Next DuskBall in my hand is… "Maroon, your turn!"

Anchor falls, makes the ground shake, and the kids look both amazed and confused at what the hell is that thing from ships doing inside a PokéBall. 'Wow so cool!' 'Is that a real Pokémon?', I hear. Do I want to tell them the actual Pokémon is just the red seaweed?

I won't bother.

Merry nods with a smile, not even stopping to think about the terrain or what Pokémon to use. As soon as they saw Maroon, they knew what they had to send out. And I'm just confused, because…

It's a Miltank.

There's very little I know about Miltank. In fact, I just know they are all female, they are normal-type Pokémon, and… they roll. Yes. There's a lot of Pokémon that roll, but for some reason, Miltank is the most popular rolling Pokémon out there.

Why would you send a normal-type against a ghost, though? Sure, immunity is one thing, but it applies to both sides, y'know? Maybe she got good coverage? Regardless, Merry seems to be pretty sure about their choice here, so I gotta thread carefully.

Miltank starts by wagging her finger–if you can call it that–. Metronome, of course. Can't make predictions against that. Miltank starts running towards Maroon, both arms pointing back, and without any care at all, she starts flexing an arm the moment she jumps. Is she going to punch Maroon? That shouldn't do anything to them, yet still Miltank is coming at them with all their might.

Out of instinct more than anything, Maroon drags their anchor to the front before Miltank connects her attack. The interesting part here is that it does manage to make them budge a bit. Not too much, Maroon is a sturdy defender and Iron Defense just adds to it, but this attack shouldn't do any kind of damage to them.

Scrappy?

It's possible, I would have to see it a second time, though. Foresight is also an option, if Miltank is able to learn it. I didn't see the eye glint Brawly's Hariyama had, though.

Maroon Wraps around Miltank using their helm and starts weakening her with Giga Drain. In an attempt to break free, Miltank lets herself fall and starts rolling away from the anchor. The Dhelmise just tries to hold her where she is, but Miltank starts adding more power to her Rollout, ultimately forcing Maroon to extend their body to their highest length before letting her go. Miltank is blasted forward at great speed, and with all the power she gathered, she flies up a hill and it looks like she's going to fall and take massive damage, but instead she keeps rolling in the air then rolls down the same hill until she forces herself to stop.

Miltank slowly gets back on her two feet and shakes her head before stopping to take a breath, allowing Maroon to shoot their helm at her in an attempt to Wrap her up again, but the cow Pokémon dodges by jumping on top of it and Stomping it against the ground. Miltank starts running towards Maroon now, tilts her upper body forward, showing her small horns at Maroon and strikes the anchor directly with a Headbutt. No Foresight, definitely, this is a natural ability of hers.

"So that's how it is," I chuckle, then smile back at Merry. "Scrappy, Cotton Guard, and a really solid healing strat. This is a nice set of Pokémon you got with you, y'know?"

Merry smiles back, holding the tip of their hat. Miltank also takes the compliment quite well. "Heh. Thank you. Yours are not too shabby either."

"Can't allow this battle to get past three rounds sadly. Just know I'm starting to have fun," I add, with a grin, putting my shades back on. "Maroon, Wrap!"

Maroon quickly retrieves their helm from the ground, trying to impact Miltank from behind, but she takes notice of it easily, jumping and Stomping it to the ground again. Before Miltank tries another Headbutt, Maroon uses their helm as the axis of rotation to swing a weak but quick Gyro Ball at Miltank, which sends her falling back.

Miltank casts another Metronome from the ground as Maroon attempts to Wrap around her another time, manifesting a pair of wings, which allows her to fly up really high like a Braviary, while also holding Maroon's helm on her arms. Maroon tries holding Miltank back and taking her back to the ground, but she is able to pull their strength with no issue until they extend the seaweed to its limit, even dragging Maroon through the ground a little bit before taking a backwards turn and Sky Dropping on their anchor.

Merry's Pokémon seems to be more affected by that move than Maroon themselves, which makes sense, she just hit her head with an anchor. However, she manages to identify where she's standing quicker than the red Dhelmise, rolling back near the hill from before at Merry's orders to start drinking some of her own… I never thought I would see that.

Maroon's helm flies swiftly through the grassy field, in yet another attempt to attack Miltank as she heals, but once again, she's able to Stomp them with no issue before finishing her move, also rolling away to avoid the anchor that comes falling from the air like a guillotine.

I take a quick breath and clench my fist before adjusting my shirt and my shades. Miltank is just too fast for Maroon, hitting her is almost impossible, y'see? I have to try something different, but what, exactly?

Maroon keeps following Miltank, except this time they open with an anchor shot first. She dodges the move again, of course, while at the same time casting another Metronome which's energy materializes into some kind of magnet. The magnet instantly flies away from Miltank's hand, sticking itself to Maroon's anchor, letting out a faint beeping sound before blowing up.

With the anchor down, the helm makes its movement, once again being shot directly towards Miltank. Merry's Pokémon jumps to Stomp on it once again, but this time the anchor takes a lift as well, making the helm change its direction upwards, dodging Miltank's attack and managing to Wrap around her after what seems like a million tries.

In an initial attempt to break free, Miltank tries another Metronome, but it only becomes a water-powered uppercut of some kind that is unable to do anything for her, so she grunts with annoyance before she starts rolling her way out of Maroon's grip.

This time Maroon counter acts, using Gyro Ball to spin the other way around and have her decelerate. Miltank starts losing speed and is about to stop due to Maroon putting up more force, but instead of giving up, she opts to take a u-turn and keep rolling the same way the Dhelmise spins, trying her best to expand the radius between herself and the anchor, which acts like the axis of rotation this time.

Now Maroon is the one battling to not let go, with the helm still around Miltank, yet unable to change directions without losing speed and quickly reaching their limit length until a group of bubbles suddenly start bursting from the top of the anchor. They quickly climb their way across the rest of the red seaweed, and then they rapidly turn into streams of water and foam. A Whirlpool suddenly forms in the battlefield with the anchor as the origin, and paired up with Maroon's Gyro Ball, it adds centrifugal force, forcing Miltank to stop rolling as she's violently sucked inside the Whirlpool, ending up tied to Maroon's anchor.

The anchor falls down thanks to the added weight of Miltank, and Merry's Pokémon has no means to escape now. The Gym Leader already has their PokéBall in hand, but they don't want to give up until Miltank tries a final Metronome. Miltank waggles her finger and suddenly takes in a lot of air before she-

"You gotta be shitting me… What the fuck is this!?" I actually can't help but take out my shades because of what I'm seeing now. Is what I'm seeing right? All of a sudden, Miltank started floating. Not flying, floating. Levitating. Like a balloon, y'know? And she's taking Maroon with her! Behind her back! It's like she's being abducted by aliens or something, it's crazy! "Maroon, anchor down, pull her back! Don't let her float higher!"

Big mistake.

I should've thought, Miltank couldn't keep floating higher with Maroon on her back, but now that she has that weight down, she can pull her strength with no issue. It's still really crazy, though, it looks like she weighs as much as a balloon, yet still manages to not be pulled down by a Pokémon capable of carrying and shooting an anchor almost all the time.

Maroon tries pulling her back with another Whirlpool, this time using a horizontal axis to suck her in like a vacuum cleaner, but before it manages to stop her, Miltank turns around, grimaces at Maroon with what seems like a grin before allowing herself to be sucked into the Whirlpool by diving at full force, striking with a full force headbutt and knocking the anchor down.

Maroon has still energy left after all the Giga Drain they used while Miltank tried breaking away from their grip, but was still really stunned by the sudden attack. In fact, the tired one is Miltank, who tries rolling away to the hill once again to use Milk Drink once more, however, this time she's actually dragged back by Maroon's Whirlpool time, coiling around her once again to restrain her. Maroon tries Gyro Ball once again, this time with the intent to attack. The anchor swings forward, it oscillates and takes a turn backwards, and comes back again like a boomerang, delivering the final blow on Miltank from behind.

I've been holding my shades above my head all this time since Miltank started floating and just now do I feel relieved to let them go as I crouch with my hands on my knees and let go all the air I had stuck in my chest. This last battle certainly was something.

"You pulled up a good battle over here." Merry walks to me, hands in their pockets and nods at me moving a hand to the tip of their hat before offering me another handshake. "You still gotta work on some stuff, though. Y'know what it is, that Aron of yours"

I grimace at the mention of Bane, and my first thought is certainly to lash out at Merry for it, but I swallow my own words just this time. What happened there was embarrassing, really, and I can't have that happen again, y'see? So I just nod to agree with Merry on this one.

"Y'earned this, by the way. The Dell Badge. And…" Merry searches their pockets, for a while, looking for something, but there's nothing apparently, other than the money, which they also give me. "Frank, you got them discs with you?"

Frank nods, handing the Gym Leader a small box with ground and grass TMs inside.

"That Dhelmise of yours got me a bit on the edge there with them grappling tactics. Hopefully this here move results useful. It can be learned by many others too, so have no worries about havin' it limited to them only."

---

Jordie got the Dell Badge!
Jordie got the Grass Knot TM!
Maroon forgot Wrap and learned Whirlpool!

---

Jordie's Party:


Battle Subway:

---

Inventory:

16:40 - Oldale's Pokémon Center
"Disc goes here… DuskBall here… and…"

Initiating…

Reading Pokémon information…

NAME: Maroon
SPECIES: Dhelmise
GENDER: None
ABILITY: Steelworker
MOVES: Astonish, Iron Defense, Gyro Ball, Metal Sound, Giga Drain, Whirlpool

Are you sure you want to teach your Pokémon the move GRASS KNOT?

"Yup. Confirm."

Wait a moment…

Your Pokémon already knows 6 moves. Select what move you want to replace…

"I…" This is the ugly part of using TMs, y'see? Ignoring the one minute older machines like this usually take to read the Pokémon's information, of course. The normal thing to do would be to remove Astonish from Maroon's moveset; it's the weakest attack they have right now, but it's also the only ghost type move they know, and I'm lacking coverage against ghosts. I guess Dewey knows how to use Bite, but at her current size, Dewey isn't a fighter, but she can be annoying on the battlefield with how hard she is to take down due to her size and Infestation. It's an easier choice than it looks like.

Your Pokémon has replaced the move METAL SOUND with GRASS KNOT

Should I teach Quinn the move as well? I don't know how useful it's going to be on a support Pokémon, though, that's still the role I want her to fulfill. I'd rather have her learn the moves I want her to know first, then see what else I can teach her.

After getting my Pokémon back to full health and spending a few minutes packing my stuff, I make my way north. I get to Route 103, at that time of the day in which the sun is slowly starting to go down with all the sun rays hitting your face directly. Annoying, especially because there is also a fair share of clouds blocking the sun, so I'm not feeling the whole sun directly, just two or three sunrays that chose to point directly at my eyes.

My next stop before going to Mauville is Cottage Grove. That's the place mentioned by that old lady from the day I met Brendan. The idea is to just walk through and get to Route 103 in just a matter of hours. But it depends on what time it is when I get there, which will probably be not early enough since I have to do a whole boat journey first.

Honestly, I'd rather sit down and have someone take me on a motor boat trip to the other side, but apparently there's no motor boats here for some reason. Unless I want to pay an extra 4k to have someone take me to the other side, I'll have to do the whole thing myself, which is perfectly fine! I know how to travel by boat well enough for me to get to the other side without drowning or taking more than 3 hours, y'know? If anything, the main debate here is whether I'd like a pedal boat or a rowboat, both pretty okay choices, and while I think the pedal boat is easier to control, I think I've done more than enough leg work these past few days, it's time to give my legs some rest and my arms some love. Regular canoes are pretty boring, though, but it is what it is.

Getting into the boat is the most uncomfortable part of everything. You gotta do it quick, y'see? The canoe is just tied to a wooden stick, so when you put your first foot inside, it'll start moving from one side to another until all of your weight is set in one spot, sure it'll keep shaking for a bit more, but at least it won't feel like you'll fall out of the boat anymore. After that, I pick up the oars, and I'm off.

---

18:20

Sun is nearly hidden in its entirety, and I'm still in the boat, but have stopped rowing to take some rest, with Maroon's helm by my side, who has laid anchor somewhere underwater, to keep the canoe from going out of track because of the water current while I rest.

Quinn is out here as well, I figured she might need some air and would probably appreciate being near the water, which she does. She's been resting half of her body on one of the wooden boards this whole time, while the other half is leaning to the boat's edge as she looks at the flowing water below her. At times, she would look really excited and would create a bubble using her psychic powers, moving it above her. Then, after it pops, she would keep looking up for a few seconds with a smile, just to go back to resting her head on the edge, with disappointment after realizing her bubble burst. I even stopped rowing for a bit at some point just to look at the water and see what had her so excited coming from there, but I didn't see anything at all. Was it a fish that caught her attention and was long gone when she started making the bubble? I thought Slowpoke were herbivores.

Whatever, there's some lights at almost the same distance the lights from the rental shop are, which means I'm halfway there. Give me up to an hour and a half more and I reach Cottage Grove.

That is, once I feel like moving my arms again.

I don't know what's going on with me, but as soon as I resumed rowing, I started to feel really exhausted. I don't feel dizzy or feel any sort of nausea, so it's not because of the boat– I would know if I'm prone to seasickness after taking four ferries, if anything–, I just have no energy at all, y'know?

It might have to do with all the moving around I've done these past few days. Petalburg, Route 102, Littledale… all of that, non-stop. The crazy thing is that I was pretty fine until now. Sure, my legs hurt, but I could still move without an issue.

It might be emotional.

I don't know, but I think I've been going too fast after the sudden message from my brother. It was just so…I just said hi, and he says he saw me typing? What are the odds? It makes zero sense!

Maybe it's not even that, but whatever it is, it feels like I'm escaping from it.

Or maybe I'm looking for something? What does Mauville have that these other places don't? Sure, Littledale wasn't my cup of tea, but Petalburg wasn't all that bad, y'know? It just felt… empty? Slateport had Tsu and Avril, while in Dewford I met with Hui and later on I met Reed, I guess. Petalburg just had Hui's asshole brother and a really bad loss. Unimportant loss, but still really bad.

Pop!

"I- Quinn!" I shake my head, annoyed and take off my shades to wipe away all the water that just fell on them. It wasn't just a bubble this time, it was a whole water ball. What a way to wake someone up.

Quinn is just smiling at the other side of the boat, with her head turning at me, and after she realizes her stunt worked, her smile grows bigger as she rolls on her back, falling from the board she was resting on, shaking the entire boat in the process.

I sigh, and slowly get up. Quinn raises her head, completely clueless of what just happened as I pick her up to put her back on top of the board and then I lean to the front edge of the boat.

"Maroon, come back, we're off!"

Maroon let's go from the ring that had the boat tied at first and wraps their seaweed tentacle in a way that looks like a really weird thumbs up before diving.

I walk back to the other side of the canoe, pick Maroon's helm up, and stare at it as I wait for them to come pick it up. Just now I realize that the compass is still fully functional, despite having a dent in its glass. Sure, it's old, and the glass is blurry, making it difficult to look at the cardinal directions on it, but it's good to know that despite all that, it still works.

"Here." I hand over the helm to Maroon as soon as I feel their tentacle rising from the water, and they do some maneuver with it, before wrapping themselves around it. "You have a lot of energy, did you eat something down there?"

The compass needle wiggles from side to side, and another pair of tentacles rises. Maroon shrugs, which makes me laugh a little bit.

"Do you want to swim with us until we get there, or-?" Maroon instantly goes underwater again, just to re-appear behind the boat, putting their helm afloat. "Ha, ha. Right. Shouldn't have even asked."

---

19:30 - Boat Rental Shop

"How was the journey?" the shop's caretaker asks as soon as he helps me jump out of the boat, holding a rope he uses to pull the canoe back to him and tie it around.

"It was… calm." I nod with a lighthearted smile. "It gets a bit cold here in the evening, though. I mean, I gotta keep walking so it won't matter much."

"Gonna keep walkin'? Leavin' right away?"

I nod.

The caretaker just stares at me for a second before sighing and going back to tie the boat. "Got a tent?"

"Do I need one? A sleeping bag isn't enough?"

"No, not at all." He heaves a sigh as he gets up, putting his hands inside his pockets, thumbs on his belt. "Probably a better idea to stay here for a day or two, see if it's possible to get one. Need somewhere to stay? I can help with that if there's no problem."

"I don't… Hm. I do, actually. But I need directions."

---

19:55 - Cottage Grove

I'm pretty sure I followed these directions right. Go north, then keep walking until the trees start disappearing and it starts getting more rocky. Hilda– that's her name, apparently– lives in a small cabin at the foot of the mountainous area. I can see some lights are on, but the curtains are closed, so I can only see a dim light getting through them and not what's inside, so I can't see if it's even her living here.

However, looking to my right, I see an empty plate with dog food remains on it and a bowl with water next to it. Those must be her Herdier's, now I just gotta be hopeful that she didn't fall asleep while watching a soap opera on her couch or something.

I knock three times and a dog instantly starts barking from inside, running excitedly towards the door as its claws hit the wood.

"Now, now, Harry, it's just someone at the door. Now get your paws off the door so I can open it." Hilda's voice calls, calming Harry down, then she opens the door. "Oh, it's you. I thought you would be going straight to the city. Come in."

"Thank you," I say with a smile, cleaning my shoes on the worn out 'Welcome' mat at the entrance before walking in.

"I thought it was a neighbor, most tourists don't pick the cabins closer to the mountains. Maybe they are too far away from the coast, or they worry a Graveler will demolish their cabin as it rolls down the mountain while they are asleep." She makes a long pause as she walks to her table, picking up a dish and an empty cup. "It's happened."

"Ah… I can deal with a Graveler."

Hilda chuckles. "Want something to eat? I just finished my dinner, but I could prepare you something."

"I don't eat too much in the evening, thank you."

Hilda walks to her cupboard and takes out another cup from the same set as the one she picked up before, together with a glass dish.

"I said I was fine…"

"You said you didn't eat too much, that's different than nothing at all. I'll leave the bread, butter, cheese–all that– on the table. Eat as you do at home, don't be shy," she answers back. "Sorry for that dish, though. The other ones from the Gossifleur set broke years ago."

"Don't… worry."

"Wanna drink something? I only got green tea and coffee."

"Tea."

"Nice choice, it's good for sleep," she says, grabbing a kettle in one hand and filling it with water. "You know what? I think I'm going to get another cup for myself too."

Hilda puts the water to boil and turns around to grab the cup from before, taking it back on the table.

"I'm assuming you asked at the boat rental where I was."

"Right. He knew right away who it was, like you said."

She laughs. "Well he's got to know where his best client lives. Cottage Grove isn't too big."

We both stay in silence for a bit, until Hilda starts talking again.

"So, did you find lil' Brendan?"

"Um… yes! I did! I didn't uh…" I put a hand in front of me, as I finish swallowing the bite of bread I had in my mouth before I keep talking. "I didn't get the battling advice I wanted, but I got a nice… job offer? Now I have to find interesting Pokémon to write a report about."

"Interesting how?"

"Something… big? I don't know exactly what, but I don't want my first report to be about your average Normal-type, y'see? It's wrongfully taken as weak from a competitive standpoint, but at the same time, they are really common, I bet people write about those all the time, so I want something different."

"Oh, don't say that in front of Harry," Hilda jokes, looking back at her dog, but then looks to her left side. I turn my head to the same side as her just to see two fishing rods hanging on the wall, there's also five wooden boards on one corner. "Do you fish? If you want something big, try Wishiwashi. It's easy to fish up once it's on the hook, but might take some effort to make it worth writing about."

I think about it, going back to the two fishing experiences I had before. They were not great, and I'd rather not have to fish ever again. But if it's as Hilda says, and Wishiwashi aren't difficult to find, then I could give it a shot.

"I could."

"There's this kid– maybe three or four years older than you–, his name is Kyle; he works near Flynn from the boat rental. Good kid, but maybe a bit too cautious. Really afraid of taking risks," she explains. "Twice a week, I ask Kyle to go fish something and bring it here for lunch. He's made it part of his routine now, and he's coming tomorrow, around 9 in the morning. You can go with him, he'll show you around. Sounds good?"

"Sure," I nod.

"Great! Now, let's wait for you to finish eating, I'll show you your room after that."

---

Jordie replaced Maroon's Metal Sound with Grass Knot!

---

Jordie's Party:


Battle Subway:

---

Inventory: