[PKMN OPEN] Pokémon Spear [M] [IC]

Turnip · Apr 7, 2023

Xan Kinda Preferring The Other Beach Where There Was A Giant Crab Trying To Kill Them
Featuring Jerry, Chaperone, Xan, Kass and Mimbo J.

It hadn't taken a lot of watching other matches to come to the conclusion that it was probably best to wait rather than take on the challenge of Chirchester gym. Going into what was looking to be a fairly rough match-up with a team that could only be described as considerably less stable than Xan would have hoped for this point in their journey seemed like a recipe for wasted time. However expedited the decision to move on was, however, the act of doing so ended up delayed regardless. Though dealing with the Gym Challenge itself loomed, as ever, on the horizon, Xan had more than enough auxiliary issues to deal with between Chirchester and Spikemuth.

Sphinx... Sphinx was a spanner in the works. As far as Xan was concerned, the Vulpix had proven that she wasn't capable of handling the responsibility of not being a violent idiot - which really, they figured, wasn't asking for much. Kass seemed to believe that it could be worked through, but... Xan wasn't here to babysit an asshole and Sphinx seemed plenty in favour of leaving. Perhaps if the psychic was invested in becoming the very best trainer there ever was, they'd see it as a failure in their technique or as a challenge to overcome. As it stood, they only required any gaping holes in their training ability to hold off on appearing too significantly before everything they actually needed to do was over and done with. The problematic tendencies of a petulant research partner did not deserve significant time devoted to them in Xan's eyes. Sphinx just... wasn't worth it, at the end of the day. By all means, good luck to her in finding a promising future - but she could fuck off and find it somewhere where it wasn't ruining the rest of theirs.

The issue was: where? Sphinx had chosen, as per the agreement Xan had with all their Pokémon partners, to be released with delay in a place of their choosing - that place being... in the team of a different trainer, according to Kass' translation of the Vulpix's haughty responses. Xan wasn't even sure that in the interest of everyone's safety they could do that. Could you call the Rangers on your own Pokémon? It would be an odd thing for a Gym Challenger to do, for sure. Maybe some other trainer with a good reputation, a league challenger or something, would be up to the task. Getting one to agree - mindful of the potential danger of rampant destruction and being blamed for it besides - was beyond the scope of Xan's imagination, though. Ah, well. This was why a delay was mentioned. Sphinx would have to be patient indeed.

In lighter team-turbulence news, the new addition of Mimbo J counted as an issue that demanded Xan's attention, but was nonetheless promising rather than exclusively stressful. Experienced with many different forms of psychic power to a comprehensive but not intense degree; abilities practised and honed for the likes of convenience, natural extensions of the self, or augmentations to his performing arts. Skills that had no real relevance in battle, but battle wasn't everything. Any form of proficiency was not to be discounted. Jerry and Kass seemed to like the Mime Jr. enough, and the stoic Chaperone seemed unperturbed by his presence at the very least. Sphinx seemed to think poorly of the new hire if the amount of eye-rolling at mealtime was anything to go off of, but her opinions wouldn't have been worth much to Xan even if her future in the team was particularly bright.

The Mime Jr. was mostly being brought up to speed on everything, at this point. There was a lot of research being done, down a lot of different avenues. Maintaining and strengthening of existing senses and the myriad psychokinetic abilities never ceased. Kass was supposedly getting a good grasp on their perception of Dark-type presence, and the sheer confidence that came through in their telepathy was telling. The gears of the Kadabra's brain were turning. And it wasn't just that they were having success with; Kass' understanding of psychoconjuration had deepened to a degree that the Pokédex was now calling their physically-manifested attacks 'Psyshock' - and with that knowledge came the willingness to teach, or at least attempt or assist something that approached the definition of teaching. Chaperone's apparent ability to learn Psycho Cut via TR did not seem to manifest in anything much - it was an odd feeling, Xan realised, to see a Pokémon not immediately outstripping them in psychic precocity. Xan's own progress was not necessarily useful but definitely observable - fragile, fleeting constructs of miniscule size that scarcely held up as dust in the wind and disintegrated to nothing at the drop of a hat. But they were constructs still. Jerry was already proficient with Zen Headbutt and without very clear evidence Xan never had a hope in hell of knowing weather the Psyduck picked up on anything or not. The Yellow Shape was inscrutable as ever outside of the insights that Kass afforded. There were... insights to be had, if not progress, in the Psyduck's area, however. Psychic Terrain was good for the Water-Type - like a more potent and more readily available but less permanent version of the incense the group was used to. Still, it was a far cry from the dizzying (or perhaps rather, the opposite of dizzying) heights of the effect Ballonlea Gym seemed to have had on the Psyduck. Which meant, barring some unknown variable, (please, please let it not be some unknown variable) that the explanation for Jerry's gym phenomenon probably lied in Misty Terrain rather than Psychic Terrain. Or more likely than that it was some combination of the two. Now of course, Psychic Terrain was far too huge a boon for every member of their team for the trainer to feel any hint of disappointment in seeking it out rather than the alternative, but it did nonetheless mean that greater effort would yet be required.

The mystery behind the duck would remain just that for now. Jerry himself was a being intertwined with mysteries: right now, he was sitting in the sand, paused in the construction of a magnificent castle. He stared down at himself, wondering how many legs he had. Chaperone the Pawniard stood a little ways off, watching, blades folded across his chest and the sunlight glinting off of a visage that gleamed unmistakably with pride. Xan was in much the same place, only tucked away in the shade. As indicated by the previous paragraphs, they had retreated into their own mind; a reflective state, brought on to avoid the horrors of the environment they now found themselves in. Not a week ago had they been shivering in the snow of Chirchester, and now they were sweltering, overdressed on the humid beachside of Route 9. Drednaw ferries were delayed, and their lot was to wait in line while trying not to perish. If they'd somehow known that nature had planned to sucker punch them with a weather-shift not even Jerry's Cloud Nine could assuage properly they'd have come here without the signature get-up they were known for - but here they were, and now the option of backing out and ruining the private sanctity of the remainder of their life was one they'd have to will themselves out of considering. Kass and Mimbo J were taking the opportunity of delays to put on some kind of impromptu show elsewhere - not that there was much they could have done to help even if they were here. Sphinx was still in her ball but, all else besides, as a Fire-type she was essentially only capable of making the situation worse.

Chaperone offered Xan a slice of Leftover apple again. The human politely declined. The Pawniard had taken a liking to the 'foodstuff', if it could be called that, and his knife-limbs seemed the perfect implement to carve off bite-sized pieces. Admittedly, a cool, crisp apple slice sounded pretty nice right about now - but Xan knew better than to mistake Leftovers for the kind of fruit they'd buy at the supermarket. Some kind of minor commotion in the line ahead of the two drew their gazes for a moment before they could confirm that no, the line wasn't really moving. And with that, both human and Pawniard turned their attention back to the sand and the Psyduck sat there.

Xan wasn't exactly a sandcastle connoisseur, but their amateur opinion was that Jerry's creation was really something to behold. They'd been impressed back on Hulbury beach months ago, and the Psyduck had only improved since then. The detail that little telekinetic touches were affording them were certainly nothing to scoff at - and, okay, fair enough, looking about the beach there were some real professional builds going on (there was some kind of sandcastle competition, right?) that seemed grander in both scale and technique. But for a single Pokémon with no tools and no assistance? Jerry was kind of killing it out there. More practice under Psychic Terrain must have given him a far better understanding of what it was he was wielding. The walls of Jerry's creation looked sturdy and rectangular, crenellations were uniform, there was a good amount of verticality involved with an inner citadel and outer sections, there were tiny little intricate balustrades overlooking a courtyard that wAS CRUMBLING? WHO THE-?

Black and white stripes betrayed the form of a Linoone, mercilessly laying waste to the Psyduck's creation before its time. Jerry quack-screamed in unbridled horror as the quadruped's paws performed a two-second siege on the short-lived fortress. The creature chittered all the while - was this intentional? Was this thing a wild? Xan didn't think they had wild Linoone in this part of Galar but if this thing was wild they were kicking its ass. Chaperone seemed well ahead of them on that front; already approaching, with one swift drag they slid their arm-blades across one another, scattering sparks on the sand. A Linoone on all fours and a standing Pawniard were of similar heights, and yet Chaperone undeniably looked down at the intruder as he stepped between it and Jerry. He was unflinching, his stare unwavering in the face of the jeers and Leers of the Rushing Pokémon that turned to face him. His expression was still, almost hollow - a cold-burning malice.

"Anyone here to vouch for this Linoone?" Xan called out to their surroundings as they drew near, silently hoping for no answer. A cathartic three-on-one smack-down for this little bastard wasn't the ideal moral solution. But if it was the only option...

"Heyyy," came a voice in response from the waterfront. A responsible resolution, then. "What's all this noise over here?"

The helmet turned to meet the newcomer, a gruff-looking sort dressed in grey and magenta with spiky accessories and face-paint to boot. "You're claiming responsibility for this Linoone, or just curious?"

The newcomer narrowed their eyes. "That's my Buddy, yeah."

"Well your 'buddy' here just gleefully trashed someone else's sandcastle for no good reason," Xan scowled. They took another glance at the increasingly tense stand-off between Chaperone and the Linoone. The beach bully's continued aggressive glare served only to feed the fires of hatred dancing behind the Pawniard's eyes. Status moves were already being exchanged, with even a Sand Attack being slipped in there. This was inevitably going to turn into combat proper very soon unless one of them was recalled, and Xan didn't much feel like doing that to Chaperone right now. "If you can get an apology out of them, that'd be ideal."

"Eh," Buddy's trainer waved a hand. "Let 'em fight it out. Let's battle."

Xan shook their head in confusion and scoffed. "-Yeah? No. If we were guaranteed to win, maybe-"

"Aw c'mon, you're a league challenger," the hooligan grinned. "Can't be scared of a lil' battle."

"-but we're not. I- 'scared'? It's about principle, you- any possibility for you to win shouldn't be acknowledged. You can't just battle your way out of being a piece of shit, that's not how things work - the- 'Buddy' should apologise, you know, like a reasonable person, one with actual thoughts and feelings bouncing around in their head-"

"Ey. Oi," Buddy's trainer frowned dangerously, and the Linoone made a noise that sounded halfway between a scoff and a snicker. "You callin my Buddy a piece of shit?"

"They're acting like one."

"That's my partner you're talkin' about you lil' wierdo."

Oh, good. The hooligan's posture was getting aggressive. At least that made the situation a little clearer. Xan had spent far too long in the sun already to deal with an extended conversation. They turned their senses downward, focusing on the grains of sand on the ground rather than on the humid air clinging to their skin.

"Not sure what you want me to say," the psychic offered, taking another laboured breath and a couple of steps backwards as the other human approached. "Get a better partner, maybe?"

"You shut your fuckin-!"

Two conflicts resolved themselves at once. Toward the water, beside the ruins of Jerry's masterwork, Buddy the Linoone had had enough of the back-and-forth and launched at Chaperone in a sinister Covet attack, faking assent before viciously snatching the Pawniard's Leftovers away. The Sharp Blade Pokémon let it go, one blade twisting around his body to transition into a vertical slice. Chaperone's Defiance had pushed his offensive fury into overdrive, and as the Linoone paused to snicker in celebration of their successful theft a Fury Cutter of epic proportions sent their head directly into the sand.

Further inland, the hooligan had raised one arm in undeniable hostility, a grab for the fabric of the psychic's hoodie at the shoulder - their front-most foot, however, ended up struggling to find purchase on sand that rapidly fled the path of their very first step. Xan was too exhausted from the heat for any kind of prolonged avoidance, so instead of darting away as the other human immediately lost balance and began tipping, they took a single step forward and braced the top of their helmet to drive upwards into the painted surface of a rapidly descending nose.

In the aftermath, Chaperone roughly pulled the fainted Linoone free of the sand and took back his Leftovers before turning around to go and comfort Jerry.

Wary of catching blame from onlookers, Xan raised both hands and said, "Careful." They didn't have the breath for much else. The other human had fallen to the sand and was bleeding from the nose - perhaps a little concussed, maybe shocked, but otherwise fine. They hadn't done much other than scramble away a little, but before they could do more than that another commotion reared its ugly head.

"Hey," came a voice, echoed by a couple of others. More beachgoers, dressed in similar getup to the aggressive one sprawling in the sand. A wave of dread washed over Xan as they realised how likely it was that even more day-ruining was about to come their way. "Heck's goin' on 'ere?"

The psychic stepped aside and widened their arms to show off the scene in its entirety, presenting the group their side-profile just in case the colour-co-ordinated lot wanted to try anything funny.

"Didn't start it," Xan began. "If they're with you, you should probably get them some-"

"-Guys," one of the face-painted ones interrupted, pointing. "Look how sad that Psyduck is."

Waves of 'ooh' and 'aww' and 'Arceus' emanated from the small crowd, carrying a relieving tone of empathy. The group chatted among themselves.

"Poor precious..."

"Yellow guy..."

"Must have destroyed his sandcastle..."

"Dang, Buddy biffed it..."

"Wait, is that a Gym Challenger...?"

"I hope the ducko feels better..."

"Maybe Keith is the asshole here..."

"I wanna pet him..."

"You can't pet him..."

"Keith's been an asshole for years Iunno why you're only now realising..."

"Let's get out of here, guys..."

"Keith! Don't bleed on my tank top!"

"Yeah Keith hold your nose you frickin' dope..."

The group absorbed the hooligan, Keith, as well as Buddy the Linoone, then promptly meandered off. Up the sandbank, onto the pavement and away.

"Er... hi."

Xan closed their eyes and breathed deeply - more people. They turned slowly, met with the sight of a bright-eyed sort in ferryworker's uniform with something held under one arm. The stranger, who waved, seemed hesitant to speak, and Xan wasn't all that keen on the idea either with how long the sun's heat had had to worm its way into their clothes. Eventually the psychic spoke.

"Sorry about-"

"Beach bullies d-"

Both tried speaking at the same time. After a beat of silence, it was the ferryworker who picked up the conversation.

"We saw, and... well, we all feel sorry for the Psyduck, and that lot were... well, let's say they're a weight off of the congested ferry service. So why don't you take this as a reward and give it to our little yellow friend, okay? If- if the Psyduck is yours, that-"

"The Psyduck is with me, yeah," Xan confirmed. The ferryworker seemed to be holding out some kind of TR. "They're Jerry. I'll- yeah, I can do that, thanks, I guess- if it's a gift for Jerry, you can give it to them yourself if you want to, you know."

The ferryworker gasped, "Can I!?" and rushed forward. They faltered as Xan recoiled, stuttered one step in awkward indecision, then hurried over toward the Psyduck. "Hi! We're sorry about what happened over here, we saw your sandcastle and we thought it was really nice! So we got this..."

Xan's perception of the conversation trailed off as a telepathic hail reached them from elsewhere. Down the long side of the beach Kass approached in big skipping leaps, followed by a Mime who was looking considerably less Junior than he had an hour or so ago - presuming that this was Mimbo J, of course, and not some other Mr. Mime that Kass had just happened to pick up. The mental conversation that followed confirmed such suspicions - evidently, Mimbo's dreams of getting out and seeing new places weren't empty ones, and fulfilling them was doing the Mime Pokémon a load of good. Of course, it didn't take long for Kass and J to become curious about the other side of things, and a jaunt over to wish Jerry well happened quickly.

The Psyduck seemed to have been reassured by the surprise gift, as well as ample support from friends. Jerry was much more comfortable with psychotelepathy now than he had been in the past, and waves of gratitude emanated from the duck with practised ease. Friends... were nice. Structures... of sand... would be good. Oh! Surprise realisation! There was another Jerry. He will be larger.

From what Xan had gathered based on many months of interaction with Jerry, as well as the impression they got from whenever Kass communicated with him, this was a Jerry thing rather than a psychotelepathy thing. Figuring out what the Psyduck meant never failed to require some level of deciphering.

The ferryworker cleared their throat and said, "Okay! I'm really glad we could sort things out. However, um, due to policy, we are going to have to ask you to leave... Sorry."

For fuck's sake.

Mimbo J. evolved into Mr. Mime (Galar)!
Jerry forgot Disable and learned Metronome!

Foxrally · Apr 13, 2023

Simon Pearburgh

Spoiler: Inventory

Spoiler: Memories

Melody Argent

Nightshot (Doom Noodle)

Spike

Piper

Ren

Celeste

Annabelle

Blue

Bishop

Lyric

Shredder

Spikemuth

With the sun setting on the Route 9 beaches behind him, Simon still felt like he was shaking sand out of his hair as he stepped through the large, warehouse-like front gates of the city of Spikemuth. Despite the outer city's dilapidated appearance, the entrance felt surprisingly grandiose, the rusty hinges holding the two massive metal doors creaking as they swayed shakily in the wind. He thought the city would have at least tried to fix its front gate ahead of the surge of tourists and fans - even though it was late in the evening, there were several large tour groups crowding the area - but the whole 'run-down' aesthetic must have been part of Spikemuth's brand now. As he went further in, he saw rows of older buildings dotted with bright neon signs, advertising everything from local shops to slightly sketchy 'cafés'.

After some time, Simon reached his hotel, nestled away in one of the narrow streets. He took a long shower, eager to wash off the several days' worth of sea salt on him, and quickly tossed his stuff in his room to go out and explore the city.

"Ah, so this is Spikemuth…" he said, getting a deep whiff of the stale, slightly sulfuric air. It was surprisingly temperate - perhaps the only advantage of being a mostly enclosed city - but still cool enough that his winter coat didn't feel suffocating.

Princess peeked out of his coat and shivered; this place felt dangerous. Vivillon chimed in on his shoulder, saying she'd heard spooky stories about this place from back home. Simon gave her a reassuring pat. "Lots of people think Spikemuth is scary, but it's really not - some of the best people I met back at the academy were from here! In fact, we might just run into Haleigh or Melody if we make enough noise."

The city was bustling with nighttime activity as the clock struck nine, and the group found themselves wandering the dizzying maze of Spikemuth alleyways, many of which were packed with eager visitors. He had to ball up Ross and Anorith at one point; if not for how crowded it was, then just to not be recognized so easily. He tried his best to avoid the largest crowds lest he be swamped with a wave of overzealous league fans, but he also couldn't help posing for few selfies.

After a brief quest to find a non-crowded fish n' chips stand (which the bugs were not too fond of, noting the distinct fishy smell put them on edge) Simon came across another large crowd in an alleyway, much bigger than he'd seen previously. Voices that sounded like they were coming from a megaphone could be heard from around the corner, along with bright, coloured lights.

With his curiosity piqued, Simon approached the area to hear the announcer more clearly. "You wanna check it out for me?" he glanced at Shedinja, tossing a chip at him. The ghost caught the fry and nodded excitedly before disappearing into thin air.

As he did so, Simon got close enough to hear the voices more clearly.

"Rowdy Ricky's Liepard BARELY avoids the hit from the challenger's Corvisquire! And she retaliates with a shot of her own!"

The crowd cheered as they all looked up at a large plasma screen, which Simon just caught of a glimpse of when he turned the corner. It showed a Liepard and Corvisquire locked in pursuit and racing down a dark alleyway, firing off attacks at each other as they ran and flew. The crowd cheered as the Corvisquire dodged a dark pulse from its opponent.

"Wait a minute, that's…" Simon narrowed his eyes as he looked at the bird Pokemon, recognizing the distinctive mark on its wing. "That's Bishop! This is Melody's Pokemon!"

He heard the sound of the two racers approaching in the distance, and like a missile through the streets, the two Pokemon rushed past the crowds and further down the track, leaving behind them a trail of dust and wind which nearly blew away Simon's hat. Shedinja reappeared before him; saying he'd found Melody just a little further away, engaged in some strange battle with a communicator.

"That's no battle!" Simon said, running over in that direction, "It's a street race - Mel's the challenger!"

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

"So Rick's got long-distance moves on his Liepard now, huh?" Melody was willing to play this semi-fairly for the first half, but if she wasn't careful, that Liepard could shoot Bishop right out of the sky. The punk teen flashed a small, devious smile as she spoke into her headpiece. "Dive down and use scary face."

The raven pokemon gave a determined nod before pushing his wings straight outward, slowing from frantically flapping to gliding through the air. Once he saw the dark feline in his sights, he dipped his beak and dove downward, tilting his body into a tailspin as his opponent fired another dark pulse. Spreading his wings to slow his descent, he locked eyes with the feline and glared, his pupils glowing a demonic red. A paralyzing sensation gripped the Liepard; its muscles tensing and its legs suddenly feeling considerably heavier than they had seconds ago.

"Got 'em! Now book it!"

The corvisquire zipped past the struggling cat and through the streets, letting out a powerful caw in response to the excited cheering from the audience. With each flap, the pitter-patter of the Liepard's claws became fainter and fainter, and the finish line was in sight!

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

Just as Simon reached the challengers' spot, he heard the crowd roar as the screens showed Bishop piercing through the finish line flags like an arrow. He heard the announcer congratulate challenger 182 for her hard-fought victory, and Mel was cheered out of the arena to make way for the next racer.

As she left from the side of the racetrack, dozens of eager fans ready to pounce on her for a selfie, Melody felt a tug on her sleeve and a sturdy bug string yank her out of the crowd and into a more cleared-out area. "Hey!" Melody balled her hand into a tight fist, ready to wheel around and strike at whoever just grabbed her sleeve and so forcefully pulled her away, only to realize that it wasn't a who at all.

"I said 'get her for me', not literally grab her!" Simon hissed as he snapped the string from Vivillon that was connected to Melody's sleeve. He looked at his friend and grinned, "Hey, ghost girl!"

Melody's ''ready to throw hands' expression eased away as she folded her arms over her chest. "Hey, Bug Boy." She greeted as Bishop flew towards the pair and landed on her shoulder, his feathers still puffed rather proudly from his decisive victory. "So you're finally in Spikemuth! You and your crew been here long?"

"Nope, just landed in town a few hours ago!" The smaller members of Simon's team peeked their heads out of his coat. "Thought I'd go on a walk and check out Spikemuth's landmarks." he added teasingly. As soon as the bugs recognized Melody, they jumped out, with Larvesta and Princess immediately hopping onto her own jacket.

Whatever blood had tried to creep its way towards Melody's cheeks had been quickly chased back to where it belonged as the two small bugs leaped on her. "Well heya. Missed you guys too," she said as Bishop offered the Joltik Princess a respectful bow. The Corvisquire then gracefully hopped from her shoulder onto Simon's, resulting in an interesting Pokemon switcheroo.

"That race was incredible, by the way! You'd put Mothim to shame if he was out." Simon said to the bird, to which Bishop proudly puffed out his chest and swished his head-feathers.

"You should let me show ya around!" The punk teen added after flashing a short-lived raised eyebrow to Bishop. "There's stuff around here ya just won't find unless ya know where t' go." Now it was her turn to flash a wink. "'Course, I know you didn't come rushin' over here just to see my mug. You're going to do the drag race mission, right?"

"Wait, that's the gym mission? A street race?" Simon replied, raising his eyebrows in surprise. "You Spikemuth folk sure are interesting."

"Yeah, you gotta prove you can survive the streets before we let you go inside any buildings." There was a joking tone to her voice… at least partially. "Ya wanna give it a go?"

"Do I have the victor's blessing?" Simon said, glancing at Bishop on his shoulder. The bird gave a determined nod and a squawk. "Let's do it, then."

A joint post of LinearAxel and Foxrally

Foxrally · Apr 13, 2023

Simon Pearburgh

Spoiler: Inventory

Spoiler: Memories

Melody Argent

Nightshot (Doom Noodle)

Spike

Piper

Ren

Celeste

Annabelle

Blue

Bishop

Lyric

Shredder

Spikemuth

Simon and Melody reached the registration desk, manned by the hyper announcer Simon had heard.

"Ay, it's the bug kid! Welcome to Spikemuth, mate!" the man said, grinning. "Here for the race, I assume?"

"You know it!" Simon replied, pulling out Mothim's pokeball. "I'll be signing up with-"

As he said so, Larvesta burst out of Melody's jacket pocket and landed on the front desk. The firebug let out a high-pitched chitter and hopped on the spot, begging Simon to have him sign up.

"Uh… you sure you up to this, lil' man?" Simon asked. "The racers make it look easy."

The firebug responded with an enthusiastic cheer and a blast of fire from all five of his horns.

"How could ya deny the lil' bugger?" the announcer laughed, backing up the fire-type.

"Alright, I'll take that as a yes." Simon gave a nervous laugh as he patted down a small flame from his coat. He'd avoided signing Larvesta up to any challenges or missions on account of his age, but maybe it was time to give him some spotlight.

"He's got this. Ya both do," Melody said with a small smirk. She didn't know how, but it's not like she had expected Simon to go about this by any conventional method.

Simon eyed his opponent, a mohawk-sporting Team Yell fan with a Sharpedo. The fish Pokemon seemed to be hovering slightly; likely the result of some item. "Know anything about this girl?" Simon asked.

"Only that she's from Spikemuth, so… don't expect too much fair play." Mel snickered.

Both trainers set their Pokemon on the starting line, the crowds around them getting more and more hyped up as the racers prepared for the opening shot.

The announcer's voice blared through the speakers. "It might be a fish out of water, but don't underestimate Turbo Tina's Sharpedo! How will challenger 412 fare against a type and size disadvantage?"

Simon cracked his knuckles and flashed a thumbs-up at Larvesta. "Godspeed, tiny."

The lights around the track changed to red, signalling the start of the countdown.
"THREE…"
"TWO…"
"ONE…"

"BLAST OFF!!"

"Flame Wheel!"
"Aqua Jet!"

Both Pokemon shot off in a trailblazing mix of fire and water as the race begun. Larvesta looked like a shooting star on the screens, cloaked in fire with his Flame Wheel in effect, flames spewing from his horns like a jetpack. However, right on his tail was an equally speedy Sharpedo, cloaked in water from Aqua Jet and cutting through air just as easily as it would underwater with its sharp fins.

"Challenger 412's got the edge for now, but let's see how they fare on the track's first turn!" the announcer exclaimed.

The camera panned towards the track ahead and showed a sharp ninety-degree turn. Simon grabbed his headpiece; "Larvesta! Keep up the momentum and pivot with Trailblaze!"

Just as the racers reached the turning point, a green glow covered the bug's body and Larvesta shot sideways, perfectly angling himself to keep his momentum on the turn.

"Yes!" Simon cheered. The Sharpedo was even further behind now, and Larvesta quickly picked up speed as the secondary effects of the move kicked in.

Suddenly, he heard the opposing trainer speak up. "Sharpedo, Bubble Beam!" A powerful jet-spray of bubbles struck Larvesta from behind, blowing away some of the flames and causing the bug to yelp out from the supereffective hit.

"Larvesta! Hang in there!" Simon called out. The Sharpedo was beginning to catch up; the bubbles from its attack weighing Larvesta down just enough to even out their speeds.

"Here's another tricky part of the track - the notorious U-Turn! Will the bug king succeed on this aptly-named bug-move obstacle?"

Simon prepared to call out for Trailblaze again, but this time, he was ready. As the racers got to the turn, he spoke up; "Trailblaze… and knock into that sharpedo!" Just like last time, Larvesta's speed boost from Trailblaze came just in time to help with the turn, but instead of shooting off towards the open track, the Pokemon instead used its momentum to slam into its opponent, attacking its side with a pulsing green tackle.

"Crunch!" the Team Yell trainer tried to counter, but the bug was too fast as Sharpedo only bit down on air.

The crowds cheered as the race continued with Larvesta now ahead again and they crossed the halfway point. The little firebug dodged several more bubblebeams from its opponent, and Simon could see the Team Yell racer grip her communicator in frustration. "Screw it - Hydro Pump!"

Simon's eyes grew wide as the Sharpedo slid to a halt and it blasted a torrential beam of water at Larvesta. Dispite his speed, there was nothing the bug could do to avoid the attack as the water engulfed his body, immediately extinguishing his flames and sending him tumbling down the racetrack.

"Blimey! Turbo Tina's high-risk maneuver worked - challenger 412's Larvesta is soaked!"

Both the sharpedo and its trainer cackled as the fish took off again, spraying Larvesta with a parting shot of dirt and water. Much to Simon's relief, the firebug rose to its feet, coughing up steam, down but not out. It let out a sad whimper, as if holding back tears.

Simon grit his teeth and he spoke into the communicator, "C'mon, lad, don't give up! We never do!"

Larvesta tried to ignite his flames again, but only a sputtering bit of smoke came from his horns. The young Pokemon let out another sob.

"It doesn't matter how hard we get knocked down, as long as we can get back up, it's always worth fighting back!" Simon exclaimed. "You're on the team for a reason - now show 'em what the hivemind can do!"

Larvesta let out an energized squeak and flames burst from his horns once again, even stronger than before. He blasted down the track, quickly evaporating any water from the Sharpedo's attack.

"Challenger 412 is back in the race, folks! But with such a large lead, it seems like sharpedo's victory is all but assured!"

As Larvesta charged forward, he eventually found himself on Sharpedo's tail again, though his opponent also picked up speed as soon as he saw him. Simon looked behind him and could even spot the pair in the distance… they were approaching the finish line, and if all he tried was to outspeed his opponent, they would never get ahead in time. All he needed was an edge…

"Larvesta! Cut off all the flames… and use string shot to latch onto the sharpedo!" Simon called out, to everyone's shock.

The bug shot out a long, sturdy string of web, latching onto the Sharpedo's back, and stopped shooting fire from his horns so as to not burn it. The Sharpedo let out a confused growl as it was pulled slightly off-balance.

"Now wind yourself up with Trailblaze!" Like a bug-shaped Yo-Yo, Larvesta spun on himself, empowered by the speed boost of Trailblaze, pulling himself closer and closer to the Sharpedo. All the water-type could do was watch in terror as a stringed-up tackle of green energy slammed into its back, knocking it down to the ground with supereffective damage.

As it tumbled down, Larvesta burst from the string cocoon in flames and shot forward, crossing the finish line in a grand, fiery flourish.

"Amazing! Challenger 412 wrestles victory from the shark jaws of certain defeat!"

Larvesta whirled around and crashed into Simon as the crowd went wild for the twist ending. Melody ran onto the track and picked both of them up, clapping Simon on the back.

"I dunno how ya keep doin' it, but you nailed it!" she cheered. She had a feeling Simon would have incorporated String Shot into that race somehow, but she never would have guessed he would use it in such a jaw-clenching grand finale. She let go of Simon's shoulder and looked down to the speedy fiery type she had scooped off the track. "Way to show 'em what a shooting star you are, li'l man."

"Took a little inspiration from someone in that pep talk." Simon replied, grinning.

It didn't take long for the audience to realize that two of the finalist challengers were on the racetrack, and the crowds around them went even wilder as Simon and Melody were swarmed with more league fans.

"Ah shit, we better get out of here before we're trapped for the rest of the night!"

"Race you to the exit?"

"Bet!"

"Think fast!" Melody shouted as she bolted away from Simon and made her way down a slender pathway that was part of the racetrack. While said pathway seemed like a dead end due to the stone wall at the end, many a Spikemuth youth knew that it could easily be scaled by leaping atop the nearby dumpster and using the added height to hoist yourself right over the wall. With the wave of fans hot on their tail, the two trainers managed to escape just in time.

A joint post of LinearAxel and Foxrally

Turnip · Apr 15, 2023

Spike Mouth? Wow That Sounds Like It Must Hurty If Eating (Part 1)
Featuring Xan, Kass, Jerry, Chaperone, Mimbo J. and... surprises.

Neon signs created an irritating glare across the visor of Xan's helmet. Spikemuth was a town of contrast in more ways than one. Bright lights, dark corners. Promising new growth, desolate old back-alleys. The place had seemed like it might be a fairly comfortable stay for the psychic, but in practice it was always either too loud or too quiet. Constant sucker-punches to the senses.

And the sucker punches kept coming. Spikemuth Stadium wasn't even finished. The gym challenge was being held in the arceus-forsaken backstreets, and the battle was taking place in an outdoor concert venue. Xan was just about used to the idea of battling for show in a stadium now - enough that they could tune most everything out - and here comes Spikemuth to shake up the formula a little, just in case the psychic had managed to get over feeling like a caged zoo animal.

… At least the weather was temperate.

Xan and their team had gathered amongst the various chain-link fences that served to set apart the official gym space from the rest of town. Xan themselves, Kass the Kadabra, Jerry the Psyduck, Chaperone the Pawniard and Mimbo J the Mr. Mime. Sphinx the Vulpix had yet to regain public-space privileges. The plan was simple: disrupt other racers and use Teleport to avoid any obstacles. Kass was more than kitted out for the Gym Challenge and would probably have a blast. As for the battle? Take on Klara, use Mimbo J's Safeguard to neuter any attempt to use poison, buff up someone else (probably Kass again, if they were being honest) to deliver the killing blow with a little help from one of the new tricks they had up their (nonexistent) sleeves.

Jerry the Psyduck let out a short quack of distress. All eyes turned to follow the yellow shape.

"... Jerry?" The psychic said slowly. "You good?"

The water-type held out two webbed hands to his fellows - the universal sign for 'wait here' - and began plodding off at a jog, breathing heavily. Kass quickly zipped to the side of their friend, and a short conversation of 'psy's and 'kadab's followed.

"Something I should know?" Xan asked the two, blinking in confusion.

Kass responded with a thumbs up, though a telepathic missive soon followed. It passed along a modicum of Kass' own befuddlement, which was good to know. The message itself carried uncertainty and the image of a toilet? Xan knew Jerry was prone to nervousness, but nervousness of that kind, though totally understandable, would be a first for the Psyduck.

Jerry tripped over, making a sound like a deflated balloon on impact, but was quick to roll back to his feet. He attempted to jump up and climb a chain-link fence for some reason, but with a quick offer Kass teleported the two of them to the other side instead.

"Stay safe, you two. Don't go too far, you know?"

Another thumbs up from the Kadabra. Chaperone briefly shared with Xan a look of mild concern before turning back to keep watch on the two. Mimbo J seemed to be holding back a degree of laughter.

Jerry and Kass' little adventure seemed to come to a stop when they came across a different yellow shape, still within earshot. The yellow shape in question being a woman in a large raincoat, accompanied by a Manectric that was also yellow in part. Rapidfire quacks and psy-iys seemed to imply some kind of excited explanation, directed at the semi-familiar gym challenger and at Kass in equal measure.

Catherine was so wrapped up in her thought that it took her a moment to notice the Pokemon conversing right by her. It wasn't until Holo joined in with a couple of barks of her own that she turned around to see a somewhat familiar-looking Kadabra and Psyduck gesturing in her direction.

One of her old classmates had appeared in videos of gym battles with a Kadabra and Psyduck. Given that she felt like she recognised the pair, it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that was who they belonged to. Except they seemed to be trying to get her attention and she had a hard time imagining that particular graduate seeking her - or anyone - out.

Amongst exchanged barks and confused kadabra-ish vocalisations, the Psyduck stole a few glances the way of the others but seemed, for the most part, fixated on her. A single, final 'duck' belied the end of a speech lost entirely to translation. The Kadabra turned, gave Catherine a wave and a little apologetic bow, then turned back to mutter a few things the Psyduck's way.

A sudden, exclaimed quack sent out a ripple of thought, seeming to surprise even the Duck Pokémon it came from. A wave of feeling washed over the forefront of nearby minds - the impression of the colour yellow.

Catherine blinked a few times, allowing the involuntary flash of colour and accompanying fuzzy feeling to fade away from her head. It was so sudden and alien that it took her a moment to fully compute what had just happened.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, not that she was expecting much of an answer.

As if confirming she was correct not to expect much, Holo gave the vocal equivalent of a shrug. The Kadabra got chattering with the Psyduck and, after a moment, lifted one hand in realisation and turned to the other two again. A few 'kad's and 'dab's were shared with Holo, who yipped back excitedly. Like a wafting breeze rather than a tidal undulation, more foreign thought-packets arrived at Catherine's consciousness. A greeting, jovial. An image, some kind of… towering wind turbine. Apology, cautiousness, hope, a polite proposition and all the emotions therein weaved into one thought - a suggestion for the potential of working toward a shared goal. And quieter, lighter than before but familiarly… yellow. The Kadabra waved again.

Having things beamed directly into her brain was an experience that Catherine felt "invasive" didn't even begin to cover. But, it seemed like her cooperation was being asked for. Although not thrilled with having thoughts projected into her head, she was hardly someone who would turn down such a minor request.

"I guess our help is wanted, Holo," Catherine said, looking down at her companion with confusion that had not yet entirely faded. She then turned her attention back to the newcomers. "I guess you'll be taking us to your trainer then?"

The two yellowest Pokémon took a quick break before answering to cheer at each other. The Kadabra gave a jubilant thumbs-up before waving a hand over their shoulder and heading in the direction of some chain link fences. The Psyduck raised both webbed hands, thumbs-up akimbo (if a Psyduck could really be said to have thumbs), and continued to hold them up in Catherine's direction as he waddled along beside.

Holo barked something in response and then set off after the Kadabra and Psyduck. With a measure of reluctance, only bolstered by a lack of understanding, Catherine followed on behind. Sure enough, this soon led her to a confirmation of suspicions in the form of a very recognisable helmeted visage.

"Do your Pokemon always go around putting cryptic messages directly into people's minds? Did you need something?"

Xan looked up from their phone. "Do-? Not, uh- I don't know what you mean by cryptic - hi, by the way - what's this about cryptic messages?"

The helmet conspicuously turned in the direction of Kadabra and Psyduck, the former of which began gesturing as though conversing.

"Regular sort," Xan murmured. "Probably makes sense, yeah. Jerry, mmkay… yeah? I guess they have had moments like that… yellow? And the- fucking hell. So - but how…? Okay, whatever, if everyone's on board and Jerry's insistent then it's not like I'm going to stand in the way." Helmet raised again. "Sorry about that. You go by Catherine? That was a weird way of putting it. I'm not wrong though, yeah?"

"Yes," Catherine replied. "And this is Holo. So, what exactly is going on?"

"Well, first off, congratulations," Xan put their phone away, pointing briefly to the Psyduck as they did so. "Apparently you might be Jerry but larger. Hi Holo, by the way. Kass," A gesture to the Kadabra. "Tells me that Jerry's insistent to team up with you and yours. If everyone else thinks that's how they want to conduct their gym challenge business then I wouldn't really have a say even if I was particularly opposed to the idea." A pause. "Oh and- the messages, that's just- telepathy's nothing to worry about. Better than words sometimes, not often. Better than nothing - like, always."

"I'm what?" Catherine looked at the Psyduck, who looked fixedly back at her. "You know what, never mind. If Jerry wants to work with me, who am I to refuse? We're going to have to do some serious strategizing though. We'd have to anyway, but Jerry kind of puts the brakes on half my strategies just by existing."

"Rain, yeah. I keep up with the league. Seems you do too. That kind of… I mean, actually, we could probably work with this…?"

The unlikely pairing of Catherine and Xan stood on one end of the open space that was more in line with an underground performance than a gym battle. Surrounded by chain fences, spotlights and neons illuminating parts of the stage that would otherwise be shrouded in darkness as other patches were. Some sort of bastardised electro-pop-punk monstrosity was already blaring over the speakers.

Perhaps it was meant to symbolise the different tastes of each gym leader, but Catherine was pretty sure the cacophony was the kind of compromise that didn't please anyone. It certainly wasn't pleasing her.

Then again, after the disaster that had been the gym mission, she was already not in the best of moods. It was a miracle that hadn't been caught on camera.

"Are you lucky enough to have noise cancelling in that helmet?" Catherine said to Xan over the sound of the "music," wincing.

"Meditation techniques can only do so much," the psychic droned. "I think I'm actually in the middle of cardiac arrest."

It was at that moment that, blessedly, the music dimmed just enough for the announcer's voice to drone over the venue's PA system. "Now, it is time for the moment you have all been waiting for!"

He said a few more things that were barely decipherable, but apparently the imminent arrival of the Spikemuth gym leaders had been a part of that because the crowd roared with excitement as the two of them took to the field. One dressed in the black and magenta colours that had once been the soul colours of the Spikemuth gym, the other is a mess of purple, blue and green.

The former, Marnie, spoke first. "Sorry for the wait. The facilities here ain't the best so there's a bit more prep time between battles, y'know?"

"Guess it can't be helped until the stadium is finished," Catherine replied, eager to just be on with it before her ears actually started bleeding.

"'Fraid so," Marnie replied. "But we're here now. So shall we kick this off?"

"Yeeeesss let's get this party started!" Klara was practically running on the spot. "Make some noise, Spikemuth!"

The crowd's roar today was especially intimidating.

"Fine by me," Catherine said, trying and failing not to glare at Klara's energy.

Xan murmured next to her, "If I didn't pay to be here can I still get a refund?"

"No, but you can probably sue them if she gives us an aneurysm."

"Could have done with that knowledge earlier. I'm going to need to employ a lot of lawyers."

With greetings and something resembling pleasantries out the way, the gym leaders both sent out their opening Pokemon. In front of Marnie, an ovoid yellow rodent - her Morpeko - appeared. In front of Klara, the entirely more menacing segmented body of her Drapion, pincers gnashing appeared.

"More or less what we expected then," Catherine said. "Cooler, you're up."

Catherine lobbed the weighty Heavy Ball into the battlefield, popping open with a silvery series of flashes and a "popping" sound and allowing the Beartic out. Immediately, the Ice type dropped into a ready-stance on all fours, growling at its new foes. It was quite the debut.

"Now's the time, J," said the psychic, a proffered Luxury Ball opening to release the gangly blue form of Mimbo J the Mr. Mime. Immediately, the Ice type dropped into a ready-stance on all fours, growling at its new foes. It was quite the debut.

"Wow! Incredible!" Klara cheered. "What a couple of cuties! I'm gonna crush 'em!"

Mimbo J. hopped to his feet and bowed for the audience. At least one of the challengers was happy.

Cooler looked ready to bite the head off of her ally for the mimicry, so Catherine decided it was best to direct that aggression somewhere else. "Cooler, Rain Dance and then Icicle Crash."

Cooler, thankfully, obliged. She thrashed her head in time to the music that was still blasting over the speakers, rain clouds rapidly forming and beginning Catherine's signature deluge. The instant the rain started falling, Cooler launched herself forwards and crossed the battlefield in seconds.

She ignored the tiny, less intimidating Morpeko and instead smashed a claw of ice into Klara's Drapion, knocking it reeling with the sudden strike as ice shards shattered against it.

"Oho, you're approaching me? Fine then - Drapioooon! It's time for Toxiiic- what!?"

Preceding the rain like some kind of shockwave, Mimbo J.'s Safeguard washed over Cooler's towering form. Klara's mood immediately dropped, and the downpour that followed served as the perfect backdrop.

"Fine! Fine! Coat your pincers, make it a Cross Poison instead…"

Klara's poor Drapion didn't get to do that either. At a word from Catherine, Cooler lashed out with a backhand Icicle Crash, faster than the Drapion in the rain. This time, the Poison type knocked back several feet in a shower of ice crystals as Cooler growled her victory.

"Can't 'ave you doin' too much of that," Marnie interjected. "Fire Fang!"

With a surprisingly feral noise, her Morpeko leapt into action with a blazing bite. Not paying attention to the smaller foe cost Cooler for a moment as the attack landed and flaming teeth sunk into her arm.

The Beartic, thoroughly displeased with this turn of events, flung her arm sidewards, using the momentum to launch Marnie's Pokemon off of her and in the direction of… where Mimbo J. used to be. Where had Mimbo J. gone?

"Ohhh, I get it, you think you've got a powerhouse?" Klara put a hand to her mouth to giggle. "Hee hee, you think your big bad bear is speedy? You can come back later, Drapion, no big deal - try Slowbro on for size!"

Red light sucked up the Ogre Scorpion Pokémon as a parallel beam dropped in a pink and purple biped to replace it.

"Hope you're quick on the draw!" The Poison Leader said.

"You talk too much," Catherine said. "Aqua Jet."

Quick Draw wouldn't help against a move that did the same thing. Water surged over Cooler and rocketed her forward, she collided with her new opponent and knocked it onto its back before wheeling back around for a stronger follow-up strike that sent skidding across the battlefield into a patch of darkness between signs.

Meanwhile, Marnie's Morpeko was still looking for any sign of Mimbo, but struggling to find any sign of the Psychic type. In the end, Marnie decided it was best to focus on what was in front of her.

"Never mind," she said. "Help Klara with an Aura Wheel!"

The little rodent turned back towards Cooler and started sprinting for the Bearting, a wheel of electricity circling it vertically as it ran.

"Patience, Slowbro!" Called the Poison Leader, her ace trudging over to the point that light barely grazed its snout. "Get ready, brace for the big guns!"

As two separate foes closed in on the Beartic, the missing combatant ever-so-subtly slinked through the shadows. Using his powers of stage-mimicry, Mimbo J. had taken on the easily-ignorable silhouette of a chair. He had taken to a stealthy approach early on after throwing up Safeguard, Calm Mind after Calm Mind serving less to overcharge the Pokémon's raw power and more to combat a probably-reasonable amount of nervousness. J was no stranger to performing in front of a crowd, but he had never taken to battle quite like other 'mon did - and this was the Big Leagues! But it was fine, surely. All he had to do was prepare himself backstage a little bit, and wait for his cue…

Cooler whipped around to defend against the Morpeko that was now leaping at her, bringing her arms up to guard against the electric strike that collided with her and holding her ground.

"Slash," Catherine ordered.

She didn't have to ask twice, Cooler lashed out at her attacker with her claws and practically launched it into the darkness. Unfortunately, that was a moment she wasn't paying attention to the Slowbro that was now behind her setting up a Nasty Plot.

"Uh-oh! Someone's busy - let's go Slowbro! Draw!" Klara mimicked a cowboy.

A moment later, a ball of energy was fired into Cooler's back like cannon fire and the Beartic was thrown forward and onto all fours with the force of the dangerously effective move. Focus Blast. Things only got worse when a feral screech came from the darkness.

Marnie's Morpeko was back on the scene, somewhat rejuvenated from berry consumption but with a new and edgy coat of paint. The demonic rodent's fur was now in shades of black and purple and murder was in its eyes.

"Aura Wheel!" Marnie repeated the earlier command while Cooler was still pulling herself back together and the rain was starting to come to a halt. This time it wasn't electricity, but a wheel of swirling, malevolent darkness that accompanied the Morpeko in colliding with Cooler and knocked her rolling across the battlefield.

"Cooler can retreat to their two-ten," Xan leaned over to Catherine and said. They swished a hand in the vague direction they were indicating. "No clue what J's doing but support seems welcome."

"You heard them," Catherine said, "Back and regroup."

She thought for a second that Cooler might actually refuse, but thankfully the Beartic followed the orders she was given as scrambled into a retreat. Not that this was going to stop Klara's Slowbro.

The Poison-type fired several shots after Cooler with Shell Side Arm, Cooler only dodging most because of Swift Swim, but the rain wouldn't hold up too much longer and Safeguard would disappear right after it. Unfurling from some kind of contorted pose, Mimbo J. the Mr. Mime sprang into the light to offer what assistance he could.

This did not go unnoticed. Marnie's Morpeko was after the Mr Mime in an instant, bolting right for Mimbo with a Fire Fang ready to go.

But J hadn't stepped into the light for the sake of weather or protection - he wanted his swirling eyes and fascinating hand gestures to be seen. The approaching Morpeko, for all its speed, shot forward in a straight line and was snoozing in the dark behind the two challengers' Pokémon in one swift motion. Hypnosis.

On the other side of the battlefield, Cooler continued to clash with Klara's Slowbro. At Catherine's instruction, Cooler was darting around a barrage of Shell Side-Arm attacks with Aqua Jet and striking with hit and run tactics.

Klara had evidently had enough of that though, and judged it was time to rescue her teammate instead. "Hey! There's the sneaky guy!" She cried, pointing. "Get 'em, 'bro! Shell Side-Arm, get the poison in!"

Her Slowbro jumped back with a sudden surge of strength and blasted the ground with a powerful Shell Side-Arm, launching itself across the battlefield to land near Mimbo, whirling around to take aim at the Mr. Mime. Ol' J had plenty of experience dodging berries in his less popular days, but this was an entirely different ball park.

"Lil' sneaky guy's been using Calm Mind, but all that Special Defense won't do a thing!" The Poison Leader continued. "Shell Side Arm shoots right for your weak point!"

It was all Mimbo could do just to roll with the punches as he struggled to put up Safeguard again, occasionally stealing a glance at the two challengers as he scrambled to get away from the slower Pokémon who kept finding ways to catch up to him.

"No poison?" Klara whined. "Come oooon…!"

With the rain coming to a halt, Cooler's means of helping Mimbo were limited. But they weren't gone.

"Aqua Jet, get over there," Catherine instructed.

With a guttural growl, Cooler did just that, rocketing across the battlefield. She clipped the Slowbro on the way through, throwing off its aim, and came to a halt next to the sleeping Morpeko and Mimbo.

Unfortunately, the Slowbro was already levelling its next attack in their direction. More fortunately, Catherine had an idea for what to do about that. "Chuck the Morpeko at it!"

Cooler swept her arm forwards in an underarm motion, catching the hypnotised Morpeko and launching it towards the Slowbro even as it fired another Shell Side-Arm. The Morpeko was struck by the attack in an explosion of toxic liquid and dropped out the air, having blocked the attack against Cooler.

The Morpeko lay on the ground between the combatants, fainted before it could even wake up.

"Good try," Marnie said, calling back her Morpeko and selecting her next fighter. "I ain't gonna roll over just yet. Let's see what you do about this."

A Dusk Ball was thrown to the battlefield, a swirl of darkness stark against the spotlights giving form to a bulky and grotesque Pokemon with dark fur and patches of green skin.

However, with Mimbo J having a moment to breathe, the air soon became saturated with vapour and drop by drop the downpour resumed.

"J's not used to this," Xan murmured Catherine's way. "They're hanging in there for now, not sure how much longer for, though. Got to be ready."

"That Grimmsnarl will be bad news for Mimbo either way," Catherine said. "Good call. Icicle Crash, let's get that Slowbro out the way first!"

With blistering speed, Cooler sprinted forward intent to take chunks out of the Slowbro. This time, it wouldn't be so easy though.

"Trick Room!"

A weird fuzzy energy pulsed out from her Grimmsnarl, taking up a swathe of the battlefield and forming into a box shape. Crossing into its boundaries, Cooler suddenly became much slower, as if Swift Swim was having the opposite effect than it should have - because it was.

A second later, she was blasted by a Shell Side-Arm and then smashed all the way back to where she had started from by a Hammer Arm. She struggled to her feet, but things were starting to look rough for the Beartic. Mimbo J, slower than he was used to and overpowering the urge to act out slow-motion for fun, bravely stepped back into the fray with swirling eyes and dancing hands.

"No lookie, Slowbro! Do the fancy shot!" Klara commanded. Too sluggish to dodge with his speed reversed, avoiding Slowbro's stylish back-turned over-the-shoulder Shell Side Arm wasn't in the cards for the Mr. Mime. "That kinda trick ain't so easy the second time!"

"Looks like their cue," Xan said hushedly.

Mimbo J.'s next action as he scurried to his feet wasn't to hypnotise or run away; instead he bowed - to his opponents, to Cooler, to the audience - and chucked a gleaming red-and-gold baton into the air before being consumed in crimson light. The beam retracted toward Xan and, in parallel, another flickering ray zipped past it, almost touching. The other beam struck ground and shaped into the form of another Pokémon, and one yellow hand reached up and caught the Baton Pass with a frightening measure of confidence. One of the most prolific members of Xan's team had arrived, ready to bring an entirely new energy to the battle.

Jerry put the baton in his mouth and swallowed it as it dissolved.

Immediately, the rain felt dampened. It was still there, but it was less. It didn't seem to be falling as heavily and Cooler's movements suddenly seemed much more sluggish. The area around Jerry wasn't even really getting wet.

Catherine turned to Xan with a look of incredulity. "Really? Cloud Nine with me as your partner. Are you an idiot?"

The psychic looked her way only briefly and said, "Maybe try not using weather as a crutch for a change."

"It's not a crutch, it's a strategy. I guess you're not familiar with that since your team does everything for you while you take the credit."

"I shun the credit, you can fuck off. It's Trick Room, anyway. Cooler's faster with the rain off."

Jerry turned his back on his opponents to stare unblinkingly at the two. His mouth filled with water and bits of it dribbled from the sides, seemingly unsure if now was a good time to unleash it or not.

"You shun the credit? Is that why you made a point of attaching yourself to the person generating the most media buzz right now? I'm not stupid. You're lazy and looking for an easy way to succeed. Let your Pokémon do the work. Let someone else build attention. Make me carry the battle and then shut down my strategy once we're ahead to steal the limelight."

"What the…? Slowbro, head up there," said Klara confusedly, her Slowbro readying its Shell Side Arm and approaching menacingly.

"You guys remember where you are?" Marnie asked. "Guess I'm gonna have to remind you. Play Rough."

Her Grimmsnarl took the chance to dash forwards and lunge at Cooler while she and Jerry were seemingly distracted by their trainer's bickering. It struck the Ice type and then proceeded to wildly throw another flurry of blows… only for Cooler to grab it in a makeshift grapple and pull it around to face Jerry, who was wagging his fingers distractedly… or so it seemed.

"Looks like we were right," Catherine said. "You really did just walk right in."

gimmepie · Apr 15, 2023

Indra (Male, Swift Swim) - Rain Dance, Hypnosis, Bubblebeam, Hydro Pump, Earth Power, Refresh

Stampede (Male, Poison Point) - Hydro Pump, Smokescreen, Twister, Focus Energy, Dragon Pulse, Icy Wind

Holo (Female, Lightning Rod) - Thunderbolt, Thunder Wave, Electric Terrain, Rising Voltage, Flame Burst, Flash

Vessel (Female, Dry Skin) - Fury Cutter, Giga Drain, Poison Powder, Spore, Rain Dance, Protect

Lancer (Male, Dry Skin) - Rock Climb, Revenge, Sucker Punch, Poison Jab, Rain Dance, Toxic

Cooler (Female, Swift Swim) - Icicle Crash, Superpower, Thrash, Aqua Jet, Slash, Rain Dance

Inventory:

- ATC
- Expensive PokeGear
- Pokedex
- 800 Poke (On ATC)
- TM Icy Wind
- TM Flash
- Wishing Star
- TM Protect
- TM Rain Dance
- TM Rock Climb

Badges:

CATHERINE CARLISLE & XAN
Big Blue

"So Cloud Nine fucks weather strategies," Xan pondered, a hint of mirth to their muffled voice. Strategy talk for the upcoming Gym Battle was going surprisingly smoothly.

"It's not like weather is all I have, but it definitely limits my options," Catherine admitted. "Holo doesn't need the rain at all but Indra, Stampede and Cooler are all much slower without it and Lancer and Vessel will have slightly less longevity. They can function without it, but it isn't ideal. Then again, speed might not be an issue if Klara pulls Trick Room on us."

The psychic shrugged, "Maybe. Rain-boosted Surf from Slowbro is the only other thing to really consider, but it's hardly a game-changing issue. No real reason to forgo the standard sort of-" They jolted in realisation, then leaned back a little and snorted. "Unless… well, unless psychological warfare is an interesting prospect."

"Psychological warfare?" Catherine asked. "You mean using the situation to mess with them since they'll be expecting me to be weakened?"

"I was thinking a little more than that," Xan said with a tilt of their head. "You watch the battles, you know the narratives people like to spin. If you've been exposed to any part of the public response then you've probably- well," They paused to chuckle. "First off, my condolences, sorry you had to go through that. But for, uh, actual relevance, here - if you've seen the public perception, then you likely know that armchair commentators love to paint either of us as aloof and abrasive. Not sure they use those words exactly, but you know what I mean."

"Oh, that. I'm public enemy number one as far as mainstream media is concerned and they definitely are not your number one fan either. Why?"

"Well… you're right, messing with the situation seems plausible. Appear weak when strong, strong when weak, et cetera - all that Sun Tzubat Art of War stuff. I say we make them think we're arrogant shitheads with no ability to work as a team by feigning argument, then capitalise if and/or when they overextend. Well, more arrogant and more shitheaded than we are by a little ways, at least…"

As Grimmsnarl found itself caught in a decidedly unfriendly bear hug and Slowbro loomed over Jerry, ready to fire, the little Psyduck's finger-wagging turned suddenly into the manifestation of a sinister talon of gloom. His Metronome-Shadow-Claw lashed out to the surprise of Slowbro - not to slash, but to grab. Just as the primed shell fired, Klara's ace was wrestled into facing Grimmsnarl instead - and in the wake of the Bulk Up Pokémon suffering a nasty dose of friendly fire, Jerry unleashed the water he had been storing in his mouth on both grappled opponents.

It wasn't a Water Pulse, like had been witnessed before, or even the pseudo-Hydro-Pump that occurred in Ballonlea. What exited Jerry's bill was more of a pressurised mist that coalesced into thick rain when it reached its targets, the liquid itself seeping deep into the surface of their skin. It was Soak.

With the countdown beginning, it was time for Cooler to bring out the big guns. "Thrash."

Still with Marnie's Grimmsnarl in her grasp, Cooler began wildly thrashing about, slamming the Dark type into things and squeezing ever tighter.

"Play Rough!" Marnie called over to her struggling Pokemon, realising they'd been had.

"What!?" Realisation had just dawned on Klara. "We've been smeckledorfed! That's not fair! Slowbro, get Grimmsnarl out of there with Foul Play!"

Cooler was finally thrown off of the Grimmsnarl as she was bludgeoned repeatedly in turn, staggering back in a daze just in time for Klara's Slowbro to come in and punch her with its Shelder arm. The Beartic was sagging now. She was confused and had taken a beating throughout the battle. She would surely drop any moment.

Catherine withdrew Cooler's Heavy Ball again and returned her to it in a beam of light. She could recover a bit that way and shake off the confusion if it was needed. "Nicely done. Now it's Holo's turn though."

With the usual glow, the Manectric materialised onto the battlefield, fur crackling.

"It would be very inconvenient to be a Water type against us right now." Catherine couldn't help but smirk. "Electric Terrain and then Rising Voltage."

Electricity surged over Holo and down onto the ground, racing out over the battlefield and illuminating the ground with yellow sparks that made the dark patches visible. Then, like plasma arcing on the surface of the sun, vast bands of lightning began to rise up out the ground and lash out towards the Gym Leaders' Pokemon.

"Get outta there!" Marnie ordered.

Both the Grimmsnarl and Slowbro were much faster than normal thanks to the earlier Trick Room, but the attack was wide-reaching. Each of the enemy Pokemon was struck by multiple bolts of lightning and - having been made into Water types by Jerry - they were certainly feeling it.

Marnie's Grimmsnarl was able to last through the onslaught, hurt but plenty ready to fight on. Klara's Slowbro, however, was left a smoking and thoroughly fainted mess in the middle of the battlefield after the sustained beating it had already taken.

Klara gasped, "Slowbro! Ugh, well, that stinks. But it's not over yet - now Drapion's back and angry!" Red light shot up and over in an arc, to a spot where a rotund, yellow shape happened to have been moseying toward. Jerry was already spitting Soak at the Drapion before it even arrived. "What is this guy, a Soak machine? Night Slash 'em, Drapion!"

Effectively slowed by Trick Room, however, the Drapion wasn't finding Jerry an easy target. With similar panicked eyes and physical effortlessness to his stint in Ballonlea, the little duck meandered dance-like around every pincer-stab and tail-swipe.

"The hell, again?" Xan was too perplexed to be as happy as they rightly should have been. "Surely not Electric Terrain - no Psychic, no Misty. Baton Passed Calm Mind maybe - the-'' Their mind jolted, realising exactly how early Jerry had started moving over to where Drapion had ended up. "Is this fucking precog?"

And then that thought just recontextualised almost every hypothesis on the yellow shape they'd ever had.

"Is that even a thing Psyduck are supposed to be able to do?" Catherine asked.

"Anything- in theory any psychic can-" Xan cut themselves off, struggling to parse what was happening in front of them and what it meant. "It's not expected, if that's what you mean."

Jerry's time to strike back was now, standing boldly beneath the Drapion. His little eyes closed. One digit on his right hand waggled, grew, elongated as his skin turned from yellow to bright gold to white - glowing, enveloping the rest of him in a shell of luminescence that expanded outwards. The first time in Ballonlea took a bit to get used to, but the second time around Jerry was possessed of a composure that Calm Mind only bolstered. It was as Jerry thrust one hand forward that Xan realised - months upon months of cryptic telepathy and confusing action began to make sense. Countless declarative statements… Thought and action being mysteriously confident… Eyes constantly darting about to look at things that weren't necessarily there… The 'clear skies' after the battle with Avery; clarity, sure, but specifically a lack of crowding. Unobscured vision… Xan had something of an idea of what meditation techniques did, and while they wouldn't rule it out, they had realised something else. They had turned to Misty Terrain after Psychic Terrain failed to explain things fully, had looked up its properties - how it protected Pokémon within from suffering from certain conditions. With Safeguard still active, pulling similar weight, only one throughline was making any sense.

Jerry could not be confused.

'There was another Jerry. He will be larger.' - Jerry had professed something to that effect via telepathy only a couple of days ago. Catherine was still suspected to be the so-called 'other Jerry'… but the human's natural size advantage over the likes of a Psyduck wasn't what the second part meant. It was a separate statement. And it wasn't about Catherine at all.

"I didn't see that coming." Catherine's eyes darted from the glowing Golduck back to their opponents, who were also watching with a mix of surprise and apprehension.

"Congratulations," Marnie said. "But that isn't going to win this for you."

"Challengers' Pokémon evolving mid-battle ain't an uncommon sight but it's always sweet to see," Klara chimed in with a shake of her head. "Still, no problem for Team Supercute!"

The light of evolution shattered around the newly-Golduck, leaving behind only the glow of Metronome as it shot out a single seed that adhered itself to Drapion's carapace. Worry Seed… historically, there had been more impactful evolution debuts.

"Uh-" Xan faltered just a little, still thrown off. They forced themselves back on track. "The- both opponents Water-type now! Water ineffective, Psychic fine - immunity gone on both. Electric will shred - mind your lines of fire, positioning is key. Beware Stomping; advise target switch."

"You heard them," Catherine said. "Let's get that Drapion away from Jerry. Rising Voltage."

Where before the attack had been more widespread, now the bands of electricity that snapped up from the battlefield were entirely focused on Klara's Pokemon. With its focus on Jerry, it was practically helpless to dodge the incoming assault and was soon engulfed in lightning.

Even as that was going on, Marnie gave the order for her Grimmsnarl to move in. "Stomping Tantrum!"

Thanks to Trick Room, the Grimmsnarl was able to cross the battlefield far quicker than normal, stamping around as it got closer to Holo. At the same time, still being thoroughly electrocuted, Klara's Drapion lashed out suddenly with another Night Slash, catching Jerry with a particularly vicious strike that launched him across the battlefield in the direction of the other combatants. The critical hit sent the Golduck cartwheeling through dark and light patches of the field until he eventually caught his balance, the moisture on his skin easing friction as he stabilised in a one-handed handstand still sliding across the floor toward Holo. But Grimmsnarl was on its way over there at the same time, having closed enough distance to commit fully; in one final leap, the Bulk Up Pokémon braced to slam both feet into the ground.

But a blue, webbed hand met the ground first. As Grimmsnarl descended, massive roots spread from Jerry's fingertips and erupted from below, catching its legs and suspending it mid-air in a cage of spiky plant life. The once-Dark/Fairy-type struggled and strained against the swelling bindings to no avail - it was Water-type now, and its strength waned quickly. Within moments, Grimmsnarl gave in, enveloped in light as it returned to its ball.

"Well that's unfortunate." Marnie grimaced. "Guess it can't be helped though."

"Huh!? No way, Frenzy Plant?" While Marnie remained calm, Klara did enough impassioned reacting for the both of them. "There must be some kind of mistake!"

Jerry finally tipped over from his handstand, the impact knocking a quack out of him. Exhausted from the powerful move, he looked Holo's way and gave what resembled a thumbs-up - before becoming distracted and stopping to stare at what was evidently an entirely new thumb-adjacent appendage.

Holo gave the newly-evolved Jerry a nod, electricity running across her fur.

"Doesn't matter if it's a two-vs-one!" Klara continued, resilient. "They'll both get a toxic dose of us, Drapion! Ice Fang, we've got this! Give 'em-"

"One more time," Catherine cut in.

With a growl, Holo let loose with another Rising Voltage even as Klara's Drapion charged forward. It was struck by multiple arcing threads of lightning, luminescing almost as brightly as Jerry had as it was overcome by electricity. Then, the attack came to an abrupt stop with the Drapion dropping smoking to ground in a much less impressive culmination than Jerry's glow.

Catherine gave Xan a nod. "That's that. Everything as planned… more or less."

"More than planned definitely seems an apt description…" the psychic replied.

"The Gym Leaders' Pokémon are unable to battle!" The announcement blared through the makeshift venue's sound-system, struggling for dominance over the still-roaring music. "Challengers 861 and 775 are the victors!"

"C'mooooon, what a drag," Klara whined, gazing at her smoking Drapion as it dissolved into light and returned to its Pokéball. She shook her head and sighed, brightening up a little. "Ah, well. Whew, these challengers are no joke, huh?"

Marnie shook her head. "We've gotta step up our game if a bunch of them are gonna start showin' up in the tournaments."

The Dark-type leader approached Catherine and Xan, Klara trailing behind. "Well, one badge for each of you. "

Catherine reached out to take the Dark Badge. "Only one left."

Xan took the Poison Badge and said, "Cheers."

"Okay, soooo," Klara began as she handed the badge over, looking between the two challengers. "What was all that toxicity in the middle all abouuut? And I'm not talking about my specific brand of toxic, tee hee!"

"Don't know what you're talking about."

"That was obviously all an act," Catherine added.

"Oh, the bait," Xan nodded. Apparently their last statement had been genuine. "Yeah. I almost broke. Probably wouldn't have worked if you could see my face; I'm not that good an actor."

"I'm not either." Catherine shrugged. "I've heard I have a natural gift for being mean though."

Marnie stifled a laugh, not succeeding in keeping up professional appearances despite her efforts. "Well, it was a nasty tactic but it worked and that's what usually matters."

Neither challenger was enamoured with the idea of sticking around for long. Even a few streets away, the melodic droning and thumping of the bass was perceptible enough to be irritating. Something about the area gave the impression that a noise complaint wasn't going to get anyone anywhere, so the only real option was to pack up and get going as quickly as possible.

Though the prospect of Xan simply leaving with no goodbye was a particularly common one, something seemed to be keeping the psychic around on this particular occasion. As the newly-evolved Jerry fiddled with the Poison Badge, wondering if this gifted him with any official capacity as a licensed Poison, his trainer broke the silence.

"Ok, since I'll probably never ask otherwise. Question."

"Yes?"

"If you're not aiming for Champion you've done a good job convincing everyone otherwise. How do you get there, and what do you do with it?" The psychic paused. "You as in specifically you, not, like, any sort of general 'you'."

"If I wasn't aiming for it, I wouldn't say I was."

Catherine couldn't help but sigh. She should have known, really. She was the one who opened herself up to constant scrutiny. "A lot of people have been asking me similar things lately. How do I get there? Like this. I keep winning until nobody is left. What do I do with it? Pressure. Champions have a stupid amount of influence in their regions. I can use that to put pressure on organisations like the league - and beyond - to reform and be better. And, just by being the champion, I'm going to have millions of people who will listen to what I have to say just because of the title. I don't care about the glory. I'm doing this as the most efficient means to an end."

"Never said otherwise," said Xan, who had pulled out a phone. They gestured to it with the other hand. "Taking notes, in case it needed to be said. League reform and beyond - what's beyond? And at risk of getting bogged down in detail, what's reform?"

"Companies, politicians - everyone from people in suits dealing with finances and policy to people working in the back rooms of warehouses. We live in a world where most people are only interested in personal gain - usually at the expense of others. I used to think I couldn't do anything about it, so I just avoided people. A couple of chance encounters leading up to a very public wake-up call changed my perspective. I'm going to use the title of champion and the platform and social power it carries with it to promote change and encourage people to be more altruistic. Create enough social pressure like that and the whole system will eventually shift to accommodate it.""

"Mmkay. Fuck it, can't hurt. Any headline policies to note?"

"I'd be lying if I said I'd gotten as far as drafting legal minutia. But the first place I'm aiming is corruption, I suppose. There are people in Galar right now who, as we speak probably, are using their wealth and power to do… Well, I'm not entirely sure what they're planning. But I'm sure you've heard about the red Pokemon. Maybe you've even come across the Blacksuits. They can only do this because of the system and their public face. So that's priority number one."

The taps on the phone ceased, "Mm, alright. Funny that it feels like an overstep, but I guess that's the lot that's been dealt." Xan put their phone away and looked back up. "Satisfied enough."

"And the point of that was?" Catherine asked. "It's a little weird to have you standing next to me taking notes."

Xan shrugged, "Had to be done, but sorry, I guess. It's getting late in the challenge so I'm having to get my shit together. Uh… how to put this- I guess, long story short, if some dipshit wants to be Champion and actually has a shot I'll have to try harder to chuck them out."

The candid response was unexpected. Catherine found herself laughing with the surprise of it. "I appreciate the honesty. But if you think little tricks like what we pulled in the gym today are going to get you ahead of me, you couldn't be more wrong. I'm going to win."

"Well you're not a fucking dipshit, though, are you Catherine?"

"No," she replied. "You have a point. So what are you getting at then?"

"I… should this be mystifying at this point?" Xan put their hands in their hoodie pockets and shrugged again. "Got to be thorough checking for dipshits at this point. Just checked, you're not a dipshit, happy camping from here on out as far as we're concerned."

"Okay then. I think I get where you're coming from. More or less." Catherine pondered for a moment. "Well then, before we part ways, I'll do you a favour. You should watch out for Blackspear. They're up to something. Just don't go shouting that information from the rooftops or anything or you'll make yourself a target."

"Wh-?" Xan snorted. "I- they're a massive corporation. Of course they're up to something."

"Obviously. But I mean they're up to something that involves the red Pokémon and people in suits going around brandishing guns. This seems bigger than your usual corporate bullshit."

The psychic was silent for a good moment, tilting their head sceptically. Jerry, balancing the Poison Badge on his snout, let out a quiet quack that carried with it a pulse of psychotelepathy. A message that could only be translated as 'evil cave'. Then he did a little jig.

"Those guys had guns?" Xan muttered in the Golduck's loose direction. "Smoothbrained homunculi if they had guns - surely not, I don't-" Their head rose again to address the other human. "I appreciate the warning, I guess? Good luck messing with Championhood and dealing with whatever that is - suppose if I see anything else I'll, er… tentatively check it out."

"Just don't do anything that will get you, your team or anyone else killed," Catherine said.

"Well there go the weekend plans."

Catherine scoffed. "I'm going to go before I set you up for any more dumb punchlines."

Xan leaned down toward one of their pockets and murmured, "Right? I thought it was pretty good," as they dove into the inside of their hoodie to retrieve their phone again. "Before you leave, I hesitate to ask but I've got good reason - contact info. In the event we both get past eight badges I may need a favour… and in theory if anything psychic and interesting pops up… and if whatever that evil-gun-people business is turns nasty, I guess there's that as well." They paused. "To be fair, considering everything - or rather nothing - across the span of our education and subsequent Gym Challenge run, I don't think it's as much of a risk as it usually is…"

"Admittedly I've heard worse." Catherine reached for her phone. "Here."

"Right, there we are. And of course, I'll let you know if Jerry foretells of your arrival, again."

Dark Badge obtained!
Also Xan got the Poison Badge I guess

Foxrally · Apr 16, 2023

Simon Pearburgh

Spoiler: Inventory

Spoiler: Memories

Anorith" ♂ Dig | Brine | Ancient Power | Aqua Jet | Rapid Spin | X-Scissor Swift Swim][IMG]http://play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/ani/armaldo.gif[/IMG][/float][/B][/FONT][/CENTER] [SPOILERtitle=Inventory][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/NSavm0q.png[/IMG] ATC [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/z8emH11.png[/IMG] Nevermeltice[float=held by Snom]*[/float] [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/nuRDKCq.png[/IMG] Heat Rock[float=held by Larvesta]*[/float] [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/ooOj66F.png[/IMG] Metal Flower Crown[float=held by Princess]*[/float] [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/wGIpCO6.png[/IMG] Bug Net [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/fLceorA.png[/IMG] Wishing Star [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/8BjT92R.png[/IMG] A fair amount of cinnamon buns [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/Wvvzotl.png[/IMG] Spewpa Plushie [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/CnOQnEP.png[/IMG] Fanart of Simon [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/EhXP7Or.png[/IMG] Heracross Knight Comics [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/YlGR3fn.png[/IMG] Piers & Marnie Album [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/wGaa1Lb.png[/IMG] Mew Book [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/x6b5jXL.png[/IMG] [b]Badges:[/b] 6 [B][FONT="Dosis

Melody Argent

Nightshot (Doom Noodle)

Spike

Piper

Ren

Celeste

Annabelle

Blue

Bishop

Lyric

Shredder

Spikemuth

After their daring escapade, Simon and Melody spent a good chunk of the evening catching up, mainly about new joiners on the team. Simon was especially excited to meet Shredder the Wimpod, noticing that bug got along wonderfully with Ross (who Mel hadn't met yet either). Oddly, Shedinja would briefly materialize long enough for her to drop a quick hello before disappearing again.

Melody then took it upon herself to show Simon every bit of Spikemuth she felt was worth visiting; from the big tourist traps like the infamous "Team Yell main base" (which she insisted was not the actual old base) to very specific locations from her childhood, such as the alleyway she'd drawn her first graffiti on or the parking lot she had her first battle in; Melody had a story to tell for each one. It made Simon realize he wasn't the only one dearly missing home back during their academy days, or during the arduous challenge journey - and seeing the fondness with which Mel spoke of a place which, by all means, had a less than stellar reputation, brought a huge smile to his face. He'd seen so much of Galar at this point but no two places had been alike.

"Now lemme show ya a real treat." Mel said with a smirk as she led him into a large, abandoned building and up a dingy flight of stairs.

After what felt like an eternity of walking, the two trainers reached the top of the building, out of breath but still standing. Simon blinked and rubbed his eyes, as before him was a grand view of all of Spikemuth, blanketed by the thin metal sheet ceiling of the city, the light from neon signs peeking out of the maze of tight buildings. "Whoa…" He could see the street race happening in the distance, and further out, the brighter lights of the makeshift battle stadium.

"Y'know, Spikemuth is one hell of a city." he said as he leaned over the wall surrounding the roof. "Nothing like what people say about it."

"They don't get it," Melody explained as she motioned down below, to the entryway of the city. "They think they've got it all figured out from what they see down there. They don't take the time to come up here and look-" she paused briefly before continuing, "and they sure as hell don't take time to listen." The heart of Spikemuth was its music; everyone who called this place a home had a song and a style all their own. Most people that come by have made their mind up well before they hear those songs- if they hung around that long at all.

As they'd gone further away from the busy tourist-y streets, the two trainers were able to release the rest of their Pokemon, who began exploring the rest of the roof curiously; the flying mons enjoying a brief moment of unrestricted airtime above the cramped buildings.

As Melody released Piper, her Gourgeist, Simon heard a rattle beside him and Shedinja materialized in front of the pair.

"Gah! What did I tell you about doing that?!" Simon yelped, startled. The bug hummed as it stared at Melody, then Piper. "Hm? You… oh. Yeah, I should probably tell her."

Simon sighed and looked at Mel. "So… I know this is hard to believe, but…"

"That's Caterpie," Melody said softly. Her general smirk softened into something of an understanding smile. "I saw him before… and then I put it together." Even if she couldn't see the silhouette of what Shedinja used to be, she knew Simon wasn't the type to leave any of his Pokemon behind. For Caterpie to be gone and for a ghostly husk to be here instead… she tilted her head to look at the ghostly bug. "You were the spirit tagging along in the desert, right?"

Shedinja nodded. Simon looked between the two of them, confused, "...wait, so- you could see Shedi- I mean Caterpie? Before he became a Shedinja?"

"Yeah… but I couldn't see him as clearly as I can now," Melody explained. "Remember when Princess and Piper were battling in the desert and I freaked out?" As she spoke, Piper floated upward to offer an apology to Caterpie, and Princess shuddered at the memory. It had been Piper's Trick-Or-Treat that made Caterpie think Simon was in danger, and had caused him to reveal himself to Melody back on route 6. "Because… somethin' was hanging around? I guess…" Melody realized she didn't need to guess. She asked the ghost directly, "You weren't ready to say goodbye to the squad yet?"

Shedinja let out a low hum as his eyes drifted from Melody to Simon. In a rare moment where both humans could clearly understand it, the Pokémon simply repeated a phrase it had been told a long time ago: 'We're never leaving each others' side again.'

Simon gave a bittersweet smile. "Even after all that time. You stayed."

Melody crossed her arms. "That begs the question... You don't- and as far as I know, you've never had a Ninjask. Where did the hijacked husk come from?"

Simon sighed, glanced at Caterpie, then looked Melody in the eyes. For a brief moment, just like his father, he considered telling her the truth. He'd already told Catherine and Chloe about Blackspear and the suits, but those two had already seen enough of their activities to warrant that. Melody still didn't know… and he wasn't about to put another person in danger with that knowledge. "It's… a long story. I can't talk about it too much, but… just know that I'm never letting it happen again."

Melody exhaled out of her nose and nodded. She could put the pieces together decently enough without making Simon relive something that had to be… rough. In fact, she was pretty sure she could tell when it happened. "You guys must be one hell of a team to stick together through something like that." She gave a wink before turning on her heels. "Anyway, the night's still young, wanna hang some more before we call it quits?"

Simon glanced at his phone, it was almost eleven - if that was "early night" in Spikemuth, he didn't want to ask what late night was. His gaze turned to the brightest source of light in the distance, the Gym-stadium-concert-hall. Suddenly, an idea popped in his mind and he looked back at Melody. "Okay, hear me out… we both just completed the gym mission, yeah?"

He gestured towards the stadium. "How 'bout we take on the gym battle tonight as well? Both our teams together."

Melody raised her eyebrow. "That wasn't exactly what I meant by hang."

"What's more metal than crashing a concert for some battling?" Simon replied, pumping his fist.

"I was thinking more along the lines of grabbing some spray paint and finding a new building to graffiti, but… storming the stadium at nearly midnight on a whim? That's metal as fuck." Melody mused, unable to pass up the opportunity to battle alongside her earliest teammate. "Ya know what? Ya got yourself a deal, bug boy."

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

A short walk later (much shorter than Simon had expected, actually, thanks to Mel's ever-convenient shortcuts) the two trainers found themselves at the large concert venue serving as Spikemuth's stadium. Music from the stage was blasting through the walls, mingled with the shouting of fans, and made the ground below their feet tremble with the sheer bass of the speakers. Both of their Pokemon had rushed back into their balls, except for Shedinja, Lyric, and Spike, who seemed to not mind the noise (probably on account of being a ghost, rockstar badger and musically inclined reptile respectively.) They stepped into the venue, a large flat space dotted with oversized speakers and bright neon lights, with a massive stage upfront - an upgrade from the previous Spikemuth 'gym', for sure, but still nothing like any stadium they'd visited thus far.

"How the hell do you guys battle here?!" Simon shouted over the music and crowd. "You wouldn't be able to hear anything!"

"WHAT??" Mel shouted back, squinting.

"I said how do you battle with all the noise?!" Simon repeated, leaning over her ear.

"Isn't it obvious?!" Me's squinting morphed into a proud smile as she backed away from Simon. Once a decent distance away, she cupped her hands around her mouth while Lyric stood on his hind legs beside her, mirroring her movements for emphasis. "YOU YELL!"

Simon opened his mouth to say something, but his voice was drowned out by an even louder shout from the speakers above as the current song ended.

"HOW WAS THAT, SPIKEMUTH?!" the voice exclaimed, to which the audience cheered loudly. The man onstage was none other than the former Spikemuth gym leader, Piers. His Obstagoon and two Toxtricities stood at his side, hyping up the crowd as it went crazy. "WE'VE HAD A ROCKIN' NIGHT OF MUSIC… NOW HOW 'BOUT SOME GYM BATTLES?!"

The crowd went even wilder. Suddenly, two large spotlights flashed on and pivoted from the stage, shining directly onto the two trainers that had just entered. "Don't think I couldn't spot your mug immediately, Melody Argent!" the rockstar touted.

The contrast of pink on black and the numerous, numerous piercings tended to make Melody stand out a bit in most crowds-- but not in Spikemuth. Her eyes widened at how quickly she had been pin-pointed, but the shock was quickly replaced with a mixture of awe and confidence as she lifted her hand, throwing the rock on sign to her idol. Spike's yellow scales lit up as he quickly stepped into the spotlight with his trainer, beaming excitedly at his parents on the stage.

"And you even brought us a surprise… the bug king himself!" a second voice, female this time, chimed in, to which the crowd immediately went berserk. Another spotlight shone onto the stage as Marnie stepped out of the shadows, fully dressed in her gym leader outfit, Morpeko at her side. "And word is out that both of you beat the gym mission…"

"Say, Team Yell, hows about Marnie give our born n' raised challenger a warm welcome home?" Piers yelled out, looking at the audience. They responded with ravenous cheers and hollering, as the spotlight on Melody grew brighter.

Melody and Simon looked at each other. "HOLD YOUR MIC, MATE!" Simon shouted back, giving in to the Team Yell screaming match. "We came to do this one TOGETHER!"

Melody gave Simon a subtle thumbs up as he got into the yelling groove. "Damn right! The bug king and the death princess are uniting the kingdoms!"

Piers' deadpan stare slowly formed into a smirk. "Well, I'm afraid our good friend Klara's not on the show list today, so you'll have to change those plans! Unless… whattaya say, lil' sis?" He glanced at Marnie beside him.

Marnie narrowed her eyes at the two challengers, then looked back at her brother with a nod. "Two on two, one Pokemon each - and Piers will be on my team!" she exclaimed, looking at the crowd. "We're doing this battle… SPIKEMUTH STYLE!" The gym leader added as she struck the classic Team Yell pose.

"Oh--" Melody said softly as she turned to Simon, a fire in her eyes that had been lying dim for some time catching light once more. "Hell--" She said as she darted towards Simon, raising her hand up for a high five.

"YES!" they shouted in unison. The fight was on.

A joint post of LinearAxel and Foxrally

Anorith" ♂ Dig | Brine | Ancient Power | Aqua Jet | Rapid Spin | X-Scissor Swift Swim][IMG]http://play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/ani/armaldo.gif[/IMG][/float][/B][/FONT][/CENTER] [SPOILERtitle=Inventory][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/NSavm0q.png[/IMG] ATC [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/z8emH11.png[/IMG] Nevermeltice[float=held by Snom]*[/float] [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/nuRDKCq.png[/IMG] Heat Rock[float=held by Larvesta]*[/float] [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/ooOj66F.png[/IMG] Metal Flower Crown[float=held by Princess]*[/float] [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/wGIpCO6.png[/IMG] Bug Net [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/fLceorA.png[/IMG] Wishing Star [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/8BjT92R.png[/IMG] A fair amount of cinnamon buns [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/Wvvzotl.png[/IMG] Spewpa Plushie [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/CnOQnEP.png[/IMG] Fanart of Simon [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/EhXP7Or.png[/IMG] Heracross Knight Comics [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/YlGR3fn.png[/IMG] Piers & Marnie Album [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/wGaa1Lb.png[/IMG] Mew Book [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/x6b5jXL.png[/IMG] [b]Badges:[/b] 6 [B][FONT="Dosis

[/CENTER]

Anorith" ♂ Dig | Brine | Ancient Power | Aqua Jet | Rapid Spin | X-Scissor Swift Swim][IMG]http://play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/ani/armaldo.gif[/IMG][/float][/B][/FONT][/CENTER] [SPOILERtitle=Inventory][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/NSavm0q.png[/IMG] ATC [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/z8emH11.png[/IMG] Nevermeltice[float=held by Snom]*[/float] [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/nuRDKCq.png[/IMG] Heat Rock[float=held by Larvesta]*[/float] [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/ooOj66F.png[/IMG] Metal Flower Crown[float=held by Princess]*[/float] [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/wGIpCO6.png[/IMG] Bug Net [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/fLceorA.png[/IMG] Wishing Star [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/8BjT92R.png[/IMG] A fair amount of cinnamon buns [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/Wvvzotl.png[/IMG] Spewpa Plushie [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/CnOQnEP.png[/IMG] Fanart of Simon [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/EhXP7Or.png[/IMG] Heracross Knight Comics [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/YlGR3fn.png[/IMG] Piers & Marnie Album [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/wGaa1Lb.png[/IMG] Mew Book [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/x6b5jXL.png[/IMG] [b]Badges:[/b] 6 [B][FONT="Dosis

gimmepie · Apr 26, 2023

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STAGE 21 - ROUTE 7/9 TUNNEL

Spoiler:

As the Spring months continue, so too does the journey of the Wedgehurst graduates, moving ever closer to the final gym on the circuit and with the finish line for other objectives also in sight.

Passing back through the southernmost tip of Route 9, travellers heading west from Spikemuth to Hammerlocke typically pass through the long and dark Route 9 tunnel. Here the sun is forgotten for a long stretch, the murky tunnel illuminated only by dim halogen lights.

Alternatively, while the tunnel is the quickest method of reaching Hammerlocke, some passersby prefer to take a more scenic route and pass over the the top of the rolling hills the tunnel cuts through instead.

Either way, whichever way westwards one travels, they will eventually find themselves on Route 7. Here, a bridge passes over a deep valley to a series of well-trodden roads surrounded by small mountains and emerald forests. Right now, this busy thoroughfare is even more alive than usual though with the simultaneous arrival of numerous springtime migrant Pokemon species as well as the presence of a vast contest registration tent near the mouth of the tunnel.

WILD POKÉMON AVAILABLE THIS STAGE

Pokémon Available to those on Mission 1:

Pokémon Available to those on Mission 2:

Pokémon Available to those on Mission 3:

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MISSIONS:

[OPEN][CONTEST] ★1: The Galar Contest League is back once again with a new unique venue and theme! With their tent set up near the mouth of the tunnel (on the Route 7 side), challengers and international coordinators alike are able to sign up and grab themselves a coveted ribbon.

Spoiler: Important Note

Guest Judge:

OLIVINE CITY GYM LEADER - JASMINE

In another dazzling display of cross-regional collaboration, renowned Gym Leader Jasmine from the Johto region is making a special appearance as a guest judge at the most recent Galarian Contest League event. The elegant and composed leader, known for her deep understanding of Steel-type Pokemon and impressive battling skills, is gracing the stage with her presence, lending her coordinating expertise to the talented contestants vying for the top prize. With her keen eye for detail and her gentle yet authoritative demeanour, coordinators looking to impress this judge should focus on nailing every detail of their performance.

Venue and Theme:
The Galar Route 9 is a marvel of engineering, a veritable spear that effectively cuts through a kilometers-thick mountain. Though its benefits have long been touted as improved trade and travel routes, more recently, the Galar Contest League has decided to also appreciate its natural beauty! Illuminated by dim neon lights inspired by Spikemuth, the theme for this venue is darkness and light. Coordinators will be challenged to work with various forms of lighting in their performances, surrounded by the pitch-black metal and stone walls of the tunnel - mind the echo!

IMPORTANT FOR COORDINATORS:
Contests are expected to occur with all participants posting their routines at around the same time, with all other contest centric posts happening at around that time as well. As such it is extremely important that you have your performance ready and prepared when the contest begins. Later in the year (the date will be announced!), the contest will begin with an announcement in the discord and you'll have 24 hours to post your performance. If it's not posted during this time your performance will not be counted! So make sure you have your piece ready!

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[OPEN][CATCH CHANCE] Mission 1:
The Turffield Riding League is back again with a new challenge, however this time you're not riding Gogoats - you're riding Tropius! They've set up a unique airborne obstacle course, and anyone who makes it through gets a reward… and possibly even keep their ride!
Reward: Mirror Herb

[CATCH CHANCE] Mission 2:
The feud between the Zangoose and Seviper species has been ongoing for as long as anyone can remember in Hoenn, and Galar is no stranger to this phenomenon. However, two hopeful Pokemon are looking to change that: a young Zangoose and Seviper, both outcasts of their flocks. Will the power of friendship heal the wounds of a centuries-old rivalry?
Reward: Soothe Bell

[OPEN][CATCH CHANCE] Mission 3:
Late spring and early summer is the favourite season of sun-loving grass-type reptiles, and many groups of them have been popping up around Route 7's clearings to bask in the sunlight. With some luck, you might be able to catch one unaware.
Reward: Miracle Seed

Mission 4:
With all of the people going through it, the Route 9 tunnel has been more unstable lately, and an accident has caused a large amount of dirt and rubble to block the path, preventing people from passing through. Perhaps you are able to offer some kind of assistance in clearing the way?
Reward: Ground-type TR of your choice

Mission 5:
An executive who tried to avoid waiting for the tunnel to be cleared has run into a different kind of problem. While travelling over the mountains, they have managed to lose a briefcase full of important documents. They don't want to lose their job, so they're willing to pay handsomely if someone helps them find it.
Reward: 2000 Poke

Mission 6:
Contests always attract a bunch of big news companies, but they also attract a lot of smaller and independent reporters too. One such independent reporter's team is shorthanded, since a bunch of them ate some bad food the previous night… and they could really use a temporary fill-in.
Reward: 2000 Poke

Mission 7:
A Zebstrika overflowing with strange red shadow energy has been running amok around the area, short-circuiting power lines and tunnel lights. This isn't an unfamiliar problem for the academy graduates, so who better to put a stop to this problem before someone gets hurt?
Reward: Electric-type TR of your choice

Mission 8:
Old man Jimothy needs your help! He wants you to deliver a package to Hammerlocke to his grandson, an illustrious move tutor. He promises that a reward is waiting for you on the other end of the job if you help him out.
Reward: Baton Pass Move Tutor

[PKMN OPEN] Pokémon Spear [M] [IC]

More options

Turnip

Magnificent Turnip

Foxrally

[img]http://i.imgur.com/omi0jS3.gif[/img]

Foxrally

[img]http://i.imgur.com/omi0jS3.gif[/img]

Turnip

Magnificent Turnip

gimmepie

Foxrally

[img]http://i.imgur.com/omi0jS3.gif[/img]

gimmepie