A week later, Onyx was standing outside the entrance to the Castelia City Gym.

If he was quite honest with himself, nothing of great importance had really passed within the week. He was expecting some sort of mob of reporters outside of his door, but apparently, the International Police had done a rather impressive job of covering up the actual events as he had yet to hear any names he knew personally appear on television. That and those kinds of events only tended to happen in cliche stories. He supposed that both thoughts counted for something.

Meeting with his mother again was a great weight off of his chest and the two had spent a day out in celebration of his return. After an outing to the movies, he had found out that she had been on the way to the Garden before the explosions hit and immediately ran back home, assuming that he was staying at the pokemon center until it was all cleared up. He didn't have the heart to tell her what had really happened, opting to let her believe the little setting she had cooked up. He was lucky enough that the hospital had been instructed to handle the matter of his stay delicately and thus he had been able to pull off his cover easily enough.

Of course, he hadn't spent the week just lazing around. While he admittedly did a bit of that, he did get some training in with his team. Snuffles was clearly close to evolution, the vibrant color of its fur was a clear indication of changes to come. Eyes seemed to be on the track for that, however, it was more likely that Snuffles would beat him to it. Spine was growing along the rest of them, however, it seemed that the Cactus Pokemon's evolution would be delayed for a while. This didn't seem to bother it, however, as it still trained with just as much vigor as the others. Granted, nothing ever seemed to bother it.

It was rather odd getting lessons from a pokemon, but Eyes seemed to be doing a rather decent job at it. While it couldn't really use words, emotions and expression seemed to be doing the rest of the job rather well. The psychic arts didn't seem to be a sort of thing that really needed words, either. It was sort of like a muscle, he thought. Pokemon had Power Points for things such as moves, but innate abilities weren't things that ran on such reserves. As such, all he had to learn was how to reach out for it, right?

Yes, and no. Just because he had a theory and the innate power didn't mean that putting into practice was easy. Just like learning how to walk, it was a long grind filled with failure after failure. While he was now able to move around light objects, he couldn't do anything other than making them lazily float. For now, it seemed he would be limited to the lower tier areas until he could figure out an easier way to make it work. Ah well, at least it looked nice. Too bad that it only came in purple though, if anything the surrounding aura made it look almost sinister.

Aside from that, Onyx had taken the time to approach Celesteela, privately. He had done it in the desert north of the city, making sure to find a deserted (heh) area in the nearby ruins before releasing it. While he was away from civilization in case the worst occurred, he was also armed with everything he had. At the moment, he had no clue how it would react.

Celesteela was...odd if he were direct about it. Upon release, it seemed to stretch as best as a metallic being could, before moving as though to taste the air. It scanned the area around it for a short while after, or so it seemed. Was it calmer now, since it was captured? It turned to look at him, before hovering closer to the ground to get a better look. Satisfied with whatever it was looking for, it promptly returned itself. Onyx never bothered to question what that was about. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. Likely he would end up either traumatized or more confused than he was before. At least he hadn't needed to fight that thing again. If he were true to himself, there was no way he could have fought that thing alone and won.

Aside from that, for the past week, he had been having this strange feeling. It was almost as though the whole world had suddenly just...stagnated. Yes, that felt like the right word. Like all the world had lost just a tiny bit of color for a while. Often times he had found himself staring at a wall, wondering what the heck he had been doing before realizing about a half an hour had passed. It was a bit worrisome, but perhaps he was just still in shock from the previous week's events. Yes, that had to be it. After all, now that he was here, the world seemed so much more lively and intense. Time to do things! He moved to open the door only to stop as a middle-aged man passed through, holding the door briefly to allow him in. Thanking him quickly, he strode in.

This was not the first time Onyx had visited Burgh's gym. This made a great deal of sense, considered he lived in relatively close proximity to it. Often the man would use it as a modern art exhibit, either allowing others to temporarily display their works or make his own. Today, it seemed to be the latter, if he was correct on the origins of the sticky thread about the place. If that wasn't String Shot, he would eat his cap. A whole lot of it, if the whole place was following the theme. Multiple cocoons were set up about the place, some no doubt containing other displays within. Normally he'd be a lot more enthused and perhaps even tour the place a bit, but at the current moment, he had a goal. He couldn't become distracted from that again. Looking around a bit, he spotted the Gym's guide behind a small group of tourists. He got the man's attention with a wave.

"Bathroom's on the left if you're looking." The man began as though a greeting. Onyx mentally sighed. Apparently, he looked like another clueless passerby. What a confidence destroyer.

"Actually, I'm looking to challenger Burgh. Is he available?" That got the man's attention. Signaling for him to hold he pulled out a small radio and signaled a code into it, before receiving a response.

"Burgh just got back from lunch, lucky you. Take the center strand up and Burgh will be waiting." After thanking the guide he made his way around the crowds and towards the center strand, which currently had a felt bar across it to designate the public that they shouldn't pass. Ducking under, he found several wooden steps going up the tube. So they hadn't only used webbing after all. Well, that was to be expected. He doubted that the place would have been safe otherwise.

The trek up was long and particularly boring, although thankfully he had been yet to feel the burn as he reached the top. Burgh's cocoon looked like a unicorn had gone ahead and upchucked its last meal, so vibrant it was in colors. The whole place seemed to be a myriad of different colors save for the ceiling, which appeared to be not reached yet. A multitude of paint cans, each with its own brush, littered the place and gave it a very 'under construction' feel. Amid the chaos stood Burgh, who apparently had been holding a pose waiting for him to arrive. Artists.

"Ah, a new challenger!" The man waved his hands grandly. "You know me as Burgh, the Premier Insect Artist! And who might you-" He seemed to peer at Onyx for a minute. "Wait, didn't we meet before? We did, didn't we?"

"Last week, at the sewer," Onyx responded. "Before the giant explosion?"

"Ah yes! I remember!" Burgh clapped his hands. "Nice work in handling those ruffians. Commendable work and all. Anyways, Trainer ID please?" Onyx briefly handed it over as the artist looked it over. "Two badges already? Nice job Onyx. Funny, there was another person a while back who had me as their third just like you…" He seemed to be remembering something. "No matter. As a gym leader and a lover of the Bug Type, I will face you with all of my power!"

He enlarged a Pokeball from his pocket and launched it into the air, a yellow colored seed of sorts with a leafy coloring landing before looking at Onyx with a frown. A Swadloon, if he was identifying it correctly. Not too powerful, but he should be careful. "Alright, let's move Eyes!" The Bronze pokemon emerged quietly, looking left and right before staring unblinkingly into the Swadloon's gaze.

"This will be a three on three official pokemon match. The challenger is allowed to switch their pokemon at any time. Battle begin!" Burgh roared, before swinging his arm in an arc. Apparently a signal of sorts, the Swadloon let out a yell before multiple leaves came from under its covering at high speeds. Moving out of the way Eyes managed to dodge most of them, although some did manage to scrape its body. If it was feeling any discomfort, then it was refusing to show it.

Here an opportunity was presented that he would get to pull off a neat little trick that he and Eyes had been practicing for the past week. Not a move, per se, as they hadn't been doing any fancy regimens for flashy combos. That could wait until he got stronger. For now though, he had his own gimmicks to work with. 'Eyes, Psyshock!'

It wasn't spoken so much as projected. That was the only way that Onyx could describe psychic communication. Almost like sending out a signal, he supposed. The only issue was, he had no idea if Eyes got it or not. After all, while they might both have the same potential for psychic abilities the language barrier still stood. While Pokémon might be able to understand humans, even psychics still could not communicate in such fashion save for those with extensive training. Blah, he was thinking too much about this.

The glow in the Bronzor's eyes said enough about its understanding. From around the stadium, multiple paint cans and brushes began to glow before pelting themselves from every direction. Try as it might the Swadloon could not evade the entire assault, becoming slightly battered by the onslaught of items and becomes quite dirty with paint.

"Those were expensive you know." Burgh moaned at the attack. "Ah well, points for ingenuity. "String Shot!" A tough strand of the bug type material shot from the Swadloon. Before Onyx's eyes he watched as it spewed out one after another, each seemingly aimed anywhere but Eyes. Why? He observed for a moment, signaling the Pokémon to pause. Then he realized, as the Swadloon began to connect two pieces. It was making a web!

'Psywave!' He commanded mentally. A glow from the Bronze Pokemon's eyes quickly coalesced into a single rainbow glow before turning into a single large beam. With an odd sound that was almost like something was being ripped it fired forward, rocketing into the trappings. To his dismay, he found that it only did minimal damage, the structure still standing. It seemed that Burgh's pokemon had his eye for architecture as well. Go figure. 'Get out of there!'

But Swadloon was already moving. With a fierce cry a somehow visible burst of sound came from its mouth in the form of a screech. Some sort of auditory-based attack. Maybe Hyper Voice? No, it couldn't learn that. Bronzor seemed rather uncomfortable with the attack though, so it had to be of one of the few types that it took decent damage from. Regardless, he had to stop the Swadloon from continuing.

The interesting things about pokemon and their movesets were that while they were powerful enough on their own, when combined with the strategies of another they became infinitely more powerful. As such, just a few added commands along with a move could go a long way in a battle. 'Use the paint again. Feint Attack!' Instead of just going in for the move, Eyes picked up another nearby brush with its psychic abilities before flinging it into the Pokemon's eyes. It screeched, now in pain rather than in the use of a move. "Swadloon! Clear your vision!" The Leaf-Wrapped Pokemon tried to clean itself, but it was made more difficult by the fact that it was already very dirty. Onyx smirked. Eyes might not be fast enough, but this was more than enough time for it.

The Bronze pokemon slammed into the Swadloon at full force, catapulting it across the room. The poor thing couldn't even boast some sort of resistance, as not only was it taking 'normal' damage, but it had taken around 130 pounds of metal to its whole body. Last he checked, that was about thirteen times the weight of the average Swadloon. From the other side of the room it struggled to get up for a minute before falling back down, exhausted. Onyx felt a pang of pity at the sight. He was just trying to win, but that thing looked pretty battered.

Burgh quietly returned the Pokemon. Onyx began to feel a bit nervous. Had he angered the Gym Leader? A whole slew of scenarios passed through his head, some involving disqualification and others with him having to fight the man himself. Then, suddenly, a large grin lit up Burgh's face. "That was brilliant! I have no clue how you did that with your Bronzor, but it certainly was impressive. Poor Swadloon, it was in a bad matchup. However," He reached for another ball, "Don't think I'm out just yet! Dwebble!" Instead of lobbing it up in the air as normal, Burgh wound up before throwing it like a fastball.

Onyx's eyes widened as suddenly the Rock Inn Pokemon flew forward and into Eyes, who was caught unprepared and sent careening. Trying to adjust itself, it moved to float away only to find itself immobilized. It let out a slight cry of alarm in the form of a "Zor!" Onyx squinted, only to find that it was trapped in finer threads that he hadn't been able to pay attention to before. With each movement it made it grew into a thicker barrier around it.

"An artist's triumph lies in the little details." Burgh stated. "Show him what it means, Dwebble! Rock Polish, then Smack Down!" As the Pokemon rapidly began to shine up its shell to prepare for faster movement, Onyx sent a harried 'Iron Defense!' towards Eyes as it continued to attempt its way out. Try as it might, it seemed the structure was holding tight. He saw it thicken slightly, causing it to barely rip, but not nearly enough. It seems Iron Defense wouldn't be able to free it.

Suddenly a small yellow orb of energy impacted Eyes and it was abruptly torn to the floor before being covered in all of the trappings it had just been forcibly freed from. He hesitantly sent it an order to rise, but it remained face down on the floor. It seems that it was done for the day. Returning it, he made a mental note to apologize to it later. He really should have been more prepared than this when it came to reacting to his opponent's strategy.

"You're not the only one who can use an opponent's weight to their advantage." Burgh lectured. "Good on you though. Always remember, before typing first observe the qualities of the opponent. The answer is simpler than you think. Now, what kind of artwork will you show me next?"

Indeed, who. He had three choices as to who. Celesteela was out of the question, obviously. According to Looker it was doubtful that it would listen to him in a fight as of yet and if he was still honest it creeped him out slightly. Also, there was the issue of Burgh potentially knowing what it was and freaking out upon realizing that the beast that was terrorizing the city not a week ago was right in front of him. Not to mention it would probably have some issues moving around in the cocoon. It was like what, thirty feet? Enough that he had issues eyeballing it, that was for certain.

While Snuffles definitely could make short of the remaining strings, he had to keep in mind that the Dwebble had just shown its proficiency in a powerful Rock Type move. To throw the Pignite into the fray like that would be suicidal. Spine, however, stood a chance. Its move would do more damage than usual, so if it was able to stop it from using that sound move, then he should be okay. Maybe it was Bug Buzz?

"Spine, let's go!" For Spine he would have to vocalize, he wasn't sure if he was powerful enough in that regard to communicating to non-psychics. The Cacnea erupted forth and stretched a bit, before familiarizing itself with its surroundings. It didn't seem to mind the string much, piercing through an errant strand with its natural barbs with no issue, but it seemed to eyes the paints with some level of disdain. Oh, right, it was a plant.

"Hmm! That's a healthy looking Cacnea you have there!" Burgh commented. "I have a friend of mine in the Kalos region who owns a couple. It looks like yours is close to evolving. It really likes you as well, doesn't it?" Onyx's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Don't be surprised. Most Cacnea's tend to be rather mischievous with their trainers until they know them for a long time. You two been together for a while?" He questioned.

"We have, but that's neither here nor there." While the conversation was nice, ultimately it was clear stalling as the Dwebble recovered its strength from its latest move. "Spine?" It looked at him questioningly. "Let's play some Whack-A-Mole."

Immediately its two arms began to glow a bright green, the spikes elongating to threatening barbs. Charging as fast as its stubby legs would allow, it swung its two arms at the Rock Inn Pokemon. The defender edged away, slightly stung after maneuvering most its body away from it. The hit still stung, however, and it seemed to be rather annoyed by it. "Dweb." It glared back.

"Hit it with a Smack Down!" Burgh yelled at his Pokemon. Once again, a small yellow back began to charge in front of the Dwebble. Here was his chance. "Cacnea, Sand Attack!" Slamming one of its arms into the ground sent up a large cloud of dust from the previous battle into the Dwebble's vision. Startled and disoriented, it was unable to concentrate on the Smack Down before it detonated directly in front of it, causing a non-negligible amount of damage to it. It wasn't significantly weakened, but it certainly wasn't at its best. He would take advantage of that. "Move in for a Leer!" The Cacnea rushed towards the Dwebble before giving it a menacing glare. The creature trembled but stayed resolute.

Burgh smirked. "You sure that was a good idea? Dwebble, Struggle Bug!" The point blank green ball of energy sent Cacnea staggering from the super-effective technique, but it held its position just as its opponent had. However, Onyx was still smiling. He clenched his right fist in his palm.

"Actually, I think it was a great one! Spine, Payback!" A dark glow enveloped its club-like arm before it smacked right into the Rock Inn Pokemon's face, flipping over from the force of it. It wiggled a bit, before growing still. Promptly, it was returned by Burgh. After a moment's thought, he returned Spine as well. While he was still healthy for fighting, he felt it was only right that Snuffles at least get a chance. If it ended up going south, then he always had a second option.

"Very witty, that was. But can you stop my strongest? Let's go, Leavanny!" From his ball burst forth a smiling and happy looking pokemon, about the size of what one might expect from a human child. Onyx didn't let his guard down, however. At this point, it would be foolish to ignore the words of the man who had so thoroughly trounced Eyes earlier. Without words, Onyx released Snuffles, who erupted with a battle cry. Burgh seemed to look rather uncomfortable for a second. "I really hope that new fireproofing agent works…"

So did Onyx, now. Ah well, there had to be an emergency exit if things went south. Right? Right? Regardless, he had the battle to win. "Snuffles, Ember!" From the Pignite's mouth, a steady stream of flames shot towards the Leavanny. To his surprise, it didn't even try to dodge. Then, all of a sudden, its two arms moved in an X. twin shockwaves cut right through the flames, emitting a shockwave that pushed Snuffles back. "Nite!" It yelled in surprise.

"I'm afraid that you'll need to use some more powerful stuff if you want to get through Leavanny's Cut! Of course, I won't make it that easy for you. Use Razor Leaf!" Another flourish of the Pokemon's arms sent a torrent of sharpened foliage at the Fire Pig Pokemon. While most were burnt up as it wreathed itself in flames, some still managed to nick its sides. Onyx winced. He needed a new plan, it seems that waiting it out as the type advantage did the job wouldn't work this time.

"Alright then, Smog!" From Snuffles mouth, a purplish haze began to fill the closed room. Onyx briefly wondered about the ventilation of String Shot made structures. Oh well, he would just need to hope that Burgh had foreseen such a thing when creating it. Surely it wasn't woven that tight. Right?

Burgh didn't seem to be reacting badly to the move, so that was a probably a good sign. At the same time that was also the opposite, as it meant that clearly he wasn't too concerned. "Cut, once again!" He ordered, as the Nurturing Pokemon's arms began to glow with a bright light and fired out once more, echoing a shockwave through the area. He could see a few errant strands had been cut to ribbons, along with the Smog notably thinning with that single usage. Snuffles hadn't yelled out though, so he had dodged it. He grit his teeth. The Smog worked both ways, unfortunately, while Burgh couldn't see his Pokemon, neither could he. That meant he couldn't plan out an attack based on positioning, which wouldn't be smart due to the Leavanny's raw power. His mindset into overdrive as he saw Snuffles throwing out a small Ember from the Smog, forcing Leavanny to focus on that instead of clearing away the purple smoke. Great diversion, buddy.

Through his tactic, he had effectively eliminated the usage of sight from this battle. However, who said that he had to rely on it just as his opponent did? It was a spur of the moment idea, but even if he could just grasp the general concept he would hold the keys to victory.

While Onyx hadn't yet upped his weight limit in terms of his psychic abilities, just floating around the duo of Punk and Poetry being a strain, he found the theory interesting. Aside from Eyes odd nonverbal tutelage, he had taken to using the internet whenever he had cell reception to see what other psychics had to say on the issue. Some turned out to be either a bunch of nonsense or just for whatever reason didn't apply to him, but what they all agreed upon was that in order to impact something you first had to be 'aware' of it. Not in the sense of knowing it exists, so much as projecting a target for the power instead. If not, then there were high chances of someone aiming for a single book in a library to have a whole shelf collapsing on them upon attempting to remove it. Worst come to worst, he would have Snuffles disqualified if he accidentally moved or interacted with anything inside the battle. It was a risk he had to take.

Unlike what one would think, there was no screaming nor burst of power. All that one could see to understand it was activating was the light purple flash as he pushed out that blanket target. To him, the world flickered for a bit before coming back just as it had been before, only with negative space showing the other inhabitants of the room. If there was anything it could be compared to, it would be the sonar of a dolphin or bat. Pretty neat, if he said so himself. More importantly, he found that Snuffles had made his way around so that he was diagonal to the left of Burgh's Leavanny. It was a miracle he hadn't been seen by Burgh yet, but it was likely he was upkeeping a heavier Smog there to remain undetected. It was only a matter of time though.

"Quickly, Flame Charge!" Snuffles shot forward and struck the Leavanny, sending it flying. It cried out in surprise, flipping once in the air before unsteadily stopping, growling at the deception. The Flame Pig Pokemon's body held a dim glow for a few seconds, showing the physical boosters of the attack taking effect.

Burgh wasted no time, showing off his quick reactions honed through time as a gym leader. "Counter with Struggle Bug!" Again the green ball of energy grew in the hands of Burgh's Pokemon before being expelled with force towards Snuffles. The two attacks met each other on in a great burst of light. A great shudder rocked the battlefield, til at that reigned was silence.

And one figure, slowly rising from the smoke.