Episode 11: The Third Gym
As they get into the sight of the Coumarine Gym, Ensara is struck into sarcastic disbelief.
"Its a tree." She deadpans. "An actual freaking tree. How stupid is Ramos? Shade you fought him, how does he keep that Gym from burning down every time someone comes at him with a Fire type?"
"Search me. I beat him with my Glaceon. Frosty's Ice Beam hits like a truck. He has no one to blame but himself if it does burn down though. Hey, is that…? It is!"
Shade says, spotting who seems to be an old friend. He waves.
"Hey Connor! You giving out advice to Kalosians now?"
Connor, known pokemon trainer adviser and probable con man, gets nervous as Shade recognizes him. He edges towards his Mysterious Statue™ in fear. The Statue in response stays lifelessly silent and still in contempt.
"How you doing, you jerk?" Shade says with a smile. "I hope you got my money, because it wasn't worth the advice you gave me. I got to the final nonetheless but…maybe I'd have gotten farther if you weren't such a con artist, you prick."
Connor jumps at this and suddenly hands him a bunch of money.
"Take it! Its yours! I'm out of here!" He then runs off with the Mysterious Statue™.
Shade chuckles at this as he pockets the money.
"You….know him? That scam artist?" Ensara questions.
"Yeah. But he knows his place in things. He knows that he has no pokemon and can't stop me from ruining his day, so I let him live in fear of me instead of beating him up or anything. C'mon lets keep going."
They walk into the tree to see an old man tending to the plants with a watering can. Ramos looks up and says
"Hey look, two Sprouts and a Gold Lister….you came for a rematch, after what you did? You got a lot of nerve…" Ramos grumbles.
"Nah, I'm just accompanying Ensara here. She is the one who wants to battle you." Shade answers. Ramos grunts and looks at her.
"Yeah, I'm here for a badge. Is this a good time?" Ensara asks.
"Yeah, sprout- wait, which one was your starter?" He asks suspiciously.
"Fennekin. Why?" Ensara asks back with an eyebrow raised.
At this Ramos utters a curse cantankerously and puts his watering can down.
"Fine." he says crossly. "We go outside and battle on a dirt arena I made. I'm not having my Gym burned down, thank you very much."
Soon they were outside. Ramos sends out his first pokemon.
"Go, Weepinbell!"
The yellow bell-shaped pokemon flops from its pokeball.
"Go! Flara!"
The Braixen leaps from her ball and brandishes her stick as Emerald watches from Ensara's shoulder. The referee on the sidelines says
"Begin!"
"Ok lets see…..Weepinbell use-"
"Flara, Flamethrower!"
A power jet of flame is fired out of Flara's wand-like stick and hits the weepinbell directly. When the flames clear, weepinbell flops to the ground defeated.
"Weepinbell is unable to battle!" the Referee calls.
"….Go, Jumpluff!" Ramos throws out next.
"Flamethrower." Ensara says again.
The pokemon is again hit with a solid jet of flame. Jumpluff goes down even faster than weepinbell, nothing but a living ball-shaped cinder.
"Jumpluff is unable to battle!" The referee calls again.
"Fine then! Come out, my strongest pokemon! Gogoat!" Ramos throws out the pokemon angrily. In a flash of light, the Gogoat, with great and powerful horns, hooves of steel and thunder and a leaf mane flowing in the breeze. Every moment it made was power, majestic and unrelenting. It snorted and glared at the Braixen who had such arrogance to take down the other two pokemon so easily, and promised to teach her a lesson she would never forget-
"Flamethrower."
-But he is hit with a powerful jet of flame, and falls to the ground from its heat just the same. Sadly no matter how great the Grass type, fire will always burn away its fame.
Ramos returns his Gogoat, gets out the badge and puts it into Ensara's hand while grumbling about 'those darn sprouts and their fire types these days' unceremoniously.
"Okay….I got the badge?" Ensara says uncertainly.
Flara huffs. -Too easy. I wanted a real fight.-
As they walk away from the Gym into town, Shade says with wisdom:
"Don't worry about it. You didn't suddenly become super-powerful or anything. Its just that once you know what your doing, Gym Leaders start to become less of a big threat. At least when they are not being serious. And most Gym Leader matches are far from them being serious. Their matches are tests, and sometimes you just pass with flying colors, like when you have a type advantage. For trainers aiming to be as strong as us we want to be, the expectation is to exceed and surpass them anyways. Doubt that all of them are going to be that easy though."
"But all I did was one attack, three times." Ensara questioned.
Shade shrugs. "And sometimes that is all you need. There are Ace Trainers out there who routinely limit themselves to using only one pokemon to sweep entire Gyms and succeed. Often using only a single move throughout. A wise man once said that he was not afraid of the man who practiced a thousand punches one time, but of the man who practiced one punch a thousand times. Fire beats Grass, you simply used a consistent effect to achieve a consistent result. Its not anything particularly special. The real challenge is in facing people with varied teams and dedicated strategies. As a trainer, Jansen is probably stronger than any Gym Leader simply because he has more options and knows how to use them."
"But isn't the entire point of a Gym Leader is to beat varied teams using only one type?" Lily asks
"Yeah when they're being serious. But even then, doing so is kind of impractical. Its possible, but its just more efficient and consistently effective to build a well-rounded team. That and once the well-rounded trainer figures out the specialists strategy, they can pretty much destroy them. There is only so much you can do by sticking to a theme, and it makes you predictable besides. Ramos if he got going, could've probably destroyed you with sunny day and solar beams. But that never happened because you simply had the more practical way to win."
"Makes sense. I don't care how I win anyways." Ensara says shrugging.
"Thats the attitude." Shade smiles back. "Lets go to the Pokemon Center. I want to transfer Incinereta here so I can train her up to a Volcarona."
Meanwhile Mew frowns at this turn of events as she watches from above. Ensara already had three badges. This would not do. That Gym was too easy for her. If Mew planned on Ensara giving up before she ever got to the League, she would have to put some obstacles in her way herself. Thankfully this wouldn't be too much separate from the plans she already had, she just had more motivation to do it now. As well as do it faster. Mew teleports away.
The trio got to the Pokemon Center, Shade going to the computer-phone first and transferring his chandelure for Incinereta. He sends out the little larvesta, showing it off.
Both Ensara and Lily get a distinct feeling of unease and nervousness through Aura, and only the vague sense of greeting from Incinereta.
"This my friends is Incinereta. My larvesta. Not developed compared to the rest of the pokemon, I'm going to be using her the most in Kalos, to make her strong."
"She seems…nervous." Lily comments.
"Yeah, she is a bit of a new one. And it will take her a long time to evolve. Longer than most dragon types. But I'm up to the challenge. Lets see how many trainers I can beat using only Incinereta! I'm going to find some trainers to beat, want to come with?"
He returns Incinereta to her pokeball.
"I would! I'd love to see a Bug/Fire type in action." Lily says
"I'm going to stay behind, I just remembered I need to call my mom, she is probably worried sick about me and I didn't call her in Lumiose or Santalune." Ensara says waving them off.
"Your loss." Lily replies as the two go walking out.
Ensara turns to the screen-phone and dials the number, Emerald perched on her shoulder. She waits for her mom to pick up for a few tense moments dreading whatever lecture she had in store for her. Ensara thought about what thoughts could've been running through her mothers mind as she traveled around and her mother stayed behind. How much her mother would want her to be safe, and how much it would pain her mother if something were to happen to herself. She braces for the inevitable worried lecture…
…But nobody answers.
Instead only rings sound out three times and the machine switches to leaving a message. Ensara guessed that she must be out getting groceries or something, so she decided to leave one.
"Hey, Mom. I've gotten to Coumarine City. I have three badges right now. I'm doing fine, despite running into a few crooks. Lily has joined me, remember Lily? Always had her nose in the books, been my friend since we were little? Blue haired girl? Her. But a guy from Unova has also joined our crew, his name is Shade Wagers and he is really experienced at pokemon battling. I'm learning a lot from him, from moves to how to better command my pokemon, and he has said that he wants to teach me combination moves soon. He is surprisingly laid back for someone so good at this, but I guess when you get that good your confidence just goes through the roof. I've caught pokemon like Ralts and Riolu and even a Bagon, and not even on the route you'd think to go to! Life is strange like that y'know? Always new surprises in store for you.
Speaking of surprises: You won't believe me but, I've actually met Mew. More than once. She has made a deal with me to give me a chance to catch her. To be honest while I was determined to catch her, I thought it was like a goal that would take me a life time to realize. That I'd spend years between even catching a sight of her. I was prepared to live my entire life without ever succeeding because I knew at least I tried, y'know? That I would be chasing the impossible, the ever elusive forever. But now I have a chance. A chance to do what no one else has ever done in all of history. I'm not going to let that slip through my grasp. I'm incredibly lucky to get that chance. I know that Mew is probably up to something though. I'm no fool. Why now after all? Why me? She has hidden herself all this time, it doesn't make any sense. All I know is that if I want the chance to catch her, I've got to play her game. I have to follow along. I don't actually care about the Gym Leaders or the League- those are all just a part of getting close to her. Of getting my chance. I just have to be patient, and seize the moment she lets down her guard.
See ya later mom. Hope your having a good time, don't worry about me. I've got a plan."
She hangs up, with Emerald listening intently to the entire message. The little Ralts could feel the strength of Ensara's conviction. Could feel her will to fight for her goal, and her passions running deep within her soul. Then Emerald made a resolution to herself. Ensara meanwhile walked over to Nurse Joy and asked
"Hey, can you do a quick check up on my pokemon? Just got through the wastelands and I want to make sure they are alright."
"Very well. We are everywhere, you'll never escape us. We will take great care of them!" Nurse Joy says happily.
"Ok! …What was that middle part?" Ensara says unsure.
"What middle part, Ensara Aquana, Age 15?" Nurse Joy stares emptily back.
"…Nevermind." She then turns to her pokedex
"Hey Dex, just me and you again!" she says to it.
"Good. I wanted to speak to you. I've been thinking and haven't had much to comment directly." he chirps back.
"Oh? About what?"
"This Shade Wagers. He still has not told you about his past, or his goals. He is not trustworthy. He has his own agenda and it will conflict with yours eventually. Recommended course of action: find out, do something about it. As soon as possible."
"Yes I know, but if I press him too much he might decide not to reveal it. He is a much stronger than me, I can't make him do anything. The only reason he is even along for the ride is because he decided it. That and he is a pretty friendly guy. I don't see much reason to jeopardize my good luck in trying to tamper with a good source of pokemon mentoring."
"Then at least urge him to actually be useful in a more active manner."
"I can't! Remember when he used a Poke-Flute to imitate Roar? The way he talked about it, I can't really rule out the possibility that he might know even more sonic-based moves that way. Ones that are far deadlier, like Hyper-Voice. He might not need pokemon to teach me a lesson. That and my pokemon are the ones that need to grow and become strong. Even if I could force him to use his power, me and him both know that I need to catch Mew myself. He won't do that for me. Our goals are things we need to earn ourselves and we both understand that by assumption, no talking needed."
"Very well. He is not a real threat anyways, let us talk of Jansen. Losing to anyone is illogical. Especially someone who has a clear interest in constantly challenging you again. Shade is right on that. I must advise you to win against him next time."
"Fine fine, but its not as if he is important. If I lost every battle against him outside the League, I'd still be fine. It'll be losses, but not ones that really matter, so I don't see the point?"
"Nevertheless. I must urge excellence in battle. You lack competitive spirit. You make up for it in passion and determination, but only on things you care about. These are not ideal qualities for success."
"Whatever. Lets talk about something else. What is your plan after you get a real body?"
"Probably continue traveling with you."
"Okay why?"
"I know you. It is simply logical to keep to a positive relationship that you have built up over time and can foresee building positively even further. That and your life is interesting. I want to see how it unfolds."
"Aaaaw, you think I'm your friend?"
"Yes. I just stated that. Why are you parroting the obvious."
Ensara giggles a little.
"No reason. Just keep being you, Dex. Just keep being you."
"I find myself incapable of being anyone else. I fail to see how your order is relevant."
"See? Exactly like that."
"Zzzgh! Stop confusing me."
Footsteps fall. Robb the Pokemon Mercenary begins his journey across the wastes. From getting a tip from the Lumiose Joy, he knew that Ensara was at Coumarine. He would have to pick up the pace to start catching up. Suddenly however a biker gang of three guys ride up to him and surround him, carrying pokeballs.
"Hey monsieur." says one. "Give us your poke dollars, or we'll give you a pokemon beatdown you'll never forget!"
He sighs. He hated when he had to clean up the trash like this.
"Go, Steelix." Robb says. The giant metallic snake materializes with a roar. A few minutes later he returns his Steelix and sets out upon his way still on foot, leaving behind the gang knocked out cold along with their poison type pokemon.
Meanwhile Mew floats through the warehouse district of Coumarine City. A psychic scan told her all she needed to know to make sure that what she needed to happen, would happen. The Coumarine warehouse distract constantly received and shipped out various goods to and from various regions. It was the gateway to Kalos and everything went through here. Both legal and illegal. Which made it the perfect place to start.
Mew gathered her power and sent out a psychic pulse in the form of an invisible blaring beacon of a signal. One designed to stand out and attract any of those capable of picking it up, for those people it would look exactly like the signal they were searching for and come running for it. But they would not find her. Only each other.
At Cerebral Headquarters:
Mindlord Valimoth leader of Team Cerebral, was a man who liked to be in control. His quarters were completely tidy and neat. Every single Cerebral member bowed to his whim without question. All understood that he could mind read their doubts, their thoughts, their hopes and their dreams. They dare not think thoughts that he would not approve of. Such a crime was punishable by strict reeducation to his point of view. Any little thing that was not under control, deserved to be stamped out and made to be controlled to him. No detail out of place. No little piece of puzzle gone astray. He looks out at the world and sees only an infinite jigsaw puzzle not yet solved, and we was the one to unite its pieces into a seamless single picture of beauty.
"Mindlord! Do you feel that!? A psychic pulse just went out! Its strength matches only a legendary Psychic pokemon!"
"Yes." He says with complete and utter calm, his steel blue eyes unmoving. Everything about him must be controlled as well, from his emotions to his face, to his greying hair to his state of dress. Everything. Emotions had their place, but only to show what he wanted to show. Civility was allowed, but only for his purposes. Chaos was intolerable.
"Lets go then. We'll capture it."
He sought psychic pokemon because they controlled the most chaotic thing of all-the mind. Therefore he could not pass up the chance to get potentially the most powerful of them all for his plans. With such power, there shall be order.
At Team Rocket Kalos Regional Base:
Executive Napal stood at attention. He was a relatively new and young Executive. Recently promoted, he had been assigned to take the Kalos region for Team Rocket by Giovanni himself. If he can take over the Kalosian criminal underground, he would be able to show his great work to Giovanni. There was only a single new Team here, by the name of Cerebral, specializing in Psychic types. What fools. He had brought in pokemon from the Team Rocket livestock to deal with them both specialized and diverse. Many Dark types of course, but no neglecting the other ones that made for a well-rounded team. Every type of pokemon had a use in crime after all. It was simply practical to use all the pokemon you possibly could for the most amount of power. That was only one of the reasons why Team Rocket had multiple regional control and other Teams did not. No pretending at ideology or moralizing-just power, money and the benefits that come with. Other teams were terrorists, Team Rocket was a company.
"Sir!" a Grunt ran up to him saluting. "The psychic radar has detected the signature wavelength of the pokemon that is Priority One. Report over."
There was also however, a certain pokemon of Giovanni's that had supposedly fled in the direction of the Kalos region. It was top priority to get it back and it seems it was his opportunity to get back to win Giovanni's favor.
"Lets go then! If the Priority One Pokemon is here, we must capture it at all costs! We must not fail, or who knows what Giovanni will do to us?"
There were certain things in this world you did not do if you wanted to live. Such as kick a magikarp while insulting it, or waking a sleeping ursaring. Angering Giovanni was one of those things. Executive Napal hurried to Coumarine. This operation just got a lot more important.
A few hours later, Ensara and her pokemon were training outside. As Emerald practiced her Psychic lift and moving a boulder around she contemplated her situation with Ensara.
-Can I do this? How far can I go in helping my trainer? Ensara wants to catch Mew. How do I feel about that? Mew is like, the Mother of all Pokemon or something. She has all Pokemon DNA, the primordial being that Arceus created to create all other pokemon he himself does not have a hand in. Legend has it that out of all the greater legendaries, Mew was created last so that she may fill the world with pokemon great and small for them all to watch over. That while Arceus created the gods we worship, Mew was the one who created us, the common pokemon that everyone interacts with. In a sense, she is more my creator than Arceus is. She is revered as the Progenitor, the Infinite Mother. That within her exists limitless potential for any and all pokemon.
Do I have what it takes to face that? To face the creator of most pokemon and help her catch Mew? Would it be wrong to do so? Would I be betraying Mew by doing so? Yet, Mew has apparently allowed it, so why am I questioning this in the first place?-
Masala interrupts her thoughts while chopping a few blocks in half.
-Could you save thinking out loud to for when your in a pokeball? That's the time I sit back and contemplate things, real comfy in there.-
"Not me." Excalibria disagreed while breaking a rock with her head. "There is a reason they call it the Quick Ball. All that design for fast capture? Turns out it skips out on the comfort part of the deal to compensate, so its quick to both capture and produce. My arrangements in there are spartan. Not that I mind. Its just one more challenge for me."
"Nyyaaaa, I like my pokeball but I wish I could get transferred to a Luxury Ball someday! I heard they are fun." Fortuna pipes up.
"Tch. Wimp." Excalibria scoffs at this. "Luxury Balls are for pokemon who can't handle the hardships of the road."
Emerald thinks upon this and sends
-Why do the legendaries allow the whole pokeball thing anyways? You'd think they'd have mistaken all this for something ugly decades ago.-
-Who knows.- Masala sends back with a shrug. -It is not for us to know how the legendaries think or why they do what they do. It is said that Mew is one of the beings that are the most comprehensible to us. The others are said to control great and powerful forces of nature, their perceptions are different and thus do not see the world the way common pokemon or humans do. Pokemon and Humanity are closer to each other than normal pokemon are to Legendary ones. I cannot pretend to know the mind of Arceus, for it said that to him all things are what he has planned beforehand and that nothing exists that doesn't work as he designed. I am but a humble Riolu, dedicated to upholding what is right and just in this world. I must simply fight for what I think is right, do what I think will make people happy to the best of my ability, and the rest is up to the Legendaries to decide.-
-I see. We have free will, but there are just some things beyond our control or understanding. If something happens that we don't expect, all we can do about it is adapt and try to succeed anyways.- Emerald replies in interpretation.
-Pretty much.- Masala sends back with a nod.
-I see. I think you answered my questions.- Emerald sent back.
-Which ones? I wasn't paying attention.- Masala says as she breaks more bricks.
-Nevermind.- Emerald said shaking her head. She resolved herself. Emerald would do anything to help Ensara.
Meanwhile, Flara was still on a high since her victory against an entire grass gym.
-I tell you! I was awesome! Went down like flies!-
"I doubt they are all going to be that easy for you." Ensara said with an arched eyebrow.
-Who cares? Its not as if there is any water gym in Kalos. Heck, put me up front against that fighting gym, I know a psychic move or two, they will go down just as easy.-
"See, that overconfidence is what I want to avoid. Mew won't be impressed if we try that, I wager. Even if you have won me the last two Gym battles. I can't become reliant on you just because your my starter. Your already pretty much stronger than everyone else except maybe Excalibria because you evolved."
-Aaaaaww...- Flara whined, seeing where this was going.
"Yeah, your probably going to have be benched next Gym battle. Give the others chances to prove their strength instead. We're a team, and that means everyone has to become strong together." Ensara folded her arms, adamant.
Soon they finish their training and going back inside, Ensara sees the television airing another report from Kalos News Network:
"This just in: Team Rocket and Team Cerebral are both fighting in the warehouse district of Coumarine City near the docks. A full on gang war, it is most likely these teams are fighting over territory for the control of Kalos and consider Coumarine and important city." The anchorman reads off.
"The response from the Pokemon League is currently unknown, but if two Teams are here in Kalos and stay around causing chaos too long it might just raise the threat level high enough to cancel the Kalos League Tournament this year."
In times of danger and crisis, the Pokemon Leagues generally kept their current leaders to make sure everything functioned smoothly rather than risk replacing the leader mid-way and getting the solution messed up. Since the tournament was to choose the new Champion, the whole process would basically be a waste of money and effort better spent on keeping the region safe. Such tournaments were a product of peaceful times to keep trainers from going of control and to keep the Champion and the Elite Four on their toes.
"Now we go to our Opinion Expert Jon Quack with his expert opinion..."
"Thanks, in my expert opinion, can we really trust Dark type pokemon? With Team Rocket coming in, any dark pokemon could be theirs. They are after all the pokemon type most associated with deception and crime. Keep your Fighting types close before the Dark..."
But Ensara doesn't pay attention to such fear-mongering nonsense. She is focused on the actual news.
"Wait, it could cancel the Tournament? But the entire deal Mew and I made is that we face each other when I win it! I can't do that if there is no tournament." She clenches her fist wondering at her bad luck
"Probability of Mew using this to make sure you don't catch her: Yes." Dex states plainly.
"Wait, you mean Mew could've somehow started this intentionally to screw me over!? She is endangering the entire Kalos region! Why would she do that!?"
"It seems logical to me. If she can engineer the situation so that people make sure the deal is null and void indirectly, she will be in the clear. Judging by her past actions and personality it would be like a big cruel prank upon you, Ensara. She might even allow the situation to escalate a little before stepping in to fix it herself to make it look like she was the hero all along." Dex explains.
-Come now, we don't know if its her, that is just you assuming she did it.- Flara protested. -Maybe we should ask her the next time we see her?-
"She is an immortal all powerful legendary. She has had the time to think up of such ideas, and the reasons to do them." Dex replies. "I do not think she would admit to it even if she is doing it. Mew would not gain anything from it."
-Yeah because saying we can't confirm it will help everything.- Flara sent back with an eye roll.
"Look, it doesn't matter if Mew did it or not." Ensara clenches her fist in resolve. "What matters is that its a threat to our goals and to the people of Kalos. We need to go forth and stop both teams before it gets out of hand and causes such a cancellation."
"Zzt. Are you sure that is wise?" Dex asks "Your still near the starting end of being a trainer, and the authorities might not want you interfering."
"No, I don't think it is. But I don't really have any other choice. Besides did Red give up against Team Rocket? Did Dawn give up against Team Galactic? No. They went ahead and fought them anyways and won! I bet I can do the same!"
Dex is silent for a moment before he chirps back a response.
"This does not seem wise. The probability of a single new trainer in their first year defeating an entire Team all by themselves is highly unlikely. I mean the practicalities of stamina alone and the numbers game of inevitably encountering a criminal who has pokemon to defeat yours-"
"Never tell me the odds!" Ensara interrupts him.
-Yeah! Lets do the impossible!- Flara said while pumping her arm. -Who does Mew think we are!?-
All her other pokemon burst out and pitch in their own cries of agreement:
Excalibria roared at the prospect of a great battle. Fortuna hopped and down raring to go, Emerald sends -If these Teams stands in our way, we should just get rid of the Teams!-
Masala nods -It is our duty to rid this world of such evil. Let us defeat them and show them the error of their ways!-
Dex beeps with growing horror. "I just realized: your all insane."
"Come on team! Lets go! There are two criminal teams standing in the way of our goal, and a lot of training to do to get strong. Lets kick them to the curb!"
They then set off running down to the docks, determined to fight their way through.
Meanwhile Mew floats above and snickers to herself at their reckless charge.
-Just as planned.-