"Spolt! It's okay," Ray assured his Manectric, returning it to its ball. "You did alright."
"Good job, Krokorok," Clay said from across the battlefield. "Piece of cake."
The Gym arena was in a gigantic underground chamber reinforced with steel frames. Unlike the other, smooth Gym battlefields, this one was rough and littered with rocks and even boulders. Up above, thick crisscrossing pipes ran from one rock wall to the other.
Ray's battle with Clay had gotten off to a bad start. Despite what Ray had told Gabe the other day about type matchups, Spolt was at a great disadvantage against ground-type opponents. Although it had managed to tire out the Krokorok some, Spolt hadn't inflicted much damage at all. Ray was losing, zero to one.
Ray sent out Terral, who immediately looked up to see if there was space above.
"Okay, Terral," Ray said, "you have the advantage here." Good thing there was plenty of space for it to fly around.
"Well I'll be—a Skarmory!" Clay called out, his voice echoing around the chamber. "Tough birds, those are. Krokorok, wait for it to get close, then strike it with a good bulldoze!"
Ray didn't know if that was a specific move, but it didn't sound good. "Fly!" he commanded, but Terral was already in the air. Up high, it circled around the Krokorok, waiting for the right moment to attack.
"Don't give it an opening!" Clay urged.
The Krokorok kept facing its opponent in the air. If Terral dived now, it would be vulnerable to some attack.
"Swoop around!" Ray ordered. Terral had done the move a few times before, in other battles. It began to dive, but not directly at the Krokorok.
"Don't let it," warned Clay.
Terral closed in, gaining speed. As it approached ground level, it used its speed to swerve behind the Krokorok.
The Krokorok slashed out with its claws, but missed. Before it could turn around, Terral clutched it by the shoulders and lifted it in the air.
Clay frowned. "Quick, get down from there!" he yelled. It was quite a fall, but Terral was flying higher and higher, to the ceiling of the chamber. When the Krokorok thrashed free, it fell all the way down to the floor. A couple people gasped. Ray felt good for Terral and sorry for the Krokorok, which was defeated.
"He's just too tired, if ya ask me," Clay grumbled, switching out the Krokorok for an Excadrill.
The battle went on, with Clay trying several moves, all of which failed to hit Terral up in the air.
"I got it!" Clay said. "Dig into the walls! Around the steel, if ya don't mind."
The Excadrill raised its arms like a diver ready to jump in—the blades on its arms met the one over its head, and it became a living drill as it tunneled through the chamber wall. Between the steel supports, of course.
Now Terral was alone on the battlefield.
"Be careful!" Ray called up to it.
"Excadrill can probably sense the vibrations of yer birdie through the ground," said Clay proudly. "He's flappin' pretty hard, ya know."
The chamber was silent, except for Terral's wingbeats.
Then, the Excadrill suddenly burst through the ceiling, colliding with first a pipe and then Terral. As the two Pokémon plummeted to the ground, water began spraying down from above.
"Oh, fer cryin' out loud!" Clay yelled. "Ya broke a pipe!" he said, pointing out the obvious. Water began hissing down. Then, another gash opened in the pipe, pouring water down.
Terral managed to slow itself with its wings just before crashing to the floor, but the Excadrill had no such luck. It had lost its drill shape in panic, and it hit the floor at full force.
"Git up!" urged Clay as water poured down. He had to step back a few feet to get away from the pipe's spraying water. "Don't worry," he yelled, assuring everyone, "all those pipes up there carry clean water!"
Terral got up, whining just above the hiss of the water. The Excadrill, on the other hand, was unconscious.
"Lucky fella," Clay muttered, withdrawing his Pokémon. "Good job anyway, Excadrill." He swapped it with a Palpitoad, a Pokémon Ray didn't really like at all.
"Surprise surprise, Palpitoad," Clay said, sitting on a large rock. "There's some water here for ya to play with." He was right—water was starting to collect in pools on the floor. When the Palpitoad jumped into one, it was submerged up to its eyes.
"Watch out for water attacks!" Ray told Terral, who was still nursing injuries. It looked in Ray's direction, as if remembering that a battle was still underway, and took flight.
"Finish it off with Bubblebeam!" ordered Clay.
Terral remained airborne, barely managing to dodge the Palpitoad's bubbly attacks. It went on until water covered the entire Gym floor; at that point, everyone retreated to the elevator, which was a metal platform raised up from the floor. Clay used the manual controls to suspend the elevator ten feet above the floor, with the handrails lowered.
Ray and Clay were standing next to each other, staring at the huge pool of water before them.
"Hmph! So much for ground," Clay said, glancing sideways at Ray. "Y'all'd think this was a water Gym!"
"Ugh, all my stuff's getting wet," Gabe complained, even though not much water reached the elevator.
"Um, I have an umbrella," Kristy said, rifling through her things. She opened a bright green umbrella, angling it in the direction of the broken pipe. "Want me to hold your stuff?" she offered.
"Sure, that would be great," Gabe said, relieved. "Thanks a lot!"
Ray asked, "Can you hold mine, too?" He handed her his bag. "Thanks!"
"Aw, the egg's so cute!" cooed Kristy.
"Anyway, shouldn't we get out of here?" Gabe asked, nervous.
"This ol' elevator's waterproof," Clay said. "And I'm finishin' this battle. Hide in the water, Palpitoad!" He turned to Ray. "Yer bird can't stay up there forever."
Clay was right. Terral was too tired to stay in the air. It slowly lowered to the water's surface—there was no floor anymore—and gave Ray a helpless look. Ray simply nodded back.
When Terral landed in the water, submerged up to its neck, the Palpitoad immediately approached from the other side of the pool. It had been shielded from view by a boulder.
"Watch out!" Ray yelled. But it was too late. Instead of shooting a beam of bubbles, the Palpitoad blasted Terral with a torrent of water. The attack slammed Terral to the wall and pinned it there.
"No!" Ray heard himself yell.
"What?" Clay said, scratching his head. "I never seen that move before. Hydro Pump, maybe?"
"Yeah, it is," confirmed Stanley.
"Well, we're two fer two," Clay said, raising the elevator several more feet. "Good job, Palpitoad!" he called out.
Terral was knocked out and floating on the water. Ray returned it to its ball, apologizing to it in his mind.
Now what? It really was like a water Gym now. There was no way Dax would be able to survive here. But then Ray remembered something, and figured out what to do.
"Go, Felsin," Ray murmured, kneeling down and releasing Felsin onto the elevator, right in front of him. "Do what you always do," Ray said, looking into Felsin's bright, round eyes. It turned around and seemed to hesitate a moment before springing off the elevator, falling a foot or two, and splashing into the ever-deepening pool of water. The broken pipe creaked and began dumping water like an endless Hydro Pump from above.
"What's that? An Anorith?" Clay said. The acoustics of the chamber sounded like a bath. "Lenora would love ya long time if ya—"
"Yeah, we saw her."
"Oh, that's right. Ya got her badge, right?"
"Yeah," said Ray. "Be careful, Felsin!" he called, peering into the water. The water was clear, but he could only see Felsin swimming through the water. "Check behind that boulder!"
The Palpitoad had been hiding behind the same boulder as before. It swam out from behind it, using Hydro Pump underwater. The effect was that the entire pool lurched and began to develop a rapid current. It carried Felsin away, dragging it against the walls.
"Ugh, no!" Ray growled in frustration. He was starting to hate this Palpitoad. "Get ready for when it stops!" he yelled out to Felsin. He figured Hydro Pump couldn't be held for long.
As soon as the current was manageable, Felsin darted to a big rock and shoved it at the Palpitoad. The move packed a punch, even through the water.
"That little buggy's sure got some fight in him," Clay chuckled, raising the elevator again. The water looked deep enough to dive into. "Wait, what's wrong with ya, Palpitoad?"
It was floating on the water, knocked out. Felsin swam up to it curiously, giving it a poke. But then the Palpitoad was on it in an instant, driving it into the floor.
"Hey, that's uncalled for!" Clay said. "Ya gonna fight, ya fight fair, ya hear?"
"Felsin!" Ray yelled. He couldn't see because dust was starting to cloud up the water. That is, until a bright light began to illuminate the entire pool.
"Hey, Ray!" Stanley yelled over the creaking of the pipe and the splashing water. "I think Felsin's evolving!"
That, or the Palpitoad was. Ray stood at the edge of the elevator platform, trying to see through the glowing water. But it was still too bright over there to see. Before he knew it, Ray was leaning over the edge, and it was only a matter of time before he slipped off the platform.
He heard a couple people yelling, before the water smothered it all. It was frigid, but Ray didn't mind. He actually sort of liked it.
When he surfaced, he heard Clay yelling at him. "Whaddaya doin'? Just wait there till the water level rises! Ya gotta be kiddin' me!"
"Sorry!" Ray said from below. "It's okay, I can swim!" The glow in the water was starting to fade. The Palpitoad flew from the water suddenly, hitting the wall, and then a boulder followed after it. The Palpitoad was finished after that, and it wasn't faking.
A bark from the water made Ray turn from the Palpitoad to Felsin, who wasn't an Anorith anymore. Instead, he was a lot bigger—his head poked out from the water as he paddled over to Ray.
"You did it!" Ray cried, hugging Felsin in the water. He didn't mind being soaked, because Kristy was holding all his stuff. And his C-Gear was waterproof.
Felsin barked again, letting go of Ray so that the two of them could stay afloat.
"Sorry," Ray said. He turned around to Clay, who had a look of utter astonishment on his face. "I win, right?" he called to him.
Clay stared at him. "Ya like swimmin' in that water? Ain't it freezin'?"
"Yeah, kinda," Ray said, knowing he was messing with Clay's head.
Clay rolled his eyes. "Git up on here, son, and take yer badge!"
The water was nearly at the elevator's level again. Ray climbed up onto the platform, then returned Felsin to his ball, telling him again how well he did.
"Ya know what?" Clay said, changing his mind. "Let's do it outside so y'all can dry up."
Clay handed Ray the Quake Badge, which looked like a seismic fault in the earth. Still dripping, Ray accepted the badge and put it in his case.
"Thanks for letting me use your Pokémon Center healing thing," Ray said, referring to the device in the Gym's ground-level lobby.
"Don't mention it. And by the by, I didn't like that whole water situation," Clay said, sighing. "But I guess it makes up for the cheap shot Palpitoad took on yer critter. Life's all about give and take, remember that."
"So what're you gonna do about all that water?"
Clay shrugged. "Oh, I'm sure they've cut the water supply already. Some people'll be over here soon to help me figure it all out." He turned to Kristy. "I'm sorry, miss, but I can't have another battle so soon. I'm no water Trainer."
"Oh, that's alright," Kristy said. "I'll just hang around town till then. Actually, why don't you let me help you?"
"If it so pleases ya," Clay said. He cracked a smile. "And no need to apologize fer all that, Ray. It was Excadrill's doin', after all. That battle may've been wetter than I'd like, but it was still more excitin' than a Rapidash rodeo."
"Thanks," Ray said sheepishly. "So this is bye, then?" he said to Kristy.
"I guess," she said. "Unless you wanna help—"
"Aw, don't bother them," Clay interrupted. "I'm sure they got places to be seein'."
Everyone said bye to each other, and then Ray took off with Gabe and Stanley. They were headed for Mistralton City next, as soon as they got a bite to eat. Ray also wanted to play around with his Pokémon.
Ray, Gabe, and Stanley set up camp on the grass, just as the sun disappeared beneath the trees. They were a few miles from Driftveil, camping away from the road.
"It says here that we have to go through Chargestone Cave to get to Mistralton," Gabe said, looking at the map.
"I hear it's like a maze in there," Stanley mused. "With floating rocks and weird stuff like that."
"We'll just sleep here, then, and go in the morning," Ray said, releasing all of his Pokémon at once. Spolt, Dax, and Terral all seemed surprised to see Felsin, who immediately went over to them, exchanging sounds. Ray imagined they were talking to each other.
"That battle was pretty intense," Gabe said, rotating his feet back and forth as he sat next to Ray. "I thought the place was gonna fill up with water."
"Technically, Clay went out of bounds with that Excadrill," Stanley pointed out. He went over to Tretters, to keep it from bothering Terral. "I guess it doesn't matter, if you won."
"Pretty lucky break for me," Ray admitted. "Without the water, I wouldn't have used Trace. And Dax would have been at a big disadvantage—"
"Wait, who?" Gabe interrupted.
"Dax?"
"No, before that."
What was Gabe talking about? Ray had no idea. "Felsin?"
"Uh—"
"I can't believe he evolved! And now he can walk around on land and stuff!" Ray's C-Gear began buzzing. "Who could that be?"
"Oh, it might be from Hoenn!" Gabe gasped.
"Hello?" Ray said, picking up the call.
"Hello. This is Raymond Torre, yes?"
"Yeah, who's calling?" The voice seemed familiar, though.
"This is Pierre Hensef, founder and CEO of Horizon Experimental Technologies. I understand you are the only one to have been affected by the mishap in Nimbasa, correct?"
"Well, yeah," Ray said, scratching his head. It was the guy from the convergence thing on the news?
"Who is it?" Gabe asked.
"I hear you're in Veilstone City. It's only the shortest of walks from there to Mistralton City, the location of our headquarters. I would like to speak with you in person, here."
"I might come over," Ray said. "Can you answer something for me, though? Since you're the boss of Horizon, and you took credit for the stuff that's happening in Hoenn?"
"I will answer many of your questions if you visit me. But I can talk about the Hoenn demonstration now, if you'd like, since it's going to be over very soon."
"What's it about?" Ray asked. "I haven't seen the news since this morning."
"Well, to put it simply," Pierre explained over the phone, "we used a device that put many people within its range into a state of observation, if you will. It looks like a coma to us, but they're experiencing the other world—the one we're going to converge with very soon. When they wake up, we will have thousands of witnesses who will attest to experiencing, in vivid detail, the other world we have been describing—also in vivid detail."
"Uh, okay. But how do you prove the worlds are converging?" Ray asked.
"That's where you come in. But I'll tell you more when you're over here. Please come."
"Yeah, okay, as long as you stop making this sound so creepy."
Pierre laughed. "I apologize."
"Well, okay," Ray said. "Bye."
"Remember, Raymond. I am a powerful man. I would be... angered if you weren't to come." The call ended automatically. Ray shivered.
"So who was it?" Gabe asked, petting his Growlithe. Dax and Spolt were lying side by side in the nearby grass, while Terral nested in a pile of blankets by Ray's sleeping bag. Felsin came over and sat next to Ray, watching him.
"It was the guy from the news thing," Ray said, hugging Felsin's side. The Armaldo made an odd satisfied sound, sort of like purring but not catlike in the least. "He's the boss of the Horizon thing."
"So you asked him about the Hoenn thing?" Stanley asked. Tretters, his Fearow, was gazing at Terral.
"Yeah, it's kinda messed up," Ray sighed. "I'll tell you what he said." He shifted around—Felsin had fallen asleep and was leaning on him—and explained away.