"Oi, wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong. What the hell are you doing? Why the hell are you choosing to engage in a drawn-out battle against North? North's a probopass. She excels in a drawn-out battle and look at the skill difference between your pokemon and North. A drawn-out battle is not going to work."
"But how else am I going to bring North down?!" Kayla is near hysterics at this point. Volkner did make good on his promise to give her training from hell the moment he came back from his vacation. He still didn't quite get over the fact that she nearly got herself killed the last time she went on a mission with him. To be fair, so does she.
"Break through her defences in one swift shot, duh."
"Impossible." Kayla immediately replied. "North is a probopass. Her defences are ridiculous."
"And your pokemon running around her are going to do anything about it?" Volkner deadpanned. "She's also a Steel type. Moves like Toxic aren't going to work. What else are you gonna do?"
"But breaking through North's armour is just not going to work! She's like a wall of steel!"
"Allow me to demonstrate to you the impossible." Volkner got out from his seat at the side of the training field and gestured for Kayla's pokemon to come to his side. They did so willingly. Somehow, Volkner is so good at handling Electric types that most of them are willing to listen to his command to a certain extent as long as they are not outright hostile to him.
To get pokemon of his type specialisation to listen to him no matter if they belong to him or not, is this the power of an Electric Specialist?
"Alright, squirt. Which one is your strongest pokemon?"
"Woofy." Kayla answered without hesitation. Her manectric is definitely her strongest pokemon.
"Woofy, Electric Terrain. Then Charge."
Kayla watched as her manectric did just that upon Volkner's command. The rest of her team all did something similar as they began to charge their powers up further.
"Now, I want the rest of you to follow Woofy's lead. Concentrate all your attacks on a single spot. Thunder."
As one, her entire team unleashed a collaborative Thunder on North. It got so blindingly bright that she had to use her hands to shield her eyes from the light. When the attack died down, North is still standing upright and hovering in the air without a care in the world, but there's now an obvious crack in her armour. Not big enough to be easily noticeable, but it is there nonetheless.
"It's just a small crack." Kayla said as she turned around to face the Gym Leader.
"Better than not landing a scratch." Volkner countered. "As long as you made a dent, you can exploit it. Keep aiming at the same spot and force your opponent to keep defending that spot, or land more cracks on their armour. Either way, it just proved that even North cannot fully withstand the onslaught of a concentrated attack that is fired by your entire team. There's no way that you cannot make a dent if you put in the effort."
"But in real battles, people will not give me the time to set up Charge and Electric Terrain like that." Kayla quickly voiced her doubts. "They will be dumb to do so. The way North was raining rocks at us when it was fighting us earlier didn't give us the chance to do that too."
"Then that's your problem." Volkner pointed a lazy finger at her. "Find a way to do it. Get faster. If your Electric types are taking too long a time to use Charge, it's your job to get them to learn how to do it faster. Same thing goes for Electric Terrain. You are their trainer. If your team is good enough to use Charge and Electric Terrain simultaneously within a second or two you would not have been in so much trouble against North. As of now, your pokemon took two seconds to use Charge and four seconds to use Electric Terrain. Six seconds in total. What is six seconds out there in the field? More than enough time for the enemy to kill all of you."
Kayla looked away, knowing that Volkner is right about this. Her pokemon are definitely not experts in using Charge or Electric Terrain. She hardly uses those moves in battle because of how long it takes to cast them.
"Quiz time." Volkner let out a yawn as he changed the topic abruptly. "What do you think about Electric type as a whole? What are their characteristics? What are Electric types in a nutshell? What are their strengths and peculiarities?"
"Uh, they use electricity as their main form of combat?" Kayla spoke up, feeling a little dumb for phrasing her answers this way because it sounds so… duh.
"Well, yes. What else?"
"Uh…" Kayla trailed off as she tried to find a way to summarise what Electric types really are in a sentence or two. She came up blank.
"For electric types, most of them usually excel in either attack power or speed." Volkner broke the silence as he began to go into his lecture mode. "Some species got a little lucky and excelled in both departments. Some may have one or two defence mechanisms or tricks to fall back on, like how the eelektross species have the Levitate ability or how heliolisk have the move Electrify. Based on these observations, what does it say about Electric types as a whole?"
"They are… not that good in defence?" Kayla gave her answer, still a little unsure.
"Got it in one. Because most of them don't boast strong defences, their typing as a whole is very much like a glass cannon in battles. That is why you need to aim to finish the battle as soon as possible when using electric types. If you don't have power, rely on your speed. If you don't have speed, then rely on your power. That's how you train electric types. They are very specialised in what they do so you train them based on their specialisation. Then there's inflicting paralysis, but learning how to do it is a way more advanced topic to broach. That comes much later."
"You don't seem to favour that aspect of combat. Paralysis, I mean." Kayla spoke up as memories of seeing her Gym Leader in battle came to mind. Volkner had always been all about speed and power. There are not many times where he relied on paralysis to win his battles as far as she can recall.
"Paralysis is a delicate thing because it directly affects the nervous system." Volkner sighed and did a casual wave of his hand. "Overdo it too much and you cripple your opponent's pokemon for life, something you don't want to happen in a friendly battle. Too little and it's not gonna work. In high level battles where the battles are more like life-or-death battles, it's hard to control the electricity output to balance the extent of paralysis between deadly and non-crippling. Among the world's Thirteen Pillars that I know, Elesa's the expert in inflicting paralysis accurately and with devastating results. Clemont and Wattson are more on accuracy and tricks. Surge and I are all about power."
"But if I am facing a pokemon as well-trained as North with such high defences, I can make use of paralysis to prevent it from defending properly, right?"
"Technically, yeah. It is harder than it sounds though." Volkner nodded sleepily. "If you really want to learn how to use and inflict paralysis properly I could teach you what I know, but first, you have to pass everything else I have in mind for you. You up for it?"
"Of course." Kayla replied with determination, fists clenched. Never again. Never will she be so helpless ever again.
"Alright, let's go for round two." Volkner yawned again with a hand over his mouth. "Same thing. Your team versus North. We will focus on training your team to be able to quickly power up in the heat of battle and reduce the time needed for charging up the required firepower. Let's see if you can find a way on your own to help your pokemon shorten the duration of using Charge. I had already shown you one way to defeat her. You come up with the rest yourself."
Volkner still has the same lazy look on his face, but in his eyes is the harsh coldness that she only ever sees when he gets serious. He is going out of his way to train her to be stronger, but he is not coddling her.
The hidden message within his words is simple. If you want to get stronger, work for it.
"Uhm, Mr Tide?"
"Yes?"
"We've been walking around the city for two hours now. Is there… a reason for this?"
Volkner merely gave Riley a smirk.
"Why don't you tell me?"
Riley gave some thought to what Volkner had done in the past two hours. All he did was to walk around, greet the people who they met along the way, make small talk with them, introduce him as the new Assistant Gym Leader of Sunyshore to the people. In that case...
"To… endear me to the public?"
"That's only a small part." Volkner said as the two of them continue to stroll down the walkway that connects the east and west side of the city. "When we were at the Sunyshore Market and talking to old man Rob he mentioned that their goods are arriving into the port at a later time than usual. When that happens, it usually means that there is an increase in activity from the pirates. When we spotted John earlier, the technician maintaining the walkway that we chatted with, he said that newer versions of solar panels are out on the market so it's about time we talk to the city mayor if upgrading our walkways is necessary. When we were helping granny Susan to carry her boxes back to her home, we found out from her that her grandson who visited her here by travelling past Route 222 mentioned something about increased wild pokemon activity in the area. That means we should look into asking the League to station more Rangers at Route 222 for the people's protection and look into the reason for the increased activity."
Volkner stopped talking and looked at Riley, obviously waiting for him to fill in the blanks himself.
"You are gathering information." Riley said in realisation.
"Yes, I am." Volkner nodded and they eventually reached the Pokemon Rock, a giant rock formation at the east side of the city whose strange shape resembles a munchlax. "That's still not all. You are the one who will take over my position of Sunyshore's Gym Leader someday, Riley. Tell me, what do you think a Gym Leader really is? What do we really do?"
"We protect our city and the region." Riley answered without hesitation as Volkner gestured for him to sit down on the edge of the tall rocky cliff with him facing the Pokemon Rock. Volkner's electivire and Riley's lucario stood behind them, enjoying the sea breeze and the sight of the vast sea before them.
"Anyone can say that." Volkner shook his head. "I don't want a textbook answer, Riley. I want to hear what you think being a Gym Leader is all about."
Riley opened his mouth, only to close it again as he pondered over Volkner's question. The only thing filling in the silence is the sound of the sea breeze howling and brushing past them.
"Times are different from when I became Sunyshore's Gym Leader and when you will become the next Gym Leader." Volkner broke the silence as he spoke, eyes still looking at the scenery in front of them. "When I was first appointed as the 42nd Gym Leader of Sunyshore it was during chaotic times. Sunyshore was the poorest and most crime-infested city in Sinnoh. Crimes were rampant. People live their lives in fear every single day. Evildoers don't give a shit about law. The city was divided, quite literally. I earned the city's respect because I did what many of my predecessors before me couldn't do. I united the city and got rid of Sunyshore's underworld. But look at Sunyshore now."
Volkner gestured towards their surroundings. People are freely walking about with smiles on their faces through the walkways that connect the entire city. Children are running about and playing with each other without a care in the world. Wild pokemon observe the city from a distance in curiosity. From where he and Volkner are currently sitting, they can see people and wild pokemon interacting with each other in some of the feeding spots that are visible from here.
"It's a different Sunyshore now, Riley." Volkner said with a wistful sigh. "The approach I took will not work for you. You need to start thinking on the approach you will want to take, the type of trainer and Gym Leader you want to be. There is a reason why people call the Champion, Elite Four, and Gym Leaders the Thirteen Pillars, you know? We are literally the pillars supporting and holding the entire region together. If one of us falls, the region will suffer. We are icons. To many people out there, we are their idols and inspiration. People look up to us for strength and support."
Volkner turned his head to look at him.
"You say to be a Gym Leader is to protect the city and the region. It's not wrong, but you have to think a little deeper on the how. How are you going to protect the city and its people? What threats are you going up against? Not every threat to the city is easily visible. How are you going to find out more about the unseen threats lurking around in the city's darkness? There's no way you can find out if you just hole yourself up in the gym all day fighting challengers after challengers."
"But the job of a Gym Leader is to test the next generation of trainers and give out badges to those who earned their recognition, isn't it?"
"Grooming the next generation of trainers is our job, yes, but it is just a small part of it. You need to find out from the people what are the concerns that they face on a daily basis because it is them that you are protecting. You need to be an approachable figure that people will not hesitate to ask for your help if they truly need them. You need to lead the city and foresee the problems it will and might face in the future. It's not easy, Riley. Our job is not to simply give out badges in that small little gym. It's way bigger than that."
The waves continue to lap at the foot of the cliff that they are at.
"Well, if you want to see for yourself just how much children idolise their Gym Leaders, for starters, you can start by indulging the curious kids over there." Volkner gestured to the left with his head and Riley turned to see what had caught his mentor's attention. A bunch of children are doing a poor attempt to hide themselves out of sight behind a large piece of rock and are looking in their direction, staring at their pokemon in awe. Volkner waved them over with a hand, encouraging them to come closer.
"W-We didn't mean to disturb you!" A girl spoke on behalf of the group when the children finally mustered the courage to walk up to them. "W-We just never had the chance to see an electivire and a lucario in person before s-so…"
"Oh, it's fine." Volkner waved it off with a laugh. "Franky enjoys soaking up the attention anyway. Right, Franky?"
Franky struck a pose with a wide grin on his face, making the children look at the electivire in awe.
"Look at all those muscles…"
"When I was very young I once saw on TV how the electivire just destroyed the entire criminal gang in one attack. Like, kaboom!"
"I remember that one. Even the camera didn't manage to properly capture electivire's form. It just went like zoom! Then zing! Kabam! Like, like-"
"A yellow flash!"
"Yeah! It was literally a yellow flash!"
"Hey hey, what about the lucario? It's a lucario!"
"Aren't those supposed to be rare? Like, very rare?"
Riley spotted his mentor giving him the Go Ahead look, so he tries to enter into the conversation.
"Lucarios are indeed rare and they are very strong fighters. Not only that, it has the ability to sense the aura of all things."
That seems to catch the children's attention immediately.
"Aura?"
"Everything and everyone emanates aura. Lucarios can read the thoughts and emotions of people through aura. Nothing can remain invisible to a lucario even if they cannot see them."
"Cool!"
"Like an x-ray vision, right?"
"Does that mean that lucarios can fight blind?"
"Now I want to get a lucario when I am finally old enough to be a trainer! Where can I get one?!"
"Didn't Cynthia have a lucario as well? If even our Champion has one that means the lucario species must be strong, right? Hey big bro, are you aiming to be Champion too?"
"That big bro's name is Riley." Volkner cut in with a lazy drawl. "He is my Assistant Gym Leader."
"Woah! Then he must be strong!" One of the boys said excitedly. "I want to be like you two someday!"
"You will get there with enough hard work and practice. Say, aren't you curious about what Riley's specialisation is?" Volkner asked in a secretive manner, as though he is about to reveal the greatest secret in the universe. It caught the children's attention immediately.
"Electric Specialist like you!"
"Nope. Try again."
"F-Fire! Like Flint!"
"Nope! Not Fire!"
"Wait, what? Almost everybody in Sunyshore wants to be an Electric or Fire Specialist like you and Flint! You two are our city's strongest trainers!"
"Riley is a Generalist." Volkner revealed the answer, earning many shocked gasps from the children because truly skilled Generalists are extremely rare to come across. Riley tried to fight against the embarrassed flush that is threatening to form on his face. He is still not all that used to the attention even if he had been expecting it.
"You mean, like Cynthia?!"
"Uh huh."
"S-So COOL! GENERALIST!"
"Hey big bro Riley! Whose lucario is stronger, yours or Cynthia's?"
"Our city's Assistant Gym Leader is a Generalist! Awesome!"
The two of them continue to spend time answering the children's every query before they leave to play elsewhere. Volkner and him watched as the children ran off into the distance until they were out of sight.
"See that? That's how much people idolise their Gym Leaders. We are the inspiration to the next generation of trainers. You will need to set a good example for the trainers in our region. People will try to emulate you and the type of trainer you are, especially the children, so think hard on the type of trainer you want to be. "
"The type of trainer I want to be." Riley repeated those words as he looked at his right palm and clenched it. For some reason, those words held a lot more weight than he thought possible. It's a question that he never thought about before.
He had been a pokemon trainer for years now, but never had he once thought about the type of trainer that he wants to be, the type of trainer he wants to show the world he is.
"You still have time. Just make sure you have an answer when you finally take over my position." Volkner placed a hand on his shoulder to reassure him. "Come on, let's go back to the gym. There are still things I have to teach you before I go Galactic hunting tomorrow."
The two of them began to slowly walk back to Sunyshore Gym with the sun shining bright overhead. Riley's mind is filled with only one thought at that moment.
What type of trainer do I want to be?
Hopefully, he will arrive at an answer soon.
AN: So yeah, I'm not dead. Here's another chapter for TSoS. Hopefully it won't be long until I match TSoS's timeline with the other pokemon stories and get them all together soon enough.
Doing a little advertising here. Out of curiosity I've recently joined a discord server that mainly caters to writers, a place where writers can all hang out, exchange ideas, look for betas, or simply chill and talk. Of course, readers are welcomed to join as well. If any of you want to find me there on the server I'm generally online on discord most of the time. For those who are interested, I will leave the link to the discord server below.
discord . g g / V54pcwA (remove the spaces)
In any case, hope you enjoy the chapter.
Pokemon and trainer list:
Volkner Tide: Gym Leader of Sunyshore, Electric Specialist
Titles, Accolades and Achievements: Tie for First Place with Flint in the 521st Lily of the Valley Conference, Sinnoh's strongest Electric Specialist, Thirteen Pillar of Sinnoh, The Sun of Sunyshore, The Yellow Flash
Main team:
1. Electivire (Franky), male
2. Luxray (Simba), male
3. Jolteon (Jo), female
4. Magnezone (ISpy), genderless
5. Gallade (Myst), male
6. Rhyperior (Tec), male
7. Probopass (North), female
8. Gyarados (Puddle), male
Pokemon used for Gym challenges
9. Raichu (Squeaky), female
10. Pachirisu (Scrat), male
11. Heliolisk (Bask), male
12. Ampharos (Fluffy), female
13. Vikavolt (Vik), female
14. Eelektross (Whirr), male
15. Lanturn (Glowy), female
Pokemon used for Sunyshore's security
16. Rotom (Prime), genderless
17. Porygon-Z (Jarvis), genderless
Kayla: Sunyshore Head Gym Trainer, Electric Specialist
Titles, Accolades and Achievement: Elite Trainer
Pokemon Team:
1. Manectric (Woofy)
2. Zebstrika (Zap)
3. Galvantula (Spinner)
4. Luxray (Star)
5. Stunfisk (Fin)
6. Alolan Golem (Gronk)