The classmates stopped for lunch at a traditional teahouse. Liam mostly listened as his friends discussed their plans for the gym battle that afternoon. He felt that opening his mouth would somehow lead to him revealing his meeting with Claire, no matter what he thought he was talking about. He knew his classmates wouldn't understand, and he was even unsure about telling Vasilio and Mori—at least until it was all over. Mori, he knew, would try to come with him, or wait until Claire arrived and attack her, whether with her Pokemon or her nails. Vasilio would probably try and dissuade him from meeting Claire at all. Liam knew Vasilio was probably right, but his curiosity was already getting the better of him. He just wanted to know why Claire was in Hempshear Town. Surely that wasn't so wrong?
After trying in vain to distract himself by looking at Mori—and receiving a reproving sneer from her Misdreavus—Liam decided he needed to say something before he exploded.
"So, where's the gym?" he said, trying to sound off-handed and casual.
"You're sitting in it," said Sylvia. "Well, sorta."
"This teahouse used to be the gym," Rain explained. "I don't know where they moved it after the old leader retired. I was hoping there would be a sign or something…"
For the first time, Liam noticed a sign at the far end of the cozy teahouse. "GYM CLOSED." He felt stupid for not noticing it before.
"Yeah, well, 'gym closed' isn't that helpful," said Jonah.
"I'll ask the waitress when she comes back," said Sylvia.
At that moment, they noticed the noise of an approaching motor. It was an unexpected sound—Hempshear Old Town's walking streets were cobbled or paved with stone blocks, and too narrow for cars and trucks to pass. Liam wondered for a panicked moment if the sound was connected to some scheme of Claire's, but his fears were put to rest as a motorcycle turned onto their street and parked in front of the teahouse.
The motorcycle's rider was one of the most unusual people Liam had seen in Nanzo. His hair was long and black, and braided into a ponytail that reached nearly to his waist. He wore a fierce and wiry goatee—also black, but flecked with gray. Yet while his hair and face reminded Liam of some ancient barbarian from the cold regions north of Beizo, his attire told a different story. He wore the leather jacket, chaps, and heavy boots of a Unovan Biker, with his Pokeballs strapped across his chest on a bandolier. As he spotted their group on the teahouse's veranda, he dismounted and approached with a slow, confident stride.
"Someone told me there were foreigners looking for my gym," said the man gruffly. "Would that be you?"
"That's us," said Sylvia pleasantly. "You must be Timur."
The man simply nodded.
"The Hempshear Gym is between the Three Pagodas," said Timur. "Look for the ancient stele. I'll be waiting."
And without another word, he returned to his motorcycle and rode away.
"He can't be from Nanzo, right?" said Liam. "He doesn't look anything like the people around here. Uh… no offense, Sylv."
"None taken," said Sylvia with a toothy grin. "And you're right. He's from Beizo. He moved here during the summer after Team Power took over the other regions. Now come on, let's get going. We shouldn't keep the gym leader waiting."
The Three Pagodas were a ten minute's walk from the north gate of Hempshear Old Town, but they were easy to find once they knew what they were looking for. The pagodas were cream in color, and comparable in height to Tin Tower back in Johto. They were arranged in a triangle, with the tallest pagoda to the east and the two smaller towers to the north and south end of an elevated park compound with green ponds and a small temple honoring the Dragon-type Pokemon that once lived in Hempshear—at least according to legend. The park reminded Liam of the one surrounding the pagoda that gave Jadetower City its name, where he had battled Fei last spring. Between Fei, Ashima, and now Timur, it was clear the gym leaders of Nanzo favored open-air gyms. It was the "Region of Eternal Spring," after all.
They found Timur leaning against his motorcycle, which was parked in front of a large stone stele—perhaps as tall as a Tyranitar. It bore an inscription in some ancient language Liam couldn't read. Timur himself was playing a bowed instrument with a long, wooden neck ending in a carved Rapidash's head. It made a low, droning, melancholy sound, quite different from that of the erhus that locals played back in Everspring.
They stood and listened for a long time. Liam quickly lost himself in the rhythmic scraping of the bow across the rough strings. His anxiety—about Chelsea, about facing the gym, about Claire—all left him, and his thoughts wandered to some faraway northern plain, where a thousand Rapidash and their riders thundered across an open and desolate land. Suddenly, Timur stopped, set down his fiddle and bow, and stood up.
"This stele memorializes a time long ago when my people—the great Pokemon riders from the northern steppe—brought all of the Four Regions under our rule. Hempshear Town was then a great city—the capital of an empire. My people made it low, in the name of the Great Khan."
Timur smiled. It transformed his face from the hardened visage of a biker to a kind uncle, delighted by the sight of some young people who were polite enough to listen to his stories. Liam and the others couldn't help but smile too.
"Now," said Timur. "Who will begin?"
"I will," said Liam.
"Ooh, go Liam," said Sylvia.
Liam gave a sheepish shrug. It wasn't that he was feeling confident—he just wanted to get this battle over with, however it ended. Timur patted him firmly on the shoulder.
"We will have a double battle," Timur explained as Liam followed him to the tournament field at the center of the Three Pagodas. "Four against four."
"Sounds good," said Liam.
It didn't sound good. Liam had almost no experience with double battles outside of Battle Class, and facing two Steel-type Pokemon at once sounded just as bad as facing one, if not worse.
"Now," said Timur, his voice suddenly gruff and coarse again. "You will face the Steel Rider of the North, descendant of the Great Khan himself. Behold!"
He took two Pokeballs from his bandolier and held them up to his mouth. At first, Liam thought he was breathing on them, but the sound coming from Timur's mouth wasn't breath—it was a deep, resonant drone, like the music of his fiddle, accompanied by a high, wispy, wavering note, like someone whistling through their teeth. Timur was singing to his Pokemon. Just as Liam found himself mesmerized once again by the droning melody, Timur released his Pokemon from their Pokeballs with a snap of his wrist.
"To battle!" he cried.
Liam was a little relieved when he saw the two Pokemon Timur had chosen—Bronzong and Scizor. Bronzong's Psychic typing made it vulnerable to Liam's more experienced Dark-type Pokemon, while Scizor—despite its attack power and speed—wouldn't stand a chance against his Houndour.
"Alright," said Liam, trying to sound confident. "Murkrow, Houndour, let's go!"
Murkrow squawked and took to the sky while Houndour crouched low and snarled at the opposing Pokemon.
"Scizor, U-Turn!" said Timur. "Bronzong, use Reflect!"
This hadn't been what Liam expected. For a grizzled and motorcycle-riding northern barbarian, Timur was a surprisingly defensive battler.
"Murkrow, Foul Play! Houndour, Fire Fang! Take out that Bronzong!"
After taking a heavy-hitting U-Turn from Scizor, Liam's Murkrow cloaked itself in a purplish shadow and dived at Bronzong, while Houndour lunged forward with a mouth full of burning teeth. Only the Reflect saved Bronzong from fainting. Nonetheless, Liam had a sneaking suspicion that he had just been played.
Timur's Scizor was replaced on the field by Skarmory. Liam was wary; he knew from Professor Werner that Skarmory was a versatile and dangerous Pokemon.
"Skarmory, Stealth Rock," growled Timur. "Bronzong: Explosion."
"Oh, crap, you're—."
BOOM.
The ground shook, and the sound of the blast echoed off the Three Pagodas. As the smoke and dust cleared, Liam saw that both of his Pokemon lay fainted on the field. Timur's Skarmory was almost unscathed.
Liam was beginning to panic.
"Uh," he said. "Sneasel, Espeon, go!"
It wasn't an ideal choice. It was hardly a choice—Liam had just sent out the first Pokemon that popped into his head. Still, he wasn't ready to give up. Not yet.
Liam's Pokemon winced as the floating shards left by Stealth Rock scraped and jabbed them. Sneasel in particular twitched with pain and discomfort, but it still slunk low, ready to continue the fight.
"Aggron, said Timur. "Go!"
The massive, iron-plated Pokemon shook the ground as it emerged from its Pokeball.
"Espeon, Helping Hand!" said Liam. "Sneasel, Ice Punch on Skarmory."
It was all he could think to do. Espeon was functionally useless against either opposing Pokemon—it lacked the type-effectiveness to make a dent against the heavily-armored Steel Pokemon. Even Sneasel could only deal neutral damage. Liam wasn't trying to win at this point. He was trying to survive, and hope for a lucky break.
"Aggron, Substitute," said Timur.
The Pokemon sprang backwards and out of range, leaving behind a fluffy Substitute doll in its place. Lima blinked. Timur's defensive battling style continued to surprise him.
"Skarmory," said Timur. "Roost."
That was it. Timur had trapped him. All that was left was the finishing move.
"Sneasel, get Skarmory with Ice Punch. Espeon, take out that sub with Psybeam."
Liam's heart wasn't in the commands. He knew it was over.
"Aggron," said Timur, closing his eyes. "Earthquake. Skarmory, use Brave Bird on Sneasel."
Liam braced himself as Timur's Aggron pounded the battlefield with its heavy tail. Espeon went tumbling into the nearby grass. Sneasel held on—just barely—before taking a Brave Bird from Skarmory.
They had lost.
Liam watched in silence as Vasilio, Stephanie, Ruth, Sylvia, Jonah, and even Mori each battled and defeated Timur. The contest between Ruth's Mega Blaziken and Timur's Mega Aggron would have been thrilling if Liam hadn't been so depressed. He had finally blown it. All those years of being a lazy trainer had finally caught up to him.
Stephanie had taken care of his fainted Pokemon, reviving them with her homemade medicine and soothing words. It amazed Liam that someone could be so talented as a Pokemon apothecary and so dangerous in battle. Stephanie's Lucario had thrashed its way through Timur's defenses, overcoming them with such a vicious all-out assault that Liam privately vowed he would never crack a joke about Kalosians and "surrendering" even again. She had glanced sympathetically at him once or twice, but otherwise, she held her tongue. Liam was grateful for that.
"You wanna try again?" asked Vasilio.
Liam shook his head.
"It won't make a difference. Let's go."