Chapter 10:
It's going down, I'm Fighting Timburr
Location: Nacrene City
With a team of five, I felt like taking on the Nacrene City Gym would be a piece of cake.
Now, yesterday I talked about there only being warehouses (one of them has been worked into a café), the Center and a Museum in Nacrene City. So where is the Gym? Why, in the Museum of course!
The Museum was a large stone structure with green rooves and a stone Gym logo in a pedestal outside. I really wasn't too surprised that the Gym was here; Striaton City's was in a restaurant, a Museum seemed like a logical place to have it. You know, as long as you don't knock over the exhibits.
I was about to walk in, when emerging from the Museum came the familiar green hair and white shirt I had only knew once, but knew I was going to see again.
"Huh?" N said, noticing me.
"N, nice to see you" I said nervously, but happily. I knew little about him, but that's not a reason to not be friendly.
N looked to the sky, the fluffy white clouds swimming like ocean liners. "Still on your journey I see" he said.
"Yep!" I said, as I sent out everyone. "See? I have 4 additional friends now. And Oshawott? You know, the one you battled in Accumula Town? It's evolved into Dewott!"
N walked up to Dewott. "Fascinating" he said, stroking its blue fur. "Dewott feels even more ambitious than back in Accumula Town. As if it could take on the world." N adjusted his cap. "Hilbert. I'd like to request another battle. I feel we have both come far as Trainers in the week since we've seen each other, and I'd like to test our skills."
That was something I was up for.
"Now you're talking!" I said.
Hilbert Vs. N
"I choose Pidove!" I shouted.
"Timburr, you're up!" N shouted. He sent out a grey Pokémon with red veins popping out everyone. It was noticeably holding a piece of lumber under its right arm.
Timburr (ドッコラー)
038
Fighting Type
Muscular Pokémon
2'00" (0.6 m)
27.6 lbs (12.5 kg)
It fights by swinging a piece of lumber around. It is close to evolving when it can handle the lumber without difficulty.
"Okay Pidove, Start with Gust!" Puidove stirred up wind. Being a Fighting Type, Timburr was blown back for quite a bit.
"Timburr, Low Kick!" Timburr went up to Pidove and kicked it, tripping it up. It didn't do much though. That's because Low Kick does more damage based on the difference in weight between both Pokémon. It's like Grass Knot in a way.
"Pidove, another Gust!" Pidove created another wind. Timburr was almost finished.
"Tmburr, Leer!" N shouted. Timburr stared down Pidove, lowering Defense.
"Quick Attack!" I yelled, as Pidove dashed into Timburr. That was the finishing blow.
"My friend!" N yelled recalling Timburr. "Okay. Pidove, come out and use Quick Attack!" N's Pidove dashed into my Pidove for stronger damage. Plus it was a Critical Hit.
"Pidove, use Leer!" I said. Might as well use that strategy to.
"Quick Attack!" N finished my Pidove with one blow.
"Don't worry Pidove, we'll see how Drilbur fares!" Out came my Ground Type. This might be a weird choice because Flying Types aren't affected by Ground Types, but I had other moves to.
"Pidove, Gust!" Pidove tried to blow Drilbur away, but Drilbur stood its ground.
"Okay Drilbur, give it a dose of your Scratch!" Instead, Drilbur's claw turned grey. "Wait, Drilbur. What's going on?" Drilbur then scratched Pidove. Pidove was hanging on. "Alright Drilbur, you learned Metal Claw! That will come in handy!"
"Pidove, Quick Attack!" Pidove dashed into Drilbur, but we had this down packed.
"Now use Rapid Spin!" Drilbur span into Pidove, knocking it out.
"No!" N shouted. "Don't worry my friend, I feel that you did brilliantly. But let's see how my final friend, Tympole, handles this!"
N sent out a cream and black Pokémon with no arms. It just flopped on the ground, using its thin blue tail as support.
Tympole (オタマロ)
041
Water Type
Tadpole Pokémon
1'08" (0.5 m)
9.9 lbs (4.5 kg)
By vibrating its cheeks, it emits sound waves imperceptible to humans. It uses the rhythm of these sounds to talk.
"Can't have you taking on a Water Type Drilbur" I said, as I switched it out for Audino.
"Tympole, BubbleBeam!" Tympole shot bubbles at Audino.
"Come back with DoubleSlap Audino!" Audino slapped Tympole four times. I told Audino to keep it up.
"Tympole, another BubbleBeam!" Another round of bubbles, this one being a Crit, and Audino was trying its best to hang on.
"Another DoubleSlap!" This one only hit three times.
"BubbleBeam one more time!" Tympole shot one more round at Audino, finishing the job.
"We almost have this. Dewott, go!" I shouted. "Use Tackle!" Dewott charged into Tympole. It flew into N's arms, fainting on impact.
"So, I lost" N said. He put Tympole back in its ball. "Thank you Tympole my friend."
"Thanks for the battle!" I said, holding out my hand. Instead, N walked passed me. Like before, this didn't come off as rude per say. Honestly I had no idea how it came off.
"Our paths will cross again" N told me. Before heading off however, he had one more question. "Hilbert, I must ask. Do you see yourself as a hero? One who seeks for an ideal world."
That was something I hadn't thought about for a minute. The best answer I could come up with was this.
"Well… I've stopped Team Plasma twice!"
"Ah yes" N said. "To my knowledge, that was in the Dreamyard and Wellspring Cave."
"That's righ- Wait. How do you know all that?"
N simply turned his back to me. "I wanted to ask you one question. That doesn't mean you can serenade me with multiple. I'll tell you all that you need to know… when we next meet. I promise."
Those were his final words before he walked off, though he visibly crossed his heart promising me info next time we meet. I knew for a fact that there was no point in asking more.
"Excuse me." Someone else came out of the Museum. He wore half glasses and had a grey jacket with a green shirt underneath. "That was some battle you had out there."
"Are you the Gym Leader?" I asked.
"No, that's my wife. I'm Hawes, the curator of the Nacrene Museum and Gym. I'm sad to say that Lenora is in Castelia City right now seeing a friend. She'll be back by tomorrow."
Honestly after that battle, I wasn't sure if I could do another one today. Especially with N's question on my mind.
"It's fine, really" I said.
"Thanks for understanding. Say, would you like a tour around the Museum? It's free to enter!"
Nacrene Museum wasn't anything super big. It was two rooms, one for exhibits and one for books, which is also where the Gym's puzzle is situated. That's what the sign said.
The first exhibit was a giant skeleton of what looked like a Dragon Type Pokémon. It stood upright and had two large wings.
"This is the pride and joy of our Museum, believed to be a Dragon Type from the Kanto region. It is believed to have crash landed and then fossilized. Come, there is much more to see."
The next exhibit he took me to was a giant rock with a plated-clawed Pokémon in it.
"This is the fossilization of a prehistoric Pokémon that was found in Hoenn. Allow me."
Armaldo (アーマルド)
348 (Not in Unova Pokédex)
Rock/Bug Type
Plate Pokémon
4'11" (1.5 m)
150.4 lbs (68.2 kg)
It went ashore after evolving. Its entire body is clad in sturdy armor.
Anorith -Lv 40- Armaldo
Revived from a Claw Fossil.
The next exhibit was right next to the Armaldo Fossil; it was a piece of rock.
"This is a meteorite that crashed into Earth 200 years ago. We believe it may be linked to the Mythical Pokémon that crash landed in the Hoenn region from space." Hawes looked at the time on the Museum clock. "Oh dear. I'm so sorry Hilbert, but I have to cut this tour short. Lenora will be home in an hour, I need to get everything ready."
There was one more exhibit next to us though. It was a stone, one that was round and black.
"What's this?" I asked.
"Oh, that? That's just a nice stone that our archaeologists found in the Desert Resort just off of Route 4. We don't know anything about it, but it looked nice so we put it on display. Not sure if we're going to analyse it or not, but it's unlikely. Well, good luck for tomorrow!"
As he walked away, the Xtransciever went off. Bianca's face popped up on the screen, much clearer due to the C-Gear addition.
"Hilbert, I've arrived in Nacrene City. I've just healed so do you maybe want to grab a coffee at the café? Cheren is with me to."
Later that day, I sat down on the outside table with my two friends. Everyone was chatting around us, mainly about business and work. A man was playing a tune on the accordion as the waiter bought us all our drinks. This seemed like the perfect place to go to after a long day at work or as a pitstop on your journey. Me and Bianca had a black coffee whilst Cheren had a cappuccino.
"That's awfully strong" I told Cheren.
"I need to be if I'm going to take on the Gym Leader!" he replied, oblivious to the fact that I was talking about his drink, not his teammates. "You know, she uses Normal Types. Now, Normal Types are only weak to-"
"Fighting Types we know" I replied in unison with Bianca. In all seriousness, a Fighting Type would be a good idea. I didn't have any on me.
"Which is why tomorrow I'm gonna catch a Pokémon outside Pinwheel Forest." He looked at the other path leading out of the City. The path had a forest growing on it from either side. "There are marshlands there where people go to train. I better take advantage of it."
"Yeah, sure" I said quietly.
"Alright something's up!" Bianca said. She knows us better than me and Cheren know us all combined. When either of us are not ourselves, she knows it. "What's with the quiet stuff? I know you didn't get to have your Gym battle today, but you can do it tomorrow!"
I shook my head. "It's not that at all. I ran into N again."
Cheren stopped sipping his drink. Bianca didn't even know what's going on. "In short, he's such a mysterious dude. I'm not sure whether I like him or not. I don't hate him obviously, but that guy has so many layers to him that it's hard for me to form an opinion."
Cheren's description summed up my thoughts near perfectly.
"I'd say more, but I'm not sure what else TO say."
Both of them understood, even if Bianca was still confused. The bill came along and we all paid.
"Well, we should get an early night" Bianca told us. "We have training and battling to do tomorrow."
Might as well sleep on it then.
This was an interesting day. Didn't get my Gym match today, but I did but I did take on N once again. However, I just came back with more questions than answers. I'm not surprised by that whatsoever, knowing N. Or more like, the little I know of him.
