Chapter 38:

Beartic in the Big Blue Gym

Location: Icirrus City

Despite the blanket of white layering Icirrus City, a bunch of people were dancing around in a circle happily. Now being the good guy that I am, I stood in front of the dancers, blocking their way. I stepped back out and they were completely out of whack, it was hilarious. The funny thing is they didn't seem to complain.

"Going to take on the Gym today?" Cheren asked.

I nodded. "You bet. I need to catch up with you, don't I? What are you going to do? Are you heading to Opelucid today?"

Cheren shook his head. "Like I said, I'm going to do some training at Dragonspiral Tower. Axew is close to evolving so I want to get it there before I continue."

We wished each other luck and we went our separate ways.


Location: Icirrus City Gym

Well, at least at this Gym I wasn't fired out of a cannon. No no no. You had to slide on ice. Over what looked like a bottomless pit. The kicker? No railings! If health inspectors took their job seriously, they would have closed this Gym a long time ago. Well, actually if they took their job seriously then I think most of the Gyms in Unova would close.

"Yo, champ in the making!" said the Gym guide. "Welcome to the Icirrus City Gym, where our Gym Leader Brycen uses Ice Types!"

Wait, did he mean? "You mean, THE Brycen? The one who got bored of acting and became a Gym Leader?"

The Gym guide nodded. "That one. To get through him, try using Fire, Fighting, Steel or Rock Types. But Grass, Flying and Ground will be frozen over. This Gym is snow joke!"

(I couldn't even begin to imagine how long he had been waiting to say that).

The first part of the Gym wasn't too bad. There were curvy wooden bits where you slide around them to get to the next destination. You press buttons to change the position of the wooden bits to progress. When I stepped on the ice, I went forward and use the wooden bit to swerve around to an iceless platform. I then slide over to a rocky part where a Black Belt was waiting for me.

"*Sniff.* I'm fine with the cold. Don't *snort* worry about me."


Hilbert Vs. Black Belt Grant

"I choose Scraggy!" I commanded.

"Cubchoo, *sniff* go!" Grant replied. Upon coming out, Scraggy jumped over to Cubchoo and bit it. Cubchoo's Defense fell. Scraggy had learned Crunch!

"Okay Cubchoo, Brine!" Cubchoo fired salty water at Scraggy. The water hit its face and it slipped on the ice.

"Brick Break Scraggy!" Scraggy skated over to Cubchoo and chopped it. That was the final blow.

"Okay Cryogonal, *snort* come on out!" Out came a large snowflake-like Pokémon with orbs coming out its mouth.


Cryogonal (フリージオ)

121

Ice Type

Crystallizing Pokémon

3'07" (1.1 m)

326.3 lbs (148 kg)

When its body temperature goes up, it turns to steam and vanishes. When the temperature lowers, it returns to Ice.

Cryogonal has no known evolutions.


"Cryogonal, Ice *sniff* Beam!" Cryogonal shot a beam of ice at Scraggy. Scraggy was frozen upon impact. "*Snort* Another one!" Cryogonal fired another beam of ice at Scraggy.

"That's enough!" I shouted. "Excadrill, go!" I yelled as it took another two Ice Beams itself. "Rock Slide!" Excadrill made rocks fall from the ceiling. Cryogonal was shattered.

"Thanks *snort* for that. Okay, I'm going to take a hot bath!"


With that Trainer out the way, I was able to push the button that turns the wood round. I then stepped on the ice and it curved me round to the steps that would take me up to the next part. At the top of the stairs was a straight thing of ice with a hole in the middle that you need to jump over.

"Come on!" I yelled, my voice echoing below. I slid along and a slight slope at the end jumped me over to the next section.

I was panting at this point. In all seriousness, testing your skills as a Trainer is one thing. But risking their lives is going a bit far.

Anyway, the puzzle at the next part was bigger. So, I slid over to the wooden thingy and swerved round to an iceless part with a Battle Girl encounter.

"Oh yeah! My feet are cold, but my spirit is burning!"


Hilbert Vs. Battle Girl Mikiko

"Simisear, come out!" I shouted.

"I choose Cubchoo!" Mikiko replied.

"Fire Blast!" Simisear fired a pillar of flames at Cubchoo, but it missed.

"Brine!" Cubchoo fired salty water at Simisear, which did about half damage.

"Fire Blast again!" Simisear fired one more. This time it was a direct hit on Cubchoo, knocking it out.

"Vanillish, come out!" This was Vanillite's evolved form. It had essentially an icicle underneath it and small icy hands.


Vanillish (バニリッチ)

089

Ice Type

Icy Snow Pokémon

3'07" (1.1 m)

90.4 lbs (1.1 m)

It conceals itself from enemy eyes by creating many small ice particles and hiding among them.

Vanillite -Lv 35- Vanillish


"Flame Burst Simisear!" Simisear fired its exploding flame into Vanillish's giant face. It was a Super Effective hit.

"Use Ice Beam!" Vanillish fired the cold beam at Simisear. Unsurprisingly, it didn't do much.

"One more Flame Burst!" It fired one more, and Vanillish was down.

"Okay I know you're not suppose to wear socks or shoes during martial arts, but why can't they make an exception here?"


I've gone on about how this Gym works so I'll keep it brief. Slip around, push some buttons, battle some Trainers, hop across a ledge, have your life flash before your eyes and reach the Gym Leader.

Yep, Brycen was the Gym Leader. He was quite the movie star, particularly before I was born. Behind him in an ice-covered gap were his multiple Accelgor, Golden Pokéball and Daytime Emolga awards. Whilst they were behind an ice casing, I could tell they hadn't had much attention in years.

"Welcome to my Gym. No, I don't do autographs. Those days of mine are through. I'm hiding out here from the fans, which just got too much for me. In all my acclaim, I didn't think much of my partners. I wanted to change that, and I will show you the progress I made!"


Hilbert Vs. Gym Leader Brycen

"Vanillish, go!" Brycen shouted.

"I choose Gothorita!" I replied. Gothorita suddenly started floating. Then, Vanillish was thrown against the wall. "Hey, that moves Psychic! Alright Gothorita!"

"Vanillish, Flash Cannon!" Vanillish fired a white beam at Gothorita. It was a direct hit.

"Use another Psychic!" Whilst it didn't quite take Vanillish down to the red, I knew that one more hit would do it.

"Frost Breath!" Vanilluxe opened its mouth and breathed cold air onto Gothorita. It was a Critical Hit and took it down.

"Out of all the times for a Crit!" I yelled.

"Oh, but that's because Frost Breath is always a Critical Hit!" Brycen replied.

It was just one Pokémon anyway, and four of my other members had the advantage anyway. "Simisear, go!" I shouted. "Flame Burst!" Simisear fired a flame at Vanillish. Upon contact, it exploded. Vanillish fell to the floor and fainted.

"Cryogonal, go!" Brycen yelled. "Start with Light Screen!" Cryogonal made a screen appear in front of it.

"Fire Blast Simisear!" Simisear fired a deluge of flames at Crygonal, but it didn't even do half. Deciding enough was enough, I would switch my strategy to Physical moves. "Come back Simisear! Go Excadrill!"

"Use Ice Beam!" Cryogonal fired a pillar of ice at Excadrill. Because of the switch out, Cryogonal got in another move.

"Use Rock Slide!" Excadrill made rocks tumble from above, knocking out Cryogonal.

"We are on the final act of the film. Beartic, come out!" The final Pokémon. A large woolly Ice Type with sharp claws, a bear of ice and sharp teeth.


Beartic (ツンベアー)

120

Ice type

Freezing Pokémon

8'06" (2.6 m)

573.2 lbs (260 kg)

It freezes its breath to create fangs and claws of ice to fight with. Cold northern areas are its habitat.

Cubchoo -Lv 37- Beartic


"Excadrill, keep it up! Rock Slide!" Excadrill made rocks fall, but it missed.

"Beartic, use Icicle Crash!" Beartic made icicles fall from the ceiling. They fell on Excadrill and finished it off.

"Litwick, you're up next!" I yelled.

"Use Dive Beartic!" Beartic made a pool of water appear before it, and jumped in. It dodged Litwick's Will-O-Wisp. Then, it came up again and punched Litwick, knocking it out instantly.

"Scraggy, come out!" I shouted.

"Beartic, Icicle Crash!" Beartic once again made icicles fall from the ceiling. Scraggy was hurt.

"High Jump Kick!" Scraggy skated over and kicked Beartic in the face. It was knocked down at once. It fainted.


"We did it!" I said, dancing on the spot. "Oh yeah! Oh yeah! I'm on par with Cheren! Woo hoo!"

Brycen smiled. "Thank you for the battle Hilbert. It is my honour to bestow upon you the Icicle Badge." He handed it to me, and I put it away in my Badge Case. "On top of this, Pokémon up to Lv. 80 will obey your commands. Finally, I must give you TM79, which contains the move Frost Breath. As I said, it's a move that always lands as a Critical Hit, unless of course the opposition has used a move like Lucky Chant or has an Ability like Shell Armor. Well, it seems like that isn't the end of it."

Wondering what he meant, I looked at Scraggy, or should I say the last few seconds of it; Scraggy was evolving! Slowly the glowing died down revealing an orange Pokémon with even bigger baggy pants and a red crest on its head.


Scrafty (ズルズキン)

066

Dark/Fighting Type

Hoodlum Pokémon

3'07" (1.1 m)

66.1 lbs (30 kg)

Groups of them beat up anything that enters their territory. Each can spit acidic liquid from its mouth.*

Scraggy -Lv 39- Scrafty

*This is not referring to the moves Acid, Acid Spray or Gastro Acid. Scrafty can't learn these moves.


"Alright!" I hugged Scrafty, and Scrafty did the same back. I then put my arm over it. "Me and the gang are getting stronger! We can take on anything!"

But then I saw the way out. It was a large section of ice, once again with no barriers.

Okay maybe not everything.


Location: Icirrus City

Bianca had arrived shortly after I came out of the Gym. I wanted to do the usual routine where I showed her my Badge. Guess what she said?

"So shiny!"

We both laughed. "Say, I wonder where Cheren got to? He was training at Dragonspiral Tower. He's been there all day."

As I said this, Bianca pointed. "Look!"

Cheren was slowly walking out. His glasses were bent, and he was covered in cuts and bruises.

"What happened?" I shouted as we ran over to him.

"Team Plasma," he silently replied. "Team Plasma are at the Tower. And N. Something is going on up there..."


Well, this was a surprising turn of events. Could N be… summoning Reshiram? Well Cheren needed to heal up. I had booked Bianca in for Brycen tomorrow, so she wouldn't come up. She did promise she would see us off though. This is about to get very interesting.