A young man in a miner's jumpsuit sat on his throne and clasped his hands under his nose.
"Bring it on."
A Mid-Sinnoh Night's Dream - III - Pierce the Stone Edge With Your Drill!
After sufficiently stocking up on Pokeballs, potions, and whatever else they might need (Escape Ropes, at Dawn's suggestion), they headed down the trail for Mt. Coronet. They hoped to get through the region-dividing mountain in one day because luckily, the well-worn trail to Oreburgh was also the shortest.
As long as they didn't get lost, of course. Turtwig was at a disadvantage from all the Zubats that were hanging from the ceiling, so she hid in Dawn's bag.
Because of the sheer density of Geodudes, though, Barry decided to get some training in. Piplup, suffice to say, was going to decimate the next gym, if all the leader used were Rock and Ground-types.
Chimchar did well against the common Zubats, practicing Ember. He was more skilled with physical attacks, but he had trouble getting in range. Lucas kept talking about something called 'STAB' whenever he explained his methods.
Hilbert knew that using moves with the same typing was more powerful, but he didn't think it was terribly important.
There was apparently a settlement a while north, Alamos town, something or other, but seeing it didn't have a gym, Dawn was okay with going there afterward.
By the time they actually got out of the cave, Lucas had captured a Zubat, a Geodude, and just barely, an Onix.
Hilbert's thoughts on catching Pokemon were a little different.
"See, I know I should catch a ton of Pokemon, but… It'd be weird, you know? I can't treat all of them the same way I do Golett, so it would be a little unfair of me to make them feel underappreciated."
"Do you actually think that, or is raising them too much work?"
"Yes."
They emerged on an outdoor part of the mountain. It was a bit higher than where they entered, and looking around, they saw they had the same distance to go either way. They settled down to camp for the night.
Lucas was training Chimchar relentlessly, and the Fire-type went along with it, just as excited to get stronger.
Piplup had been doing the same thing, but when he got tired, hopped in Barry's bag and napped for the rest of the journey.
"Are you sure you ought to work him so hard?" Asked Hilbert, concerned. "He keeps getting pelted by rocks, doesn't that hurt?"
"He's trying to learn Mach Punch early," said Lucas, simply. "I told him about what Monferno's can do."
"Ah. So he's doing this on his own?"
"I think I'm the one holding him back, at this point. If he uses Pound enough times, then he'll get strong enough for a Mach Punch. So, he's practicing on Geodudes." As Lucas said that, another of the rocky Pokemon fell unconscious.
They emerged from the light at the end of the tunnel. Oreburgh was a bustling mining town, coal dust settled over the ground like a light snow. After quickly checking in at the Pokemon Center, they went to check out the gym. It was attached to the museum and built out of what looked like polished rocks and steel beams.
There was a sign on the door.
"Can't take challengers right now, checking out a Tyranitar for the professor."
"Are you kidding me?" Barry turned to Hilbert. "This is your fault, you know."
"How is it my fault?"
"You should have just taken the dragons with you."
"And curbstomp every gym without competition?"
"Yes! Well, maybe a little competition."
They split up to ask around, maybe find out when Roark would be back. Barry wandered off northward, having heard that there was a pond, and had really wanted to teach Piplup some new moves. Lucas investigated the museum, while Dawn went looking with Hilbert.
He heard they were allowed to train down in the mine, so the two of them (plus their Pokemon) headed on down for some power-grinding.
There were a lot of Machops. Like, a lot a lot. It was incredibly fortunate that Golett was a Ghost-type, and had his pick of methods to take the waves of Fighting-types down.
It was uncannily like the opening of that one show… The guy in a mustard suit and a cape punching things really hard? Shadow Punch did something a lot like that. One refused to go down, and citing a little encouragement from Dawn, he caught it. He wouldn't consider it his first catch, but… Golett didn't really count. So, Machop came with them.
"Oh, you have a Machop!" A woman ran up to him as he walked past, letting Machop get some fresh air.
Hilbert looked at her weirdly, looked at everyone else in town who had a Machop, which was most of them, then looked back at her.
"...Yes?"
"Wait, um, I have an Abra! Would you like to trade?"
Hilbert considered the question, before turning to his first catch. He kneeled next to the Fighting-type and pointed from him to the woman. The biped shrugged, and walked over to her. The woman handed him a Pokeball and walked off with her new Pokemon beside her, both waving.
After she walked off, Hilbert let it out of its ball.
"For Arceus's sake, let me sleep, woman!- Wait, you're not her. Thank Arceus, did she finally get rid of me?"
"Yes- Wait, you're talking in my head."
"It's a downside of being telepathic. Especially around Hilary, her thoughts are just so loud. How desperate was she?"
"Excuse me?"
"What did she trade me for, a Roselia?"
"Machop, actually."
"A Machop."
"Yep."
"In Oreburgh."
"Mhm."
"Where Machops are the most common Pokemon?"
"Sounds about right."
"Sounds like I did a good job annoying her."
"...What exactly did you do?"
"Like I said, her thoughts are loud. I made her start hearing everyone else's, to maybe get her to take a hint."
"Great. My second Pokemon is a sociopath."
"It's a common theme with psychics, I'd get used to it. Can I go back to sleep?"
Dawn watched the conversation, and not being able to hear the mental interplay, stifled a giggle at Hilbert's responses.
The next day, they met back up at the Pokemon Center. Barry had picked up a fishing rod at some point, while Lucas had caught a few more Pokemon, and said Chimchar was getting faster.
Roark was back at the gym, and greeted them when they entered.
"Hello, challengers. All not competing, please go ahead to the stadium's seating."
Dawn nodded, and climbed some stairs to the upper walkways.
"This gym's challenge is to measure your maneuverability on rocky terrain. Being able to scale Mt. Coronet is a sure sign of a trainer's strength, as well as their Pokemons'. As such, you will be required to do this challenge with at least one competing Pokemon outside of their Pokeball." He gestured to the big pile of rocks and rubble in between them and the far wall of the building. A huge dinosaur-like Pokemon appeared outside of its ball. "Rampardos, please use Stone Edge."
The rocks rumbled and scattered gravel as the terrain shifted, old paths disappearing and new paths opening up.
"I'd ask you to take it one at a time. I believe all of you only have one gym badge?" Roark asked, looking at the three new trainers. "Right. Kid with the Golett, you go last."
"Huh?"
"Do as I say. Blond with the Piplup, go ahead. Everyone else, proceed to the stadium."
Lucas handed him and Dawn some freshwaters as he sat down next to him in the stands. Barry's challenge had started ten minutes ago, and he was slowly getting over the last hurdle. Piplup was precariously standing on his head, balancing and directing him with his flippers.
Hilbert imagined it hurt when Barry fell flat on his face. Not that that would stop the boy, as he jumped straight back up, rubbed his nose, and took up a heroic pose, pointing at the ceiling.
"It's spreading…" Muttered Lucas, glancing at him and Golett.
Roark clapped briefly. "Good job. Not terribly slow, though the spirit of the challenge is to work alongside your Pokemon rather than completely depending on them, and vice verse."
"I tried to tell him that, but his legs are too short!" He whined, throwing the Water-type off his head and towards the arena.
"Alright then, let's get started! Geodude!" The rock-like Rock-type appeared in a bolt of light.
"Piplup, Withdraw!"
A globe of water surged around the penguin's body, before solidifying like a second-skin.
"Boosting your defense? That's a nice try. Stealth Rock, Geodude!"
Geodude spun, spitting rocks into the air, setting floating hazards in the air around them.
Piplup looked between all of the rocks, careful to not walk into them.
"Keep your distance, use Bubble until it falls over!"
The Geodude could dodge, sure, but after the fourth stream of water, he slipped up and took the beam straight to his body, getting sprayed into the wall and falling over unconscious.
"Next Pokemon!"
Piplup was quickly switched out for…
A Starly.
"Damn it, Barry…" Hilbert and Lucas pinched the bridge of their noses simultaneously, though only the former said anything.
"Onix!"
That went as well as you would think it would. Barry recalled the Flying-type from under a pile of rocks.
"Last Pokemon, challenger! This is the deciding round!" There were scattered cheers from the stand. Hilbert was making a show of whooping and also calling him an idiot for bringing a bird to a rock fight.
"Machop!"
"Cranidos!"
The Fighting-type took up a pose, holding out his hands ready to chop, as you may guess.
The smaller dinosaur scratched its claws against the ground.
"Headbutt!" Cranidos charged straight forwards.
"Use Low Kick!"
Now, Barry may not have been the smartest guy, but he must have known something about gravity, as the point of Low Kick was that it did more damage the heavier its target was. Hence, Low Kick did more damage than Karate Chop would have.
It was a strange form though, as the Machop simply jumped aside at the last moment and left his leg sticking out to trip up the dinosaur.
"Now, Karate Chop!"
The combined super-effective attacks were too much for the Rock-type, and it was knocked out with its skull half stuck into the ground.
"Congratulations. Coal badge is yours, pick it up at the counter when you leave." Roark nodded and watched Barry leave. "Kid with the Chimchar, you're up next! Start whenever you're ready."
Lucas had a little less trouble with getting over the obstacles. Chimchar actually climbed over them himself, having opposable thumbs and all, so they made it in little less time.
"You know the drill, if you were paying attention. Geodude!"
"Just checking, do you use the same order of Pokemon for all of your battles?"
"The league has a thing for dramatics, they like it when you use your most powerful Pokemon last."
"Alright then. Geodude!"
From there, it quickly became a battle of endurance. They whittled down each other's health until they were both about to faint.
"Geodude," Lucas said, calmly. "Self-destruct."
"You taught a Geodude how to-"
Roark was cut off by the explosion of rocks.
"That could have gone either way. So, I put it to a draw, to increase my odds."
"...You do realize this means you have to win the next two matches, right?"
"Nope. League rules certify that if it comes to a draw at the end, the win goes to the challenger. For gym battles, at least. Probably doesn't work that way for the conferences-"
"Whatever, kid. Send out your next Pokemon." Roark looked frustrated by the fact he'd probably have to give up a gym badge because of a technicality. "Onix!"
"I noticed that your Cranidos didn't use any Rock-type moves. Now, I'm not willing to bet my badge on that, so I'm not factoring it in-"
"Next- Pokemon!"
"Ah, alright. Geodude."
"You have got to be-"
"Self-destruct."
Another explosion of rocks deafened the arena.
"Okay, there have just got to be some rules about that."
"In your words, next Pokemon."
Hilbert got the distinct feeling that Lucas was enjoying this a little too much.
"Cranidos!"
"Monferno." He sent out Chimchar.
"That's a-"
"Hey, catch." The monkey turned towards its trainer and caught a tiny blue object before popping it in its mouth. The was a white glow, and the body of Fire-type changed into a larger, stronger Pokemon.
"There has got to be-"
"Mach Punch." Lucas had an uncharacteristically devilish smirk on his face.
After lugging his Pokemon out of the far wall, Roark regarded Lucas.
"Okay, by technicality of League rules, you win, but you're missing the spirit of the thing. Grab your badge when you leave, and just… Leave, please. I need to repair this floor." He turned and looked into the stands, scanning it for Hilbert. "Kid with the Golett, you're the last challenger. If you pull anything like this kid did, I'm going to tell Professor Rowan just where he can shove your Tyranitar."
Hilbert stood at the pile of rocks, with Golett by his side. Sure, he could use Abra, but the Psychic-type was too lazy to learn any actual moves. Besides maybe a mind-melting attack, but that would be as bad as a Blast Burn directly to the frontal lobe.
"So… Is your drill going to make an appearance?"
The other three were sitting in the stands, waiting. Lucas had sent his Geodudes off to the professor, as he hadn't intended on using them for anything but exploiting the rules.
A very familiar voice echoed across the gym from the other side of the blockage of earth.
"Listen to me, Golett. If there's a wall in our way, then we smash it down!"
A faint cry from Golett traveled through as well.
"Arceus…" Lucas facepalmed, and started tuning out the speech that was sure to follow.
"If there isn't a path, then we carve one ourselves!"
Another one of Golett's clunking sounds, but somehow the Ghost-type came across as enthusiastic.
"Is this going to become a recurring theme?" Dawn asked rhetorically.
"The magma of our souls burns with a mighty flame!"
Another cry, this time accompanied by the sounds of earth and metal shifting into place.
"I'm going to take cover." Barry and Piplup ducked beneath the wall protecting the stands, just barely peeking over the tops.
"Just who in the hell…"
Roark took a step back, suddenly remembering a similar speech from the news reports.
A massive whirring echoed out, as a plume of dust rose from the opposite side of the room. Rocks could be heard falling and cracking, even as they were hidden from sight. Earth exploded outward, forming a fresh layer of gravel on the battlefield.
As the dust settled, two figures approached. Hilbert walked through the cloud, tucking his hat over his eyes, smirking, while a crimson Golett walked alongside him.
"...DO YOU THINK WE ARE!"
In the stands, a talent scout and his Magnezone eagerly recorded the scene. They were from a certain film company (who was then taking major PR hits because of how terribly they did with their outsourcing), and had just decided that if they could get the rights to make a live-action Gurren Lagann movie with Pokemon, starring this kid's Golett? The profits would just skyrocket, he could see it.
Roark regarded the trainer standing before him as the dust settled.
"You know, just for that, I should disqualify you for missing the point of the challenge, but…"
"But?"
"Well, even I have to admit it was pretty cool." Roark shrugged. "Say, how many Pokemon do you have?"
"One."
"I see two Pokeballs on your belt."
"Abra's asleep and doesn't know any offensive moves."
"I see… Then you won't object if I use only one Pokemon as well?"
"...Sure?"
"And of course, considering how powerful yours is, you wouldn't mind if I used one of my personal Pokemon, would you?"
"Well… I can't really object. As long as I get the badge, I don't mind."
"Alright then. Rampardos!"
A massive, blue, armored dinosaur slammed onto the field in a flash of light.
If Golett needed to wear pants, he would wish they were brown.
"Head Smash!"
"Iron Defense!"
Golett's armor flashed a metallic sheen, just in time for it to get thrown into the pile of rocks behind him, kicking up another cloud of dust.
"You alright?"
A bleep from Golett gave him an affirmative. Or a swear that couldn't be aired on television, take your pick.
"Alright, use Phantom Slam!"
That confused Roark again. "You mean Phantom Force?"
Hilbert grinned. "Nope." And pointed up.
Golett melted outwards from a shadow in the rafters, turned a shiny gray, and dropped straight down, full body, onto Rampardos' ringed skull.
Rolling away from the newly formed dusk cloud, Golett picked himself up from the fall and moved back in front of Hilbert.
"Rampardos!" Yelled Roark. "Kid, did you just make up a new move?"
"See, Golett, somehow, knows Phantom Force and Heavy Slam. Now, I'm pretty sure Rock-types are weak against Steel-type attacks. Teleporting to a high ceiling, falling, and using a Heavy Slam at the same time? That's devastating even without STAB. Or whatever it's called." He stopped talking as the dust finally cleared, and Rampardos stood, only looking slightly fatigued, and revving its legs.
"Earthquake!"
Rampardos somehow jumped into the air and slammed back down, cracking the ground and throwing them all off their feet.
Unbeknownst to either of them, all of this damage to the rocks and earth surrounding it was having a certain effect on the gym's engineering.
Golett was thrown from shifting plates of earth, directly in the Rock-types path.
"Finish it now! Use Pursuit!"
"Dodge it-" Hilbery cried, right before being cut off by another concussive wave of force.
Him and Roark moved their arms down from their eyes, and were awestruck.
Golett had somehow managed to catch Rampardos' skull. With his fist.
It wasn't just any punch though. Energy spheres appeared on the Rock-type's skin, and started flowing through the golem's arm. With every passing moment, Rampardos looked weaker and weaker.
"Dr- Drain Punch? Where the hell did you find this thing, kid?" Roark was amazed, as his Pokemon finally broke off the contact and jumped back. They were both on opposite sides of the arena, backs to the opposing trainers.
Golett looked fatigued, but not nearly as much as the Head Butt Pokemon. Rampardos panted, angrily watching Golett with a burning gaze.
"I really couldn't tell you," Hilbert shrugged, pointing at the gym leader and his partner. "I was like, ten at the time. Now, Golett! Take him down!"
"Go-go-go-go-go-" The golem reared back, his lights receding and pulsating with his chant.
"Quick, Crunch! It's now or never! He can't block both sides of your mouth!"
The Rock-type charged, his maw crackling with dark energy.
Golett placed his fist against his vertical palm, his body and soul glowing a brilliant white, and ended his chant.
I don't need to block you.
In the name of my freedom, my purpose, and he who has given it to me, begone!
Focus Blast!
There was a commotion in Oreburgh's bustling cultural center, as Roark's Rampardos was rocketed through the gym's walls and was sent flying through the open street, knocking over loose wheelbarrows and quickly-evacuated vendor stands. The Rock-type's unconscious body carved a trail ten meters long before finally skidding to a stop.
There was now a hole, ten-feet in diameter, in the wall of the gym. Part of the ceiling had fallen in as well, and the entire side started collapsing into cobblestones and gravely chunks. There was soon more rock dust in the air then many of the children of the city had ever seen before.
Many went over to investigate. While the front of the gym was completely decimated, the other half, featuring the stadium, didn't seem to be faring much better. The ceiling and walls were still standing, and luckily the seating was entirely untouched, but there was a massive pile of rocks inside the stadium proper.
Hilbert pulled Golett out from a small heap of rubble a moment later, shaking the golem's hand and laughing.
Roark was standing at the leader's podium, in total shock.
The scattered audience was in a similar state as well. The talent scout had dropped his audio recorder, while his Magnezone's attached camera dropped with an audible 'clunk'.
Lucas, Barry, and Dawn were staring at the destruction.
Piplup was clearly wondering how to perform a similar feat with a drill made of water, Turtwig was barking happily, and Monferno was imitating Lucas, also trying to get a better look.
"Hey, does that count as a win, Roark?" He held out Golett, who barely managed to hold up his right arm and whir his drill.
A sudden silence boomed.
Before being completely drowned out by a massive cheer.
People shot out of their seats, amazed at the win Hilbert pulled out of his hat, like magic. Gym leader Roark's Battle Frontier-worthy Rampardos, his oldest partner, had been beaten out by a challenger without a single gym badge!
Lucas couldn't help but clap, while Barry had to keep himself from jumping over the edge while whooping in celebration.
Dawn muttered something about 'boys', before standing up and joining in on the applause as well.
"My… Arceus!" Roark rubbed at his head, not even noticing how he knocked off his mining helmet. "Congratulations, Black! You win this Coal Badge!" He pulled a black pin out of his jumpsuit's thigh pocket, and tossed it to Hilbert. "Gardenia doesn't stand a chance! I thought I'd have it okay, but you- Your Golett, he's something else! I'm lucky he's not native to Sinnoh!" He laughed, shocked tears at the corner of his eyes. They weren't sad tears, but all of that dust in the air was making his pupils watery.
"Thanks!" He shook off his jacket, wiping the charcoal away to pin his first badge on his breast pocket. The obsidian-black chunks glittered against the dirty, filtered light.
Because he made such an impression, Roark took them out to dinner while the gym was being repaired.
In his words, "We don't keep all of those Machops around for nothin'."
He was about a decade older than them, and his old man was the gym leader up in Canalave. He didn't elaborate much more than that, as apparently, "Giving this guy any more of an edge would just be a nightmare."
As you might be able to tell, Roark was the only one of them legally allowed to drink al- Vacation Juice, oops.
"I mean, seriously kid, how'd you get him to do all that stuff?" They were sitting at one of the finer restaurants in the mining town, a brick-oven pizza place employing, you guessed it, Machops. Them and their partners were all sat at the table, though Turtwig had to get another chair pulled up to eat from a bowl.
Golett looked from Roark to Hilbert.
"I really don't know. I looked up what moves Golett's can learn a while back, and guessed he could use them. I didn't expect him to be able to use them, really"
Golett punched him in the arm, annoyed and offended.
"Ow! That's gonna be a bruise." He rubbed his arm absentmindedly, before shaking his head.
His cross-transceiver started ringing.
Everyone who knew what was coming felt a certain feeling of dread settling over the table as he let it ring.
"...Shouldn't you get that?" Asked the gym leader, putting down his glass.
"Yeah… I'll be right back." He barely managed to get out the door and answer in time for the call to pick up. Even through the glass, they all heard yelling from the other end.
"Hilbert!"
"Hey, mom."
Her volume dropped, though her fierceness still carried over.
"You didn't even wait a week!"
"Was it really that bad?"
"You wrecked half of that gym! You better apologize, young man, or-"
"It's fine, Roark took us out for dinner. The Machops around here like exercising, they were happy to repair it."
Her tone relaxed. "...I see. How is everyone doing?"
"We all won our challenges. Barry got two wins, Lucas exploited the rules about ties, and I… You know."
"You're darn right I know."
"Yeah, sorry."
"..."
"..."
"...Shouldn't you be telling me you won't do it again?"
"A man never makes a promise he can't keep, goodnight, mom!" He said, quickly hanging up.
She didn't call back, though she was probably opening her own bottle of Vacation Juice back home.
They actually stuck around Oreburgh for a while. Barry could swear Piplup was going to evolve some time soon, but he learned just attacking the same Pokemon in the mines wouldn't actually make him stronger, so gave up, and started training his Starly instead. He'd actually remembered the typing of the next gym, which was grass, and planned to use Starly as his ace. Piplup was unfortunately going to sit out, though he insisted that Peck would do the job.
See, the funny thing was that Abra couldn't communicate the words of other Pokemon, as his psychic powers weren't strong enough yet, but he could get the basic feelings across. It didn't work for Golett though, seeming to be a side-effect of his Ghost-typing.
Roark told them that Alamos town, their planned detour, was only accessible through the massive lake, and the city hadn't given permission for outsiders to set up docks. So, Unless Golett got a lot bigger and knew Surf, they were stuck on the main road.
Dawn was disappointed, but shook it off, looking back to her map of contest hall locations.
Soon enough, they were back on the road. It was the most annoying thing, the ramp that led to Route 207 was only accessible with bikes, something none of them had. It was too steep for them to scale otherwise.
"Don't Abras inherently know Teleport? Can't he just… Y'know, put us up there?" Lucas said, holding out his arms at the top of the hill.
The Psychic-type appeared outside of his ball, his eyes still closed.
"Unless you've been there before, I can't get a clear view of where I'm supposed to be Teleporting. I'm flattered that you would believe in my skills though. Would you like to hear your own thoughts echoed as a reward?"
"Eh… I'll pass, but thanks for the offer."
"Shame."
"Wait, doesn't that mean you can teleport us to Jubilife?"
In the blink of an eye, they appeared a few feet over the sidewalk in the city, and fell onto the ground in a heap.
"Think of the same place next time, you gave me a headache.." Abra telegraphed to them, moving an arm to its temple and shooting back into its ball.
Hilbert swore he could hear the Psychic-type snoring through the Pokeball.
Well, it was a bit hard to hear through all the groaning.
He spotted Looker doing his thing again, this time dashing between street lights and acting like they hid him. He sighed, pointed at Golett, pointed at where Looker was currently hiding, sat back and watched.
"Oof!" The man in the brown trench-coat fell over as Golett hit him with an incredibly weakened Phantom Force.
"What's up, Looker?" He helped the officer up, letting the others watch at a distance.
"Ah. It is good to meet you again. I saw something that peaked my interest on the news, recently-"
"Involving Oreburgh gym?"
"Involving Oreburgh gym."
"Yeah, that was me and Golett. Anything else?"
"Yes, actually. I wished to warn you. My sources tell me that this news has piqued a portion of Team Galactic's interest."
"And those are… The bad guys, right?"
"Yes, I advise you to watch yourself. Farewell." The man did several complicated ninja hand gestures, and instead of disappearing in a puff of smoke or replacing his body with a log, turned on his heel and quickly ran down the street.
"That guy's interesting, huh?" Joked Barry, before dragging their attention back to leaving town.
They got annoyed by some corporate guy on their way out, who asked them in they wanted a cross-transceiver (Also known as the Poketch Mk. 2 in Sinnoh), as a marketing promotion. The brand was just getting its foothold in the rural region, so they were just giving them away.
At least they'd be able to keep in contact, Hilbert thought, shrugging. They all exchanged numbers and headed north.
Where again, there was another interruption.
Professor Rowan was being harassed by some weirdos in futuristic jumpsuits.
"Come on now, professor. It wouldn't do for you to not hand over your research. Who knows what accident may befall you if you don't?" One of the weirdos in the crowd held out his hand and made a grabbing gesture.
The professor spotted them, and waved, ignoring the situation he was in.
"Ah, you four! How are you? Making progress on your registration?"
"Don't ignore us, old fool!"
"Ah, yeah. What's got you up here?" Hilbert, thinking it would be funny, walked up to the group and cheerily shook the old man's hand.
"Who are you supposed to be?"
"Oh, well, you know, this and that. I trust you are well?"
"Never better."
"Fantastic, you see, I was hoping to speak with Roark. One of your… Newer partners needed assistance, and I thought I should give these old bones a trek." Rowan held out a Pokeball, eyes glinting.
Hilbert took the ball, nodding almost imperceptibly. "But who are your friends, professor?" He asked, almost jokingly.
"Oh? These ruffians? Why, I have no clue! They walked up and demanded my research, though I can't imagine why."
"Hey! Are you disrespecting Team Galactic?"
"Oh, you guys are Team Galactic… Yeah, sorry if I don't pee myself in fear," Hilbert shrugged, making sure Golett was still behind him.
"I'll make you eat those words!" The lead grunt's Pokemon exploded out of its ball, a Golbat. Behind him, at least seven other grunts released theirs as well.
"Golbat, use-"
"Phantom Force." Hilbert said, nonchalantly facing down the gaping maw of the bat.
"What are-" The grunt suddenly fell over, as did his assistant, as a few hundred pounds of living rock dropped out of the air, planting them both in the ground.
"Time for a test run. Professor, you ought to step back," he said, ignoring the cries of outrage, and the beginning of some attacks. "Tyranitar."
A massive Rock-type, nearly twice his height, appeared behind him, and let loose a roar that would be befitting of a truly Legendary Pokemon.
Some of the grunts had the intelligent idea to turn tail and run. In his periphery, he saw Looker tackling them to the ground, handcuffing them, and jumping to the next in the blink of an eye.
It seemed like he was actually competent. Not at sneaking, obviously, but still.
There were four grunts left, though they looked hesitant to be there.
"Bury them. Nonlethally, please."
The pseudo-legendary roared in response, before it stomped the ground. A weakened version of Stone Edge rocketed out of the concrete, surrounded the grunts in moments, and hit their Pokemon. Zubats and Golbats do not take Rock-type attacks well, to say the least.
Looker walked up, throwing one of the grunts over his Arcanine, and letting his Greninja carry the other two.
"I'll have the local Jenny's take care of this one." Looker nodded to him. "Thanks for the help."
"Yeah, no problem. Gotta help out the old man, right?" Hilbert said, slapping Rowan on the back.
Ow.
His hand started throbbing. That old man was stronger than he looked.
"I appreciate your assistance. Would you like to take both of your charges at this time?" Rowan held out another Pokeball.
"I'd honestly prefer to take neither. Again, I don't want to be unfair." He reached up to Tyranitar's shoulder, which was more like his collarbone, even on the tips of his toes. "Sorry. Thanks for the help though."
The Rock-type growled in understanding, nodding.
"Can you do me a favor and take care of the Professor for me?"
It growled again, bowing its head.
"Thanks. When I get enough badges, I'll let you guys come along with me, alright? Give it a few months." He patted the massive Pokemon again, smiling.
Still seeming disappointed, it bowed for the last time, before returning to its ball.
Hilbert handed it off to Rowan, before walking off. Dawn, Barry, and Lucas quickly caught up behind, and slowly started getting used to dealing with him.
AN:
Yeah, I got nothing. I did the thing where I wrote like two chapters in two days? I'll probably get it out of my system in a week.