The martial artist stuck her hand through the heavy bag.
Metal sand poured out of it, as it was thrown across the room in tatters.
"Yup. Still got it."
A Mid-Sinnoh Night's Dream - VIII - The Obligatory Makeover Chapter
They bought new clothes in Eterna, after their old ones were still in scraps, and there was no way the girls would keep going around in the Lucario-made clothes. Don't forget, they were too short.
Dawn took the opportunity, with a mad gleam in her eyes, to treat them like Ken dolls as alleged practice for the contests.
Hilbert got a familiar deep blue jacket with a red bandana on its left arm near the shoulder, plain white undershirt, black cargo pants, and black boots that had cleat attachments and were steel-tipped. That was actually a smart idea, considering all of the Pokemon he had that messed with the earth.
Dawn convinced Lucas to splurge a bit on completely fire-proof clothing, though he wasn't too reluctant in the first place. As they wanted their Fire-type representative to look cool, they switched his main color away from the light blue of his jacket. First off, they made him buy a super long orange scarf, to match Monferno's fire. Everyone needs a scarf of ass-kicking, as Hilbert put it.
Except for him, as the bandana on his jacket was badass enough.
Lucas's jacket was black, with orange spiky highlights on the joints, and although it was a bit thick, it rolled it up easily. Gray undershirt, and also black cargo pants and boots, similarly to him, as he'd be dealing with the greatest variety of Pokemon out of all of them. He held onto the dragon-scale gloves too, because they were objectively pretty cool.
Barry also wanted a scarf of ass-kicking, but because that much cool in one team would be unfair, he had to settle for a blue neck-wrap with an integrated metallic rebreather, for when Piplup finally evolved. Scuba-suit underclothes were discussed, but the matter of practicality was brought up and they decided against it. Adjustable dark-blue swim pants, a matching track-jacket, and a striped yellow t-shirt.
Dawn stuck with her normal clothes, as she didn't intend on getting into situations where she needed special equipment.
Cheryl actually managed to sew up her own clothes, having a variety of handy skills like that, and made them look good as new in a few hours. It would confuse people when the girl in green had a Chansey, while Dawn, in pink, had a Turtwig, but no one in the group thought of that.
Abra did, but he laughed it off and didn't mention it.
A woman in black accosted him in the street. Luckily, it had nothing to do with his tendencies to blow shit up, but she noticed the Pokedex on his belt.
"That does take me back…" She said, shaking her head and blonde hair. "Does that mean you're working with the professor down in Sandgem?"
"Yeah, that's right," he responded, nodding.
"What's your name?"
"Ah… Well, I usually go by Black, but my name's Hilbert."
"Hm… Why do I feel like I should know that- Well, no matter! I'll be sure to remember that name." She looked back at the statue in the plaza, of the region's Legendary Pokemon. "I've been studying mythology lately, just out of curiosity. Have you taken a look at the statue?"
"I… Did." He left out the part about getting frozen by some jerk and his Articuno.
"According to myth, that's a statue of an incredibly powerful Pokemon. Who knows? Maybe you'll encounter such a Pokemon while you're traveling with your Pokedex."
"I… Kinda already have," he admitted, sheepishly.
"Hm?"
"Ah… You know Shaymin?"
"Yes, of course. In fact, they were spotted during a gym battle in this very town, it's the other reason I visited-" The woman stopped, looked confused briefly and looked back at him.
"Yeah, that was me, sorry."
"...May I see it?"
The woman waved as she walked off, satisfied with seeing the Mythical Pokemon. She handed him an egg, entrusting him and Shaymin to take care of it.
"Goodbye, and good luck on filling out your Pokedex; Give Professor Rowan my regards!"
He looked at the egg and clicked a Pokeball to it.
Huh. Who knew that worked?
Take two, biking down Cycling Road. They got the bikes switched around at the shop, fixed up, for a minuscule price. The owner really wanted that advertising, even after the group had been missing from the public eye for a month.
After realizing he had a ton of missed messages, he responded quickly to his mom and the professor before they went on their way.
It was a lot more relaxing of a ride, and they got off on the next route the same day and took a pit stop in Oreburgh.
The gym was actually repaired and in fact, looked better than before.
They visited Roark, because why not?
"Hey! What's going on?" He called, as they walked into the gym.
"Nothing much, turns out I can use aura or something," Hilbert responded.
"Really? Shaymin not enough?"
"Just kind of happened, I guess."
Riolu burst out of her ball. He really ought to get his loose Pokeballs checked out.
"Seriously?"
"Are you disrespecting me? I'll have you know-"
"Yeah, she's got an attitude problem too."
"What did you just say? I'll have you know that you're disrespecting-"
"You can talk to Pokemon now?"
"Again, it just kinda happens?"
"I'm talking to you!"
In the next few days, to their immense disappointment, the gym leader in Hearthome was absent. It wasn't for nothing though, as Dawn finally got to perform in a contest.
The four of them sat in the nosebleeds, watching the stage.
Golett, however, was not there, as she asked for the Pokemon (Using Shaymin would just be cheating), and a speaker (which were allowed under the rules, though limited).
And so, he had felt an odd sense of foreboding. Golett knew a lot of moves, after all, and honestly, it's not like the golem ever understood limits in the first place.
Suffice to say, he was extremely concerned the roof was not going to be there for long.
It was very sparkly, for most of the previous rounds. A lot of glitter, some water being used for a rainbow effect, blizzards made of pink leaves, everything you would expect to be used to sweep a crowd off its feet.
But then it was Dawn's turn, and as a member of Team Black, all bets were off.
She appeared, middle of the stage, wearing his jacket.
Checking his bag, he realized that yes, she had borrowed that as well.
"We better not get sued for copyright…" He muttered, clasping his hands beneath his nose and leaning forward to watch the performance.
At which point, she whipped out a frankly massive pair of sharp sunglasses and slid them over her eyes.
Golett appeared, sliding out of the ground like a shadow behind her. They were back to back, but far enough apart they could both be seen at any angle.
"Golett!"
Clank.
Barry was silently laughing, as everyone waited with equally bated breath.
"With the thoughts of a man in my heart, I'll take on any impossible fight! A woman's got her pride! With a maiden's prayers and rage, I'll blast you all away!"
She pointed at the ceiling with one finger, holding her glasses with the other.
"Let's go, Golett!"
The golem started pulsating with blue energy, the stone of its skin already turned a shining red, and its chants began echoing throughout the massive contest hall.
I must say, this is a surprise.
You too, after all?
Well, nothing else to be done about it then.
"Giga…"
The golem held an arm up, for all to see, and started floating into the air, just above Dawn, who backed into the center. He came to a rest on her fingertip, but was clearly still hovering. Its arm shifted, clanking at a drill began growing. It pulsed with the same bluish energy, which Hilbert realised was actually aura.
"Drill…"
It extended into the air, growing outwards, and the glow grew stronger.
"BREAAAAAAAAK!"
Golett shot into the air, whirring along with his drill, and a flurry of lights shot outwards. The first was a pulse of aura that washed over the audience, the next was a blast of ghostly smoke that poured into the air, and the third…
Well, the third was a dust cloud that burst out when he drilled through the ceiling.
Dawn was disappointed by her loss, but didn't let it get her down too much. That kind of thing happened a lot with newcomers, and it was an impressive demonstration, but the move was too offensive in nature.
Same reason Draco Meteor wasn't usually allowed. They got sick of repairing the roofs.
"It was a good try," Hilbert said, as they walked out of the hall. Golett looked down at the floor as they walked, his lights glowing just barely.
"Yeah, guess that'll teach me to go along with your antics," Dawn laughed, trying to keep the tone light. She handed him his jacket back.
"When did you steal my jacket anyway?"
"Golett used Phantom Force to grab it for me."
He looked down at the golem, about to call him a traitor, but saw that he looked sad.
"Hey, you alright?"
"It's my fault Dawn didn't win." He heard. Golett's voice was nearly robotic, but he couldn't determine a gender. It was deeply pitched, but there was no telling, really.
"Oh… Don't worry about that!" Dawn crouched down and put her hand on his head. "It just means I need to improve!"
"I could have held back."
"Well, that's my job, to instruct you. So don't beat yourself up about it!" She laughed, tilting her head.
Golett nodded. More like leaning forward and back, lack of a neck will do that to you, but the sentiment carried over.
Barry chose then to butt in. "...So, if Golett's been in battles and contests, that kind of makes him our mascot, doesn't it?"
"I mean… Yeah. Guess so."
"...Are you sure it's a good idea for us to visit the Pokemon Fan Club? I mean, this is us we're talking about, I don't want to rile people up-"
"All you do is rile people up, man! Come on, it'll be fun!" Barry continued pushing him towards the building, supposedly the region's largest Pokemon fan club. "And as our leader, you'll be our single representative!"
He opened the door, letting Golett walk in.
It was… Decently large. There were a lot of kids, as you would expect, and some parents who looked to be chaperoning. There was a larger table at the center where a teenager was sitting, showing a picture to someone who looked similar to him, probably his sister.
Not really knowing what to do, he walked over there and sat down awkwardly.
"Oh, hello-" The other boy, who was lanky with green hair looked up, glanced at him, glanced at his Golett, and put two and two together. "Oh! Oh OH OH OHOH HO!"
"Ah, hi? I don't really know what kind of stuff to do in a Pokemon fan club…" He rubbed the back of his head, truly out of his element. What his element was, he didn't know either.
"You're Black, aren't you!"
"No, I'm white- No, wait, I mean- Ah, you mean- Yes, that's me. Golett, say hi."
The golem raised its arm, waving while sitting in the chair next to him.
"Can you do the drill thing? Oh, do you have Shaymin with you? Can they do it? I heard that you had an Abra from my friend in Eterna, and they did it too, so can she do it? What about your-"
He was starting to attract attention from the others, and kids started walking up, recognizing the Pokemon. Its trainer, not so much, but that comes with the territory.
Hilbert felt some of the Pokeballs on his belt start vibrating.
"Hey, what about the badass Riolu? How about her? Ever hear about-"
"Sit down like you're civilized." He picked up the Fighting-type under her arms and put her in a seat as well. "I really need to get those weak capture mechanisms checked out…"
"I'm civilized! Who says I'm not civilized, I'll show them how civilized I am when I claw their eyes out! And don't you dare patronize me, I'll-"
He put a palm on his forehead, and looked towards the fan club leader. "I'm sorry about her, she's new."
The boy, far from being collected, jumped up in glee. "You have a Riolu too? That's super cool! And were you talking to it just now?"
"It's really complicated, but yeah."
A wide 'ooh' emanated from the crowd growing around the table.
"Can it do the drill thing?"
"No, she's not strong enough yet-"
"IT? Not strong enough? I ought to-"
"And it's called a Giga Drill Break, come on, man."
"I'll show you a Giga Drill Break, and I'll shove it straight up your-"
"Again, I'm sorry about her."
The other guy blinked. "What's she saying?"
"Multiple things that can't be aired on television."
"Huh... Oh, I'm Cline by the way!" He stood proudly, with his hands on his hips.
"Nice to meet you," Hilbert said, nodding.
"This is so cool- I saw both of your gym battles, seriously cool. You have Shaymin on your team, don't you? I saw that thing she did to Gardenia's Roserade, and I've seen her league matches, that thing's insane."
Shaymin responded by appearing out of their Pokeball onto Golett's lap, that being the safest place for them to sit with all those grabby children.
Multiple 'whoa's echoed through the clubhouse.
"Wow! Those aren't supposed to exist, you know, it was crazy when you pulled it out on live TV."
"I… Guess."
"So, what's the secret?" Cline leaned in. "How do you get your Pokemon to do the drill- Giga Drill Break? Shaymin, I understand, that was a Leaf Blade or something, but Abra? I have no clue how a first-stage Psychic-type could do that."
"You want the truth?"
"Obviously!"
Hilbert shook his head. "I don't know either."
"I've seen it, his partners share their aura before one of them uses it, I saw it with my own-" She suddenly remembered that no one else besides Hilbert could understand her.
"Huh." Hilbert rubbed his chin, doing yet another Gendo pose unconsciously. "Guess I should work on that."
On the road to Solaceon, they decided to do some actual training besides just fighting wild Pokemon.
"Okay, so, we don't want to get too beat up, right? So we're going to practice on moves."
He pointed to Abra. "You need to learn Psychic-type moves, and- Why exactly haven't you evolved yet?"
"...You do know that some Pokemon take years to evolve if not used properly, right?" Dawn said, sitting on a log and petting Turtwig. Combee was off collecting honey or something, just the usual.
"Really? Huh. Well, moving on. Abra, just meditate. Not sleep, meditate."
"Whatever you say, boss." The Psychic-type blinked away, and Hilbert saw his aura glow on top of a tree.
"Okay, Golett."
Clank.
"We need to increase your speed, so try anything you have that will do that."
Clank.
"And… shouldn't I be able to understand you?"
"I believe you're so used to communicating in this way that you don't even try with your aura."
"Ah. Makes sense. Riolu."
"You saying I'm weak? Saying I need training? Huh?"
"What you need is an attitude adjustment, and wasn't the point of you traveling with us to train?"
"..."
"I know you can punch really well, so work on that, but your defense needs some work."
"Hmph."
"Shaymin."
The hedgehog looked up at him, the shortest of the group. "Yes?"
"Work on Buzzleaf Blade."
"Buzzleaf… Blade?"
"That thing you did in Eterna and spun really fast."
"I see. I will work to reduce my dizziness."
He looked over at the two pseudo-legendaries, who were still at attention.
"...There's really nothing I can teach you guys."
"Well then it's good that I'm a woman!"
"...Which one of you was that?"
Tyranitar 'hmphed'.
"Huh. I'll keep that in mind. If you two want to work on making drills or something, go ahead."
Clank.
"Yeah, I guess, you too, Golett. Give them a hand."
Solaceon Town, though creepy on the outskirts, was a country town at heart.
"But are you sure we ought to head there on a bike?" Hilbert asked, narrowly avoiding stubbing the front wheel on a massive pebble.
Lucas called from behind him, "I read online that the best way to navigate is with a bike." He bumped into the air slightly, but maintained his stoicism.
"What's the worst that could happen?" Barry yelled from further back, laughing and peddling ridiculously.
A yellow-furred Pokemon poked its head out of the undergrowth not far ahead. It jumped up, ready to attack, after being startled by the first two cyclists.
Its attention angrily turned onto the third.
As it turned out, Barry was wrong.
"Pika…"
Barry slowed down, not sure of what he was seeing. He saw something in the bushes ahead.
"PIKA…"
"Hey, isn't that a-"
"CHUUUUUUUUU!"
His poor bike…
By the time he rolled to a stop, Piplup was already KO'ed by the electricity, having ridden in his bag.
Phantump managed a Will-O-Wisp by the time Barry pushed himself off the ground, groaning.
"What was that for?"
The Electric-type only growled in response, sending out another Thundershock.
Phantump floated around it, using Hex.
It hit the Pikachu dead on, dizzying it in addition to the burn, but still standing.
Barry beaned it in the head with a Pokeball, absorbing it in a flash of light.
Wobble.
Wobble.
Wobble.
Click.
Phantump was decently powerful after all. Barry planned to send Shinx to the professor when he finished walking to Solaceon.
Dawn and Cheryl skidded to a stop behind him, seeing his wrecked bike.
"Are you alright, Barry?"
"A little frizzy feeling, but I'm good." He weakly held out a thumbs-up. "Caught a Pikachu, so totally worth it."
"Wow, those are pretty rare…" Dawn said, tapping her chin and thinking. "I didn't think they could be caught around here."
Barry just shrugged. "Since when has anything involving us made sense?"
"You make some good points."