Chapter 19 – Viridian Visitations

Meandering Meowth

"What do we do first?" Amber asked the next morning, not long after their feet had gone from descending down a dirt road to padding up a paved pedestrian pathway. The lodge was only a few minutes walking distance from the city proper.

"Inventory management," Ex said, eyes on his Pokédex as always. "Er, I mean the Pokémart. You're going to need some Pokéballs and Pokéchow to build a proper Pickup Party."

"Ex, I don't like the idea of Capturing pokémon just for money. Are you sure this is okay?"

"I don't see why it wouldn't be," Ex shrugged. "There are plenty of Meowth here, and it's either us or the streets. With us, they'll get consistent food. Plus, once they've been Captured they'll get smarter over time even when they aren't with us, so they'll be able to fend for themselves better. Everybody wins."

Amber sighed. "Okay, I guess." She glanced around herself, easily spotting a few Meowth. "Do you know why there are so many strays in the first place?"

"Nope. We can ask the locals while we're doing what we need to do."

Pokémart Practicalities

"Oh, those Meowth showed up back when I was a Trainer," shrugged the Pokémart teller. "That would be... over two decades ago. But I have no idea why they're here. You'll have to ask someone else. And... I don't mean to be rude, but are you sure you can afford all of this?"

"Yup," said Ex, placing eleven Nuggets on the counter. Amber placed the two he'd given her on the counter as well. "This should cover half of it. The other half will be coming from my account. Oh, and her stuff is a separate order..."

Pokécenter Problems

"Viridian is sometimes called the City of Stray Cats," said Nurse Joy. "I'm sorry, but I don't know why they are here in the first place."

By this point, Ex had already put most of his old Items into the PC Item storage, registered his pokémon, and was ready to leave...

"Now," said Nurse Joy, looking at him sternly, "in the future, young man, please register your pokémon right away. If you are a Trainer, it is against the law to Capture pokémon without registering them."

...but he hadn't been expecting Nurse Joy, of all people, to delay him.

"But Silph has a five-day grace period!" Ex protested. "I looked it up!"

"That doesn't mean you should wait the full five days to register your pokémon," she rebuked. "And would you please explain why you had her register your pokémon as hers, why you registered her pokémon as yours, then you both Traded those pokémon to each other, instead of just-"

Pokélab Priorities

"I heard Silph brought the Meowth here to increase the amount of Pokémon Energy in the air," whispered the Scientist whose nametag read 'Gideon'. "Possibly to help Revives grow. You didn't hear that from me, though." Then, in a more normal voice, "Your pokémon have all passed the Language Threshold test. It really is a new record. For now, the record is set at three days due to your Pidgey, but with your corroborating video evidence, the records committee may rule it at two days. Simply stupendous. Congratulations, Super Nerd Ex!"

Ex suppressed a shudder. He'd 'equipped' his Title recently because there were, in fact, some extremely useful and important Items that he could only get once it was activated, which were best gotten as early as possible.

"Thanks," he said, still shuddering. "Hey, that reminds me. Professor Oak said being a Super Nerd comes with a few benefits. Could you show me where I could access-"

Pokédex Possibilities

"I heard the Meowth were all brought here by a single person," said a gossipy Scientist who didn't even bother lowering her voice, and who wasn't wearing a nametag. "I can't remember who it was that was supposed to have brought them, though."

"Don't worry about it," shrugged Ex as he shrugged on his new Silph Lab Coat, which had materialized in front of him after he'd entered his 'Super Nerd' title into the terminal.

The Lab Coat was self-cleaning, automatically adjusted to his size, and resisted the elements, just like Amber's dress. Unlike her dress, which generally helped against bad weather and other outdoorsy hazards, his coat was specially made to resist burns, shocks, and other laboratory hazards. His Silph Lab Coat was also just that – a coat, not a full outfit, so he still had to wear his Trainer's outfit underneath.

"Trainers with adult Titles also get this," said the gossip, handing Amber a device which looked like it could attach to a Pokédex.

"What is it?" Amber asked.

"It's the Trainer Search System. It allows you to access the Global Trade System, Pokémon Amie, and O-Powers."

"Um..." said Amber, "What's all that?"

Ex's brain would not have asked that question itself, but it did eagerly listen to the Scientist's answer.

"The Global Trade System is a place where Trainers can Trade pokémon all across the globe, just like it sounds," pitched the Scientist. "Pokémon Amie is a virtual world your pokémon can enjoy while you're too busy to interact with them. It has games, puzzles, and a digital version of you inside. It's good for rainy days, or for Pokémon who aren't in your current party. And if your pokémon spend enough time inside Pokémon Amie, they get certain bonuses to battle performance... outside of official battles, of course. Except the increased Experience – that persists at all times."

Ex's brain absorbed all the familiar information like a sponge, then noticed one thing that was missing. "What about Super Training?" it asked out loud.

"Super what?" the Scientist blinked.

"Never mind," it said, thinking to itself, EV Training discovery money, here we come. "And shouldn't I get one, too?" it asked out loud. It was the whole reason it had convinced Ex to equip the Title in the first place.

"No," said the Scientist, back on familiar ground. "I'm sorry young man, but the Super Nerd title is not an adult title. You'll have to wait until you become a full Scientist."

Ex's brain would have complained if it wasn't one single discovery away from that. Ex, on the other hand, was livid that his brain had made that mistake. And he wanted to change back, but you couldn't change your Title more often than once a week.

"So 'Translator' is an adult Title?" Amber asked curiously. "It doesn't seem like something only adults can do."

"Adult Titles aren't always only held by adults," the woman explained. "They simply mean you are ready to handle adult responsibilities... though I suppose your Title is an exception to that general rule, too. Translators are important enough to Silph that they get a number of extra benefits, regardless of age. Since you are still a minor, the 'adult' status of the Title does not impact things like taxes or the legal age of drinking or driving. It's mostly only a formality..." she glanced at Ex, "...though it does come with a few extra perks, like the TSS." She looked back to Amber. "And Translators in particular are special. You can choose any outfit you wish from the other Titles without actually earning those Titles, though you can only choose one outfit at a time, and you have to return your old outfit before choosing a new one. Oh, and the Veteran, Ace Trainer, and Officer outfits are all off limits. But you could get a Lab Coat and Scientist's glasses, for example, despite not being a Scientist."

Amber made a humming noise as Ex's brain once again played the part of sponge.

"Could I get a Ranger Styler?"

That made Ex's thoughts pause. Ex's brain had assumed there wouldn't be such a thing here, since the term 'Capture' usually referred to Capture Stylers, while 'Caught' usually referred to Pokéballs, and here everyone seemed to use the term 'Capture' to denote what Pokéballs do. But it seemed that assumption was wrong.

"I'm sorry," said the Scientist, "but the Title's equipment doesn't always come with the Title's outfit if you're a Translator. The Subduing Styler is exclusive to actual Rangers, just like Police Motorcycles are exclusive to Officer Jenny. You'd have to join Ranger Camp. But you can still check out the junior Ranger outfit if you like."

Amber looked down at her dress. "I think I'll keep what I'm wearing. So does that mean I can't get that thing Breeders have, either? The thing that helps them with food?"

"You mean the portable kitchen and food store discount?" the Scientist asked. "Actually, I think that is available to Translators. Let me check..."

Testing Technology

"So I was thinking we could visit the Viridian City Gym while we're here," Ex suggested as they walked away from the Pokélab. "Even if we don't end up battling the leader, I want to see what it's like."

Amber shrugged beside him, her attention elsewhere. In particular, she was thinking about the ridiculously expensive, one hundred thousand pokédollar, "Beginner Silph Co. Backpack" currently resting on Ex's shoulders.

"Fine by me," she said distantly.

Her peripheral vision saw Ex stoop to collect yet another Item that his Meowth brought him. He tossed it carelessly into his newly purchased backpack, which made a little beeping noise when it accepted the Item. The bag came with a built-in "sorting mechanism for deposits" and "voice recognition software for withdrawals".

According to the Silph Co. manual that came with the purchase – which Ex was currently reading, and which Ex occasionally quoted out loud – his new bag does NOT operate like the PC Storage System, which "materializes and dematerializes" Items "using technology that mimics the Moves Teleport and Volt Switch".

Instead, the bag somehow shrinks the Items that go into it, using "technology mimicking Minimize and Autotomize". The physical space within the bag wasn't bigger on the inside than on the outside, the contents themselves became smaller once they entered it. And lighter, too. And it only worked on Items, not people or pokémon, so neither of them had to worry about falling in and getting shrunk, or about their pokémon getting trapped.

You were supposed to dedicate individual side pockets to certain types of Items, like allotting one pocket for Pokéballs, a different pocket for Medicines, a third pocket for Berries, and so on. Or you could just do what Ex was doing: throw everything into the opening at the top and let the bag do all the sorting for you. The pockets already had "default settings" for what went where, and Ex claimed that he preferred it that way, even though he never even tried any of the other options.

Ex, while reading the manual, also said he could store just about anything made by Silph inside, plus a bunch of things NOT made by Silph, up to x99 each for the larger Items (like Escape Ropes, Potions, and Status-Curing Medicines) and x999 each of the smaller Items (like Pokéballs and Revives). It also had a space for random equipment, but those deposits had to be manually dictated for the voice recognition software to know what it was, and the manual recommends for "large miscellaneous items" – like camping gear and furniture – that the owner puts no more than 99 things inside due to "space limitations".

"Which is still a ridiculously large amount of space," Ex said. "Or would that be absurdly miniscule level of shrinkage?"

Amber didn't know how to respond to that, so she just stayed silent, still looking at Ex's bag out of the corner of her eye.

The backpack itself was big for a ten-year-old – almost Hiker-level big – but "using technology mimicking Magnet Rise and Levitate", it apparently weighed almost nothing. It looked a little goofy on Ex, especially since he was also wearing his new Lab Coat. It would probably look more normal on an adult, since it was probably meant for adults. Kids like them normally couldn't afford ₽100,000 like it was chump change.

Still, as the two of them strolled towards the Viridian Gym, Ex wearing his new Silph Backpack and Amber wearing his old Deluxe one, she wasn't exactly complaining. This time, Ex had also given her his old Berry Pouch on top of the backpack he no longer needed. His new Backpack had a built-in Berry Pouch of its own. His old old backpack – the Basic Backpack which Amber no longer needed – Ex almost sold at the shop for half the price he had originally bought it, in the very same store he had originally bought it. But at the last moment he took the bag off the counter and said that he wanted to run a few tests before he sold it.

"What tests?" Amber had asked.

"I want to see if pokémon can wear a backpack," Ex answered, placing his oldest backpack into the main compartment of his newest one and saying 'Basic Backpack' out loud to let the Silph bag know what it was. "If one of my Meowth can wear it, then they can Pickup more than one Item at a time."

She had also asked why he was giving her all his old stuff instead of just selling it, and Ex had said that (1) it would be cheaper than having to re-purchase them later, (2) she was taking care of the cooking, and this was his way of saying thanks ("But no more freebies after this! And if you feel bad about taking charity, you can always pay me back later,") and (3) they would be dedicating her new / his old Berry Pouch to Flavor-enhancing Berries for their meals, while his backpack's Berry Pouch would be bagging the battle Berries.

Amber had asked why, if he was going this far, didn't they just split how much money they earned.

"I'm fine with us pooling our resources," he had said. "But NOT our incomes. We're friends, not a married couple."

Amber hadn't objected to this.

The only other things Ex had bought from the mart were a Basic Travel Kit of his own (easily stored in his new backpack), some Trainer rations, and a bag of Pokéchow. Amber had bought those last two Items too, since they couldn't rely on Wild Rattata to feed themselves or their teams in the city.

The Depression of Doubt

The yellow-tiled roof of the Gym came into view just as Ex was about to pull out his Pokédex to see if they were going in the right direction.

When the full building came into view, it looked more like a business building than a Pokémon Gym. It had walls of ornate marble, expensive-looking glass windows, and two giant statues to either side of the front entrance – one Nidoking and one Nidoqueen. Above the front door was a carving of a Persian, and upon the glass doors themselves appeared an image of Onix.

In between the two giant statues stood a short line of what looked to be would-be challengers.

Ex walked confidently up to the group of Trainers, Amber trailing quietly behind.

"Hello!" he greeted brightly. "Is this the line for people who want to challenge the Gym?"

The group turned to look at them.

One immediately scoffed at the two ten-year-olds, while another sneered, "Sure is."

"I didn't know they let little girls become Trainers now," an adult Cooltrainer commented.

"You two should just turn around now," said the oldest one. He stood and spoke like a Gentleman. "While you still have hopes and dreams."

"I don't know, Clifford," said the Cooltrainer. "It could be fun to watch Giovanni crush them."

"Oh, I'm not here to battle the Gym Leader," Ex denied.

Not yet, anyway, he thought.

"I'm here to watch. I was just wondering if this was the line to enter the Gym, or the line to challenge it."

"This is the line to challenge," said an Ace Trainer, a teenage girl who seemed to take offense at the attitudes of some of the other Trainers. Especially the Cooltrainer's 'little girl' remark. "Spectators have a side entrance. Here, I'll show you. Save my place in line, Clifford?"

"Of course," said the Gentleman.

Strategizing around Specialists

The side entrance, thankfully, had a flap that could admit entrance to pokémon, meaning Ex didn't have to stop his Pickup Party while he watched Trainer after Trainer challenge Giovanni- which is to say, as he watched Trainer after Trainer lose to Giovanni. Of the challengers, the closest anyone came to defeating the Gym Leader was defeating his first Pokémon, a level 70 Persian. His second Pokémon was a level 80 Nidoqueen, but nobody had managed to beat it and see his level 90 Onyx. Giovanni would adjust the size of his team, but not the members. If a young Trainer with no Badges challenged him, he would use only two pokémon, but the first would still be Persian.

The Gym had a built-in Pokécenter terminal and PC, but access was restricted only to the victor of the battle and/or the Gym Leader, forcing all Trainers to sulk out in search of the actual Pokécenter after their losses.

Ex didn't pay too much attention to each battle once he got the gist of what was going on, instead opting to search his Pokédex for the first component to his master plan, which he hadn't realized might be a problem until he'd started his shopping spree, which hadn't gotten much further than the backpack because Viridian City's Pokémart didn't have the widest selection of Items.

He went Pokémart website and began searching, soon learning that the Pokémart had an online store which allowed Trainers to buy Items that would be directly deposited into their Item Storage. Ex hadn't seen any TMs or battle Items in the Pokémart here in Viridian, but online was a different story. He quickly found the three Items he would need, noting their respective prices: ₽3,000 for a Focus Sash, ₽6,000 for TM 06, and ₽10,000 for TM 17.*

Now all he needed was the final component. He typed various terms into the search engine, including 'Move Tutors', 'Move Reminders', 'Move Maniacs', and 'Move Deleters'. To his surprise, not only did all four search results come up positive, but all four search results came with a list of local advertisements. As in, all four could be found in Viridian.

"Hey Amber," he whispered as he scrolled through the options. "Do you know why there's such a thing as 'Move Reminders' and 'Move Deleters'? You said 'once a pokémon knows a Move, it knows the Move', but then why would it need to remember or delete one?"

Professor Oak had explained the difference, but Ex'd had enough time since reading that email to begin wondering why those other two 'Move Specialists' existed in this universe. In the games, it was simple. With the four-Move limitation and the fact that you couldn't delete HMs by conventional means, you sometimes needed Move Deleters to round out a proper moveset, and you sometimes needed a Move Reminder to remember Moves which you already had a pokémon forget, or pass over while leveling. Also, Move Reminders were how you taught a pokémon future Moves from their movepools, but here it was the Move Maniacs that took care of that.

Why would Moves need to be remembered if they couldn't be forgotten? And why would Moves need to be deleted if there was no limit to the number of Moves a pokémon could have?

"Some Moves are dangerous, or bad for a pokémon's Health," Amber whispered back. "Like Curse, or recoil Moves. So sometimes Trainers want to delete those Moves so their pokémon don't hurt themselves when they're on their own. And then sometimes they regret deleting it, and want their pokémon to remember it again."

In the games, his brain observed, Move Reminders couldn't remind pokémon of Moves deleted by Move Deleters, only of Moves replaced by other Moves, and of Egg Moves, and of Moves they hadn't learned yet. And there was no distinction between Move Reminders and Move Maniacs.

He opened the ad for Move Reminders and saw that they were in fact able to teach potential Egg Moves to a pokémon.

He searched the other ads, quickly finding what he was looking for in the Move Maniac.

It looks like the Reminders handle Egg Moves and deleted Moves, his brain observed, while the Maniacs help pokémon learn Moves they COULD EVENTUALLY learn in the future by leveling up. The Reminders could do both in the games, and I think they were called Maniacs in the original Japanese translation.

Ex then began searching the ads by location. Each type of 'Move Specialist', as they were called, could be found within every major city. Pallet town didn't qualify as 'major', but Viridian certainly did. Ex was unsurprised to find that they required Heart Scales; one Heart Scale per Move, which could be bought for... ₽10,000 Pokédollars each?!

Just like in Pokemon Black and White, his brain observed.

It's a good thing I didn't sell the Heart Scale we found this morning, Ex realized. It had been one of the first Items his Meowth had brought to him that morning. It only would have sold for ₽50. Talk about buy/sale price disparity.

It's also good thing, his brain commented, that Heart Scales can be found with Pickup here in Viridian, and that our Meowth DON'T need to be in their 50s before having a chance to find them.

Level requirements to find Items makes sense in the games, he replied, to prevent low-level teams from getting powerful Items. But it doesn't make sense in a real world of Pokémon. A level 1 Meowth and a level 50 Meowth should be equally capable of Picking Up a Heart Scale. Getting back on track, do you think we'll be able to Pickup enough Heart Scales for our strategy?

We only need three, his brain replied. So, yes.

Ex's gaze refocused on the Pokédex, noting that there was also a fee associated with the services of the Move Specialists. It seemed that Heart Scales were not accepted as payment; they were simply a necessary part of the process. Each time you wanted to learn/relearn/delete a Move, according to the ads, it would take one Heart Scale and 2,500 pokédollars.

Well, I know what I want to do today.

There hadn't been any battles in the last few minutes, so Ex was just about to tell Amber he was ready to leave when a young Trainer burst through the front doors.

* These prices come from: (a) the price of a Focus Band in SW/SH (since Focus Sashes can't be purchased in the games with Money, only Battle Points), (b) the price of TM 06 in the Mystery Dungeon games (since this TM can't normally be purchased in the main games), and (c) the price of TM 17 in the Lilycove Department Store in ORAS. Since TMs are reusable in this universe, I'll be opting for the most expensive in-game prices whenever possible.

Challenging Careers

"I'm back!" shouted a Trainer wearing a straw hat, white shirt, and shorts. The quintessential Bug Catcher outfit, Ex's brain observed.

Giovanni, who had been healing his pokémon and interacting with the PC, turned to face the young Bug Catcher.

"You again," the man sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"And this time," the kid declared, "I have a full party, so I'll win for sure!"

"Please," Giovanni rolled his eyes. "You wouldn't be able to defeat my Persian even if your entire team fought him at the same time."

"I totally could!" the Trainer shouted back.

"Very well," Giovanni said. His next words were delivered with a devious smile. "I'll offer you a deal. If you can beat my Persian with your entire team fighting at once, I'll give you a Badge. But if you lose, you agree not to challenge me or this Gym again for an entire month."

"You're on!" the kid shouted, releasing all six of his Weedle/Caterpie into the arena.

Ex ignored the subsequent slaughter in favor of a new thought that had entered his head: We can have Trainer-directed Horde Battles here?

There were special scripted events in ORAS where you would sometimes fight five Trainers at once, each of whom had a single pokémon, using only one pokémon yourself. But Ex had never seen a battle where a Trainer could direct an entire Horde of their own pokémon against a single opponent. The closest thing to that would be a Triple Battle, after all but one of your opponent's pokémon has Fainted.

And even though the kid hadn't won the battle against Giovanni (or even come close, really), another thought was going through his head as the kid recalled his Fainted pokémon and fled the Gym with tears in his eyes.

Can we win Badges with Horde Battles?

Possibly, his brain answered. But there's only one way to find out!

Then, before he even had time to realize what was going on, his brain had taken full control of his body, directing him to leave the bleachers and approach the satisfied Gym Leader who was muttering something about "peace at last" as he healed his Persian.

The only action his brain allowed him to perform that didn't involve walking forward was taking out his Pokédex and hitting the 'record' button. This upcoming conversation might involve some pokémon theory that he could show the Professor later.

"Mr. Giovanni?" his voice came out, again directed by his brain.

The man wearing a black suit turned to face him, his eyes narrowing as he caught sight of Ex. "What is it? Here to challenge the Gym?"

"Not quite," Ex's brain answered. "I had a question about that most recent battle. Are we allowed to earn Badges through Horde Battles?"

The man's brows furrowed. "'Horde Battle'? What's that?"

"It's what you just had with that Trainer," answered Ex. "Five pokémon versus one. Well, I guess he used six, but it's supposed to be five. When it happens in the wild, it's called a 'Horde Encounter'."

Giovanni brought a hand to his chin. "Such encounters are rare," he said thoughtfully.

"If you use the move Sweet Scent' when there are Wild pokémon around, or stick to Long Grass, it'll happen more often. But anyway, you just let that kid have a Horde Battle against you. Would I be allowed to challenge you to one too? And earn a Badge from it?"

The man examined Ex for a moment, taking in his appearance, his eyes lingering on the expensive backpack Ex now wore. "No," he answered at last. "It would be against League regulation."

"But you let that other Trainer do it," Ex whined petulantly.

"I only offered that child the deal I did to get him out of my hair," Giovanni answered disparagingly. "He has challenged this Gym far too many times. I knew he would lose even with that advantage. I was already familiar with his pokémon, his skill level, with the fact that he had no Badges, and with the fact that he would lose. You, however, I do not know. I do not know your team or level of skill, nor do I know how many Badges you have-"

"I don't have any," Ex interjected. "I'm a new Trainer."

For a relative definition of 'new'.

"Even still," Giovanni continued, looking annoyed at the interruption. "It would be against League regulation, as I said."

"Can't you just, I don't know, make an exception?" Ex pleaded. "It has to get boring doing the same type of battles over and over again."

The man had seemed even more annoyed at the plea for exception, but seemed to mull over Ex's last statement more than anything else, wearing that thoughtful expression again. "It does get droll defeating weaklings," he said finally. "But I would have to consult the League. And it would take time for them to respond. Three business days, at most, though I can't guarantee they would allow it when they answer."

"That's fine," Ex shrugged. "I don't mind waiting, and I have a different strategy if we can't have a Horde Battle. So you'll contact them?"

"Not so fast," said the man. "You may have sparked my interest, but I do not grant favors freely. I shall contact the League-" he raised a finger "-on one condition."

Until the man standing before him had spoken his most recent sentence, he had only sounded like Giovanni, the respectable (if harsh) Gym Leader and businessman. At that last bit, he sounded like Boss Giovanni of Team Rocket.

"What condition?" Ex asked distrustfully.

"If the League allows us to have a Horde Battle and you lose," the man said heavily, as if there could be no other outcome, "then you must surrender your Silph Backpack and your Pokédex to me. My son would be able to put them to good use. And if the League does not allow it, you must battle me normally."

"Hey!" came the voice of Amber. Ex had forgotten about her until that moment. "That's not fair! He earned that backpack with his own money! And you can't take away his Pokédex, he needs that to be a Trainer!"

"He's asking me to put my Gym's reputation at risk, young lady," Giovanni reprimanded. "As well as my own. Even if no battle occurs, I might lose prestige by pestering the League with such a strange and frivolous request. I admit that the idea intrigues me personally, but involving the Elite Four brings the situation to a whole new order of magnitude. Furthermore-"

"I'll do it," Ex's brain interrupted, shocking Amber and surprising Giovanni.

"What?!" Amber blurted at the same time Giovanni said, "You will?"

Contrary to what either was probably thinking, Ex hadn't agreed out of stupidity, impulsivity, or even pride. "But I have a condition of my own."

Nor was it being done on a whim.

"If I win, you have to quit being a Gym Leader. Also, if the Horde Battle gets rejected by the League and we have a normal battle instead, you get my bag if I lose, but not my Pokédex."

The two stared at him, their expressions flipped. It was now Amber who was surprised, and Giovanni who was shocked.

And again, probably contrary to what either was thinking, Ex had put a lot of thought into this. Or rather, his brain had.

First and foremost, his brain had reasoned, multiple iterations of Giovanni have quit being Gym Leader after being defeated by the player character and/or Red. It happens in Gens I and III as well as in Origins. Might as well get him to dissolve Team Rocket NOW rather than later, if we can.

Second, he isn't a very good Gym Leader when you get down to it. He's too strong and too harsh on new Trainers. He doesn't have the right attitude for the job, even if he's an excellent Trainer himself.

And third, his brain finished, we can always get a new backpack. I've got a good strategy in mind for the Horde Battle, but we might lose an ordinary Gym battle.

But what if we lose the Horde Battle? Ex asked, worried at the prospect that there might be some rule about loss of Pokedex being equivalent to loss of Trainership. He didn't want to never be a trainer again.

If we can't beat him in a Horde Battle even with 'three business days' of preparation time, then I don't deserve to call myself a pokémon computer, his brain declared confidently. There are so many ways we can abuse this opportunity it isn't even funny. If we fail despite that, we don't deserve to be a Trainer.

Giovanni, who had been silently staring at him, chose that moment to burst into laughter. It was deep-throated and hearty, which surprised Ex almost as much as the laughter itself. If Giovanni was going to laugh at all, it should have been mocking, but it wasn't.

"I like it!" Giovanni declared. He was smiling widely. "This is just how it should be: the both of us putting our careers on the line for a battle the world has never seen before."

We've got him excited, Ex's brain observed. That's good. Maybe this will turn out to be one of the better versions of Giovanni – one that's NOT bent on world domination, only bent on being the 'World's Strongest Trainer'.

"Today is Monday," Giovanni continued. "Our battle shall commence at noon on Friday. That should give the League enough time to respond, and myself enough time to prepare. And I shall need something as collateral, so you do not run away without consequence."

Oh, his brain thought. I didn't think of that.

"Your bag shall do nicely," Giovanni smirked. "Give it to me, and the deal will be struck."

"But I need it to prepare," Ex argued. "And it already has some of the Items I need."

"You may remove your Items first." Giovanni shrugged. "But no collateral, no deal. Although I suppose we could engage in a normal battle instead, and if you impress me enough – by, say, managing to Faint one of my pokémon – we can skip the collateral. It is up to you."

Ex was tempted to say yes to the alternative. His brain pointed out that he could probably Faint Persian with his current team. Five Meowth, one Toxic, five Fake-Outs, and that restriction that prevents Gym Leaders from switching out their pokémon... yes, that would work. He wouldn't even need Protect to stall long enough. But he would need a Focus Sash to get the Toxic off in the first place, and that would mean...

"Fine," Ex's brain huffed. " I don't want to give my strategies away, so we'll go with the collateral."

Ex questioned the sense in just handing over his expensive bag to a crime boss, but his brain pointed out that he had recorded the entire conversation on his Pokédex, and he could show it to Officer Jenny or Professor Oak if the seemingly respectable Gym Leader Giovanni went back on his word.

"Just give me a second."

Ex quickly removed everything from his new backpack: his old backpack, his new Travel Kit, his thirteen Rare Candies, his five King's Rocks, his bag of Pokéchow, and the many Items his Meowth had gathered since his arrival in Viridian. It had been about two hours so far, so he already had about 40 new additions to his bag, almost none of which were Berries. He'd deposited the rest in Item Storage earlier, and now that he didn't have nigh-infinite bag space, he'd probably have to make regular trips to the Pokécenter to continue depositing his Items.

Giovanni raised an eyebrow at the pile of Items now scattered on his Gym's floor, but said nothing.

Ex put the rare Items into his original Basic Backpack, as well as his Pokédex, his Pokéchow, and the Pokéballs of his team. The Travel Kit could be worn on his back under the backpack. Everything else, he asked Amber to carry in his other old bag – the Deluxe Backpack – because it was bigger than his oldest backpack – the Basic Backpack. After he was finally organized, he held the Silph Backpack in front of him.

"Here," Ex said with some reluctance when all was done, but not quite said. "But I want your word that you'll give it back to me if I win whatever battle we end up having."

"I've already given it, and my word is my bond," said the man, accepting the bag. "By the by, have we met before?"

"No," Ex answered. How could they? He had only been in this world for seven days. "Not in person. I mean, I've seen you on a screen before-" technically true "-but not face-to-face. Why?"

"You look familiar," the man said. "But I can't recall from where."

Ex shrugged. "I'm sure I look like a lot of new Trainers. Maybe our faces are beginning to blend together."

"Perhaps," Giovanni shrugged. "Well. I have an email to write and a few phone calls to make."

"And I've got some work to do," Ex said. "I'll be back."

Giovanni nodded, then turned and departed into a back door in the Gym, the lights dimming as he left.

Cunning and Creativity

"Ex, that was insane," Amber said as soon as they left the Gym.

"Maybe," Ex shrugged. "But I think I can beat him."

"He's the strongest Gym Leader in Kanto!"

"He is," Ex agreed. "And his goal is to be the strongest Trainer in the world." Hopefully. "But that doesn't mean he's the smartest."

Though admittedly, he SHOULD be pretty smart, his brain pointed out. Using conventional standards of intelligence. But is he smart ENOUGH to counter a completely unfamiliar strategy? THAT'S the question.

"Of course he's smart!" Amber shot back. "He's a businessman on top of being a Gym Leader. He's a billionaire!*"

That begs the question of why he wanted my stuff, Ex thought.

His brain shrugged. Maybe he was being honest about collateral and prestige.

"Let me rephrase," Ex said out loud. "He's strong, but unless he's already encountered what I've got planned, I think I can beat him. Also, he might be smart, but I'm creative."

Or at least, I've seen plenty of creative strategies, he thought. I'm not sure how much of this is creativity on my part, and how much of it comes from other people.

His brain snorted. The Flawless Oran method was mostly us. And I'd say we've done a pretty good job of going from a naked kid waking up in an alley to a pokémon Trainer who made almost 300,000 pokédollars in six days. Some of that took some actual problem-solving, not just regurgitating what we already knew.

"How could being creative possibly help here?" Amber asked.

"You'd be surprised."

"His weakest pokémon is fifty-five levels higher than your strongest!"

"Yep," Ex said happily. "That's exactly why my strategy is going to work."

* I don't know if Giovanni's wealth is ever explicitly mentioned in any canon sources, but a billionaire in pokédollars is only a tens-of-millions-aire in our dollars. Still a lot, but not as ridiculous as it may initially sound. Maybe with all of Team Rocket's resources at his disposal, he might reach billionaire status by our standards, possibly making him a trillionaire by theirs, but that wouldn't be publicly known.

Unscrupulous Observation

The first call he made was not to the League. That would come in a moment.

"I have an assignment for you," he said into the phone.

"What is it?" asked the Team Rocket member he'd chosen, one of the Admins in charge of his underground Pay Day facility.

"There is a Trainer of interest currently leaving the Viridian City Gym. Place him under surveillance, but do not interfere with his actions or risk alerting him to your presence. Simply report what you observe."

"Understood. Distinguishing features?"

"He travels with a girl of white dress and green hair. He himself wears a Basic Trainer's Outfit, a Basic Backpack, and a Basic Travel Kit. His features are..."

Chapter over. A minor Challenge has been posted on the forum I've set up to handle challenges, and on the AO3 version of this story, replacing this author's note. Links are on my profile page. I doubt this roundabout method will be as engaging as chapter 16's challenge when it first came out, but terms of service are terms of service. No "interactive" entries.

Also: Ex vs. Giovanni will probably happen two chapters from now. Next chapter will be Ex's prep work and introducing the next actual challenge. Just saying this now so readers aren't disappointed when the conflict isn't immediately resolved next upload.