"After a long trek through the Wild Area, Victor and Gloria, alongside Hop, finally make it to Hammerlocke. After a run in with some familiar faces, they learn more about the mysterious Darkness Day. Now, a new day has begun, and our heroes' journey continues once again…"
"The Silicobra That Could"
Outside an inn, Gloria watches as Victor swings an arm to the side, "Alright, Scorbunny, let's try it one more time."
"Scor!" Scorbunny calls out, before it jumps up and off a lamppost, then jumps off another, before jumping off a third and jumps off the first again, going back and forth across the three lamp posts. "Scor! Scor! Scor!"
"That's it, Scorbunny, faster!" Victor instructs.
"Scor! Scor!" Scorbunny continues to jump back and forth, seemingly getting faster.
"Wow, it's working…" Gloria says.
"Scor!" Scorbunny calls out, as it jumps off a lamppost, before crashing into the side of another and slides down the lamppost.
"Scorbunny!" Victor runs over to his Pokémon.
Gloria sighs, "Although, it needs to control its speed."
Victor picks up his Pokémon, "It's okay, Scorbunny, next step is learning control."
"Scor…" Scorbunny gives a small smile.
Gloria walks over, "Perhaps, we should start on our way to Stow-on-Side?"
Victor turns to her, "Yeah, you're right."
Victor and Gloria are walking out of Hammerlocke, as Gloria is looking through her backpack, "Okay, we seem to have plenty of everything we need, especially Antidote. Don't want to be caught without that, again."
"Right," Victor smiles.
"Will you look at that!"
Victor and Gloria stop and look ahead, to see Paul and Jean, with their backs to them, and looking down at something.
"It's like it's scared of its own shadow!" Jean yells.
"Sili…" a Silicobra in front of the two lowers its head and backs away from them.
"Is that a Pokémon?" Victor asks.
Victor's Rotom Phone flies up, "Silicobra, the Sand Snake Pokémon, It spews sand from its nostrils. While the enemy is blinded, it burrows into the ground to hide."
Paul and Jean's ears motion slightly, before they turn and see Victor, who is holding his Rotom Phone, and Gloria.
"Ah! It's that Gym Challenger who's wasting his time while Marnie will win!" Paul shouts.
"And that's not a Gym Challenger who's wasting her time while her friend's wasting his time!" Jean shouts.
"Sili…" Silicobra backs up some more.
Gloria sighs, "I definitely don't miss them."
"You are scaring that Silicobra, why don't you just leave it alone," Victor says.
"You're the one who needs to leave things alone!" Paul calls out, before he throws a Poké Ball. "Go, Linoone!"
"Yeah, stop wasting time as a Gym Challenger!" Jean calls out, before she throws a Poké Ball. "Go, Nickit!"
"Linoo!"
"Kit!"
"I guess we are doing this," Gloria says, as she and Victor hold up Poké Balls.
"Go, Scorbunny!"
"Go, Sobble!"
"Scor!"
"Sobbl!"
"Linoone, let's show them what's what! Use Pin Missile!" Paul yells.
"Nickit, let's show them what else what! Use Snarl!" Jean yells.
"Linoo!" Linoone shoots a barrage of needles from its back.
"Scorbunny, dodge Pin Missile and get close," Victor instructs.
"Scor! Scor!" Scorbunny runs left to right, as needles fire pass it.
"Kit! Kit! Kit! Kit!" Nickit yells repeatedly, with soundwaves flying off.
"Sobble, counter Snarl with Growl," Gloria instructs.
"Sobbl!" Sobble shouts, with the soundwaves dissipating before they could reach it.
"Hey! No fair cancelling out Snarl with Growl!" Jean yells.
"I don't believe I used an idea first used by Bede," Gloria thinks, as she thinks back to Bede's Hatenna singing, crowding out Scorbunny's shouting, before it starts to shiver and holds down its ears.
"Scor!" Scorbunny jumps up at Linoone.
"Linoone, Headbutt!" Paul yells out.
"Scorbunny, close range Ember!" Victor instructs.
"Linoo!" Linoone lunges forward.
"Scor!" Scorbunny fires a series of small fireballs from its mouth.
A small explosion blows back Linoone and Scorbunny, who lands a couple feet away, before watching each other.
The top of an umbrella taps the ground, "Okay, that's enough."
The Trainers and their Pokémon look to the side, to see an elderly woman with her umbrella.
"Hey! Who do you think you're to interrupt our battle!" Paul yells.
Suddenly, the woman stands immediately in front of Paul and Jean, looking down at them, "Do you want to… repeat that?"
"Hum, no, not at all!" Paul yells.
"You two got easy this time!" Jean yells at Victor and Gloria.
Paul and Jean pick up their Pokémon.
"Linoo?"
"Kit?"
"Until next time!" Paul and Jean yell, before they run far away.
"It's far too early to be so loud."
"Wait a minute…" Victor realizes. "You're Opal, are you? The Ballonlea Gym Leader.
She turns to him, "Yes, young man. And I recognize you from the opening ceremony. You were quite nervous, were you?"
"Hum, yes, ma'am," Victor blushes.
Opal immediately stands in front of Victor, who looks scared. "Don't call me ma'am!" She then stands back and smiles. "I'm far too young to be called something so old."
"Is that what the problem was…?" Gloria whispers, as she sweat drops.
"Anyway, I travel a lot, especially to Hammerlocke, so I often hear about a timid Silicobra," Opal explains.
"The Silicobra!" Victor realizes. "I almost forgot." He looked past Opal, but the Silicobra was nowhere in sight. "Its gone…"
Opal looks to where it was, "It must have ran off because of all the people. Poor dear."
"Yeah…" Victor says.
Victor and Gloria are walking down the route, with Gloria looking at her Rotom Phone.
"It looks like Opal is a Fairy-type Gym Leader, you won't have to battle her for some time, but it could help thinking about some kind of strategy," Gloria says, before looking over to her friend. "Do you think so?"
Victor keeps on looking ahead, as they continue to walk.
"Victor?" Gloria asks, before she waves her hand in front of his face. "Hello, Victor?"
Victor blinks his eyes, then looks over to his friend, "Oh, sorry, I guess I was lost in thought."
"No kidding," Gloria says. "What's on your mind?"
Victor looks back ahead, "It just, when I was little, I was very timid just like that wild Silicobra. The other kids even joked that I was scared of my own shadow."
"That sounds familiar," Gloria says. "So how did you get over it?"
"I've been thinking…" Victor looks up, slightly. "I just can't remember…"
"Sili!"
They look ahead to see the Silicobra is cowering against a tree and a couple berries, with a Greedent in front of it.
"Gree!" Greedent yells at Silicobra.
"Sili…" Silicobra looks over to its berries, before lowering its head and shakes it slightly.
"It's a Greedent," Gloria realizes.
"Greedent?" Victor responds.
Victor's Rotom Phone flies up, "Greedent, the Greedy Pokémon, Common throughout the Galar region, this Pokémon has strong teeth and can chew through the toughest of berry shells."
"Gree!" Greedent yells at Silicobra.
"Sili…"
"I think it wants Silicobra's berries," Gloria guesses.
"Not if we can help," Victor holds up a Poké Ball, before throwing it. "Let's go, Pikachu!"
"Pika!" Pikachu jumps forward, with Greedent jumping back.
"Gree!" Greedent jump up and down toward Pikachu.
"Pikachu, use Quick Attack to dodge Body Slam!" Victor calls out.
"Pika!" Pikachu runs out of the way as Greedent slams down onto the ground, and then charges into Greedent, knocking it to the side.
"Gree!" Greedent gets up onto its feet.
"Pika," Pikachu, on all four, watches Greedent.
Suddenly, a berry falls down from a nearby tree next to Greedent, "Gree!" Greedent happily takes the berry and then runs away. "Gree!"
"Pika?" Pikachu looks on, confused.
"Good job, Pikachu," Victor approaches his Pokémon.
"Pika!" Pikachu smiles, before it and Victor look over to Silicobra.
"Are you okay, Silicobra?" Victor asks.
"Sili…" Silicobra looks from Victor to Pikachu.
"Pika," Pikachu smiles.
"Sili!" Silicobra spins around and slithers away.
"Okay then…" Victor says.
"You know you're not doing it any favors by keeping on rescuing it," Gloria approaches her friend.
"What do you mean?" Victor looks over his shoulder.
"By saving it every time, Silicobra will never be able to get over its fears," Gloria tells him.
Victor looks away from her and downward.
Later, Victor, Gloria, and their Pokémon are gathering around a table, with Scorbunny handing a plate to Victor, "Thank you, Scorbunny."
"Scor," Scorbunny rubs the back of its head, as Victor places the plate into his backpack.
Gloria puts her backpack on, "Okay, that everything. Everyone ready to go?"
All the Pokémon nod their heads.
"Sili!"
"What was that?" Gloria asks, before Victor looks to the side and then runs off, with Gloria following after him. "Victor!"
The Pokémon give chase after their Trainers.
They all reach a clearing to see Paul and Jean standing in front of a tree, with Silicobra hanging onto the tree's branch, seemingly panicking.
"Look at that! Caught in a tree and terrified!" Paul calls out.
"How did you get caught up there?! Saw a Rattata and jumped too high!" Jean yells, with her and Paul laughing.
"Not this again, this is getting old…" Gloria lowers her shoulders.
"This… seems familiar," Victor says, softly, before his eyes widen.
A five years old Victor looks up at a tree to see a Pidgey stuck between a couple tree branches, unable to pull itself free, with one wing pinned.
"Pidg! Pidg!"
The branch connected to all the branches holding Pidgey starts to break slowly, with Pidgey hanging over a river.
Victor looks up at the tree, scared, before looking away, with his eyes closed.
"Pidg! Pidg!"
Victor looks back up at the tree and then has to take a breath, before starting to climb the tree. His foot slips slightly on the tree's trunk, with Victor freezing up.
"Pidg! Pidg!"
Victor looks back up to see Pidgey continuing to struggle to free itself, as the branch breaks more. Victor then pulls himself up, managing to reach the top of the tree. He starts to reach for the Pidgey.
"Pidg! Pidg!" Pidgey continues to panic.
"It's okay… I'm not gonna hurt you…" Victor says, kinda weakly.
Pidgey stops panicking and moving, and looks up to Victor. Victor reaches for Pidgey, pulling the branches apart slightly, and pulls Pidgey out, with the branch finishes breaking off and falls into the river.
"Pidg! Pidg!" Pidgey flies up, happily, circling around the young Victor, before hovering in front of him. "Pidg!"
Victor smiles.
"I… faced my fears…" Victor realizes.
Gloria looks over to her Pokémon, "Alright, Sirfetch'd, let's…"
"No," Victor holds out an arm in front of them.
"Sir, fetch?"
"Victor…?" Gloria looks to her friend.
"You're right, Silicobra needs to face its fears on its own," Victor says, without looking away from the scene before them.
Jeans looks over to the side, seeing Victor, Gloria, and their Pokémon, "Hey! Look who it is! The Gym Challenger and not a Gym Challenger!"
Paul looks over, "Hey! Are you gonna try and interfere with us, like you try to interfere with Marnie's Gym Challenge!"
Gloria sighs, "We don't try to interfere with her, it's you who try to interfere with others…"
"We don't need to interfere, Silicobra could defend itself," Victor responds.
"Sili…?" Silicobra looks over to him.
"You gotta be kidding!" Paul yells. "This scary Skitty?!"
"You don't know what you're talking about!" Jean yells. "But we do know what we're talking about!"
"Go, Linoone!" Paul throws a Poké Ball.
"Go, Nickit!" Jean throws a Poké Ball.
"Linoo!"
"Kit!"
Linoone jumps ahead and headbutts Pikachu, "Pika!"
"Pikachu!" Victor calls out.
"Scor!"
"Squir!"
"Toxe."
"Hold it," Victor says, stopping his Pokémon from running over. "If they keep it one on one, so will us. Besides, Pikachu got this. Right?"
"Pika," Pikachu looks over to its Trainer and nods.
"Sili…" Silicobra looks over to them.
"Kit!"
"Sili!" Silicobra feels the branches shake, before looking down to see Nickit hitting the tree trunk with its paws.
"Alright, Linoone, it's payback time, use Pin Missile!" Paul yells.
"Linoo!" Linoone shoots a barrage of missiles from its back.
"Pikachu, stay still," Victor instructs.
"Pika," Pikachu plants itself on all four.
"Ah! You finally realized the futility of fighting back and giving up!" Paul yells.
Victor covered his ears from Paul's yelling, before removing his hands, "We're not giving up. Pikachu, now, jump straight up."
"Pika!" Pikachu jumps straight up, as the missiles hit the ground where it was.
"Linoo!" Linoone calls out, before looking up to see Pikachu, in midair, smirking.
"Pikachu, use Electro Ball!" Victor instructs.
"Pika!" Pikachu calls out, as a ball of electricity forms on its tail. "Pika pika pika pika pika…"
"Not gonna happen! Linoone, use Pin Missile, again!" Paul shouts.
"Linoo!" Linoone shoots a barrage of missiles from its back.
Pikachu whips its attack, launching the ball of electricity. "Pika-chu!"
The ball of electricity collides with the barrage of missiles, creating a large explosion.
Linoone looks straight up, smirking, as the smoke starts to dissipate.
"Quick Attack!"
"Pika!" Pikachu comes straight down through the smoke, at a breakneck speed.
"Linoo!" Linoone sweat drops.
"Pika!" Pikachu slams against Linoone, knocking it back.
"Linoo…" Linoone lands, with its eyes whirling.
"Linoone, not again!" Paul yells.
"Sili…" Silicobra watches, before the tree shakes, with Silicobra loses its hold and falls off the tree. "Sili…"
Silicobra looks ahead to see Nickit, "Kit."
"Pika…" Pikachu starts to motion forward.
"Pikachu, wait," Victor says, stopping his Pokémon. "It's gonna be okay. Right, Silicobra."
"Sili…" Silicobra looks over to him.
"He's right, Silicobra, you can do it," Gloria says, causing Silicobra to look over to her and the other Pokémon.
"Scor!"
"Squir!"
"Sobbl!"
"Or, beet!"
"Sir! Fetch!"
"Toxe!"
"Pika!"
"Sili…"
"Enough of that noise!" Jean yells, with Silicobra looking over to her and her Pokémon. "C'mon, Nickit, let's show them who's who!"
"Kit!"
"Use Assurance!"
"Kit!" Nickit starts running ahead.
"You can do it, Silicobra!" Victor calls out.
"Sili…" Silicobra closes its eyes, before it spins around. "Sili!"
Silicobra's tail hits Nickit, sending it far back, "Kit!"
"What's that attack?" Gloria asks, as she walks up to Victor.
"I think it was Brutal Swing," Victor realizes.
Silicobra opens its eyes and looks ahead, seeing Nickit getting back up next to Jean, "Sili…"
"That was just a lucky hit, Nickit, Assurance, again, this time, watch out for its tail!" Jean yells.
"Kit! Kit!" Nickit runs ahead.
"Sili… Sili!" Silicobra slams its tail onto the ground, causing the ground around it to shake with Nickit stops running and falls down.
"And that was Bulldoze…" Victor realizes.
"Kit… Kit!" Nickit gets back up and jumps straight at its opponent.
"Sili!" Silicobra spins around, slamming its tail against Nickit, knocking it far back.
"Kit…" Nickit lands on the ground, with whirling eyes.
Jean picks up Nickit as Paul walks over with Linoone in his arms, "This is it for now!"
"Yeah, and next time you better not interfere!" Jean adds, as she and Paul start running away.
"Especially with Marnie!" Paul adds.
"We didn't interfered this…" Gloria starts, before she lowers her shoulders. "Aw, what the point."
Victor and his Pokémon walk over to Silicobra.
"That's a great job, Silicobra," Victor says.
"Pika, pika," Pikachu bumps its fists.
"Scor, Scor," Scorbunny punches the air.
"Squir," Corvisquire nods its head.
"Toxe!" Toxel waves its hands.
"Sili…" Silicobra moves back slightly, before quickly slithering through the tall grass.
"I guess it's still afraid," Gloria says, as Victor rubs the back of his head.
"It gonna take some time to get its courage up," Victor looks over to his friend, smiling. "But it's a good first start."
Victor and Gloria are walking through the route, with Gloria looking at her Rotom Phone.
"Starting onward to Stow-on-Side, our heroes help a Pokémon find its courage. Now, our heroes continue to Victor's next Gym Badge. What could be next?"
After Victor and Gloria pass a tree, the Silicobra peeks out from behind the tree, and with them some distance away, Silicobra starts to slowly follow after them.
"Find out, as the journey continues…"