Ray had been there before, but Castelia City was just as overwhelming to him the second time around. Long, wide streets stretched from one side of the city to the other, accommodating people and vehicles alike. Skyscrapers loomed overhead, no matter what direction Ray looked. It was easy to get lost in the rush.
Ray decided that he didn't like the city as much as he'd thought he would. There were too many people. Even just a handful of people noticing him because of the egg poking out of his bag made him uncomfortable.
"I gotta catch a boat in a few days," Stanley said, leading them down the street. "But I can come with you guys to Nimbasa. If you want." He blushed.
"I don't see why not," Juniper said.
They made their way north through the city—they were just passing through, after all. Since the street they were on closed ahead because of some sort of traffic accident, they turned onto a new street going in the same direction. Each side of the street was lined with immense buildings, from apartment complexes to huge entertainment centers. Fortunately, the sidewalk wasn't crowded with people; it was the middle of Thursday, and most people were working.
"Is that a Gym?" Gabe said, gazing at a particularly big and bright building ahead. Some panels on the front acted like a giant television screen, flashing ads about Castelia City and the Unova Pokémon League. The front side at street level consisted entirely of panes of glass tinted too dark to see through.
"Yes, it is," Juniper confirmed.
"Wanna check it out?" asked Stanley.
"Ray's gonna get all the badges! We're gonna hit all the Gyms."
"Sounds like a plan," Stanley said.
The interior was as colorful and modern as the outside. People stood around and sat on benches and at tables inside the expansive lobby, doing everything from watching television screens to playing board games. The screens were broadcasting a Pokémon battle.
"The Castelia Gym is like the city's community center," Juniper explained. "Those TVs are showing the current Gym match."
"Let's get a closer look," Stanley said.
On the TV, a man that could have been twice Ray's age grinned.
"The battle is almost over, either way," came his gravelly voice through the speakers. The man lobbed a ball and let out a Golem. A group of people watching the battle unfold cheered the challenger on.
The camera turned to his opponent, Castelia's Gym Leader. His bright outfit stood out against the greenery in the background. A smile was on his face—not a vain or smug one, but a thrilled one.
"I would like to switch my Pokémon, then," he said, withdrawing a Pokémon not shown by the camera. He let out a purple, wheel-shaped bug Pokémon. A yellow eye glared at the camera.
"Ah, Burgh's Whirlipede," Juniper said. "I took some samples from that Pokémon. It's really energetic."
"Oh, that's right," Stanley said. "His name's Burgh."
"He's the bug-type Gym Leader," Gabe recalled from memory. "It says here he's an artist, too." He was looking at the map of Unova, which doubled as a basic, general guide to the region.
The cheering people from before cried out in shock, drowning out the other noise in the huge room. Turning to the TV, Ray saw a beat-up Golem get withdrawn into its ball. The camera shifted to Burgh, who was hugging his Whirlipede. A score counter briefly displayed the score, one to three, and then the screen switched to television programming.
A few minutes later, the defeated man from the Gym battle entered the main room from a hallway. The people who had so excitedly watched his battle showered him with hugs and congratulations. Ray averted his eyes to avoid staring. He probably should have been watching the battle to formulate some strategy for his own battle against Burgh.
"You think we can challenge him now?" Gabe asked Juniper.
"He'll probably rest awhile," she replied, "but he always talks to people."
They walked down the hall they had seen the man come from, and found that it was labeled To Gym Grounds / Garden.
Secluded on the inside of the Gym building, the large, open garden was replete with all kinds of plants. Trees obstructed the view in most directions, just like the city did outside. An occasional Pokémon could be seen among the trees and flowers. Footpaths wound their way through, and Ray could just see a clearing in the center of the garden. He spotted Burgh's colorful, striped pants through some bushes, but didn't say anything. Hopefully, they would cross paths.
"Hey, Burgh!" Stanley said, not bothering with that at all.
"Hello? Where are you?" His pants turned from one side to the other as he looked around. He disappeared briefly, and then emerged on a footpath in plain sight. "Oh, there you are!" he said. "Why hello, Professor Juniper. I bet your friends here want to challenge me for the Insect Badge."
"Not me," Stanley said, turning to Ray.
"I would like to," Ray said shyly.
"Well, it doesn't bug me at all, but you've gotta let my Pokémon catch a break from the last battle!" he said. "Here, let's walk for a bit." He turned to a path that, like the rest, disappeared into the garden.
"This building was recently remodeled," Burgh said, kicking off the conversation. "I'm glad they kept the garden the way it is." He led the way down the path with his hands in his pockets. "What brings you here?" he asked, glancing back at Ray and Gabe.
"We're from Hoenn," Gabe said. "We're gonna see the Science Festival thing in Nimbasa City."
"I live in Hoenn, too," Stanley said, "but I used to live in Johto. I came over here to check out the art exhibits and Professor Juniper's lab."
"Pleasure to meet you," Burgh trailed off. The colorfully-dressed Gym Leader turned around suddenly, smiling ruefully. "I can't believe it! I never got your names! I don't know what's wrong with me today. You'll just have to forgive me this one time."
After everyone had introduced themselves, the walk through the garden continued.
"I noticed an egg in your bag, Ray," Burgh went on. "Where'd you get it?"
"Unova just opened their fossil program," Gabe said. "He—"
"I got it because they knew me from the program in Hoenn," Ray interrupted. Gabe always answered things for him. Ray was starting to feel self-conscious about it. "I have an Anorith that came from a fossil."
"Wow, that's cool," Burgh said. "That kind of science is beyond my comprehension, but it sounds incredible nonetheless."
"It gives me a spin, sometimes, too," Juniper said.
"Anyway," Gabe said, "we don't know what's in the egg."
"I'd like it that way," Burgh said, falling into step beside Ray to look at the egg. "It's more fun that way."
Eventually, the path reached the clearing in the center of the garden. Like Ray had guessed, it was really the Gym's battlefield. A TV camera setup stood on one of the sidelines. Benches ringed the clearing, allowing easy observation of the battle.
"The battle is three-on-three. You ready, Ray?" Burgh said, taking one side of the arena. "I may have just fought one of these battles, but I'm confident in my Pokémon. I know they're ready to go!"
"Yeah, I'm ready," Ray said. Gabe, Juniper, and Stanley all retreated to the same bench to watch the battle.
"Good luck!" Stanley said.
Two men—one behind the camera, and the other manning the boom microphone—signaled with a thumbs-up that the battle was ready to begin, too.
"Let's get straight to it, then!" Burgh said, tossing the first Pokémon into battle. "Go, Dwebble!"
At first, it looked like Burgh had sent out a good-sized rock to do battle. But before Ray could think of anything to say, an orange Pokémon poked its head out of the rock. Ray wondered to himself why he hadn't studied some of the Unova Pokémon. He was diving into battles unprepared.
"Okay, Spolt," he said to the Poké Ball, "you can do it." He tossed the ball in.
Spolt, who hadn't been outside its ball since the flight over the Skyarrow Bridge, was full of energy and became even more energetic when it found itself opening a Gym battle. It immediately crouched down, ready for anything.
"This is going to be great," Burgh declared. "Okay, Dwebble! Let's get 'em quickly with Rock Blast!"
"Keep running!" Ray commanded. "Dodge it first!"
Spolt sprinted down the arena as the Dwebble began launching rocks through the air. The Manectric tried to make a beeline for its opponent, but a low-flying rock hit its legs and bowled it over. The tiny camera crew moved to get a dramatic angle of the action.
"Get up!" Ray urged. Spolt got up and dashed towards Burgh's Dwebble.
"Wow, that Manectric's real cool," Stanley said. "It's so hyper."
"It's because he hasn't discharged electricity in a while," Gabe said.
"So, Gabe," Juniper said, "I'm curious. Spolt was Ray's first Pokémon, right?"
"Yeah. We were little kids. Ray's dad told him it was an electric Pokémon, and Ray got so excited. He wanted to name it Spark or Jolt, and he couldn't decide, so he just put 'em together."
They watched as Ray gave Spolt another command. Spolt obeyed without hesitation, but it wasn't blind obedience. It was trust. Spolt jumped into the air, dodging more rocks. The Dwebble stopped shooting them, and started flinging sand in self-defense.
"Do you know this scientist guy named Professor Greene? He's the one who gave Ray Felsin."
"I can't say I know him. He's in charge of the fossil program in Hoenn, right?"
"Yeah. He has an Anorith, too, named Terrin. He was taking care of Felsin, too, but then he gave it to Ray."
"Interesting. I'll have to meet him sometime." Juniper wrote a quick note in her C-Gear, then continued watching the Gym battle.
"Woo!" Gabe cheered. Spolt had kicked the Dwebble into the air, nearly dislodging it from its rocky shell.
"Now use your electricity! Thunderbolt!" Ray cried. The familiar guilty feeling came when Spolt essentially electrocuted its opponent, but was quickly displaced by pride and then focus.
The Dwebble refused to get up, securing Ray his first point in the batle.
"I see," Burgh said, his hand on his chin. "I can already tell that this battle is going to be a real challenge! I will take it as it comes! Leavanny can do it!"
The leafy Pokémon that came out immediately readied itself for battle, raising its sharp-looking arms in anticipation.
"You know what to do!" Burgh said. "Leaf Blade and Razor Leaf all the way!"
Spolt was immediately barraged with flying leaves that had the potential to inflict cuts. Caught unprepared, a good amount made contact before Spolt could get out of the way.
"Okay, same thing! You can do it!" Ray encouraged.
A common tactic Ray used was to dodge the opponent's moves until Spolt was close enough to land a strong attack. The closer it was, the stronger the electric power.
But Leavanny derailed that plan by swiping at Spolt with its blade-like arms whenever it got too close. Spolt backed away, glancing at Ray for the next command.
"Electrocute it!" Ray yelled. He could barely handle seeing Spolt get cut up by this annoying bug.
Spolt and the Leavanny both attacked at once. The Leaf Blade attack made contact with Spolt just as it discharged electricity.
"Wow!" Burgh cried. "I can feel the static in the air!"
When the sparks stopped flying, both Pokémon were down and ready to be removed from battle. Ray withdrew Spolt from afar, almost mentally apologizing to his defeated partner. He always felt sorry, no matter how cheerful Spolt was afterward.
But the Leavanny suddenly got up, ready for more fighting. Burgh clapped his hands together.
"That's the spirit!" he said.
Speechless, Ray sent out Dax. At first, it looked surprised to be in a Gym battle again, but it quickly focused on its opponent. The Leavanny was too exhausted to attack immediately, but it moved away warily.
"Ah, a Houndoom," Burgh said. "Do your best, Leavanny."
It didn't seem to have much will left, though. Dax circled it, flicking its black tail back and forth.
"Flamethrower!"
"Get it!"
Both commands were executed at once. Dax let out a stream of fire, which collided with the charging Leavanny. The flame was the last straw, and the leafy Pokémon was down for good.
"You gave 'em your best," Burgh said quietly to his defeated Pokémon.
"Woohoo!" cheered Gabe.
"You've got him now!" Stanley added.
Dax returned to Ray's side of the field. Ray knelt down and petted him, saying, "Only one more to go. You can do it."
"I refuse to be defeated without a struggle!" Burgh said, raising his voice. "Take him on, Whirlipede!"
"Here we go," Stanley said, watching the Whirlipede as it rolled from side to side.
"Okay, Dax," Ray said. "Ready—"
"Go straight at it!" Burgh cried.
The Whirlipede rushed forward at a startling speed, closing the distance between it and Dax in seconds. Dax dodged it without Ray's input, but the Whirlipede quickly made a wide turn and approached from the other side.
"Behind you!" Ray yelled, a few moments too late.
The collision knocked Dax to the other side of the Gym arena! Bits of sand flew up in a cloud as Dax landed and rolled on the ground. It was getting back up with a huff, but the Whirlipede was already closing in for another hit.
"Stop it with fire!" Ray ordered.
As soon as Dax let out some fire, the Whirlipede veered off and stopped its relentless rolling at a safe distance.
The match became a tricky matter of who would mess up first. Dax had to fend off the Whirlipede with fire, but also had to stop and let the flame recharge. The Whirlipede had to back up and get enough room to build up speed each time it turned away from a blast of fire.
"Dax!" Ray called, coming up with a dangerous idea. "Don't attack until it's real close!"
"Go as fast as you can!" Burgh countered.
Dax held its fire, allowing the Whirlipede to approach at a frightening velocity.
"Now!" Ray yelled.
Dax let out another Flamethrower attack just as the Whirlipede made contact. Instead of getting knocked in the air, Dax was hurled to the side; hitting fire had made the Whirlipede lose speed and balance. Now out of control, it sped by the camera crew and crashed into the low wall surrounding the garden clearing. Burnt and scraped, the Whirlipede settled on the ground and was motionless.
Burgh let out a gasp and ran to his Pokémon. Before reaching it, though, he stopped in his tracks. A hand went up to his mouth in shock.
"Whoa," Stanley said, standing up to see. "What's happening?"
"Oh," was all Juniper could say.
The Whirlipede was glowing white with some sort of energy. Ray had seen it happen a few times throughout his life, but it never failed to captivate him and leave him astounded. The Whirlipede was evolving.
Now nothing but vibrant white light, the Whirlipede's silhouette began to transform. Its size quickly doubled, quadrupled, and beyond in a matter of seconds. When the evolution was finished, it was more than eight feet tall and even longer than that from head to tail. It took a moment to get used to its four legs, then roared with a buglike voice.
"My Whirlipede! You're my Scolipede now!" Burgh cried to himself. He ran back to his place on one end of the battlefield. "You can do this! You can run him over with no problem, now!"
The Scolipede was still hurt from the battle, but it had clearly regained strength. Lumbering back to the arena, it looked down at Dax and narrowed its eyes. Dax trembled.
"It can't dodge as much now!" Ray told Dax.
The Scolipede tried to charge, but wasn't used to running instead of rolling. It plodded forward, and Dax evaded it with relative ease.
"You'll get the hang of it!" Burgh encouraged. "Get it with poison, too!"
"Flamethrower!" reminded Ray.
Dax got behind the sluggish Scolipede, aiming fire upwards at its body. The huge bug Pokémon turned astonishingly quickly, bending down and brushing Dax with the smaller forelegs on its new torso. Dax squirmed out of its clutches, but not before getting poisoned.
"Hurry, Dax! Before the poison gets you!"
Dax ran beneath the Scolipede—it could just barely fit under there—and aimed fire upwards at its belly. The Scolipede roared again and turned to find its assailant, but Dax was hiding from view by staying underneath its belly.
"Scolipede!" Burgh yelled. "Lie down!"
After a moment's confusion, it obeyed his orders. The Scolipede dropped onto its belly, resting the entire length of its body on the ground. Its sheer size was awe-inspiring, and Ray felt just a tiny bit of jealousy. He didn't have any big, tough Pokémon. But then he reminded himself that huge Pokémon carry their own burdens of responsibility. Not to mention that his Pokémon were strong.
Then he remembered what was happening. Dax was being crushed by an enormous bug.
"Dax! Are you okay?" Ray called.
No response. After a few tense moments, though, the Scolipede let out yet another roar in pain. It stood up in a rush, stampeding around the battlefield. Dax groaned weakly from beneath the Scolipede. Its horns were stuck onto the Scolipede's belly! The big bug stampeded around, trying to dislodge Dax, but the Houndoom continued to dangle helplessly. Ray could hear Gabe giggling on the sidelines, but Juniper was quick to silence him.
"Keep doing Flamethrower!" Ray ordered.
Burgh was frozen in place, not knowing what to do. His Pokémon wasn't used to its new form, and had two horns stuck in its side. Flames also harassed the poor thing.
"Roll over!" Burgh yelled in desperation.
The Scolipede toppled over, flinging Dax back towards Ray. Both Pokémon were back on their feet in seconds.
But the Scolipede was wobbling back and forth. Rolling over and getting up in a flash must have made it dizzy. With a thud that shook the ground, the Scolipede fell over and was down for good.
Burgh ran onto the arena, kneeling down and looking his Pokémon in the eye.
"Don't worry," he said. "This is new for both of us."
The Scolipede blinked its dark, yellow eyes a few times. Burgh returned it to its ball, and walked over to Ray.
"I bugged out," he said sheepishly. "I know how to fight with a Whirlipede, not a giant Scolipede. But that's no excuse. You deserved that victory." He held out a hand.
"Thanks," Ray said. He felt something slip into his hand during the handshake. It was a bright, green Unova badge.
"This is the Insect Badge," Burgh murmured. "You're only the second person this week to earn it."
"That was an amazing battle," Stanley said, walking up to them with Gabe and Juniper. "I was afraid something was gonna fly at us!"
"They insist that this arena holds up to League specs," Burgh said, glancing around. "It wasn't designed to hold an audience, as you can see from the TV cameras." He waved at the camera crew.
"I saved this battle to disc," the cameraman said. "Want a copy?" he asked Ray.
"Sure." Ray said, taking a CD.
"We have to go now, to keep on schedule," Juniper said, helping things along.
"Well, good luck on the rest of your journey," went Burgh. "My parting advice would be... to never forget that your Pokémon are like family. I think you know that, already. I'm off to 'talk' with my Scolipede, actually."
Everyone said goodbye, then Burgh walked off into the garden. Everyone else made their way to the big front entrance to the Gym building.
A small crowd of people ambushed Ray on the way out.
"Wow, the Scolipede sat on your Houndoom! That was pretty funny!"
"I like the way you think, son."
"You're going all the way, right? To the League?"
They were congratulating Ray on his battle! He wanted to savor the victory, but all the attention just made him want to disappear from sight.
"Let's get outta here," he muttered.
They had seen Burgh with his Scolipede in the city's big central park, but Juniper reminded them about their tightening timeframe. Ray did manage to give a passing wave, though.
On the road running north from Castelia City, Ray felt that there was enough room to let his Pokémon out. He congratulated Spolt and Dax with fierce hugs, and Gabe kept his Growlithe up to speed on current events. Ray let out Terral, too, who flew overhead and occasionally disappeared and reappeared.
Ray looked from Spolt and Dax in front of him, to Terral up in the sky. He remembered Felsin, who was stuck in its ball due to the lack of water anywhere nearby. He was part of the family, Ray told himself. He would find a rest spot with some water, somewhere, so he could be out with everyone else.
For the time being, though, no water was to be found, so Ray and everyone else kept on the move. They were finally headed to Nimbasa City.