Chapter 16: Grace to Gracie!
"She's really okay, Nurse Joy?" Lyla asked as Nurse joy held out a tray with two Pokéballs on it.
"The Eevee? Yes, she's perfectly fine! She passed her health check-up with flying colors: no illnesses, no deficiencies, no injuries, nothing! She's just as healthy as the others," Nurse Joy assured.
"That's good. I wonder why the cold water only affected her pigments…"
"Cold water?"
"Her egg fell into a freezing cold stream but I rescued it before it could kill her. Eevee are normally brown, right? I think that cold water is the reason for her light fur…"
"Well, I think that's just a coincidence, dear. Very rarely, some Pokémon are born with slight variations. This one just happens to be a different color. I think it was a genetic error, not a result of being exposed to cold water."
"Really?"
"I believe so. Consider yourself lucky that you have such a special Pokémon! And what a lovely ball she's in, by the way!"
"Thank you! It was found at the bottom of the ocean!"
"Excuse me, are you sure that you haven't seen a boy with a tattoo on his neck today?" Eziray suddenly interrupted.
"No, dear. I already told you, I saw him yesterday when he dropped off his Bayleaf, who is still here mind you," Nurse Joy replied with a frown.
"That's the fifth time you've asked, Ez," Lyla said with a sigh.
"I'm sorry! I just don't understand why he wouldn't be here by now! We agreed to meet at the Pokémon Center 'first thing in the morning,' didn't we?"
"Yes, Eziray. We did. But to normal people, 'first thing in the morning' means right when you wake up. But you see, it's six AM and normal people haven't woken up yet unless they have to go to school or to work!"
"Sorry, but after that battle yesterday and our encounter with Team Magma and Team Aqua, I'm pumped! I know I can win this gym battle and I'm tired of waiting!"
But to Eziray's disappointment, Noah kept them waiting for quite a while. They sat around, twiddling their thumbs, until about ten AM when he finally came in to pick up his Bayleaf. Eziray pounced on him immediately.
"Where have you been?" she demanded.
"Um. Sleeping?" he said, completely surprised by her behavior.
"You're lucky I waited for you! We've been here for like four hours and I'm so pumped for this battle!"
"And I'm pumped to see it!"
"Well Aiden and I are kinda pumped for breakfast…" Lyla said meekly.
"We don't have time for that!" Eziray exclaimed as her Pokémon crowded around her and Gracie's belly grumbled.
"Are you sure we can't eat first, Ezzie?" the Psychic-type asked innocently.
"Of course we can!" Eziray exclaimed, picking up her Pokémon and rocking it in her arms.
"Oh Eziray, how unpredictable you are…" Lyla trailed off with a sigh.
The trainers exited the Pokémon Center and headed to the nearest café with all of their Pokémon. The trainers took a seat at a big table and Skitty went over to hop into Lyla's lap but Eevee was already there so she sighed and took a seat on the floor with the other Pokémon. Eziray scooped up Gracie, set her in her lap and announced that it was the Ralts' first ever gym battle. The others applauded and wished the little Psychic-type luck.
"Aww, shucks guys!" Gracie said, blushing slightly.
When the food arrived, Mudkip was the first to finish his and immediately moved on to Combusken's but the Fire-type knocked him into the wall for even trying to snatch his food.
"Mya…" Skitty trailed off as the two began to quarrel and disrupt everyone else.
"Mudkip, return…" Lyla trailed off, calling back the mischievous little Water-type.
Meanwhile, Charo kept dumping portions of his food into Baby's bowl. He insisted on giving Baby some of his food so that she would have plenty of energy for her battle that day. Baby, however, could barely even finish her own food so the two began to argue over what was best for her. While that was going on, Eevee was just staring at her food and wouldn't touch it for some reason.
"What's the matter, Eevee?" Lyla asked as the Normal-type stuck up her nose.
"I don't think she likes it…" Noah trailed off.
"Why? What's wrong with it? All the other Pokémon like it."
"Eh…" Eevee grunted, pushing the food away.
"Why couldn't we all have nice, behaved Pokémon like Noah's," Lyla mumbled, watching as all four of Noah's Pokémon sat and ate their food quietly.
"That would be too boring," Eziray said as she set her glass of milk on the ground for Skitty.
"I guess you're right," Lyla said, staring at Mudkip's ball with admiration.
"Done," Noah said, dropping his fork on the plate in front of them.
Lyla looked around and realized that everyone else was done except her, even Skitty.
"Come on Lyla, shovel!" Eziray exclaimed playfully.
"Don't rush me!" Lyla whined, gulping down the rest of her food as quickly as possible.
When she was finished, they paid their bill and headed out to the Dewford Island Gym where Brawly was patiently awaiting them.
"Hey dudes! I was wondering when you'd get here! I have a little bit of bad news though…" Brawly trailed off as the trainers arrived.
"WHAT?" Eziray demanded, worried about her gym battle.
"Well the battle I had yesterday was wicked rough and I can't use my gym arena until it's all fixed up…"
"So that means I can't challenge you today?"
"Nah, that just means we have to battle somewhere else!"
"On the beach?"
"Nah, we're gonna head over to my private training place. One of my students is already waiting for us there. She's going to be our ref."
"Awesome! Lead the way!"
Eziray and the others followed Brawly to the beach and walked along it for a ways until they reached the mouth of a rather large cave. He entered it and led them through a door which brought them to a weight room. They continued through the weight room until they reached another door. Brawly opened it.
"This is the battle field we'll be using today, Eziray," he said as they entered the room and he flipped a switch. Several lights around the room powered on, revealing a rocky battlefield of stone which was surrounded by a moat filled with large, jagged rocks. At the center of the battlefield was a small circle with a line through it and small holes were scattered about it. Around the moat was another area of stone where the spectators could stand and watch.
"This is a lot different than Roxanne's gym…" Lyla trailed off.
"Gym leaders can do whatever they want with their fields, Lyla. Something like this is pretty typical, but I am curious to see what sort of advantage the water will give him. And what's with the holes?" Aiden said.
"I dig it. I just hope that his usual battlefield isn't ready by tomorrow 'cause I'd like to try this one out," Noah said.
Brawly and Eziray positioned themselves on long stone platforms that extended over the moat from the stone area where the spectators stood. Brawly's referee also positioned herself along the sidelines; she was a young girl, about as old as the trainers, and she had long blue hair that was tied back into a messy pony tail. She was wearing navy blue, heavy-duty gloves, red spandex pants with navy blue elastic and a matching spandex top that was short enough to reveal her entire mid-section.
"Alright," she announced, holding up a green flag in one hand and a red flag in the other. "Each side will use two Pokémon and only the challenger will be allowed to substitute. If both sides are ready, then the battle may now commence!"
"Machop, I choose you!" Brawly exclaimed, sending out a burly little blue Pokémon.
Without saying anything, Noah held up what looked to be a Pokédex. His looked more like a flip-phone and it even had a cell phone antennae branching off from it.
"I guess Pokédexes are different in every region then," Lyla thought.
"Machop, the Superpower Pokémon: Machop have muscles that never tire no matter how much they exercise and they have enough strength to throw one hundred average-sized adults," Noah's Dex informed.
"One-hundred adults? Better watch out, Ez. Machop seems like a force to be reckoned with…" Lyla said to herself.
"Alright and I choose Baby!" Eziray exclaimed, sending out her Dratini.
"Woah! Never seen one of those in Hoenn before! Aren't they supposed to be like really rare?" Brawly asked as he admired Baby.
"That's what I've heard," Eziray said with a wide grin.
"I'm looking forward to watching her battle then!"
"Alright, you asked for it! Baby, let's start it off with Twister!"
Baby whipped her tail around and around, creating a small cyclone that Machop didn't even try to dodge; it whirled him around a few times and sent him tumbling back a bit but he managed to get right back up on his feet as if he were getting back onto a surfboard.
"His endurance is high, Baby, so let's hit him again with a stronger Twister!"
This one didn't do much better and neither did the next one or even the next one; Machop just kept getting back up as if it were nothing.
"…Are we missing or what?" Eziray asked.
"I don't get it! He has to be taking some damage," Lyla said, cocking her head.
"It's like he's just absorbing the impact or something…" Noah trailed off.
"I guess all that surfing does make a difference," Eziray thought to herself. "Brawly's Pokémon are able to absorb physical attacks without taking much damage I guess…"
"Getting tired?" Brawly asked.
"No! We're just getting started! Baby, use Dragon Rage!"
"Dodge it Machop! Then use Karate Chop"
Baby opened her mouth and created a large fiery orb that she then sent at her opponent but Machop was able to jump out of the way and avoid it with ease. And as soon as he landed, he literally hit the ground running and struck Baby across the face with the side of his hand. As she flew back, she wrapped her tail around his wrist and then used it as leverage to prop herself up and hit him with Dragon Rage.
"Good job, Baby!" Eziray praised.
Machop tried to rub his scorched face but Baby was in the way so he swung his arm back and smashed a boulder with her body to get her off.
"Ouch," Lyla whined. "Is she gonna be okay?"
"It looks like she's getting up," Aiden assured.
"That's it, Baby, you've got this!" Eziray encouraged.
A low rumbling sound began and Machop immediately positioned himself over one of the holes at the center of the field, facing Baby.
"What's happening?" Eziray wondered out loud.
"You all wanted to know about the water right? Well you're about to find out! Machop, get ready with Cross-Chop" Brawly exclaimed.
"Maaah!" Machop exclaimed, crossing its arms in front of its body as they began to glow.
"I don't think so! Baby, use Dragon Rage!"
Baby fired yet another Dragon Rage at Machop and at that moment, a geyser shot off beneath Machop and sent him flying right through her Dragon Rage, allowing him to absorb some of the energy of Dragon Rage into his own attack. Before Baby could react, he was blasted right into her and uncrossed his arms to release all the energy and blow her back with great force.
"That was wicked, Machop! Now use Seismic Toss!"
Before Baby could get up, Machop had his hand gripped around her tail and he began to swing her around and around. When he finally released, she was thrown straight into a wall and she bounced off of the stone bellow and into the moat.
"This isn't looking very good…" Lyla trailed off.
"Yeah…Brawly's sure a lot tougher than Roxanne was," Noah added.
"It's not over yet though," Aiden said with a smile. "Eziray's tough too."
"Hey! How are you holding up down there, Baby?" Eziray called, peering into the moat.
"Oooah…" Baby whined, poking her head up through the water.
"Well, at least you're still conscious, right?"
"Oooo!" Baby muttered with a sigh as she ducked back down into the water.
"Hey Machop, get on down to where the action is!"
"Mah!" Machop exclaimed with a nod before leaping off the edge and landing on a flat stone platform in the middle of the moat.
"Machop may know how to surf, but he can't swim anywhere near as well as a Dratini can!" Eziray exclaimed. "Baby, use Twister! As much as you can!"
Baby began to whip up twisters as quickly as she could but Machop took a sideways stance on the stone and rocked back and forth to dodge them as if he were controlling a surfboard. Eventually there was a pause and everyone assumed that Baby was getting tired, but then, suddenly, a Twister came at Machop from behind so he abandoned the rock and jumped into the water to avoid it.
"Perfect!" Eziray exclaimed. "Now use Thunderwave!"
The entire moat lit up with bright electrical energy and Machop didn't really take any damage but he felt his body become tingly and he knew that he might have difficulty moving now.
"So she was just trying to get him into the water then, huh?" Noah realized with a grin. "Then she could use the water to amp that Thunderwave."
"I told you she's good," Aiden said with a smirk.
"YAY EZIRAY!" Lyla cheered.
"Now let's finish this up! Use Wrap!"
Machop slowly pulled itself out of the water and onto the rock, but it wasn't long before Baby slithered up onto it with him and wrapped her body around his. She began to constrict and Eziray was about to call her final move, but Machop's muscles began to tense as he fought against her squeezing. Baby tried to keep a grip on him, but he was just too strong; he managed to break free and wrap his arms around her.
"Sorry, Eziray, but I don't think Baby's gonna win this one! Machop, use Seismic Toss!"
Machop jumped high up into the air, at an angle so that he was up over the stone field again, and then he began to somersault down with great force until he smashed Baby into the rocky ground below them.
"The Dratini is unable to battle!" the ref announced, waving her red flag. "Machop wins!"
"Baby, return!" Eziray exclaimed, calling her back. "Alright, Gracie! I'm counting on you!"
"I'll do my best!" the Ralts exclaimed, telepathically, as she popped out of her ball.
"Woah, radical! A Psychic-type? Gnarly match-up. This is gonna be one hot battle!" Brawly exclaimed.
"Yep! Gracie, use Confusion!"
Gracie nodded and threw up her arms, sending the Machop flying back into some of the rocky pillars that extended from the moat.
"Maa-cha! Maa-cha!" the Machop grunted, desperately flailing in midair for a moment before successfully taking hold of the nearest pillar so that he wouldn't fall into the water below. He sighed with relief and then suddenly noticed that Gracie had somehow made her way to the pillar next to his.
"Karate Chop!"
Using all of his upper-body strength, the Fighting-type flung himself up and landed at the tip of Gracie's pillar, readying his hand for Karate Chop.
"Confusion again, Gracie!"
Gracie jumped back to the next pillar while she controlled both of Machop's arms, forcing him to chop away at the pillar on which he was standing.
"Maah," he cried, desperately trying to control himself. It was no use; the pillar quickly broke away beneath him and he fell straight down to the moat, landing on his back on the stone platform. Before he could get up, Gracie was already using Confusion to bury him alive with the rubble from the broken pillar.
"Chaa…" the Machop groaned, barely managing to pull itself out of from beneath the rocks. Gracie was already back on the battle arena, awaiting further orders.
"Alright let's finish him off with one more Confusion attack!"
Using Confusion, Gracie bounced Machop from on rock pillar to another, back and forth until he was back up on the battle arena as well. When she finally dropped him on the ground, he was out cold.
"Machop is unable to battle, the Ralts wins!" the ref announced, holding up a flag.
"Machop, return!" Brawly exclaimed as he called back his fallen Pokémon. "Not bad! But let's see if you can handle this guy! Hariyama, let's go!"
Brawly threw a ball into the air, releasing an enormous, sumo wrestling-looking Pokémon that made the ground tremble slightly as it walked.
"Hariyama, the Arm Thrust Pokémon: Hariyama is the evolved form of Makuhita. It enjoys challenging others to tests of strength and it has the power to stop a train with one mighty slap of its palm," Eziray's Pokédex informed.
"Hariyama?" Lyla asked, cocking her head. "That thing was much littler and cuter the last time I saw it…"
"His opponent from yesterday must have been a tough one. To put enough pressure on that Pokémon to evolve, I mean…" Aiden trailed off.
"Do you think Eziray has a chance? Gracie doesn't exactly have a variety of moves to use. Just Confusion and Teleport, right?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't matter. Any good trainer can make do with that. I just worry that Gracie's Psychic power isn't enough to lift such an enormous Pokémon…"
"What do you mean?"
"Well when my Eevee first evolved into Espeon, she had a hard time concentrating hard enough to move big objects. We wound up meditating together every day and that's how she eventually developed the ability to communicate telepathically with humans. Ez is well aware of this too. See how her expression has turned pretty serious? That's because she's worried that Gracie won't be able to lift that thing and Teleport isn't exactly enough to win this battle. Her other Pokémon wouldn't do much better though. Machop couldn't even be taken down by physical attacks. There's no way she can beat this one without Gracie…"
Noah was silent but listened curiously to the other two.
"I hope this works…" Eziray trailed off. "Gracie, use Confusion!"
Gracie threw up her arms and both she and the Hariyama became outlined in blue energy. Unfortunately, Aiden's prediction came true and the Hariyama didn't budge.
"Looks like someone needs to learn how to concentrate a little better! You should take her out on the waves sometime! But for now, Hariyama, use Seismic Toss!"
Hariyama wrapped his arms around the Psychic-type and jumped high up into the air. Then he came spiraling back down with great force. Eziray ordered Gracie to use Teleport, however, so only Hariyama smashed back into the ground.
"That was fun!" Gracie exclaimed as the Fighting-type picked itself up.
"She's crazy. I would have been terrified," Lyla muttered as a low roar began to echo through the room.
"Here comes that geyser again…" Eziray trailed off as the Hariyama positioned itself over one of the holes.
"That's right, Hariyama! Get ready to use Arm Thrust!"
Eziray said nothing and the roaring grew louder for a few moments until it finally spewed out and sent Hariyama flying towards Gracie.
"Confusion on the water!"
Gracie threw up her arms once more, changing the direction of the flow of water beneath Hariyama. He flailed wildly for a moment as he fell to the ground, landing flat on his face.
"That was smart. I would have never even thought of that," Lyla thought to herself.
Hariyama stood, brushing itself off with its enormous hands and Brawly then ordered it to use Arm Thrust on the ground. The Fighting-type nodded and then began to break apart the ground vigorously, creating many baseball-sized stones all around him.
"What's he planning?" Eziray thought to herself.
Suddenly, the Hariyama picked up one of the stones and hurled it at Gracie, nailing her right in the forehead.
"OWIE!" she whined as he hurled another one. "Stop that!"
"Teleport out of the way, silly!"
"Oh…"
Gracie disappeared and reappeared on one of the pillars extending from the mote. Hariyama continued to throw rocks at her and she continued to teleport from pillar to pillar. Finally, he nailed her with a stone that knocked her off balance and she fell to a platform below. As she stood, Hariyama landed in front of her with a booming thud and Brawly ordered him to use Knock Off. He raised his palm and brought it down to slap her but she teleported out of the way and reappeared behind him.
"MMMMMRRR…" she grunted, trying once more to lift him with Confusion.
"Don't blow a blood vessel, Gracie. It's okay if you can't lift him! We'll figure out something else!"
"Okay, hurry please!" Gracie exclaimed.
"Vital Throw now!"
"Wuh?" Gracie said, looking back to her opponent who then kicked her up with his knee and hooked his arm around her body, slamming her back into the ground.
"Gracie!" Eziray called.
"I'm fine…" Grace said, standing up and glaring at the Hariyama. "Your Fighting moves tickle!"
"I dig her spirit!" Brawly exclaimed. "But we're not giving up either! Hariyama, Arm Thrust!"
Hariyama began to pelt Gracie quite vigorously with its palms, knocking her around the platform and towards the water.
"Now you can use Confusion, Gracie!"
Gracie stood and threw up her arms before he could get in anymore throws and then he began to smack himself with the same force.
"Hey! Why ya hittin' yourself?" Gracie asked with great pleasure.
Eventually, Hariyama backed itself into the water and Gracie applauded excitedly.
"Alright Gracie, come on back up here before he gets back out!"
As Hariyama climbed back out of the water, Gracie blew him a kiss and teleported back up to the arena. Hariyama grunted and got back up on the platform and scratched his head as he tried to figure out how exactly he was going to get back up. Suddenly, the room began to rumble again.
"Hariyama, you can get back up there! Use the pillars!" Brawly ordered.
Hariyama nodded and leaped up, jumping back and forth between pillars until it reached the arena.
"How could such a big Pokémon be so agile?" Lyla wondered out loud.
"Meeyaa…" Skitty said, wondering the same thing.
"Training?" Noah suggested.
"But it evolved like yesterday…"
"Well then it's just that powerful."
When Hariyama spotted Gracie, she was standing at the middle of the arena, waving at him. As he cocked his head the geysers shot off once again and Gracie controlled two of them, sending the blasts of water right at the Fighting-type. Before he could react, he was hit by them both and blasted off the edge. He crashed into and broke most of the rock pillars that were still standing on his way down and splashed into the water at the bottom. Everyone held their breath for a moment, watching the water carefully until he floated to the surface, unconscious.
"Hariyama is unable to battle. The challenger wins!" the ref exclaimed, waving a flag.
"Gnarly…" Brawly trailed off with a sigh. "I don't think I've ever lost two battles in a row before."
"So that Debber guy beat you then?"
"Debber? I think you mean Declan, bro and yeah he did. Bummer…"
"Well I hate to be the one to tell you this but you're gonna lose a third battle!" Gracie exclaimed.
"Gracie!" Eziray shouted, wondering where that outburst came from.
"Well I am Psychic!" Gracie whined. "But you don't need to be Psychic to know that Noah is going beat this guy too! Right Noah?"
"I'll do my best, dear," Noah said with a grin.
"Please excuse her! I'm not sure why she's suddenly acting so strange!" Eziray exclaimed.
"No worries! She's probably just excited. Was this her first gym victory?"
"Sure was!" Gracie exclaimed. "How did I do!"
"You were radical, little dudette! C'mere!" Brawly exclaimed.
Gracie teleported to him and he knelt down and handed her the Knuckle Badge.
"So shiny!" she exclaimed, admiring the badge with twinkling eyes.
"Yep! Make sure you give that to your trainer now and you'll be able to battle in the Pokémon League someday!"
"T-thank you!" Gracie exclaimed as she hurried over to Eziray to show her the new badge.
"How cute!" Lyla exclaimed. "Gym leaders sure have a way with Pokémon, huh Aiden!"
Aiden smiled as Eziray and Gracie jumped for joy.
After the battle, Lyla broke away from the group and went to go do some training on the beach. Eziray's victory had inspired her to strive harder for next contest and she wanted to be well-prepared for it. Eziray hadn't slept much the previous night so she crashed in the hotel and the boys sat around, fiddling with Aiden's guitar for a while.
"The first Espeon was discovered in the Johto region, you know," Noah said, admiring Aiden's Espeon who was curled up in the corner.
"I know that…" she said, completely unimpressed by the boy's knowledge.
"Don't mind her. She's a little cold to people she doesn't really know sometimes," Aiden said.
"It's okay," Noah said, studying Aiden's Combusken who was slashing at the air. "That one's pretty cool. Where did you get it?"
"It evolved from a Torchic I caught near Lyla's hometown. He's got a bit of an attitude problem too."
"So you only have those two then?"
"Yep! The rest of my Pokémon are back at home in Kanto."
"And you just play music, huh? You don't battle gyms?"
"Yeah, and I'm the entertainer and the one who keeps those two out of trouble. I'm also kind of the group's navigator too, I guess. Eziray has the worst sense of direction I've ever seen and I don't even think Lyla knows how to work her own PokéNav. But as for Pokémon, I've never really had any goals like Lyla and Eziray. I like to bond with Pokémon and take care of them and travel but I've never really had a competitive streak."
"Nothing wrong with that."
"Nope. You play guitar?"
"Only a little. I used to have one but I'm probably not as good as you."
The two continued to talk and take turns with the guitar until Eziray finally woke up and interrupted them.
"YOU GUYS! WE HAVE TO GO!" she shouted.
"Go where, go?" Aiden asked as she began to pack her things, as well as Lyla's and Aiden's.
"We're gonna miss the last ferry to Slateport," she whined.
"Oh heaven forbid we relax and get a good night of sleep and take the first one in the morning!" Aiden muttered.
"We have no time to waste! We've been slacking. I only have two badges under my belt and we shouldn't be wasting our time here! Onward, to Slateport!"
"First of all, we haven't wasted any time because we have you to keep us in line and second, there is no gym in Slateport…"
"Wuuuuuh?" Eziray demanded, completely crushed by that statement. Then she thought for a moment and concluded that that was an even better reason to hit the road as quickly as possible.
"Well good luck convincing Lyla to cease training and leave tonight. She's gonna be mad at you…"
"Just tell her that the next Slateport Contest is coming up. I think it's in like four or five days or something," Noah suggested.
Eziray thanked him and left in a hurry. She found Lyla on the beach, working Eevee and Skitty to the bone.
"Lyla! Let's get going, mmkay?"
"Are you serious? You just got a badge. The Pokémon League isn't tomorrow, you know! There's no need to rush…"
"Okay fine then. I just hope we make it to your contest in time…"
"What contest?"
"You mean you didn't hear? There's one coming up in Slateport in a few days…"
"Well…I guess we could train in Slateport…What do you guys think? Wanna go for another boat ride?"
"MYA!" Skitty exclaimed.
"VUI!" Eevee shouted over Skitty, as if competing with her.
"Well then that settles it. I've already packed your bag!"
"You did what?"
"Come on, let's go check out the ferry schedule!"
"Wait a minute Eziray, you can't just go messing with people's things. That's so rude!"
Eziray ignored her and began walking along the beach to find a ferry port.
"Eziray are you listening to me?" Lyla called, running after her.
"Eee!" Eevee exclaimed following after her trainer and kicking sand into Skitty's face.
Skitty rubbed her eyes with her paws and coughed out all the sand and then looked up, frowning slightly. For a moment, she felt a little jealous of the new Normal-type and then shook her head, realizing how silly that was, and then she bounded after them.
Author Notes:
I hope you guys liked it! One thing I wanted to explain was paralysis. In the game, it affects the inflicted Pokémon randomly and it sort of does so in the anime as well (sparks will randomly flicker around the body and prevent movement). Also, in case you didn't know, Lyla's Eevee is "shiny" (if you're going by the games). In the anime, shiny Pokémon do appear occasionally but they're just noted as being a different color or it's not even emphasized at all. I sort of made up my own explanation for it. Anyway, read and review! Look forward to the next chapter too; it's pretty intense!