Episode 24: Collective action
Mistralton City was still days away, but Niko found himself unable to find time to train. In the time between when him and his friends departed Driftveil City and when they briefly toured the Seasonal Research Lab, he had hardly found time to train. When he did, they were disrupted by Rufflet chasing off the Deerling that would eventually wind up travelling with them. After Charlotte caught the Deerling, they continued towards Chargestone Cave, which was just south of Mistralton City.
It was still snowing on route 6 during this time, but Niko decided that he finally needed to continue training with his Pokémon. If they wanted to continue having successful gym battles, and ultimately go far in the Unova League that coming Spring, then they needed to work on improving their moves.
Niko wasn't entirely concerned with his Servine, whom he didn't want to train with in the snow out of fear that she might prove to be less effective than usual. Instead, he trained with his other three Pokémon—Rufflet, Boldore, and Solosis—occasionally with the help of Charlotte or Warren, who also took the opportunity to train.
Rufflet, as always, refused to stop improving aerial ace. Boldore was dead-set on decreasing the release time on his smack down, which had helped him bring Clay's Sandslash to a draw in their gym battle. Solosis, for her part, generally preferred to attempt pranks on the other Pokémon—preferably Rufflet, whose anger-management issues were made quite clear by the Cell Pokémon's antics.
"Oh, come on Solosis…" Niko said when the psychic type took control of Rufflet's body and forced him into a tree. "Please don't do that…" He shook his head. "We're a team here, we have to act like it. What happens if we end up in a double battle and I have to use you two? Will you get along then?"
Solosis nodded, making gargling sounds that likely meant that she was agreeing with Niko. Her trainer nodded appreciatively.
"Now, let's get back to work. Solosis, use psywave on Rufflet! Rufflet, you need to find a way to dodge the move and then follow up with aerial ace, alright? Also…don't let your anger get to you, please?"
Solosis unleashed an expanding wave of psychic energy at her opponent-teammate. It unfortunately hit Rufflet, who was unaware of how fast Solosis could use this move. Niko called for them to try again, and this time Rufflet rose above the move before gliding downwards, just above the psywave and hitting Solosis clean in the side with his left wing, eventually crashing into the ground.
"Good job, Rufflet. But we can't be crashing. You're going to have to learn to control aerial ace. It isn't just about hitting—it's about not hurting yourself in the process. That's saved for a move called brave bird." Niko said, recalling a move he once helped teach another flying type of his.
Rufflet nodded, standing back up on his talons. Before he could say or do anything, he felt Solosis' psychic aura grip him, forcing him into the air and spinning him around.
"SOLOSIS!" Niko shouted. "Stop that!" He said, much to the dismay of the Cell Pokémon. She let go of Rufflet—who ungraciously fell to the ground—and floated low to the ground, eventually resting near a tree trunk, watching Warren write in his booklet, and Poliwag play some made-up game with Swadloon.
"Looks like the training is going well." Charlotte said with a teasing tone. Niko shrugged in response.
"I guess so. We just need more team cohesion. And all of my Pokémon are relatively young, by the looks of it."
"Is that how it's normally been for you?" She said in a lower tone, referencing Niko's previous journeys.
"Kind of, but not really. I had a mix of Pokémon of different ages and skill levels. Some brave and some constantly nervous or shy. This time it's different—they all seem less experienced, with the possible exception of Boldore, who was probably a tough fighter before I caught him." Niko said observantly. "But they're doing really well—better than I could have imagined."
"It's because you're more experienced than you might believe." Charlotte said. "They all look up to you. It's easy to tell."
"You think so?" Niko asked plainly. He wasn't sure what to make of that; he just accepted it, regardless of how true it might have been.
"I do. I think you'll do well if you just keep doing what you're doing." She patted him on the back. "Now, we should probably get going. We might make it to Chargestone Cave by nightfall.
As it turned out, they did. The day after their trip to the Seasonal Research Lab, the trio of travelers reached the front entrance of Chargestone Cave. It looked like any ordinary cave sitting at the edge of a large valley in the middle of a mountain range, but according to Charlotte's book, it was anything but, and it was the quickest way to Mistralton City.
Approaching the entrance—which was quite massive for a cave entrance, Niko noticed—they noticed a collection of spider webs strung about. Massive, silky string was tied together in elaborate patterns. Niko shuddered at the sight.
"What's wrong, Niko?" Warren asked upon noticing his friend acting differently.
"I—erm—don't like bugs. Or spiders, for that matter." Niko said, inching away from the web that, for whatever reason, was also emitting small electric sparks from the silky material.
"I get that. Unfortunately, Joltik and Galvantula—both arachnids—are native to Chargestone Cave." Charlotte added with a concerned look. "Will you be alright in there?"
"I'll try to be." Niko said, and they slowly made their way into the cave.
Chargestone Cave was like the name implied—it was an electrically-charged cavern that bore deep into the western half of the Unova region. It is home to several Unova-native Pokémon as well as Pokémon from all over the world. As the trainers entered the cave, they took a tunnel deep into the ground, watching as electric sparks flashed above their head at random intervals.
"This is pretty cool, actually." Niko said observantly. The electricity, oddly enough, reminded him of his old electric type Pokémon—Magneton, Manectric, and Luxray.
"I've heard that this is the place where you can go to evolve your Nosepass or Magneton." Warren said, looking around him at the walls lined with electricity. When Niko immediately shot him a look, clearly for elaborative purposes, Warren smiled. "Something about the magnetism in this cave makes it possible to evolve Magneton and Nosepass. You know they can only evolve in an environment that is overly electrically charged?"
"I heard of it, but never really been to one of them. Plus, it's not like I own either of those Pokémon, so how would I know that in the first place?"
"I don't either, just found it interesting." Warren admitted.
They continued walking through the tunnel until they reached a far larger chamber, this time with bridges connecting various electrified rock formations, all hanging above a seemingly bottomless chasm. Niko peered over the edge, which was unusual for him due to his fear of heights as well. But he did, and confirmed for himself and his friends that it indeed appeared to be bottomless.
"Great, so this place is just full of hazards." He said gruffly as he turned back to Charlotte and Warren.
"Well, what do you expect in a cave?" Charlotte asked. "We signed up for stuff like this."
"Fair enough. I'd just prefer not dying." Niko replied.
"Well, neither do we." Charlotte retorted, and the conversation ended there. Looking around, they found a bridge nearby that would take them to one of the rock formations. But as they did, Niko noticed something hovering above him.
"What's that?" He asked, looking directly upwards. It was a school of white eels, none of which were more than a foot long in length. They each had dark, oval eyes and a red, four-point star-shaped mouth. Lastly, they all had a wavy, yellow stripe that ran along their body, which had a single membrane that gave it a tapered shape. Niko pulled out his pokédex to properly observe the tiny Pokémon:
"Tynamo, the EleFish Pokémon. Electric type. One alone can emit only a trickle of electricity, so a group of them gathers to unleash a powerful electric attack."
"EleFish Pokémon…where have I heard that before?" Niko asked, trying to recall a moment similar to this.
"On the Battle Subway you and I fought an Eelektross. That's the final form for Tynamo." Charlotte said matter-of-factly. You said you liked that Pokémon."
"Yes! I did." Niko said. "I think I'll try to catch one of them!"
"Go for it. They're pretty rare. But…" Warren stopped, mid-sentence. "That pokédex entry mentioned that they gather in schools to produce a powerful attack. Why would they feel the need to do that?"
"If they're threatened." Niko said. "Is there something threatening this place?"
"Possibly. Want to check it out?" Warren suggested.
"Sure. Charlotte?" Niko asked, turning to his brunette friend for confirmation.
"Coming from the guy who worried that this place was too dangerous, sure." She said with a wry smile, which elicited a quick laugh from Niko before the three turned in the direction the Tynamo were moving—across the bridge they were on.
While they were moving, Niko would occasionally look up at the school of Tynamo hovering above them. He noticed one in particular was shorter than the others—possibly an inch or two shorter—and was missing part of its yellow membrane. Even though he found these details irrelevant, he continued on without question.
The trio finally arrived at the other end of the chamber they had initially found the Tynamo in, and clearly found what they were looking for. On another platform in the chamber, down below, they noticed people that looked like they were Team Plasma grunts. There were only a few of them, but they were operating some sort of machine for whatever reason. Niko looked up to see the Tynamo lowering their collective head towards the Plasma grunts before diving down towards them.
"What the…!" Niko said as he watched all of the Tynamo but the one with the shorter membrane dive towards Team Plasma. This specific Tynamo stopped abruptly in midair, looking depressed for whatever reason. "Hey, you alright?" Niko asked, specifically addressing the Tynamo. The EleFish Pokémon turned to him, trying to put on a tough expression. "Can't keep up with them?" Niko continued to ask. Apparently, however, the Tynamo misunderstood this, and then began glowing bright yellow before launching a series of small sparks at Niko, who quickly sidestepped the move before the sparks dissipated pathetically. "What was that for?"
"We can figure that out later, Niko." Warren said. "For now, we should focus on Team Plasma. Maybe they're up to something?"
"Also they just defeated all of those Tynamo." Charlotte said, pointing down towards the platform below. Niko and Warren looked over the edge to see Tynamo floating individually around the space, all looking exhausted. Team Plasma, by contrast, were standing there looking perfectly fine.
"What're you up to?" Niko shouted, not quite angry yet. More curious. As with the Relic Castle, Niko preferred to not involve himself with evil gangs again. But he did want to know what they were up to, in the event he got a chance to tell the authorities.
"Why would we tell you, kid?" One of them—a male—snapped back.
"Curious. You must be powerful to defeat so many Tynamo like that." Niko asked, hoping that these grunts weren't very smart.
"Tynamo aren't strong." The same male grunt replied. "They're useless Pokémon that somehow get by with no apparent weaknesses. An electric type that isn't affected by ground types, pfft."
"Wait…huh?" Niko asked, looking up at the single Tynamo that didn't attack with the rest of the school.
"Tynamo has the levitate ability." Charlotte explained. "Since it's only electric type, it has no weaknesses."
"Wow, that's really impressive." Niko said, speaking directly to the Tynamo. "You should feel lucky, you know?" Tynamo simply nodded, trying to not express any other emotion towards this strange human. "Anyway, you didn't answer my question." He asked, turning back to Team Plasma.
"If you must know…" A female grunt began. "Chargestone Cave has rocks for its energy source. These, here…" She opened her arms to reference the large, light blue rocks that were randomly spitting electric sparks out. "It's a huge amount of energy, and we're planning to harness this energy for the purposes of Team Plasma!"
"Okay, got it." Niko said.
"Why do you ask?" One of them wondered. Suddenly, Rufflet swooped down and knocked the grunt over before swooping back into the air. The female grunt and the first male grunt to talk to Niko were then brought into the air by Solosis' psychic energy. Rufflet dove down once more, this time with white tendrils streaming from his beak. However, this time he was met with what looked like a sludge bomb from a massive trash-like Pokémon.
"What's that?" Niko asked worriedly.
"Garbodor, the Trash Heap Pokémon. Poison type. Consuming garbage makes new kinds of poison gases and liquids inside their bodies."
"Rufflet!" Niko shouted as the Eaglet Pokémon was falling. Suddenly, Solosis released the grunts and used her energy to bring Rufflet back from falling into the bottomless pit. "Great teamwork, Solosis! Now use psywave on Garbodor!"
"Not so fast! Liepard, I choose you!" The female grunt shouted, tossing a pokéball into the air on the lower platform, sending out a large, purple and yellow furred feline Pokémon. "Block the psywave!"
Liepard—clearly a dark type, as the psywave didn't seem to affect it—repelled the psywave. Solosis then dove down towards Liepard, who leapt into the air to slash at the Cell Pokémon with its claws, knocking it into the cliff of the higher platform that Niko and his friends were on. Garbodor, meanwhile, barraged Solosis with sludge bomb.
"Rufflet, can you keep going?" Niko asked. He realized that between him, Charlotte, and Warren, he was the only one that had Pokémon that could cross between the two platforms, each of varying heights. The Eaglet Pokémon nodded, rising back into the air and diving down towards Liepard. "Aerial ace!"
Rufflet nodded, descending quickly towards the purple feline, tackling it to the ground just as Garbodor launched a sludge bomb from its tube-shaped hands, covering Rufflet. Solosis once more attempted to use psywave, this time hitting Garbodor, but got hit in the side by Liepard's slash once more. Niko bit his finger nervously. He had no idea what to do next.
"Niko…" Charlotte said worriedly. "We can help!"
"How? Smeargle and Deerling can reach that far. Rufflet!" Niko shouted as he watched his flying type take a beating from the Liepard.
"This is what happens when kids mess with Team Plasma." The female grunt said, smirking towards Niko. As she said that, though, she saw a flash of light knock the Liepard to the ground. Then another flash of light and Garbodor was also knocked over.
Looking up, Niko noticed the Tynamo with the shortened membrane looking exhausted, floating just below the platform they were standing on. It wasn't alone, though—there were nearly a dozen or so Tynamo also floating around that also looked tired from the flash of light, which Niko recognized as charge beam. He watched in awe at the collection of Tynamo used a combined charge beam a third time, which seemed to keep Liepard and Garbodor down long enough for Niko to act.
"Rufflet, aerial ace on Liepard! Solosis, psywave on Garbodor!" He shouted. Both Pokémon dove down to their respective Pokémon and were able to quickly put down Team Plasma. "So…?" He addressed the grunts.
"You win…" The male grunt said lazily. "For now, at least. You can't stop Team Plasma. No one can!" He thrust his fist in the air and walked away with his two companions, who had returned their Pokémon. When they disappeared from sight on their lowered platform, Niko and his friends all turned to look at one another. Meanwhile, Rufflet and Solosis both floated close to their trainer, the former perched on Niko's shoulder.
"Well, that was something." Niko looked up to the Tynamo, who were now hovering over them. "Thanks for the help, guys. Without it, Rufflet and Solosis would have been goners."
The Tynamo nodded briefly. However, the one with the short membrane descended towards Niko and stared at him with its eye. During the brief moment that their eyes locked, Niko smirked and pulled out a pokéball.
"You want to join us?" He asked. "You'll get stronger, I promise. I'm battling strong trainers around the area to be the best that I can be. Of course, I also have the help of these two and others." He said, addressing Solosis and Rufflet.
The Tynamo looked down at the pokéball, and then at Niko, Rufflet, Solosis, and finally Charlotte and Warren. It then looked behind it at its school of Tynamo, all of whom nodded joyfully. Tynamo then tapped its head on the button on the pokéball and immediately went inside, ultimately falling out of Niko's hand and onto the raised platform in Chargestone Cave. The ball wiggled a few times before ultimately clicking, which indicated that Tynamo was captured.
Niko picked up the pokéball and stared at it for a moment before turning to Charlotte and Warren. "Well, you did say you wanted a Tynamo." Charlotte said with a friendly shrug. "And it seemed really interested in travelling with you."
"Mhmm. It seems like all of my Pokémon want to keep improving and getting stronger. That's what I want." He finally said after a few moments. "Rufflet, Solosis, looks like we have a new friend on our team." His two Pokémon seemed oddly eager to have a companion like Tynamo on their side. "Now, let's get the hell out of this place." Niko said, eagerly walking in a random direction with Rufflet and Solosis on his side, and Tynamo in its new pokéball. They were getting closer to their next destination, and his next gym badge.