Episode 25: Tynamo's hidden energy!
By the time Niko and his friends exited Chargestone Cave—with Niko's newly caught Tynamo—Mistralton City was a few hours' trek up a long, winding hill. During this time Niko introduced Tynamo to the rest of his team. After their conflict with Team Plasma, Rufflet and Solosis immediately gained respect for the small, eel-like Pokémon. Servine and Boldore seemed cordial enough, but clearly had never seen anything like him before.
Tynamo generally came off as a shy Pokémon. Niko began to gather that the EleFish Pokémon might have self-esteem issues either due to his size or his shorter yellow membrane—or both. Taking note of this, Niko encouraged his team to treat Tynamo with the utmost respect. He had no problem believing this to be true, but it needed to be mentioned anyways.
Charlotte and Warren were fascinated by the little Pokémon. Charlotte didn't find him cute—and was more creeped out by him at first—but seemed to quickly get used to having Tynamo around. She also kept noting the value of Tynamo's ability—levitate—which Niko wanted to take full advantage of. Warren took careful notes of the Tynamo, even having the shy EleFish Pokémon pose for him so he could create a quick sketch of the electric type. Generally, during their short time from the cave to Mistralton City, he seemed to enjoy having the little thing around.
Mistralton City is geographically positioned between three mountain ranges. The city is famous for its airport which imports and exports cargo all around Unova—and the world. As it was winter when the trio arrived, a blanket of snow was covering the entire city, even the massive landing strips in the airport.
Niko had seen airports before, but nothing quite like Mistralton City's airport. In fact, it was the first thing that the trio saw when they reached the top of the hill overlooking the city. It was sunset, and the orange-dyed star crept behind the mountains to the west, baking Mistralton City—and the sky—in an orange-pink glow.
"Wow…wonder what the main industry is here…" Niko said sarcastically. Tynamo—who had been floating alongside his new trainer—looked at the city in awe. "Tynamo, we've got a gym badge to win down there. Do you feel ready?"
Tynamo turned to his trainer and, hesitantly, nodded.
The following afternoon, Niko was on the practice battlefield gauging Tynamo's strength. He had spent some of the morning showing his new Pokémon his training methods—which usually including something related to evasion, which Tynamo had little issue with—before finally working on moves. Meanwhile Boldore, Rufflet, Servine, and Solosis worked on their own moves.
"So, Niko…" Charlotte said, looking up from her pokédex. "There's something you might want to know about Tynamo."
"What's up?" Niko asked, turning to his brunette friend, who was bundled in several layers to protect her petite body from the cold weather.
"I learned that Tynamo can only learn four moves—tackle, charge beam, spark, and thunder wave."
"That shouldn't be an issue. That's all we really need, right Tynamo?" He asked. The EleFish Pokémon nodded, albeit seemingly unsure of himself. "Well, let's just focus on the release of those moves. If you're fast enough, you won't necessarily have to worry about how strong your moves are. Endurance can carry the day in a battle." He explained to Tynamo, who was listening intently. He turned to his new teammates, who all looked over and nodded to confirm what Niko was saying. "Right, so let's just start with using each of the moves, and then we can work on some more specific issues that you might have, alright?"
The two worked for nearly half an hour on Tynamo's moveset before finally settling down for a meal.
"So Niko, you ready?" Warren, who had been quiet for much of their time in Mistralton City thus far, asked.
"I think so. It was a relatively good day to train, but I think they were a little off put by the cold weather. Servine was certainly slower than she usually is." Niko said observantly, watching his five Pokémon eating.
"You've certainly caught a lot of Pokémon now." Warren added. "You've almost got a full team!"
"Heh, yeah. Thanks to you two. You've both helped me find these Pokémon and eventually catch them." Niko said appreciatively.
"It wasn't really us, though." Charlotte said, this time with a slight smirk. "You've made those connections. We just encouraged you."
"And, at the time, you really needed it." Warren said with a wink. Niko then remembered that only Charlotte knew about his past. "But it's good that you're catching different kinds of Pokémon, right? It varies your team."
"Absolutely. That's kind of the plan." Niko replied. "Or, well, not purposefully. But it's the plan now."
They continued to make small talk until they all decided to head off to the gym, where Niko would compete for his sixth gym badge. The Mistralton City Gym was in an old military hanger down the street from the airport. At once, Niko realized that the gym would be flying type, but he waited for Warren to say something first.
"You shouldn't have any issues with the flying type, Niko." Warren said. "Tynamo, Boldore…even Rufflet and Solosis will be at an advantage."
"That's true. I don't think I'll use Servine. She hasn't had the best of luck with training recently. And I have a feeling that she may have caught a cold while we were on the road, so I want her to take it easy this time." Niko said as they entered the hanger, which revealed only a massive battlefield. There didn't seem to be many auxiliary rooms like the other gyms Niko entered.
Suddenly, they heard an ear-shattering sound. Niko turned to see a cannon resting behind them, and a human being flying overhead through the gym before hovering to the ground with the help of some air vents. Niko squinted to get a better look at the human. She was average height with reddish-brown hair and blue eyes like his. She wore a somewhat skimpy aviator's outfit that was a mix of blue and sky blue. Lastly, she wore a floral pin on the right side of her head. She grinned widely as she approached Niko. Soon enough, he realized that this gym leader was somewhat attractive, too.
"Hi! My name's Skyla! Are you here to challenge the Mistralton Gym?" She asked in a high-pitched tone.
"Y-yes…I'm Niko, by the way. Niko from Pallet Town." Niko said, looking behind him at the cannon. "Were you waiting for me?"
"Nope! I sit up there, either reading or playing a game or something until a challenger comes by. Then I just hop into the cannon, blast off, and conveniently land on gusts of air that help lower me to the ground. So, you're here for a battle then?" Niko nodded. "Excellent! Let's get going, then! Four on four sound fine?"
"Yeah, I'm okay with that." Niko said. Perfect, too. I have enough Pokémon to handle flying types, He thought to himself. Skyla then turned on her feet and walked back to where she landed and turned again to face Niko, who hurriedly scrambled back to the opposite end of the dirt field. He waited for Skyla to pull out a pokéball before he did the same.
"Swoobat! Let's go!" Skyla shouted, throwing a pokéball high into the air. Out of it appeared a blue, bat-like Pokémon. The two ears on the top of its head were fused together with striated, lighter colored insides and a pink, heart-shaped snout with a single nostril. Two wide, rounded teeth were visible in its lower jaw. A mane of shaggy, light blue fur surrounds its neck. Its black wings had a claw at the joint.
"Swoobat, the Courting Pokémon. Psychic and flying type. It shakes its tail vigorously when it emits ultrasonic waves strong enough to reduce concrete to rubble." Charlotte's pokédex said.
"Tynamo, let's go!" Niko commanded, summoning his as-of-yet untested electric type. "Use thunder wave!"
"Swoobat, use attract!" Skyla smirked. In a strange way, Swoobat shot pink hearts from its nose at Tynamo who barely dodged the move before conjuring a wave of static electricity that ran across the field, hitting Swoobat and knocking it to the ground, unable to move. "Wow! And from a Tynamo…well done!"
Niko then noticed Tynamo collapse to the ground as well. Fortunately, the EleFish Pokémon wasn't unable to battle—just exhausted. Realizing this, Niko returned Tynamo. "Come back buddy. Get some of your energy back; I'll send you out later. Boldore, I choose you!"
Skyla smirked. "An electric type, and now a rock type? Fair enough. Swoobat, use attract!"
"Boldore, rock blast!" Niko commanded. Just as Swoobat slowly emitted pink hearts from its nose, Boldore conjured a series of rocks to beat back the hearts and successfully hit Swoobat, knocking it backwards. "Now, smack down!"
Swoobat was finally able to move and shot high into the air just as Boldore's golden orb launched and smacked into the Courting Pokémon, knocking it back to the ground.
"Assurance!" Skyla commanded, just as Swoobat was close to the ground. The Courting Pokémon, just inches from the ground, spread its wings wide open and glided across the battlefield floor to smack Boldore. "Heart stamp!"
Swoobat moved backwards before conjuring a massive pink heart, shooting it at Boldore and causing the Ore Pokémon to briefly flinch. Swoobat then dove back down to use another assurance attack, this time moving Boldore backwards. However, it hardly seemed to affect Boldore (that, or he didn't show any signs of weakness), for he arched his head upwards and used a close-range smack down on Swoobat, which slammed it hard into the ground.
"Boldore, finish it off with rock blast!" Niko commanded, thrusting his hand forward. The Ore Pokémon obliged, pelting Swoobat with rocks of varying sizes, which seemed to finish it off.
"Swoobat is unable to battle, Boldore is the winner!" The referee, who had shown up just as the battle was beginning, declared. "Leader Skyla will send out her second Pokémon!"
"Skarmory, I choose you!" Skyla shouted, throwing out a second pokéball. "Use steel wing!"
"Boldore, smack down!" Niko commanded. Boldore conjured a golden orb and launched it at skarmory, who was in the midst of descending towards him, wings glowing a light gray. Smack down hit first, slamming Skarmory to the ground. However, the Armor Bird Pokémon quickly rose up from the ground and charged at Boldore on its feet.
"The tenacity of that Pokémon…" Warren said. "Niko's going to have trouble with this one…"
"He'll be fine, I think." Charlotte replied, this time with a smile. He's probably dealt with Skarmorys before.
"Hold your own, Boldore! We can do this!" Niko shouted as Skarmory pressed its wings against its opponent, dragging him across the dirt battlefield.
"Skarmory, agility!" Skyla shouted, giving her Pokémon the boost it needed to drive steel wing into Boldore. Skarmory pushed the Ore Pokémon past the battlefield and into the wall behind Niko. He turned to see Skarmory turn and fly back towards its trainer, leaving Boldore in a heap of defeat against the wall.
"Boldore is unable to battle, Skarmory is the winner!" The referee declared. "Challenger Niko will send out his next Pokémon!"
"Boldore, return. You did well buddy, I'm very proud of you." He said with a smile. "Now, Solosis I choose you!"
"Why Solosis?" Warren said confusedly. "Tynamo would be better, right?"
"Well, Tynamo is still very weak. He doesn't have enough experience yet to defeat a Pokémon like Skarmory." Charlotte explained. I'm sure Niko knows what he's doing.
"Solosis, use rollout!" Niko commanded. He smirked as the Cell Pokémon charged towards her opponent, spinning through the air. Just then, Skarmory's wings began to glow a mix of red and white and it charged at Solosis, crashing into her and sending her into the ground. "Can you get up, Solosis?"
The Cell Pokémon nodded, floating back into the air, albeit bobbing from side to side. Frowning, Niko commanded her to use psywave once more, in order to get an attack in without dealing with Skarmory at a close range. That's what defeated Boldore.
"Skarmory, x-scissor!" Skyla commanded. Once more, Skarmory's wings began to glow red and white as it dove down towards Solosis. However, the psywave emitting from the Cell Pokémon slowed it down enough to give Solosis time to evade the attack, forcing Skarmory to crash into the ground. "Agility, and x-scissor again!"
"Solosis, psywave!" Niko shouted. Solosis spun back around and used psywave once more to slow Skarmory down just as it was about to quickly land another x-scissor. He then heard someone talking to him from the stands. Turning to his left, he saw Charlotte waving to him. "Huh?"
"Solosis knows hidden power!" Charlotte shouted. "Hidden power!"
"Really now…" Niko said, turning to his psychic type, who was busy trying to evade Skarmory's onslaught of x-scissors. He had never used hidden power before—he hardly knew how it worked as a move. Hidden power is an attack of an unknown type, and could be anything. But, Solosis was struggling, and it was worth the risk in Niko's mind. "Solosis, use hidden power!"
Solosis nodded, dodging once final x-scissor before rising high into the air, emitting a bright white aura around herself. Suddenly, white orbs began to form around Solosis. Each one then rapidly changed colors to create the illusion of a rainbow before settling on an orange color. Solosis then shot them down at Skarmory, who cried out as small bursts of fire slammed against its metallic body.
Niko couldn't believe it. Solosis' hidden power was fire! "Solosis, use hidden power again!" He shouted, knowing that they were now on at least even footing. Skyla felt the same, or at least showed it, when she commanded Skarmory to use x-scissor. Both Pokémon clashed, with Solosis taking the x-scissor, and Skarmory taking the fire-type hidden power. Both Pokémon were repelled and crashed into the ground below. Niko waited to see if Solosis would get back up.
"Solosis and Skarmory are both unable to battle! Leader Skyla and Challenger Niko will now send out their next Pokémon!"
"Sigilyph, I choose you!" Skyla shouted, summoning a familiar-looking Avianoid Pokémon.
"Rufflet, let's go!" Niko shouted, sending out his excitable Eaglet Pokémon. "Use hone claws!"
"Sigilyph, psychic!" Skyla shouted. The three eyes on the oddly-shaped Avianoid Pokémon began to glow bright purple and Rufflet suddenly found himself losing control of his body. Sigilyph thrust the little Pokémon from side to side. "Air cutter!" Skyla shouted when her Pokémon then slashed its wings through the air, hitting Rufflet on the ground and ripping the battlefield under him. "Psychic again!"
"Rufflet, fight back!" Niko commanded. "You're stronger than this!" The Eaglet Pokémon slowly got back up, sharpening his talons. "Now, aerial ace!"
Rufflet shot into the air towards Sigilyph, who used psychic to throw him to the right, into some empty stands. Once more, Rufflet got up slowly, eying his opponent carefully before shooting forward and landing the aerial ace. Just then, Niko noticed that Sigilyph had a limited field of vision. Thinking through this more, the more obvious it seemed, but with a Pokémon with psychic abilities it seemed less so.
"Rufflet, into the air!" Niko shouted.
"Sigilyph, air cutter!" Skyla commanded. As Rufflet ascended through the hangar, the Avianoid Pokémon shot a ripple of air through the space between, missing Rufflet. The Eaglet Pokémon then immediately dove back down, dodging another air cutter before landing close to Sigilyph. Rufflet then quickly sped to the side and around his opponent. Being faster than Sigilyph, Rufflet had no problem hiding himself.
"Aerial ace!" Niko commanded. Rufflet crashed into Sigilyph's back, launching the Avianoid Pokémon forward. "Fury attack!" Rufflet then slashed at his opponent with his talons, knocking it to the ground. "Finish Sigilyph off with aerial ace once more!"
White tendrils emitted from Rufflet as he dove down at Sigilyph, crashing into the ground. Rufflet rolled across the ground, in front of Sigilyph and towards Niko, before getting back to his feet, exhausted.
"Sigilyph is unable to battle, Rufflet is the winner!" The referee declared. "Leader Skyla will now send out her final Pokémon!"
"Niko's in trouble…" Warren said cautiously. "Rufflet looks tired and Tynamo is all he has left."
"Yeah, you're right." Charlotte said, suddenly losing a little bit of hope. "I think he can pull it off, though. He usually does, right?"
"True. He's been in tighter situations."
"I'm sure he has." She replied.
"Swanna, I choose you!" Skyla shouted, summoning her fourth and final Pokémon. As its name implied, it was a swan-like Pokémon with primarily white plumage. Its beak was long and yellow topped with a black cere, and it had several white feathery features adorning its head. It possessed a long, curving neck. Two light-blue feathery features, similar to those on the sides of its head, were present on Swanna's underside. Lastly, it had small, dark, webbed feet.
"Swanna, the White Bird Pokémon. Water and flying type. Despite their elegant appearance, they can flap their wings strongly and fly for thousands of miles."
"Rufflet, you can keep going, right?" Niko asked. The Eaglet Pokémon nodded, getting back up. "Great, aerial ace!"
"Swanna, surf!" Skyla commanded. The White Bird Pokémon rose high into the air and conjured a wave of water that aimed to hit Rufflet, who charged through the water and slammed into Swanna with aerial ace, knocking it backwards through the air. "Air slash!"
"Fury attack!" Niko called out. Rufflet pelted Swanna with his talons, one after another, until Swanna slapped him with the side of her massive wing, knocking Rufflet into the ground. "Aerial ace again!"
"Swanna, surf!" Skyla commanded. The White Bird Pokémon created another wave of water by spreading its wings out wide. Rufflet rose back into the air, speeding through the surf before it could crash down on him, and slammed into Swanna in a repeat of their first collision. "Roost."
Swanna began to glow in a way that looked similar to synthesis, as Niko noticed. Biting his finger, he commanded another aerial ace, as it was his only way to truly do damage to Swanna. This one is tough, but I can really only rely on Rufflet…Tynamo might not be able to handle this…unless. "Rufflet, keep it up! Use aerial ace once more!"
Rufflet nodded, this time evading an air slash to crash into Swanna, knocking both of them to the ground. Niko then withdrew Rufflet's pokéball and returned him.
"Rufflet, return. You've done great buddy. Tynamo, let's go!" He shouted, summoning the small EleFish Pokémon. "I'm relying on you now buddy."
"What's Niko doing…?" Charlotte asked, trying to understand her friend's strategy.
"Hmm…interesting choice." Skyla said with a playful smirk. "I'm interested now. Swanna, use surf!"
"Tynamo, charge beam!" Niko commanded, sounding almost curious rather than strategic. The EleFish Pokémon's shortened yellow membrane began to pulsate as the little thing conjured a yellow beam of concentrate electricity. It successfully hit the wave and, upon reacting with the water, created a massive explosion. Tynamo turned to Niko, who nodded. The EleFish Pokémon then dashed into the dust cloud resulting from the explosion, with Swanna waiting patiently on the other side.
Skyla and Swanna looked around as the dust cloud dissipated. Tynamo was gone.
"Tynamo, spark!" Niko commanded. Suddenly, Tynamo appeared from behind his opponent and unleashed an electric charge, hitting Swanna in the back. It soon became clear that Tynamo was reaching his limit, but Niko was still confident. "You can keep going, buddy! Give it everything you've got! Tynamo, use thunder wave!"
With the last bit of energy he had, Tynamo conjured a short wave of electricity that paralyzed Swanna, causing it to drop to the ground.
"Now, use tackle!" Niko called out. Once Swanna crashed into the ground, Tynamo quickly descended to the ground, colliding with Swanna. Like Rufflet with Sigilyph earlier, Tynamo found himself rolling across the ground as well. Swanna, still paralyzed, also had difficulty getting back up.
"There's no way Tynamo defeated Swanna…" Warren said in shock. "Isn't Swanna supposed to be Skyla's strongest Pokémon?"
To this, Charlotte nodded. "True, but I feel like anything is possible with Niko."
"Indeed…" Warren replied, waiting for the referee to make a declaration.
"Err…it looks like both Tynamo and Swanna are unable to battle. Because Niko still has one Pokémon left, he is the victor!" The referee said as soon as he was sure Tynamo and Swanna were defeated.
Niko let out a heavy sigh of relief, walking over to Tynamo and picking him up. He now knew the limits of his new Pokémon. As a small, below average Tynamo, he had a limited amount of electricity that he could use. And, being pushed to and past his limit, Tynamo fainted from exhaustion.
"I'm very proud of you." Niko said, holding Tynamo. "You really proved your stuff today. Let's keep working to make you stronger, alright?"
Tynamo weakly nodded before closing his eyes and leaving consciousness. Niko then returned Tynamo and turned to Warren and Charlotte, who were both standing by him with smiles on their faces. They congratulated Niko when Skyla pulled out a badge from her small pocket. It was in the shape of a light blue feather, with a soaring bird on the bottom of it. Niko took the badge and carefully looked at it before smiling himself.
"Niko, here is the Jet Badge, as proof that you've defeated me. It was a great battle! I hope to have a rematch with you one day. That, err, Tynamo of yours was tough. I didn't expect such a little thing to have so much energy."
"Honestly, neither did I. I don't think Tynamo even realized he had that much energy. He's smaller than most, so I think everyone was surprised today." Niko explained. "And I agree—a rematch is in store for us!" He had never accepted a rematch with a Gym Leader that he had defeated. But he enjoyed his battle with Skyla, and he felt like his Pokémon could do better against her in the future.
"Well, I would chat longer, but I've got a flight to catch. My grandfather—Miles, a former Gym Leader here—is going with me to Lentimas Town. We're meeting Professor Juniper there to help her with some assignment."
"Oh, well tell her we say hi!" Warren said eagerly. "And that Niko's Servine is doing really well!"
Skyla giggled. "Of course. I'll give her your best. Lata!" She said, dashing out of the hangar, and leaving Niko, Charlotte, and Warren alone.
"Well, want to get something to eat?" Niko asked, as he usually did when he got a new gym badge. "My Pokémon deserve something for this victory."