Episode 38: The little EleFish that could!

"One badge to go!" Warren said as he bit into some fish. "Where do we go from here?"

"Well," Charlotte said with a smile, reaching into her bag and pulling out a book. "Let's see…so we're here." She placed the book in the middle of the table and pointed to Opelucid City on the regional map. "Here is Vertress City." She added, pointing northeast of Opelucid. "There are a couple ways to get there, and only one involves going through other cities."

"So…?" Warren wondered.

"So, we could keep going east towards Lacunosa Town…" She added, drawing a line with her finger to another town to the east. "But…I don't know if it has a gym. Let me check…nope." She said, quickly flipping to Lacunosa Town's entry. "Then, if we move south, we hit Undella Town. That definitely doesn't have a gym."

"Why's that?" Niko wondered.

"Undella Town is a resort. There's no way a gym is placed there, since people only go there in the spring and summer, when it's warmer." She then turned back to the map. "That leaves Humilau City, which is north of Undella Town. And…if I'm correct, then that means there is a path from Humilau to Vertress City."

"Sounds good." Niko said, looking at Humilau City. "That'll take a while to get to, I'm sure."

"Absolutely. Lacunosa and Undella Town are far enough away as it is." Charlotte replied. "It'll probably take us a week to get to each of them, by the looks of it. And then to Humilau…geez, probably another couple of days."

"That's fine, though. Gives me time to get some training in. In my experience, the final gym leader is usually the hardest to beat." Niko said, realizing that he was openly talking about his past again. It felt like an odd thing to do, to be sure. But he was nevertheless correct—Giovanni, Clair, Juan, and Volkner were all exceptionally difficult gym leaders. But he was still able to defeat them, and believed that he and his Pokémon would be able to do the same this time, too.

"So…we leave tomorrow, then?" Warren asked.

"Of course. We'll gather up supplies and leave first thing in the morning." Niko said decisively.

Shopping for stuff to take on their journey to Lacunosa Town took longer than they had expected. For one thing, Niko had to find something to feed Druddigon. He had no idea what dragon type Pokémon ate. But after spending more time than he wished to, he found some raw meat that looked like something Druddigon would like. That, in addition to carrots, Lum berries, and a variety of other foods, Niko finally found everything he needed for their trip.

That night, he continued to watch his Pokémon sleep. Druddigon and Servine in particular were exhausted, and needed the rest more than anyone. Since the battle with Drayden, Niko hadn't seen much of Servine, and wondered how she was feeling in the aftermath of her second loss to Drayden's Haxorus. Resolving to deal with it the following day, Niko went to bed.

The path to Lacunosa Town took Niko, Warren, and Charlotte through route 11 and the Village Bridge, and then onto route 12 once they reached the eastern half of Unova. Route 11 was mostly road, with cars driving towards and away from the trio as they walked down it. To their right were several rivers that all split off in multiple directions towards a forested region. To their left was the mountain range that eventually led to Vertress City, and where Niko caught his Druddigon.

For the first couple of days, Niko spent time training with his Pokémon, as he was wont to do. Since they had one final gym battle left, Niko wanted to spend some time learning new moves. With the help of Charlotte and Warren, he identified a few. Braviary was able to learn a move called crush claw; Boldore was set to learn a familiar move to Niko—stealth rock; Duosion—when Niko rotated her back in—would try to learn future sight; and Litwick was going to attempt to learn a powerful fire move called inferno.

Niko tried to find something for Servine, but nothing seemed to fit her style of battling. During those days, Niko noticed Servine was out of it; she lost interest in battling and refused to take part in any related training. As such, Niko respected her wishes and didn't push her to train. Druddigon, for his part, didn't do much training either, but for the opposite reason: he felt quite confident in his abilities. Occasionally he would jump in and work on his night slash or dragon tail, but on the whole he trained less than the others, save for Servine.

Lastly, Tynamo was still working on his electric attacks. Niko noticed that, ever since leaving Mistralton City, Tynamo has felt more alone. On the second evening that they were away, Niko sat down with the EleFish Pokémon.

"How're you doing?" Niko asked, turning to the little eel. Tynamo looked back at Niko and made a small gargling sound. "I take it you're doing alright, then." He said, laughing. Tynamo smiled a little (whatever that looked like). "How is the training going? Do you find yourself using your electricity better now?"

Tynamo thought about it for a moment before shaking his head, much to Niko's despair.

"Well, let's keep at it, then, shall we?" He stood up. "You're doing great, Tynamo. I want you to believe that."

It was during the following day that Niko and his friends finally reached their first destination—the Village Bridge. Upon seeing it, Charlotte's face lit up with excitement.

"I've heard stories of it before, but never got a chance to see it in person!" She said, putting her hands to her face. "It's…so…beautiful!"

"Yeah, it is." Niko said, admiring the city-bridge.

According to Charlotte, the Village Bridge is over 200 years old, and was constructed after the river beneath it flooded and washed away the houses along its banks. The houses were then rebuilt on top of the bridge to prevent the town from being destroyed again. Occasionally, the bridge will have to separate to allow ships to journey north or south. The houses were situated on both ends of the bridge, for obvious reasons.

As they walked up the west end of the bridge, they saw people walking around without a doubt in the world.

"Can we check out the Village Bridge Restaurant!?" Charlotte asked excitedly.

"Of course. Do you know where it is?" Niko asked curiously.

"Yeah! It's off towards the actual bridge." She said. Once she pointed to it, they heard an alarm go off. Suddenly, everyone that was on the bridge began walking—some running—towards either end of the bridge as it began to separate. Each side rose high up, eventually peaking at a ninety-degree angle and, from a certain angle, blocking the sunlight.

"Well then, guess we don't have much of a choice here." Niko said with a wry smile. Charlotte grinned as well, leading her friends to the restaurant overlooking the south.

They were easily able to find seating in the Village Bridge Restaurant. After sitting down at a window table, the three of them stared out onto the expanse of land to the south. Nothing but forest and rivers, with the occasional small town or village, occupied the space beyond Village Bridge.

"This is a quaint little place…" Warren said, looking around at his surroundings.

"Mhmm. My mom told me to check this place out if we ever got a chance to. It's pretty wonderful, she said." Charlotte looked down at the menu, smiling to herself. She seemed genuinely satisfied, which Niko found charming.

While they were eating, Niko looked up and noticed a small group of hooded men sitting in the far corner of the restaurant, mumbling something to one another. Most of them were wearing odd-looking robes and a tall cap with an "x" mark on them. Some were bearded, and some weren't. Some looked older than others. But there looked to be four of them. Eventually, one of them turned and stared directly at Niko, to which the young trainer looked away towards the window.

"Niko?" Warren asked.

"Hmm? What?"

"You alright?"

"I—uh—of course I am. Just thought I saw someone." Niko said, and instantly regretted it, for Warren then turned around and looked at the small group of weirdly-dressed men.

"Them?" He asked Niko, who then put a finger to his mouth.

"Shut up. Maybe they're up to something." Niko said silently.

"Guys…really?" Charlotte said, almost exhaustedly. "Can we just enjoy one nice meal?"

"We usually do." Niko corrected her. "But…if we're on the topic of it, those men look a little sketchy, don't you think?"

"How so?" Warren asked, genuinely curious.

"I don't know…something about them just seems off, y'know?" Niko replied, leaning over to get a better look at them.

"Well, stop staring." Charlotte said, forcefully pushing Niko back with her small hand and skinny arm. Niko fell back in his seat, sitting there and continuing to wonder what was up with those men.

Niko noticed the group of men as the bridge was lowering back down again, after the trio had finished eating. Once the bridge was safe to walk on, the four strange men began to walk at a brisk pace down the brick-layered bridge. Niko, suddenly becoming his old, crime-solving self, picked up his own pace, extending his steps as he pursued the men. This seemed to irritate Charlotte, who wanted to enjoy the view of the bridge as they walked along it. Warren, at any rate, hardly seemed to care, and followed behind Niko.

"Niko, slow down." Charlotte said, eventually sighing when she realized she wouldn't get through to him. I had to join him, of all people, on a journey…She thought to herself.

By the time they reached the end of the bridge, Niko saw the men take a turn down an alleyway. Pulling out a pokéball, Niko summoned Braviary. "Hey, buddy, can you follow those group of men for me?" He asked. The Valiant Pokémon nodded, rising high into the air, above Village Bridge, and flew around. Moments later, Braviary came back, urging Niko to follow him. "Stay here, so we don't attract any unwanted attention."

"Got it." Warren said.

"Alright…" Charlotte said exasperatedly. Once Niko left, Warren turned to her, wondering what was wrong. "I just don't like it when he does this…why do we have to chase after strange-looking men? Why do we have to go into old towers, nearly kill ourselves, for nothing?"

"We don't have to, but Niko feels some need to. He's done this before, hasn't he?" Charlotte nodded. "Well, I don't know the details of it, but I feel like we'll be fine in the end. Niko knows what he's doing here."

Minutes later, Niko walked back down the alleyway, Braviary flying closely behind him. Once he was within talking distance, he simply shook his head.

"Nothing?"

"Not really. Those men…they're just some poker club."

"Are you kidding me…" Charlotte said. "We follow a poker club?"

"Guess so. I mean, I could still be wrong, but I doubt it. I leaned against the door and they were talking with some other man about a poker tournament happening in Opelucid City in a couple of weeks. That's it." Niko said. Suddenly, he felt a hand press against his chest, as if he was being pushed. "What? I'm sorry!"

"Niko…you need to stop doing this." Charlotte said. "Every time we do something related to Team Plasma, we risk getting ourselves hurt, or worse. I certainly don't want to die, and neither does Warren, so let's stop doing this every time we see something sketchy, alright?"

"Fine. I'm sorry it bothered you so much. I guess I just didn't realize it." Niko said, looking guilty.

"It's fine, I might have overreacted a little…" She replied with an equally guilty smile.

"Anyway, let's keep going, unless there's more to Village Bridge that you want to see." Niko said. Charlotte shrugged, and the trio continued on their way.

On their way out of Village Bridge, they heard a lovely melody being played down under the bridge. Turning to go investigate, the trio saw a tall, brunette woman lightly humming a tune, with two younger men playing instruments alongside her. For several minutes the trio watched them practice, eventually conceding to leave once they'd had their fill.

Later that day, the trio arrived on route 12. According to Charlotte, Lacunosa Town was still a few days away. This gave Niko some time to continue his training with his Pokémon.

Route 12, unlike route 11, was a vast grassland coated in a very thin layer of snow, with hardly any trees besides the ones that ran along the edge of the land. Hills were scattered aplenty around the valley. The sun shone through a lightly-cloudy sky, baking the valley in half as much light as it ordinarily would. Shadows appeared along route 12 as the clouds moved in and out of the sun's path.

The trio sat down at the top of a hill to rest after walking for a few hours. During this time, Niko took to training. Like he used to do before arriving in Opelucid City, he paired up his Pokémon so they could practice evasion techniques against one another. Braviary and Boldore paired up, and Litwick and Druddigon paired up. That left Servine—who wasn't in the mood to train—and Tynamo left. Once the others started practicing, Niko walked over to Tynamo.

"Hey, buddy, c'mon." Niko said, motioning for the EleFish Pokémon to join him. Tynamo followed Niko back up the hill. "We're going to work exclusively on your moveset, alright?" Tynamo nodded, looking more determined than usual. From his perspective, it was nice to see Niko spending time with him, as his trainer rarely has recently. Niko sat down in the grass, off to the side from where Warren and Charlotte were. "So, in our battle with Skyla you used more electricity than you thought was possible, right?" Tynamo nodded. "Well, I've wanted you to try and replicate that recently, but I guess it hasn't really done what I thought it would. Have you reached your limit since then?" Once again, Tynamo nodded. Alright then. We're going to try that again, but I want you to pretend you're in a high stakes battle. I want to see that you can do this."

Tynamo nodded, attempting a spark attack. It hardly did anything. Frowning a little, Niko tapped Tynamo on the spine to get his attention.

"Think about that feeling you had when you battled that Swanna. Maybe that'll help." Niko said. Tynamo nodded, thinking hard about how it felt—the passion, the energy flowing through him. He then produced a stronger spark this time, but it hardly measured up to what he used against Swanna. "Better."

It then began to rain, which seemed to upset Tynamo a little. But Niko wouldn't stop asking Tynamo to use electric attacks.

During this time, Warren and Charlotte began to pack their things up and head down towards the forest on the edge of the valley, along with Niko's other Pokémon. "Go on ahead, I'll catch up with you."

"Are you sure?" Charlotte asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm going to spend some time out here with Tynamo first, and then I'll seek shelter."

"What if you get sick? It's cold out." Charlotte protested.

"I'll be fine. Look, I'm warm." Niko said, holding out his arms as if revealing the several layers of clothing that he was wearing. Charlotte shook her, but continued with Warren towards the trees to seek shelter, returning Niko's Pokémon to their pokéballs in the process. "Alright Tynamo, are you alright with continuing?"

The EleFish Pokémon nodded, and continuing generating electricity. After nearly half an hour, he collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion.

"Alright, you've had enough for today." Niko said, reaching to pick Tynamo up. He then felt a static shock run through his fingers to his arms. "Ow! Wha-what was that for?" Tynamo floated back into the air and angrily sparked electricity into the distance. Niko then gathered that he was frustrated with himself, for whatever reason. "Hey, don't worry buddy, you'll get it. I know you will."

Tynamo nodded, looking disappointed.

"Look, we all get stronger at our own pace, right? Hey…want to hear a story?" Niko said, sitting back down in the damp grass. Tynamo then nodded, and Niko began talking. "So, when I began travelling as a Pokémon trainer, it was roughly four years ago. I began with my best friends from school—Fay, and JJ. Now, all three of us wanted to challenge gyms, kinda like I am with you now.

"We got to the first gym in a place called Pewter City. Fay and I beat the gym leader, Brock, and got our first badges. But JJ didn't. He lost, and lost badly. He quit challenging gyms, and so only Fay and I continued on. But you see, Fay was a better trainer than I was. We travelled through two regions together, and battled sixteen gyms. He never lost a single one, and I lost three of those sixteen. In all of our battles against one another, he only lost to me once—and that was after two years of travelling with him.

"My first ever Pokémon League was ended when he beat me. I placed Top 32, and he placed Top 8, so he did way better than I did. It ruined me. I felt like I let me team of Pokémon down. I let myself down. I was a huge mess. But it was Fay and JJ—and our other friend, Brittany—that got me back up, and helped me keep going. And eventually, in my second Pokémon League, I beat Fay with my team of Pokémon. I didn't give up, even when I thought all was lost. I could have been stubborn and just given up completely, but I didn't.

"Look, the point of this story is to make you believe that you can do this. And that I believe in you more than you can imagine. I might not always show it, and sometimes I might focus on someone else, but I will never, ever give up on you. You're stronger than you realize, just like I was when I first started out on my own journey."

Tynamo nodded, looking away from Niko for a moment. He then issued a loud gargling sound and, with the help of the rain, conjured a powerful lightning bolt from the sky that hit him directly in the middle of his spine. Niko scrambled backwards, unsure of what happened. Was Tynamo…using a new move…?

Suddenly, the EleFish Pokémon began to glow a shiny white and yellow color, growing immensely. He was no longer a small, white and yellow eel. He was now nearly four feet in length from its half-of-a-foot length prior to evolution.

The new Pokémon was blue-black, and eel-like. He had a beige underbelly, and a round, toothy, leech-like mouth with red lips. His eyes had small pupils with yellow circles patterning around them, as well as spots. Beige fins extended from above and below its head, and its body was decorated with three yellow spots on the side. It had a red tail fin that resembled a fan. Out of shock, Niko pulled out his pokédex to examine the new Pokémon:

"Eelektrik, the EleFish Pokémon. Electric type. It wraps itself around its prey and paralyzes it with electricity from the round spots on its sides. Then it chomps."

"Well then…" Niko said with a smirk. "Guess you really do have it in you. Well done, Eelektrik."

Suddenly, he noticed Charlotte and Warren running up the hill with worried looks on their faces, along with Braviary and Druddigon.

"Niko! Are—are you alright?" Warren asked, out of breath.

"Heh, I'm perfectly fine. And so is Eelektrik." He said, motioning towards the EleFish Pokémon.

"Eelektrik…?" Everyone looked over to see the eel playfully running around in the rain, as if he had never seen it before. "Oh, Tynamo evolved. How?" Warren asked.

"Don't really know. Guess he hit his electricity limit again, and moved beyond it. He got pretty fired up at the end, and I think he used thunderbolt just as he evolved." Niko said. "Anyways, c'mon buddy, let's get out of the rain."

At first Eelektrik didn't want to leave, but upon further coercion from Niko he did, joining Braviary and Druddigon as the group went down to their small campsite, where Litwick, Servine, Boldore, and Warren and Charlotte's Pokémon were waiting. At the sight of Eelektrik, they all looked up in surprise, trying to soak in all of the new information coming at them. The tiny little Tynamo was growing up. And to them, it looked much stronger. That's exactly how Eelektrik himself felt—stronger.