Episode 45: A pain in the cell!
"It'll take about a week or so to get to Vertress City." Charlotte said as they sat in Humilau's Pokémon Center. The previous day, Niko defeated Marlon and won his final Unova Gym Badge, qualifying him for the Vertress Conference. "The conference begins a couple of days after that, so if we get going today we'll make it in time."
"Great." Niko said, sipping on some tea. "Gives me some time to get prepared, too."
"Nervous?" Warren asked.
"About what?"
"About competing in a Pokémon League again. From what I know about your last one, it didn't go so well."
"It…could have gone better. That's only because of Hunter, though." Niko said, shaking his head. "If I have to battle him again, I'll have to be more careful."
"Do you have a strategy if you do face him?" Charlotte asked.
"No. Haven't really thought about it. I know Serperior, of all my Pokémon, has a score to settle. She gets really amped up against his Haxorus, and I can see why."
"She's never managed to defeat a Haxorus before…" Warren noted, with a nod of confirmation from Niko. "Either way, it would do you some good to at least consider a way around his raw strength. Who knows—maybe you could beat him this time?"
"I never know with him." Niko said, taking another sip. "Every time I've faced him before I thought that that battle would be the one time I overcame him. But in the end it wasn't—and I got my ass handed to me. I suppose part of me has given up on trying to at least give him a run for his money."
"You shouldn't give up, Niko." Warren commented.
"And why not?" Niko said, glaring at his friend. "I don't mind not being able to beat him."
"It's not about that, though. If you're ever going to improve, then you might have to at least try." Warren argued. "You've said that one reason you quit being a Pokémon Trainer is that you weren't improving in your League performances—since those matter to you—getting Top 8 three years in a row. What if you face Hunter in the first round? Or in the Top 16? Or even in the Top 8 again? Then, if you lose, you won't improve again. And you'll beat yourself up about it."
Niko went silent.
The path to Vertress City first took them east from Humilau onto route 22. It was a mountainous path through, and the trio would soon find themselves in the midst of the mountain ranges that characterized large parts of the Unova region. It was also early spring, and the air was, just like at Undella Town, crisp. The temperature was moderate enough, which made the trip more than tolerable in Niko's mind. In some ways, it reminded him of his journeys through Kanto and Johto.
During this time, Niko began spending more time training with his Pokémon. All six of them—Druddigon was with Professor Juniper at this time—were thrilled at the chance to finally compete in a Pokémon League. Niko also wanted to help them learn some new moves, if possible.
According to Charlotte, Eelektrik could also learn coil. And so, with some help from Serperior, the EleFish Pokémon learned how to use his eel-like body to his advantage. Litwick was still working on inferno, having little success in unleashing enough firepower to successfully use the move. Serperior was trying to learn for herself new ways to use her serpentine body to give herself an advantage over her opponents. Boldore was attempting to learn a move called stone edge: a move Niko admittedly had little knowledge of teaching. And, once again, Niko noticed Duosion was having problems.
When he received Duosion from Professor Juniper with the intent of letting her battle at the Humilau Gym, the professor noted that she was having small migraines. Juniper chalked it up to her numerous attempts at learning and mastering future sight:
"Future sight requires the user to put in a large amount of psychic energy up front. It took Duosion a while to understand this, and I think that's what has been causing some brief—but numerous—headaches."
But Duosion had clearly shown her ability to master the attack when she used it to defeat Marlon's Mantine. Why is she having problems now? Niko asked.
After exhausting all possibilities but one, Niko turned to Charlotte on the first evening of their trip. She was reading by the light of the campfire. Warren was recording their adventures of the day in his booklet. The Pokémon were nearby, either playing or training. "Hey, Charlotte."
"Hmm? What's up, Niko?"
"Does Duosion evolve?" He asked. "I think I remember someone telling me once, but I forget."
"Yeah, I think so. Why?"
"Because Duosion is having more headaches again. If they caused her previous evolution, do you think she's beginning the evolution process all over again?"
"It's possible." Charlotte put the book down. "I think Duosion's evolution is called Reuniclus. I don't know much about it, though…" She then pulled out her pokédex to examine this "Reuniclus" Pokémon:
"Reuniclus, the Multiplying Pokémon. Psychic type. They use psychic power to control their arms, which are made of a special liquid. They can crush boulders psychically."
"So…she's probably evolving. Great." Niko said.
"Is that a good 'great,' or a bad one?" Charlotte asked, half-teasingly.
"Both? It's great because I want Duosion to keep getting stronger—that's why I caught her. But I also don't like how her species evolves. It just seems like an unnecessary amount of pain."
"I know. But we'll be there for her, won't we?"
"Of course. I just wish I knew how long it was going to take for her complete the evolution process." Niko said, looking over at his Pokémon. Serperior was curled up watching Braviary and Duosion play some game they made up with Boldore and Litwick. Eelektrik was sitting by Serperior watching. Occasionally, Deerling or Leavanny would join in as well, accompanied by Charlotte's new Frillish. The entire time, Duosion seemed just fine. She also used to hide her headaches, if she could. Niko thought.
The following morning, Niko woke up to see Serperior, Duosion, and Litwick already training. Rarely did he let his Pokémon sleep outside of their pokéballs when they were out in the open, in case of poachers (remembering his brief encounters with a poacher in the Johto region). However, he felt like his Pokémon were, at this stage, strong enough—or loud enough—to handle anything at this point, and felt more lax about his previous restrictions.
He watched them train as the sun rise behind him, off in the east and over a forest resting on the side of a mountain. It was a wonderful sight—that, and the feeling of the cold morning clashing with the heat of the sun. The entire time, he focused primarily on Duosion, watching her movements and facial expressions for any sign of difficulty. Finding none, he got up and made another attempt at cooking (he has failed multiple times at making food for his friends and Pokémon, despite putting more effort into his throughout his journey in Unova).
Later that day, after walking through route 22 for a few hours, the group stopped again to rest, seeing no rush to get to their destination. Niko continued training, this time working with Duosion on the release of her psyshock. At first, Charlotte gave Niko a wary glance, wondering what exactly he was up to.
"Duosion seems fine." He said, calming the nerves of his friend. Not convinced, Charlotte instead went to play with Deerling and Frillish. "Alright buddy, let's work on psyshock. Can you do it?" Duosion nodded. "Great! Duosion! Psyshock!"
The Mitosis Pokémon tried to conjure the multiple light blue and purple orbs that characterized the attack, only they didn't appear. Niko, confused, turned and looked at Duosion for a minute and noticed that she was wincing.
"Are…you alright?" He asked, patting the liquid surface that held Duosion's body together. She cringed this time, backing away viciously. "Woah! Sorry…are you hurting? What's wrong?" Niko then saw another flood of images run through his mind. Like with last time, none of them were making sense.
Then, Duosion collapsed onto the ground with a thud. Niko rushed down to pick her up, bringing her to their campsite. Hurriedly, Charlotte and Warren both laid down a blanket for the Mitosis Pokémon to rest on while they tried to figure out what was happening. During this time, Niko quickly explained what occurred.
"What do we do?" Warren shouted in a panic. Duosion was breathing slowly, as if trying to calm herself down while everyone around her was in a mad panic. Suddenly, she went silent, and so did everyone else.
"Duosion…?" Niko asked, looking down at his psychic type. She lay there, silently breathing. "She must've passed out from that." He looked away for a moment. "Guess she's evolving soon."
"And there's nothing we can do to help ease her into it?" Warren wondered.
"Guess not." Niko said, turning back to his friend. "Unless you have a suggestion." Warren shook his head. "Alright then. We'll just keep going as we usually do."
After an hour, Duosion finally woke back up, but was in a dizzy state, tilting drastically when she started to float back into the air. With the help of Niko, she managed to correct and re-orient herself and attempt to train again. This time, her trainer stopped her.
"No. No training for you. Duosion…" Niko said, looking into the eyes of the Mitosis Pokémon. "You're in pain. And I think it's because you're evolving, correct?" Duosion was silent for a moment before slowly nodding. "So you are aware of it. That's good. But anyway…you won't be doing any training until you're feeling better, got it?" Duosion nodded, and floated back to their campsite, where Frillish, Charlotte, and Deerling were sitting with Warren and Leavanny. Niko's other Pokémon were running around, either training or playing with one another.
For the rest of the day, Duosion felt alone. Niko noticed it quickly—she refused to eat or speak to anyone, much less send images to Niko via her psychic abilities. She sat away from the others, looking out off the side of a plateau they were parked on. It overlooked the valley below that the trio had traversed the first couple of days since leaving Humilau. In fact, far off in the distance lay the seaside city from their vantage point.
"Hey." Niko said, sitting next to Duosion. The Mitosis Pokémon turned away from him. "I know you're not happy with me. That's fine." He looked off at the darkened valley below. "I just want the best for you, that's all. You might not like sitting around, not participating in anything, but is it really any worse than trying to use any moves and then getting a bad headache? Do you really want to put yourself through that?"
He then saw images coming into his mind. They were of people, like Charles, Elliot, Hunter…all of Niko's rivals, as well as their Pokémon.
"You're want to beat them, don't you?" Duosion nodded at this, turning now to look at Niko. "Well, we will. I promise you that. But we can't do that if you're having these headaches! You need to be able to fight without hurting yourself, and that'll only happen when you evolve, Duosion!" He sighed heavily. "I just wish I knew when that was going to happen."
Suddenly, Duosion started cringing again before letting out an incredibly, ear-shattering screech that invaded the mind of everything around her, including Niko, who was covering his ears and shouting as well. He turned back to the campfire to see his friends doing the same. Then, somehow, he felt a wave of psychic energy hit him, knocking him several feet backwards. After rolling across the cold grass, he looked up at Duosion, who continued to pulsate psychic waves from her body. Then, as suddenly as it started, she stopped, collapsing onto the ground.
"Niko! What was that?" Charlotte shouted loudly; louder than she normally would, indicating that her hearing was shot temporarily.
"I think—" Niko said as he saw a blinding white light in his periphery. Turning, he saw Duosion begin to glow a bright white color as she began to grow. Arms shot out from both ends of her body, covered in the same green gelatinous substance as her two preceding forms. Her head was round with a thin stripe down the center. Her eyes were black and oval, with a red, triangular mouth. She had two stubby legs and arms, with round objects filling in the extended space in the gelatinous substance, which also grew three appendages on each "hand." Lastly, she had two rounded, triangular objects suspending in the gel above her head, giving off the impression of horns or ears. "—she evolved." Niko finished just as Reuniclus appeared in front of him.
Charlotte and Warren stood there in surprise, still unable to hear well. But they watched as Reuniclus floated over to hug Niko, who quickly returned the hug.
"I'm glad you finally evolved, Reuniclus." He said, looking down at the Multiplying Pokémon. "Now we can beat all of our rivals and win the Unova League! Together."
Reuniclus looked up at Niko and nodded, a fire now burning in her eyes.
The next morning, Niko and his friends continued west towards Vertress City, leaving the plateau that they were walking along and making their way lower to the ground when they saw the ground decline slightly. It didn't look like much at first, since the area was covered with trees. But as soon as Niko took a step into the decline, he felt a chill run down his spine.
"Did…did you guys feel that?" He said, turning to Charlotte and Warren. They both nodded, clearly feeling it too. He then turned to continue walking but, as he did, he noticed something different about the trees. He walked up to them and touched the bark. It was charred in some places. "What the…"
Then they all heard another ear-piercing sound. But this time, it sounded like the cry of a dragon.