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Spikemuth City

Proper teaching is recognized with ease. You can know it without fail because it awakens within you that sensation that tells you this is something you have always known.

-the Bibliographer's Creed

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Raihan stood before the boxy entrance to Spikemuth, and found it closed with a durasteel gate. He had come to see the final battles before his own trails in Hammerlocke, but he wondered if challengers would even be able to enter the small city complex. No sounds came from behind the vaunted door, and not a single person stirred.

"Who's this?" a thin voice cried through a speakerpatch. "No one enters Spikemuth for the next two days! Come closer so I can see you better! There's a camera on the control panel for the gate."

Raihan recognized the voice. "Piers? What in Arceus's good name are you doing? You have a Gym Challenge to run! Are you keeping your people trapped in this city?"

"No, they can leave any time they like. Come on in!" Piers said. The gate opened, and an Obstagoon hurried Raihan in the city. Piers was posed like a spider atop a small building that looked like a cardboard cutout. Thick locks of black and white hair swirled around the gaunt man in the faint wind. Raihan noticed several disabled watcheyes in the city, scattered about like dead insects.

He doesn't want the Association to know what he's doing, Raihan thought. But with all these watcheyes disabled, wouldn't they notice? Unless they were preoccupied with something else, I suppose. But it would have to be a very big "something else."

Raihan crossed his arms. "You locked down your own city? I'll bet your minions prevented the news from getting out. How many days has it been like this?"

"Only one," Piers said. "This was the only way for Spikemuth to stay afloat, actually. My advisors are worried that we might get closed down if the challenger representing Spikemuth doesn't make it through the eighth Gym Battle. Spikemuth is in an economic crisis, you know. Only about two thousand people live here, you understand. The slums, albeit a quant and picturesque addition to any city, are spreading."

"So they thought by closing the Gym, the challengers would win by default?" Rahian said. "Ridiculous! You could have just blustered about some issue with the arena technology."

"They overthink things, eh?' Piers said, slowly clapping. "My people are aligned with my interests, but few outsiders will believe me when I said we'll get out of our current financial straits. Tercano is too busy to give us a grant, and he never liked welfare anyway. It increases your dependency, that's what he said. The git. Marnie ought to be here soon, I'll have to explain everything to her as well."

"Didn't you reject Rose's offer to move your stadium to a Power Spot a few months back?" Raihan said. "You could have gotten enough money then to refurbish Spikemuth. People should be worrying about your situation! You're in direct conflict with the League Committee, Chairman Rose, and Tercano and his fanatics all at once! I heard they banned your music in Roria."

Piers sighed. "You think that people will just get up and leave because we're a dying town, with a modest Gym and no Dynamax Battles? But you have to realize all the people who love this rotten place. Types who can live here outside the posh exterior of modern Galar. Isn't that what Tercano wanted? Tough times to create tough folks? If Spikemuth got as shiny and new as all the other towns, where would people who don't fit into those places go? Chairman Rose once said, 'Shiny or not, I love Galar!' That's my philosophy in this."

"About Chairman Rose..." Raihan told Piers about his encounter with the man and Oleana beneath the Hammerlocke Energy Plant.

"I see. Why didn't you tell Tercano about this? He would have made a fuss about an unlisted room if he had found it in the search that went on after the particle leak."

"Really? I don't feel like I owe him that information," Raihan said. "Tercano is a politician unlike any that have come before him, but he unleashed a bloody Jihad eighteen years ago. Even if he didn't command it, I think he could have done more to prevent the slaughter. He's still a man with his own ulterior motivations. If he needs to defeat Rose, he can find his own way to do it."

"Isn't it typical for Rose to worry about far-off unknowns as he does?" Piers said, watching a bit of litter roll down a vacant street. "I never got along with his politics, but I respect his attitude. He wants to get things done, not endlessly debate over issues. The 'we've got to do what we've got to do, and now' sort of attitude. He's been reaching out to trainers in need ever since he became a committee member. Putting aside trainers like Bede who aren't as fortunate, think of the good Rose has done for Galar! He's built childcare facilities for kids in the stadiums and other locations and protected trainers who were victims of slander and libel! He went against the Rorians to have that behavior punishable by law in League pretenses."

"He does also have a deep sense of respect for Gyms and Gym Leaders who agree with him," Raihan thought. "Or at least hold opinions he thinks are reasonable. I still wonder why he withdrew Challenger Bede. When we were in the Challenge back in the day, didn't we do far worse things than destroying a mural? Perhaps he was pandering to Tercano, but that doesn't seem like the Chairman we know."

"Yeah, he did nothing about it," Piers said. "Was destroying the ruins such an unforgivable sin? Or did Rose want Bede gone?"

"Why would he want that?"

"Raihan, have you ever heard of Jonathan Rowell Cypress?"

"Of course. The Pokemon Professor who was trying to help people and Pokemon, but lost hope and tried to eradicate them instead, falling to the Dark Lord in the process of demonic attrition and committing incredible atrocities. It's a sad story."

"Even fools who can't do anything but bully people they don't like around," Piers said. "Can learn to be a little more considerate to others. With that in mind, you could think of the triggers that would allow the opposite to happen: a terrible fall from the light. Now, I think that black metal music and Dark-types are cool as hell, but I would never go so far as to, say, Mbelekoro-worship. That stuff is seriously messed up. But many people, maybe even Rose, think that going against the natural order of things is a good idea. I can't change their minds."

Two members of the Spikemuth City Guard came skittering around the corner with their Pokemon, dressed in the livery of Team Yell. "Piers, there was an accident by the tunnel! A Flying Taxi crashed!"

Piers jumped down from his perch, mounting his Obstagoon. "Well, Raihan, want to come with me?"

...

Passing through the wide, industrial fields outside Spikemuth, the two Gym Leaders found the wreckage of the Flying Taxi, still smoldering. Beside it was a parked air car and Len with a woman in his arms.

"Leon!" Raihan cried. "That's Sonia, granddaughter of Professor Magnolia!" He examined her head wound. "Oi! She needs medical care in Hammerlocke. Spikemuth's hospitals will give her an infection if they suture her."

"I won't take that personally," Piers said. "What in Arceus's name were you doing here, Leon? Trying to snoop on the next Gym?" Intelligence takes chances with limited data in an arena where mistakes are not only possible but also necessary, he thought. My intelligence tells me that something is awry."

"Exactly that," Leon said. He held up a small memory card. "I found this in her pocket. Listen to the messages on her Rotom Phone." Tapping the cracked screen, Pier's heard Magnolia's voice.

"Sonia? Where are you? If you can hear us, please call back! We're waiting for you at Route Nine!"

"Piers, go to Route Nine and give them that memory card," Leon said. "It looks important enough. Raihan, we can't have Sonia ride comfortably on Charizard if we also fly with it. Let me use your Flygon!"

The two flew away westward, a pair of distant specks before the sun. "Remember, Piers! We're counting on you!"

Piers looked at the ruins of the Flying Taxi, tossing the memory card up in the air. He caught it, judging that an electric attack had burned marks into the unconscious Corviknight's wings.

Someone was after Sonia?

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Magnolia RV, Route Nine

What do you despise? By this you are truly known.

-Rorian saying

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"No sign of Sonia from the Vikivolt drone," Casey said, Kilo resting on her head as she searched the surrounding terrain. "I found two vacant air taxis about a click south from here, by the tunnel to Spikemuth. Magnolia, do you know the security lock on Sonia's Rotom Phone?"

"Yes, it's divine providence."

"Good, give me a moment..." Casey checked Association satellite data, finding Sonia moving at a rapid speed to Hammerlocke. "Uh, from the velocity and approximate air resistance, Rotom tells me that she's probably riding a Flygon. If we can't get in touch with her, then I'll get working on a hardjack of the phone's gelcircutry! We'll be able to hear everything around her."

The roof crackled with a sudden strain. Lights flickered, went out. "Henry, what's going on?" Casey yelled, seeing that her connection to Sonia's Rotom Phone had been severed. "The roof's going to break!"

A clawed arm shattered the vehicle door, tossing it away. Casey stepped back in fear. With the emergency systems active, that door should have weighed a full metric ton, and that Pokemon had thrown it. A Bronzong and Golisoped crept in through the shattered roof and the dislodged entryport. Two speakerpatches affixed on the Pokemon droned out two distorted voices. "We have a few things we need to say, little girl."

"Who are you?" Henry demanded, sending out Lancelot. "The trainers behind the Pokemon, come out!"

"We could show you," the Golispod said. "But not now. Heroes have to appropriately time their public appearances. There is a time and place for everything. For example, when a willow grows and endures against a strong wind, a time comes for it to die and spread many other willows through its seed. That is the willow's purpose."

"What a day!" Magnolia said. "My lovely vehicle has been ruined by two armchair philosophers! Get out, before we call Chairman Bronze Tercano and his Rorian Commandos to defeat you!"

"How insulting!" the Bronzong screeched. "As noble figures, we are more than idle rubberneckers! And Tercano will be too slow to come here, old woman. Actually, he's coming right now with far more than just a few Rorian Commandos, but that problem will be dealt with accordingly."

Ignoring the implications of the man's comments for a moment, Magnolia asked what they had come for.

"Well said!" Golisoped continued. "Now, Casey Shield, in any bargain both sides must have things that the other side values. We would value your silence. You must not speak to anyone that a woman named Sonia had information for you. Now, our own operatives will take care of her shortly. She has not yet regained consciousness, although I do wonder where that card went..."

"You don't want us a loose end," Henry said. "Your plan seems hasty and poorly thought, but I suppose I can't grasp your motivations. Why should we do this? I would bet that our Pokemon could defeat yours."

"Because we have two very precious things that belong to Casey Shield," Bronzong said. "Look within these Poke Balls!"

The two Pokemon revealed a pair of Capture Devices: containing a writhing Stunfisk and Falinks.

Casey's eyes bulged. "Mega! Giga! Theives! Kidnappers! You're a pair of bloody nardless protohominid chromosomally aberrant mockeries of beating, curdled staggeringly stupid noxious little maggots! Wormfaced, crawling sandbrained pieces of lizard turd! One-handed, slack-jawed meatslappers! Jerks! Cads! Weasels! You're unethical, cultic, diseased, suppressive, controlling, restrictive, malignant, deceptive, dim, stifling, uncaring, of plantigrade intelligence, grim, unsympathetic, jargon-spouting, censorious, secretive, aggressive, mind-numbing, poisonous, flagrant, self-destructive, abusive, socially-retarded, puerile, clueless, and generally Not Good!"

Henry's ears must have closed themselves to filter out Casey's profanity, as he couldn't hear the two strangers giving their reply until the electronic feedback had cleared from the speakerpatches.

"We couldn't hear because of the feedback, but we know we were insulted!" Golisopod said. "At least you know what is at stake. We'll give your Pokemon back once our plans are finished and we no longer need the insurance. Of course, we would much rather have the memory card back, but this will have to do for now."

"Memory card?" a thin voice said. "This memory card?"

...

Piers was leaning on the broken doorframe, holding a small blue card. "Was this what you wanted?"

"Gym Leader Piers?" Bronzong said. "Uh, well, yes. Where did you get it?"

"Nicked it."

"Might we have it back?"

Piers dropped the card into Bronzong's tentacular hands. "Okay, here you go."

Casey started to swear again, but Bronzong and Golisopod had already left the RV, riding on gravisuspensors into the sky. "Quite praiseworthy, Piers! At least you know how to treat those of noble stature. Farewell, Casey Shield! And don't even think of going to the authorities: we control them!"

"Git!" Casey screamed. "Idiot! How could you give that thing back to those criminals? I haven't even got Mega and Giga back again! You're a Gym Leader, aren't you? Where did you find it?"

"You've got quite the shout and colorful vocabulary, Casey Shield," Piers said. "I almost want you to take over the vocals for my next song! Don't worry." He held up a small sliver of technology. "I took the motherboard and memoryclip processor off. They got a hunk of gelcircutry. Care to have a look at this memory card in Spikemuth, Magnolia?"

"Of course!" Magnolia said, getting behind the wheel. "The hole in my ceiling and the busted door is no real cause for concern, I'm sure. Passengers seat, Piers! Now! She turned to Casey in the lounge. "We're going to find those two, Casey, even if it means getting Bronze's help!"

"I think you'll get all the help you'll need from him," Piers said, sitting next to Magnolia. "A storm is coming to Galar from Roria, a big one."

"Storm?" Marvin asked. "What storm?"

"Gun-darts! Battle-Pokemon! Lasbeams! Pew-pew-pew! Don't you know that Tercano is about to attack Galar? It's obvious enough to us Gym Leaders! Strap in, kiddies. We're going to Spikemuth!"

...

"Piers!" Marvin said. "I can't believe that Piers snagged a ride with us! He's my favorite musician. Henry, you know about his hits like, 'Hisui the Land of Moomoo Milk and Combee, The Boy With the Spike in His Side, Spikemuth Burning, Spikemuth's Calling, Spikemuth's Not Dead," right? He's Galar's pride and joy! A man of many masterpieces!"

"I've heard legends and rumors about him," Henry said, amused at Marvin's pet obsession. "Such as that he let his Pokemon go wild at a rock concert, or that he poisoned his audience, or attacked plain old civilians that weren't trainers. I'm surprised a guy like him became a Gym Leader, but hey, maybe Rose was smoking too much semuta drug when he appointed Piers. There are leaders in other regions long past that were members of evil organizations or even the Elite Four."

"Hey, Piers!" Casey yelled, looking away from her recovery work for a moment. "Sonia's safe, right?"

"Yeah," Piers shouted back. "Leon was on his way to Spikemuth when he found her. Raihan took her on his Flygon to Hammerlocke, and they sent me to go tell you what happened. Lucky enough I found you on Route Nine."

"Alright! Thanks!"

"Thank you, Piers," Magnolia said, keeping her voice low as she drove. "You could almost be considered a good man. This is the second time that you've helped my family."

"Oh, I'm no hero," Piers said, remembering events long past. "Leon was the one who saved her this time. I reckon that his presence scared those two thugs into not finishing the job. And all I did last time was take a shot at those pasty sods. It was Rose and Kabu who actually took care of things for good."

"Don't be humble. It was your behavior that made the League Committee take action to respond to the uproar."

"I wonder how Sonia got that memory card, and why those two were after her," Piers mused. "Considering that Tercano is about to do away with Rose, we might away enjoy these few hours of peace with some conversation."

"Sonia was going to investigate what we suspected was a cover-up of some aspects of Galar's history and legends," Magnolia said, looking at the sky as if she expected bombs to rain down and plunge everything into hellfire. "She is an exceptional girl. Not many people in Galar care about the old legends, at least those from the third generation onward. Odd, considering that the Rorians and the folks north in Sinnoh are veritably living in the past. There just isn't much data around for budding researchers to make their own conclusions."

She sighed, seeing the gate of Spikemuth open at Pier's command. "She might have gone to Chairman Rose, or maybe a Macro Cosmos-owned library in Circhester. That's all I can think of."

A troop of Team Yell grunts let Piers and Magnolia outside into the climate-controlled settlement. "Welcome to Spikemuth, professor. Marvin, this is the holy land of Galarian punk music. 'And I say to you, take off your sandals, for you are standing on hallowed ground.'" He chuckled. "I threw a bit of the Hisuian Coda in there, didn't I?"

Casey screamed.

Henry threw open the door to her console lab. "Casey, are you alright?"

"Of course not!" she yelled. "I'm about to discover who stole my Pokemon, but the memory card got damaged by the electrical attack! I only found a few intact video files, and only one has some audio! The images are all broken up. Here, take a look."

Two distorted figures appeared on the screen, recalling the odd sense of uncanniness that some older video games espoused in their lack of graphics and high-tuned sound. They spoke in brief, haughty gasps, and Casey showed the others soundprint recordings that her Rotom Phone had recorded from the two criminals earlier. "This is it! They're the same people. They must have carried around a watcheye to record their exploits, and Sonia somehow obtained the memory card."

Piers looked at a still frame of the two. "Looks like they've got quite the hairstyles, huh? Bit rich coming from me, though. What about the other videos?"

Casey played a reel of the pair sitting in a grainy office, talking with a warped figure. A small symbol adorned the thing's chest. "Rotom, try to give me a clear view of that man. I want to know who they're talking to!"

The picture became clearer. The insignia of Macro Cosmos!

"These men have dealings with Macro Cosmos," Piers thought. "They must have recorded the conversation as insurance that their contact wouldn't betray them."

"Piers!" a Yell grunt shouted. "Our watcheyes show a Bronzong and Golisopod approaching the gate! Should we let them in?"

"Of course!" Piers said, waving a hand toward the shut door. "All the more satisfying when we defeat them."

...

The two Pokemon walked through the gate with biting breath, the men behind the speakerpatches screaming with fury. "Piers! How could you believe that nobles such as we would stand for such low-brow tricks? Commoners! Give us back our memory card!"

"You can have it," Piers replied. "We didn't find much. Of course, we aren't going to let you escape. Lights out!"

Spikemuth's power feeds cut, leaving the entrance shrouded in illimitable knight. "Now, Raboot!" Casey shouted. "Flame Charge!"

Burning like an island star, Raboot rammed into the two rouges. The speakerpatches melted off in the intense fire. The Poke Balls they held shattered, releasing their occupants. "Mega! Giga!"

The two didn't respond to Casey's shouts and wandered off. The Golisopod shrunk back as if imitating its master's display of misfortune. "They're on to us again, Sheilbert!" one said from a rapidly melting speakerpatch. "Those aren't her Pokemon! Escape Plan U!"

"I'd like to know why you ran off with the Rusted Shield and Rusted Sword," Henry said. "Or do you not expect commoners like us to understand your actions?"

"They're right behind you, Henry!" Piers yelled. "Glowglobes, on!"

Henry and Twiggy were washed in the illumination of a single glowglobe, revealing two men standing against a packaging crate. They had red and blue suits, with hair fashioned to look like a sword and shield. "The end is near," Piers said. "So, that's what you two bastards look like."

...

"Well done, Pokedex Holders," Sordward said, his voice filled with scorn. "How did you find us?"

"You were in Spikemuth, obvious enough," Piers said. "Weak radio signals like the ones you use to speak through your Pokemon can't get through the scrambler net I installed! It follows that you snuck in the city, one way or another. And you just keep talking on and on, never formulating a strategy! And here we lowly commoners use conventional wisdom. Is that enough for you?"

Sordward and Shielbert began to cackle, giving what Henry thought to be an appropriative evil laugh. "Your wisdom is strange to us! Henry Sword, Casey Shield, the two Elohim that guard the Slumbering Weald have a special interest in you...once you were permitted to obtain the Rusted Sword and Rusted Shield...well, we had been waiting for years for such an opportunity! I expect the fulfillment of our Grand Plan to be only hours away!"

"And what are your plans?" Piers asked. "Keep talking."

"Just know that once our designs and policies and stratagems are completed, all in Galar shall know us as heroes!"

"Enough, you barnacle-brained fools!" Casey yelled. "Why did you take my Pokemon? Why did you realize them? Where are Mega and Giga-"

She toppled. No bending or softening. It was like a tree falling.

As Henry ran to stop her fall, Sordward and Shielbert spoke together with careful precision, and their voices came out in an oddly measured cadence. "You don't know how you lost your memories of what happen in the Slumbering Weald, no? You have much to learn. Doublade, kill!"