Chapter 3—Heir to a mother's duty—
After I healed my Pokémon in the Pokémon Center, I knew it was time for me to get back on task and challenge the Turffield gym. The Turffield gym leader—a man named Milo—was a grass Pokémon specialist, meaning I had a few options… Raboot, Rookidee and Oddish all were effective against grass Pokémon. Although that reminded me… the little girl who I had helped with Jenna had given me a Technical Record for sludge bomb… that was a powerful poison attack and Oddish could learn that move! Oddish did currently know a poison move called 'acid', but sludge bomb was a lot stronger, so I decided to use the Technical Record to upgrade Oddish's moves.
I went off to a quieter area that was out of the way before I took out Oddish's Poke ball and called him out. When he appeared, he said: "Oddish?" And I said: "Hi, Oddish. I had something I wanted to suggest to you…" And Oddish looked intrigued before I said: "I'm about to take on a famous trainer who I have to defeat in order to keep advancing as a trainer and he happens to use Pokémon that you're strong against. To come fully prepared for the battle, I was hoping to teach you a stronger poison move…" And then I pulled out the Technical Record and said: "…Using this." And then I went on: "Don't worry, it doesn't hurt at all. It's a special device that will instantly teach you how to use a strong poison move—one much stronger than the one you currently know—but it's a single use device." And then I continued: "I know I can trust you to use the move it will teach you perfectly, but I can't teach it to you any other way. So what do you say, Oddish? Are you up to broadening your horizons and learning a new move?" "Odd!" Oddish said excitedly before I smiled and said: "Great. Then I'll set this on top of your head…" And I put the Technical Record onto Oddish's head… while it was there, I saw the words: "sludge bomb" were written on the front… how convenient. And then it started to glow and I said: "That just means it's imparting the move to you. Don't worry, just stay still." And Oddish did so before the record stopped glowing and then snapped into two halves and fell to the ground… I picked them up before I said: "Well I guess it worked… how about we go to Route 4 and try it out?" "Oddish!" Oddish said before I said: "Alright, then. Let's take a stroll out of town, Oddish!" And then we left Turffield and went to Route 4.
When we arrived, Oddish and I walked into a field until we saw a Pokémon like a furry demon coming out of a pumpkin… it had brown fur that came down in streaks on its head and its head had two white fangs in its mouth, two yellow-orange eyes, two brown horns and a brown tuft of fur that stood up on the top of its head. Its lower body looked like one big pumpkin with stubby legs. It was short and floating over the ground… but this Pokémon… it was a Pumpkaboo. This particular one was really short too, so it was the kind that didn't have as much stamina. They wouldn't be the best Pokémon to try sludge bomb on, but compared to Meowth and some of the other Pokémon living here, they'd do. I approached the Pumpkaboo (with Oddish following) before I started getting close… and then the Pumpkaboo turned around and said: "Pumpka…" And approached me. Since I knew ghost type Pokémon weren't always of pure intent, I said: "Okay, Oddish!" And he ran out in front of me… and the Pumpkaboo immediately reacted by casting her shadow forward across the ground until it was behind Oddish… and then she disappeared and teleported to that location before she appeared and bumped into Oddish, cloaked in dark energy. "Oddish, sludge bomb!" I said before Oddish sent a blob of poisonous, dark purple goop out of the grass on top of his head and it crashed into Pumpkaboo before it exploded violently! It looked like it worked well too. When the poisonous explosions stopped, Pumpkaboo paused before she suddenly started shrieking and rammed into Oddish. "Oddish, finish her off! Sludge bomb!" I said before Oddish attacked with it again… and then Pumpkaboo collapsed! And then she got up and ran away!
Once she was gone, I turned to Oddish before I said: "Great work, Oddish! You really did some damage to that Pumpkaboo! I'd say that sludge bomb attack is in working order, so let's get to the stadium and show it off!" "Odd!" Oddish said before I called him back and went back to Turffield. Once I healed my Pokémon up, I knew my next step was to decide who I would take with me to the Turffield stadium… I knew I wanted Raboot, Oddish and Rookidee if I was going to be fighting a grass specialist… and that was really all I needed, I felt. I chose Eevee to round my team out and I headed down to the stadium for my first battle against a gym leader…
When I arrived in the gym, I saw a small crowd, including a line to go to the front… and there was also a man nearby… it seemed he immediately took notice of my presence too, because when he saw me, he said: "Hello! Welcome to the Turffield stadium!" And then he approached me and said: "Have you come as a challenger or a spectator today?" "I'm a challenger. I want to have a battle with Milo for a grass badge." I said before the man said: "Okay! In that case, you'll have to wait in the line in the center of the gym for your turn—as you can see, there are some challengers ahead of you. Once it's your turn, you'll have to complete a trial where you'll need to herd Wooloo into a pen three times in order to advance to Milo. But you'll have to watch out: there are some staff who will try to sabotage you! If you successfully herd the Wooloo, Milo will battle you. Now let me explain the rules of the battle itself: battles against Milo are 2-on-2 single battle fights and because the stadium is built on a power spot, you can Dynamax once in the course of the battle. Items are not permitted in stadium battles, nor is switching Pokémon before they faint. In the event of a complex judgement call, we have a referee to make expert decisions for who wins in those situations. And that's it. Now that you've heard the rules, are you ready to make your challenge?" "Yes. I am." I said back before the man said: "Excellent! Then go on and take your spot in line. Good luck!"
And I went in line and waited. It took a long time, but eventually my turn came. When I was at the front of the line, a staff member let me in and I walked through to a really big chamber like a field with hay bales and grass… and scattered Wooloo! I couldn't herd them all in at once, but the ones I got into the pen never tried to leave, so it only was a matter of time until I got them all in and I advanced further in. In the next area, there were even more Wooloo than the last one, although they weren't all I had to contend with… I soon saw what the man who had greeted me before was talking about: some of the staff had Yamper with them who would chase away Wooloo I was trying to herd! I had to knock out the Yamper in battles before I could finish the whole thing. Once I herded all the Wooloo into the pen, I advanced to a third area with even more Wooloo and meddling staff members… but I managed to clear it too. When I was done, I was at the back of the chamber and proceeded forward… I was about to set foot on the pitch where I would challenge Milo, but I was stopped by a female staffer… but she only healed my Pokémon.
When she was done, I proceeded further in and was on the pitch at last… there were spectators from corner to corner in bleachers that were positioned over the pitch… and I saw Milo across from me. He was a fairly tall, muscular man who wore a white uniform with a green leaf logo—his gym's logo—over his chest, a green scarf around his neck, green shorts with black patterns over the sides of his hips, green socks that went halfway up his calves and green shoes with a white ring at the bottom. He had a wide-brimmed tan hat, short salmon-colored hair and green eyes. He approached me before he said: "Welcome to the Turffield gym, challenger. I'm Milo, the gym leader around these parts. What's your name?" "I'm Abby. It's nice to meet you, Milo." I said before he chuckled and said: "Hm… what a polite young lady. How nice. Well then Abby, what's your opinion of grass type Pokémon?" "I only became a trainer recently, so I don't think I have enough experience to say, but I do have one. He's really resilient and a good attacker. I like him." I said before Milo said: "How nice to see a trainer who finds good in all Pokémon. There are some trainers who look down on grass Pokémon because they have more weaknesses than some other types. But grass Pokémon are also resilient and crafty. Your answer suggests that you look for the good in the Pokémon you raise. That's refreshing to see." And then he went on: "I'm looking forward to battling with you. Let's see what you've got, Abby!"
And then we went across from each other and then he took out a Poke ball (and I took out Raboot's) before he said: "Go, Gossifleur!" And I said: "Go, Raboot!" And we called our Pokémon out… Milo's was a short Pokémon like a bouquet of flowers. It had a torso with a body like a green stem with stubby hands attached, a pale yellow face with black eyes and tan pupils and a mouth, and a yellow flower on its head with red leaves behind it that looked like hair. It was short.
"Raboot, attack Gossifleur! Use flame wheel!" I said before Raboot said: "Rab!" And he ran forward as he surrounded himself with fire and then kicked Gossifleur when he got in range! "Gossi!" Gossifleur said as she took the hit hard… but then she scattered cotton spores from her body that stuck to Raboot… "Gossifleur, use rapid spin!" Milo said before Gossifleur started to spin extremely fast and crashed into Raboot, knocking him over. But then she looked energized… and then Milo said: "Now use round!" and Gossifleur started to sing loudly before Raboot flinched…
So this was his plan… Milo was creating a speed gap in between Raboot and Gossifleur so she could attack multiple times in a row before Raboot could attack again… and Gossifleur's ability was obviously Cotton Down, which scattered those cotton spores that lowered Raboot's speed before… "Raboot, keep going! Use flame wheel!" I said before Raboot once again surrounded himself with fire and kicked Gossifleur… and then she scattered more cotton spores… but then she collapsed!
Milo called Gossifleur back before he said: "Not bad, Abby! But you'd better be ready for what's coming next—grass doesn't wilt so easily!" And then he went on: "Go, Eldegoss!" And he called out a little Pokémon that had a body that looked like green robes with a yellow scarf, with a white face that had a mouth and kernel-yellow eyes with white pupils and spiky, yellow-green overgrowth at the top connected to a huge white puff like a dandelion. It was short and in fact was barely any taller than Gossifleur!
And then Milo suddenly called his Eldegoss back before his Dynamax band on his arm started to glow… and then the Poke ball it was contained in suddenly grew to massive proportions before he dropped it and it opened… and Eldegoss came out, but at an enormous size! It was almost as tall as the stadium itself! So this was what Dynamaxing looked like…
And then Milo said: "Eldegoss, use max strike!" And Eldegoss said: "El!" And she made the ground crack beneath Raboot before whitish-yellow energy flew up from the fissure below! And Raboot looked sluggish before he said: "Give him another one! Max strike!" And Eldegoss did so… Raboot just barely got up, but it was clear he wasn't going to last much longer… I guess Rookidee or Oddish would be taking over next… but if Eldegoss could keep lowering speed, I would have to make my choice carefully… if only there was some way for me to do substantial damage before I brought them in… but then I thought of what kind of max moves Raboot could use if he was Dynamaxed… and then it hit me!
I called Raboot back before I used the power of my Dynamax band to Dynamax him and his Poke ball grew large… it was hard for me to hold, actually… I dropped it down and it opened before Raboot came out at a size that rivaled Eldegoss's and I said: "Raboot, get her! Max flare!" And Raboot said: "Raboot!" And caused a massive, fiery explosion where Eldegoss was… and then sunlight started to shine down from above! That was an additional effect of max flare. Now everything was going according to plan…
"Eldegoss, finish him off! Use max strike!" Milo said before Eldegoss did so and Raboot fell into a kneeling position before he shrunk back down to a normal size (as did his Poke ball) and I ran up to him and said: "Great job, Raboot! Come back and rest!" And I called him back and got across from Milo again… and then his Eldegoss shrunk back down to a very short height again. Since his Eldegoss had acted three times, now the duration of her Dynamax had ended and she was back down to a normal size, with normal attacks and attributes. And then Milo said: "Looks like we're even now. Although I have to admit, I'm surprised you panicked like that. I wasn't expecting you to Dynamax your Raboot when he was so seriously hurt."
And then I laughed and said: "Who said I panicked? I achieved everything I intended to do." And then I went on: "Dynamaxing is only one way a Pokémon can demonstrate their power. If you depend on it too heavily, then you're not a very good gym leader." And then I continued: "Now I'll show you where this is going! Oddish, go!" And I called him out before he said: "Oddish!" And when he felt the sun touching the grass on his head, he suddenly looked energized! "Oddish, fire away! Sludge bomb!" I said before Oddish sent a blob of exploding poison flying at Eldegoss and it did a great job damaging her! She got up before I said: "Finish her off! Sludge bomb!" And Oddish fired another one. That was what was so nice about Oddish's ability, Chlorophyll—it led Oddish attack again if the sun was shining. And when the sludge bomb hit Eldegoss, she collapsed!
Milo called her back before he stepped forward and said: "Well how about that! You really are an amazing tactician! You really know how to use the full power of your whole team of Pokémon! I wasn't expecting to see such an advanced opponent so early in the season!" And then he removed his hat before he said: "My hat's off to you, Abby. You're the real deal." And I chuckled and said: "Thank you, Milo. And for what it's worth… you really had a great strategy going with your Gossifleur and Eldegoss too." And then Milo put his hat back on his head before he said: "That was a really fun match! Here's your prize, then—a grass badge!" And he gave me a small, green badge that I had to fit into my badge ring… I took the badge and then took out my badge ring before I stuck it in there and said: "Thank you, Milo. This was a really fun experience for me." "Good! I'm glad your first gym battle was a memorable one. That's what I always try to give any trainer who comes here—as the first gym leader, I'm the face of the gym challenge. Trainers form their first impressions of the challenge based on how their battle with me goes, so I always want to set them off on the right footing." Milo said.
"The face of the gym challenge… now that you mention it, that sounds like a big job." I said before Milo laughed and said: "I suppose you could say so. I hope some day you'll come to see how I can enjoy a job like mine." And then he went on: "But the grass badge wasn't all I had for you—I want you to have this too." And he handed me a small, green-colored disc… a Technical Machine!
Technical Machines were like Technical Records… the primary difference was that they didn't break after you used them—they never did. However, most people considered the moves contained within Technical Machines to be less valuable… that was the trade-off… as was often the case, the harder way often is better. "Oh wow… a Technical Machine?!" I said before Milo said: "That's right. That's the Technical Machine for the move 'magical leaf'. It's incapable of missing the target, so you can always count on it to do damage." And then he went on: "Now before you go, let me tell you where you'll be going next: the next gym you'll need to take on is located in Hulbury, which is east of Turffield. If you take the eastern exit out of town, you'll go across a hill and to a bridge. Cross that bridge to a grassy road and keep going east. Then you'll arrive in Hulbury. The gym leader in that city—Nessa—is a water Pokémon specialist, so make sure you're prepared." "Got it. Thank you, Milo." I said before he said: "Sure. And I must say, you're a pretty impressive challenger, Abby. Good luck out there."
"Thank you, Milo. But I have to say, I admire your ability to stand up for your favorite Pokémon, even if other people badmouth them. That's why I want to encourage you to stick with your current approach. If you keep working towards your goal, you'll become a grass type master someday." I said before Milo grinned and said: "A grass type master… I like the sound of that! But in all honesty, I've got a ways to go. And yet… I like your attitude. You should stay true to your way too." And then he went on: "Now you'd best be off to get your next badge. Good luck, Abby." "Thank you, Milo. Goodbye." I said before I left the pitch and exited the stadium.
When I was back outside, I went to the Pokémon Center and healed my Pokémon before I took the eastern exit out of the town and onto the hill Milo had spoken of… Route 5. Some powerful Pokémon lived here, especially a really nasty one called "Wobuffet"… they always let my Pokémon attack first and then would hit my Pokémon twice as hard as mine hit them, which was really dangerous! The first time, I barely defeated one without losing… I was careful to avoid them from that moment on! The rest of the Pokémon here weren't so bad by comparison. Once my Pokémon had become a little stronger, I changed out my lineup again… I added Sobble, Rookidee, Oddish and Tyrogue to my team and went further up the road and soon saw a building nestled into a grove of trees… and I saw a woman was outside the door, looking a little troubled… I approached her and said: "Hey… are you okay?"
And the woman looked up before she said: "Oh, hello. Yes, I'm okay. I just was thinking about a certain Pokémon I was raising…" "Oh? What kind is it?" I asked before the woman said: "Actually, I can show you. It's this…" And she turned around before she picked something up… and then she turned around again, revealing a rather large egg! "Oh wow! Is that a Pokémon egg?!" I said before the woman said: "You're very sharp, miss. Yes, it's an egg of a Pokémon from around here." And then she went on: "The thing is, we're actually a nursery for Pokémon—we care for Pokémon that trainers leave us who are unable to care for their Pokémon themselves, due to varying circumstances. But sometimes when trainers leave their Pokémon here, we find eggs that they lay in the nursery area… but not all Pokémon leave them. Only certain pairs of Pokémon seem to lay them sometimes…" "The Pokémon have to be similar kinds of creatures. You can't get two Pokémon to breed if they're nothing alike." I said before the woman said: "You ARE a smart one! Yes, that's absolutely right." And then she went on: "The thing is, two Toxitricity laid this egg a while back. I've been trying to hatch it, but it doesn't seem to be responding… I think it might need to be with a trainer…" And then she continued: "By the by… do you happen to be a trainer, miss?" "I am. I was heading to Hulbury to obtain my next gym badge." I said before the woman said: "In that case, would you be willing to take it? You're clearly smart and you seem to be a kind person as well." "Certainly. I'll see to it that it hatches from that shell!" I said before the woman said: "Great! I'm glad you came by today! Well then, it's all yours." And she held it out before I took it and she said: "Please take good care of it. And if you ever need our services, we're here on Route 5 at any time!" "You can count on me!" I said before the woman said: "Thank you. Then best of luck, young trainer."
And then I put the egg in my backpack—I was careful to put it in a pocket where it wouldn't break. I was tempted to carry it, but I knew if I tripped, that would be the end of the little Pokémon in that egg and that it might draw the attention of certain Pokémon, so I kept going down the road. Eventually I saw the bridge in the distance, but something was wrong… there was a big crowd of trainers gathered in front of it before a group that was standing on it… they were of mixed genders and wore black shirts with gray vests that had sleeve tatters, black pants or shorts with studded black belts, black shoes and gray, spiked yokes at their ankles… they all had magenta-colored stripes on their faces (I could see the men's were painted horizontally over their eyes and the women's were painted vertically over their noses) and the men had short black hair while the women had short magenta hair…
I moved up to the front of the crowd before I said: "Hey! What's going on here?" And the people on the bridge looked at me and a man said: "Go home, kid. This bridge is closed for repairs." "Repairs? It doesn't look like it's being repaired… it doesn't even look like there's anything wrong with it at all!" I said before one of the women said: "Oh, it's simpler than that… we're merely 'repairing' the fact that gym challengers are allowed to cross this bridge, now that our favorite gym challenger has already crossed it." "What the…?! Who do you people think you are?!" I asked before one of the men said: "We're Team Yell! We're out to ensure a very special gym challenger makes it to the pitch in Wyndon this year… and no one else!"
And then I heard a: "That's enough of that." And we all turned around to see a teenage boy there… he looked about two or three years older than me. He wore a dark purple long-sleeve jacket and dark purple baggy pants with silver shin guards and white socks and black sandals… but the first thing I noticed about him was that he had a red mask on… it covered his whole face. He approached closer to the front before he said: "This is inexcusable. Even if you exclude the trainers who are inconvenienced by this, do you realize what an inconvenience this is to passing merchants, residents and travelers? You're creating a huge public nuisance!" "So what? Are you going to do something about it, punk?" One of the men said before the teenage boy turned behind him and said: "What are you all waiting for? You outnumber them. There's no reason to tolerate this self-centered behavior. Liberate the bridge!" And the trainers all rallied together before the teenage boy turned to me and said: "You, the spirited girl in the purple jacket… join me for this battle." "Fine with me. I've had enough of these uglies!" I said before one of the women said: "UGLY?! Argh, that does it!" And she and a man approached us (while the other gym challengers swarmed the rest of them) and then the woman and the man took out Poke balls before the woman said: "Go, Skwovet!" And the man said: "Go, Thievul!" And the teenage boy said: "Go, Skorupi!" And I said: "Go, Tyrogue!"
And I called out Tyrogue while the boy called out a Pokémon like a little scorpion… its body was colored blue and blue-violet and it had blue circular blobs with white pincers attached to its head in place of claws, as well as mandibles, two sets of blue legs, two crescent-shaped white pincers on its tail and deep blue eyes with black dots for pupils. And the woman called out a Pokémon like a little gray chipmunk… it had a white stomach and jaw with a yellow-orange nose and freckles on its face of the same color. It had black eyes with white pupils and gray rings around them, dark brown ears and the top of its tail was dark brown. It was short. And the man called out a Pokémon like a fox… it had a brown body with a white chest, black feet and calves, a black stripe down its back and the tip of its tail was also black. It had black fur around its eyes like a mask (with white eyebrows), black whiskers and a black nose. The exterior of its ears were colored black too, but their interior of each ear was colored brown. It had white eyes with yellow irises and white pupils and looked of average height. Out of these two Pokémon, the Thievul was an evolved Pokémon, but Skwovet wasn't… which made my next course of action clear! "Tyrogue, use fake out! Target the Thievul!" I said before Tyrogue said: "Ty!" And he barreled forward at a speed so fast that he disappeared before he reappeared in front of Thievul and hit him with a palm strike to the face that made him flinch! "Oi! You fight dirty, don'tcha?!" The man said before I said: "You're one to talk." And the teenage boy said: "Skorupi, attack the Thievul. X-scissor!" And Skorupi said: "Skoru!" And he ran up to Thievul before he raised his pincers up and then brought them down in an x shape before he struck Thievul… and it worked to fantastic effect! "Thievul!" Thievul said loudly. "Skwovet, use tail whip!" The woman said before Skwovet said: "Skwo!" And turned around before he wagged his tail at Skorupi and Tyrogue and they looked subdued…
And then Thievul recovered before the man said: "Thievul, use quick attack on Tyrogue!" And Thievul burst forward at a speed so fast, he disappeared before he reappeared in front of Tyrogue and rammed into him before the woman said: "Skwovet, tackle Skorupi!" And Skwovet ran forward before he tackled Skorupi, but Skorupi didn't have much trouble recovering from it… "Finish off Thievul, Skorupi. X-scissor!" The teenage boy said before Skorupi did so… and Thievul collapsed! The man called Thievul back, but then Tyrogue looked energized all of a sudden… "Tyrogue?" I asked before Tyrogue said: "TyROGUE!" And started to glow with a white light before he changed shape!
When the process was finished, Tyrogue looked much taller… he had a brown torso with thin brown biceps and brown hands that still had three fingers (yet he had tan forearms…) and long, flexible-looking tan legs with brown feet that had three white toenails. He had white eyes with black pupils and black skin immediately around the eye (yet oddly had no mouth…) and was taller than me now! "Tyrogue… you evolved into a Hitmonlee!" I said before Hitmonlee said: "Hitmon!" And the woman said: "He evolved… what awful timing…" And the man took out another Poke ball and said: "We're not beaten yet! Go, Tranquill!" And he called out a bird Pokémon like a pigeon… it had a gray body with striped gray-and-black wings, tailfeathers that were gray on the top and black at the ends and it had salmon-colored legs and feet with black talons. It had a golden-brown beak and red patterns above it and black feathers like hair that fell to its shoulders. It had had white eyes with yellow irises and black pupils and looked fairly short.
"Hitmonlee, Show them your power! Use brick break on Skwovet!" I said before Hitmonlee said: "Lee!" And flexibly stretched his leg up before he brought it down hard in a heel drop on Skwovet! Skwovet just barely got up before the woman said: "Skwovet, attack Hitmonlee! Use tackle!" And Skwovet tackled him, which worked fairly well before the teenage boy said: "Finish off Skwovet, Skorupi! Cross poison!" And Skorupi's pincers began to drip with poison before he attacked in the same manner as he had when he used X-scissor… and Skwovet collapsed! The woman called him back before the man said: "Tranquill, use air cutter!" And Tranquill said: "Tray!" And she flapped her wings at Hitmonlee and Skorupi before I saw thin blades of air coming from her wings at them—they were hard to see, but you could see them if you looked closely enough. Both Hitmonlee and Skorupi took them hard before the woman said: "Go, Butterfree!" And she called out a Pokémon like a giant butterfly… it had a blue-violet body with blue feet that were attached directly to the bottom of its torso as well as blue hands that were attached directly to its chest and a blue mouth. It had red compound eyes and two black antennae and white wings with black borders, except for a small section on either wing near the bottom of its wings which was colored solid black. For a butterfly, it was startlingly tall… it was almost as tall as me!
And then the woman went on: "Butterfree, use sleep powder on Skorupi!" And Butterfree said: "Free!" And flew over Skorupi before she scattered a green powder down on him… and he fell asleep. "Hitmonlee, attack Tranquill! Use brick break!" I said before Hitmonlee did so and did a surprisingly high amount of damage before the man said: "Tranquill, do it again! Air cutter!" And Tranquill blew more blades of air at Skorupi and Hitmonlee. Skorupi didn't look too bad (although because he was sleeping, it was hard to tell… I was only guessing), but Hitmonlee looked like he couldn't take much more…
"Hitmonlee, use brick break on Tranquill!" I said before he did so (and Tranquill just barely got up) and the man said: "Tranquil, use another air cutter!" And she did so before Hitmonlee finally collapsed… "Great work, Hitmonlee!" I said before I called him back and the woman said: "Now I've got you! Butterfree, attack Skorupi! Gust!" And Butterfree blew a stream of strong wind at Skorupi, which hit him harder than usual. "Skorupi, attack Tranquill with cross poison!" The teenage boy said, but he just kept dozing…
"Go, Rookidee!" I said before I called him out and the man said: "Tranquill, use air cutter!" And she did so before I said: "Rookidee, finish off Tranquill! Fury attack!" And Rookidee flew in and started pecking at Tranquill incessantly before Tranquill finally collapsed! The man called her back before I said: "Great going, Rookidee! That's going to help our friend a lot!" And Rookidee chirped before he said: "Dee!" And started to glow with a white light and change shape! He was evolving too!
When the process ended, he was notably taller… he had a pale blue underbelly and a blue back, with legs of the same color that had black talons. He had blue wings with black feathers at the ends, a black neck with black feathers on his upper chest and black feathers like a mask around his eyes, with blue feathers in between them. He had white eyes, with red irises and white pupils and a pale blue beak. I smiled and said: "Great job, Corvisquire! Now you can really finish this battle in style!" And he said: "CorviSQUIRE!" And the woman said: "Butterfree, finish off Skorupi! Gust!" And Butterfree attacked with it again… before Skorupi suddenly said: "SkoruPI!" And collapsed… "Excellent, Skorupi." The teenage boy said before he called him back and said: "You finish up, Drednaw!" And he called out a Pokémon like a big turtle with very sharp teeth… it had a light blue body with a pale yellow underbelly and jaw and a big, mahogany-colored shell with yellow borders and a yellow crest in the middle of its forehead. It had white toenails and white eyes with black irises and white pupils and a light blue tail with two yellow spikes down the top. It was of average height.
"Oh great…" The woman said before the teenage boy and I waited for the man to call out a Pokémon… but he never did. "What's wrong? Are you out of Pokémon already?" I asked before the man said: "Yeah, yeah… I'll just cheer on my side to make up for it!" And then he started to… I couldn't believe it. "Corvisquire, attack Butterfree! Pluck!" I said before Corvisquire said: "Cor!" And pecked at Butterfree before he flew back and as Butterfree was recovering, the teenage boy said: "Drednaw, finish up! Rock slide!" And Drednaw said: "Nawww!" And made big rocks fall on Butterfree, which brought her down! "Freeee!" Butterfree said as she crashed to the ground! She couldn't get up either!
The woman called her Butterfree back before she shook her head and said: "These trainers are way tougher than we expected! At this rate, we won't be able to hold this bridge!" "I think that's a foregone conclusion. Look around you." The teenage boy said before we did… and saw the other Team Yell members had been beaten by the gym challengers! "Your team is no more. This bridge belongs to the people again." The teenage boy said before the man said: "Hmph! Fine. But this isn't over! Team Yell is just getting started!" And then the Team Yell members took off!
We all cheered before a preteen girl in the crowd said: "That was great! Now the bridge can be used by anyone at any time! That went a lot better than I expected!" "I'll say! We should help each other more if we encounter those bullies again!" A little boy in the crowd said before a man said: "Yes… that's the right thing to do. Thank goodness this boy showed us the way we should be doing things." As he looked at the teenage boy before he said: "If that is your assessment, so be it. But you all did a splendid job of working together. And the important thing is that you have realized the importance of working together. Let's all be the kind of people we can rely on." And we all cheered again before the other trainers took off… and then the teenage boy turned to me and said: "And you… thank you for fighting with me. You were really good." "Thank you, but you were the real star of the show. That Skorupi of yours was really powerful… I can tell you must have been training it a lot." I said before the teenage boy said: "I have been training him for a long time, yes. He's been a longtime partner." "You really are good at working with people. You really brought out the best in all those trainers who were too held back by conventional thinking to fight back… that's amazing. What's your name?" I asked. "I'm Matt. And you?" The teenage boy said before I said: "My name is Abby. It's nice to meet you, Matt." And then I held out my hand before he shook it and he said: "Abby… I'll remember that name. You seem like a good trainer yourself." And then he went on: "Now I'd better get my Skorupi healed up in Hulbury. See you around, Abby." "Okay. See you, Matt!" I said before he went off…
I stood there, still overcome by what a memorable moment that was… all of us trainers, banding together to drive off those Team Yell jerks… that was cool. This journey was already starting to get memorable! But I knew I should be following Matt's example too—Hitmonlee was in bad shape and even though Matt's Pokémon were strong enough to the point where he could be one down and still in good enough condition to win a battle, I knew I didn't have the same luxury… I needed to heal Hitmonlee up immediately. I called him out (and he was in a kneeling position) before I took out some potions and said: "Great job back there, Hitmonlee. Here, this will help you!" And I sprayed him with them one by one until he was back in pristine condition and he got up and said: "Hitmonlee!" And I said: "I'm glad to see you feeling better. Now you're all ready for the road ahead!" "Hit!" Hitmonlee said energetically before I said: "That's the spirit! Stay focused, Hitmonlee—we're almost there." And he nodded before I called him back and walked down the bridge.
It was pretty long and had a view of Hammerlocke in the distance—it was one of Galar's largest cities. Given how far away I was now… I was surprised I could see it. I stared at it for a moment before I continued down the bridge and after some walking, I made it to another grassy road. I went down the road… but then I thought I spotted something yellow in the grass… I wasn't sure if it was a Pokémon or not and decided to take a look. I crept up to the grass… and saw what I had seen wasn't a Pokémon or even an animal, but was a Technical Record that was lying there… it looked like it was a Technical Record for an electric move.
I walked up to it before I picked it up… I guess there's no telling how it got here, but I doubted there was any way to reunite it with its owner now. I put it in my backpack and got out of the grass before I continued on and eventually reached a gatehouse… I went through it and when I came out, I was in Hulbury!
It was a beautiful harbor city on the water… I stepped forward and looked around: it had a lot of residential areas, but also a Pokémon Center, a market in the middle of the city, a fancy restaurant, a lighthouse near the water and the next gym in it too! By the time I had familiarized myself with it, I decided to head to the gym. I went uphill from the lighthouse… but then I felt my backpack rumbling! "Eh…?" I said before I opened it and looked inside… and I saw what was going on: the egg I had received from the nursery was rumbling, hard! I removed it from my backpack and got down in front of it before I saw it start to crack! It must be hatching! "Come on, little guy! You can do it!" I said as the eggshells flew off until eventually it broke open… and revealed a little purple Pokémon! It had a purple body with a white chest and had four spikes on its head—two were at the top and two were on the sides of its head. It had a crest like a thunderbolt coming out of its forehead and a somewhat short tail, as well as two arms and two legs. Its hands and feet had white pads on them and its fingers and toes. It had white eyes with bluish-gray irises and black pupils and was short. This Pokémon… was a Toxel. They were fairly rare poison-and-electric type Pokémon.
"Ah! You hatched! Welcome to the world, little guy!" I said before I hugged the Pokémon and I heard it say: "Toxel…" And then I felt him hug me back before I held him in front of me and said: "It's nice to meet you. I'm Abby—I'll be looking out for you from now on!" "Toxel!" Toxel said a little more cheerfully before I said: "You chose a pretty good place to come out of your egg—this pretty city is called 'Hulbury'! Come on, let's look around!" "Toxel!" Toxel said again before I paused, with my mind racing… as one of my Pokémon, I suppose I should store Toxel in a Poke ball… but Toxel wasn't like a wild Pokémon… he had just hatched from his egg. He probably thought I was his mother… that said, it didn't feel right to confine him to a Poke ball yet. Instead, I turned him around and carried him around Hulbury. I showed him the lighthouse, the Pokémon Center, the streets and the market. Toxel especially liked the lighthouse and the greenery in the market. I knew I'd have to add Toxel to my team soon, though—I wasn't allowed to have 5 Pokémon on me. I sat down with him on a bench before I used my box link (which Toxel once tried to touch, funnily enough) to send Oddish to a box before I kept going around the city with him.