Marcus followed Valerie up the staircase, trepidation in every step. Houndoom watched warily as stair after stair passed by. He didn't know which room they were going to; all he knew was that they were going up, ascending through the darkness, footfalls echoing in the empty space.
Valerie pressed another button on her remote, and up ahead a door whirred open, exposing the staircase to a sudden light that forced Marcus to shield his eyes and Houndoom to flinch away. As they exited the stairs, Houndoom looked around to see the Gym's battle arena. Are we doing the first round up here? If so, what's with all the explosions we heard outside?
Valerie stopped in the center of the battle arena and turned to face Marcus. Marcus lowered his hand to Pangoro's Luxury Ball, readying himself for a battle if it came to that.
Valerie smiled. "Tell me, Marcus, what is a Gym Leader?"
Marcus frowned. "Um…a Trainer who…is in charge of testing other Trainers…to see if they're ready for the Pokemon League…and also protects the town they're in and the surrounding area?" The stumbling over words indicated clearly he had not been prepared for the question.
"Effectively, that is correct," said Valerie. "Later rounds will prove your proficiency at the 'testing other Trainers' part. But this first round is meant to test your capability to, as you said, protect the town and the surrounding area."
Houndoom's pulse quickened. Is she saying what I think she's saying?
"In about fifteen seconds," said Valerie, "the notorious group of Pokemon thieves known as Team Furisode will attack Laverre. As a Gym Leader, you must successfully handle the threat, overcome your foes, and prevent civilian casualties. This is your task - I will say no more. Good luck." The Laverre City Gym Leader turned away and began to step over to the very plush-looking chair on the far side of the room. In the wall to the right, a door slid open, revealing what looked to be a fire escape.
"Okay, let's go," said Marcus. "We strategize as we go!" He made a run for the fire escape; as he reached it, the sound of an explosion reached Houndoom's ears, and he saw a plume of flames rising from the east.
Houndoom felt his fur stand on end. Team Furisode…even if this was staged, which it quite clearly was, this hit a little close to home. And it certainly didn't calm his nerves.
Another explosion sounded as Marcus bolted down the stairs. The instant he touched the ground he released all four members of his team. "Okay, here's the plan," he said quickly and urgently. "Take out the enemies, then evacuate the buildings. If the enemies are still up, they can interfere; if not, they can't. So let's do this quick."
The entire team nodded in understanding; that done, Marcus turned and rushed out into the streets of Laverre, Houndoom and the rest of the team at his heels.
"Ah, there's your Trainer," said Alolan Raticate, munching on a blue-colored Pokeblock. "Not a bad team…seems like a decent mix of speed and bulk."
"Do you think he'll do better than Ilima or Jaya?" Skuntank asked.
"Of course he will," said Medicham automatically.
"That is bold to say."
Medicham spun to see Jaya's Sigilyph, who had apparently floated up behind them. "I saw your Trainer's performance in his battle with Valerie. He was fairly impressive, I will admit. But what makes you think he is unequivocally better than the mistress?"
"He's their Trainer, Sigilyph," said Tyranitar. "Of course they think Marcus is better than Jaya, just as you think Jaya is better than Marcus. Lay off them - it's simple bias, nothing more."
"Hmph." Sigilyph floated over nearer to Braviary, who had abandoned his position near the balcony upon Tyranitar's arrival and was now perched on the balcony's right railing, pecking at a bowl of curry.
"Don't mind him," Tyranitar growled. "Sigilyphs are one of the Pokemon species most devoted to their Trainers. It's ingrained in them; they were appointed as guardians of temples and nobility in ancient Unova. He is practically compelled to not allow a word to be said against his Trainer."
"That sounds horrible," said Medicham.
"Not to them," Tyranitar pointed out. "They take great pride in their job. And a Sigilyph is an extremely powerful Psychic - Caitlin, from the Unova Elite Four, has one, and it can use its Psychic powers in conjunction with its Magic Guard Ability to outright repel most attacks."
"Really?" Medicham asked.
"Really," said Tyranitar. "I've seen it myself. Piers fought Caitlin once, back before the Plasma Crisis. I was just a Larvitar at the time - I knew type advantage wasn't everything in a battle, but I couldn't imagine a Psychic-type Trainer beating a Dark-type one. And yet Caitlin did. It was real close, sure, but a win's a win."
"I thought repelling damage was Magic Bounce, not Magic Guard," Kriesh commented.
"The two Abilities are pretty similar," said Tyranitar. "Magic Bounce actually repels pain - and other things, too, there are a lot of applications for the Ability - but Magic Guard allows the user to harden themselves against damage. Bounce has more offensive applications than Guard, but Guard can protect against damage instead of just pain. Which basically means-"
"Hush!" Alolan Raticate hissed. "He's reaching the first obstacle!"
And with those words, all eyes were once again turned towards Marcus.
"We are members of Team Furisode!" the two poorly-disguised Laverre City Gym Trainers cried. "We'll be taking all the Pokemon from this city! You can stop us, or you can save the poor trapped people in there!"
Houndoom stiffened as cries for help began to emanate from the nearby burning building. He knew they were fake - even if the robotic nature of the cries hadn't been enough to let him know, it wasn't like Valerie would actually put innocent civilians in danger for the sake of a Gym Exam - but they sounded just real enough to send a chill down his spine. Team Flare hadn't exactly been nice about their Pokemon thievery, and more than once Houndoom's ears had picked up very real, very terrified cries for help, cries that had more often than not gone unanswered.
As a dozen Pokemon materialized in front of them, Houndoom bared his teeth. A sudden burst of anger filled him, rationality falling away in favor of sheer fury. He might have seen the grinning face of a Gastly, felt a ping of Dark energy as what might have been a Taunt struck him, but that knowledge was lost in his rage. "Flame Surge!" Houndoom growled, voice dripping with anger.
A massive torrent of Fire energy blazed from his gaping maw. "Flash Fire!" Houndoom snarled, exerting his will upon his Inferno, willing it to expand even further, to wash over the entire horde of enemies like a fiery tidal wave. To burn these foes, to destroy them for what they'd done to these innocents-
"Houndoom, hold!"
Marcus's words cut through the fury engulfing Houndoom and he ceased his flames, stepping back and panting slightly. The wave dissipated, revealing two opponents - a Scizor and a Breloom - on the ground with smoke rising from their forms. Half a dozen of the foes had crouched behind a Protect barrier thrown up by a Bastiodon, while four others were smoking but still up.
For a moment, Houndoom was fairly pleased with himself, and then he realized the enemies hadn't been all he'd hit.
"That was an impressive display," said Skuntank.
"A little too impressive," Braviary pointed out from his perch. "I don't know how the scoring in this Gym Exam works, but I doubt he'll be getting points for lighting additional buildings on fire."
"See, that's why neither Jaya nor Ilima were doing things like that," said Alolan Raticate. "Big, flashy attacks are cool and all, but if you're in the middle of a populated space, you've gotta worry about collateral damage."
"His control over his Pokemon is not as impressive as the mistress's," said Sigilyph. "It is the mark of a comparatively inexperienced Trainer. One must wonder if that lack of experience makes him qualified for the position."
Medicham and Kriesh both shot furious glares at Sigilyph; so did Trevenant, who was still on the other side of the balcony with Shiftry and Scrafty.
"Believe me," said Medicham, "when it gets to Pokemon battling, you're going to see exactly how qualified Marcus is."
"Farceur: Imitateur!" Liepard reacted swiftly, unleashing a Copycat-created Inferno at the mob of enemies. Without Flash Fire, it was not quite as big as the first, but it still felled two more foes, leaving eight scorched adversaries remaining.
"Pangoro, Drapion, smash them!" At Marcus's order, the two powerful Dark-types leaped at the gang of enemies, arms lashing out to swat them aside. With a snarl of "Iron Fist: Crushing Blow!", Pangoro slammed his fist into an Ursaring so hard that the Ursaring practically folded around the blow, while Drapion knocked a Basculin and a Magmortar sideways with a growl of "Double Slam!"
But the enemies were no slouches themselves. The Ursaring grinned through bloodied teeth and threw a punch that clocked Pangoro in the face and sent him staggering. A Krookodile unleashed an Earthquake that swiftly forced Drapion into a Protect, and frustratingly, the two adversaries he'd struck hadn't gone down either. A combined blast of Water and Fire energy from the Basculin/Magmortar duo knocked Drapion off balance, and the remaining four enemies leaped for Drapion and Pangoro, seeking to take advantage of their stumbles.
And all the while, the buildings of Laverre blazed, though the fires on the two buildings Houndoom had accidentally set ablaze seemed to at least be dying down. Houndoom could have sworn he caught a glimpse of a pink body through one of the windows; he shook his head. Pondering Laverre's fire safety systems can come later - the battle is now.
"Flash Fire: Flame Tongue!" Houndoom snarled as he leaped forwards. A ribbon of Fire energy burst from his mouth, twisting as it flew so that it arced between Pangoro and Drapion and slammed into the Ursaring that was trying to press. "Poursuite!" Liepard cried, unleashing a flurry of Dark-type rays that drove into the Ursaring's face all at once and finally dropped the Normal-type behemoth. Seven remaining.
"Battle Armor!" Drapion cried, raising his chitinous reserves to defend against the flurry of attacks coming his way. Until that Earthquake-launching Krookodile was taken care of, there was no way he could use Dig to evade. "Pierce!" Drapion followed up, seeking to deter his foes with a barrage of Bug energy-laden spines. But the Bastiodon in the thick of the enemies simply raised another Protect, this one even wider - Wide Guard, Houndoom thought angrily - and deflected all of the spines even as a retalitory barrage of various types of energy arced towards Drapion.
"Liepard, get in front of him, and Substitute!" Marcus cried.
Liepard winced, but obeyed nonetheless, hurling herself forwards as fast as she could. She landed in front of Drapion with none of her usual lightness. "Farceur: Remplaçant!"
A duplicate of Normal energy arose in front of Liepard; the pure Dark-type hissed in pain as she recoiled, but the duplicate did its job, taking the flurry of attacks and leaving Drapion untouched. A multicolored explosion momentarily blocked the group's view of the enemies; in that moment, Pangoro and Houndoom leaped up side by side. "Crushing Blast!" "Dark Surge!" The twin attacks flew through the dissipating cloud of energy, and from the cries of pain that sounded Houndoom knew they'd found their mark.
"Blast!" "Farceur: Imitateur!" The other two joined them, identical X-shaped bursts of Poison energy flying from their bodies. More pained cries sounded in response. As the energy cloud finally dissipated, Houndoom gazed upon their enemies. Two more - a Relicanth and a Simisage - had fallen, but now the rest were coming on again, the Magmortar and Basculin to their right, the Krookodile and that damn Bastiodon to their center, and the final enemy - a leering Clawitzer - to their left.
"I've got him," Pangoro snarled, gesturing to the Clawitzer. "We need to wrap this up."
Marcus seemed to agree. "Houndoom, hit the Krookodile! Liepard, Taunt the Bastiodon! Drapion, guard your flank!"
Pangoro was already charging the Clawitzer, who swiftly launched a powerful-looking blast of Water energy at him. "Crushing Blast!" Pangoro snarled, firing a retaliatory blast of Fighting energy; the two attacks exploded against one another, and out of the cloud burst Pangoro, fist drawn back. "Iron Fist: Bullet Blow!" A Steel energy-enhanced fist shot forwards and buried itself in the Clawitzer's face, sending the Water-type stumbling backwards. "Iron Fist: Devastating Blow!" Pangoro's other fist came around in a haymaker and slammed the Clawitzer into the ground in a cloud of dust.
Liepard lunged at the Bastiodon. "Farceur: Raillerie!" she cried. The Protect-spamming Fossil Pokemon instantly abandoned all thoughts of defense as the Taunt impacted its mind; it lunged straight at Liepard, Steel energy glinting around its massive head as it roared. Liepard dodged the blow with ease. "Tranche Vicieuse!" She lashed out with a paw and ripped a red line along the Bastiodon's side. The Bastiodon howled in pain.
Houndoom had no eyes for that battle. All that mattered was that the Bastiodon's charge had left the Krookodile open. He drew upon his Power Herb with only the slightest touch of reluctance - in an ideal world, he would have been able to save that for later, because he highly doubted this was the only fight the first round of the Gym Exam had in store - but dealing with that Krookodile was absolutely necessary.
"Solar Surge!" Houndoom snarled; the Krookodile barely had time to widen its eyes before the massive beam of Grass energy knocked it off its feet. The Krookodile tumbled to the ground, out cold.
Drapion, for his part, had launched himself at the Basculin/Magmortar duo that still menaced his right flank. "No Escape!" A flurry of rays forced the enemies to scatter, the Magmortar to the left and the Basculin to the right. The Magmortar raised its two arm-cannons and unleashed another wave of Fire energy; the Basculin charged in from the right, jaws glinting with Water energy.
"Block!" A Protect barrier deflected the flames. Seeing that the Krookodile had fallen, Drapion grinned. "Burrow!" The cobblestone streets of Laverre gave before his arms, and he dove underground, leaving the Basculin's jaws to close upon empty air. Houndoom took full advantage of the momentary confusion, unleashing a swift Dark Surge that knocked the Basculin away again, then twisting towards the Bastiodon that Liepard was effortlessly manhandling. "Flame Tongue!" The Bastiodon staggered under the sudden burst of Fire energy, and Liepard darted in - "Tranche Sournoise!" - and delivered a swift paw-strike to its forehead. The Bastiodon collapsed, unconscious.
The Magmortar attempted to launch another gout of Fire energy towards Houndoom and Liepard, but Houndoom stepped forwards. "Flash Fire!" At his will, the Magmortar's flames bent upwards and soared uselessly into the air, flying upwards until they finally dissipated. The Magmortar barely had time to look furious before Drapion exploded out from under him, Ground energy flaring around his body, and delivered a Battle Armor-boosted Slam to the temple that finally felled Magmortar.
And then the Basculin leaped in from out of nowhere, somehow still alive, Water energy engulfing its body as it lunged towards Houndoom. Aqua Jet, Houndoom realized grimly. No way I can counter that in time-
"Crushing Blast!"
Pangoro's blast of Fighting energy soared past Houndoom and slammed into the Basculin, sending it flying once more. This time, it landed on the ground and didn't get up.
"Retreat!" The members of Team Furisode recalled their Pokemon and dashed off. Marcus reacted instantaneously. "The building! Houndoom, bend the flames; the rest of you, get everyone out!"
By this point, the only building left ablaze was the one that was meant to be ablaze. Houndoom bared his teeth. "Flash Fire!" At his will, the flames began to shift, floating away from the building, burning themselves out in the air as Houndoom separated them from the hungry blaze. Pangoro, Drapion, and Liepard lunged into the building. As Houndoom continued to slowly put out the fire, the three emerged, carrying four dummies that they all threw roughly to the ground.
"Was that everyone?" Marcus asked. The other three Pokemon nodded. Houndoom stepped closer to the building, and his will finally prevailed over the blaze; the last of the fire flew out the windows and dissipated in the air.
"All right, quickly, to the next one!" Marcus cried; wheezing, he dashed off, and Houndoom and the rest of the team fell in behind him.
"Huh," said Alolan Raticate. "Guess a Flash Fire Pokemon is pretty useful when you need to put out a fire."
"Especially since they do not seem to have any Water-type moves," said Sigilyph. "That is a fairly large oversight, I must say."
"Will you shut up?" Kriesh snarled. "I get that you like your Trainer, but pointlessly criticizing Marcus is just stupid!"
"I have to admit, Totem," said Braviary, "you are kind of being a jerk right now."
Totem - so the Sigilyph has a nickname - sighed. "They insulted the mistress's honor. Why should I not do the same to their Trainer in response?"
"Oh, for Arceus's sake…" Braviary grumbled. "I'm sorry, Totem's a pretty big believer in exacting revenge for perceived slights against Jaya…come on, Totem, let's go find Emolga." The large multicolored Flying-type led the Sigilyph off the balcony.
Tyranitar sighed. "Well, at least he's gone…and it looks like Marcus has pretty nicely finished the first round."
"I hate to admit it," said Skuntank, "but I'm fairly sure he took longer than Ilima or Jaya did on that."
"Yeah, I saw that too," said Alolan Raticate. "Thankfully, the timer on that building was a little forgiving…but from Jaya's example, I don't think the second timer is nearly as forgiving. He's gonna have to go a lot faster if he wants to make it into that building in time."
"Surrender to the power of Team Furisode!"
Not likely, Houndoom thought as a dozen more Pokemon were sent out by the remaining two members of Team Furisode.
"Okay, Houndoom, Liepard, do what you did last time!" Marcus cried. "Except without the collateral damage!"
Right. Houndoom glanced at Liepard, who nodded. He remembered the mistake he'd made in the first engagement. He would not make the same mistake twice.
"Flame Surge!"
"Farceur: Imitateur!"
Two swirling cones of Fire energy flew at the assembled enemies. Screams of alarm and pain sounded in response, but Houndoom knew the more limited nature of the attack would render it less effective, and indeed when the energy dissipated only one enemy - a Klefki - had fallen. The rest had taken cover behind Protects or, in the case of a Corsola and a Qwilfish, had toughed it out and were now launching themselves at the group with blasts of Water energy flying from their bodies.
Pangoro and Drapion rushed forward to meet them, and the two Water-types were swiftly thrown back, but now the rest of the enemies came on, mingled energies hurled from the swarm in a bid to overwhelm the members of Marcus's team. Drapion threw up a Protect, deflecting the flurry; Pangoro fired a swift Rending Blast into the enemies and was rewarded with the fall of a Gourgeist, and Liepard again used Copycat, sending the Qwilfish tumbling to the ground as well. Houndoom saw a Gallade charging Pangoro, Fighting energy curling along its arm-blades. "Dark Surge!" he snarled, hoping to catch it.
But the Gallade unexpectedly surrounded itself with Fighting energy in a textbook Detect. The energy propelled it into a flip, allowing it to evade the Dark Surge entirely. Pangoro twisted to meet the Gallade. "Iron Fist: Bullet Blow!" But the Gallade's blade flashed into a defensive position, taking the Steel-type attack without flinching.
"Low Sweep!" Marcus cried, and Pangoro obliged, swiftly lashing out with his foot and tripping up the Gallade. The Gallade fell to the ground with a huff; Pangoro grinned, raising his fist in preparation to slam it down onto the Gallade.
And then he tripped.
Houndoom could have sworn he saw a flicker of Ghost energy around Pangoro's head as he collapsed to the ground beside the Gallade. "Pangoro!" Marcus cried. Houndoom glanced around wildly; Drapion was raising his Battle Armor against a Shadow Sneak-using Banette while simultaneously holding off another flurry of attacks with an arm encased in more chitin, Liepard was firing a Pursuit into the midst of the enemies, and the Gallade was rising, arm-blade raised and a smirk on his face.
Houndoom leaped forwards, aiming to intercept, yet knowing there was no way he could get there in time.
"Farceur: Imitateur!"
And then Liepard exploded out of a cloud of shadows, slamming into the Gallade and sending it flying. "Poursuite!" A barrage of Dark-type rays finished the Gallade off, enabling Pangoro to rise, shaking his head. "Ow…what was that…"
"Drapion needs help!" both Marcus and Houndoom chorused as they beheld the swarm of adversaries reach the Dark/Poison-type. Drapion fell beneath the horde, completely overwhelmed. "Dig!" Marcus cried as he saw his strongest Pokemon overcome.
"Burrow!" Drapion snarled within the group, his voice badly strained, but the small burst of Ground energy told Houndoom that he'd managed to summon forth the technique. As soon as Drapion disappeared underground, Houndoom and Liepard let fly with another double Inferno. This one was far more effective; an Accelgor, a Dedenne, and a Cryogonal fell, leaving only five Pokemon remaining: the somehow still-standing Corsola, the Banette, a Spinda, a Rotom-Heat, and a very annoyed-looking Lapras.
Drapion emerged from the ground and at once staggered, struggling to stand. Blood flowed from between his armor; he'd taken quite a beating from the gang of enemies. "Return," said Marcus. "The others can finish it from here."
The remaining five enemies gathered for another charge.
"Let's do this!" Marcus cried, and the two teams charged each other, energy flying and limbs ready to lash out with powerful blows. The Rotom-Heat launched an Overheat of its own, but once again Houndoom tapped into Flash Fire; this time he diverted the flames sideways and sent them into the faces of the Banette and Spinda, sending both staggering. As he did, Pangoro finally felled the Corsola with a Crushing Blast that overpowered the blast of Water energy it mustered as a defense. Houndoom swiftly fired a Flame Tongue at the Lapras, who used a Protect to deflect the blast he sent its way and retaliated with a beam of Water energy. Houndoom countered with a Dark Surge, blasting away the Water energy, and lunged for the Lapras, recognizing that a ranged duel would take too long.
Liepard darted in - "Tranche Viceuse!" - and landed a swift blow that sent the Rotom-Heat flying backwards. Pangoro dove in amongst the Spinda and Banette. "Iron Fist: Bullet Blows!" A flurry of Steel energy-enhanced punches knocked the two headlong. Houndoom avoided another blast from the Lapras and launched a retaliatory Flame Tongue. Lapras used Protect, deflecting the beam, but Houndoom had been expecting that; with a snarl of "Thunder Jaws!", Houndoom leaped around the Protect, twisted, and buried a set of Electric energy-infused teeth in the Lapras's side. The Lapras howled, and Pangoro took advantage of the lapse of attention, dropping the Lapras with a Iron Fist-boosted Bullet Punch to the head.
That left the reeling Rotom-Heat, who didn't even have time to get an attack off before Liepard finished it off with a Fury Swipes. "Good work, everyone," said Marcus as the members of Team Furisode recalled their Pokemon and fled. "Now let's just-"
All three members of the team, as well as Marcus, jumped as a sudden buzzer sounded from the building. "Um…what was that?" Marcus asked to no one in particular.
"I'm afraid you took too long to save the civilians." Houndoom turned to glare at the Laverre City Gym Trainer that had stepped back out from behind a nearby building. "We've got heat sensors wired up to timers in there - if the timer goes off and the fire's not out, buzzer goes off."
"Damn." Marcus's shoulders slumped. "Guess I should've had a different strategy."
"Hey, if it helps, it's only the first round!" the Gym Trainer cried. "Chin up! You're still in this!"
That did lessen the blow a little. But as Houndoom was recalled along with the rest of the team, he couldn't quite get the bitter taste of failure out of his mouth. I thought we were doing so well…guess we're going to have to step it up for the next rounds.
"Man, this Gym Exam is tough," said Alolan Raticate. "Three Trainers, and no one's gotten all the objectives yet."
"The luck doesn't help," Tyranitar growled. "Ilima's Pokemon getting statused repeatedly, Jaya's Unfezant knocking itself unconscious, and I'm pretty sure Pangoro was confused there…if Liepard hadn't been forced to come to his aid, she could've helped Drapion fend off that swarm."
"Why did Liepard come to Pangoro's aid?" Kriesh asked. "I mean…usually she's all over Drapion. But she chose Pangoro over him."
"That's a very good point," Medicham admitted. "I guess I'll have to ask her."
"Looks like Raymond's turn is starting," said Skuntank. "Let's see if he can succeed where everyone else failed."
Gholdengo took another sip of his drink. It was a little nerve-racking, dealing with intermediaries like this. Especially wild Ghost-types. Even though he'd gone over his words many times since earlier this morning, the worry still nagged him from within that Haunter-1 and his fellow Ghost-types might accidentally sabotage Raymond as well. But as Raymond and his team began to storm their way through the members of Team Furisode, Gholdengo's worries slowly eased more and more. And when his team threw the four dummies out of the second burning building as Froslass's powerful Blizzard extinguished the last of the blaze, Gholdengo's worries faded entirely. The Ghosts had come through; there was very little doubt that Raymond had done the best out of the four in the first round.
It was a bit of a shame, Gholdengo admitted. Ilima and Jaya had both fought hard, and would almost certainly have succeeded in all of the objectives without the Ghosts' sabotage. And Marcus…he'd fought hard too, and he likely would have had a chance as well, even if the comparative inexperience of his team made him a little slower than the others.
In many ways, all three of them were just as deserving of the title as Raymond was. But Gholdengo could not allow their dreams to worry him. He had made a promise long ago to help his Trainer become stronger than all the others.
Whatever it takes. The three words echoed in Gholdengo's mind as he drank his glass dry.
"Congratulations," said Valerie to the room full of exhausted, drained Trainers and Pokemon. "You have successfully completed the first round of the Gym Exam. All of you did quite well - though there is a clear winner in this round, there are still two more rounds to go. Anything can happen."
Raymond smiled slightly, much to Houndoom's envy. After Raymond's run-through of the first round, news had reached the group's ears fairly quickly that he'd successfully cleared all of the objectives, practically giving him an automatic advantage over the rest of the group. Houndoom had felt a guilty sense of satisfaction after hearing that neither Jaya nor Ilima had cleared the second building successfully; that sense of satisfaction was now all but gone.
"Ilima, you cleared half the objectives, so you have a score of twenty-five points," said Ilima. "Jaya, Marcus, you two cleared the same number of objectives, but Marcus, your collateral damage lowered your overall point count. Jaya, you received thirty-five points; Marcus, you received thirty points."
Houndoom felt a surge of anger. Five points deducted for one misaimed attack?
"And Raymond…well done," said Valerie. "Full marks, for a total of fifty points."
Raymond accepted the score with a nod; the rest of the Trainers clapped respectfully.
"Now, the remaining two rounds of the Gym Exam will take place in the Gym," said Valerie. "The next round will take place over a period of four days. Raymond, as the current leader, you will go on the first day. Jaya, you shall go on the second, Marcus on the third, and Ilima on the fourth. Further details will be given to each of you on that day."
The Trainers nodded in acceptance.
"Get a good night's sleep," said Valerie. "Raymond, report to the Laverre City Gym at 8:30 sharp. Everyone else, take some time to relax and enjoy the sights in and around Laverre. And, of course, train your teams."
More nods.
"Dinner will be served at 6:30," said Valerie. "I will see you all then."
At that, the four prospective Gym Leaders rose from their seats and turned to leave the building. Houndoom felt a sinking pit in his stomach as Marcus walked after Jaya, the anger replaced with guilt. I can't believe this! Five points…I just cost Marcus five points. He's in third place because of me.
Nasty thoughts filled Houndoom's head throughout the rest of the journey.
"Houndoom," said Medicham gently, "no one's blaming you."
"I am," Houndoom growled. "I let Marcus down! I let my anger get the better of me, and I just threw away five points! If I'd just been more careful, Marcus might be in second place right now instead of languishing in third!"
"If you'd been more careful, if Pangoro hadn't tripped, if Drapion had been able to stand against the onslaught, if Liepard had made a different decision at that point…" Medicham sighed. "Everyone makes mistakes. The important thing is to not dwell on them."
"Which reminds me," said Kriesh. "Liepard, why did you help Pangoro?"
"He was in trouble," Liepard answered. "He needed aid."
"But why him and not Drapion?" Kriesh asked.
"I trusted Drapion to be able to handle himself better than I did Pangoro," said Liepard. "Il est assez fort…do you think I should not trust him in that fashion?"
"No," said Medicham. "I just figured, since you're around Drapion so often-"
"-that I would prioritize his safety over the safety of other members of the team?" Liepard cocked her head. "Pangoro is just as much a member of this team as Drapion. To exclusively aid Drapion, and not offer aid to Pangoro, would simply be bad teamwork."
"Any idea what tripped you up, Pangoro?" Cloyster asked.
"No," the Dark/Fighting-type growled. "One moment I was ready to bring that Gallade down, the next my head started spinning and I couldn't keep my balance and I just fell."
"As we figured…confusion," Medicham murmured. "Something's a little off here. Ilima, Jaya, and Marcus all had difficulties with their battles that didn't feel like they should have existed."
"I heard Ilima didn't even defeat the second round of Trainers," said Houndoom.
"That's because she had one Pokemon confused and one Pokemon put to sleep in the space of a few seconds," said Kriesh. "Effects that none of the Pokemon fighting her seemed to be using. And Jaya…you know how she didn't get to the second burning building in time? Well…she did. She sent her Unfezant in to grab the citizens while the rest of her team battled outside. Only her Unfezant somehow wound up knocked unconscious before he could get anyone out of the building. And that's not even mention said Unfezant being hit by a Curse midway through - a Curse that I'm pretty sure didn't come from the Mismagius he was fighting."
"What are you saying?" Kamado asked from atop the bed.
"I don't know for sure," said Kriesh. "I could just be being paranoid. But…I can't help but feel that something fishy is going on in this tournament."
The Laverre City Pokemon Center was a nice place, full of caring Trainers and Pokemon, just like every Pokemon Center Drapion had ever been to. But it would always feel better to be released back into his Luxury Ball; no Pokemon Center could duplicate the sense of familiarity that came with being in his Ball.
"We hope to see you again soon!" the nurse said cheerfully.
"Yeah…I bet you will," Marcus murmured. Drapion had been the only Pokemon who had needed a trip to the Center today; everyone else had escaped with no serious wounds, but the beating Drapion had taken had left him with several large bruises that needed actual treatment.
Drapion knew that would not be the case for the entirety of this tournament. At some point, they'd get into battles against opponents that were actually threatening due to their skill, not their numbers. And when that happened, Drapion had no doubt more of Marcus's team would wind up in the Pokemon Center.
"Marcus."
"Ilima." Marcus returned the greeting as the pale-pink-haired man stepped through the Pokemon Center doors.
"I was hoping to find you here," said Ilima. "Can we talk in private?"
"Sure," said Marcus; Ilima stepped over to a nearby corner, and Marcus followed. Drapion watched the Normal-type Trainer warily.
"Marcus," said Ilima, "did any of your Pokemon…act strangely during the bout?"
Marcus frowned. "Now that you mention it…my Houndoom got uncharacteristically angry at the start…that was why I got points marked down for collateral damage. And my Pangoro had a pretty sudden fall halfway through the second battle."
"Whereas my Diggersby was put to sleep and my Smeargle was confused during my second battle," said Ilima. "Two effects that I don't think should have happened. I'm pretty sure the Medicham line can't learn sleep moves, aside from Rest, but then again a ridiculous amount of Pokemon can learn Rest…"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure Medichams can't learn sleep moves," said Marcus. "One was my Starter; believe me, I checked."
"Yet Diggersby was put to sleep while fighting a Medicham," said Ilima. "And I'm fairly certain none of the attacks that struck Smeargle had a chance to confuse. I hate to admit it…but I'm pretty sure those attacks came from outside the battle."
"Do you think it's part of the Gym Exam?" Marcus asked. "Maybe to see how we adapt to sudden changes in circumstances?"
"No, I don't think it's part of the Gym Exam at all," said Ilima. "I think someone's trying to rig this tournament…and I think I know who it is?"
"Who?" Marcus asked.
"Raymond," said Ilima. "Unlike the two of us and Jaya, no 'bad luck' happened to him. No sleep, no confusion, no sudden rage…nothing. Not to mention that Ghost-types excel at things like this, and he's got his three most powerful Ghost-types supposedly sitting on the sidelines. I don't want to believe it myself, but it's the only logical possibility I can come up with?"
"You really think Raymond's the kind of guy to cheat?" Marcus asked.
"Maybe, maybe not," said Ilima. "I think someone's trying to rig the tournament for him. Maybe it's him, maybe it's someone else."
"We should report this to Valerie," said Marcus.
"No," said Ilima. "If we do that, whoever's cheating for Raymond will just retreat. We'll have to catch them in the act."
Marcus sighed. "All right, I'll be on the lookout," he said. "If I see anything, I'll let you know."
"Good," said Ilima. "But no one else, okay?"
"Okay," said Marcus. "See you tomorrow?"
"Yes, see you."
"We have a problem," said Haunter-1.
Gholdengo frowned. "What kind of problem?"
"The kind where we can't actually get to them without being spotted," said Haunter-1. "Altering that first round was easy, because they were all running around the town, but the other rounds are in the Gym, and we can't get into there easily."
Gholdengo sighed. "Can you do anything at all?"
"We can try," said Haunter-1. "No promises, though."
With that, the wild Ghost-type turned and sped back into the undergrowth, leaving Gholdengo alone and pondering. Yes, Haunter-1 and his wild Ghosts had done quite well. They'd cut down on the points Raymond's adversaries had been able to win, and in the end that was all Gholdengo had wanted them for, but if they couldn't interfere in the next two rounds, Raymond's lead would evaporate.
It seems… Gholdengo swallowed. It seems that in order to allow my Trainer to succeed, I'm going to have to start taking some desperate measures.
Gholdengo turned and stalked away from the undergrowth, golden fists clenched.
Whatever it takes.