- New Bark Town -
Professor Elm had to admit he was getting older, but if Oak proved anything it was that Professors were allowed to grow old. Although given the important trainer heading his way, it was perhaps better to think about how Professor Larch's work was admittedly a bit more unusual than most pokemon researcher's topics. The Type-Change Professor had over the past two months sent out a number of odd documents on the subject of artificially induced type based transformations, although most of those were sent for an informal review alongside a list of questions about some specific case of type changes.
Elm had personally been questioned on what, if any, conditions resulted in a pokemon egg producing a pokemon of a different type than its parents. That had proven hard to respond to, the best match to the spirit of the inquiry he had found was the Unova elemental monkey pokemon, who he could not even confirm were able to have such a situation occur due to how foreign the pokemon were to him.
A great deal of Elm's concern with the documents from Professor Larch he had read came from the idea that such drastic changes were even possible. That was the reason why he had personally traveled to the shoreline next to his home town to greet Professor Larch's daughter before she came to him to register for the Johto League.
He ended up personally greeting a number of other trainers as he waited for her to arrive, but soon he spotted a trainer on a pokemon he didn't recognize. The monster was a massive silvery blue fluid pokemon, and likely knew Acid Armor given how they simply moved as a puddle at a sea level height up the shore from the water, and Elm was honestly a bit surprised with how easily the trainer got off the pokemon as they raised up into a vaguely Charizard shape.
"Professor Elm?" the girl asked curiously.
"Assistant Alexa Larch?" he asked in turn, and laughed at how she blinked at the title that she had earned over the break. "I'll take that as a yes."
"I didn't think I had done enough for my dad to have other Professors call me that too," Alexa admitted incorrectly. Elm had already seen her name mentioned on her father's papers. Then they were interrupted by a huff from her pokemon. "Charizard?" Something the pokemon did told the young trainer something, which made Elm smile at how in touch the girl was with her Starter. "So you're ready to be solid again?"
"Solid?" Elm had to ask about the pokemon as Alexa let out another pokemon, this time a Kingler that looked like it found the Rock or Dragon type somewhere. Then the Kingler produced some light blue liquid in their claw and tossed it at the possible Charizard. The pokemon immediately changed, to become solid with a now blue on blue instead of silver color, and water formed on their broad tail in a way that matched a typical Charizard's tail flame. "Um, wait." That had been a battle viable move, and suddenly and drastically explained some of the things the girl's father had asked him to be ready to address for League requirements.
"There you go. Now we just need to wait for Fire to come back," Alexa explained, clearly for his benefit. "He can pull off a stronger than normal Soak move, and hit himself with it. The changes have to come off in order, and the time limits don't continue until the layered transformation ends."
"I think we should head to the lab to go over what you have that can do this sort of thing," Professor Elm noted a bit faintly. The girl agreed and let out the rest of her team with a minor prompt. The rest of her team was a Bellossom that had gained the Electric type, a Rhydon that had apparently decided that the side effects of Crystal Syrup were better than their typical form, and a mammal pokemon that Alexa introduced as a Heracross. That last one actually looked closer to what you would get if you fused a Rattata, a Lucario, and a Machop than it did one of the Bug types native to Johto.
Then she detailed the items she was currently using to get those forms and what changes she wanted to use tactically during the League. Which took long enough for the Charizard to first return to an orange overall color with green fire instead of water along their broad tail, and then later to return with a final drastic change in body shape to being a perfectly normal looking Charizard. Who then showed off how the Fire/Flying type had found a way to turn an opponent into the Bug type by use of a transformative powder attack that the Charizard had somehow learned as a Bug type.
In addition to how most of the team knew how to change another pokemon into Poison and Steel types, and how to turn them back from those types if the longer lasting item variant on that method was employed, it gave Elm a really strange thing to explain to the League.
Alexa knew she had been a bit nervous as she rambled out an explanation of the details on her team, but her dad could not verify that these new changes were authorized for use in the League. A Professor could make at least an initial call, but it was one of the things you couldn't get from someone in your home town. Favoritism was discouraged heavily by the League, especially after a few scandals in the early days of international integration. You couldn't even get a Badge from a Gym you got a pokemon from, or at least it would have to be a high number Badge like a seventh or eighth.
"So, I mostly want to check on these moves we've already worked out, and what I can do with the Contagions," she explained and took a nervous breath. "Toxin Contagion is the one we planned on using only when needed, the Poison type is a bit hazardous and Bellossom doesn't like the risk of me getting poisoned, but Mercury Contagion is kind of our own work so I don't know if there are already rules that would cover it."
Professor Elm laughed at her, but not unkindly. "I don't know if there are even specific rules for the first of those two," he admitted, and Alexa heard Charizard grumble uncharitably. "However, changing a pokemon's type before, after, or during combat is allowed by the League. This is a bit more extreme than those rules probably expect, but well within them. Even if you have somehow found something more unusual than a pokemon being a trainer themselves."
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Charizard freeze, and she did her best not to fidget. "That is a thing that happens?" she carefully asked.
"We had one come through late yesterday," the Professor confirmed. "It is getting more common all things considered. I even heard a rumor last year about a would be Starter that learned to read who might have been in your last League."
Charizard interrupted with an annoyed huff, that nearly had flames and caught not just Alexa's attention but her entire team's. She looked at her Starter, her Starter who could read and knew how to plan for a trip as soon as she got him, and then very carefully tried to not think about rumors. She put that right next to her father's latest sets of reports in her mind, and did not glare at the Professor for bringing up that bit.
"So we should be able to use these then?" she asked to change the topic back to where it had started and confirm. "Because we will need to change our plans a lot if we can't."
"You might need to check with Gym leaders first, and I'm going to send my findings to the League to get you a scheduled evaluation before the Tournament," Elm explained a bit apologetically. "I suggest getting there at least two days before the start and to not plan on adding any new ones after that point. Other than that it should be fine." Then the Professor paused thoughtfully for a second and flinched. "Although the documentation on your team is probably going to cause the League a few headaches."
That got an actual laugh out of Charizard, who the Professor had apparently already gotten three different reports from trainers just from their trip into the region. The latest one had interrupted them when someone arrived after accidentally capturing a video of his change to pure Water type. They were already prepared to get whole piles of paperwork every time they had an official League match.
"Oh, that reminds me, do you know a good route to hit the Water type Gym?" Alexa questioned. "Charizard wants to surprise them." Her Starter chuffed happily at the idea.
"Well, I've got bad news and good news," Elm replied with a nod at her Starter. "The bad news is that the Water type Gym that has been operating in the region the last few Leagues has shut down due to its last Leader's retirement." Alexa frowned at the Professor, and Charizard rolled his wrist to get the old man to continue. "The good news is that just down Route 29 you can find Cherrygrove City, where Leader Douglas is going to be starting his new Gym's first League as Johto's Water type Gym."
"You mean we can do it for the first Gym?" Alexa asked and felt Charizard lean forward next to her with interest.
"Hydro Pump!" Alexa called out, and Professor Elm flinched at the sight of a pure Water type Charizard that pulled off something that would better fit a Feraligatr. Then the Soak wore off and without missing a beat Alexa added, "Now, Fire Blast!" and the Fire/Water type pulled off a sudden Fire type move.
The young woman's Kingler shrugged off both moves easily enough in a clear display of the Dragon type, and then spattered Charizard with purple toxin. The fire along his broad tail did not go out, but his belly changed color to a purple, he grew a few spines along his fins, and he clearly gained a Poison type with teeth and claws slightly coated with toxic material and his tailflame giving off foul looking fumes.
There was then a grumble from all three of them. "Well, that didn't work," Alexa sighed as Charizard grumbled and Kingler glared at her own claw. "I guess we might need to find a different way to set that one up."
"What were you trying to do?" Elm asked curiously.
"Dragon type so Kingler can make her opponent weak to her moves," Alexa explained easily, as if giving someone the most impressive type was a problem. Admittedly it would add a weakness, but Professor Elm was fairly sure the confusion would be the stronger side effect. "Not to mention it would throw off all of the foe's moves. At this point I'm almost starting to wonder if Charizard can't become Dragon type. It isn't the first thing for that we've tried with him."
Kingler clacked her claw loudly at that, and Elm waited for Alexa to piece together what her team told her. It was always fascinating to see a trainer that got along this well with their entire team, but it did have the side effect of a team that talked with each other more than normal. It was unusual to see a trainer speak this much with their pokemon, but not rare to see this sort of connection to at least some of them.
"So I think I've seen enough overall to confirm that you know what you're doing here," he reluctantly interrupted them. "You're good for the League. Just be sure to file any major changes you work out how to do."
Alexa had to admit that, despite how she was from one, small towns without Gyms were always strange to visit compared to the even small towns that did have one. You usually found a lab or a big important workplace, but those were always a bit too focused for visitors to be truly welcome, and trainers typically signed on to such places at the start of a League instead of helping out midway through. Other than that you only really had a place where you could maybe buy some extra supplies, somewhere to rest and recover, and a safe spot to train.
Charizard was helping with that like usual, during their first League her starter had taken half her team off to the side while she focused on the others as soon as she had four pokemon. On League pace the hard part was keeping up with your entire team, and she had been well warned that many trainers failed because they over focused on one pokemon or spread their focus over too many. She couldn't really trust Charizard to work on his own skill as much as she wished she could, but any other pokemon on the team could be handled. After Charizard she trusted Bellossom to keep some of the others in line, and the team as a whole had improved with that skill over time.
Actually, given they were using the Toxin Contagion a bit more widely she could probably have Bellossom help out Heracross and Rhydon while she worked with Charizard and Kingler on Water type tactics. Heracross and Rhydon both had changes that needed a transformation that wasn't time limited to keep their preferred type transformations going, and while their Steel type option was good for travel Alexa was fairly sure that the Poison type had more offensive applications. It was possible they could find some other options, but there was already the overall issue of finding time to train in each of the type options.
"Uh, Charizard, Should we focus on your Water type now?" she realized, a bit uneasy with how they might have overlooked how much time they could put into any one form. "Just because it is the first Gym doesn't..." She trailed off at the smug look her starter gave her. "Okay, fine. You probably are good enough at the Water type for it, but we still need to plan ahead for the next Gyms. Some of our options last a while."
Chitin Powder's Bug type had a three day duration, Stable Cloud's Flying was a full day, Rock type from Regirock Candy was two days, Loam Berries were a day of the changed type per berry although new berries needed to be removed too with already Ground type pokemon, and the team's two long term changes, Mundane Clay and Crystal Syrup, were a week long without another change to extend them. Which was another concern as layered transformations needed to be undone one layer at a time.
"Um, miss, are you Alexa Larch?" a voice interrupted, and she turned to see a slightly younger trainer. He looked really nervous. "I was told she would be next to a bunch of odd typed pokemon, but there was this other girl from Alola that wasn't her so I think I need to check this time."
"Yes, I'm Alexa," she said a bit thoughtfully. She knew that other regions had different types for some pokemon normally, but it was a strange sort of surprise to hear this. She felt she should have expected to hear that would be mistaken for her team's situation. "What do you need?"
"Oh, great. Professor Elm sent me with a package for you," the boy held out a thin palm sized square box that was tied closed with a black ribbon. "I think he said it was a Pokedex data card?"
"Ah, my dad must have sent him the latest updates," Alexa cheerfully noted as Bellossom and Heracross stopped their training to look over the younger trainer. "Thank you," she told him as she opened the package to check, and found a small note card and a pair of data chips. With a bit of unease she read the card as the trainer walked off. "Okay, he also sent a set of forms to keep on hand. Huh, wait is this Porygon's type shift data?" She heard Charizard laugh at that, and knew that her team was done with training for a bit. "Does he think some of you can work out Conversion or something?"
That made her Starter laugh outright, and the rest of her team looked just as unconvinced that going that far would be easy. Although Rhydon and Heracross both lost the look relatively quickly in exchange for thoughtful and concerned looks respectively. Kingler then began to describe how the crab pokemon didn't think so with a couple of quick creations of Contagions and Cures.