"The Grass Gym is, as expected, a Gym where everyone uses grass-type Pokemon. Remember Alligrarock? You should expect the Gym Leader to use one of those. Thankfully, your Pokemon is a fire type, so you have a huge type advantage."
"But Alligrarock is a rock type, right? Because he has 'rock' in his name?"
"'Gra' comes from grass, but yes. Alligrarock is a mixed-type Pokemon. That means he has two types; grass and rock. So he can use attacks from both types." Olly pat Shelly's head. "And when you beat me, it's likely he learned a new move."
They got off the train and Olly motioned towards a building that looked like a greenhouse.
"That's the Gym. Let's go."
"Wait, how do I find out Pokemon types?"
"By using your Pokedex, obviously. Unless, you don't know about Pokedexes?"
"The name isn't familiar to me..."
"Do you have a phone?"
She handed him her Rotom phone. "Oh, that's why! You don't have it downloaded. Let me just do that for you." He handed it back. "You want to know how it works?"
"Yes please!"
He tossed a Pokeball, and out popped a bug-like Pokemon wearing yellowed leaves.
"You just have to open the app and point your camera at the Pokemon."
She did suit, and the app automatically snapped an image of it. Information appeared on the side of and under the image.
"Leavanny, the Nurturing Pokemon. Leavanny makes clothing from leaves for itself and other Pokemon. During the fall season, the Leavanny creates new clothing for every Pokemon it has cared for. Type: Bug-Grass. Height, on average: 3' 11". Weight, on average: 45.2 lbs."
"The leaves are yellow, so that means your Leavanny needs to make new clothes soon."
"See? Isn't it just helpful? Also, her name is Rubber Band. Don't ask."
"Is it because she 'bands' leaves together to make clothes?"
"...Actually, that's completely correct. You're getting good at this." He made Rubber Band return to her Pokeball. "Anyways, Pokedexes are extremely useful for learning information about new Pokemon. Some Pokemon are still recently discovered, so it's likely that those won't have all the information; like average height and weight."
Dawn and Olly entered the building. Olly jolted and cowered behind Dawn a bit.
"What's wrong?"
"Those guys." He pointed a hand towards a small group of people by the desk. "They're part of Team Thrash. They're bad news."
"They can't be that bad." She walked over to them.
Each of the members had either black or yellow hair, and were wearing masquerade masks and purple, black, or yellow attire. The one at the counter had both black and yellow hair, and his mask covered his entire face. Dawn assumed he was the leader.
"Listen here, buddy! Remember who I am?! You don't huh?" He slammed his fists on the counter. "I am Dimentio, leader of Psychic and Ghost types! I demand you let me in there! This Gym is going to be under new management!"
"Yeah!" Cried one of the females.
"New management!" Agreed one of the males.
"Hi there," Dawn said with a wave. "Is something wrong here? What do you mean by 'under new management?'"
Dimentio slowly turned to her. "Huh?! Who are you?! What do you think you're doing here?! I'm trying to take my Gym back!"
"Your Gym? Last I was told, this was the Grass Gym."
He stamped a foot. "Alright, that's it! You're going to be a smartie with me, huh?! Well, I'm going to teach you a lesson you'll never forget!"
Dawn flinched.
"Jacob! Get out there and kick her to the curb!"
"Yessir!" The man saluted. He stepped in front of Dawn. "Hey girlie. Looks like you're on the boss's list now. Hope you're ready, cause it looks like you've only got one Pokemon, and I've got two of them."
"Dawn, you don't stand a chance," Olly said.
"Wait a minute!" Dimentio shoved Jacob out of the way. "That kid is friends with Professor Jason! If we beat him and his friend up now, I'll never get my Gym back!"
"Huh? Just because my father is friends with the Professor, means you won't fight us?"
"Your dad's in charge of the Gym Community! And Professor Jason and I are on bad terms right now. I need to prove I can get my Gym back! Then, this whole town will be transformed into a great combination of Ghost and Psychic!"
"A...combination Gym?" Dawn asked. "Are those a thing?"
Olly shook his head.
"That's why they kicked me out! It's because I dreamed for something they said was 'impossible' and 'unfair!' The nerve of some people!" He angrily pointed a finger at her. "I'll be back for you! But if you want to face this Gym, you're going to have to use more than a dumb turtle!" He held up a small grey ball. "Caio!"
He tossed it at his feet, which exploded into a cloud of smoke. When it cleared, him and his grunts were gone.
"That was...weird."
"Dimentio did make a good point, Dawn. I'm sorry that went completely over my head. You'd have to have more than one Pokemon, because if Shelly faints, you'd have to back out so you can take him back to the Pokemon Center. If you have a few more Pokemon, however, then you can just pull out another one to finish him off."
They left the Gym and Olly pointed a hand towards a large grassy area just past the train station. "That's a Wild Area. Pokemon usually gather around there. We won't find any fire types here though, but grass and water types are sure to be here. And maybe a few ground types. Do you have any other Pokeballs?"
She shook her head.
"You really aren't ready for this kind of stuff then. Here, you can have some of mine."
He handed her five red Pokeballs. She put them in her bag.
"To capture a Pokemon, you have to weaken it. Allow me to demonstrate." He released Jean-Pierre again. "Follow us."
He walked ahead, Jean-Pierre following, and Dawn coming after. He stopped by a dandelion.
"This is an Eldegoss, a grass-type Pokemon. While fighting a grass type you hope to capture, you'll have to be careful with the amount of fire type moves you use. One is usually good for a weaker one like this."
The Eldegross floated from the floor, revealing the rest of its Pokemon body. Jean-Pierre prepared to fight.
"Sorry, you'll knock it out in one hit. Why don't we let Dawn take this one on?"
"Huh? Really?"
"Of course. Some Pokemon will attack you straight on, so you'll need to be careful. But Eldegross is known to be a gentler one, so you should be fine to take it on yourself. Think you can handle that?"
"Of course! I'll do my best and beat all the Gyms!"
Shelly happily worked with her to weaken and capture the Pokemon. She held out the Pokeball to Olly.
"You can keep it. I have extras just in case. But grass won't do good against grass, but I guess this is the best we've got. I'll head back to the Gym, just come back whenever you're ready." He pulled Jean-Pierre back into his Pokeball and headed back.
She got two more Pokemon, feeling confident that she could take the Gym Leader. Olly was waiting outside the Gym for her.
"Ready to go?"
She nodded.
They entered and Dawn went to the counter. "Hello. I'd like to sign up for the Gym Challenge please."
"Oh, I'm sorry. We can't do that right now." The lady behind the desk sighed. "Walter's Pokemon aren't feeling well. They haven't in a bit now. I'm sorry to say this, but this Gym is closed until they feel better. Please have a good day."
"Wait." Olly peeked over the desk. "Can we check with him? Maybe I know what's wrong?"
"I normally don't let people do this, but sure. I'm certain he'll be glad to see you, Olly Shokunin." She pressed a button on the desk and a door slid open. "Right this way, to your right."
"Thank you."
They started down the hall.
"This doesn't sound good," Olly said sadly. "First Olivia, now Pokemon?"
"Didn't the professor mention the plants were dying?" Dawn mentioned. "What if..." She started running. "This can't be a good sign that plants and grass type Pokemon are dying!"
"Dawn, wait up! I can't run that fast!"
Dawn slowed in front of a closed door. She knocked and waited. Olly finally caught up with her by the time the door opened. The man had long deep green hair.
"Are you here for the Gym battle? I'm sorry, but it's closed."
"Actually," Dawn said, "I wanted to check up on your Pokemon. I heard the greenery was dying, and then your team got sick...I wanted to make sure it wasn't connected."
"So you heard that too? Professor Jason seems pretty worried about this situation. I'm just worried for my Pokepals, is all. But you can check on them if you want. It's not like you're going to get much. Not even the Pokemon Centers can help them in this condition."
The Pokemon were all lying on the ground, in the sun, with water being poured on them by a little girl.
"Willow, say hi to our guests. They're here to check on the team."
She let out a small squeak and rushed into the shade. Walter accepted the watering can from her and gently turned a tree-like Pokemon over. He sat down in an armchair.
"So? What do you think you can do? I'm worried for them. They haven't been very responsive, and only want to lie in the sun and get watered."
Olly examined the plant. "It sounds like they're trying to help themselves. Have you tried moving from the sun and watering them less?"
"I have, but they got fussy and started getting worse. My Wil-o-weed is the worst of all of them. That's the beaut right in front of you. When she's in full condition, it's actually really pretty. Especially at night."
"Wil-o-weed? It sounds like a ghost type. But grass as well, right? When did this start happening?"
"About three days ago. And clues?"
Olly faced Dawn. "That's when the greenery in Salin started to die. This is definitely connected, which means this is bad news. The strange thing is, my Leavanny's leaves started dying around that time too, but I didn't think it was anything important."
"Leavanny's leaves? Dying in the middle of Spring? That's definitely not good. Something's going on here, and I don't like the looks of it. But until we help my Pokepals, I'm afraid I can't give you the badge. Sorry, you two."
"Dawn, this is worse than we thought. We're going to have to put our Gym tour on pause for now, and handle the plant situation."
"I can do that," she agreed. "Helping Pokemon is more important than getting some badges anyways. Pokemon are alive, badges aren't."
"You'll have to head to Salin first," Walter explained. "That's where this started, right? It's pretty far from here, and the Pokemon in the Wild Area usually are pretty tough...But I've noticed something I find weirder than everything else. Care to listen to me any longer?"
"Of course, any lead is a good one."
"All of my Pokemon came from the Salin region, and started to wilt when the area did."
"Father said my Leavanny came from there as well," Olly said. "So only Pokemon from Salin are dying. This is odd indeed. If only there was something else we could use as a lead...But thank you, Walter. We're going to try and help any way we can."
"Thank you. And shouldn't you be home, taking care of your sister?"
"I convinced my father to let me go with Dawn. I will accompany her as we try to figure this dilemma's source." He bowed.
"Have a safe journey, you two."
Willow tugged at Dawn's sleeve.
"Oh? Hello there! Are you a bit shy?" Dawn crouched to her level. "You take after your dad, I see."
She dropped something into Dawn's bag and ran to her father. Dawn waved to them as she left and checked the item once they were back on the train.
It was a small, circular, piece of wood, with the words "Grass Gym" written on them with a black crayon. It wasn't a pin or badge, but Dawn still appreciated it.
Olly pulled out a map, laying it out on the table. "We're going to have to stop at Chagen next. There's a subway there that can take us to Salin."
"Anything to know about Chagen?"
"It's a high-tech city, and the Gym there is all electric types. They specialize in things such as Rotom phones and the subway system that's said to reach anywhere in Panara. Nobody's actually seen the Gym, now that I think about it. I hope nothing terrible's happening there too."
"We've got this. For the Pokemon."
"For the Pokemon."