After eating their complimentary breakfast in the morning, the trio didn't delay in venturing out to the east, their sights set on Mt. Moon. The towering mountain was impossible to miss, and even Mary-Sue ran no risk of getting lost.
"It's so big," Mary-Sue breathed, eyeing the peak that loomed high above them.
"Eh, it's not that impressive," Jovi dismissed. "There are mountains bigger than this bordering most of Orre, between the deserts. We even have this one volcano that goes way high above the clouds, Mt. Battle."
"Mt. Battle?" Mary-Sue repeated.
"The whole mountain was turned into a huge gauntlet for trainers," Jovi told her. "There's a big set of scaffolding all around it, ramps and stairs and platforms that lead all the way to the top. Trainers who take on Mt. Battle have to battle their way through one hundred trainers, split into ten areas with a leader stationed at every tenth level; the hundredth battle takes place at the peak, in a stadium built over a crater of lava."
"Wow," Mary-Sue breathed.
"I thought Pokémon training wasn't common in Orre," Aaron half-asked.
"There's no trainer program or anything, since there weren't wild Pokémon until recently," Jovi nodded, "but most families had Pokémon. Didn't I mention that Orre started out as mostly a retirement region for trainers who wanted to settle somewhere a little more peaceful? The retirees had families, of course, and their families wanted to use the Pokémon they inherited, so people just kinda…built stuff. There are actually a lot of stadiums in Orre, that anyone can enter at any time to participate in Pokémon battles. Around the time of the original Shadow Pokémon incident, a new place called Realgam Tower was just being completed, and most people go there now for battle simulations and stuff. Though, if you ask me, Mt. Battle is still the most impressive thing we've got in Orre."
Mary-Sue eyed the mountain they were hiking towards, amazed that it was 'unimpressive' compared to other places in the world. "Are there big mountains in Galar, too?" she asked Aaron.
"A couple," he nodded. "Definitely bigger ones than this."
"Hmm…" Frowning, Mary-Sue chewed her lip. "Well, of course, Mt. Moon isn't the biggest mountain around," she said. "Mt. Silver's much bigger, that's right on the border between Kanto and Johto. But Mt. Moon's special because of all the meteors that hit it."
"Meteors?" Jovi asked.
"Uh-huh!" Mary-Sue said brightly, glad she could contribute her own knowledge to the conversation. "A really huge meteor hit this mountain ages ago, and a bunch more smaller ones have hit it since, an unusually high amount of meteorites land on Mt. Moon. Most of the world's Moon Stones come from here - those are the stones needed to evolve Pokémon like Clefairy and Jigglypuff. Of course, it's possible to find Moon Stones all over the world, but this is where the biggest concentration of them can be found. It's also home to the largest colony of Clefairy in the world, and there are really strict limitations on how many Moon Stones can be taken from the mountain, since they're so important to the Clefairy living there."
"Important to the Clefairy…" Jovi repeated thoughtfully. "That's…really cool." She chuckled slightly. "Before I left home, the idea of wild Pokémon having total reign over places and having traditions and stuff would have been crazy. I've seen colonies of Pokémon in other regions over the last seven years, of course, but it's always kind of amazing…not to mention kinda depressing to think about just how much was ruined when wild Pokémon in Orre were wiped out. I wonder how many landmarks were important to the Pokémon who lived there before humans took over."
"You said wild Pokémon started returning to Orre when you were four," Aaron spoke up. "What changed?"
"No one really knows," Jovi admitted. "For the most part, people assume that the general end of development allowed the land to heal enough for Pokémon to start surviving again. Don't ask me what that means," she added quickly, even as Mary-Sue opened her mouth, "I honestly have no idea. That's just what I've heard."
"It probably has to do with the connections between Pokémon and the land," Aaron suggested. "If the land isn't healthy, the Pokémon won't be, either."
"What do you mean?" Mary-Sue asked him.
"Just…Pokémon are like a part of the land they live in," Aaron said. "You can see it pretty clearly in Ballonlea Forest - the forest itself is basically made from the Pokémon, and they're made from it, the two are inseparable. It's not that hard to guess it's the same everywhere."
"Hmm…" The girls looked at each other, then shrugged. "Whatever," Mary-Sue said.
"Hey, you there!"
The trio stopped short, looking ahead on the road to see a black-haired boy about Mary-Sue's age running towards them.
"Are you trainers?" the boy asked, stopping just in time to not knock into any of them.
"Aaron and I are," Mary-Sue said, gesturing to her foreign companion. "My name's Mary-Sue. Are you a trainer?"
"Uh-huh!" grinned the kid. "My name's Ethan! And if you're a trainer, then I challenge you to a battle!"
"Alright!" Mary-Sue exclaimed, hopping in place. "Finally, I get to have a real trainer battle! I only have one Pokémon that can fight, though."
"Then I'll take it on with my starter," Ethan declared, taking out a Pokéball.
"Sounds good!" Mary-Sue smirked.
Aaron and Jovi jogged out of the way, as the two battling trainers made some space between them.
"Magikarp, I choose you!" Mary-Sue declared, hurling her chosen Pokémon's home.
"Karp karp!" Magikarp trumpeted as it emerged, lightly flopping on the ground.
"Charmander, let's go!" Ethan called, tossing his Pokéball.
"Charmander, char char!" growled the orange lizard that emerged from the capsule.
"You're gonna take me on with a Magikarp?" Ethan sneered at Mary-Sue. "Well, this is gonna be easy. Charmander, use Ember!"
"Splash out of the way, Magikarp!" Mary-Sue instructed. "Start building up speed!"
Bits of fire spewed from Charmander's mouth, but Magikarp was airborne long before it was in danger. Even without a cluster of trees to bounce off of, Magikarp's ability to leap tremendous heights was its greatest asset, and Charmander and Ethan both hesitated, surprised by the flying fish.
"Take aim and Tackle!" Mary-Sue ordered, pointing emphatically.
"Karp! Karp!" Magikarp agreed. "Kaaaarp!" It flung itself upward, then came down hard on Charmander's head, twisting at the last second to maximize the impact.
"Chaaaaar!" cried the fire-type Pokémon as its face slammed into the dirt.
"Keep moving!" Mary-Sue told Magikarp.
Once again, her partner didn't hesitate, already flinging itself to and fro.
"Come on, Charmander, it's just a Magikarp!" Ethan called. "Hit it with Ember and it'll be an easy win!"
"Char!" the flame-tailed lizard snarled, and it started firing bits of flame everywhere, with no semblance of precision or even direction. Magikarp continued flailing about deceptively wildly, easily dodging the fire and launching itself around until it was behind its enemy.
"Tackle now!" Mary-Sue ordered.
"Karp!"
The water-type's scaly body slammed into the back of Charmander's head, and it was sent tumbling across the rocky surface of the path. Ethan let out an exclamation of alarm.
"Charmander's power won't help you if it can't land a hit," Mary-Sue told Ethan with a fierce smile.
Her opponent bared his teeth. "Maybe not," he growled, watching Magikarp continue to bounce around the temporary arena, "but Magikarp can't hit from a distance." He turned to his partner. "Charmander, hold still and use Scratch when it gets close!"
Charmander hissed an affirmation, its power focusing to its hands, which began to glow.
"Tackle, but then Splash off of it!" Mary-Sue instructed.
It was a risky ploy, but Mary-Sue trusted the fish she'd spent a week in Viridian Forest training with, and it obeyed. The hit connected, Tackle against Scratch, and Magikarp cried out in pain, but then flailed wildly off the blow and flew high into the air. Again, Charmander and its trainer were stunned.
"Alright, Magikarp, give this one all you've got!" Mary-Sue shouted.
"Kaaaarp…!" the fish trumpeted as it fell. "Kaaaarp, karp karp!"
"Chaaar!" cried its opponent, the full-body smack of the scaled creature slamming it into the ground hard enough to leave a crater.
"Charmander!" Ethan yelped.
"Char…char…" groaned the Charmander dazedly.
"Come on, get up!" Ethan urged. "We can't lose to a Magikarp!"
But Charmander couldn't even get halfway to its feet before it collapsed, utterly spent.
"Alright! We won!" Mary-Sue cheered, and she jumped as high as she could, fists thrust towards the sky.
"Karp karp!" her Pokémon trumpeted, flopping its way back over to her.
"Great job, Magikarp!" she told it, running over and catching it as it leapt into her arms. "I knew you could win! I'm so proud of you!"
"Kaarp, karp-karp!" it babbled happily.
"Alright, you've earned a rest. Return," she said, holding up its Pokéball, and the fish out of water dissolved into the capsule in a cloud of red light.
"No fair!"
Ethan ran over to her, his face twisted with rage.
"A Magikarp can't beat a Charmander!" he shouted, flailing his fists. "You must have cheated!"
"It's kind of the opposite, actually," Mary-Sue said as her friends walked over to join her. "Magikarp and I have worked hard to understand each other; you and your Charmander still need to work on communicating."
"What?!" Ethan yelped.
"Don't get me wrong," Mary-Sue smiled gently as she clipped Magikarp's Pokéball to her backpack strap, "in terms of basic power, your Charmander could easily overwhelm my Magikarp. The only trouble is, it doesn't quite know how to use its power yet." Her smile widened as she recited her mother's oldest lesson: "Every Pokémon has its own unique potential, and it's up to its human partner to draw it out."
"I'm impressed, Masie," Aaron remarked. "I really didn't think you knew that much about battling."
"Oh, this is just stuff my mom taught me," Mary-Sue said, blushing slightly. Then, she gasped in realization, "Oh! Ethan, you've heard of Jessie Jones, haven't you?"
"Jessie Jones?" Ethan repeated. "The Crazy Coordinator? Yeah, of course I've heard of her."
"She's my mom!" Mary-Sue told him brightly.
"What?" Ethan's eyes went completely round. "No way…"
"Yup!" Mary-Sue grinned. "My whole life, I've been taught how to find what makes a Pokémon special and focus on it. Magikarp may be a weak species of Pokémon, but they're known for their ability to jump really high, and my Magikarp is proud of its strength, so we've worked to make the most of that."
"So then…how many badges do you have?" Ethan asked.
"Oh, uh…" Mary-Sue smiled sheepishly. "I don't have any badges yet; like I said, this was my first real trainer battle. We went through Pewter City, but there's no way Magikarp could take on a rock-type gym." She turned her gaze to the second Pokéball on the strap. "There's power in every Pokémon, but you can't force a Pokémon to do something it wasn't meant to do. That was the first thing my mom learned as a coordinator."
"The first thing?" Ethan repeated.
"You know what?" Mary-Sue grinned. "I'll tell you a story my mom's worked really hard to keep off the record, if you promise you won't tell anyone."
"Uh…sure," Ethan nodded.
"The first time my mom ever entered a Contest, she entered a Seviper," Mary-Sue told him, lowering her voice on the off chance someone might pass by and hear. "Before entry, she read a handbook full of all the Pokémon moves that were most likely to score points with the judges, like Sacred Fire. Unfortunately, Seviper couldn't use any of them, so she kept giving it orders to use moves it wasn't able to use, and it could only whimper and cower under the judges' glares. When she eventually gave up and told it to use a move she knew it knew - Poison Tail - Seviper was so flustered that, instead of showing its power to the audience, it accidentally hit her instead."
Ethan laughed.
"She still gets so embarrassed to tell that story," Mary-Sue giggled. "But she told it to me several times growing up, so I wouldn't make the same mistakes. And," she raised a finger for emphasis, "the Champion understands the lesson, too. His Pikachu is strong enough to take down inherently powerful Pokémon like Rhyperior, even though Pikachu are a weak species of Pokémon, because its trainer knows exactly what it can do and how to bring out the most of its power."
"Oh yeah, I've seen the Champion battle with that Pikachu!" Ethan exclaimed. "He's so awesome!"
"Isn't he?!" Mary-Sue squealed.
"Oh, don't get her started," Aaron groaned.
The other boy laughed. "Okay," he said, "I guess I can accept losing when you put it like that. Here you go." He reached into his pocket and took out forty Pokédollars in bills, handing them to Mary-Sue.
"Thanks!" Mary-Sue chirped.
"Charmander and I are gonna train hard, and the next time we see you, we'll beat you!" Ethan promised.
"Don't count on it," Mary-Sue grinned. "I'm gonna keep training, too."
"Oh, hey, Ethan?" Jovi spoke up.
"Huh?" He blinked at her.
"I'm sorry if this is a weird question," the older girl said hesitantly, "but, um…have you seen any strange people around lately? Like, people with big helmets that cover their faces, and white plating on their clothes?"
"Hmm…" Ethan tilted his head. "You know, I did see someone like that yesterday," he answered.
"Where?!" Jovi gasped.
He pointed at the mountain they'd been heading towards. "They were going into Mt. Moon," he said. "I didn't talk to them, though."
"That's good," Jovi assured him. "Thank you, Ethan."
"Take care now!" Mary-Sue called as the other trainer started walking down the road to Pewter City.
"You too!" he called back. "And don't forget, I'll beat you someday!"
"We'll see!" Mary-Sue laughed.
With the encounter done, the trio resumed their pace.
"You have a really good understanding of Pokémon, Masie," Jovi remarked. "I have to admit, I'm kind of surprised."
"Nah," Mary-Sue dismissed with an embarrassed laugh. "Like I said, this is all stuff my mom taught me when I was growing up. Although…" Her gaze drifted to Magikarp's Pokéball again. "…I think I am starting to get it. Like, really get it." The ball beside it caught her attention, and she sighed. "I used to think the fact that every Pokémon could be great meant that every Pokémon wanted to," she said sadly. "I'm still not quite giving up hope that Budew will want to learn to fight someday, but…"
"Some things you can only learn from experience," Jovi agreed. "Still, you have the makings of a great trainer, just like my brother. I have no doubt you'll be a huge help to Team Spirit."
"Thanks!" Mary-Sue said brightly. "I'll do my best!"
Behind them, Aaron wordlessly fiddled with his backpack, and the girls turned around just in time to see him take out his little guitar and start strumming. His expression was difficult to read, but he seemed to relax slightly as calm music floated up from his fingers.
"Oh! Hold on a sec," Jovi said, and she pulled out a Pokéball and threw it. "Come on out, Bibarel!"
"Biba," hissed the Shadow Pokémon as it materialized.
"Walk with me, Bibarel," Jovi told it firmly. "Don't attack anyone or anything, just walk at my side."
"Bi…ba…" it growled, its eyes hard and cruel, but as they continued walking, it obeyed.
Aaron didn't falter in his playing as the day went on, and Mary-Sue had a hard time concentrating on her footing as she all but lost herself in the music. It was…somehow sad, but also hopeful, emotions Mary-Sue couldn't pin down flowing all around her with the melody. Aaron isn't much of a talker, Mary-Sue reflected; when he uses his words, he's really straightforward and blunt. But then, when he plays music like this, it's…like he's speaking in a completely different way. She looked back at the foreign boy to see that his eyes were closed, his expression shifting slightly with the notes. Pokémon are people, which means people are like Pokémon; if every Pokémon has its own unique way of doing things, it makes sense that people are the same. She chuckled to herself suddenly, thinking of her parents. I guess my dad's pretty unique, too.
Just as the sun began to touch the treeline, the main entrance to the cave system of Mt. Moon finally came into view.
"Look," Jovi said, pointing, "there's a Pokémon Center."
"I'd rather camp out," Aaron said abruptly, his music cutting off. "I'll make curry for everyone."
"You sure?" Jovi asked him, blinking.
"Uh-huh." He turned away. "Let's find a stream."
"Uh…okay…" The girls looked at each other, then shrugged and followed him.
When they'd set up camp and all their Pokémon were out, water for curry heating over a fresh campfire, Mary-Sue had to admit that she kind of understood why Aaron would prefer this to sleeping indoors - it was cozy, and seeing all the Pokémon interact with each other in their natural environment inspired a warm feeling in her chest. Budew clung to her boot, clearly unhappy to be out of its Pokéball, but she sat with it and cradled it in one hand as the other Pokémon chatted and played.
"Zig zig?" Zigzagoon trotted over, tongue lolling, head tilting as it addressed Budew.
"Dewew," Budew whimpered.
"Zig…" The striped Pokémon almost seemed to frown as it slowly walked closer. "Zigza," it said. "Zigza, Zig-zagoon!"
"Dew?" In response, the little bud blinked at the other creature. "Dew…Budew dew."
"Zigza!" Zigzagoon replied with a big smile.
"It's okay, Budew," Mary-Sue told her partner gently, smiling as well. "We're all friends here."
"Dew…" It seemed unsure, but Zigzagoon came closer still, and it chose to continue the conversation rather than run away.
"Curry's ready!" Aaron called after a minute, and everyone but Magikarp dropped what they were doing to come running for helpings of the food. "I made it with a higher-quality base this time, to celebrate Masie's first trainer victory," the foreign boy added as he filled every bowl the three trainers had between them.
"Oh!" Mary-Sue gasped. "Um…thanks." When he nodded at her, she really didn't know how to react; during their hike, it had almost felt like he was upset that she'd won her first battle, but clearly she'd misunderstood.
Everyone settled, Mary-Sue helping her two handless Pokémon eat, and Jovi asked, "Hey Aaron, what other instruments can you play?"
"I can pretty much play any instrument, as long as I have enough time to figure out how it works," Aaron replied. "I don't know, I've never handled an instrument I couldn't figure out. Of course, I can only fit so many in a travel backpack. I brought my harmonica, my ukulele, and this…" He reached into his backpack and pulled out a plastic flutelike instrument.
"Oh hey, I've seen those," Mary-Sue spoke up between bites of curry. "It's a recorder, right? I learned to play that in preschool."
"You may have learned how to blow into it," Aaron chuckled, "but I doubt you really learned to play it."
"Sure I did!" Mary-Sue argued. "I learned to play Hot Cross Buns, I bet I can still do it!"
"I'm sure you could," Aaron sighed, settling back against a tree. "But that's not really playing."
As though solely to prove a point, he brought the instrument to his lips and began to blow. At first, it was just a single note, and Mary-Sue scoffed, but then Aaron started waving it back and forth as he continued blowing, his fingers working up and down the holes along the length of the shaft, and an upbeat melody filled the campsite, far more intricate and beautiful than anything Mary-Sue thought an instrument for babies could possibly produce.
"Wow…" she breathed, spellbound, and everyone in the clearing seemed to agree, slurps and clatters of utensils against bowls stopping as Jovi and all the Pokémon turned their attention to the musician. Bibarel started bopping its head back and forth in time with the beat, and Grooky trotted over to tap out the same rhythm on a rock with its stick.
Suddenly, a rustling in the bushes disturbed the scene, and Aaron stopped playing and opened one eye to see a shrub shake and part to admit a large pink Pokémon with big, round blue-green eyes.
"Wiggly?" asked the newcomer in a high-pitched voice.
"Who's that Pokémon?" Mary-Sue wondered aloud as she took out her Pokédex. "Oh, it's a Wigglytuff, the final form of the Jigglypuff line," she answered her own question as the device scanned the huge pink blob.
"Hello, Wigglytuff," Aaron said to it as it bobbed forward on long, soft feet.
"Wiggly," it said.
"Huh?" Aaron tilted his head. "Hey, what's that in your hand? Is that…a microphone?"
"Wigglytuff!" the strange Pokémon said proudly, and it held out its stubby right hand to show off a black stick with a big green puff on one end.
"Did you want to join in?" Aaron inquired. "Can you sing?"
"Wiggly!" it said happily, a big smile splitting its face.
"Great!" Aaron smiled back. "I could really use a vocalist, I can't sing to save my life!"
"Really?" Mary-Sue asked him.
"Yeah," he nodded. "I can play instruments, but my body definitely isn't one. I'd be happy to have you join me, Wigglytuff," he added.
"Wiggly!" it said brightly, and it lifted its microphone to its mouth as Aaron started playing the recorder again. "Wiiiiiiii, ggly-tuuuuuuuff, Wiggllllllly…~" it began to sing.
The soft, sweet voice was so soothing, and Mary-Sue closed her eyes…
…only to blink them open and see that the sky above was tinted with pre-dawn light.
"Huh?" she gasped, lurching to her knees as she realized she was lying face-first in the grass. "Wait, what happened?!"
Looking around, she saw that the campfire was long since burnt out, and her friends and all the Pokémon were all lying scattered around it, some with their faces in half-eaten bowls of curry.
"Aaron?" she asked, crawling over to the other humans. "Jovi? Are you okay?"
"Huhhhhh?" Aaron groaned, sitting up and rubbing his head. "What the…? Did I fall asleep?"
"I think we all did," Mary-Sue said as Jovi roused as well. "The last thing I remember was that Wigglytuff singing along with your music…"
"Yeah, me too," Aaron agreed, rubbing his face.
"Urgh," Jovi grumbled behind them. "Mimi, use Flash and give us some light."
"Min!"
A warm glow filled the campsite, so that it was almost as bright as day. The moment the light hit Aaron's face, though, Mary-Sue gasped in alarm.
"What happened?!" she yelped.
"Huh?" He looked up at her, and then his eyes bugged out. "What happened to you?!" he exclaimed.
They looked around again, and saw that all the Pokémon and Jovi also had the same problem: thick black lines scribbled across all their faces, simple shapes and wavy lines haphazardly marking them up. Even Magikarp hadn't escaped defacement by being in the water of the nearby stream, its bulbous eyes outlined with jagged star shapes and a second mustache drawn between its noodles.
"Wh-What is all this?!" Mary-Sue cried.
"Check our things!" Aaron said. "Someone did this to us while we were sleeping!"
The three friends quickly dove for their belongings, but after a few minutes, they were able to conclude that nothing had been taken.
"Then what was the point?" Jovi asked.
"Hey, where's Wigglytuff?" Aaron spoke up suddenly.
"Huh?" They all looked around, but there was no sign of the pink Pokémon anywhere.
"Wait a minute," Mary-Sue said softly, and she took out her Pokédex and typed in a query, scrolling through the information that came up. "Yeah, that's right, I remember now. Jigglypuff has a hypnotic voice that puts anyone who hears it sing to sleep; I guess its evolved form would do the same thing."
"So we all fell asleep because we heard Wigglytuff sing?" Jovi asked. "But then what about these markings on our faces?" She scrubbed at her cheek with one hand, but the lines didn't even smudge.
"I see," Aaron said softly.
"Huh?" Both girls turned to Aaron in surprise to see him staring downwards pensively.
"That Wigglytuff really wanted to sing for us," he said. "I could tell, it wanted to be part of the music. But it can't perform for anyone, because anyone who hears it sing immediately falls asleep." His eyes closed sadly. "I bet this happens to it a lot. It must be really frustrated, so it defaces everyone who insults it by falling asleep during its performances. Poor thing…"
"Poor thing?!" Jovi exclaimed. "What about us?! We couldn't help it!"
"I wonder if it even understands that, though," Aaron said. "All it wanted was an audience, and it didn't ask for its hypnotic power. I know I'd be upset if no one could ever listen to me play because of something I couldn't control."
"Aaron," Jovi sighed grumpily, "you are a much more forgiving person than I will ever be."
"Uh-huh," Mary-Sue agreed, nodding hard.
"In any case, there's not much we can do about it now," Aaron pointed out, and he went to the campfire to deconstruct the curry-making setup. "We got some sleep, so we might as well get ready to start exploring Mt. Moon."
"I hate that you're right," Mary-Sue grumbled.
"Budew?" squeaked her tiny partner, nudging her boot. Even its face had suffered the wrath of the petty Wigglytuff.
"Yeah, you can get back in your Pokéball now," Mary-Sue sighed. "Hopefully this stuff will come off eventually."
"Let's get some firewood in case we get stuck in the caves for more than a day," Aaron suggested as he gathered the dirty dishes. "And we should fill our canteens, too. You can never be too careful."
"Fine, fine." Unhappy and sore, the girls joined him in cleaning up and getting ready for their venture into the caves.