Chapter 19:
The Uniform Snatchers
Location: Master Dojo
We were all waken up at 06:00. That wasn't fun, but I guess training would need to be rigorous. At least breakfast was nice.
"So," Klara said, her mouthful of toast. "Taking on the Gyms. What they like?"
I wasn't sure how to respond to that. "Oh, it's fun."
"I'm sure it is," she replied. "I kinda gave up in order to try a singing career. It didn't work out."
"I'm sorry," I replied.
"Gloria," Mustard said. "Can I borrow you for one second?"
I was fine with this as I had finished my breakfast. "Sure Master Mustard."
Mustard took me to a section of the Dojo where I saw a young boy on a computer. He had a pink Pokémon that looked chunky. It was floating in the air.
Porygon (ポリゴン)
#208 (Isle of Armor)
Normal Type
Virtual Pokémon
2'07" (0.8 m)
80.5 lbs (36.5 kg)
State-of-the-art technology was used to create Porygon. It was the first artificial Pokémon to be created via computer programming.
"Hyde," Mustard said. "This is the Trainer I was telling you about."
Hyde looked away from his computer. "Yeah?" he asked.
"She was endorsed by Leon."
"Okay okay," Hyde replied. "I'm a little busy right here. My Cram-o-Matic is almost finished!"
"Now Hyde," said Mustard. "You need to look away from the computer screen every now and then."
Hyde finally relented and looked away. "Oh, cool. Now mind if I get back to work?"
"Actually," Mustard said. "I would like you to be partnered up with Gloria for today's trial. Usually it's student with student, but I feel like I should push her a bit more."
"Urgh," he said. "Okay okay. Got it." He recalled Porygon.
"Ah, that's right!" said Mustard, supplying me with a uniform. "Welcome!"
"Thanks!" I said. "I'll get changed immediately!"
After doing just that, I met all the other students. The only ones not in clothes were Klara and Avery.
"Okay," said Mustard. I saw Hyde standing next to me, clearly not wanting to be there. "Now before we get on with today's task, I would like to supply some clothes to Klara and Avery."
"Finally!" Klara said. She walked over to the clothes and…
A Galarian Slowpoke came out and stole them off of her! "Woah!" I said. "That's a fast Slowpoke! Isn't it Hyde?" However, Hyde was busy on a tablet.
"Hyde?" Honey said. "Give it here."
Hyde grumpily gave it to Honey. "I was still busy."
"Hey!" Klara shouted to the Slowpoke. "That's mine!"
"Mine is gone to!" Avery shouted just as the Slowpoke ran off. No, it actually ran. Should be called a Fastpoke.
"Welcome to your first trial!" Mustard said. "We will all put you into groups to find the Slowpoke with the clothes! Please pick your partners. Gloria of course has her own; that's what happens when you accidentally have an even number of students after all." (Wait, I thought there was a free slot. What about that kid from yesterday?) Mustard walked up to me. "You can have a head start if you want. Go and find the Slowpoke."
"Yes please," Hyde said. "Let's get this over with."
"Thanks but I'll decline," I replied. "I feel all students should have a fair shot. Plus, this little rascal needs to learn some patience."
Mustard nodded. "Just as I expect of you; not taking the clear easy way out. I expect great things from you." He eyed Hyde. "And you, be on your best behaviour."
Everyone found a partner. Klara and Avery of course had joined forces. "Okay," Mustard announced. "We will be going to the Soothing Wetlands! That's where those Slowpoke live! Onwards!"
Location: Soothing Wetlands
We walked over to the wetlands. It was filled with deep puddles and mud.
"Welcome to your first trial!" said Mustard. "I've mentioned the rules, but I have an extra one; you can only use one Pokémon each! So choose wisely!"
Klara and Avery sent out their Abra and Venipede respectively.
"Porygon!" Hyde shouted. "Look, I might as well play along with this."
"And I'll use my partner, Raboot!" My Fire Type came out.
Everyone else had their Pokémon prepared.
"Okay," said Mustard. "Ready… go!"
We all rushed off. "Let's go find ourselves a Slowpoke!" I told Hyde.
"Fine!" Hyde replied.
I looked in the tall grass for something pink and yellow. "Now where could one be?" I saw something pink. "Maybe that's it!" I walked up to it. But it wasn't a Slowpoke; it was a Lickitung!
Lickitung (ベロンリンガ)
#054 (Isle of Armor)
Normal Type
Licking Pokémon
3'11" (1.2 m)
144.4 lbs (65.5 kg)
It this Pokémon's sticky saliva gets on you and you don't clean it off, an intense itch will set in. The itch won't go away, either.
"Ready Raboot?" I told it. "Use Double Kick!" Raboot kicked Lickitung twice for Super Effective damage. Then, Lickitung used Wrap. Now Raboot couldn't escape. "Double Kick again!" Raboot managed to kick Lickitung twice more, almost defeating it. Lickitung used Rollout, dealing Super Effective damage to Raboot. "Double Kick!" Finally, Raboot defeated Lickitung.
"Wow!" Hyde shouted.
"Well, someone is interested now," I said.
"Oh, I mean, wow. Lickitung can use Rollout? Then it should have evolved into Lickilicky by now."
"You sure know a lot about Pokémon," I said.
"Oh, I do," Hyde replied. "I do like them, but my dream is to be an inventor to help Trainers throughout Galar and maybe even the world."
I rustled his brown hair. "I get that, but sometimes, you need to come out of your comfort zone and try new things. It's unhealthy to stay inside for-"
"Look!" Hyde shouted. "A Slowpoke!"
I saw a Slowpoke trudge along. "I've got this!" I said.
"Actually," Hyde replied. "I want to battle it with Porygon!"
"Be my guest!" I replied.
"Go!" Hyde shouted. "Use Thunder Shock!" Porygon zapped Slowpoke a bit. Slowpoke then used Confusion back. "Okay Porygon, Conversion!" Porygon started manipulating itself. The next Confusion didn't do much.
"What was that?" I asked.
"Conversion changes the User's Type to the first move in the slot. In this case, Psybeam. Now Porygon, Shadow Ball!" Porygon fired a black ball at Slowpoke, knocking it out.
I went over to the Slowpoke and retrieved some socks. "This is one of the thieves!" I said. "Now, let's return these to Mustard!"
We went back to Mustard where some other teams had also come back with their own including the actual clothes and gloves.
"Here you go," I said.
"Congratulations!" Mustard said. "You've all passed your first trial!"
"And what about the others?" I asked.
"Sadly, their training ends here. They will have to go home."
"Oh," I said.
"Great job everyone! Let's head back to the Dojo!"
Location: Master Dojo
"Don't I look cute?" Klara asked.
"You look alright," I replied. Admittedly, I did think she looked quite good in it.
"I think I look alright," Avery said, teleporting in.
"Great work today everyone!" Mustard said. "Tomorrow will be our next trial, but we do not rest! After lunch, we will all head to Challenge Beach for some training! So get ready!"
Location: Challenge Beach
As stated, we all went down to the beach to get some training in. Specifically, we were all given a training partner. Well, except Hyde. He was back on his computer.
"Hello everyone!" Mustard said. "Okay, what we will do here is some basic battle training. I will pull a name out of the hat and you will all participate in a three on three battle each! We won't allow you to choose however. We will pull a name out of the hat. Don't worry, there are no prizes or penalties here. It's just honing your skills!" Mustard pulled out a hat and rustled around. "Gloria will be battling… Isaac!"
I saw a student walk over to me. "H-h-hey…" he said.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Nothing. L-l-let's just battle."
We went over to a part of the beach which was clear enough.
"Don't go easy!" I said.
"I w-w-won't!"
Gloria Vs. Dojo Trainer Isaac
"Go… Rockruff!" The first Pokémon was brown and cute with rocks around its neck.
Rockruff (イワンコ)
#126 (Isle of Armor)
Rock Type
Puppy Pokémon
1'08" (0.5 m)
20.3 lbs (9.2 kg)
This Pokémon intimidates opponents by striking the ground with the rocks on its neck. The moment an opponent flinches, Rockruff attacks.
"And I choose Lombre!" I shouted.
"Bite it!" Rockruff bit down on Lombre's arm.
"Bubble Beam it off!" Lombre shot bubbles at Rockruff for lots of damage.
"Now Rock Throw!" Rockruff then shot a rock at Lombre.
"One more Bubble Beam!" That finished off Rockruff.
"Oh no, thanks. Next up, I choose Poliwhirl!" The Water Type with a spiral on its belly was next.
Poliwhirl (ニョロゾ)
#143 (Isle of Armor)
Water Type
Tadpole Pokémon
3'03" (1 m)
44.1 lbs (20 kg)
Staring at the swirl on its belly causes drowsiness. This trait of Poliwhirl's has been used in place of lullabies to get children to go to sleep.
Poliwag -Lv 25- Poliwhirl
"Poliwhirl, Ice Punch!" Poliwhirl's fist started frosting up, and it punched Lombre.
"Come back with Mega Drain!" Lombre drained a lot of HP from Poliwhirl. It was finished.
"Oh no, last Pokémon. I choose Heracross!" Last but not least was a blue Pokémon with a large horn on its head.
Heracross (ヘラクロス)
#121 (Isle of Armor)
Bug/Fighting Type
Single Horn Pokémon
4'11" (1.5 m)
119 lbs (54 kg)
This Pokémon takes pride in its strength, which allows it to lift things 100 times heavier than itself with no trouble at all.
Heracross has no known evolutions.
"Return," I told Lombre. "Come on out Corvisquire!" My Flying Type would do the trick.
"Use Horn Attack!" Heracross jabbed Corvisquire with its horn.
"Now let's try your new move! Corvisquire, Torment!" Corvisquire started shouting at Heracross, enraging it.
"No big Wooper! Give it another Horn Attack!" Heracross tried, but couldn't. The Torment worked! "Fine! Use Aerial Ace!" Heracross dashed into Corvisquire.
"Now use Pluck again!" Corvisquire defeated Heracross.
"Thank you Gloria," Isaac said.
"You fancy me don't you," I replied.
"YES!" he said.
"Well… can we just be friends? I mean I do think you are cool, but…"
"No, it's fine," he said. "Looks like everyone has wrapped up. Let's head back to the Dojo."
Location: Master Dojo
We all had our dinner, then we had a chance to relax.
"Ahh…" I said. "We made it through the next round."
"Gloria," Mustard said. "Can I have a talk with you? It's nothing bad. Come with me to the battlefield out back." So I did.
Under the moonlit sky, me and Mustard stood in the middle of the large pitch.
"So. Leon endorsed you."
"That's right," I said. "It's a massive honour, though I don't want to wear it with a lot of pride. I don't believe that an endorsement is special because a Champion did it, just the fact you got endorsed in the first place."
Mustard smiled. "That's what I like to hear. Now, what do you think of Leon?"
"He's so cool!" I said. "Now, that might be because I am best mates with his brother so a TINY bit of bias might be a factor, but wow! His Charizard is so strong!"
"You really like seeing him on the battlefield," Mustard said. "Now. How about off it? What is he like?"
I told Mustard all about the incident in Slumbering Weald. Everything except the Pokémon me and Hop saw.
"Hmm. So I guess his direction is getting better at least. You see, Leon might be the strongest Trainer in Galar. But he certainly isn't the smartest. When he was doing his trials here, he came across a Kommo-o at the Potbottom Desert. Instead of thinking things through, he went and threw a Pokéball. No battling, not analysing the situation, he just threw the first thing he could find. He was chased out of the desert and into my arms. Even today, I still think his judgment isn't quite there. This is outside of battle I'm talking about. I don't think you're like that. If you were to find that same Kommo-o, you would analyse the risk and realise that you are no match for it in your current state."
I didn't take that as an insult. I knew I had three Badges. Still impressive, but I wasn't even halfway there before I could qualify for the Wyndon Championships. That's why I was at the Master Dojo after all; to hone my skills.