Chapter 15:

The Catchers from Kanto

Location: Galar Mine No. 2

Gloria

I have gone early to take on Kabu in Motostoke.

Wish me luck!

Hop S.

I wasn't angry because, why should I be? Plus, I needed to get out of that mine anyway.

"Okay!" I said. "Let's put our best foot forward! Onward to Motostoke!"

Location: Motostoke Outskirts

I walked out onto a grassy field. At the end was a viaduct that lead back to Motostoke. It was amazing that I had made a circle like that around Galar.

"We're almost back!" I shouted. "Let's take it easy for today."

I walked on and was stopped by a Madame.

"Sorry sweetie, could we have a battle?"

Gloria Vs. Madame Caroline

"Go Yamper!" Caroline shouted, sending out her Electric Type.

"You're up Raboot!" I replied. "Use Flame Charge!" Raboot, covered in flames, charged into Yamper.

"Yamper dear, use Spark!" Yamper surrounded itself in electricity then rammed its body into Raboot.

"Double Kick!" Raboot kicked Yamper twice, defeating it.

"Oh no, my dear Yamper. Swoobat dear, come out!" Next was a blue Pokémon with large-black wings.

Swoobat (ココロモリ)

#175

Psychic/Flying Type

Courting Pokémon

2'11" (0.9 m)

23.1 lbs (10.5 kg)

The auspicious shape of this Pokémon's nose apparently led some regions to consider Swoobat a symbol of good luck.

Woobat -Happiness- Swoobat

"Swoobat dear, Air Cutter!" Swoobat fired sharp air at Raboot.

"Counter with Flame Charge!" Raboot charged into Swoobat covered in fire. "And do it again!" Another Flame Charge hit.

"Now use Shadow Ball!" Swoobat fired a black ball at Raboot. It was finished.

"Thanks. Liepard, come on out!" Liepard started with Fake Out.

"Swoobat, Air Cutter!" Swoobat fired some streaks at Liepard. In retaliation, Liepard covered itself in black energy and charged into Swoobat for Super Effective damage. "Wow! That's Assurance!" That finished off Swoobat.

"Sorry dears…"

"Woo," I said. "Great match everyone." I looked around in the field, seeing every training or relaxing. My attention was directed to two Trainers in particular. They were a boy and girl, about 13. One had a Pikachu, one an Eevee and they had a red thing floating with a screen. The boy was battling a wild Hatenna.

Eevee (イーブイ)

#196

Normal Type

Evolution Pokémon

1'00" (0.3 m)

14.3 lbs (6.5 kg)

It has the ability to alter the composition of its body to suit its surrounding environment.

"You can do it Chase!" the girl shouted.

"I know that!" Chase replied. "Now will you PLEASE let me concentrate? Eevee, Freezy Frost!" Eevee put both its paws down and made lots of frost appear on the ground. It then covered Hatenna. "Go Ultra Ball!" Chase threw the Pokéball at Hatenna. It went in… and stayed inside!

"You did it!" the girl said.

"Yes you did!" I said, clapping my hands.

"Oh…" Chase said.

"Alol- I mean, Hello there young chappo? Izz that what they say in Galar? Roto! What'zz your name?"

"Gloria. Gloria Smith," I replied. "What an interesting specimen you are."

"This is our Pokédex," Chase said. "Though it's inhabited by a Rotom. My name is Chase. This is my sister Elaine. We're from the Kanto region."

"Nice to meet you," I replied. "And congrats again on your capture."

"One down, many more to go," Elaine said, as Rotom Dex showed a lot of empty spaces on it.

"That's your goal?" I asked. "You want to catch em all?"

"That'zz right! Roto! We've travelled from all over the world! Zzt zzt! We did Kanto and then went to Alola to help with some… multiverzzal sheniniganzz. And we've been everywhere in between, but thizz izz our firzzt time in Galar. We uzzually spend only a week in each region, but for Galar, we've decided to stay longer due to the abundanzze of Pokémon! Roto!"

"Well, you're in for a treat," I replied. "My goal, is to earn all of Galar's Gym Badges and then beat Leon!"

"So, you're one of the challengers," Chase said. "Galar sure do love their battles. We don't have these big stadiums in the Kanto region. They are pretty much private challenges."

"Well," I said. "Would you like to watch a Gym battle?"

"DO WE?!" Chase and Elaine said, coming up to my face.

"He he. Okay, when we get to Motostoke, I'll ask to get you tickets for my match. I'll be facing Kabu, apparently a pretty strong one. My best mate is in Motostoke as we speak. Shall we head there?"

Location: Motostoke

The gears were turning, the steam was erupting; I was back in Motostoke!

"Amazing," said Chase. "A lot here is powered by steam."

"Hey, look!" I shouted. A crowd had gathered round the Motostoke Stadium as I saw the large lights of Chinchou, now Dynamaxed. On the TV screen, we saw it was Hop using it.

"And with that, Chinchou's Max Geyser puts out the fire of Kabu's Centiskorch! What a match!"

"So that's Dynamaxing?" said Elaine. "Is it like Mega Evolution?"

"It's very different," I replied. At least they said it to me and not Professor Magnolia. "With Mega Evolution, the user can obviously change Type and Abilities, as well as get a stat boost for the rest of battle. Dynamax is different in that the user grows in size tenfold for three turns, with really strong moves."

After about half an hour, we met Hop outside the Budew Drop Inn.

"So, these are your new friends?" Hop asked.

"Yep!" I replied. "And this is my new Badge!" Hop got out his medallion with the Fire Badge lodged into it.

"Wow!" said Chase. "So that's what Badges in Galar are like."

"Yes!" I said, getting out my Badges. "I've only got two, but tomorrow, that will be three."

"And you two," Hop said. "Kanto aye? Never been myself but it's on my bucket list."

"Really!" Chase said. "But Galar, man. So many Pokémon that are not found there, and vice versa I suppose."

Just then, we saw the Budew Drop Inn doors open. Marnie walked out.

"Hey!" I said. "Long time no see!"

"Oh," Marnie said. "It's you two and some new friends."

"You know thizz gloomy girl? Roto?" Rotom Dex asked.

"Yep!" I said. "And right now, we're going to have a battle! Sound good?"

"Huh?" Marnie said. "I mean… I suppose. I do need to train myself up for my rematch against Kabu. Okay. I'll do it."

"MARNIE! MARNIE! MARNIE!"

At that point, some Team Yell Grunts appeared with a banner. A male and female was present. "Go get em!" said the male.

"Who are these guys?" Chase asked.

"This," Hop said. "Is Team Yell. Marnie's annoying fanbase."

"And I thought Team Skull wazz bad. Roto. At leazzt they changed their wayzz."

"You can do it Marnie!" the female shouted.

"Let's just do this," Marnie said, visibly embarrassed. "Just keep it to a three on three though."

Gloria Vs. Marnie

"I choose you Croagunk!" shouted Marnie. She sent out a blue Pokémon with a pattern around its stomach that looked like training bandages. It had three fingers on each hand, with the middle ones being orange and two orange cheeks.

Croagunk (グレッゲル)

#222

Poison/Fighting Type

Toxic Mouth Pokémon

2'04" (0.7 m)

50.7 lbs (23 kg)

Once diluted, its poison becomes medicinal. This Pokémon came into popularity after a pharmaceutical company chose it as a mascot.

"Go Corvisquire!" I shouted. "Use Pluck!"

"Sucker Punch!" Before Corvisquire could get a move in, Croagunk punched Corvisquire. Corvisquire thankfully managed to get a Pluck in afterwards, doing lots to Croagunk. "Use Pluck again!" Corvisquire when in for another Flying Type move, but it missed.

"Yeah!" shouted the Yell Grunts.

"Croagunk, use Poison Sting!" Croagunk fired a purple needle at Corvisquire. It hit, and also poisoned Corvisquire.

"Not good!" Hop shouted.

"Pluck it!"

"Sucker Punch!" Croagunk attacked first, but Corvisquire managed to finish off Croagunk. The poison was really starting to take its toll though.

"Good battling. Go Morpeko." Next was Marnie's Electric Type. "Thunder Shock." Morpeko shot a jolt of electricity at Corvisquire, knocking it out.

"Nice one Marnie!" the Grunts yelled.

"She izz strong alright. Roto."

"I'll still win. Go Raboot!" I shouted just as Morpeko changed to its purple, angrier form.

"Morpeko, Bite!" Morpeko bit down on Raboot.

"Come back with Flame Charge!" Raboot lit itself on fire then charged into Morpeko. Its Speed rose. Morpeko then changed back to its yellow, happier form. "And now Double Kick!" Raboot kicked Morpeko twice, almost defeated it.

"Bite!" Morpeko tried to bite down on Raboot, but it missed.

"Now Quick Attack!" Raboot dashed into Morpeko, defeating it.

"NO! MARNIE!"

"Oh dear. Go Scraggy." The next Pokémon was yellow with some baggy pants.

Scraggy (ズルッグ)

#224

Dark/Fighting Type

Shedding Pokémon

2'00" (0.6 m)

26 lbs (11.8 kg)

If it locks eyes with you, watch out! Nothing and no one is safe from the reckless headbutts of this troublesome Pokémon.

"Let's keep it up Raboot. Use Double Kick!" Raboot kicked Scraggy twice. It did a fair bit.

"Payback!" Scraggy was surrounded in dark energy, then it charged into Raboot for lots of damage.

"One more Double Kick!" Raboot dealt two more blows to Scraggy, knocking it out.

"NO! NOT MARNIE!"

Marnie smiled and recalled Scraggy. "That was a great battle. Thanks a lot."

"No!" Team Yell shouted.

"Be quiet," Marnie said.

"But," the male Grunt said. "He didn't use all three Pokémon! I ask for a rematch!"

"Yeah!" the other Grunt said. "Do over!"

"It wazz a fair victory for your information! Roto! Now grow up and maybe get a life! Zzt zzt!"

Team Yell grumpily went away, and Marnie followed suit.

"What is their problem?" Hop asked. "Well Gloria, at least you got some training in. Still taking on Kabu tomorrow?"

"Yep!" I replied. "Hey, are you two going to watch? Hop already gets a free ticket because if you already have a Gym Badge, you get a free match, though only once each time."

"Wouldn't miss it!" said Chase, as his Eevee went onto his shoulder.

"Then its settled," I said. "Kabu, watch out!"

Rotom's Move Dex!

Zzt! Ztt! It'zz been a while, but I thought I'd come back for a one off! Roto! And we're hear in the Galar region, so let'zzz look at a move that originated from here!

Breaking Swipe!

Breaking Swipe is a move that hits both opponent'zzz in battle! Zzt! Zzt! It'zzz a Dragon Type move, and alzzoo lower'zzz the target'zz attack stat!

Pokémon that can learn Breaking Swipe include Haxorus, Duraludon and and Kommo-o!

Bet you've mizzed thizz! Roto!