The Type Specialist

Mossdeep was the same as how I left it. A loose collection of buildings that wrapped around the island with a bunch of empty space in the middle.

It was much more nostalgic to be here than I expected. For a temporary stop in my journey, it almost felt like a homecoming. I would have thought I wouldn't have felt like this until I returned to Olivine, but this was where I first became a trainer. Here, I caught both Ninetales and Azumarill when they were Vulpix and Marill, met Laura, trained for weeks, and even did so many jobs to fund everything it was a wonder I managed to do anything at all. I smiled, thinking about how much better off I was now. The amount of jobs I needed to do was at a minimum, and mostly only done if I thought it was a good training opportunity. I had no pressing need for the extra cash.

It had been almost a year since I had first arrived. I entered the region at the very beginning of February, and it was currently mid November. The Lilycove tournament was scheduled for mid December, so I had plenty of time to train before then. I had hoped to challenge Mossdeep Gym for my eighth Gym badge so I could end my Gym Challenge where it started, but it didn't seem like it would end up working out that way.

Sensing my nostalgic mood, Wally went ahead to reserve rooms for us at the Pokémon Center, leaving me behind to slowly walk through the city. After he ran off, I sent out Ninetales. She was on the larger side of Pokémon that were socially acceptable to keep out in cities, but Mossdeep wasn't crowded enough for it to be an issue. She was clearly happy to be back as she walked alongside me. Ninetales didn't run around to greet everyone like she used to as a Vulpix, but her head still snapped towards interesting smells while walking along.

I hadn't planned on it, but my feet unconsciously brought me to that same rental shack on the docks I had caught Marill at. I had traveled there so often in the last few days in Mossdeep that I headed towards it out of pure habit. I walked inside just to see if it had changed in the few months I had been gone, and wasn't surprised at all to see it was exactly the same.

A familiar shop owner was sat behind the counter, overweight and wearing a tank top. In his hands was a generic gossip magazine that he didn't bother looking up from.

"Boat or ski?" he asked casually.

"Ski," I said, the word slipping out before I really thought about what I was doing.

The rental shop owner placed down his magazine and leaned back to remove the key from the wall where it was hanging behind him. He turned back around, expecting to take cash from me as payment, but paused when he laid his eyes on me.

"Huh. What, couldn't afford another outfit in half a year?" he asked.

I looked down at the same lavender shirt and shorts combo I had been wearing for the past few months. It wasn't the same set of clothes, but one of the spares I had bought at the same time. Keeping an identical look on a journey was a branding choice to make me more recognizable, and it was a strategy that most Gym Leaders followed. It seemed it was successful as the shop owner recognized me.

"No, same outfit, different shirt," I replied. "Not going to ask about how Marill is doing?" I asked.

He snorted.

"Pft. Why would I care about that nuisance? Nah, it left one day and I never needed to think about it until now."

Seems like his personality hasn't changed a bit since I last saw him.

I hadn't planned to rent a jet ski today, but since I was already here I didn't see a reason not to. I handed over the payment and collected the key to the jet ski I had just impulsively rented for the next few hours.

I walked back outside with Ninetales to head out to where the vehicles were docked. I looked down at her once I located the specific jet ski I would be using.

"Well girl, do you want to visit your old home?"

Ninetales's tails immediately started wagging and she yipped in excitement.

The ride to Shoal Cave was much the same as last time. It was just a smooth, near-silent ride all the way there. Ninetales had been crushed to find out her evolved form was too large to ride alongside me, but I managed to get her to fit on sideways and zoomed around at low speeds around Mossdeep just so she could somewhat experience it again. She was disappointed that it wasn't as fast as before, but was thankful that she was at least able to ride it.

I didn't think about it at the time, since this trip was unplanned, but Shoal Cave was experiencing low tides when I arrived. Unlike last time when the tides high enough to reach the upper levels, the cave has been mostly drained out and the lower levels were exposed. I parked the jet ski behind a rock outside, then headed in.

The lower, drained section of Shoal Cave was much more sandy with salt deposits spread throughout. Some people in Mossdeep actually used the salt found in this cave along with discarded sea shells to make a valuable held item called a Shell Bell, but if I wanted one it would require a dedicated gathering effort that I didn’t want to spend the time on.

I could see the same rocky area above me that I walked on previously, but it was too high up to reach. I sent out Altaria, and he grabbed me under my armpits with his feet to lift me up to the higher level. I brought up his Love Ball to return him, but was immediately knocked over as he flew into my head.

"Pblblt. Altaria, please," I sputtered, spitting out his fluffy feathers from my mouth. "You're too big to sit on my head, and there's a lot of Ice Types here that you're extra vulnerable to."

He flapped his wings to move back a foot, then plopped on the ground. He seemed insistent on going with me into the cave.

"Fine, fine. Let me send Ninetales out to lead, first, okay?"

He cocked his head at me but didn't respond otherwise. I chuckled.

I sent Ninetales out from her Premier Ball, and she instantly perked up. Her ears were flicking around as she took in the sounds and sniffed the air excitedly. She had been sitting when I released her, but quickly stood up and strode forth deeper into the cave with her tails swaying behind her. Her movement was fast and deliberate, and she kept adjusting her direction whenever she sniffed, detecting something. I was unsure what exactly she was doing, but had a feeling we might be having a reunion sometime soon.

I hurriedly followed after her and Altaria walked alongside me. His bird feet weren't made for fast-paced walks, so he had to flap his wings and hops occasionally to keep up. Even though the cavern we were in was large enough for him to fly, he seemed content to walk on the ground.

When we approached the tunnels that led deeper into Shoal Cave, I noticed that the cracks in the walls were in different positions than last time. Wild Pokémon battles had probably collapsed some of them in the past, and the new ones were likely dug by other wild Pokémon. It was a new layout to experience, but despite the unfamiliar paths, Ninetales entered one without hesitation.

Rather than take the leftmost passage like I had done last time, Ninetales actually headed down the one on the right that sloped down towards the drained levels below us. I was unsure where she was going, but it was certainly interesting to see her so determined to reach her goal.

This time, there was no aggressive Glalie or Zubat swarm I had to deal with, and I had no Pokédolls to throw at them anyway. I still had that one spare of Ninetales’s, but the only time it came out was when we were sleeping safely within the rooms in Pokémon Centers. She didn't want to risk it on routes.

We climbed down multiple sloped tunnels and passages, moving through several open rooms and even passing underneath a few different Zubat swarms that thankfully stayed asleep. We eventually emerged into what would have been a large, underground shoreline if the water hadn't receded. Right now, it was nothing more than a massive empty cavern.

Ninetales didn't necessarily dash forward, but she did move quickly as we continued to approach whatever she was heading towards. I tried to my best to keep up with her, but in my hurry I suddenly tripped over something and stumbled to keep my balance. I had been using my flashlight, but my winding path as I followed Ninetales meant I hadn’t seen whatever just tripped me.

I moved the beam from my flashlight over whatever was on the ground, and saw a flat blue flipper resting on top of the sandy rock. Nervously, I slowly moved the light of my flashlight up to iluminage the body of a large Walrein slowly waking up. It looked similar to the Walrein from Wallace’s Gym Battle, but it had less fat and the white hair around its head was far messier. I started to panic after seeing that I was so close to it since as a wild third stage Pokémon, it would likely be aggressive. I glanced at Altaria who was standing nearby. I waved at him to try to signal to be ready to retaliate if Walrein turned out to be aggressive. However, Altaria just ended up staring at me. Ninetales paused her rushing and turned around to return to my side.

The wild Walrein didn’t look that annoyed that it had been woken up, and smacked its lips lazily. It glanced around to see what the source of its sudden awakening was, and froze when it saw me. I made eye contact with the hulking Water and Ice Type, ready to run if it started to use a move.

What I wasn’t expecting was for it to start to laugh.

The massive seal’s chest shook as a loud, barking laugh echoed through the cavern. I was confused about what it found so funny, but as it reached to grab what was nestled in the crook of its arm, my heart sunk. In one flipper, it held a familiar pink doll that was in surprisingly good shape, although a little worn from the elements.

Oh no. This is the same Sealeo as before, but now evolved into Walrein.

Altaria cocked his head when he saw it, and Ninetales sniffed at it curiously. I decided right then and there what I needed to do before things got out of hand.

I have to get out of here before it tells them how it got it.

I desperately tried to pull Altaria back and practically shouted in my attempts to encourage Ninetales to continue following whatever she detected earlier, but neither of them moved. They looked at Walrein curiously, and it proceeded to bark out the story of how I freaked out and threw the Pokédoll in its face so many months before.

It even mimicked my terrified scream, and both it and Ninetales burst out in laughter.

Altaria stared at me, and I looked away, my face flush with embarrassment.

It took them a few exhausting minutes to calm down, then Ninetales engaged Walrein in conversation. I couldn't tell what exactly they were saying since they just spoke in variations of their own names, but as they talked, Ninetales became happier and happier. Soon, she barked once at the Walrein and ran off into the distance.

I glanced back at the Walrein to wave goodbye, and it held up the Pokédoll, doing the same, holding back laughter.

I dashed forward after Ninetales but she was moving far too fast for me to keep up. I was suddenly brought off my feet as Altaria grabbed me and flew after her within this drained section of Shoal Cave.

We caught up to Ninetales as she reached the base of a cliff, and rather than putting me down, Altaria held onto me and flew up into the air as Ninetales jumped from rock to rock, scaling the cliff with help from Quick Attack. She reached the top and Altaria placed me down next to her on top of the flat stone ledge that stuck out from the wall.

I was curious what was up here, but it was just a flat, balcony-like section with a single opening on the wall. Ninetales didn't continue onwards, but barked once towards the hole.

There was no response for a few moments, but slowly and cautiously a second Alolan Ninetales walked out of the hole. It stood right at the entrance and eyed us warily. Its nostrils flared as it sniffed the air, then almost immediately perked up. It locked eyes with Ninetales, and the two of them stared at each other. Wordlessly, both foxes ran forward and practically tackled each other, moving around the other excitedly and sniffing one another as they reunited.

I didn't say anything during this reunion, and Altaria sat silently and watched. Despite the two foxes both being Alolan Ninetales, I could easily tell which one was mine. Her fur was silkier and more well groomed, and she was ever so slightly smaller than the wild one. I also managed to recognize the wild one as being the same one that fought the Glalie, the same one that had brought Ninetales to me as a Vulpix. I didn’t approach, wanting to let Ninetales have this happy moment uninterrupted.

Ninetales continued to circle around the wild Pokémon for a while longer until they both calmed down and sat on the floor. Ninetales held up a paw as if to introduce me, clearly forgetting we had already met.

"Uh, hello? I don't remember if I ever thanked you for your help before, so thank you for your help,” I said. “You saved me from that Glalie and brought Ninetales to me. I’ll always be grateful for everything you’ve done."

The wild Pokémon smiled, and I decided to ask now to determine its relationship so I wouldn't have to refer to both of them as "Ninetales."

"I have to ask, how are you related to Ninetales? Are you her friend?”

It shook its head.

“No? Alright then, a family member?

It nodded.

“Seems that I’m on the right track,” I said. “So you’re her mother, then.”

The wild Ninetales let loose a hostile growl. Not expecting that sudden, aggressive response, I wracked my mind for other potential relationships, and desperately brought up the only other option I could think of.

"Uh, um, okay, uh, are you her sister?" I asked hurriedly.

Ninetales’s sister calmed down and nodded in response to my question, allowing me to breath out a sigh of relief. At the same time, Ninetales herself bounded forward to point her nose at my belt. Understanding she wanted to introduce everyone else to her sister, I sent my entire team out. The wild Pokémon was uncomfortable to see so many strange and unfamiliar Pokémon out around her, but didn’t lash out in fear thanks to Ninetales’s calming presence.

Azumarill was first, and she crossed her arms and let out a "tch." She was followed up by Florges, who shrunk a bit when she noticed Ninetales's sister, but grew more confident after a few encouraging yips from Ninetales. Mawile was third, and she pretended to not care to meet someone new, but kept throwing glances at the unfamiliar Pokémon anyway. Ponyta and Cottonee ended up coming out together, with Ponyta slowly standing up and yawning, having been woken up from a nap, and Cottonee practically vibrating from excitement.

I had to jump forward to grab Cottonee before he could rush at Ninetales's sister to greet her, and Florges was kind enough to use Aromatherapy to heal me from the Stun Spore he released.

Ninetales's sister smirked at the antics, calming down after seeing how friendly we were, and lowering her head in a formal-like bow. She turned around to enter the cave behind her, and gestured for us to follow.

With everyone alongside me, we entered the passage to see where it led.

It wasn't actually a passage, but just a large cave. There was a bit of a curve before we actually entered it, and I realized we were closer to the surface than I had thought. The roof had a crack in it, which let in light and illuminated the room, and there was a large crystal of Never-Melt Ice in the corner. I untied the jacket around my waist and actually wore it normally for once, since this small cave was the coldest place I'd visited so far.

In the corner lay a small concave mound of ice with two white fluffy foxes wrestling in front of it. Ninetales's sister barked once, and the pair of Alolan Vulpix stopped playing and ran to her, with a third poking its head up from the mound and bounding over as well. They lined up in front of her and sat down in a line.

Ninetales's sister sat down as well and faced us, sticking her nose up proudly. The Vulpix on the floor saw this and mimicked her movements, puffing up in pride, too.

"Are these your siblings as well?" I asked her.

Ninetales's sister smiled and shook her head, then somehow managed to look even more proud than before.

"Children, then."

She barely had a chance to nod before Ninetales jumped up and ran over to the group. She wagged her tails and moved in to sniff them. The Vulpix were confused by her action, but became excited when Ninetales barked in a tone that I recognized meant she wanted to play. However, her sister growled at her antics.

Ninetales shot her a look, clearly putting her experience with Baby-Dolls eyes to use, and the Vulpix siblings on the floor did the same. In the face of their, well, faces, Ninetales's sister had no choice but to relent. Ninetales didn't even get the chance to start anything on her own before the two wrestling Vulpix from before jumped on her while the third that had been in the snow watched on in amusement.

The rest of my team didn't seem to mind what was going on, mostly sticking around to be polite. Azumarill was completely uninterested, and returned to her ball, while Florges stood back and looked on at Ninetales's happiness with joy. Mawile was trying to act uninterested, poorly disguising her jealousy at how quickly Ninetales got along with her nieces and nephews, and Ponyta watched the wild Pokémon that were around his age play, uninterested in their roughhousing.

However, Ponyta didn’t stay back. Mawile gave him an encouraging pat on the side and Ponyta walked forward to approach the third Vulpix. They nodded at each other respectfully, and he laid down on the floor next to it to watch the other foxes play.

In the meantime, I pushed back Altaria, who got bored and was trying to smush himself into my face, and I realized that I hadn't seen Cottonee. Looking closer, I noticed a small bit of fluff visible between the teeth of Mawile's half open jaws, and recognized that she was currently holding him prisoner.

He must have done something to really get on her nerves. At least now he won't interrupt Ninetales's reunion.

I managed to convince Mawile to release Cottonee, then after a brief lecture about appropriate times to play a prank, I returned him to his Pokéball. I returned Florges as well, since the two of them were a bit uncomfortable due to how cold it was in the room.

While Ninetales was catching up with and playing with her family, I didn’t want to interrupt anything so I stayed back with everyone else. The room was mostly empty, but the Ice Types seemed to be extremely comfortable thanks to the large chunk of Never-Melt Ice in the corner. Ninetales’s sister was basking in the praise Ninetales was yipping at her, the two of them enjoying the temperatures within the room.

I sat down while Ninetales played, and calmly watched the proceedings. Ponyta eventually got too cold as well, and walked back over to be returned to his ball after saying goodbye to the Vulpix he was next to. Mawile also returned soon after, not really having a reason to stay out now that Ponyta was no longer around. In the end, only Altaria and Ninetales stayed out, the same pair that were out when we first entered.

After a while, Altaria climbed on top of my lap while the family of foxes chattered, the family tired from playing so much, and I had to push aside Altaria’s fluffy feathers from my face to not be suffocated. He kept trying to climb up onto my head, so I ended up placing my arms on top of him to hold him down. He apparently found that relaxing and began to doze. I appreciated the warmth he was providing me in this chilly room.

After what was about two and a half hours of letting all of the foxes catch up, Ninetales and her sister approached me, saying goodbye to the three Vulpix and letting them go to the snow pile to rest. Her sister had a sad look in her eyes, and Ninetales looked to be more determined than ever. I moved to stand, but had to return Altaria first because he had completely fallen asleep in my lap.

"What's up? Do you need something?" I said as I stood up.

Ninetales walked next to me, then stood up on her hind legs, resting her paws on my side, and pushed her nose into my backpack. Unsure what her goal was, I placed my backpack on the ground and opened it up. She dug around the main pockets for a bit, then pulled out her Pokédoll.

Ninetales held the pink object in her mouth, then walked over to her sister and placed it on the ground in front of her. Ninetales barked her name, and her sister whined mournfully in response. The two foxes stared at each other as their eyes grew watery, then practically jumped forward to rub against one another. They howled their names mournfully as they did so, and tears streamed down their face.

After taking a few moments to cry and sniff her sister to memorize her scent, Ninetales finally stepped back as her sister looked on, also crying but proud. Ninetales's sister picked up the Pokédoll off the ground, and nodded at Ninetales.

Ninetales turned around and nudged me with her head to get me to leave, and I did as she asked. Her crying intensified as her sister sat behind us, trying her best to calm down and holding the Pokédoll. As much as they loved each other, Ninetales’s sister knew this cave wouldn’t be enough to satisfy Ninetales. Ninetales was far too interested in everything this world had to offer to stay here, and even though they were parting, I knew they would always remember one another.

Leaving Shoal Cave was easy with Ninetales's help, but we did struggle to wake up Altaria to carry me down off the ledge. I managed to return to the jet ski safely, although I had to pay a fee back in Mossdeep since I had gone over the time I had rented it for. Soon after, I called Wally to figure out what Pokémon Center he got a room at, and I retired to a freshly rented room, letting Ninetales rest after her emotionally exhausting day.

Since we had trained for two weeks in Sootopolis, Wally was motivated to challenge the Mossdeep Gym the very next day. I decided to wait since I wasn't confident in my chances, especially since I almost lost to Wallace. Also, my team needed to practice, as I wanted to try to incorporate more tricky Fairy-like tactics into my strategies. There was too much that I still needed to prepare for my next Gym Battle to try to earn my seventh Gym Badge right now.

Mossdeep Gym was situated near the Space Center in the middle of the island. It had close ties with the Mossdeep Space Center itself, and some of the Gym’s super-intelligent Psychic Type Pokémon actually helped with calculations, or assisted by using their vague foresight into the future to help choose days with the best launch conditions.

The Gym itself was a dome shaped building with a few rectangular buildings containing either living quarters or smaller training fields built around it. I knew some of them contained the trial rooms, where challengers had to gather hanging items while subjected to lowered gravity, which was possible thanks to the help of Gym Trainer’s Psychic Types. As for the main building, it was just a waiting room and a battlefield, so it wasn’t actually that large.

We had to wait again when Wally signed up to take on Tate & Liza, the twin Gym Leaders of Mossdeep. The battle was a double battle and broke the rules of normal Gym progression. For new trainers, the seventh Gym would use five Pokémon, but double battles traditionally had each side use an even number of Pokémon. Wally would need to field every one of his six Pokémon to compete in this Gym.

The Gym Leaders were a pair of twins that dressed similarly and liked to confuse other people by making it hard to tell them apart. Tate & Liza controlled their Pokémon together, and were two of the rare class of humans that had weak psychic abilities. As far as what was publicly known, they were capable of weak telepathy, and because of that they commanded their Pokémon with their minds rather than their voice. I also knew that they were also known to be clever but immature, which I hoped would mean they would show off new and interesting battle tactics that would help with my own strategizing.

The battlefield within Mossdeep Gym was made out of the same classic packed dirt. However, the building’s domed ceiling was different in that it was decorated with a starry sky, and had several large representations of celestial objects hanging down from it. I recognized two planets that looked similar to Mars and Jupiter, but they seemed off. In my old world, I was never interested in astronomy, usually spending my time playing Pokémon instead, so I barely could tell the difference. As far as what I saw, Mars looked to be a bit lighter, and the eye on Jupiter was far smaller. Whatever planets were in this world’s solar system was unknown to me, but considering there were characters named after Mars and Jupiter in Team Galactic, I had to assume these planets shared those names.

Huh. The names “Mars” and “Jupiter” suggests that the Roman pantheon might have existed in this world, or at least implies that there were famous figures that shared the same names as those gods. I have no clue what to make of that.

Wally approached the field with a determined look on his face, and I cheered him on. A referee standing on the sidelines wearing a dark pink sweatshirt started the match, and Wally began his seventh Gym Battle.

The battle started easily enough, with Wally sending out Gallade and Magneton while the Gym Leaders sent out Xatu and Claydol. Gallade ran forward at Claydol first, intent on using a Night Slash for a quick knockout. However, Claydol glowed and brought up a transparent Reflect. Gallade’s Night Slash bounced off of the screen, and Claydol took no damage.

Xatu stayed back and closed its eyes in focus, and I recognized that it was following the same process both Ninetales and Florges went through when they used Calm Mind. However, Magneton came in from the back and zapped it with a Thunderbolt at range, disrupting its focus.

Claydol shifted into setting up a wide-ranged Light Screen and Reflect combo, protecting both it and Xatu while Xatu focused. I noticed that Claydol’s chest had a light green patch hardened onto it that glowed whenever it created a barrier. Seeing Claydol’s tactics, I quickly realized that that patch was actually the held item, Light Clay, which enhanced its barriers and made them last longer in battle.

With Claydol’s barriers in place, Gallade and Magneton were having a difficult time dealing damage. When the barriers were first created, they were strong enough to completely deflect weak attacks. However, as they faded over time, they stopped less and less, and attacks began to pass through them, albeit weakened and slowed down.

Gallade focused on Claydol, intent on taking it down to prevent the barriers from being refreshed, and at the same time, Magneton tried its best to get its Electric Type attacks past the Light Screen to hurt Xatu. Magneton managed to get a decent amount of damage in, seriously damaging Xatu, but Xatu’s eyes suddenly snapped open. The Psychic Type bird glowed so bright its feathers looked like they turned blue, and an incredibly powerful Psychic tore into Gallade, knocking him out thanks to the increased damage from Calm Mind.

Wally next sent out Delcatty, and at that point her attacks were able to knock out Claydol with a Fake Out into Payback combo. Up next was a Hypno, and it used what little time was left to use Hypnosis on both Delcatty and Magneton. Magneton managed to land a Thunder Wave on Xatu before it fell asleep, but instead of Thunder Wave paralyzing Xatu, the attack simply bounced off of it, not paralyzing the bird thanks to its ability Magic Bounce reflecting the effect.

Since both of Wally’s Pokémon were now asleep, Xatu had free rein to attack with its Calm Mind boosted Psychic, while Hypno started to buff itself up with Calm Mind as well. Wally looked incredibly unhappy, and decided to recall Magneton. Delcatty, unfortunately, was knocked out since its Normal Type didn’t resist Psychic Type moves like Magneton’s Steel Type did.

Even though both of his opponents were buffed up, Wally regained momentum since he no longer had two unconscious Pokémon on the field. Roserade and Comfey were sent out next, and I noticed that Comfey did something to surround Roserade in petals.

Is that its ability, Flower Veil? Roserade won’t be able to be put to sleep thanks to that. I wonder if Wally would be willing to have Comfey help Florges develop that ability for herself...

The battle proceeded much in Wally’s favor after that. Despite both Pokémon having several Calm Minds up, Roserade was able to finish off the injured Xatu, but Comfey fell asleep due to Hypno’s Hypnosis. Hypno attempted to do the same to Roserade, but she was unaffected thanks to Comfey’s Flower Veil ability, like I expected. The next Pokémon the Gym Leaders sent out was Slowbro, but that fell to Roserade’s super effective Grass Type attacks, and Comfey quickly woke up thanks to her ability, Natural Cure, allowing her to cure herself from status conditions passively. Comfey quickly overwhelmed Hypno, preventing it from healing itself with Dream Eater now that she was awake.

Both Slowbro and Hypno fainted at roughly the same time, and the twin Gym Leaders looked at each other and silently communicated. They each picked up a ball and simultaneously sent out their final combo; a Solrock and a Lunatone.

Lunatone set up a Reflect, and Solrock set up a Light Screen, which protected them from the sudden onslaught of attacks from Roserade and Comfey. They focused on trying to knock out Roserade since their Psychic Type moves were super effective against her Poison Type, but Comfey’s healing prevented that.

In response, the two Psychic Types switched to assault Comfey with their own attacks, but Comfey just healed herself. Annoyed at Comfey’s longevity, the Solrock coalesced sharp rocks from its Rock Type energy, and shot them forward to seriously injure Comfey. Lunatone then finished off Comfey with yet another Psychic attack before she could heal, timing it just right to prevent her ability, Triage, from letting her heal herself back up.

With that, Wally only had two Pokémon left other than Roserade. The mildly injured and unconscious Magneton, and Flygon, who still hadn’t been listening to him. I saw Wally frown, but forced himself to turn that into a smile. He tossed forward a Pokéball, and Wally’s unruly Flygon appeared on the field.

Immediately, it roared and flapped its wings, conjuring sand with Ground Type energy and creating a sandstorm over the field thanks to the move, Sandstorm.

I resisted the urge to groan. Wally hadn’t commanded it to do that, and thanks to its impulsive move, both Solrock and Lunatone would have increased defenses thanks to the sand providing protection to their Rock Type bodies.

Roserade, on the other hand, was not having a good time. She was taking passive damage from the sandstorm, and was having difficulty seeing her foes. She tried to use a ranged Magical Leaf, but her opponents easily destroyed the attack before it could reach them, using the sand from the sandstorm to their advantage. Unable to attack at range, Roserade was forced to get close to her opponents to actually be able to hit them.

That actually gives me an idea. I wonder if Ninetales could use her weather to draw opponents closer to Mawile in a double battle...

Unfortunately for Wally, it was at this point everything went wrong. Wally tried to yell at Flygon to move in for a Dragon Claw, but instead, Flygon breathed out a wide Dragon Breath that encompassed Solrock, Lunatone, and Roserade. Because she had moved in, Roserade took that friendly fire and the rampant draconic energies violently coursed through her body, interrupting her movement and inflicting paralysis on her. What’s worse was that both Solrock and Lunatone were fine thanks to the sandstorm reducing the damage.

Solrock fainted the immobile Roserade with a Flamethrower, forcing Wally to switch into his unconscious Magneton. Flygon tried its best to use Dragon Breath again in the meantime, but failed to do any significant damage. Wally was desperately trying to get it to use physical attacks instead, or at least stop the sandstorm, but it seemed confident in its battle strategy even though it clearly wasn’t working.

Magneton was defenseless thanks to its sleep, and Solrock quickly fainted it with Flamethrower while Lunatone kept Flygon distracted. Flygon finally tried to move in for a Dragon Claw, but both Rock Types were still in decent condition and Solrock just tanked the attack. In response, Lunatone launched a powerful Moonblast at Flygon, knocking it back. The Fairy Type attack didn’t faint Flygon, but the follow-up dual Psychic attack did.

With Flygon fainted, Wally’s team had been entirely knocked out. He was trying to maintain a smile, but since I had been traveling with him for a while, I could tell his heart wasn’t in it. Once the sandstorm died down, he walked over to the Gym Leaders to shake their hands, then walked out of the Gym as fast as he could. He didn’t wait for me like he said he would, and I couldn’t help but to worry about him.

From what he told me, this was the first time he lost a Gym Battle. Considering he lost it from no fault of his own, but rather because of a Pokémon that didn’t listen to him? I hoped he wasn’t taking it too hard.

As much as seeing this battle helped me with my own ideas to train my team for this Gym, I brushed those thoughts out of my mind to focus on Wally. I needed to go find him, and hopefully see if I could make him feel better.