The Type Specialist

I knocked on the door to Wally's room in the Pokémon Center. I had made sure to wait before meeting back up with him to give him some time to calm down. I stopped at a store in the meantime and bought some sweets to share with him and his team. I always found they were a good way to relax after a Gym, even if the battle was a loss.

"Are you decent?" I called out.

There was a moment of silence before Wally responded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You can come in, Alex."

I opened the door to enter the room, then went over to the table in the corner and set down the bag containing the sweets. Wally was laying on his side on his bed, tapping on his Pokédex, while the rest of his team were scattered around the room.

Gallade was standing guard next to Wally and Comfey was resting while hanging around Gallade’s neck. Delcatty was curled up at Wally's feet, asleep, and Roserade and Magneton were standing at the window, watching the late afternoon foot traffic down on the street below. I didn't see Flygon.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

Wally continued to tap on his Pokédex. He didn't respond for a while.

"My Pokémon are healed up,” he finally said. “Nurse Joy said it's easier to heal Psychic Type damage than other types of damage."

I nodded. We sat in silence a bit longer.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

The tapping stopped as Wally collected his thoughts.

"I don't know what to do with Flygon," Wally said. "He doesn't listen to me in battle, but I thought we were making progress. He might not follow my every command, but we have worked on strategies together, and I even helped him learn Screech! Did you know he let me ride him in Sootopolis?"

I smiled at that memory.

"I remember when that happened. You came back to the Pokémon Center talking about how exciting it was, and then had to lie down afterwards since your asthma started to act up."

"Flygon smiled when I was on his back, and I thought he finally accepted that he was a member of my team. Why didn’t he listen today?"

I hummed.

"Well, I can't say I know that much about Dragons since they still haven't let me access their forums, despite having a literal Dragon Type on my team, but I do know that they're prideful and self-reliant. Maybe Flygon thought he was contributing in his own way. How many battles has he been in?"

Wally shook his head.

"Mossdeep was his first."

"Wait, what?"

That caught me off guard.

Why did Wally think that Flygon would listen to him in his first battle if Flygon hadn't been listening to him before? Training is different from battling, so he shouldn’t have expected an easy success. I knew Wally had been rushing a bit, but this is a whole other level I didn’t realize.

Hearing my stunned silence, Wally proceeded to explain.

"Yeah, Flygon trains with me when he’s willing, and he’s sparred with Gallade a few times. I thought it would be okay since he was really strong when you fought him in the desert, and I didn’t have any other options anyway, since he is the sixth member of my team."

It’s true Wally only has six team members, but he still should have waited to battle if Flygon hadn’t been in one before. I have plans to train in Mossdeep, so Wally knows we had plenty of time to prepare for the Gym. Is he rushing for some reason?

"Wally, if Flygon wasn’t listening to you, you should have waited. It’s the middle of November, which means we have over a month to get to Lilycove before the tournament. You can’t keep rushing into things like that."

“...I know,” he mumbled. Wally rolled over on his bed to face away from me. “I just wanted to... prove I could be a strong trainer. Like you.”

“...What?”

He shifted in his bed to sit up on the side, still looking away from me, and Comfey floated off of Gallade’s shoulders to go around Wally’s neck instead.

“Alex, you’re just so cool sometimes, you know? You helped get my Uncle to let me be a trainer, you helped me meet Comfey, and you helped me both in TV Mauville and Mirage Tower.”

He bent over to grab his backpack off the floor, and pulled something out to hold in his hands. He spent a bit looking at it before he continued to speak.

“I thought that if I challenged the Gym, Flygon would listen to me since otherwise we’d lose, and then after seeing that, everyone would think I was a really good trainer. You’re the first person to really support me being a trainer; everyone else thought I was too weak and sickly. I wanted to show them I can be just as good as you. You’re always sharing all of this knowledge about Pokémon that I know most people don’t know, plus you’re a specialist which is super impressive since you have to be super dedicated to learn so much about one Type. Compared to you, I’m just a dumb generalist who doesn’t know anything about Pokémon.”

I blinked and took a moment to process everything he was saying.

I had no clue I was giving him an inferiority complex. My knowledge might be more in depth than his, but he’s a natural at training Pokémon. Gallade can easily match Ninetales one on one, and he earned five Gym badges in only just over half the time it took me to do the same. I wanted to help him, not make him feel bad.

“Wally, you have nothing to prove. I already know you’re an incredible trainer, and I’m sure your family does as well,” I said.

He didn’t look like he believed me.

“You need to acknowledge what you’ve done so far. You spent your whole life sheltered inside, but the second you got the chance you leaped at being a trainer. You’ve fought Team Magma, you’ve explored an underground cavern, heck, even though Flygon doesn’t listen to you, it’s still impressive that he was willing to stick with your team in the first place. As for what you’re saying about me, you need to understand we had different upbringings. I don’t want to get into it, but I had access to different sources of knowledge than you, and mine were far more in depth about battling, whereas yours were much more focused about taking care of your Pokémon themselves. It took me months of asking around and researching online just to get a handle on it, and even now I’m still only feeding my Pokémon food out of a can when I really should be cooking for them. Just because I have more knowledge in one area, doesn’t make you less impressive.”

Wally opened his mouth to speak up, but I continued to talk, not letting him interrupt me.

“The only thing I have to say is, I think you think that you’re invincible. You’re not. Losing this battle was a safe way to experience a loss, but imagine if you lost when we were fighting Team Magma, or against those fossil Pokémon under Mirage Tower. You tend to rush into things thinking everything will be fine, even though it would be best to take a step back and think things through beforehand. That kind of reflects how you’ve been treating Flygon, too. Being friends with everyone is a great goal, but sometimes you have to give them ‘tough love,’ you know? I’m lucky since all of my Pokémon were willing to be a part of my team, but you didn’t get a chance with Flygon. I know his actions contributed to your defeat, but it was your decision to challenge the Gym when he wasn’t ready in the first place.

“Now, I’m not saying you should beat yourself up. But maybe take a bit to reflect on how everything’s been going so far? I did that in Sootopolis, and that let me realize that I hadn’t been acting as a Type Specialist.”

This time, Wally really looked like he was going to interrupt me to say I was wrong, but I held up a hand to stop him. He wasn’t happy at my supposed self-degradation after that claim.

“No, not like that. I am a Type specialist, or at least I will be. Right now I’d say I’m an... apprentice? Trainee? Basically, a beginner. I have my team, and they’re wonderful, as well as my basic knowledge of their capabilities, but can I really say my strategies reflect the Fairy Type? Wallace helped me understand that, and sometimes you just need someone to tell you to step back and look at what you’ve done so far. Considering I’ve just placed myself in that role, do you think you can take a step back like that for me?”

Wally closed his mouth and had a pensive look on his face. He glanced around at his Pokémon, and became lost in thought. He moved around enough at this point to let me see what was in his hands, and I realized he was holding the Dawn Stone I had given him in Verdanturf to evolve Ralts into Gallade.

It seems like our promise to decide who takes that in the Conference was more motivating than I thought. I’m glad to see he still has it, but I hope that it hasn’t been placing too much pressure on him to win.

Wally fidgeted with the stone in his hands, much the same way that Mawile would with her own stone, before he finally spoke up.

“...Alex. I think I’m going to pass up on challenging the Mossdeep Gym for now,” Wally said slowly.

Before I could get over my surprise to ask him why, he started to explain anyway.

“I think I haven’t been solidifying the basics on my team. We’ve been coasting from Gym to Gym, squeezing by with narrow victories. Flygon never had a chance to fully feel like a member, and I know he’s prideful, but everyone deserves a bit of extra friendship, you know? It’ll be a squeeze to take on both Fortree and come back to Mossdeep before the end of the season, but if I can beat Winona in early January, I can make it back here to earn my eighth badge just in time for the Conference. Plus...”

Wally reached to his belt to pull out Flygon’s Pokéball. He held the Dawn Stone in one hand, and the Pokéball in the other. He stared at them for a long time before he tilted his head back up and looked up at the ceiling, lost in thought.

“I think I can get Flygon to listen to me, and ride him back to Mossdeep,” Wally said. “It’s going to be difficult, but if I slow down and spend the time to properly make a connection, like you said, I can probably do it.”

Wally brought his head down then leaned forward to put the Dawn Stone back in his backpack. He turned to look at me, and by the serious yet thoughtful expression on his face, I could tell he was feeling a lot better. I hoped that this loss would mark a change for the better in his journey.

“Then, if you’re feeling better, let’s send everyone out to enjoy the treats I bought,” I said. “Just because you lost, doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate taking on a Gym.”

After our conversation, I helped Wally work on his strategies while everyone enjoyed the sweets. We weren’t able to talk about much, since he wanted to keep some things secret for when we fought in the Ever Grande Conference, but he was excited and more than willing to discuss tips and tricks we both found when it came to the best ways to train our Pokémon.

I left the room to let Wally rest, and retired for the night as well. The next day, I went to the field behind the Pokémon Center to train my team, while Wally went elsewhere to train on his own. He didn’t want us to learn each other's strategies.

As for my plan for the next Gym, I realized I would be worse off than Wally in the upcoming battle. I only had five Pokémon of the appropriate strength, since Cottonee was still catching up. I could still send him out since his Prankster ability was great for setting up utility moves, but he wouldn’t be able to stay conscious through any attacks. However, he would at least be a bit further along after our training in the upcoming weeks.

My mind kept going back to the conversation I had with Wally the night prior, and I kept thinking about how I said it would help him to have someone tell him to take a step back and look at everything he’s done. I thought Wallace was that person for me, and he was, but honestly, I had another group that could provide the same help.

I grabbed the miscellaneous Pokéballs at my waist and tossed them forward, sending my entire team out. I sat back for a bit to let them wake up, and they all stretched and yawned as they started to get back into their usual patterns. Florges grabbed Cottonee before he snuck up behind Mawile, who turned around and frowned at him for his attempted prank. Ninetales was chattering to Ponyta while he calmly stood and took in everything she was saying, and Azumarill was trying to convince Altaria to spar with her, even though I knew he wasn’t actually paying attention. I smiled to see them so active already, and clapped my hands to get their attention. Rather than falling into the same training routine we had in Sootopolis, I wanted to talk.

Everyone turned to face me, and lined up expecting a new set of training goals. I shook my head, and they all looked at me in confusion. To explain myself, I began to speak.

“I know you all are aware that I’ve been trying to focus on becoming a better Fairy Type specialist, but I think I’ve been going about it the wrong way. I do have specific plans for some of you, but I want to figure out how you all want to train. Rather than only asking around and looking online to see how Fairy Types should battle, I figured it’d be better to converse directly with the source. What do you all think about the strategies I’ve been making, and do you want to fight differently?”

My Pokémon looked around at each other, surprised at what I was asking, but they also took the time to think about my question. I was unhappy with myself that I didn’t ask these kinds of questions more frequently, because of course Fairy Types would know how Fairy Types fight. We’d talked strategy in the past, but I had never been so direct as to ask if they wanted to change things up in the middle of a training session. While I understood the world itself was now my reality, I had still been treating Pokémon battles too close to the games. Trainers made strategies, but winning and losing was a team effort. I knew my team had their own opinions and interests, and I needed to remember that those could apply to battles, too.

Out of everyone, Florges was the first to step forward. She looked around awkwardly, but did end up looking me in the eye. I nodded at her to encourage her, and her face scrunched up in thought to consider how best to communicate with me. After taking a moment to think about it, she floated back to grab Azumarill and dragged her over. Florges softly said some words to Azumarill, who rolled her eyes but played along. Azumarill proceeded to softly mock-punch Florges’s body, then Florges stopped her and turned to me to shake her head.

Next, Florges floated high in the sky and called out for Azumaril to continue. Azumarill glanced at me and flopped her hand forward, in a single pathetic fake punch with no effort behind it. Florges smiled, then pointed at Azumarill, then moved around in a circle in the air. It was a complicated way to explain, but I think I understood what she meant.

“I see. I’ve only really had you train to take a hit and increase the power of your moves, but we haven’t really trained your speed. I can see why that would help you a lot in battle, and can definitely understand that it must be fun to fly around. Thank you, Florges. I’ll make sure to do everything I can to help you with that.”

Florges smiled brilliantly and moved back down to be with everyone else. I didn’t fail to notice that she specifically moved next to Altaria, who was great at flying. While Florges couldn’t float that high off the ground, she could still move through the air, and Altaria would be invaluable to help her train her midair maneuvers.

Speaking of Altaria, he hopped forward to get to the front, and looked me in the eyes. Like usual, there was a brief impromptu staring contest as he impassively watched me, but then he opened his mouth and breathed in. In an unusually violent movement for her, Florges suddenly lurched forward and grabbed Altaria's beak, holding it closed and preventing him from screaming. He glanced at her, and she pointed over to where Ponyta was laying down and paying attention to the proceedings.

Altaria looked ashamed he had almost hurt Ponyta, but his failed attempt to scream still managed to communicate his wishes.

“I get it. You like sound moves, and want to work on finally learning Hyper Voice like we had theorized back in Dewford. I think it’s time, too.”

Satisfied, Altaria hopped back into place and Florges let go of him to leave. She sighed exasperatedly, and moved back as well. The rest of my Pokémon looked around to see if any of them wanted to go forward, and this time Ninetales did.

Ninetales stood at the front then barked once. A small blizzard appeared around her, and she focused her eyes. Nothing happened as she failed to do what she wanted to do, and the snow fell to the ground. She glanced at me with a determined look in her eyes, then shifted her gaze towards the northwest. It took me a moment, but I soon realized she was staring in the direction of Shoal Cave.

Seeing that I was still confused at what she meant, Ninetales used Ice Beam to create a chunk of ice on the ground, then used her cryokinesis to shape it into a miniature wall. That let me finally piece together what she was trying to say, and I recognized her determination.

“You want to learn Aurora Veil, just like your sister. I think I saw her try to use that when she fought Glalie, but its Crunch interrupted it. I’m surprised I actually remember that, but then again, that battle is kind of burned into my mind. I’ll make sure to find out what I can to help you. In fact, I can borrow the TMs for Reflect and Lightscreen from Wally to-”

Ninetales emphatically shook her head, and then continued to stare at me, as determined as she had been when she parted from her sister. Realizing she was intent on mastering that move on her own like her sister had, I nodded once to affirm her decision, and she stepped back to make room for someone else.

Cottonee was the last to come up, and he just chattered on for a while as I looked at him, completely unable to understand anything he was trying to say. Mawile stepped forward to grab Cottonee in her jaws, then moved back as he made sounds of complaint from within his makeshift jail. With the way everyone reacted, it seemed like he wasn’t actually asking for any changes, but just talking about nonsense.

With that, no one else stepped forward.

“Thank you. I appreciate all of you saying what you wanted to learn, and I apologize for taking so long to recognize your wishes. If any of you feel like I’m pushing you in the wrong direction, or have something you really want to work on, please tell me. We’re a team, and I don’t want to just dictate everything you have to do. In the meantime, I guess I’m going to do exactly that.”

Ninetales and Florges chuckled at my joke, but everyone else just waited to hear their new goals.

“Let’s have Florges, Altaria, and Cottonee work together. Altaria, you can help Florges with her aerial movement, and Florges, you can both assist Altaria as he learns Hyper Voice, and heal him while he works on Natural Cure with Cottonee’s Stun Spore. As for you, Cottonee, go wild. Florges should be able to heal anything you inflict.”

Florges shot me a look like I had just betrayed her, then glanced at Cottonee who had been released from Mawile’s jaws. He shot towards Florges, gliding in the air around her, and she plucked him away to hold him in her arms while he vibrated in excitement. Florges sighed reluctantly, but also in acceptance. She and I both knew that she was the best choice to help Cottonee practice since someone had to do it. I only hoped his pranks wouldn’t be too bad.

“Ninetales, I believe you have a move to learn on your own. Azumarill, I’d like it if you could continue to work on Belly Drum, and when you’re recovering from its damage between attempts, spar with Mawile. She needs practice using her jaws in battle, and is still developing her abilities. Plus, you know several moves she can try to stop to train Taunt. Just make sure to stay near Florges so she can help with any Belly Drum accident or sparring injuries.”

Florges made eye contact with both Azumarill and Mawile, and they nodded at her respectfully. Her healing was slower than that of a Pokémon like Chansey or Comfey, but it was appreciated nonetheless.

"As for our final member, Ponyta, I’d like it if you could stay near me so you can continue to see how everyone battles, and I’ll occasionally have you step in with Azumarill and Mawile to help you practice battling in melee. I'll be going around and helping everyone the best I can, and I might even pull a few of you aside if I think of a strategy I want to test. The upcoming Gym Battle is a double battle, and I have a few plans and strategies I want to develop. I'm a little disappointed that none of you can learn Ally Switch, but-"

"Actually, I do believe both your Florges and Ponyta can learn that move," an unfamiliar, aged voice said behind me.

I turned around to see an old man with a short white mustache and dressed in a tan suit approaching my position. At his side, a gangly pink and white humanoid Pokémon trotted along, holding a hand forward as if it was walking with a cane like its trainer was.

"Alex, I presume? I saw your job listing in the Pokémon Center, and thought a conversation about my Pokémon would be a pleasant way to spend my afternoon."

I nodded to confirm his assumption. After I had returned from Shoal Cave, one of the first things I had done was put up a job posting for any trainers of Fairy Type Pokémon to talk to me when they were free. While I wanted to learn how my Pokémon themselves would best battle, I also wanted to learn the behavior of other Fairy Type Pokémon to assist in my goal to become a better Fairy Type specialist.

"Yes, I'm Alex," I said. "Thanks for correcting me about Ally Switch, by the way. Knowing that Florges and Ponyta can learn that move will be incredibly helpful in the future. You managed to come at just the right time"

The old man chuckled.

"When you reach my age, you take more joy in the little things. I asked Xatu to use Future Sight to figure out the most dramatic moment for me to arrive."

I blinked.

"Wow, that's dedication to making an entrance. I'm kind of impressed."

The man chuckled again and held out his hand to shake mine.

"I can tell I will enjoy this conversation. Oh, where are my manners? I am Clifford. I work as a consultant at the Mossdeep Space Center on behalf of Mossdeep Gym."

I went ahead and shook his hand. His Mr. Mime mimicked the movement next to him.

"I hate to interrupt your training, but would you mind if we have this discussion at a nearby cafe? Standing for too long is tough on my old body," he asked.

"Yeah, that's no problem at all."

I briefly explained the situation to my Pokémon, who were a bit upset to have their training interrupted, but understood we had plenty of time to train in the future anyway, then Clifford and I headed over to the cafe he mentioned. I figured I could buy everyone a treat while I was there, too, as an apology for the sudden change in plans.

Clifford and I sat at a table next to the window of the cafe, which gave us a nice view of the ocean from the side of the island. Next to us, Clifford’s Mr. Mime mimed sitting in a chair and perfectly mimicked every one of Clifford’s movements. The old man would frequently watch the Pokémon, amused at its actions. I made sure to pay for Clifford’s drink, since he was here at my behest after all, and we chatted for a bit before the conversation shifted to what I wanted to talk to him about in the first place.

“So, you say you want to know more about Fairy Types?” Clifford asked.

I nodded.

“Yeah, I’m hoping that learning more about other Fairy Type Pokémon will help me train my own better. Is Mr. Mime your only Fairy Type Pokémon?” I asked.

“He is. Mr. Mime is my most recent team member, after my starter, Xatu, and my departed friend, Girafarig. About a decade ago, he hatched from an egg as a Mime Jr. and helped me keep Girafarig company in her later years. He’s been a constant companion to me since she passed, and has been a bright light in my dark days.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” I said solemnly.

Mr. Mime placed his hand on Clifford’s arm, and Clifford waved us off.

“It was a decade ago, and while I miss her every day, death is a constant companion once you get to my age. Thank you for your condolences, but let’s talk about the Fairy Type. I’d say I have a pretty good handle on how Mr. Mime behaves, but what is it that you want to know specifically?”

“Well, since you work for the Mossdeep Gym, how does Mr. Mime differ from the other Psychic Types there? Is there anything special about him that screams ‘Fairy’?”

Clifford hummed while he thought.

“Well, Mr. Mime tends to be far more cheerful than the other Psychics in the Gym, but I am unsure if that is his personality specifically, or if that’s a trait shared between all members of his species. Mr. Mime isn’t normally found within Hoenn, so he’s currently the only Mr. Mime within the Gym itself. However, I have found that he is far more specialized than the other Psychic Types. They all have incredible Psychic powers, but Mr. Mime focuses his energies into the creation of invisible barriers.”

“Huh. Are the barriers any different from ones made by the other Psychic Types?” I asked.

“They are, actually. Are you familiar with the concept of hidden abilities?” I nodded. “Good, that’ll make my explanation much easier. Mr. Mime as a species, if trained properly, gets the hidden ability Technician, which enhances the efficiency and damage of weaker moves. That ability also allows them to perfectly master certain moves within a matter of weeks rather than months or years it takes for others to do the same. Since Mr. Mime specializes in creating barriers, Technician helped him learn how to create barriers that stay completely solid for a lot longer. His ability allows us to create far larger constructions during the rare times we actually battle.”

“I didn’t realize that ability worked that way, that’s really fascinating,” I said. “As for his speciality, would you say that your Mr. Mime uses his barriers to deceive or trick his opponents?”

Clifford chuckled.

“That is certainly one way of describing it. Yes, I do believe his barriers could count as a form of ‘deception’ in battle.”

He paused.

“Actually, if you’re interested in getting to know Fairy Types better, how about a battle between one of your Pokémon and Mr. Mime? To make it interesting, let’s put the payment you posted up for this job as a wager. You pay me if I win, but not at all if I lose.”

I smiled as he said that, already planning to challenge him to a battle after this conversation.

“I’d love to see how he uses barriers in battle, but are you sure about the payment? I’d hate to scam you out of an afternoon.”

He shook his head.

“Please, my son doesn’t live in this city, so I rarely get to have a nice in person conversation like this one. Your interest in us is payment enough, and I bet your willingness to listen has made you a lot of older friends in the past.”

This time, it was my turn to chuckle. As we stood up to head to a nearby public battlefield, I decided to share.

“I actually spent a lot of time in Olivine talking to retired trainers the same way I’m talking to you right now. You’re right on the money. One of the people I talked to actually...”

We continued to chat as we made our way to the battlefield. We ended up finding a spot on a Pokémon Center’s public battlefield so Clifford wouldn’t need to walk far when we headed over to heal our Pokémon after the battle. I offered to get Clifford a chair to sit on in his trainer box, but he refused, stating since this was a proper battle, he would prefer to stand. There was a reason he had his cane, after all.

Mr. Mime stood at the ready on Clifford’s side of the field while I thought about who to send out.

I could send out Ninetales, but she works best in hail and I don’t want my vision of this fight to be obscured. Mawile is an option since her Psychic Fangs could destroy Mr. Mime’s barriers, but I want to see them in action, not prevent their use. If Clifford wasn’t as experienced as he was, I would send Cottonee out, but he isn’t ready to fight at this level just yet. Actually, I think Florges is the best option. She’s a pure Fairy Type and incredibly in tune with her Type, which would help me make a comparison.

Finalizing my decision, I grabbed Florges’s Heal Ball and tossed it forward, sending her out onto the field. She looked around in interest, and readied herself when she saw Mr. Mime.

“This is a friendly battle, alright Florges? We’re still trying to win but there’s no need to push yourself.”

Clifford laughed boisterously on the other side of the field.

“I hope you’re not planning on going easy on me, Alex! I may be a bit rusty in my old age, but you’ll soon learn not to underestimate Mr. Mime’s barriers!”

With that brief shout, the battle began.

“Florges, let’s focus on your Grass Type moves. Mr. Mime is a Fairy Type, so he’ll know how to deal with your Fairy Type moves a lot more easily.”

Florges created a field of grass that expanded out from her position with Grassy Terrain while Mr. Mime shifted his hands to match how Florges was holding hers out.

“Let’s go with the ‘funhouse’ this time, alright Mr. Mime?” Clifford asked confidently.

Mr. Mime hopped on each leg then crouched down and focused. His hands and eyes glowed blue as the entire field slowly started to be surrounded by translucent pink and purple squares that moved to form the floors and walls of whatever Psychic Type room move he was using.

“Florges, interrupt him!” I called out.

Florges brought her hand forward to send out a set of Magical Leaves, but the attack failed to do anything. The leaves slammed into an invisible barrier just a few feet away, absorbing all of the damage.

Mr. Mime continued to focus on creating the room, uninterrupted. Psychic Type room-creating moves had powerful, reality altering effects, but in exchange they took a bit of time to set up. Based on how long it was taking Mr. Mime, it seemed that he hadn't practiced using this move in a while. However, despite being in the middle of setting up a room, he had blocked Florges’s attack with a transparent screen. That was frightening to see considering neither Florges nor I had noticed when he had created those barriers.

“Rotate around and try to hit Mr. Mime from another side,” I shouted. “Probe his defenses with Fairy Wind!”

Fairy Wind was easier and quicker for Florges to use thanks to her sharing a Type with it, so it was the perfect choice to test how Mr. Mime would respond. Florges started to float to her right to try to move past where her Magic Leaf had been stopped, but she soon stopped herself as she slammed into a Barrier, a Psychic Type move that created an invisible wall not unlike Reflect and Light Screen.

“Try the other way!” I commanded.

Florges floated the other way, and she unfortunately hit another barrier. I suddenly realized what Clifford had meant by “funhouse.”

“You’re surrounded! You need to break them down!”

Florges puffed out a large Fairy Wind around her that was stopped by the Barriers, but the pink mist managed to reveal the cube that surrounded her. In an attempt to break free, Florges formed a pink ball in her hands, hoping a strong attack like Moonblast would be enough to get past the Barriers.

Unfortunately, the Barriers had delayed Florges long enough, and Mr. Mime finished setting up the room.

I cursed under my breath. A light purple box made up of moving tiles encompassed the battlefield, and both Pokémon were now glowing purple under the completed effect of whatever room Mr. Mime assembled. I wasn’t sure which room move Mr. Mime had used, but whatever it was, it wouldn’t be good.

“Power Split, then finish her off,” Clifford said calmly, grasping his cane in two hands.

Finish her off? Florges hasn’t even taken any damage!

Florges launched her Moonblast at the Barrier to her right, causing it to glow from the large amount of damage it just took. Rather than shattering it to get past, she weakened it enough to push past it, moving through it like it was a wall of thick taffy.

As she did so, Mr. Mime moved his hands in a circle and a faint light glowed around both Mr. Mime and Florges. Florges reacted by shifting to spin for a Petal Dance attack, but I noticed it took far longer for her to start the move than normal, and less petals were being created. Mr. Mime, however, managed to unleash a fast and powerful Psychic that twisted the space around Florges, causing her to bend over in pain. However, Florges still managed to finish off her Petal Dance even through the Psychic attack, and the petals tore into Mr. Mime, dealing far more damage than they should have. That extra damage clued me in.

I see now! Mr. Mime set up a Wonder Room to switch around both Pokémon’s defensive capabilities. They both normally resist special moves pretty well, but physical moves not so much. With Wonder Room changing reality, their senses have been swapped to treat special moves as physical moves, and physical moves as special moves. It’s risky, but both Pokémon are now more susceptible to the other’s attacks.

Both the Petal Dance and Psychic practically tore into their targets thanks to the defense swapping effect of Wonder Room. Both Pokémon were now seriously injured, enough to most likely faint to the next attack. I thought we had a chance to win, as continuing Petal Dance would be faster than a Psychic attack from Mr. Mime, but I soon realized that just because Florges got past the first set of barriers, didn’t mean that those were all that there would be.

Before Florges’s second barrage of Petal Dance hit Mr. Mime, he brought up his hands and placed them into the air in front of him, creating a Light Screen that absorbed that attack. With that defense in place, he managed to then safely use Psychic twice more, blocking a third use of Petal Dance at the same time, and knocking Florges out thanks to her reduced defense from Wonder Room.

I was stunned after that battle. Florges had been easily defeated, although she still managed to deal decent damage to Mr. Mime. This battle had turned out to be a bad matchup for her, but I knew that other members of my team had a higher chance to shut it down. Mawile would have been able to prevent almost every move with Taunt, Azumarill would have been able to overwhelm Mr. Mime before he set up the field, and Ninetales could have interrupted everything with a well-timed Confuse Ray. Even so, how well Mr. Mime shut down Florges left me genuinely impressed.

I returned the fainted Florges to her Heal Ball, and Clifford walked over to Mr. Mime to pat him on his head. Mr. Mime then disappeared into his Pokéball as well, and I approached Clifford to shake his hand. When I passed through the edge of the still-present Wonder Room, I shivered slightly as the effect took hold on me.

It was strange to feel it in person, and it felt like I was walking with that brief moment of weightlessness one felt before a rollercoaster shot down a slope. It didn’t make me walk any differently, but it just made me feel uncomfortable. Thankfully, the effect was slowly going away as the Wonder Room faded over time.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Clifford said as I approached him inside the room. “Mr. Mime can create such strange and unique structures with his moves. I rarely have him use Wonder Room, but when he does, I’m always amazed at the power he wields.”

“I think the best way to describe it is ‘strange,’ for sure. Thank you for the battle, Clifford. Fighting Mr. Mime was incredibly enlightening.”

Clifford grasped my hand to shake it as I held it out, and we both headed to enter the Pokémon Center after the Wonder Room finally faded. Clifford seemed to stare off in the distance, reminiscing as we walked.

“I will say, if it was not for Power Split, I doubt Mr. Mime and I would have won,” he said. “Power Split is normally an Egg Move, but thanks to Mr. Mime’s Technician ability, he was able to quickly learn it with the help of a visiting Psychic Type specialist. Our battle practice has fallen to the wayside in my old age, so his attacks would have been much weaker if we had not averaged his offensive power with your Florges’s thanks to that move. It won us the battle, but without it, we would have been handily overwhelmed by her Petal Dance. It’s always interesting to see how chance encounters can come back in unexpected ways.”

When we reached the backdoor of the Pokémon Center, I pulled out the cash I had promised for this job.

“By the way, here’s your payment,” I said. “Thank you for the battle and the discussion.”

Clifford shook his head and refused to take the money.

“No, no. I had expected you to win our battle, and didn’t want to get paid for this anyway. I’ve already said your interest was payment enough, and I appreciate being able to have such a fun afternoon for once.”

After one more refusal to accept my cash, I put it back away and smiled at him. We entered the Pokémon Center and handed over both Mr. Mime and Florges to the Nurse Joy there, then found ourselves a spot on one of the couches in the main room while we waited.

“I’m curious, the way you mentioned them made them sound important. What was the name of the Psychic Type specialist that taught Mr. Mime Power Split?” I asked once we sat down, wondering who exactly Clifford was talking about so ominously.

Clifford brought a hand up to his chin.

“Ah, what was it now...? Lucy? No, Ian? Ah, I got it! His name was Lucian, and he always wore this fancy suit everywhere. Can’t say I blame him for that,” Clifford said as he chuckled and gestured to his own suit.

Rather than laugh at his joke, I froze where I was seated.

“You’re telling me that Lucian, Psychic Type specialist of the Sinnoh Elite Four, helped teach your Mr. Mime a move?”

Clifford looked back at me, his eyes glimmering with amusement.

“Oh, so that’s what he’s up to nowadays? He did say that he was only in Hoenn for a vacation.”

I shook my head, mildly exasperated.

Clifford and I then engaged in small talk as we waited for our Pokémon to be healed, continuing our discussion from earlier while I went over our battle in my head. Mr. Mime had its own form of trickery with its utility moves, and I wondered how I could apply that to the way my Pokémon fought.