The Type Specialist

I raced back to the Pokémon Center, not running but not necessarily walking either. My heart pounded in my chest as one word repeated in my mind.

Sponsorship.

Obtaining a sponsorship had been my goal from the beginning, and now, I would be getting one.

When I checked my email in the Pokémon Center, I saw an email with an attachment that contained more information on Mega Evolution. However, it wasn’t that email that caught my eye. It was the one that had arrived just before it, containing a single number to call with no further details.

Looks like they want a dramatic entrance.

Instead of using one of the public video phones, I asked the resident Nurse Joy for permission to use one of the private rooms, and was handed a key that would give me access to one. Those rooms were intended to be reserved for extremely private conversations, but since most Pokémon Centers had multiple of them, they frequently went unused. I did feel that ensuring that no secret information would be overheard was a justifiable use, as I was unsure how much Steven had told my sponsor.

I went to the hallway past the other phones and computers and entered the second door on the left, finding myself in a room that contained a padded bench and a single video phone attached to the wall. As I sat down and hit the buttons to enter the phone number, I couldn’t help but to think of who it could possibly be.

Maybe it’s another Fairy Type specialist? Like Opal in Galar, or Valerie in Kalos?

I finished hitting the keys and pressed the green call button, and waited for whoever my sponsor would be to pick up on the other side.

It rang once.

Then twice.

And then at the third ring I became worried that they wouldn’t pick up, but the screen flickered on before the phone rang for a fourth time.

“Hello, Alex! Good morning! I was wondering how quickly you’d call.”

The man on the other side of the video was a thin, decent-looking man with windswept black hair and thin patches of facial hair on the side of his jawline. He had blue eyes that looked sunken and dark, as if he had barely slept in the past few days. He was wearing a lab coat over his button-up shirt, which reflected his status as a Pokémon Professor.

“Professor Sycamore?” I asked, shocked.

Professor Sycamore was the main Pokémon Professor within the Kalos region, located on the other side of the globe from Hoenn, Kanto, and Johto. Timewise, the region was a bit behind where I was now, which is why Professor Sycamore said “Good Morning” despite it being the afternoon. He was the premier researcher when it came to Mega Evolution, which wasn’t public knowledge, but rather something I knew from the games. Instead, it was believed that his work with Diantha, the Champion of Kalos, was about Form Changes, as Mega Evolution wasn’t known to the public. He wasn’t that well known outside of Kalos since he wasn’t able to publicize much of his research, but I imagined that would change with the impending announcement of Mega Evolution.

“Why so surprised? Why wouldn’t it be me?” he said in response. “You practically skyrocketed my research ahead by years! It was much easier to figure out patterns and outliers with that cheat-sheet you provided.”

I frowned at that.

Did he just imply the only reason I was getting the sponsorship was because of the information I shared?

“I have to know, are you sponsoring me because I provided you information, or because I’ve shown I’m a decent trainer?” I asked, my tone becoming slightly less cheerful.

He blinked, a little shocked at my sudden shift in demeanor.

“A little bit of both, actually. I wanted to pay back the help you gave me, but couldn’t justify sponsoring a random trainer who wished to keep their contributions a secret. However, as our research was sped up by years, plans for the future were rushed out now, ahead of time, and we set up tournaments to begin a slow rollout of Key Stones to trainers that proved to be trustworthy and capable enough to use Mega Evolution.

“My lab recently received a large increase of funding thanks to several breakthroughs, and as a result I planned to sponsor trainers that obtained a Key Stone from those tournaments to help me with my research. I had already been looking for an excuse to sponsor you, and considering you managed to place as high as other trainers I want to sponsor, you were in the perfect position for me to finally submit the proper sponsorship proposal without drawing too much extra attention to your person. While the information you shared played a large factor in my choice, I honestly would have sponsored you anyway as you’re a mostly sponsorless trainer that managed to reach the finals of one of our Key Stone tournaments.”

I was a little mollified by that, but still felt a bit uncomfortable. I wanted my sponsor to decide to sponsor me as a result of being a good trainer, and not be influenced by my coincidental knowledge. At the same time, it could have been worse since others that had performed just as well as I had were getting similar offers.

I wasn’t going to look a gift Ponyta in the mouth.

“You said you want trainers to help you with your research. What would that entail?” I asked, interested in what I would be providing in exchange.

Sycamore smiled when he saw that I was already seriously considering accepting his offer.

“Well, I’d invite you all to join me in Kalos between seasons. I wish to compare how different trainers with different species of Pokémon handle Mega Evolution. Having more sources of data will assist me in further understanding how Mega Evolution is possible. The data you collect as you travel with and use Pokémon that can Mega Evolve in battle would also be invaluable to my research.”

“So then you would need me to go to Kalos? Would I need to stay with you the entire time, or would you be willing to let me head out to visit other locations on my own?”

“Yes, in fact I encourage that,” Professor Sycamore replied. “I won’t need to keep everyone nearby the whole time, just long enough for some initial measurements and to demonstrate the process of Mega Evolution a few times. It’s a tiring process, and Mega Evolving your Pokémon every day would exhaust even the toughest of trainers, so it’s best to take frequent breaks. For you in particular, this would be the perfect chance for you to learn more about Fairy Types while you’re here, too”

I raised an eyebrow at that, and Professor Sycamore went on to explain.

“Fairy Types are much more common in Kalos than in other regions,” he said. “Kalos is a little different than other regions, as we were the first to accept Fairy as its own type. For example, common Fairy Types here were thought to be other Types, like Florges as a Grass Type, and Slurpuff and Aromatisse as Normal Types, but we always grouped them together anyway so having them sharing a Type made sense to us. The assistance of several different species of Fairy Types had been ingrained into our culture even before the existence of the Fairy Type became public knowledge. We’re considered to be the home of the Fairy Type for a reason, after all.”

I hummed.

“You’ve definitely caught my attention, but would it be an issue if I didn’t compete in the Kalos League?” I asked.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like Kalos, it was just that I wasn’t particularly interested in the region. It was fine, but the only places I’d be interested in visiting were the capital city of Lumiose, and also Laverre Town, as it contained one of the rare Fairy Type Gyms. With how the League’s schedule was set up, I would have a few months to myself before I would have to leave to compete in the region I actually wanted to compete in, and spending it in Kalos would let me both work with Professor Sycamore and learn more about Fairy Types.

“It’s perfectly fine to not participate in the Kalos League.” Professor Sycamore said. “As long as you spend at least three weeks next year helping me out, it’ll fulfill most requirements of your sponsorship. I’ll actually have a number of trainers visiting me each month throughout the year to maintain a constant stream of new Mega Evolving Pokémon.” He briefly cleared his throat. “Anyway, as for the specifics of what you would receive in return...”

I leaned in closer to hear better, even though I was holding the phone to my ear. I had been waiting for this for so long, I was almost bouncing in excitement.

“I’m currently in the process of purchasing land and hiring assistants to support all of the extra trainers, but I will have space to support up to eighteen Pokémon for every sponsored trainer. As a trainer sponsored by a prominent Professor, you will also receive a discount for every purchase you make at a Pokémart, and any Pokémon-care item you purchase will be reimbursed. Additionally, we will provide you with the latest technology for communication and training, in your case you would receive both a Holo Caster and a Pokédex, and we will send you weekly payments of 8,500 Pokédollars to support taking care of your team. Fantastic, right?”

Sycamore was smiling after he explained that, proud of everything his lab could offer. However, his smile slowly faded as I was yet to respond.

“...Are you okay?” he asked me, worriedly.

I was completely frozen, stunned by the sheer amount of benefits I would get as part of the sponsorship. It was ridiculous how much I would receive just to help him with Mega Evolution research. He didn’t specifically mention it, but it was also implied I’d help him record data of Pokémon I met using the Pokédex he would give me. That tended to be expected of all Professor-sponsored trainers.

After probably at least a minute of taking it all in, I figuratively picked my jaw up off the ground and blinked a few times just to force myself to move somewhat.

“...I’m fine,” I said slowly. “Just shocked, that’s all.”

Professor Sycamore laughed.

“Wonderful! I’m glad to see you so excited to receive these benefits. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to provide most of them until after the Ever Grande Conference, as I still need to get the land set up and submit an order for more Pokédexes, but I can at least send you the weekly payments and sign you up for the Pokémart discount right now. Is this sponsorship okay with you?”

I wanted to immediately say yes, but I shook my head to refocus myself to not immediately accept.

“That sounds great, but I’d like to read over the contract first. I don’t want to get screwed over by something listed incorrectly.”

Sycamore nodded seriously.

“Of course. I’ll send that to you right away. In the meantime, do you have anything else you wish to speak to me about?”

Honestly, I just want time to recover.

“No, thank you. I’m really looking forward to this sponsorship.”

“I am too,” Professor Sycamore replied, smiling once more. “I’m looking forward to what we can discover about Mega Evolution together.”

The contract was read, signed, and sent over online, and I thanked the fact that there were still digital signatures in this world. Nothing stood out to me that read like it was deliberately vague or would force me into conditions I would be uncomfortable with, so I felt fine with the current version.

It was the same day I had talked to Steven, now the afternoon, so I headed to the Lilycove Department Store to obtain more TMs for my team. I had earned a decent chunk for my second-place placement in the tournament, and my sponsorship with Professor Sycamore would have me receiving large sums each week. I decided that since I had so many options available to me here, it would be okay to dip into my reserves to purchase some hard-to-train moves.

While I didn’t want to rely too heavily on TMs as moves taught by them were difficult to improve, I couldn’t deny how easy it was to use them to teach moves to Pokémon. My team was sorely lacking more options in battle, or at least I felt so, and I wanted to see what I could get to expand my Pokémon’s movesets.

However, I couldn’t buy too much, since there were only so many moves a Pokémon could properly train at once. Pokémon weren’t limited to only knowing four moves like in the game, but rather were limited to how much time they had to practice them. Moves were almost in a “use it or lose it”-like state, except a Pokémon’s unpracticed moves just became slower and weaker when they fell out of practice.

For my team, the amount of time we spent training would support somewhere around twelve moves each, by my estimate. Some moves, however, could be practiced at the same time as others, allowing certain Pokémon to train more moves at once. For example, Azumarill could practice both Aqua Tail and Liquidation by training with her tail to attack, and Mawile could practice any number of biting moves just by working with her jaws. But for a Pokémon like Florges, her attacking moves were far too different from each other to get that overlap. I had to be careful when determining what moves to buy, and checked both what was being sold and the publicly available lists of what TMs specific Pokémon species could learn to make my decision.

Azumarill was the easiest. I didn’t need to purchase any TMs for her as I considered her moveset to be powerful as it is. She had a number of offensive options and supporting options already, so nothing especially stood out to me.

Mawile was the next easiest. She had decent utility in the form of Taunt and Fake Tears, so I wanted to both get her more attacking moves, and also expand her synergy with the rest of the team. I bought her TRs for both Fire Fang and Ice Fang to be practiced at the same time as her other biting moves, and I also bought her TRs for Stone Edge and Stealth Rock. Stone Edge would give her a powerful attack to hurt her foes from range, and Stealth Rock let her assist the rest of my team throughout the battle by setting up an entry hazard that punished my opponents for switching.

Cottonee required a bit more thought than the others, but considering how I wanted him to battle, I decided to focus on moves that worked well with his Prankster ability. I bought him an Encore TR, like I already promised him, and also a TR for Substitute. I considered purchasing a Taunt TR as well, but figured that Mawile would be able to teach it to him instead.

Ninetales had a lot of options according to the list of what she could learn, but seeing one of them made me pause. I still had the Dig TM from Sea Mauville, but I had never used it, nor had I ever followed through with my plan to trade it in. While it wasn’t a great attack for her, learning the move would more easily allow her to reposition herself on the battlefield. It fit well with her strategy to constantly attack from unknown angles, and decided to teach it to her just in case. We probably wouldn’t end up using it that much, but digging under the field would open a lot of options for us.

I didn’t buy her any other moves, but did consider buying her a TM for Agility. However, I decided against it because Ponyta could learn the move and help her learn it himself.

Speaking of Ponyta, as much as I wanted to buy him more moves, I couldn’t justify it. There were moves like High Horsepower and Mystical Fire that caught my eye, but he was only barely starting to be able to battle, and still had to cover the basics. While they might be useful down the line, I didn’t want to rush the training process so soon. I explained this to him later, and he at least didn’t seem too disappointed.

I was similarly reluctant to buy TMs for Altaria. Looking over what he could learn, I saw that he had several moves that I hadn’t realized were options. Ice Beam, Fire Blast, Heat Wave, and even Agility were all TRs that would be amazing for him. However, he could learn those moves by working with the other members of my team or by practicing Flamethrower, so I decided to just spend more time with him training.

I did, however, grab one TM for him the second I saw it. It was Defog. Defog let its user remove all entry hazards, terrain effects, and defensive moves like Reflect and Light Screen from the field. It blew away everything that wasn’t a Pokémon with its strong winds, and was honestly perfect for Altaria.

With Defog, I felt like Altaria would gain a new role on my team: the reset button. If I ever felt that the terrain was helping my opponent, or if my opponent had too many entry hazards set up, he could be sent out to remove them, and even stop the weather. The only downside was that it removed anything I set up as well, but sometimes having a strong all-out attacker battle on a clean field could help reset momentum.

Cottonee would be able to learn it too once he evolved, so that helped me justify the purchase.

And for my last Pokémon, Florges, I struggled finding another move for her. I ended up only purchasing a TR for Ally Switch, which would help her heal her allies with Wish by swapping positions with them.

In total, I planned to buy seven TRs and one TM. Three of them would be free thanks to my winnings from the tournament, and the rest were discounted. The total sum I ended up spending was far less than I expected, which was nice to see. Despite how much I saved, the total number of new moves I bought was far less than I expected and meant I wasn’t actually expanding my Pokémon’s movesets by that much, especially considering half of them would go to Mawile. The real benefit of looking over the TM offerings was the chance to read over the list of TM moves my Pokémon were able to learn, which gave me ideas of moves my Pokémon could learn in the future. While the immediate benefit was small, in the long run I had a better idea of what direction to push my team towards.

However, for Florges, I was struggling to decide if one move in particular would be right for her. I could buy its TR for her right now, but the issue was that unlike the other moves I was considering, it conflicted with her current style of battling. I didn’t want to force her to stop fighting the way she liked, as I was trying to be more aware of my Pokémon’s likes and dislikes in battle, so I planned to talk to her about it first.

I sent Florges out in the courtyard behind the mall. It was a small open area set aside for some food stands where Pokémon were allowed. I had yet to purchase any TMs or TRs, but the list was still in my mind.

“Hey, Florges. How are you feeling?” I said as she appeared in front of me.

Florges stretched and yawned. It was still the day after the tournament, so not much time had passed to let her rest. Fighting in so many battles and using her healing moves so often had exhausted her, so she was still tired.

“Sorry to disturb your rest. I wanted to talk to you about something. It’s kind of important?”

Florges dipped her head to show she was paying attention, and calmly waited for me to say what was on my mind. A few people walked past us and pointed at her excitedly, recognizing her from the tournament, but didn’t approach. She didn’t even blink at that attention, and I smiled seeing that she wasn’t shrinking back in public any more.

“I’m thinking of buying you the TR for Energy Ball, but with your moveset it falls under the same role as a strong Grass Type attack like Petal Dance,” I explained. “It’s a slightly weaker Grass Type move, but it's quick to use and doesn’t require constant motion. I was considering it because using it wouldn’t prevent you from using healing moves for so long like Petal Dance does. What do you think?”

Florges paused to consider what I was saying, then nodded her head to say yes. I didn’t accept that answer, though.

“Florges, I’ve noticed you tend to just go along with everything I say,” I said seriously. “I know how much you love Petal Dance, and I don’t want to teach you a move to replace it just because it’s slightly better in battles. If you want to keep using Petal Dance, just say so and we can work on our strategies to account for its weaknesses. Otherwise, we’ll go ahead and teach you Energy Ball. I want you to win your battles, but I also want you to enjoy them. Please really think about if Energy Ball is a move you want.”

Florges was not expecting that short speech I gave her, and looked down to think hard about the situation. I knew it was an option to have her learn Energy Ball and still use Petal Dance, but I also knew that if she ever learned Energy Ball I would eventually end up resorting to only using Energy Ball since it was the better move tactically. Petal Dance was Florges’s favorite move, and I didn’t want to unintentionally take it away from her.

Florges took a while to respond. She actually seemed to be seriously considering her options, which made me happy to see her do. She was a very passive Pokémon, and I wanted to further develop her confidence and independence through small moments like this.

After a few minutes, Florges looked up from the ground to give me her response. She looked apologetic, and shook her head to say no. It seemed she wanted to stick with Petal Dance after all.

“Alright,” I said, smiling at her. “I’m not going to get that TR. Thank you for thinking it over Florges. Make sure to tell me if I’m ever doing something you don’t like.”

Florges smiled at me right back, and I returned her to her Pokéball.

I stood up to reenter the department store, and my smile grew even brighter as I did so.

I’m glad Florges is becoming more sure of herself. My team is developing faster than ever and they’re getting even stronger in battle. I also have a sponsorship now, and I’m slowly becoming a better Fairy Type specialist. Life really feels great. I’m glad everything seems to be working out.

Two perfectly placed Sludge Bombs took out the guards, and Courtney continued forward. Her remaining compatriots followed behind her, their Pokémon by their sides. The group turned the corner in the hallway, and after a few quick hand signs, they left, following the rest of the plan.

Team Magma, or at least the remaining loyal elites of Team Magma, searched through the building within the docks of Slateport. Each member had a specific goal to follow to ensure this mission would be successful.

Courtney herself was not left out. She had given herself the most important goal. If the target was not secured, this was all for naught.

Weezing stuck to her side as she ascended the metal staircase that led to the upper floors. She passed several large windows that revealed the dark streets below, currently empty of anyone passing by.

While most would have gone to sleep by now, surveillance of her target had revealed he followed an irregular schedule. It was simply a matter of waiting for him to stay behind after his employees left.

She paused outside a specific door, and took a step back. Tossing forward a Pokéball, Camerupt appeared within the hallway and used his entire mass to break it down.

In response, a burst of water from a Water Gun sprayed onto Camerupt, but he paid it no mind. He was far too used to taking super effective damage to be bothered by such a weak attack like the one that just hit him.

The Clamperl noticed its attack was for naught, and withdrew into its shell, hardened with Iron Defense, as its trainer picked it up to use as a shield.

“Your plans won’t work. Whatever you’re searching for, you won’t find it,” the dark haired man said.

Courtney simply pointed forward to order her Camerupt to attack.

“Your concerns are …irrelevant. …Leader Maxie’s plans are always …successful.”

Once the key had been secured, Courtney returned Camerupt and retraced her path to head back downstairs. There, she followed the route the other members had cleared, and entered an interior dock that opened to the ocean.

She did not get far into the room before a man with a jagged scar on his face ran up to her and saluted.

“Courtney, ma’am! We’ve secured the submarine and are awaiting the key.”

Courtney moved her head to face her admin. Ever since their failure at TV Mauville, he had been left with a jagged Lichtenberg scar across his face. If they had access to the proper medical care, it could have been removed, but there was no need to risk the entire operation for a simple cosmetic treatment.

“...I have secured the key,” Courtney said as she held it out in her hand.

Her admin retrieved the key from her, and handed her a thick case in return. They had managed to retrieve its contents many months in the past, and they had yet to leave the presence of an elite member of Team Magma. Those items were too important to risk losing again.

Rather than climb the ladder on the side of the submarine, Courtney grabbed onto Weezing who lifted her up to reach the entrance hatch. It had already been opened by the other members, so she returned her Pokémon and made her way down.

Inside the cramped space of the submarine, Courtney headed towards the cockpit. Her admin scrambled down the ladder to catch up with her.

“No injuries, but uh, the map wasn’t there,” he said. “They didn’t have any references to the Seafloor Cavern, like we hoped.”

“We are still operating within …acceptable parameters,” Courtney replied coolly. “The weather data we …downloaded from the TV Mauville forecasters will assist us in locating our …destination.”

“Yeah, that’s what I don’t understand. How can just seeing where it’s raining help us?”

Courtney paused where she was walking, and turned to face her admin behind her. He flinched after seeing her cold glare and turned away.

“Sorry, I just wanted to get a clear picture of what we’re doing,” he said meekly.

Courtney did not sigh, but turned away from him. She would not admit that she was similarly worried. If they weren’t allowed to doubt her, she wasn’t allowed to doubt herself.

“We are securing a ….weapon to use against the …Pokémon League,” she explained. “Its current location is …unknown, but by searching in locations that have had recent extreme …rain, we can narrow down the …possibilities.”

Courtney knocked on the door that led to the very front of the submarine, and the circular handle spun around as another member of Team Magma opened it up from the other side. She walked forward to sit down on one of the two chairs that looked out of the large forward-facing window, and her admin exchanged places with the grunt that had been in the room. He quickly sat down and began flipping the switches to start the process of submerging the submarine.

They sat in silence for a few moments before a loud bang rang out and the ship lurched. The admin looked to her nervously but did not stop the process.

“Should we be worried?”

“Pay it no mind. This vessel can …withstand the pressure of the bottom of the sea. …A few stray Pokémon attacks …will not stop us.”

Courtney did not comment about how she wished she could assist the few members of Team Magma left behind, and pushed those thoughts out of her head. The time for comradery was over. They might be captured now, but once Leader Maxie was freed, they would be released from the League’s imprisonment.

Bubbles passed over the window as the ship finally started to sink. The sounds of banging faded as the upper half became covered by water, and the entire vessel moved forward to enter the depths of the ocean.

“I still feel like this is wrong. We want to expand the land, not reduce it,” her admin said while piloting the submarine.

Courtney knew her plan might be betraying Team Magma’s core motive, but it was the only option they had left. While her admin’s frequent questioning of her orders rankled her, answering his questions let her reaffirm her loyalty to Leader Maxie. It was why she picked him in the first place.

“It is counter to …our final goal, but this is …a temporary step,” she said. “...The League has blocked …all other options. We are forced to take …drastic measures.”

Courtney paused to consider her next words carefully.

“Kyogre may be the …antithesis of what we stand for, but all will be fixed ...in the end. Taking control of it …ensures the League will bend to our demands, …and once Leader Maxie is freed, …he will know what to do.”

Her admin looked unsure, but did not express his worries further. Courtney stared ahead into the murky blue and unconsciously clutched the case containing the Red and Blue Orb closer to her chest. Her plan to control Kyogre might have been considered far too risky to some, but she knew it would be successful.

It had to.