The Type Specialist

“So, let me get this straight: since you haven’t been able to help us, you want Hope and I to visit a friend of yours who is somehow a better expert on Mega Evolution than you, the foremost Professor on the phenomenon, and train under them for an unspecified period of time until we actually succeed?”

Sycamore smiled brilliantly.

“Yup!”

Hope and I exchanged a look, and I glanced back to Sycamore.

“So, when do we leave?” I asked.

Sycamore scratched his cheek.

"Tomorrow."

I sucked in my lips and nodded. It was sudden, but now that the Showcase was over with, there was nothing pressing binding me to the city. Plus, I wouldn’t mind creating more distance between me and Lysandre.

Heading over to the staircase, I started to return to my room to retire tonight before I looked back.

“Well, in case I don’t see you tomorrow, thanks for all the help, Professor Sycamore. Next time you see me, I’ll be able to provide you with a proper Mega Altaria for you to study.”

The next morning my team and I went through a rather emotional goodbye with all the Pokémon in the gardens. Florges let the Combee gather from her flowers one last time, Mawile said goodbye to Professor Sycamore’s Gible, and Azumarill pretended she wasn’t crying when she parted ways with the Azurill triplets.

I simply watched the proceedings and said goodbye to Cosette, Sophie, and Professor Sycamore, who stepped away from his research again to see us off. There were still a large number of baked goods left over from the boxes Lacey gave me last night, so I left most of them behind, and took a single stuffed box with me. My Pokémon were starting to grow fat from how much junk food we’ve all been eating, so this box would be the last before we all shifted into healthier options.

I didn’t see Dedenne around, which was a bit strange, since I expected to see him say goodbye to Altaria. However, with the number of Poké Puffs now out, I imagined he was planning a way to take as many as he could for himself.

Eventually, Hope and I found an open space next to Sycamore’s Lab, and started to set up our flying Pokémon to bring us to Shalour City, which was located on the north-western coast of Kalos. When I brought out the basket that Altaria would carry me in, Hope shot me a funny look.

“What’s that for?” she asked.

It took me a moment to register that she was referring to the basket, and I glanced between it and her.

“This? Altaria is too small to ride, so he has to carry me in it instead. Why, have you never seen one?”

She shook her head.

“No, most people in Kalos tend to ride their Pokémon. I think I might have seen it once, but not in some time. It looks a bit goofy.”

“Well, Altaria is a goofy Pokémon.”

Hope shrugged at my response, and I climbed into the basket, while Hope mounted her Tropius. I pulled out my Pokédex to give Altaria directions, and we were soon off to our destination.

Going directly to Shalour City would take several days of travel to reach normally, but since we were on our flying Pokémon, we would arrive tomorrow. Since Lumiose City was positioned in the approximate center of Kalos, it was more or less directly west with a slight northern tilt.

We didn’t stick to the road, instead flying off-route, passing over dry shrublands that connected to the desert of Route 13 as well as the numerous forests that filled most of the spaces between the routes. We passed by several flocks of Fletchling and Fletchinder, and even saw a few Vivillon swarms in the air. Below us, the forests were full of life, and most of my time in the air was spent staring at the ground below, watching for the occasional bits of movement.

Also, I focused on the ground in an attempt to get over my minor case of acrophobia, because while I trusted my Pokémon, there was a chance I would fall eventually. I wanted to prepare myself for when that came.

After only a few hours of flight, making incredible time, Hope and I landed to send out our Pokémon to eat lunch. After getting everyone’s premade meals set up (I was planning to cook for my Pokémon, I just hadn’t got the supplies yet! Believe me!), we all sat down and ate.

It was relaxing to sit and eat in the forest, and I hadn’t been off-route in quite some time. While I preferred the city, the way the leaves of the trees blew in the breeze and the absence of any of the smells familiar to the city allowed me to relax much more than usual.

My Pokémon seemed to feel the same way, getting up and stretching once they were done, and even doing some brief move practice. I watched Ninetales send an Ice Beam at the ground, creating a chunk of ice, then use her cryokinesis to make a small ice sculpture of herself. Azumarill, nearby, was hopping back and forth trying to get Splash working just the way she wanted it, and Whimsicott was lazily lying on his back and sending up wobbling Energy Balls above the group.

Hope’s Pokémon were behaving similarly, and instead of taking off again, we just spent some time sitting there.

This is the life. Just relaxing and sharing a meal with my Pokémon. I can’t wait for the next League season. It’s going to be nice to travel between cities without needing to train constantly, since my Pokémon are at a decent level of strength.

Mawile walked over to sit down next to me, and Florges was once more practicing Fairy Wind with Ponyta. As I casually observed my team doing as they wished, I was suddenly shocked out of my stupor by a loud and unfamiliar burp.

Immediately, all of my Pokémon went on guard, their nerves still a bit high after everything I drilled into them with Lysandre. I jumped to my feet and cautiously glanced to the basket nearby that I hadn’t bothered to fold back up.

I carefully approached whatever was in it, and Hope alerted her Pokémon just in case. It was a bit overkill, but it wouldn’t hurt to be careful since we weren’t on a regularly patrolled route.

Carefully, I peeked in, and saw that the box of treats from Lacey’s was shaking around like something was in it. I leaned forward and opened it up, and I jumped back in shock when I saw who it was.

“Dedenne?!” I shouted.

The little fat ball of gluttony looked up to me where he was chomping on a Poké Puff, and sheepishly squeaked a few times. He leaped out of the box, and began scrambling up the side of the basket, only to pause when he saw that he was surrounded by all of my Pokémon within an unfamiliar forest.

“...Denne?” he said, looking around confused. As he moved, his cheeks jiggled from the amount of food clearly stored within them.

Altaria was the first to process the presence of our unexpected stowaway, and happily squawked and hopped over to get closer to Dedenne. Dedenne immediately jumped into his fluff and hid in it, and I shook my head disapprovingly.

“Dedenne, what are you doing here? Hope and I are going to a completely different city. We’re miles away from Professor Sycamore’s lab.”

The Electric and Fairy Type poked his head out of Altaria’s fluff, and looked around. There was visible distress on his face. I glanced back to Hope, who was just standing there with her arms crossed, looking annoyed.

“What do you think we should do? Should we head back?” I asked.

Hope stared at Dedenne for a few seconds longer, then pinched the bridge of her nose.

“No,” she said, sighing, “let’s keep going. Take Dedenne with you, and you can temporarily catch him, and send him back to Sycamore at a Pokémon Center there. It’d be too late to head out again today if we returned right now.”

As she said that, a light bulb went off in my mind, and I immediately kneeled down next to Altaria to better look Dedenne in the eyes.

“Hey, Dedenne. I know you live in Professor Sycamore’s lab, but you don’t have a trainer, do you? I know you like to get up to nonsense with Altaria, and I can provide you with a lot of food to eat. What do you say about potentially joining my team? It’d be interesting, wouldn’t it?”

Dedenne blinked at my unexpected question, and looked around to the rest of my team. I knew they must have felt conflicted about this, since Dedenne would be my eighth party member, and his presence on the team would mean it was time to split up. However, they had already got to know him in these past few weeks, and didn’t seem to object to the idea of him joining.

Ninetales’s tails were even wagging at the idea, and Altaria was puffed up in excitement. Dedenne absentmindedly chewed on the food stored in his checks, then swallowed it like the black hole he was. Taking a very long time to respond, he finally locked eyes with me, and shook his head no.

“Ne.”

I blinked.

“No?”

“Ne,” he said, confirming he was turning down my offer.

Hope broke out into laughter behind me, and I stood up, a bit embarrassed. Dedenne took it in stride though, and jumped off Altaria onto my clothes, then climbed up onto my head.

He grabbed my hair then pointed forward, as if to command me to head off, but then Altaria squawked angrily. Dedenne stifferened, then quickly ran over to sit on my shoulder instead, and Altaria looked satisfied at the change.

So he doesn’t want to be on my team, but wants to stay with us anyway.

Sighing, and with a new weight on my shoulder, I turned to Hope.

“Well, it seems like we might have a new traveling companion for a bit. I hope that’s okay with you.”

She just laughed as Dedenne patted my cheek.

That night, after we had set up camp, I tried to get Dedenne to show me off his moves. Even if I hadn’t caught him, I was still interested in seeing what he could do as a Fairy Type.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t willing to spend the time to do so, but just by observing him, I was able to figure out more of his tricks outside of just Electroweb.

First off, he for sure had both his Cheek Pouch and Pickup abilities figured out. Cheek Pouch was one of the few abilities that some species picked up extremely quickly, since all it did was require Dedenne to store food in his cheeks. In battle, he could eat that stored food to reinvigorate himself a bit when needed, or instead he could eat it whenever he wanted.

Pickup was a little different in that it was something he clearly practiced. Even now, while most of my team was asleep, I could see Dedenne’s beady little eyes flicking about, searching the ground and nearby area for anything someone left behind. Ninetales had been a bit of a messy eater, and I actually watched as he nimbly took a stray piece of diced Aspear berry and stored it in his cheek right under her nose. It was clear he constantly found ways to grab what he liked for himself.

Earlier, he also tried the same trick with Azumarill’s food, but she saw him for the little thief he was. However, before she could go after him, he gave her the biggest, most adorable set of puppy-dog eyes I had even seen, using Charm. She hesitated after the move’s effects washed over her, and he was able to escape and hide behind Altaria.

Knowing trying to convince Altaria to give Dedenne up would be a hassle, Azumarill just let Dedenne go.

I also saw him use Charge and Nuzzle to paralyze Altaria after Whimsicott asked for his help with Natural Cure training, and he also used a weak Thundershock to scare off a vine from Hope’s Venusaur, who was trying to take one of the last Poké Puffs for itself.

I knew he had more moves at his disposal, but that was the set I had seen.

Dedenne was solely interested in food, but he seemed to get along with the rest of my team pretty well. It was a shame he had declined my offer to join my team, because even with his habit of stealing food, his company was nice to have around.

Although, I wonder if I could convince him down the line. Maybe he’d be interested in joining in the future?

My observation of the newest traveling companion was suddenly interrupted by Hope pulling me into a conversation.

“Have you ever considered training with Grass Types?” she asked suddenly.

I looked over to her and furrowed my brows, a bit confused at her sudden question.

“That came out of nowhere. What brought this on?” I asked.

“Well, you have Florges, whose abilities can pair with a Grass Type exceptionally well, and Whimsicott, whose Grass Type is self-explanatory. The biggest reason I’m asking is because of Azumarill.”

I blinked.

“You know about her hidden ability?” I asked.

“Yeah. Ramos made me memorize which Pokémon can get the Sap Sipper ability, so I would know who would be immune to my Grass Type moves. As far as I could tell, your Azumarill doesn’t have it, but it’s definitely something you can train. Why haven’t you?”

I shifted uncomfortably where I was seated next to the campfire we set up. Ninetales was a little ways away, and Ponyta was fast asleep in my lap. I glanced over to watch Mawile passively play with her special stone before I responded.

“I uh, didn’t want to risk it,” I said.

Hope cocked her head.

“What?”

I groaned.

“Well, Belly Drum is a dangerous move that took her ages to get properly usable in battle, and I disliked seeing how much learning it physically hurt her. It’s the same with Sap Sipper, if I wanted her to get that ability she would need to be subjected to a lot of Grass Type moves from Florges and Whimsicott until she got a handle on how to absorb the damage. I wanted to wait a while longer, and focus on easier things, like Splash.”

Hope frowned and stared into the fire, and I quietly thanked the fact that Azumarill had already fallen asleep. There was a bit of time before Hope spoke up again, and when she did, I was caught off guard by what she said.

“You should visit Ramos. I’m probably going to go back to Coumarine for a while instead of Lumiose after this. He’s an expert in Grass Type Pokémon, as well as abilities like Azumarill’s Sap Sipper, and Florges’s Flower Guard. He can get your Pokémon in solid shape.”

I blinked at her offer, but I doubted she could see that with how the fire was actively flickering. I shifted some more firewood in to maintain the warmth coming off of it, and the light increased once more in our campsite.

“Why?” I ended up asking. “Why are you offering this to me?”

Hope hummed.

“I don’t know. Probably to leech strategies off of you? Bellossom could learn a lot from how your Florges uses Grass Type moves, even though Florges isn’t even a Grass Type herself. I feel like I could learn a lot from how you used Grass Types, and you could definitely benefit as well. It’s a win-win.”

I laughed at the unexpected response, waking Ponyta up in the process. He didn’t bother lifting his head up to check what was going on, his psychic powers doing it for him, and quickly closed his eyes to return to sleep.

“Alright, you’ve made a convincing argument,” I said. “I’ll go to Coumarine next. It’ll be interesting to learn from Ramos. Plus, I can leech strategies off of you, too.”

I laughed again when Hope scoffed and walked away, clearly embarrassed, then soon retired to my tent for the night to rest up before we finished traveling to Shalour tomorrow.

Shalour City was on the smaller side of cities I had seen. It was built into a large hill that overlooked a cove behind a small island, and the streets curved up and down the hills, not unlike the streets within the crater of Sootopolis.

The most eye-catching part of the city was that the island just off the coast was walled off and contained a massive tower. A single stretch of sand connected it to the mainland, and it had to be only a thousand feet from the shore.

The tower was lopsided, and was built with red bricks and gray stones. Half of one side stuck out into the sky, with large, curved protrusions that braced the entire height of the building, supporting the structure. The tower was surrounded by smaller buildings with crenelations and short towers of their own, making the entire island seem like one big fortress.

The island was our destination: the Tower of Mastery. According to Sycamore, it was where we would find his mysterious friend to help up with Mega Evolution.

Hope and I dismounted on a small section of sand outside the gate, and I folded up the basket to put back in my backpack, and Hope unbuckled the saddle from Tropius. There was an obvious landing spot we could have used inside the walls, but bypassing walls with flying Pokémon was generally taboo, and even illegal in some locations. Neither Hope nor I knew the rules in this town, so we decided to play it safe.

Dedenne was still out, running around the sand. He had declined our offer to send him back to the lab when we passed over a Pokémon Center, so it seemed that he indeed would be staying with us for the next while.

When we were done packing, we returned our Pokémon, and Dedenne climbed onto my shoulder. He squeaked loudly in my ear, causing me to flinch, then squeaked a bit quieter next time to encourage me forward.

Rather ominously, a large iron gate was lifted up as we approached, and we walked under the previously closed off brick archway to enter the island itself.

From the ground, the tower was even larger than I expected, and, as a consequence, it made the buildings around it seem smaller than they were. We slowly continued forward, up an old, worn, stone staircase in the shaded streets between the building. The main path extended all the way to the interior of the tower, and I couldn’t help but gulp unconsciously as we approached.

It was quiet. Uncomfortably quiet. I expected to see Pokémon watching us, or even people moving around, but this place was almost completely empty, and I couldn’t even hear the sounds of birdsong outside. Dedenne took this moment to dip into my backpack, fearful of the mood surrounding us.

I hope he won't use this as an excuse to eat from my food stores.

Eventually, we entered the main tower and emerged into a large open space that contained a spiral staircase that went all the way up the roof, as well as a tall stone statue of a Mega Lucario situated within the middle of the building.

I didn’t see anyone within this room, and Hope and I briefly glanced at each other. However, a voice suddenly spoke up behind me, causing me to jump.

“That statue is modeled after the partner of the first trainer to Mega Evolve a Pokémon,” the voice said.

“Holy shit!” I yelled.

I jumped back from the voice, and Ninetales released herself from her Premier Ball to fire an Ice Beam at whoever was behind me. My eyes went wide as I saw a strangely familiar old man with a pair of massive eyebrows that connected to a set of blond sideburns. He ducked under the attack and yelped, then suddenly there was a red flash of light as a tall Blaziken stood defensively in front of him. Its clawed hands were already flaming to use Fire Punch.

Ninetales and Blaziken stood off, readying themselves to fight, until I stopped the process by shouting out at them.

“Stop! Stop! That’s the guy! Who we’re meeting!” I yelled.

Ninetales blinked, then stood up from her crouched fighting stance, and Blaziken relaxed as well. Hope jogged over to help the old man up, and he brushed the dirt off the gray jumpsuit he was wearing.

We’re still far too on edge with Lysandre about. If I hadn’t recognized this guy from the games, I’m not sure what would have happened.

"My, my. That's certainly not the reaction I was expecting. Usually people just jump, not attack me like that," he said.

Ninetales lowered her head, ashamed, and I grimaced.

"Sorry. Something's been stressing me out recently, and the silence of your island must have made me and my team more freaked out than I realized,” I said.

"...Stressed enough to attack someone?" Hope mumbled.

Luckily, the old man seemed to take it in stride and merely chuckled.

"Ah, I suppose that's fair. I don't know what I was expecting, surprising a Pokémon trainer like that. Should have known better in my old age."

Now having regained his footing, he stood up a bit straighter and placed his hands behind his back. He was still a bit hunched due to age, but there was clearly experience behind him as he spoke with both levity and seriousness.

"I am the one you seek, the descendant of the first trainer to Mega Evolve their Pokémon. I have many titles, but the relevant one for you is Mega Evolution Guru. While I might not understand the energy and logic behind the phenomenon as well as Professor Sycamore, I can assist with starting the process itself. However, calling me the Mega Evolution Guru is both a mouthful and too formal, so you may call me by my name instead."

"And what is your name?" Hope asked.

The Mega Evolution Guru paused dramatically.

"My name is Gurkinn."

I blinked.

"Your name is really Gurkinn?" I said.

"Are you messing with us?" Hope asked.

Gurkinn frowned.

"Hmm? What's wrong with Gurkinn?"

"Nothing! It's just... unexpected, that's all," I said all too quickly.

Gurkinn eyed me over, and Hope took a purposeful step to the side. I stood tall under his gaze, and Ninetales tried to straighten up a bit more.

Eventually, he laughed.

"Yeah, Gurkinn is a bit of a silly name," he said, chuckling. "However, it's mine, and I've lived too long to change it. So, what is the problem?"

Hope and I glanced at each other, trying to decide who would speak, and since she refused to open her mouth at all, it seemed like it would be me.

"Well, Gurkinn, neither of us can Mega Evolve our Pokémon," I said. "I can get the light and energy drain to appear, but Hope can only send out her energy. We love our Pokémon, and I think we have the right bonds, but we're not sure how to make the process successful. Do you know what we can do?"

He rubbed his chin while he pondered our question, then eventually pointed a finger towards us.

"Send out the Pokémon you wish to Mega Evolve," he ordered.

Doing as we were told, I sent out Altaria, and Hope sent out her Venusaur. He looked between them, and smiled.

"Good. I can already tell your Pokémon are well trained, and you’re correct that you have strong bonds between you. Before we begin, I have to ask, what do you picture when you start the process?"

"I picture all of the positive memories I have of Altaria," I said.

"And I do the same," Hope said next.

Gurkinn closed his eyes and got lost in thought for a bit longer, before they snapped open once more.

"Normally, I would send you out on a spiritual quest to better connect with your Pokémon, but Sycamore asked me for a crash course. So, we'll do this quickly."

I was about to open my mouth to ask how, but slammed it close when I saw what Gurkinn was doing. Dedenne poked his head out at this moment, only to immediately duck down in fear.

My and Hope's eyes went wide as Blaziken's form shifted to be sleeker and darker colored, and the room was filled with a brilliant light.

When Gurkinn finished Mega Evolving his Blaziken, he simply smiled.

"First," he said, looking to me, "Please return your Ninetales."

I did so.

"Second..."

A cruel smile appeared on his face.

"Run."