“Man, this place sucks…” Justin whined, but was thoroughly ignored because his two human companions were too busy fawning over one of the many Slowpokes that litter Azalea Town.
“Do you think I should catch a Slowpoke, Nina? I heard from my cousins that they’re so of the easier to handle Psychic Types.” Kerry asked as she revelled in squishing the Pokemon’s pink, blubborous exterior.
“Hmmm… You can, but Slowpokes are kind of a pain to train with how laidback they are.” Nina had dealt with her fair share of the dopey Pokemon back in the Cerulean Gym. So she could say with absolute confidence that while Slowpokes were easy to maintain, it really took a special type of person to Evolve them.
“Both Slowking and Slowbro are powerful Pokemon,” continued Nina. “But you don’t see a lot of them, even in the battle circuit. Because the most important component to Evolution really is motivation. And trying to get a Slowpoke motivated is, well…”
Nina demonstrated her point by pinching and pulling at the Slowpoke’s derpy face, stretching it every which way only to get a lethargic “Slowwww…” in return.
Kerry giggled and gently massaged the Slowpoke’s cheeks as recompense for her friend’s rudeness. “What about getting a Shellder to bite their tail? Isn’t that how it’s supposed to work?”
“Nah, in most cases, a Slowpoke will just shed their tail to throw off the Shellder — they grow back real easy, y’know? That phenonon only happens when a Slowpoke actively fights back against the Shellder. And even then, the Shellder itself has to be on the precipice of Evolution as well.”
The battle of wills between the opposing Water Pokemon would trigger their Evolutionary instincts and resulted in a rare phenonon where their respective Lights of Evolution lded together and ford a sort of symbiotic connection that joined their minds as one.
Incidentally, that expansion of ntal bandwidth from fusing two minds together was what allowed an evolved Slowpoke to beco such powerful Psychics. And also the reason why a Slowking has stronger Psychic abilities than a Slowbro — because the Shellder crown made for a more direct connection between the two minds. Kind of like how soldered mory was faster in computers.
“The way we do it in the Gym is that our trainers will pick out Slowpokes and Shellders based on their personality and train them together in one team. That way, we can ensure their chemistry and align their motivations. Then, when the both of them feel ready to take the next step, they would naturally do what needs to be done.”
In a way, the relationship between a Slowpoke and their symbiote Shellder was more intimate than marriage. Because the process was irreversible and both Pokemon would be joined for life. That said, if the Evolution was allowed to occur in the first place then future compatibility was a non-issue, since their minds would have been lded into one cohesive whole at that point.
Justin groaned as he approached. “That sounds like a massive pain…”
Nina laughed. “To be fair, our Gym has whole tank-fulls of the buggers, so we’re bound to find compatible partners at so point — we only really need enough of them for battles and barriers and stuff.” At this point, the Mizuhanas had the whole process down to a tee, part of the perks of being a well established Legacy Clan with abundant resources.
Kerry pouted, feeling a little disappointed to have her dreams dashed. “So where are we staying for tonight?” The girl asked as she rose to pat the dirt off her knees. “You booked us an inn right?”
Given how picky Nina was when it ca to their choice of accommodation, Kerry had long since abstained in that regard — Violet City was the only exception throughout their ti journeying together.
“Yup!” Nine chirped, already looking forward to enjoying a little soak later on. Because of course she picked an inn with a hot spring. “But we were spoiled for choices so I picked the best value I could find.”
***
A hodgepodge of wooden townhouses and pre-Indigo era brick and mortar — that was Azalea Town in a nutshell. Shops and facilities were sparse but there was no shortage of inns in the town despite a lot of them having already closed down over the years, really reflecting the industry that underpinned Azalea’s dependency.
Amidst all of this was Bugsy’s Gym; a simple boxy construct built in accordance with the standard League prescribed template. Bug Pokemon didn’t require much space and as far as Bugsy was concerned, the entirety of Ilex forest was his backyard, free to be moulded in accordance to his will.
“You know, this place kinda reminds
of the Viridian Gym…” Justin mused.
Nina shrugged. “It’s not that far off, really. Unlike all the other prestigious Gyms you’ve been to, the Azalea Gym lacks history.” In fact, Bugsy, like Victor, was not part of a Legacy Clan.
“This Gym used to be a minor one. The previous Leader built it in hopes of attracting visitors to the town. But at so point, after one too many Gyms fell during the war, it got recognized as one of the main eight.”
Unfortunately, the founder passed away without a proper successor, so the role fell upon the shoulders of his sole apprentice at the ti; a teen boy barely out of journeying age with a fanatical obsession with Bug Types.
“Aww… I was hoping to get pointers on Scyther…”
Nina laughed. “Don’t bother, Bugsy’s training philosophy is too timid for you. He’s the only Gym Leader in both our regions who blatantly disregards the unspoken rule of no swapping for Leaders.” Hence why he was such a contentious figure.
If not for his occasional idol work and his legions of loyal fans, the young Gym Leader might have had a reputation equally as disparaging as Victor’s. For all of his fault, Bugsy had those androgynous pretty boy features that so many girls seed to love. A fact that so talent scout from Goldenrod noticed and took full advantage of at so point — as evident by the vibrating nurse girl next to Nina.
“Kyaaa…” Kerry squealed. “Do you think I’d be able to get an autograph from him? He was so good in Pyramid Ga!”
Justin scowled. “What’s so good about him anyway? And what sort of guy wears makeup?!”
Nina let out a wry smile at the boy’s apathy while Kerry glared daggers at him. “To be fair, most of the earnings from his celebrity work goes right back into Pokemon conservation and his work as a Gym Leader,” said the forr. “The guy kind of needs it since there’s not much else going on around here.”
Unlike, say, the Cerulean Gym that supplents their revenue through their entertainnt conglorate. Nina may have had her fair share of disagreents with her bosses, but there was no doubting that their entrepreneurial spirit was one worthy of admiration.
“So you two gonna challenge the Gym or what?” Contrary to Justin’s usual fervour, he was now wholly uninterested in Bugsy after hearing Nina’s spiel.
Nina just shrugged in response and looked towards Kerry. She was fine with taking Bugsy on whenever — the Azalea Gym was one that the girl had earmarked for an easy Star badge.
Kerry’s smile turned brittle, looking uncertain as she always did before a Gym challenge. “Do you think I’ll be able to do it, Nina?”
The other girl laughed. “Believe in your Pokemon, Kerr. We didn’t raise them to lose to Bugsy of all people. But if you wanna be sure, we can take the rest of the day for so light training and co back tomorrow.”
“Yeah…” Kerry murmured. “I’d like that actually… Just in case, y’know?”
Nina smiled and pulled her friend into a hug. “‘Course, no worries. Let’s check in to the inn in the anti then. I don’t know about you guys, but I could use a warm bath.”
“And I wanna eat so at!” Justin exclaid, earning giggles from the two girls. The boy had been on a pescetarian diet for weeks now and he had his eyes on the local specialty — braised Slowpoke tail.
***
“This is new, you never like going to these sorts of places, Nina.”
“Yeah, she was always too snooty to battle with the kids in our school too.”
Nina leveled a glare at that last statent. “It’s not that I’m snooty. It’s that I don’t want to waste my ti on firecrackers. But today’s different, Kerry needs so encouragent and Poppy is one step away from Evolution. And what better way to get a boost in confidence than to kick so ass?”
The three young trainers were on their way to the local Battle Park — a public space where a community could go to engage in random battles with strangers. The one in Azalea Town was fairly limited in size, about four arenas drawn side by side, and located right next to the town's only Pokemon Center.
Rules of engagent were simple; trainers who wanted to battle just had to stand around with a Pokeball in hand to signal that they were willing to accept challengers. And just so that she could more efficiently bait in so fodder, Nina intentionally returned all of her Pokemon, leaving only Poppy’s Pokeball in her hand that she was casually juggling.
Shibayama — the art of inlaying shells and pearls onto a lacquered surface. Poppy was a real loot goblin and was inordinately attracted to all things shiny. So Nina had commissioned Maizie to help decorate his Pokeball with various shells and pearls that the girl had collected through diving over the years.
The end result was a colourful kaleidoscope of iridescent red, white and turquoise that positively glimred in the sun as the girl was tossing her Pokeball up and down, making for quite an eye catching sight.
“Excuse , are you looking for a battle?”
Nina’s eyes took on a sharp glint as she flashed a radiant smile at the boy who was first to approach her. “Yup! One of my newest mbers needs so battle experience. So if you don’t mind matching his level then I’d be happy to battle.”
The boy nodded. “No biggie. I caught a new Pokemon in Union Cave that I wanna try out too.”
“Aweso! Let’s do this then.”
***
Author's note:
I need so suggestions.
What would you like to see in a training arc? What are your general expectations?
Additionally, what sort of goals should I set for Brucey (Crobat) and Sir Clodington (Clodsire). I'm kinda drawing a blank here.
I'm currently writing Nina's training arc and I already have goals in mind for Nitey, Espy, Brinny, Azzy and even Dhelmise. But trying to think of sothing worthwhile for Brucey and Clody has proven to be quite the challenge.
Also, here's your regularly scheduled Patreon plug. (Lots of expenses in during the holiday season > .
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