Day 257

[from Pokémon: Shattered Crystal]

Firebrand and Bugsy's Scyther make short work of the cages holding the Slowpoke. Scyther's sharp claws slice the bars apart like rice paper, while Firebrand melts the locks off the doors. In no time at all, the Slowpoke are all freed, although being Slowpoke, it takes some of them a while to realize that they're not imprisoned anymore.

Not long after the last cage is broken open, Bugsy's Spinarak returns, seemingly empty-handed. It stops just in front of the stricken Kurt and loudly clicks its mandibles, and a moment later, much to my astonishment, a wild Abra suddenly appears out of nowhere right next to it. Tentatively, it hovers over to Kurt and takes his hand. “Much obliged,” says the old man with a smile, and a moment later both he and the Abra are gone.

“Nice work, Spinarak,” says Bugsy. “You too, Scyther.” He recalls the two Pokémon, then turns to me. “I guess we should get out of here too, huh?” He gestures in the direction of the ladder up to the surface. “After you.”

“Thank you.” I recall Firebrand, and the two of us climb back out of the well. Kurt is waiting for us at the top along with the Abra, which seems to have fallen fast asleep. I guess the effort of using Teleport twice in the space of a minute has tired the poor thing out.

“I'm gonna walk Kurt over to the hospital,” says Bugsy. “I guess maybe I should've told Spinarak to tell Abra to Teleport him straight there, but...” He shrugs awkwardly. “What are you going to do now, Ryan?”

“I guess I'm gonna have to wait for you,” I say. “I came here to challenge you, you see. You're this town's Gym Leader, right?”

Bugsy puffs out his chest. “That's right,” he says. “Sorry you had to come here at such an inconvenient time, but no matter. You can head on over to the Gym, and I'll be there as soon as I can.”

“Alright,” I say, nodding. “I'll see you later, then.”

While Bugsy heads off with Kurt towards the hospital, I follow the road signs and make my way south, towards the Azalea Gym. It's still closed when I get there; the lights are off and the double doors are shut tight. There are a few others gathered around outside, presumably students of Bugsy's waiting to be let back in. We battle to pass the time, and as is becoming the norm, I beat all of them.

It had been nice and sunny when I first arrived in Azalea Town, but it seems to have gotten a lot cloudier since I came out of Slowpoke Well, and as Bugsy finally arrives at the Gym, the first few raindrops start to fall from the heavens. “Sorry for the wait,” says Bugsy, fishing in his pocket for the door keys. “Looks like I got here just in time, huh?”

Bugsy unlocks the gym doors and throws them wide open, and we all take shelter inside as the rain starts to get heavier. It's odd how the rain seems to have arrived out of the blue like this, and I can't help commenting about it. “What's up with the weather?” I ask Bugsy. “It was nice and sunny when I got here, but now it's suddenly pouring it down.”

Bugsy smiles knowingly. “There's an old legend in this town,” he says. “It's said that a Slowpoke's yawn can bring rain, and that a terrible drought 400 years ago was ended when a Slowpoke yawned, causing the rains to fall again. That's why we built Slowpoke Well: as a home for the Pokémon that saved our town 400 years ago.”

“I see. So the escaped Slowpoke yawned, and that's why it's raining?”

“It looks that way,” said Bugsy. “Anyway, now that you're here, let's get started, shall we?”

I nod eagerly. “Let's.”

Bugsy and I take our places on either side of the arena in the centre of the Gym. Bugsy's students all gather around to watch as their teacher prepares to take me on. “You may have saved me back at Slowpoke Well,” he says, “but don't think that means I'll go easy on you here!”

My grip tightens around Firebrand's Poké Ball, and I can feel a familiar warmth emanating from it. Firebrand is as eager for this as I am. “I wouldn't have it any other way,” I tell him.

Bugsy smiles. “Good,” he says. “Go, Metapod!”

Bugsy sends out his first Pokémon, and I can't help breathing a sigh of relief. A Metapod is a far less chalenging opponent than I'd been expecting. I decide to give Firebrand a rest for now. “Go, Dizzy!” I say, grabbing his Poké Ball instead. “Use Water Gun!” Dizzy obliges, spraying Metapod with a powerful jet of water that pushes it backwards across the arena. All Metapod can do is feebly fire its silken strings at Dizzy to try and slow him down, but Dizzy is barely hampered and Metapod goes down without much of a fight.

Bugsy's next Pokémon isn't much of a challenge either. “Go, Kakuna!” I keep Dizzy out, using Water Gun as before. Kakuna tries to harden itself against the attacks, and when that doesn't work, it resorts to firing its poisoned stingers at Dizzy. The first hit has no effect, but the second one clearly poisons him. Fortunately, Kakuna is already pretty weak by this time, and Dizzy knocks it out before the poison has any real effect.

“Good work, Dizzy,” I say, recalling him. Poison or no poison, I would have recalled him anyway, because I know what's coming next.

“You've done well so far, I'll admit,” says Bugsy. “But now comes the real challenge! Go, Scyther!” As Scyther bursts out of its Poké Ball, I find myself pitted against the very Pokémon that a short time ago I had been helping. The one capable of slicing through metal bars like they're made of paper. Even with Firebrand at my side, this is going to be a tough fight.

“Go, Firebrand!” Firebrand bursts out of his Poké Ball, immediately firing a blast of flame at Scyther. Scyther uses its forearm scythes to deflect the worst of the blaze, but still cries out in pain. In retaliation, it swings its scythes at Firebrand, but only succeeds in landing a glancing blow. As it lines up another, Firebrand unleashes another burst of fire that sends it staggering back with a screech.

Scyther is pretty badly burned by now, but it doesn't seem willing to give up just yet. “Use Quick Attack!” calls out Bugsy. Scyther readies its scythes, then before Firebrand has a chance to react, it unleashes a blindingly-fast attack that sends Firebrand sprawling. Undeterred, Firebrand gets back up again and with one last blow, Scyther falls. Victory is mine.

As he recalls his defeated Scyther, Bugsy gives me an impressed look. “Nice work,” he says. “I expected nothing less from you, after the way you handled Team Rocket back at Slowpoke Well. Your Quilava definitely gave you the edge as well.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a round badge shaped like a Ledyba's back. “Here,” he says, handing it to me. “You've earned this. It's the Pokémon League Hive Badge.”

Smiling, I pin the badge to my lapel. That's two badges down, six to go. “Thank you,” I say.

“You know, the Hive Badge isn't just for show,” Bugsy says. “If any of your Pokémon know the move Cut, they'll be able to use it outside of battle now. Oh, and here: I also want you to have this.” Bugsy pulls out a small CD that I now recognize as a TM, like the one Falkner game me. “You're familiar with TMs, right?”

“Yep,” I say, taking the disc. “Falkner gave me one back in Violet City.”

Bugsy nods. “Of course,” he says. “Well, that TM contains Fury Cutter. It's a special move I discovered together with my Scyther. The more times you use it in a row, the more its power increases, so it's great for longer battles. Of course, I didn't get the chance to show it off today, but maybe you'll be able to make good use of it in the future.”

“We'll see,” I say. “Thank you.”

Looking outside, the rain is still pouring down. “It's raining pretty heavily out there,” says Bugsy. “Would you like to stay here until it calms down a bit?”

“That'd be great,” I say. “Thank you.” I don't really feel like getting soaked.