As he was about to enter the Fighting Gym, JB was approached by a woman looking through the window. This wasn’t the first Peeping Tom in Johto he’d given the time of day to, though it was definitely the first Peeping Tina, so he let her speak. “ARE YOU FROM THAT SIDE OF SEA? IT’S HARD FOR YOU CERTAINLY. IF THE MONSTER LEARNS FLYING STUNT,YOU ARE EASY”
JB was caught a little off guard by somebody showing him sympathy right before calling him “easy,” but he decided to address these potential red flags once he learned more about this “flying stunt.” He was sure he’d need all the help he could get…
“IF NO GYMNASIUM, YOU’LL NOT USE.” she continued. “IF YOU WIN THE GYMNASIUM CURATOR OF THIS CITY, COME THERE AGAIN, GOOD THING FOR YOU”
He hoped this flying stunt was the only “good thing” Peeping Tina had in mind, and with Punch at his side, he stepped through the Gym door.
“ELF AND I AREL CLOSED FRIEDS, NONE CAN BREAK US” their first opponent bellowed. His apparent frying companion, an Elf named ZECUN, resembled a brown human torso with somewhat reptilian limbs, including long legs which seemed ideal for kicking. It looked powerful, but Bug-Eye of the Tiger was already playing in Punch’s head! His opponent was certainly tenacious, but in the end, Punch had proven that 6 arms were better than 2 legs.
After their victory, however, they were immediately cornered by another challenger. “OUR FIGHTERS ARE NOT TERRIBLE” he said in a depressingly self affirming manner before sending out another brown humanoid Elf. XIAHE, unlike Zecun, seemed more focused on punching than kicking. It was even wearing boxing gloves and what looked like a miniskirt. Creepy as it was, JB just wondered if this creature could be a distant relative of Scrafty, another clothes-wearing Fighting Elf he’d seen in the desert north of Castelia.
Punch was raring to go, but after JB saw Xiahe’s fist catching fire, he immediately switched him out & sent in Dicks for an instant win.
There were a couple more coaches up ahead for Punch to take on instead, but the massive boulders in their way proved troublesome. The Gym ceiling was too low for Fork or Punch to carry JB over, and he certainly couldn’t shift the rocks himself.
“Typical.” He thought. “The one time that advice ninja could actually be helpful, and he isn’t even here…” Fortunately, it wasn’t long before JB remembered the conversation he had with one of the Sea Men in Zhaomu City about the Stunt which could “DRIVE BIG ROCK,” and that it was probably the one he taught to Adict earlier, so he let Adict try.
”ADICT USE THE FORCE.”
JB’s first Elf easily moved the rocks out of the way, and with the next coach’s words, “CAN’T NAKE? SOLVED BY FIST!” Punch continued solving things with his own fists. With help from his new defence-boosting moves, and a couple of 50P Drugs, Punch dispatched the remaining coaches and their peculiar new Elfs, including a round, hairy pig called MONK, its evolution, SUMOY, and GELI, which was essentially a much larger Wanli with a belt.
With that, only the Curator was left…
“WELL, THAT MEANINGFUL’S COMES! I TELL YOU I AM VERY STRONG. THE EXPECTED MONSTER MAY WRECK THE ROCK! ALL TO PIECES LOOK AT IT PLEASE.”
The titan of a Gym Curator, in a feat of the most unnecessarily masculine showmanship imaginable, picked up the boulder next to him & smashed it against the wall.
“That’s, um, impressive…” JB said, “But what was the point? I mean, it’s the strength of your Elfs that matters here, not your--“
“ZHIDAO SAYS:EN? THAT ON” replied the Interrupting Hulk. “DEFEND! THERE IS NOTHING WITH MONSTERS?”
“Well… You and I both have monsters. Are we doing this?”
Zhidao assumed his battle stance. ”ALL IS READY, START THE GAME!”
Zhidao’s first Elf was another Sumoy, and with Punch’s BLOC softening the blows of his furry opponent, he eventually emerged victorious! However, when his other Elf, NILEC, was sent in, Fool eagerly burst out of his basin. Fool had never been this excited about a battle before, but JB knew he had no chance against this giant blue tadpole with fists, so he had to help his ambitious artist in any way he could…
Fool used PIN, but it was clear that Nilec didn’t even feel the needles… At least, not at first, but a few seconds later, Nilec began to cough. JB wasn’t quite sure how it managed that without a mouth, but it was clear that Fool had successfully poisoned his opponent and that fortune was on their side!
Nilec retaliated with PROTECT, an oddly-named, yet dazzling punch with incredible force! Fortunately, it missed, and Fool’s poison began to take its toll.
Despite Fool’s determination to be the only one to attack Nilec, JB knew that one hit from PROTECT would be a clean knockout, so next turn, JB briefly sent in Dicks to take the hit. It did moderate damage, but nothing the serpent couldn’t handle, although she did seem a little dizzy afterwards. However, with a change in targets came a change in tactics for Zhidao. This time, he commanded Nilec to use SPEC. As it prepared its hypnotic waves, JB had an idea & sent Fool back in to witness them. Lady Luck paid JB another visit, and although Spec missed its target, its target was completely entranced by the hypnotic waves as they passed him by.
JB took full advantage of this and once again tried to make Fool use STRUG, and with his sudden wave of inspiration, Fool began doodling Spec waves in the air, and JB knew that this meant he had learned how to use them…
Afterwards, Nilec used Spec again and successfully put Fool to sleep, but JB didn’t mind, as it was clearly a sleep of satisfaction. Zhidao must have been paranoid that Fool was a light sleeper, as he foolishly commanded Nilec to use Spec again, despite knowing that another turn wasted was another turn for the poison to weaken Nilec more & more.
JB then switched Dicks back in to take another PROTECT, which missed. The next one hit, but again, Dicks took it rather well, and was certainly in a better state than Nilec, who had almost completely succumbed to Fool’s poison.
And sure enough, after a couple more turns of switching & poison damage, Nilec falled!
“I AM LOSED!” Zhidao bellowed in utter shock! “THE KNOCKING-BADGE IS FIT TO YOU” With that, JB gained a ZHENHAN BADGE!
“ONLY WITH THE ZHENHAN BADGE,” Zhidao continued, “THE MONSTER MUST BE TAKEN FROM OTHERS. IT WILL OBEY YOU WHICH LEVEL IS UNDER 70 YOU CAN USE MONSTER STUNT TO FLY TO THE SKY, AND TAKE IT AWAY”
JB wasn’t sure if Zhidao was encouraging him to use his badge to steal Elfs from other coaches or not, but he was sure that he’d just mentioned the flying stunt that Peeping Tina had told him about. However, before JB could leave to find her, Zhidao handed him the Skill Machine for his Nilec’s PROTECT punch.
“THE SKILL MACHINE HAS THE IMPLODING FORCE!! IF HIT ON, IT WILL MAKE A CONFUSION”
“Sounds like me in my early teens…” JB thought.
Outside, Peeping Tina was waiting for him. “THAT IS THE DUANYE BADGE, THEN TAKE THIS SECRET MACHINE AWAY” and handed him a new SECRET MACHINE.
“LET IT LEARN THE FLYING STUNT, YOU CAN GO TO THE JUST PLACE INSTANTLY. DEFEATED BY YOU, MY HUSBAND WANT SPECIAL TRAINING FORGET IT, LATELY HIS STOMACH BECOMES BIGGER.”
JB was glad he found out that this woman was only peeping into the Gym because Zhidao was her husband, and even more glad upon receiving the FLEW machine. Unfortunately, none of the Elfs he had captured could use it. Not even Fork, who had lifted him into the air more than once! He figured that her wings just couldn’t handle long distances, and that he’d just have to head back to the mainland to catch a flyer.
His thoughts were then interrupted by a second voice in his head…
“Well done, JB… We must talk… Travel North to find me…”
The water beast, A’En, was once again trying to reach him through telepathy. The creature had done nothing but help him so far, so JB decided he should listen to him for now. He went as far north as the island would allow, and sure enough, A’En was waiting for him.
“Congratulations… You found the artist… and he has found his muse…”
“Well, it sure wasn’t easy.” JB replied. “I honestly don’t know if he’s picky or just lazy, but at least he has more than one move now.”
“Yes… He is difficult… That is why I led you to him…”
“So, why did you lead me to him? What exactly do you want with me?”
“At first, just to test you… But now… I am certain… You and your allies must band together… You must grow strong enough to help me…”
“Help you? With what?”
At that moment, A’En’s expression changed, and he suddenly ran off across the sea. JB called after him!
“Wait! What’s going on?!”
“I am sorry…” he called back.
“We can’t talk here anymore… But once you are stronger… I will find you again… I promise…”
“… Oh, for the LOVE OF--” Feeling completely clueless, and more confused than ever, JB turned away, only to find a familiar figure running frantically towards him.
“ISN’T IT SHUIJUN JUST? I SAW A BIT. AS IF I FEEL HE RUNS ON THE SEA”
It was the Fabulous Meinaji from the Burnt Tower! “Oh, hey. So, I guess you were tracking A’En, or Shuijun, or whatever here?”
Meinaji nodded. “HE IS BEAUTIFUL, STATELY AND CAN PASS THROUGH THE CITY QUICKLY HE IS AMAZING. I WANT TO SEE HIM CLOSELY GOOD”
JB was beginning to wonder if this guy was the reason A’En ran off. “Um, I don’t know how to break this to you, man, but… I don’t think he wants to see you.”
Upon hearing this, Meinaji took a moment to think. Literally a moment later, he seemed to shake it off. “I WILL CHALLENGE HIM, LET HIM TO ADMIT ME. NOW START TO FUGHT AT ONCE JB!”
“OK, look Meinaji, I think… Ah, forget it. Go, Fool!”
Meinaji led with SWAB, a creepy yellow, bipedal Elf. Fool led with his brand new move, SPEC, and Swab fell asleep. The next turn, Pin was far more effective against this opponent than against Nilec, so Swab was soon defeated. Next was YUANO, a larger, inverted BILIY. However, Stats dispatched it easily with STONE, and finally, FANT, which Dicks, like so many other Fants before, defeated quickly with STARE.
After the battle, Meinaji seemed disappointed, but regained composure fairly quickly.
“VERY GOOD, ON THE WAY, AROUND JB…”
“I hope you’re OK, man. I, um, wish you luck on your search…”
“REALLY I WILL GO TO FIND SHUIJUN I BELIEVE TO MEET HIM CERTAINLY. BYE!”
With that, he was gone. JB knew his search would prove fruitless, as whether this creature’s name was A’En or Shuijun, he was clearly avoiding Meinaji. Although even if Meinaji did listen to the truth, the last thing JB wanted to see in this region was another breakdown.
With this in mind, he wondered whether or not he’d see A’En again himself, but in the meantime, JB decided to have Dicks take him back acrss the sea to Zhaomu. He had Secret Drugs to deliver, and a Curator to challenge!
Team Summary:
ADICT the ALIGE (Croconaw)
Lv25
Male
Item: SUNSTON
- AWL (Strength)
- S-PIN (Leer)
- YUJA (Rage)
- WA-GUN (Surf)
I feel lousy about leaving my starter hung out to dry for so long, but at least it'll teach him a lesson about wrestling Berries from sick cows.
At least his ability to USE THE FORCE proved useful...
PUNCH the NUXI (Ledyba)
Lv28
Male
- LIGHHIT (ThunderPunch)
- CRY (Supersonic)
- BLOC (Reflect)
- SHELL (Light Screen)
[Fighting-types Solo'd: 22/25]
Given that he was finally able to have the boxing matches he's always wanted this match, Punch receives the MVP award for kickin' ass Rocky style!
FORK the FORK (Beedrill)
Lv25
Female
- ! (Poison Sting)
- SAW (Cut)
- KNIF (Fury Cutter)
- PIN (Twinneedle)
[Rival Solo: Completed]
[Gym Solo: Completed]
Sadly, Fork was the only one who did literally nothing, so this time around, she is the LVP. Seriously - Why can't she learn Fly...?
STATS the BEAR (Teddiursa)
Lv24
Female
- STONE (Dig)
- S-PIN (Leer)
-
AGAIN (Lick)
- MAJUS (Swift)
She'll have her shot at glory soon, I'm sure, but at least she took down creepy-stalker's Electrode this chapter.
DICKS the JINDE (Gyarados)
Lv27
Female
- WA-GUN (Surf)
- HIT (Headbutt)
- STARE (Bite)
- SMOK (Fire Blast)
[Gym Solo: Completed]
While her time in Chuck's Gym wasn't as action-packed as in Morty's, she did an admirable job as Fool's shield. He'd never have completely defeated that Poliwrath without her help!
FOOL the DEFU (Smeargle)
Lv29
Male
- PIN (Twinneedle)
- SPEC (Hypnosis)
Darknesscrusher, this is what got you on my Scramble hit list! Y'know how many tries it took for Fool to successfully "solo" that Poliwrath? At least 15! If it weren't for the speed-up function on Lameboy, I'd probably have gone insane at the time...
But at least he finally has a Sleep move.
Badges: 5
SCENES OF BLANK: 1 (It's the... Knives of the Scyther, it's the thorn in my side. Rising up, to the challenge of Gym Trainers...)