A lesson learned in time

With robin coello

It was Tuesday. Which meant it was time for a little community strengthening.

Gwyar stood at the wide open gates of the Mossdeep Community Stadium, smiling brightly at each and every arrival. Each was greeted by name, even as the number of attendants dipped past the double digits and threatened to go into triple digits.

As he finished chatting with an old married couple, Gwyar raised his gaze and smiled, finding another familiar face.

"Ah, Ms. Coello." He said, holding out his hand. "So good to see you again. Have you come to join us?"

---

TL;DR:

VS ERIS #1

AURUM BADGE, FT. Eris Halla

Gwyar tilted his head, smile stretching slightly. Thunderbird?

Even precocious genius kids could be cute.

Poised with the choice of dealing with the remaining shadow balls or losing track of a dangerous opponent, Mr. Rockface took decisive action.

It's body suddenly began swiveling wildly in place, eyes wide open as its nose pointed in seemingly random directions, the shadow balls smashing against its solid frame.

Its rock-steel body shook and trembled with each impact, but its swiveling did not cease, nose always pointing at something within the curtain of dust seemingly at random.

---

TL;DR:
Mr. Rockhead used Lock-on.

VS ANDREA VANEAU #1

AURUM BADGE, FT. Andrea Vaneau

The earthquake came, making the arena shudder as earth splintered and upheaved, the vibrations traveling through Durindana's frame as dirt and force reverberated within her.

The Duraludon swayed from side to side whilst leaned against the Aggron, her eyes tired.

Andrea might well end things quickly after all!

But then again, that would be boring.

So Gwyar raised his arm instead, smiling. And instead, the Duraludon began to glow— brightly.

"Durindana— Mega evolve."

A dark egg burst outwards and pushed away the Aggron, encasing the steel dragon behind its protective shell as the symbol of Mega evolution flashed... and then it began to grow, and grow, and grow, before shattering.

It was not quite on the level of a dynamax, much less gigantamax pokemon, but it certainly stood more massive than before, its dazzling silhouette leaving little doubt as to where from had humanity drawn inspiration for its skyscrapers.

A booming roar thundered across the stadium as the people stood up from their sits and roared excitedly, chanting a very... familiar hum to Gwyar.

Gwyar raised his hand in the sky once more, posing dramatically for the crowd as he gave his first direct command.

G-max

Depletion

Durindana's body glowed a bright violet before unleashing forth a massive draconic shockwave towards the Aggron.

Powerful yes, but strictly speaking ineffective against the behemoth's steel hide. But... its ability to wield Earthquake again would be severely impaired.

---

TL;DR:
-Durindana took super effective damage.
-Gwyar Mega Evolved Duraludon.
-Durindana used G-max: Depletion. Deals Dragon-type damage and reduces the PP of the last move used.

VS ELAINE HIGHLAND #1

AURUM BADGE, FT. Elaine Highland

Gram slid off as the blades were tilted, its razor sharp edge cleaving a scar across the arena's soil as its tassels were slashed off.

"Hoh!" The Gym Leader intoned, clapping with a smile.

Freed now from both its opponent's suckle AND arms, the Aegislash was not left with a great amount of options.

Then again, it still had the option to attack— otherwise known as the only choice it ever entertained.

Swiveling in place with enough force to generate air pressure, Gram brought her head crashing towards Jeanne.

---

TL;DR:
Gram lost its arm tassel thingies.
Gram is using HEAD SMASH.

WYIMAWMIM

Ft. howard slayte

"It is quite impressive, isn't it? Curious, too." Gwyar said absent mindedly, staring at nothing in particular. "Despite losing Prince Remiel, Team Rocket's ability to deal in antique contraband does not appear terribly diminished."

Which meant they had another expert amongst them. Perhaps several. One who could perfectly appraise the value of whatever was acquired so as maintain and steady the declining flow following the galarian prince's betrayal...

Had Gwyar been less out of it, or perhaps more inclined to recall the events of that night, he might've noticed the fact that the expert besides him matched in both height, build, and apparent visual impairment to the new Admin 'Fox'.

As it were, the other man bringing up 'that one bust' merely made him more inclined to not think about it, his ever present smile weakening.

"By all means, if it helps with your work." He said with a nod, skipping on the uncomfortable question first while gathering his thoughts.

"And... yes. This is Team Rocket's... latest contraband." He said, dryly. "Unfortunately for everyone involved, they chose Mossdeep as a port."

Perhaps an indictment to the local Police force.

Unfortunately, Gwyar had kicked Mossdeep DP in the pants and gotten them to actually earn their tax dollars upon arrival... arguably leading up to all this.

---

TL;DR:

LEAGUE & LEARN: MN

Ft. Michael Navidson

He raised a brow at the Sheriff, all but saying 'really.'

He's never seen Navy looking quite so gaunt and out of it; his attempts at brushing off concern were... well, concerning.

It would bring about endless trouble if they were to cancel now. Prior to Galar, Gwyar would've just plowed along. His conscience's spine had strengthened within the dream, though.

"Indeed." He said simply, neither appeased nor distracted by the other's attempt at brushing off his earlier slip up. "... Navy."

Gwyar chose to be polite and skirt around obvious issues and red buttons— he was not afraid to barrel straight ahead if needed though.

"Pardon me the random question, but..." He began. "Did you sleep well last night?"

Did he sleep at all last night? The past week? The past month?

---

TL;DR:
MISSION
BOOT CAMP

LEAGUE & LEARN: GC

Ft. CIAN MAHER

"Hmm... That should make for a useful demonstration, yes." The blonde said with an approving nod.

Turning his gaze over to the vast one sided windows leading into the stadium's arena, he hummed thoughtfully.

"But first! You must introduce them to the subject properly."

While many gyms had a focus on essential strategies of pokemon battling, few were the ones were these were actually explained to the
challenger in detail. They were more expected to face off against them and figure out how to triumph over the circumstances.

Triple H was one of Hoenn's premiere weather users— he just needed to pass on a little of that expertise.

Gwyar smiled at Cian.

"Think of it as taking the theme of your Gym, and making it into a... relatively short lecture." He explained simply, smiling.

Gym leaders didn't often get to demonstrate and share their expertise with a crowd of thousands, after all.

---

TL;DR:
MISSION
SUPER TRAINING

JYM GAM 2

Ft. CIAN MAHER

One could actually see Gwyar's meme-deprived boomer brain connecting the dots.

The... Handsome... Hoenn Hotshot...?

Oh!

A dad belly laugh came out of the blonde's mouth, his dad 'funny' bone getting tickled.

"Ah, I see!" He said with a wide smile, his hand clapping atop the younger man's in a firm handshake. "Triple H indeed!"

He was gonna get along with this young man, he felt. Probably.

"Ah, I came hoping we could speak, actually." He said, holding his fist in front of his mouth as cleared his throat. "Ahem... Are you available now? This may be a lengthy discussion. I wouldn't want to keep you from your duties."

---

TL;DR:

MISSION
BE ON A WAR FOOTING: LEAGUE

LEAGUE & LEARN: GC

Ft. Greyson Connors

While Gwyar wasn't one to care about celeb culture, there was a level of reverence that the rank of Elite 4 alone required in this sort of public facing circumstances.

Specially in times of war and propaganda.

The members of the Elite 4 were equal part soldiers, public servants and pokemon training idols, after all.

And in any case—

"Just think of it as a show of my admiration." The blonde said, smiling.

For a brother in arms— whether the younger man remembered it or not.

Greyson's praise brought a proud welling up of the staff's chest, perhaps contradicting the young man's own perception of himself. They certainly seemed to look upon him with borderline adoration, after all, throwing back lingering looks as they were dismissed before turning back to their duties.

"I'm more partial to Honedges myself." He said, a number of said pokemon floating by as he spoke. One took a moment to rub against the blonde's shoulders. He grinned wide. "But then, I'm quite biased."

Most of the countless Aegislash-line pokemon floating about were related to his oldest pokemon. It was sort of like being surrounded by adorable(?) nieces and nephews.

Moving on—

"The Stadium is at more than half capacity." He said bluntly, smiling at the man. "It's the highest attendance we've ever had."

It was truly shocking what star power could do. Greyson was the first Elite 4 member they had invited, so who knew. Perhaps if it had been a little later, the man would've disclosed the secrets of Comfey to a full stadium.

Ah well, he could always be invited again~.

"Are you nervous?"

---

TL;DR:
MISSION
M: ZERO TO ONE HUNDRED

SILPH CUP 2024

AT PACIFIDLOG

First place directly before them, soft curves, a current at their backs, and winds pushing them forward. What could essentially be called a speeding lane stretched out as far as the eye could see.

No need to think about it. First place was theirs for the taking!

"Galatine— Autotomize!"

A metallic screech rang clear through the racetrack, the sword-board's the axe-sail dislodging without warning and flying off into the distance, dispersing into shimmering, evaporating crystals.

Launching forth like a missile, the knight and his ride accelerated madly, the rider crouching low as the wind whipped past, eyes on the prize— lam logan 's position.

---

TL;DR:

Aegislash is terastalized (steel). 1/3
Aegislash used Autotomize.

Speed EB(+3 ranks) / Endurance A / Reaction A
gxYbWnVi+60+10

VS ELAINE HIGHLAND #1

AURUM BADGE, FT. Elaine Highland

The black curtain coating the Aegislash was slowly swallowed by the opponent's sword, the shadows being syphoned into its bitter blade—

And then suddenly, Aegislash's tassels moved, wrapping around the Ceruledge biceps whilst their blades held against one another.

Honedge entry: If anyone dares to grab its hilt, it wraps a blue cloth around that person's arm and drains that person's life energy completely.

Once again, Gram chose violence over anything else, its crimson gaze glowering at the ghostly knight as it attempted to suck it dry right back.

---

TL;DR:
Gram took damage.
Gram is doing a pokedex thing.

VS ELAINE HIGHLAND #1

AURUM BADGE, FT. Elaine Highland

A normal Aegislash switched between offense and King's Shield, controlling the pace of the battle.

Gram was not a normal Aegislash.

The shadowy aura that exploded out from Gram was not the same as that wielded by ghost type pokemon, nor dark type pokemon. It was a sheer black, the background disappearing behind its curtain as the sword swung into its opponent's attack violently, a shrill, joyful cackle of steel ringing through the arena as it smashed into its opponent's blades.

---

TL;DR:
Gram used the Shadow move: Shadow End.

VS ANDREA VANEAU #1

AURUM BADGE, FT. Andrea Vaneau

The Gym Leader remained silent. Durindana herself, remained stationary despite the charging behemoth, either unwilling or unable to get out of its path.

The earth cracked and trembled beneath the steely dragon her opponent rammed into her full force, her feet digging into dirt as she was pushed back— even as her arms came to hold onto her opponent, keeping herself close as the blow rattled through her.

A rock type move shouldn't have been effective, but what did typing matter before raw force?

As the steel plates of the dragon continued to rattle loudly however, it soon became clear that there was more than just the aftermaths of a heavy blow.

The rattling became louder, faster, and shrill, like pipe bomb nearing its—

SHA-BAM!!!

---

TL;DR:
-Durindana took damage.
-Durindana used Metal Burst.