Chapter 4: Badges for Everyone!
Oreburgh City was certainly an interesting place. Its origins as a mining town were pretty evident from all of the rock walls and ground vents. Overtime, as the mine grew, so did the population, though calling it a "city" still felt like something of a stretch to my mind. The largest building was a museum dedicated to mining (of course) and the second largest was the Pokémon Gym. At least Jubilife had the TV Station
I stopped to heal at the PokéCenter and then wandered around the museum before heading towards the Gym. I couldn't help but remember how nervous I was before my first gym battle in Kalos and how much training and preparation I did. I was much more confident this time around, especially if the Gym would end up being a Rock-type gym like I was expecting.
Unfortunately, I would have to wait to find out. The Gym was closed, and James was outside its doors, grinning like a madman. "Jessie, Jessie, I did it!" he shouted, running up to hug me as I arrived. "I beat the Gym Leader! He was tough, but I did it! I have my first badge, see?" He flipped his scarf over to show me the badge he had pinned to the backside, a round-ish, rock-looking badges outlined in gold. "Grass-types are strong against Rocks, but so are Water-types, so it shouldn't be too hard for you either. Though... Roark -- that's the leader's name -- he's gone off to the mines again for now, so I guess you'll have to wait before you can battle him."
"Huh, so the leader's also a miner." I raised my eyebrows. "I guess everyone probably is in this place. I'll go track him down so I can grab a badge of my own; thanks for the head's up!" We waved and parted ways, James heading off towards the next route, and me following the roads to the southern mine entrance.
The mine itself was kind of a dark and dingy place. There were miners and Pokémon everywhere you looked, digging for coal, and the very air was dingy with dust and sediment. I pulled my scarf up over my mouth and nose to avoid breathing in the coal dust as I made my way through, questioning the miners as I went. I was directed to a new portion of mine towards the back, and there I found a miner working diligently with a Pokémon to expand the mines even deeper. When he heard my approach, he stopped to look over to me and I froze for a moment. He looked just like my ex-boyfriend!
After I got over my initial embarrassment, I watched carefully as he demonstrated the power of the Rock Smash HM to me. "If you could get the Badge from the Gym in town," he explained. "You'd be able to do this too. Of course, you'd have to beat the Gym Leader first. That'd be me!"
"Oh, good, I was looking for you," I said with a warm smile. "I was hoping to challenge the Gym. Would you mind taking a break from your work so we could have a battle?"
"Certainly not!" He grinned. "See you back at the Gym!"
My stomach was grumbling and I thought about stopping for lunch, first, but since Roark was nice enough to take a break from his own schedule for me to battle him, I figured it would be rude to keep him waiting. I'd just have to have a celebratory lunch afterward is all! I followed Roark out of the mines and over to the Gym. He waved and went into a secret access to head towards the back of the Gym, leaving me to make my way to battle him.
The Gym itself was fairly simple, with a couple extra trainers and a series of paths where I could avoid them if I chose. Instead, I decided to beat down both of them, practicing my Rock-type strategy before I reached Roark. It worked just as well as I expected, and I took down the leader himself with relative ease, OHKOing all three of his Pokémon with Prinplup's newly-learned Bubblebeam.
"This is embarrassing..." Roark grumbled as he withdrew his Cranidos. "I went and lost to a Trainer who didn't have a single Gym Badge... But that's tough. You were strong and I was weak. That's all there is. According to Pokémon League rules, I have to give you our Gym Badge since you've beaten me, the Leader. Here's your official Pokémon League Coal Badge." He handed me over a copy of the same badge James had earned with a smile, along with a TM. "You earned it."
We parted ways and I took my Pokémon back to the PokéCenter for some rest and some lunch. Battling is tough work! Afterwards, I looked around for James but didn't see him, so I decided to press on and head to Route 207. In the grass, I came across a wild Machop and decided to catch it so that I'd have someone to use the HM I was just able to learn, but sadly I wasn't able to make it any further since a steep ramp was the only way to progress further down the path. With a sigh, I headed back to Oreburgh to examine my options.
Back in the city, I did finally run into James. "Hey, Jessie, did you beat Roark and get a Gym badge?"
"Yep." I smiled. "He was kind of a pushover."
"Of course you'd say that, you beat everyone." James stuck his tongue out. "Sadly, I'm kind of a loss of how to progress from here."
"Well, let's take a look at our maps and see if we can't figure it out." We sat down at a bench together and I pulled out my Sinnoh map. "See, there's a route here heading north from Jubilife, right? We should be able to head that way."
"I went there already," James grumbled, "but the path through the cave is full of rocks, so you can't get any further that way either."
"Did you get the HM for rock smash? I have a Machop now, so we should be able to smash our way through."
James leaped up. "Brilliant idea! I guess I need to go catch a Machop now, too, so I'll see you around!" He was running off before I could get a word in, heading back towards Oreburgh Gate and Jubilife. I chuckled and headed off after him, admiring his speed and perseverance, though I couldn't help but wish he wasn't in such a rush.
Instead, I decided to take my time, exploring through Oreburgh Gate before heading on. Smashing some rocks opened up a deeper level to the cave for me, though water blocked me from getting any deeper, so I went back to the top and headed back on to Jubilife. Once there, I somehow managed to run into Ranger again. He must have recognized me from earlier, since he approached as soon as I came close.
"Jessie, well met!" he greeted me warmly as if we were old friends and made a bit of small talk while I tried to be polite in responding to him. It was uncomfortable for me to spend much time around the police, but I felt avoiding him would have only served to make me more suspicious. Finally, he broke off the conversation. "Anyway, there appears to be no one shady in this Jubilife City. I shall therefore take my investigation elsewhere. But, my friend, I suggest you remain vigilant for shady grown-ups!"
"I will," I assured him, smiling and waving as he headed off. I breathed a deep sigh of relief once he was gone, heading briskly towards the north to make my way onwards.
As I walked along, I eventually began to hear some strange, loud voices coming from further up towards the route. "Now, now, now, now, now! Professor DNA, you must comply. Hand over all your research findings. For free, naturally. Failure to comply will result in a painful time for your assistant."
I turned a corner and saw them standing there, blocking the entrance to the path out of town as they confronted the twerp and the professor. They both wore weird teal haircuts and strange, quasi-futuristic clothing. I thought I had been fairly sneaky, but DNA saw me and gestured me over, ignoring the weird punks entirely.
"Ah, Jessie," he greeted me. "Well? How is the Pokédex progressing?"
"Pretty good, I think. I've caught 4 Pokémon now, and also... "I handed over my Pokédex and also showed him the badge I'd earned from Roark.
"Hm! That’s Oreburgh’s Gym Badge, I see. But hadn’t I given you your first Pokémon only recently...? Perhaps being a Trainer is like second nature to you."
"I guess so," I replied, though I was spared the need to make further small talk by the annoyance of the two weirdos.
"Oh, professor of Pokémon, must you be so difficult? We are speaking to you on business. Because this is work for us. What we're saying is--we demand you comply with our demands."
DNA turned around and stared them both down with eyes glittering with menace. "Quiet, you lot! Why must you be such a nuisance? Let me list some lessons you still need to learn. #1: Don’t loiter about for no good reason. #2: Don’t interrupt others while they are attempting to converse. #3: If you don’t get your way, don’t raise your voice to be intimidating. #4: Don’t think you’ve grown strong just because you’re in a group. #5: What is with those outlandish outfits you have on? My goodness... You call yourselves adults? You kids, don’t grow up to be like these sorry specimens."
"And #6," I chimed in, "why are you guys talking like some bad fan translation? Are you aliens or something?"
"Eeeeeh!" one of the two screamed. "You had to make this personal! You have forced our hand into making a show of force! We will make you regret insulting Team Galatic!"
Team Galactic! Were these weirdos really the team that the boss sent me to investigate? They seemed even more laughable than Team Flare, with their bizarre outfits and outlandish manner of speaking.
DNA sighed, facepalming. "You kids, give these thugs a lesson in civility, please."
I looked at Ash and shrugged and we both entered into a Pokémon battle with the grunts. Ash sent out his Pokémon, a Chimchar, and I sent out Prinplup. Ash somehow managed to be even less effective than usual, leaving me and Prinplup to do all the work. Thankfully, we were well prepared for the task and made short work of both Pokémon.
"How is this madness possible?" One of them exclaimed after being beaten. "The two of us, losing to children?"
I bit back an angry retort as the other one continued, "This won't do... Time to retreat. This mission is a failure. You leave us no option. We will retreat for now. We shall do so because Team Galactic is benevolent to all."
"Yeah, benevolent, I'm sure," I muttered as they both ran away with their metaphorical tails between their legs.
"That lot..." DNA grumbled. "They called themselves Team Galactic. When Pokémon evolve, they seem to release some type of energy... However, I believe that it’s a mystic power far beyond our control. But Team Galactic seems to be studying that power’s potential. They want to know if it can be used as energy for something..."
"So that's what they're after? The evolutionary energy of Pokémon? That seems kind of... weird."
"Jessie, did you know about this?" Ash asked. "The professor studies the evolution of Pokémon, too. According to his research, 90% of all Pokémon are somehow tied to evolution! Maybe that's the reason those goons tried to take the professor's research data. They're not allowed to do that!"
"It’s all over, so you can relax now. Still, thanks to you two, nothing came of that situation. I appreciate that. Incidentally, Jessie. Kudos to you for your battling skill. It got me thinking. Why don’t you collect all the Gym Badges of Sinnoh? Doing so, you will be sure to encounter lots of Pokémon. That, of course, means your Pokédex pages will continuously fill up. In other words, it will be of great help to my research. That said, I’ve given you your first Pokémon and Pokédex as yours to keep. You’re free to do with them as you wish. Take care now."
DNA and Ash left, leaving me alone. I considered breaking to send a message to HQ about my encounter with Galactic, but it seemed a bit premature. This evolution energy might be only facet to their overall plan; I would need to learn a lot more about hem before the knowledge could be of any use to the boss. Instead, I followed along the path, breaking the boulders that blocked my way and continuing on to new paths and adventures.
