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As Whirlipede came out, something crossed my mind that made me recall Sparrow. She wasn't out yet, but the poison from the Toxic Spikes Leavanny had embedded in her leaf clothing would probably finish her out if I left her out much longer. "I've been coming at you with brute force so far. Sure, it's worked for me up to this point, and would probably win me the match if I kept at it, but that would be a bit of an insult to your craft, I think," I explained, going for the ball of one of my non-fire-types. "We've both used two Pokemon up to this point, so this will the the last match, right? Why don't we make this interesting?" I added before letting Odo, my Garbodor, out of his ball.

"Odo here might not match your art style, but similar to your statement at the start of the battle, his less than pleasant countenance masks some significant power." I explained, although my reasons for bringing Odo out were simpler. Not only did his typing make him immune to Toxic Spike's ability, but from what I had studied, Whirlipede didn't have any moves that were super-effective against Odo. That is, unless Burgh taught him something unique. It was unwise to underestimate a Gym Leader, after all. "Show him what I mean, Odo. Thunderbolt!" I ordered. Odo smiled as he gathered Electric-type energy, happy to be able to battle again. The Garbodor launched the electric attack at Whirlipdede once he had the energy necessary to do so.

I glared as Burgh ordered a Swagger - a move I felt was in poor form, especially in an official setting like this. It was just poor sportsmanship, trying to get a rise out of your opponent to confuse and enrage them. Sure, there was strategy in it, but it didn't make for a very good show. Still, I was not prepared for the results of Whirlipede's action. Odo, instead of getting angry as the move was designed, broke down crying. I had no idea how to respond for that. I couldn't fault Odo for his feelings, but he couldn't fight in that state, and it was a bit embarassing given what was going on at the time. "Come on, buddy, let's get you out of here," I said calmly as I grabbed his ball, trying my best to sound at least understanding if not sympathetic. I never had this happen before during a fight and I didn't want anyone watching thinking it was commonplace for me. Granted, my appearance shouldn't have been my primary concern, but I had no idea how to deal with the situation.

"Sorry, Sparrow, but I need to rely on you a little longer." I said as I let the poisoned Talonflame out of her ball. To her credit, Sparrow put on a brave face, cawwing out and spreading her wings to look more intimidating. "Brute force it is, then," I added loudly enough for Burgh to hear. "Fire Blast, Sparrow!"

Sparrow lifted her wings back and gathered Fire-type energy with her beak, shaping it into a five-pronged star before using her wings to launch it at Whirlipede.

~*~

"Oh, no," Keiko whined as Odo burst into tears, looking worriedly at the Garbodor in the distance. Mom, on the other hand, looked about as confused and embarassed as I did, although she looked a bit more sympathetic than I did. "Has... this happened before?"

"Not that I've seen," Keiko answered. "He caught Odo as a Trubbish, so he clearly has trained him enough to evolve, though I don't know exactly how much time he's spent with him. That Whirlipede said some pretty nasty stuff, but that was part of the move he was using. I think everybody was surprised when Odo's feelings got hurt like that. I should ask him about it after the fight."

"Maybe it's very young. Do you know when he caught him?"

"Not really," Keiko admitted. She didn't know that I caught him in a mission she wasn't a part of. She knew I had forgotten about him for about half the time I had him by this moment, but didn't want to admit that to my mom.

"Wait, Whirlipede said? You can understand them?"

"All hybrids can," Keiko explained, happy for the change in subject. "At least, that's what I heard."

"Huh, I never heard that. Must making training Pokemon easier."

"And more fulfilling," Keiko smiled happily, her mind taken off the fight for the moment. The sound of Fire Blast soaring through the air caught both of their attention. "I hope he can pull through."

"He will," Mom smirked. "I"m sure of it."

After recalling Sparrow, I walked up to Burgh, quickly pocketed the TM, and shook the man's hand. "Pleasure battling with you," I said seriously, and I meant it. Sure, I had it fairly easy, but I still felt challenged up until Odo's little incident. I couldn't shake the feeling that Burgh let Whirlipede faint after that, but I didn't want to accuse him of anything. What was I going to do, not take his badge? Not likely.

I quickly pinned the Insect Badge onto the back of my tie and pulled myself up from the pit with the silk rope. Mom and Keiko were waiting, and while the former seemed very pleased with my victory, Keiko looked like she had something less pleasant in mind.

"Way to go, champ!" said parent proclaimed happily, patting me on the back for my victory. "So that's, what? Five down?"

"Six to go," I confirmed happily, though not quite as peppy as her.

"See!? You're practically halfway there!" she cheered.

The second we left the gym, Mom checked her watch. "Guess my break's over. Good luck in Nimbasa," she sighed, giving me one last hug before disappearing into the crowd. Keiko and I made our way to the Pokemon Center alone where we let Samurai and Sparrow heal up, and let Odo out to talk to Keiko. After a bit of her asking Odo questions and looking worriedly at the Garbodor, she eventually nodded to me, signalling me to recall him.

"He doesn't like being a Poison-type," she explained, looking sad. "He especially doesn't like the smell his body gives off and wishes he could have been born some other type. He's worried that you're mad at him for not fighting when you asked him to, by the way. He looked like he needed a hug, but..."

"The smell would probably stick to your fur," I said sympathetically, although she only looked disappointed at herself. I then let Odo out of his ball and patted his head, knowing I could just wash my hands later. "I'm not mad, so don't worry," I said, trying to make my voice sound soothing. "If I had known how you felt, I wouldn't have made you fight out there. That said, you're still a strong Pokemon, so I have no intention of making you sit on the bench from now on."

Odo cheered at that and rubbed his head against my hand. The sensation was less than pleasant, but I ignored it for his sake. "Burgh's sorry, too. In fact, he wanted me to give you this as a peace offering," I added, showing Odo the Infestation TM. Odo cheered when he saw it, and grabbed it, holding it over his head. It didn't take long for the device to do its work.

I smiled at Odo as I recalled him, and then immediately moved to wash my hands. I could never blame him for not appreciating how his body functions and what it does to others. Must be a lonely existence, which is why I intend to go out of my way to be nice to him like that.

While I was up, I accessed the Snagem Pokemon Storage System and made some changes to my party. Namely, swapping Angeal for Sauron, Sparrow with Haku, and Reese with Kefka; trying to swap out those weak to electricity for those that either had a resistance to it or had other decent defenses.

Upon returning to Keiko, I thought ahead to the route between Castelia and Nimbasa. "You might want to teleport to Nimbasa."

"Why?" Keiko asked, looking a bit put down.

"Route 4 is nothing but desert," I explained. "I can handle it alright, but with your fur, you might have a harder time."

"Oh... you have a point," Keiko agreed, although she clearly wasn't happy about it.

I gave Keiko a hug and called GRAY up, getting some choice words from the AI before he finally complied. With Keiko waiting for me on the other side, it was time to trek the wasteland that was Route 4.

As I exited the city, I found something quite surprising - a large crater in the middle of the road between Castelia and Nimbasa. Surprised, I gazed down to the bottom of it where I found a Drillbur digging at the bottom of it. How long had this Pokemon been digging? Did nobody else notice this hole? The thought of the possibility that nobody in the area had Pokemon strong to stop it caught my attention, and I leaped in, sliding down to the bottom and catching the Drillbur's attention in the process. Something about the way it looked at me, almost excitedly, reminded me of Simon. But I didn't have much of a chance to reminisce before it attacked. Instincitvely, I let Sauron out of his ball, the large Venusaur bearing down on the small Drillbur. The Pokemon seemed to have an iron will, however, as it refused to back down from Sauron.

Sensing that the Drillbur might not be that strong, I ordered Sauron to Vine Whip it, wanting to catch the Drillbur not only to stop the defacing of the route, but also to have a Ground Pokemon ready to deal with the Electric-types in the coming gym. To my surprise, the Drillbur cut through Sauron's vines with Metal Claw - said claws were razor sharp, and Metal Claw only made them more so. Was that why the Drillbur was digging so much?

Not being given much of a chance to contemplate this, I ordered a Take Down, still not wanting to make the Drillbur faint right away. This was met with a Drill Run, however, which made me think that this Ground-type was not quite the pushover I thought it to be.

"No more holding back, Sauron. Petal Blizzard," I told him. Sauron happily gathered petals using Grass-type energy - apparently, he wasn't too happy that he got knocked as far back as he did by that last attack. Strong though the Drillbur was, it wasn't prepared for this attack, and took significant damage as a result. Though it landed on its feet, it struggled returning to an upright position. The Poke Ball struck its side before it accomplished that feet, drawing him in and closing shut around him. A few seconds later and I was able to let the Drillbur back out. I was even more surprised that the Drillbur was happy that it had been caught.

"Alright, don't you think you should fix the road, though?' I asked, causing it to look around at the hole it dug. Fortunately, said road was made of soft sand and it didn't take long before the damage had been reversed.

As expected, Keiko was standing at the entrance to Nimbasa City, awaiting my arrival. What she didn't expect was the Drillbur resting on my shoulder. What I didn't expect was for her to call out Simon's name the second it - he - started talking to her in Pokespeak. Talk about a fortunate turn of events. This called for a celebration, but I had business to attend to in the city. "Well, what do you say, Simon? Wanna help me take down a Gym Leader?" Said Drillbur cheered at that, so we made our way to the Gym and knocked on the door, ready for the next battle in my run.

I kept my mouth shut as I proceeded through the arena, and during Elesa's little display. I found the entire debacle annoying, but it was part of the Gym Leader's style, so I didn't complain. That said something Elesa said gave me an idea to set the tone of the battle properly. "Dazzle? Why? So we wind up choreographing our moves before we make them? I have no intention of giving you any such advantage. As for my 'star', I'm a little young to start worrying about fizzling problems," I joked, making a somewhat inappropriate innuendo, but I had to set the mood properly before the fight could begin. I wasn't fighting her so she could show off. In fact, if I played my cards right, she'd be too busy sweating bullets to do any dazzling.

I let Simon out of his ball before Elesa could react, planning on using his favorite pastime to counteract the one move Emolga were known for, though they were far form the only Pokemon to utilize that move. A number of my Pokemon, Rala in particular, stood as proof of that. Nevertheless, I built up quite a bit of momentum in the last gym despite Odo's unforunate circumstance, and I wasn't looking to give an inch of it back. "Stealth Rock," I ordered. Simon happily complied by scattering sharp floating stones across the battlefield, dealing Rock-type damage to any that stood or landed on them. Sure, it didn't have the punch of Toxic Spikes, and the only Pokemon in her party that likely had a weakness to that had a means of avoiding it entirely, but it was some background damage, and I could use that. That said, not starting with an offensive move gave Elesa a fraction of leeway to change the tempo of the fight, not that I planned on letting her have that freely.

Keiko facepalmed when she heard my comment about fizzling problems, knowing exactly what I was hinting at and feeling very embarrassed that that joke was made. "I love you, but you can be such a geek sometimes," she whispered, not wanting any of the audience to hear her.

I sighed as Defog washed the battlefield clean. What was it with Gym Leaders and wanting to be brute forced? I could see some kind of gym leader's association creating a ruleset for gym battles that bans any move that doesn't deal damage.

I pushed my glasses up to my face as I glared at Elesa. "Okay, wow, way to prove me wrong. Rock Slide, Simon!" I shouted. Said Drillbur began digging into the concrete floor of the battlefield, putting the sharpness of his claws to use. He then dug himself back up and leapt into the air, positioning himself above Emolga before dropping as many Rock-type energy-imbued rocks as he could carry onto it. Once he was out, he fell into the hole he leapt out of and dug himself back into position, ready to continue the battle.

"Time to play a nice game of chicken, Simon. Hit him head on with Slash!" I cheered. Simon imbued his razor-sharp claws with Normal-type energy as he waited for Emolga to sail within arm's reach, then swung at the Flying-type's most energy-imbued body part with Slash, taking and dealing damage simultaneously. Simon might move faster underground than above, but he was no coward.

And exactly how many times was I destined to eat my words? At this rate, a defensive approach was sounding like the appropriate path to take. As I waited for Simon to relax, I watched Elesa and Emolga intensely, looking for any opening I could exploit. When Simon was ready to act again, I'd hopefully have a battle plan ready.