Celestic Town and Hearthome City Gym

I chat with some of the locals. The consensus seems to be that Celestic Town is old and remote and there's nothing of interest here. I can live with that...

...or not, apparently. And old woman on the street complains about a "spaceman" who is threatening to blow the town up with a bomb. That would be Team Galactic getting in my way again. Time for me to return the favor. I locate the ruins and confront the Team Galactic member, who probably doesn't have a bomb anyway. He screams at me...

"This town is insignificant! There's nothing of value here."

I'm so sorry that I forced you to come here and bother me about it. Oh wait, you're here on your own, idiot.

"It doesn't need to exist, so I'll blow it up with a Galactic Bomb!"

Wait, you actually have a bomb? Please tell me that the "Galactic" in the bomb's name is an understatement.

"If you try to mess with me, I'll shut you down with a Pokemon battle. So, what's it going to be? Are you going to mess with me?"

I should say yes. Everything compels me to say yes. I know I can crush this fool. The whole town is depending on me. But for no reason I can fathom, I tell him that I won't mess with him. It's a lie, but he has no way of knowing that.

"That's right! Very smart! You know what's good for you! Team Galactic has come out to the boonies like this for everyone's sake. Your cooperation is appreciated. Now, where is my partner?"

Too smug. So I tell him that I've changed my mind. Apsu makes short work of his Beautifly, then Hanuman destroys his Croagunk. Easy, as always. My opponent immediately runs away. I contemplate catching him and interrogating him about that bomb so that I can take it for my own machinations, but before I can act, that old woman sneaks up behind me and grabs me, telling me how awesome I am for saving the town. She then says something about and old charm and how Cynthia is her granddaughter. I pretend to care. Or I don't. Not sure, really. The old woman takes old charm from me and invites me to look at the ruins.

In the ruins, I find a strange cave-painting depicting three pokemon in a triangle formation united against some demiurgic entity. Fascinating. The old woman talks with me about the painting and gives me an HM for Surf, which I'll need a gym badge in order to use outside of battle, of course. I try to accept that this must make sense somehow. I fail.

As I exit the ruins, I find Cyrus standing by the doorway, speaking to no one in particular as far as I can tell...

"There appears to have been an insignificant struggle here."

Is he talking about the cave painting? Come on, that thing's ancient. Who knows what it really depicts? Or maybe he's talking about how I stopped Team Galactic just now, in which case, yes, that isn't really significant. I do it all the time. It's like a full-time job for me.

"Everyone should step back and view things from a bigger perspective. Yes, a bigger perspective, one that is on a universal scale."

Uh, sure.

"My name is Cyrus."

Who is he talking to? I already met him, so we don't need introduced. And I don't see anyone else.

"I seek the power to create a new world, a world without strife."

We've gone over this before, I'm sure of it.

"However, that power seems to be unavailable here...We've met before, yes?"

Indeed.

"It was at Mt. Coronet."

Maybe he's just a bit absentminded?

"If you discover any power derived from the legends of Sinnoh, inform me. For that power is what I need to create my new world."

With that, he departs. I try to follow him, but something, I have no idea what, keeps me frozen in place. Then once Cyrus is out of sight, suddenly everything is back to normal and I can move again. I rush to look for him, but it's as though he disappeared. Did Cyrus do that to me or was it a coincidence? And how did it happen? Eventually, I elect to stay and explore this quaint town. Someone gives me a pair of "blackglasses" for my pokemon. Whatever. In one of the houses, an old man sells special pokeballs: dusk balls, timer balls, and quick balls. I stock up on them. They should be useful later. Most of the rest of the locals just talk about Mt. Coronet or whatever. Someone gives me an analog app for my Poketch. Kind of silly. In Cynthia's grandmother's house, I find a book with some text about mythical pokemon, but nothing particularly enlightening.

Or maybe it is. From the book, what an old man (Cynthia's grandfather?) tells me, and the cave painting in the ruins, I think I'm piecing together the puzzle regarding this mythical trio of pokemon. One of them is associated with intelligence, another with emotions, and the third with willpower. And these three are, according to legend anyway, also associated with natural dwelling places. Mesprit, the one that is associated with emotions, would live in Lake Verity, right by my hometown. But I cannot explore the lake until I can use Surf outside of battle.

I fly back to Hearthome City, hoping the gym leader has forgotten to keep ducking me. I get a pleasant surprise: the gym is open. I use the elevator. On the second floor, I meet a sign...

"Question: 3 plus 5 plus 7 is?"

Fifteen, obviously. Then I see arrows pointing to the three doors ahead of me, each with a different number. I take the door that the 15 arrow points to. The others probably have pit traps or something. I open the door, and there's a sign telling me that I was correct, followed by another elevator. I see how this works. But what do the other doors lead to? I must know! I run back and open another door. A trainer challenges me...

"Ehehe! You threw the quiz so you'd get to battle with me, right?"

Well, yeah. She only has one pokemon: a Misdreavus. She wounds Apsu with Psybeam, but he hits back with Bite, nearly ending the battle in one move. Somehow, Misdreavus hangs on and retaliates with Pain Split, severely damaging Apsu he closes the battle with a second Bite. Now I see how this works. Wrong answer lead to battles. So of course I have to answer incorrectly on purpose to battle as much as possible. But first, to do something about my team for this gym: if I'm to fight ghosts, I must bring Khali. She's one of my strongest anyway. I heal, switch Inanna for Khali, and take the unopened door.

My opponent uses Gastly and Haunter. Khali Psybeams Gastly away immediately, but has to use two attacks on Haunter. Yet again, an easy victory. I read the next sign. Why, what's 12 plus 28? Uh, maybe it's thirty. No? Alright then, Psybeam away another Gastly. Oh, Khali learned Payback. Excellent. Anyway, Psybeam again, and another one's gone. And one more time. Done. Well, maybe it's fifty? No? Khali gets a chance to try out her new move on a Drifloon. Then just for variety, I switch to Sekhmet to handle this trainer's Misdreavus. I guess the answer was forty the whole time!

3 times 13? 93 sounds close enough. Khali gets a Confuse Ray to the face in her battle against a Haunter. I want to conserve Khali's strength, so I switch to Ninhursag. Haunter puts her to sleep. I use an Awakening. Haunter uses Confuse Ray again. I switch to Apsu. Haunter hits with Hypnosis again. I use another Awakening. Haunter shadow punches Apsu and then lands another Confuse Ray, so Apsu's Bite fails and he hurts himself instead. I guess this trainer is making a battle out of things. Alas, he's far too outmatched for his minor success here to matter. I tell Apsu to finish Haunter off with Bite, but he hurts himself, and takes two Sucker Punches before finally hitting. Let's see, the other wrong answer, ah there it is, 33. Khali takes another Drifloon down with Payback, but she's starting to hurt from it. I leave her in, figuring she can handle another Drifloon. I have her use Confuse Ray, then Pain Split, before switching to Ninhursag to Leech Seed the Drifloon, then to Apsu. Switching is fun. Drifloon prolongs things by using Stockpile and Swallow, but I don't mind that at all: Leech Seed is still doing its job and healing my team. Eventually, Apsu is fully healed. I could have just used Bite and then a potion, but it's the little things in life that bring me joy, or something.

The next sign changes things up, asking me what the answer to the first question was. Was it two? No? Khali dominates Haunter, and then is put to sleep right when he's almost finished off. She takes a nasty Shadow Ball. I switch. Sekhmet falls to Shadow Ball. Apsu finishes Haunter, then Gengar. I heal my team, then choose the door that the sixteen arrow points to. This trainer leads with Misdreavus. Khali faces one of her own. The two ghosts square off, exchanging shadowy and devastating attacks. Khali is the better ghost, of course. I don't train slouch ghosts. I switch to Ninhursag and my opponent brings in Drifblim, the bloated form of Drifloon. I Leech Seed, of course. I try switching to Khali to absorb some healing from the Leech Seed, but that backfires, as Drifblim knocks her out with Payback. This calls for Sekhmet. I have Sekhmet use Swagger to confuse the blimp, then paralyze with Spark. I revive and heal Khali, then approach Fantina, the gym leader...

"Ohohoho! Finally, you have arrived! Since I came to this country, always I try to learn new things. They hold Contests in this city? I say to myself, enfin, I will excel."

Is she...

"That is why I dress this way. C'est une performance!"

Is she French?

"Also, I study Pokemon very much. I have come to be Gym Leader. And, uh, so it shall be that you challenge me. But I shall win. That is what a Gym Leader does, non?"

Non.

She leads with Drifblim. I instruct Khali to Confuse Ray. Best to save Khali's remaining power, though, so I switch to Sekhmet. Confuse Ray wears off, but Sekhmet's Swagger confuses Drifblim anyway. Sekhmet's Spark finishes the job, but she's taken a beating herself. I may not be able to use her against anything else in this battle. I switch back to Khali to fight a pokemon I've never seen before: Mismagius. Is that the evolved form of Misdreavus? And if so, how do I turn Khali into that?

Mismagius uses Magical Leaf (somehow). Khali gets a Confuse Ray in. I have Khali Pain Split, but it does almost nothing because Mismagius hurts herself anyway. Then Shadow Ball finishes poor Khali. I've made a big mistake. Apsu is able to take advantage of Mismagius' confusion and dominate her with Bite, emerging completely unscathed.

I switch to Ninhursag and Fantina switches to Gengar. Ninhursag gets to use Leech Seed again, but Gengar's Poison Jab is somehow so powerful that Ninhursag is overwhelmed. I switch to Hanuman. Gengar wins that fight. I switch back to Ninhursag. Poison Jab almost finishes her off, and she strikes back with Giga Drain for paltry damage. Leech Seed almost finishes Gengar off, but Fantina uses a hyper potion. The battle continues. Gengar uses Confuse Ray and Ninhursag hits with another Giga Drain. Gengar Shadow Claws and Ninhursag Giga Drains again. Fantina could finish Ninhursag off, but she has Gengar uses Spite for some reason, and Ninhursag actually brings Gengar down!

Once the battle is over, Sekhmet evolves into Luxray. Excellent. I emerge from the gym triumphant, and am immediately intercepted by Cynthia...

"I'm so glad to see you! You're not very easy to track down. My grandma told me about what took place in Celestic Town. Thanks for what you did in the ruins! But that Team Galactic..."

I know, they sure are nutty, aren't they?

"I thought they were just an eccentric bunch of freaks...''

That sums it up, except for their penchant for sucking at pokemon battles.

"You know, talking about how they're going to make a new universe and all."

Reminds me of that Cyrus guy. You should have heard him, Cynthia.

"And that weird way they dress, too. I thought they were harmless. It appears as if they're a lot more trouble than I thought..."

I'd prefer to think of them as more of a nuisance. But if you want to upgrade it to "trouble" then fine.

"I mean, stealing and hoarding Pokemon...That's just plain wrong. By the way, did you find the ruins interesting at all? If you did, you may want to visit the library in Canalave City. They have some ancient books that you might find interesting. It may also be of help to the completion of your Pokedex."

Oh, please don't bring the Pokedex into this...

"I think you ought to go there. OK, bye-bye for now!"

I'll keep that in mind, but first, I want to try this whole surfing thing...