The Type Specialist

There were several different mid-stage evolutions that tended to lose most of their ability to fight when they evolved. Bug Types were the most famous, with species like Metapod and Kakuna being unable to do anything but use Harden. However, if properly prepared, it was possible to retain one or two of their attacks, most famously String Shot, and in rare cases, Poison Sting.

How does this apply to Nebby? In his situation, he was no longer a Cosmog but a Cosmoem, which was its own form of a cocoon. His boundless energy was now contained inside an impenetrable shell, and he spent all his time completely asleep. If Lillie hadn’t trained him previously, I imagined he would be capable of nothing but rest. However, through months of unknowing preparation, it turned out he could still respond to commands, even in his unconscious state.

He kind of reminded me of a mid-stage Bug Type crossed with a Komala, for that reason. More importantly though, his evolution somehow had the opposite effects from most other cocoon-like Pokémon. He might not have been able to bounce around with Splash any more, but he now had a viable way to actually fight.

"Teleport!" Lillie yelled. “Over their head!”

Eevee's eyes went as wide as dinner plates as he hastily scrambled backwards. Nebby had been motionless only a second before, but long-ingrained instinct from all his training with Lillie let him actually react to her command. He might not have displayed any conscious expression on his face, but with a twist, he disappeared. After a pop, he appeared directly above Eevee's head.

Then, he fell.

Cosmoem was an unreasonably heavy Pokémon. It was quite literally the densest species there was. Small enough to fit in a hand but as heavy as a small car, he impacted the ground with a small thud, leaving Eevee breathing heavily only inches nearby.

"Swift!" I ordered right back.

It took Eevee a moment to recover from that near miss before he was able to unleash his move. Several glowing stars shot out with a quick flick of his tail, and they impacted all around and into the sleeping Cosmoem without any response at all.

"Teleport, but use Cosmic Power first!" Lillie shouted next.

Once more Nebby disappeared with Teleport, but this time his body darkened, somewhat. His faint, passive suction increased in ferocity as he began to draw in latent energies to reinforce himself before he disappeared and appeared once more. This time, he popped back into existence even closer to Eevee’s head.

Unfortunately for my Normal Type, Nebby hit.

Cosmic Power reinforced Nebby and helped him manage his psychic powers. While there weren't any direct offensive boosts, it made his body strong enough to better land this attack. I could hear the thump of Nebby's body impacting Eevee's head, which caused an even louder cry of pain to ring out right after. The fall didn’t continue all the way through as Nebby minimized the damage by pausing himself in the air. Eevee, however, still dropped onto the ground, his head pressed down and his paws rubbing the spot on his head that was filled with pain. I could already see a lump forming where Nebby had struck.

"Vee," Eevee huffed, puffing up his cheeks and sending Nebby a glare.

I shook my head, amused.

"Let's call this spar here, Lillie. I think Eevee has had enough."

My Pokémon didn’t wait to abandon our impromptu battlefield and run all the way back to jump in my arms. Tears left his eyes; he was upset, but I could tell he was also just exaggerating it to get more pets.

"It's alright. I'm sure Ribombee can get you all healed up with one of those Pollen Puffs of his."

Drool left Eevee's mouth at the thought of that sweet treat, then he shook his head and continued his overly loud moaning. I laughed and scratched the back of his neck.

Off to the side, Mimikyu stared at us without blinking. I was pretty sure he was jealous. Ribombee buzzed over to help out with healing, like I had mentioned. Eevee happily wiggled in my arms as he chewed on a restorative Pollen Puff.

"So, how about it, Lillie? Thoughts on Nebby’s first attacking move?" I asked, meeting Lillie at the halfway point of this small clearing, located just off a main road.

She gained a strained smile.

“I’m happy with anything if it means Nebby can still fight,” she said.

Kneeling down, Lillie scooped Nebby up into her arms, carefully grabbing him from where he had gone motionless after striking Eevee’s head. His eyes didn't open up, and I could see her struggle to not frown. Still, there had to be some kind of awareness in his slumber, as he had responded to her commands and had modified his passive levitation to allow Lillie move him without feeling his weight at all.

"I think, if I had to describe it, Nebby is using some form of Splash," Lillie said quietly, staring at her Pokémon. "I know some Pokémon can deal damage with Splash if they land on their opponent."

"Hm. It might be closer to Struggle," I replied with a hum. "Falling like that means there's no Type energy to support the move, but he's both heavy enough and Sturdy enough to ignore most of the recoil."

This method of attack was a typeless, physical smash that was relatively easy to dodge. However, when Nebby actually hit, his weight meant that the Teleport-drop was potentially enough to take out even extremely tough foes.

"Whatever it is, I'm... I'm just happy he can actually battle. Exhausting our opponents hasn’t worked much recently. Now he can actually deal damage."

"I’m happy for you two,” I said.

"I know, but we still need to head to the Temple of the Sun and Moon on Poni Island,” Lillie continued. “If... If it’s anything like the Lake, I think Nebby might evolve there. And then..."

Her voice quivered, and the volume of her words drastically decreased.

"And then even if he has to leave, helping him reach his final form will be for the best.”

I didn’t have a proper way to respond to that. I wanted to say Nebby wouldn’t have to leave, but at the same time, I didn’t know. Her words hung in the air like some kind of depressing prophecy. Whatever would happen with Nebby, we were in unknown territory, and all I knew was that I’d be there to support Lillie the whole way.

Wanting to change the topic, I brought up Lillie’s plans for the rest of her team. Thankfully, talking about that seemed to lighten the mood. As it stood, she had five Pokémon with her—Nebby, Primarina, Clefable, Shiinotic, and Snowy. She had room for one more, and she raised the rather astute point that her team had a crippling lack of physical attackers. To my surprise, she actually already had a solution in mind: there was a species on Poni Island she could catch. It had decent physical power to help round off her team. I was proud of her foresight when it came to that plan.

Not too long after, as Lillie and I returned to casually practicing with our teams, a loud "Ho there!" rang out from above. A heavy thump marked Tropius landing, and Hope hopped off to jog our way and meet back with both of us.

"Just finished scouting Po Town," Hope said.

Worry briefly flashed over Lillie’s face. Hope had volunteered to go ahead since we knew Po Town was potentially the location of Team Skull’s main base.

"I had Tropius circle around a few times, and from what I saw on his back, it looks like Team Skull hasn't completely taken it over," Hope finished.

"What?” My brow furrowed. “How is that? Hope, Professor Kukui seemed convinced that Guzma had taken over the town. What’s going on?"

Did he lie?

Almost as if reading my mind, Hope answered my question.

“I think it might have been a partial exaggeration,” Hope replied, choosing her words carefully. “Team Skull definitely has a large presence here, but only in one section that looks to have been abandoned for years. There are other people around—not many—but there is at least some kind of civilian presence ahead.”

“Huh,” I said. “And is it walled off?”

“Maybe a tall fence around the villa Team Skull is occupying, but nothing around the town itself.”

Even curiouser. Po Town was completely walled off in the games.

I wasn't sure if that was due to a gameplay mechanic or a difference between worlds, but either way, this was good news.

Turning back to Lillie, I cleared my throat and put Eevee on the ground. He rubbed against my legs for a moment before running off to where some of the other members of our teams were playing tag.

"We'll head in together, then. We should be able to reach Nanu without problem if it's divided like Hope claims."

She nodded her head as if to reconfirm her observations.

"After that..." I hummed. "We probably need to change around our teams if we're going to test Guzma."

"Nah," Hope said, "I'm good. Half my team is technically new, but since everyone but Steenee has evolved, I want to use this as a way to help them get stronger. As 'bad' as Guzma is, he's still the second strongest Bug Type trainer that I know. Considering the first strongest is the Bug Type Gym Leader back in Kalos, this can be a way to push those new team members to greater heights."

"I didn't consider that," I mumbled, rubbing my chin. "I'll do the same then, but I'm still going to switch Gardevoir in. If he's willing to help, I want to be able to rely on his Teleportation."

Hope nodded in agreement, but then Lillie joined in.

"Nebby can Teleport!" she added with a forced, cheerful shout.

"He can," I said carefully, "but as things stand now, Nebby only responds to your orders. It's better to keep him safe in Po Town's Pokémon Center. I don't want to bring him or you into the heart of Team Skull."

She grumbled something about having trained exactly for this, but she still relented. Other than those quiet murmurs, I didn't see a sign that Lillie would risk herself during this.

"Then, if there's nothing else we need to discuss, we should start heading over," I said.

No one objected, so we returned our Pokémon and headed down the main path to where Po Town awaited.

Hope was right there were no walls around the town itself, which was strange to see because I genuinely expected this place to be essentially a massive box. Instead, a small set of houses sat near the coast with a few rare businesses mixed between them. I could see a Pokémon Center within that group, but my gaze flicked up to where more buildings sat above the town, on a hill. That section had a tall, iron fence that surrounded it, which almost reminded me of a prison. However, the few buildings inside were far too dilapidated to have been in use for any time recently, but I could make out a few, white-hatted members of Team Skull walking around within.

"So they have their own villa," I mumbled.

"Told you," Hope said at my side.

Just in case, we didn't head to the Pokémon Center, first. At the very edge of town, there was a police station, and it was public knowledge that this was where the Kahuna of the island, Nanu, was stationed.

We headed inside.

Immediately upon entry to this blue-roofed building, I was practically assaulted by cats. No, none attacked or came up to me, but there were at least a dozen different Alolan Meowth lounging around and resting spread across this single-room building.

Some slept on desks. A pair curled around one another on the front counter. Even more were grouped in a beam of sunlight coming in from a window. Despite all the cats, I couldn't see Nanu.

"There's a bell on the front counter," Hope pointed out. "It says 'ring for service' on a sign next to it."

"...Is Nanu a bellhop?" Lillie whispered.

Curious, Hope was the one to walk up and ring it. When it did, we all froze.

Every. Single. Meowth. Suddenly woke up and snapped their gaze our way. Eerie, the entire colony shot up to stare at us in unison with their piercing, yellow eyes.

I wasn't sure what to do, but it was genuinely uncomfortable to be stared at by so many predators at once. It wasn't until a few coughs and a rustling caused a commotion in the back that changed the mood.

Out of nowhere, a desk chair stopped reclining flat to shoot up into its normal, supportive shape. Nanu, Ula'ula's Kahuna was in it with a flat look on his face as he did his best to pretend he hadn't just been taking a nap.

The man was on the older side of Pokémon trainers, with grey hair and a somewhat wrinkled face. He seemed more middle-aged than anything else, though, with his relative exhaustion coming from stress more than anything else.

"Yeah?" the man asked, shoving his hands into his short-sleeved, black police jacket as he sauntered over.

"Kahuna Nanu? I'm Hope of the Wandering Elite, and this is Alex... also of the Wandering Elite. We're here to—"

"Nope. Not interested. I thought I told Kukui, but I'm not taking up any role as a Gym Leader or a member of the Elite Four," he interrupted.

A heavy silence weighed down in the area. Nanu brought up his pinky and picked at his teeth.

"...Can I ask why?" I said cautiously.

"Like I said, not interested. Besides, it's not public knowledge, but I shouldn't hold an important role anyway. I have... Well, let's just call it a conflict-driven past."

The man smirked ever so slightly as if he had just made a joke. He looked as if he was trying to maintain an air of cool nonchalance.

"And this guy is the most popular Kahuna in Alola?" Hope whispered.

He must have heard her, because Nanu gained a frustrated scowl.

"Wasn't my choice, but the people want what the people want. Now, tell me, why are you here?"

I genuinely had to take a moment to recover from, well, everything that just happened. After clearing my throat, I was finally able to push out a few words.

“Then, if you’re not interested in being tested...” Nanu sent me a flat look. “We wanted to ask about Team Skull. We thought they had taken over Po Town, but they seemed to be relatively constrained to one area. What’s going on?”

The man let out a long, drawn out sigh.

“Team Skull didn’t exactly take over, but about a decade ago, this place’s mayor was arrested for corruption,” Nanu explained. “Soured to the experience, a new one wasn’t elected, so his little ‘mayoral mansion’ and surrounding villa went unused. Few years back, Team Skull moved into the abandoned property and started bothering the people who lived here. I changed stations at that to ensure they don’t get too out of line. A decent chunk of the population left with Team Skull moving in, but the divide between local and Team Skull is pretty set. It isn’t the most pleasant of situations, but it’s stable.”

“Oh,” I said. “Huh.”

Hope rubbed her chin.

“Would challenging Guzma to a fight mess with that?” she asked.

Nanu let out another sigh and ran a hand through his short hair.

“Probably not, but I can never tell with how that man acts. He might treat the members of Team Skull well, but he’s unpredictable with his actions outside of them. Recently, there hasn’t been any movement from Team Skull. Few weeks ago, Guzma came back and hasn’t left. If anything, we’re in a quiet period, but I can’t say I feel too great about what they might do after.”

Some of Nanu’s words gave me pause, and I ever so slightly cocked my head.

“When did he get back?”

“Few weeks ago,” Nanu replied.

“And he hasn’t left?”

“Yeah.”

I looked to Hope—she made the same connection I did. As far as I could tell, it seemed Guzma went straight here after his battle in Malie and never left. I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing considering I’d informed him of my intent to challenge him. For now, I just figured it was a good thing the Team Skull leader was still here.

“But you two intend to challenge Guzma. Some kind of test for a position in the Pokémon League?” Nanu asked.

“Yeah. It’s mostly Alex’s idea, but we are. Why?” Hope asked.

“Look, to be frank, I’m not interested in challenging either of you. Your teams are too strong. I might get challengers every now and then, but I’m still a bit rusty from any serious fights. I know you two are taking on the Kahunas alongside your job issuing tests, so how about this?” He cleared his throat. “Go face Guzma, come back, and if you win, I’ll consider your Ula’ula challenge passed. You won’t need to face me, and I won’t need to face you. Everyone comes out a victor.”

“What about me?” Lillie interjected, speaking up for the first time since we first arrived.

Nanu blinked. For some reason, he was caught off guard when he looked her way.

“What about you?” he asked.

“I beat the two trials on Ula’ula, so now I get to face you, right?”

He stared for a long time before beginning to grumble.

“Cripes, I can’t believe I forgot about the Island Challenge,” he said under his breath. “Gonna have to deal with all those kids coming through soon.”

After a few seconds of unhappy mutterings, Nanu sighed yet again but he still nodded his head.

“Fine, I’ll accept your challenge. Give me a day or two to ready myself first, yeah? Maybe after your friends face Guzma. I’ll be in better shape, then.”

“...Okay?” Lillie said.

Nanu just shrugged.

“Then, if you all don’t have anything else to talk to me about...”

“We’re good,” I said.

“Great.” He made a shooing motion with his hands. “Get out.”

It wasn’t the strangest encounter with an official that I’ve had, but it was definitely bewildering to see a Kahuna act so casually. Hope, Lillie, and I ended up heading out of the police station, with me the last to leave, in the rear.

“Oh, and hold on, Alex,” Nanu suddenly said right when I stepped outside. “Just have to say, good job beating Giovanni in Unova. That guy really needed to be put in his place."

I didn’t get a chance to ask how he knew or what he meant before the door to the police station closed behind me. Before I could even check to see if I could open it up, there was a click, and the sign in a blinds-covered window was switched to “closed.”

“...I guess we’re going to head to Guzma now,” I said.

“Think so. Lillie, we’ll bring you to the Pokémon Center first,” Hope replied. “Alex and I will leave a pair of Pokémon with you just in case before heading out.”

I trusted Pokémon Centers to keep Lilllie safe, but one could never be too careful. I also needed to make a call to bring Gardevoir back, so we had several reasons to go.

As we walked, however, my mind was stuck on the encounter we had ahead. If Guzma had spent these past few weeks training, I had to wonder just how strong he’d be.

Guzma couldn't stop grinning as he watched his Pokémon practice. From a half-broken balcony, he crouched and stared at his Bug Types training in the old mansion’s backyard.

Ariados spun a web over a dying tree to practice her speed. Scizor's strikes caused a fallen wall to break down into smaller pieces of rubble. Masquerain zipped through the air so fast that Guzma could only see a blur, and Golisopod carved a literal trench into the ground with only a single swipe of his claw.

As for Guzma's newest Pokémon, they were training too. His eyes could not leave the chaos their actions wrought. He had always claimed to be destruction in human form, but these? These Pokémon of unimaginable strength? To put it lightly, they were destruction in Pokémon form.

He couldn't resist letting out a mad cackle.

"Guzma!"

The voice that rang out behind him came out like the crack of a whip. It was punctuated with the sound of the door to the balcony slamming wide open.

"We got trouble," Plumeria said as she crossed her arms. "Some kid broke in, and one of my sisters saw those two idiots enter town."

Guzma didn't respond. His eyes remained trained on his Pokémon. He took in the entire backyard area as he considered the strength of his team.

"Good," he said.

"Good?!" Plumeria yelled. "There's someone in here beating up all my cute brothers and sisters and now we got two elite trainers on their way!"

Guzma stood up and stretched his arms forward. Interlacing his fingers, he caused the joints in them to crack with a push.

"Plumeria, Plumeria, Plumeria," he started, shaking his head. "It's been weeks. We’ve had everyone training, like I asked?”

He still didn't turn his head.

"Yeah. I made sure we had training groups set up and even gave them a few tips myself. Team Skull has been hard at work and is now the strongest it's ever been. More so now, especially with—"

Her words stopped when Guzma finally looked her way. He could feel just how wide his grin was, and he didn't miss how his second-in-command kept watch on his two new Pokémon out of the corner of her eye.

"Take your most trusted and head down into town,” he told her.

"Excuse me?"

"If those two are coming here, all their attention will be our way."

It took Plumeria a second, but she soon gained a smirk as well.

"You're saying I can finally teach that girl a lesson."

"More than that. Bring her here."

Plumeria paused and raised an eyebrow towards Guzma, but he had already turned away. Silently, she shrugged and walked off, not even needing to confirm the command. The two of them had known each other for years. If one of them needed the other to do something, they always got it down.

In this case, though, Guzma pushed what feeling of guilt he had deep, deep down. He didn’t actually care about that girl Plumeria was frustrated with, but she did, and more importantly, Lusamine did.

That woman, the one who had given Guzma so much, had dropped hints about wanting to bring the girl Plumeria was obsessed with to the Aether Foundation. Guzma wasn't sure why, but it wasn’t his place to ask. All he knew was that he owed Lusamine, and this was something he could do to help.

Ignoring the knot in his stomach, Guzma twisted his head to crack his neck and shifted his focus back on the task at hand.

"Alright you layabouts!" he shouted. "We're gonna get some company!"

He jumped, leaping off the balcony. Ariados rushed to fire off a Sticky Web underneath him, creating a soft surface for Guzma to safely land. The impact still hurt his knees, but the move helped minimize the force. He marched forward, ignoring the slight pain and the stickiness on his shoes, and moved up to his team while putting on a face of true strength.

"We got a pair of trainers coming our way,” he said. “Bullies. Villains. They thought they could taunt us in front of the entire region, dangling false opportunities right in front of our faces.

"No, I say!" Guzma shouted, slamming a fist into a hand. "When they come here, we're gonna grind them down, pulverize them into dust, and we’re gonna show them what we're made of!"

Guzma knew his team was strong. Based on the sheer volume of his team's roars, they knew they were strong, too. He was already powerful before, but now with weeks of training and so many advantages sent his way, he knew he couldn’t be beat.

As his Pokémon cheered for their impending victory—his two new team members louder than the rest—the lower door to the backyard opened up, and Guzma turned around.

A grin grew back onto his face as he saw who it was. The two trainer’s eyes locked. There was no avoiding this challenge.

"Before that, though, it seems we have a warm-up,” Guzma said.

The boy wearing a striped shirt reached for a Pokéball. Once he grabbed that, the boy adjusted the black cap on his head in preparation for this match.

"We didn't get to finish our battle in Malie Garden," Guzma said to Elio, the kid walking forward. "If you've come for a rematch, you're not going to get it. After all, this won't be a fight.”

His grin had never been so feral.

"This is going to be a beatdown."