I found myself in Nacrene City, the "Pearl of a Place" according to the sign. Before I did anything to explore, I spent hours training on Route 3 to strengthen my team.
Through the training, Cole grew to Level 18, and evolved into Pignite! He also learned Flame Charge in place of Tackle and Arm Thrust in place of Ember. Mason grew to Level 17 and learned Thunder Wave and Shock Wave. Arthur grew to Level 17 and learned Leech Seed in place of Growl. Purrloin also grew to Level 17, and he learned Pursuit in place of Slash and Fury Swipes as well. Madelyn grew to Level 17 and learned Air Cutter in place of Gust, as well as Quick Attack.
I also caught a Drilbur (Ground, Female, Lv. 10) when I went back to that cave, and I once again found difficulties trying to catch it even in the red, as I had with the past few Pokemon. It occurred to me that standard Pokeballs may be quite useless in the Unova region, because it seems like Unova Pokemon have a lower catch-rate than any others I've dealt with so far. I'm thinking I'll need to forget about Pokeballs altogether and focus on Great Balls and Ultra Balls from now on.
Nacrene City turned out to be a series of warehouses that had been converted to homes and studios, and I visited some people and looked over the interesting homes. I received a Charcoal from someone, and gave it to Cole to boost his Fire-Type attacks. I also found a nice restaurant, but there wasn't much to do there so I left.
I started to head into the Nacrene Gym, and bumped into N as he came out of the building. He told me he wanted to see things no one else could, the ideals of Pokemon inside Pokeballs, how Trainers should be, and a future where Pokemon have become perfect. He asked if I felt the same, and I thought about it for a time before agreeing. His questions were interesting, if nothing else, and I wouldn't mind finding out the answers.
N decided he should test me to see if I could see this future of his too. N sent out Pidove, and I sent out Cole, who attacked with Flame Charge for massive damage that Pidove barely clung on from. Pidove used Growl, then another Flame Charge finished it off.
Next, N sent out Tympole, and I sent Mason out against it. Mason hit Tympole with Shock Wave and knocked it out in a single blow, then Timburr was sent out against Madelyn. Madelyn hit Timburr with Air Cutter, and it was knocked out to win the battle.
After the battle, N told me that his friends weren't strong enough to save all Pokemon, that he perhaps he couldn't solve the equation that would change the world. N told me to do that he needed power, enough to make anyone and everyone agree with him. N started to leave, telling me he knew the power he needed, a Pokemon named Zekrom, which was supposedly the creator of the Unova region along with a hero. I knew this could only mean trouble.
My team consisted of:
Cole (Pignite, Fire, Lv. 18)
Mason (Blitzle, Electric, Lv. 17)
Arthur (Pansage, Grass, Lv. 17)
Purrloin (Dark, Male, Lv. 17)
Madelyn (Normal/Flying, Lv. 17)
With N gone, I entered the Gym, ready to battle. I found out that the Gym was actually at the back of a large museum. I went forward, and found a Scientist admiring a large fossil. He turned around, and introduced himself as Hawes, the assistant director. Hawes gave me a tour of the museum. He told me the large fossil was of a Dragon-Type Pokemon. He also showed me a meteorite nearby, and an old stone before he led me to the gate of the Gym.
Hawes told me that not only was the Gym Leader a kind and strong woman, she was also his wife! I was surprised to hear about that, and wondered what kind of woman she could be. I stepped forward and was stopped by Clyde, who gave me a Fresh Water and told me that all the Trainers in the Gym use Normal-Type Pokemon. He then went on to explain that I needed to answer questions hidden in books to move forward, and hoped it wouldn't take me long to get to the Gym Leader.
After being told the first book was "Nice to Meet you, Pokemon." I headed forward into the Gym. I quickly got into a battle, and Cole got through it with minimal damage. I found the first book, a fairy tale about a little boy who met a Pokemon for the first time ever. It was a small brown Pokemon, but before I could read more I found a memo between the pages, which read "Pokemon Trainers! I am the Gym Leader, Lenora! I hid four memos in this library. Each of them has a question. Can you solve the questions and come find me?"
A question followed it, "What is the first Pokemon you met in this Gym?" which was a Patrat, and it had a hint that the book was on a bookshelf in the middle row. I quickly found it, "The Biology of Patrat" and found another memo, the second question was "Flame burns inside it's body, and it gives off smoke from it's head while it runs... What is this book?"
I found myself looking about, and found a man reading a book called "The Structure of a Locomotive." which sounded exactly like what I was looking for. I had to battle the Scientist to get the book and read the memo, and after a short battle which saw Cole grow to Level 19, she handed it over.
The next memo had a question, "If you heat it up in a pot, it'll be delicious. What is this?" which sounded like Poffins. I looked around for a bit, and found the book "Sweets for Pokemon" which talked about Poffins, sweets made by heating Berries in a pot, popular in the Sinnoh region. This memo had one final question, "From this bookshelf... Move two backward, move one to the left, move two forward, move one to the right, and move one backward... Now, where is it?"
I had to move around the library with these directions, and I had to ponder for a time what they meant, before I realized they meant move by bookshelves and not by steps. I found myself facing a little girl, and I had to fight her before I would be allowed to battle the Gym Leader. I read the last memo after I beat the girl, which congratulated me on getting that far. There was a switch under the book and I pressed it, then the bookshelf slid to the side and revealed a staircase leading down.
I healed my Pokemon and went down, and finally I met the Gym Leader, Lenora. She introduced herself as the director of the Nacrene Museum as well as the Nacrene Gym Leader. We wasted no time, and the battle started immediately.
I sent out Cole against her Herdier, and it's Intimidate ability cut Cole's attack. Cole used Arm Thrust for massive damage, and then Herdier used Leer to lower Cole's defense. I had Cole use Flame Charge next, and Herdier was knocked out. Cole grew to Level 20, and he learned Smog in place of Tail Whip.
I switched over to Arthur when she sent out Watchog, and then it used Leer to lower Arthur's defense, before he countered with Leech Seed to keep the pressure on Watchog. Watchog used Retaliate to knock out Arthur, and I sent out Cole once more. Watchog used Retliate next for good damage, then Cole countered with Arm Thrust to knock out Watchog and win the battle!
Cole grew to Level 21 after all these battles, and Lenora was defeated. She complimented me on my fighting style, and told me I was a Pokemon Trainer worthy of receiving the Basic Badge! With the Basic Badge, Pokemon up to Level 30 will obey me, and Lenora handed over TM67 (Retaliate) as well, an attack that does more damage if an ally fainted the turn before use.
Suddenly Hawes ran up, calling out to his wife. He said she needed to come quickly, that Team Plasma was threatening to steal some old bones. Lenora told me to come along with them, and I ran off to stop Team Plasma.
I got to the museum, and I saw Lenora telling them to stop. One of the Plasma Grunts was telling her that Team Plasma was claiming the museum's Dragon Skull in the name of Pokemon liberation. They said that they would steal it right in front of them to show they were serious, and before we could do anything they used a smokescreen to hide themselves as they ran off with the skull.
I ran off after Lenora, but Team Plasma was long gone. I met up with her on the street, and before I could ask her about their whereabouts, someone came up to Lenora asking about fossils. Lenora seemed to forget the situation for a moment, surprised to see this stranger she knew. Apparently he was an artist suffering from artist's block, and Lenora introduced him as Burgh, the Castelia City Gym Leader.
Burgh claimed he was just looking for a change of pace, and noticed how hectic it was around here. Lenora told him that someone just walked away with one of the exhibits, and then Bianca came by from the sidewalk, asking what was going on. Cheren wasn't too far behind, and I introduced them to Lenora, and she suggested we split up to find Team Plasma. Lenora also told Cheren and Bianca to stay at the museum, and told me to go with Burgh to search Pinwheel Forest.
After Burgh left to wait at the entrance to Pinwheel Forest, I was given a Dowsing Machine from Bianca, and Cheren went inside to protect the musem with Bianca right behind him. I decided I would heal my team and go after Burgh soon.
I'm glad to see Cole at such a high Level, but I knew I'd have to work hard to train my other Pokemon to match. I just hoped that their stats would get better, as the team hadn't been getting too much stronger with the minimal variety of Pokemon I had to fight on Route 3.
Current Team:
Mason (Blitzle, Electric, Lv. 17)
Cole (Pignite, Fire/Fighting, Lv. 21)
Arthur (Pansage, Grass, Lv. 17)
Purrloin (Dark, Male, Lv. 17)
Madelyn (Pidove, Normal/Flying, Lv. 17)
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