After some friendly back-and-forth, Unown A finally agreed to reveal its information.
[Name: Unown
Type: Psychic
Level: 65 (Champion)
Ability: Levitate
Held Item: None
Moves: Teleport, Confusion, Psybeam, Light Screen, Reflect, Protect, Hidden Power…]
"That's it..." Shiro didn't bother hiding his disappointment.
Not only did it lack any powerful offensive moves, but with its tiny body, it could hardly withstand many attacks. For a Psychic-type Pokémon, being put under hypnosis that easily was embarrassing.
Unown A bristled. 'No! Those people only activated the machine after we walked into their zone. The psychic wave hit me and G so suddenly we got dizzy…'
"Alright, we'll talk tomorrow." He waved his hand, pulled up the thin blanket, and once his thoughts scattered, sleep quickly claimed him.
With no other choice, Unown A sighed and faded from view.
* * *
Two days later. At the southern exit of the Galar Mine No. 2.
"Vibrava, use Bug Buzz."
Shiro's order was calm.
In the dim, bluish cave, Vibrava had only just raised its body when the rookie trainer opposite him immediately surrendered.
"I give up!"
The boy rushed to his Scorbunny, who was still whimpering after the previous attack, scooped it into his arms, and hurriedly sprayed it with medicine. After the rough treatment, he recalled his Pokémon, then walked over to Shiro.
"This is two thousand Pokédollar..." He handed over the money before turning back to leave.
Shiro carefully tucked away the two notes, then turned a standard smile toward the camera aimed at his face and moved on.
The exit wasn't far ahead.
The uneven black ground on either side no longer showed any ores, nor the little Roggenrola that would sometimes poke their heads out. Sunlight streamed in from about twenty meters ahead, brightening the widening mouth of the cave.
The Galar Mine No. 2 was huge, its tunnels stretching in every direction, a maze that could easily make people lose their way. Only near the exit were League-arranged trainers waiting.
Most of them were young rookies, easy wins that simply handed over money. On occasion there were Advanced–level trainers, but many hadn't battled seriously in years. Their Pokémon had long lost their coordination, so the fights carried little weight.
It was nothing more than a routine performance.
Stepping into the sunlight, Shiro walked out of the cave.
A flash of brightness stung his eyes before the sight of green trees and a tawny stone road spread before him.
"Alright! Cut! Livestream over!" The crew behind him signaled. Ryan, following close at his side, packed away the microphone and other gear.
The rest of the staff gathered their equipment as they walked. The morning's shoot was finished.
Together they followed the stone path.
The terrain ahead rose gradually. The road sloped upward, and the trees on both sides sank lower. From here, one could look down on the shorter treeline. If you craned your neck far enough, you could just make out a shimmer of white light in the distance.
Hulbury was by the sea.
Shiro could already smell the salty tang of the ocean drifting in on the breeze, faint yet sharp at the tip of his nose.
Ryan and the rest of the crew seemed to sense the sea was near too, their steps quickened on their own.
The forest on the sides kept sinking lower into the background, and the path began to level out. A tall staircase ahead blocked their view. Almost running, the group rushed up the steep steps, and the moment they reached the top, their ears filled with open air.
The roar of waves came one after another. The coastline stretched from the right edge of their sight all the way to the distant horizon. The blue-white sky and sea blended together, joining at the farthest point.
Slightly to the left, right in front of them, stood a long brown road like a raised bridge.
At its end was the faint outline of Hulbury.
"Woohoo!"
Ryan nearly leapt into the air, spreading his arms as he ran forward. He leaned over the white railings by the roadside, half his body hanging out as he strained to see further.
After so long in the cramped space of the mine, this sudden view of the open world filled him with renewed energy.
Shiro still walked at his steady pace. When he glanced back, he saw the cameramen once again lifting their equipment. This time, however, they weren't filming him. Their lenses turned toward the distant sky and sea.
For once, they weren't doing it for work but simply because they wanted to record the beauty.
But Shiro didn't look into the distance. His gaze was fixed on a spot along the shore.
There, many small white boats had been piled together in a rush, squeezed between the edge of the woods and the beach. Their prows and sterns pressed against each other in messy heaps.
It didn't look like they had been left there long-term, and the boats were still fairly clean. In some of the nearer ones, Shiro spotted a few freshly caught Krabby. Weak on land, the crabs thrashed helplessly inside, unable to escape.
Hulbury was a port town, home mostly to fishermen who lived off the sea.
He kept walking, his eyes following the trail of footprints across the beach until it lined up with the white railings before him.
The high bridge cut off his view of what lay further below. From where he stood, no one could see under it.
Shiro glanced sideways at the others. They were too caught up in the seascape to notice. Quietly, he called out in his mind.
'A, I want to see what's under this bridge.'
'Alright.'
Unown A slipped from his body, drifted below, and shared its sight with him.
Rows of crooked wooden houses crowded the space beneath the bridge, pressed tightly together. In the narrow alleys between them, a few people moved about.
It was Hulbury's slum, or perhaps not truly a slum, but a place where fishermen lived year-round.
The higher parts of the town likely held markets and tunnels beneath, meant to house more of its people.
Shiro walked on in silence and recalled Unown A.
It seemed Gym Leader Nathan had put a lot of effort into clearing the sea's surface and driving the fishermen to live under the bridge. To keep such a wide stretch of beach clear, many facilities might have been torn down.
"Shiro!"
A shout snapped him out of his thoughts. He turned his head to look.
Two Flying Taxis were circling down from the air, landing on the broad road.
Marvin's head was already poking out, his arms waving wildly. As soon as the Corviknight stopped, he jumped out and rushed over.
From the other cab, Allister stepped out slowly.
Behind him followed Shae and Edgar.
**
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