Chapter Text
One careful step across the gangway. The salt in the sea air felt all too familiar, but the coldness bit into his lungs as he took his first deep breath. He surely was not used to this feeling anymore. Two, three more steps and finally, solid ground below his feet. “Welcome to Canalave City”, announced the captain's voice through muffled speakers. He tried to pay some attention to the captain's advice for new tourists to this city, but as his eyes gazed over these streets that he had not seen for so many years, the static sound of the speaker blended in with the Wingulls' cries and both faded out of his perception.
“So this is... home?”
It felt wrong to look around as much as he did on his walk to the hostel, but he could not stop his eyes from wandering across the different cranes and what he assumed to be warehouses. The harbour seemed much more industrious than where his ship had departed from, but maybe that is just what the cool weather does to people. Maybe walking faster would prevent the chills from creeping further down his spine. Just around the next corner, however, the architecture changed into rows of small, light-grey, picturesque family homes. But they were overshadowed by the enormous wooden drawbridge that had already caught his attention when his ship entered the port. Standing next to it, the wood looked almost ancient. “Let's hope it has not yet started to rot”, he thought as he walked across the bridge, but he had to chuckle at the thought that this almost one century old bridge had waited all its lifespan just for him to finally crumble and fall into the ocean.
Once he reached the end of the bridge, he took a long look on his PokéNav. “Canalave library right, Gym left”, he said to himself looking up and down to verify what his map showed him, “and the hostel... even further left. So I have to pass the Gym anyway...” Didn't he plan to immediately go to bed after the long voyage? Didn't he tell himself that the gym could wait until tomorrow? He let out a deep sigh.
Next thing he knew, he was entering the Canalave Gym, all his belongings tied together in an overly large backpack weighing on his shoulders and still wearing the same clothes that had been stained with sweat and sea air during the entire day. As if he ever listened to his own plans.
“Excuse me”, he asked a middle-aged man leaning next to a shovel. With a booming voice, the ruffian almost shouted a “Yes?” back at him. Maybe he should have approached someone else.
“Where can I find the Gym Leader here?”
Shaking his head, the man fell into a proud laughter.
“Right here”, he finally answered, “I am Byron, leader of the Canalave Gym! And you must be new in town, right?”
“Oh I am sorry”, he answered and Byron interrupted him with a snarky “I bet you are!”, before letting him continue: “I really should have done some research before coming here.”
Byron eyed up his visitor. 20 years, at most, quite slender, neatly ordered dark-teal hair and wearing way too thin clothes for this region's climate. Probably never worked a day in his life. His fist tightened around his shovel.
“But now that you're here”, the older man glanced at him with a smirk, “I bet you won't be leaving without a battle.”
A smile crossed the newcomer's face. “Sure. I, Magnus, am challenging you to a Gym battle!”
Just a minute later, they stood at opposite sides of a battlefield. “3 vs. 3 according to Sinnoh Pokémon League rules”, the referee exclaimed.
“Let's welcome our visitor at Canalave”, Byron mumbled to his first Pokéball before looking across the field to his challenger and shouting: “Go, Bronzor!”
“Magneton, it's time for you”, Magnus answered.
“Ah, a fellow Steel-type trainer?”, Byron asked and his face revealed that his challenger had finally aroused at least a bit of interest.
“To some extent, at least”, said Magnus, “but I have been coached by the greatest Steel trainer.”
Byron's face darkened.
“Then you surely are ready for this: Confuse Ray!”
“Thunder Wave!”
Before the Gym Leader's Pokémon could start its attack, an electric shock left it almost completely immobilised.
“Thunderbolt!”, Magnus commanded and despite its best efforts to dodge the attack, the paralysis made Bronzor stay stuck in place.
Two more Thunderbolts and some desperate attempts to evade them were all it took and Byron was one Pokémon down.
“Your Thunderbolts are quite strong, I have to admit that. But they won't help you against this opponent. Go, Steelix!”
Of course, Magnus had heard about Steelix, but seeing its enormous body coiling up in front of him was something different. The Gym's ground started to shiver as Steelix moved forward.
“Gyro Ball!”
The Steel-on-Steel impact made a horrible screeching, waking Magnus up from being mesmerised by his opponent's sheer size. That hit Magneton harder than it should have, but the Electric-Type stayed afloat. Magnus shook his head, frustrated because he did not pay attention to the incoming attack. Maybe he should have gotten some rest before throwing himself into this fight, but there was no turning back now. With an ever-so-slight smirk on his face, he told Bayron: “Indeed, Thunderbolt won't hurt your Steelix a bit. But I have something else up my sleeve: Magneton, Hidden Power!”
A white sphere of energy formed in front of Magneton and red light beams erupted from the tips of Magneton's magnets jolting towards the sphere and turning it into a fiery red. In the blink of an eye, the red sphere was ejected towards Steelix and hit it straight on its massive jaw, bursting into hot flames. The floor shook as Steelix fell to the ground and both trainers stood there for a moment of eery silence. 2-0 for the challenger.
Without saying a word, Byron sent out his last Pokémon.
“Is that a Bastiodon?”
Magnus could not believe his eyes. A fossil Pokémon right here in front of him?
“Doesn't know who the Gym Leader is, but at least he knows he should be amazed by this sight”, Byron remarked.
Thunderbolts flew through the air, but Bastiodon seemed to be unscathed by them. Ever so slowly, it crawled closer towards Magneton, always withstanding its onslaught of electricity. From close range, it hit Magneton with a Body Slam, before Magneton managed to reposition itself on the battlefield. This slow-motion chase was repeated twice, before Magnus finally had enough and withdrew Magneton.
“I think you will appreciate my next Pokémon”, he said, before releasing an Armaldo from his Pokéball.
“Hahaha!”, Byron exclaimed, “Fossil against fossil! Finally, you are starting to speak my language!”
“Water Pulse!”, Magnus shouted and Byron answered with a “Flash Cannon!”
A beam of silver energy burst through Armaldo's water jet that crashed onto Bastiodon. Armaldo tumbled, seemingly struck by a hard hit. Bastiodon, however, seemed to finally feel exhausted from this battle. Magnus noticed that Bastiodon's left front leg shivered a bit too much.
“Brick break, left!”
Armaldo followed suit and the heavy Bastiodon could not react quickly enough. Just as Magnus expected, the left leg could no longer carry the massive Pokémon's body and the Steel giant had to kneel down.
“Finish it off with a -”, but before Magnus could command the final blow, Byron withdrew Bastiodon.
“We know when a battle is lost”, he said, “that's the kind of experience you learn with age. You have earned yourself the Mine Badge, congratulations!”
Finally, Byron seemed to have warmed up to his guest.
“Thank you”, Magnus replied, “I was quite surprised by the long-distance move your Bastiodon used. Never heard of that before. What was it called, Flash Cannon?”
“Right”, Byron proudly exclaimed, “That's a Canalave Gym speciality! But now that you won the Mine Badge, you might as well take the TM to teach this move. Trust me, your Magneton will appreciate it!”
Pointing at Armaldo, Byron continued: “Where did you get him from? Not from the Underground, did you?”
“Underground? What's that?”, Magnus answered and Byron laughed.
“If you have a sweet spot for fossils, you will love it there! Just head to Oreburgh City and ask the local Gym Leader about it. If you can defeat him, he will surely tell you all about it!”
“I actually wanted to go to Oreburgh anyway.”
“Sure, after all, it is the closest Gym to our city.”
“I did not return to Sinnoh to collect Badges”, Magnus replied, “well, at least that's not my primary reason. Some family matters are waiting for me in Oreburgh, that's why I have to go there.”
“Family, eh?”, Byron's face seemed to have softened a bit, “so you grew up in Sinnoh?”
“Not really”, Magnus shrugged, “just the first years of my early childhood. Unfortunately, I remember very little about it. I would like to know more about this region and its people – my people.”
“If that's the case, then you have come to the right city: There's no better place to learn about Sinnoh than the Canalave library. You should definitely have a look there”, Byron recommended him and took a look at his watch, “but you will have to wait until tomorrow for that.”
That at least meant that Magnus would manage to get some rest at his hostel. The two men parted with a firm handshake that almost broke Magnus's fingers and after a short walk through the city, Magnus finally reached the bed he had been waiting for.