Three weeks. That was how long I spent training to take on Mossdeep Gym. The deciding factor was Azumarill’s Belly Drum, which took longer to get in a decent state than I expected. Ninetales, Altaria, and Florges all managed to learn Aurora Veil, Hyper Voice, and Synthesis respectively, but Mawile’s Taunt wasn’t fully battle ready as it took a bit for her to use it.

Since the rest of my team got their moves in order, I decided it would be a good idea to teach some TM moves now while everyone had time to practice. To be able to start my planned weather strategy, I taught Cottonee Sunny Day, while Florges learned Solarbeam. Additionally, since Misty Terrain could be used to prevent conditions like sleep from Hypnosis, I borrowed the TM from Wally to teach Florges, Ninetales, Azumarill, Mawile, and Cottonee the move. Everyone but Altaria could learn it, and that list included Ponyta, although he would have to wait until he evolved into Rapidash.

To practice Misty Terrain, my Pokémon played a game of improvised tag where one Pokémon who was “it” would try to tag another Pokémon running around to eliminate them. Whoever was “it” was allowed to create small patches of Misty Terrain that everyone else had to avoid. If whoever was “it” eliminated everyone in a short amount of time, they’d win, otherwise they would lose. Everyone enjoyed the game, especially Ponyta since he got to run around so much. However, the only Pokémon who was “it” that managed to win was Florges, who used Grass Knot to trip everyone she chased, and managed to tag Altaria just by asking him to come over. It was technically cheating to use moves, but considering everyone else used them as well, I didn’t say anything.

Although, maybe I should have called out the cheating considering how terrified they were when they saw Azumarill chase after them with Aqua Jet. In her round as “it,” Azumarill only lost because Ninetales managed to repeatedly throw her off with Confuse Ray.

Outside of spending my training with everyone and taking breaks to explore the city with them, I also spent a lot of time thinking about strategies. Not every Pokémon on my team was a trickster, but Ninetales and Cottonee practically lived that role. While none of my plans were that advanced, I did realize that Ninetales was the perfect partner for Mawile since Ninetales’s Confuse Ray could trick enemies into approaching Mawile and getting bit. I originally planned for those two to lead, but soon realized that it would be better for Azumarill and Florges to go first. While neither of them were tricksters, my recent focus on that common trait among Fairy Types let me think of a strategy that played into both of their strengths. I only hoped we would be able to pull it off in battle.

I also made sure to challenge trainers in Mossdeep when we had the chance. Most trainers we challenged had six or seven Gym Badges and had waited to challenge Mossdeep Gym late in the season. The island's faraway location on the edge of Hoenn made it easier to save it for last, alongside Sootopolis Gym. These battles allowed my team to fight trainers at their level, so we managed to get some decent practice in. I usually won thanks to either Ninetales’s illusions or Florges’s tankiness, as Azumarill usually had to sit them out to rest and recover from the injuries she had sustained from trying to learn Belly Drum. Most teams surprisingly didn’t have counters for Ninetales and Florges, but tended to be able to fight against Altaria and Mawile pretty easily.

I also managed to battle a few trainers that were returning home to Mossdeep after earning five or less Gym Badges. Cottonee needed practice since he was catching up, and managed to actually perform well in those battles, despite his losses. He frequently battled Pokémon higher level than him, but tended to lose due to the difference in strength. I could see that his utility moves, enhanced by Prankster, were generally the deciding factor in his victories.

The main strategies Cottonee and I focused on were either using Growth to enhance the power of his Absorb, or using Stun Spore to slow and paralyze his enemies. Over our training period, through these battles he both increased the power of Absorb and learned how to use Mega Drain, and also figured out the move Leech Seed, which was another Prankster utility move that healed him while damaging his foe. Those two moves let him win his battles a lot more frequently, although I wished he didn’t always try to paralyze me in excitement whenever he won.

But with all of the training and strategizing, I felt ready to challenge the Gym. I was more than prepared, and hoped that my challenge against the twin Gym Leaders would end in a success.

“Beat them for me, okay Alex?” Wally said as we approached the Mossdeep Gym.

I nodded resolutely.

“Don’t worry, Wally. If Tate and Liza want to beat me, they’re going to have to work for it. I have too many plans in place to lose, and my team has trained for a long time to take them on.”

“Don’t underestimate their Hypnosis. Sleeping Pokemon can’t fight back,” he said seriously.

I glanced at Wally as I pushed open the door to the building.

“Don’t worry. You haven’t seen my strategies yet, but know that I already have a counter in place.”

Wally smiled at that, and we entered the Gym. The reception was empty, since we decided to wake up early to beat the crowds. Since I didn’t sleep in like I normally would, there was only one trainer ahead of us in the middle of their battle, so we only had to wait for a half an hour.

While I chatted with Wally in the reception, the Gym Trainer who was handling scheduling informed me that the Gym Leaders would be using a seven star team. It was inline with the normal power curve, and what I expected. After facing a six star team with Wallace when previous Gym Leaders had been using teams one star above their normal levels, I spent some time online to figure out why that was the case. Apparently, for first time trainers, the last three Gyms a new trainer took on were required to use teams that matched the level of the badge the challenger was going for. It was a way to not accidentally block newbie trainers’ teams with a needlessly difficult battle, even if it meant someone could roll through with an extraordinarily powerful team. I didn’t warrant any exceptions, but it was nice to know that I was still on the curve.

Eventually, my turn came up and I entered the arena. I was nervous walking up to the field. This would be my first time applying my new tactics in a serious battle, and even though it had been over a month since I fought Wallace, it was still a big ask to shift everything to a new style within such a short time. While only so much of how my Pokemon behaved matched the ideas of the trickery that Fairy Type specialists could use, I still had plenty of plans in place that would make Wallace proud.

“This battle will be a six on six battle between Challenger Alex and the Gym Leaders, Tate and Liza, where each trainer will send out two Pokémon at once,” the referee wearing a dark pink sweatshirt yelled. “Both trainers have four switches at their disposal, and the battle will end once one side has no Pokémon capable of battling. Trainers, are you ready?”

“Yes,” I replied, glancing at the twin Gym Leaders, who were bouncing in place with excitement, causing the sleeves of their blue outfits to sway along with them.

The Gym Leaders silently communicated between themselves and glanced at me in interest, which caused them to take a moment to respond to the referee. I was worried something was wrong because in all of my previous Gym Battles, the Gym Leaders had responded almost immediately, but it seemed that I was just overthinking, like usual.

“Ready!” they said in unison.

The referee nodded at both sides of the field, and brought down his arms to signify the start of the battle.

“Then send out your Pokémon and begin!”

Immediately, I sent out Florges and Azumarill, like I had planned, and Tate and Liza sent out Claydol and Slowbro. I raised my eyebrow at that combo, recognizing them as two Pokemon from Wally’s battle. This Gym was more consistent in what Pokémon they used, since they always sent out their personal Solrock and Lunatone in high level battles, but Claydol and Slowbro were the same ones Wally had fought. Considering I now knew two thirds of their team, a thought crossed my mind.

Am I going to be fighting the same team Wally fought?

Not willing to spend any more time distracted by my thoughts, I shouted commands to my Pokémon. Only I would be speaking in this battle, since Tate and Liza could telepathically communicate with their Pokemon and didn’t need to shout.

"Florges, probe their defenses. Azumarill, set the field and focus Claydol!"

Florges, following my order and the strategy we prepared beforehand, sent out a few breezes of Fairy Wind forward to see how they would react. Meanwhile, Azumarill used her brand new TM move to release a wave of mist that quickly swept over the battlefield and covered everything in a light, pink haze. Misty Terrain was crucial here to make sure the Psychic Types couldn’t put my Pokémon to sleep.

Rather than both opponents reacting to Florges, Claydol set up a Light Screen to block the initial spray, and focused on making sure the move would stay up. Its Light Clay patch on its body glowed, which signified that the Light Screen would persist for longer than normal. Slowbro, meanwhile, just sat there with glowing eyes, using Amnesia to temporarily forget unimportant memories to allow it to better focus on defending itself from special attacks.

Now seeing the Light Screen up, Florges focused on creating one large attack to test how the barriers would react to a Moonblast. She wasn’t fighting a Mr. Mime, so the barrier had already lost its initial full protection, and once sent forward, the Moonblast passed through and hit Claydol, albeit significantly weakened.

With her initial attacks either blocked or reduced, Florges floated forward to reach the central area of the field. Claydol stayed where it was sent out and tried to prevent her movements with Psychic, but she easily brushed the attack off and used a quick Synthesis to completely recover from all of the damage the Psychic had done. Slowbro turned to face her as she moved in, using another Amnesia to enhance its special defense even further, and Azumarill set up an Aqua Ring in the back while her opponents focused on Florges.

The next set of moves marked the true start of the battle. Rather than just a slow exchange of attacks and defenses between Florges and Claydol, both Slowbro and Azumarill joined in. Florges created a Moonblast and launched it towards Claydol, and Azumarill sent forward a Bubble Beam, a weak attack for her since we hadn’t been practicing that move.

Slowbro ambled forward just in time, and with the focus provided by Amnesia, brough the large Shellder on its tail up to absorb the attacks. The Moonblast hit its spikes and effectively “popped,” dealing little damage, and the already weak Bubble Beam dealt even less thanks to the Water Type Slowbro resisting Water Type moves. Some might have said it was a mistake to use special moves against a Pokémon so well protected against them, but dealing damage right now wasn’t my plan.

Focusing on Florges, since she was currently the larger threat, both Claydol and Slowbro released attacks of their own. The numerous eyes that surrounded Claydol’s cylindrical head glowed brown and the packed dirt under Florges started to inflate to explode with an Earth Power. Slowbro opened its mouth to shoot out a ring of Water Pulse, which was the largest risk since it had a chance to confuse Florges.

However, as both Pokémon unleashed their attacks, my strategy kicked in. The ground exploded under Florges and she curled up to better take the attack, and the Water Pulse impacted her and spun her around. Thankfully, she wasn’t confused, and Florges was able to use Synthesis to once more practically completely recover from those attacks. However, that wasn’t what we had been waiting for. While this battle hadn’t fully got into full swing yet, I figured it was best to finish early.

Covering up the sounds of her move with the rumbling from Earth Power, and using her opponent's attacks to hide her movements, Azumarill brought up both of her arms, then flat out punched herself in the stomach several times over to cause waves of energy to bounce around inside her body. The Belly Drum built up raw power as its effect, but she took serious damage from its chaotic energies in response. Slowbro managed to notice her using the move, and thanks to its telepathic connection to the Gym Leaders, Claydol found out as well shortly after and rotated in place to better face Azumarill. However, we had waited until the perfect moment to use Belly Drum, timing it just right for her opponents to be distracted, and neither Claydol nor Slowbro were able to react fast enough to attack Azumarill. If they hadn’t been focusing on Florges, their attacks might have finished Azumarill off since the damage she had sustained from using Belly Drum left her significantly wounded.

Before Claydol could set up any defenses, Azumarill shot forward with Aqua Jet and slammed into Claydol’s body with a thud that echoed throughout the arena. In that single attack, Claydol’s body was knocked back and fell to the ground, no longer levitating and unconscious.

As Claydol was returned, Aqua Ring helped heal Azumarill from the damage she took from Belly Drum, and she eyed Slowbro with violent intentions. Meanwhile, in the center of the field, Florges quickly used Misty Terrain to refresh the effect, then flew up and back to create distance from her foes. Once she was far away, she settled down to begin using Calm Mind to hopefully empower herself with its effects while everyone else was battling.

Slowbro tried to react to Azumarill with a Water Pulse to confuse her with its secondary effect, but she simply moved out of the way of the attack. Slowbro may have set itself up to better resist special attacks, but Azumarill was a physical attacker and could deal significant damage to it. However, “Slow” was a part of its name for a reason, and it wasn’t able to move fast enough for a successful attack. Since Azumarill would be able to avoid Slowbro’s attacks, I figured it was best to focus on targets that weren’t as tanky.

“Ignore Slowbro!” I called out. “Knock out their Pokémon as they’re sent out!”

Not willing to let their Pokémon fight Azumarill by itself for much longer, Tate quickly returned Claydol and sent out Hypno instead.

Azumarill was living up the effects of the Belly Drum massively increasing her power, and turned to Hypno with murderous glee. To its credit, the Psychic Type didn’t take a step back in fear, but tried to immediately use a Psychic attack against Azumarill. The Psychic Type energy of the move locked Azumarill in place as it violently twisted the space around her, but she managed to break free thanks to the massive force from her boosted Aqua Jet, then simply knocked Hypno out with a single impact from Aqua Jet.

Belly Drum was no joke, especially when combined with both Azumarill’s Huge Power increasing her physical strength, and her Mystic Water wrapped around her arm enhancing the power of all of her Water Type moves.

Slowbro, knowing that Azumarill wouldn’t be attacking it, used the time it had on its own to sit on the floor and heal up with Slack Off by relaxing, then used Amnesia once more to maximize the boost to its defenses.

I expected Xatu to be sent out next, since it seemed that this team was the same team Wally had fought, but Tate and Liza looked at each other and maintained eye contact as they frustratedly communicated telepathically. Liza suddenly grabbed a ball from Tate’s belt and tossed it forward, sending out Solrock. Tate was visibly unhappy at that decision, but I honestly was overjoyed. Solrock and Lunatone were a terrifying combination when sent out together, and if they felt the need to send out Solrock now, Azumarill was threatening them more than I thought.

As Florges continued to set up with Calm Mind, Slowbro simply sat back and watched. It kept eyeing Florges with interest, and I was unsure what it was planning. However, I was too caught up with Azumarill’s potential sweep to think much on that, and I decided to trust Florges to respond appropriately when necessary. Azumarill jumped into the air with Aqua Jet, aiming to follow through with her classic strategy of getting in close and overwhelming her foes with her massive strength to faint Solrock.

However, when she impacted Solrock, I noticed it was with far less force than it should have been. Both Pokémon had a faint white glow on them, reminiscent of Mr. Mime’s Power Split, but it was ever so slightly different. Azumarill was caught off guard by the lowered force of her Aqua Jet, but still tried to follow up the move with a Liquidation-enhanced punch. Solrock swerved in mid-air thanks to its Levitate ability, and Azumarill fell back towards the ground.

Solrock took advantage of Azumarill’s lack of defense while she fell, and retaliated by creating spikes of stone that jutted off of its rocky body and slammed into Azumarill with Stone Edge.

The attack dug into Azumarill far more than expected, and she was practically launched toward the ground, creating a visible dust cloud and crater when she impacted. The damage she took was unreasonably high, and knocked her out.

I returned Azumarill, and must have had a confused look on my face, because the Gym Leader duo spoke up to explain.

“That was Power Swap! Solrock exchanged its-

“physical boosts with those of your Azumarill’s!”

“So now our Solrock is boosted-

“thanks to your efforts! It’s not unlike how-

“Slowbro is using Psych Up to copy-”

“Florges’s boosts right now.”

I snapped my head over to where Slowbro had been waiting, and it had a gleam in its eyes while Florges was surrounded by weak Psychic Type energies. Rather than dealing any damage, Slowbro slumped a bit as the effect of Amnesia was canceled and its unnecessary memories returned, but its move managed to copy the effect of several uses of Calm Mind from Florges, and Slowbro replaced its purely defensive boost for a more offensive one.

My strategy to set up my team had completely backfired, and now both Slowbro and Solrock had their offensive power boosted to incredible levels. I was unsure how to deal with this combo, and as I considered my options, both Pokémon used moves.

Slowbro sent out another Water Pulse, this time the attack coming out much quicker, and managed to hit Florges. However, she was also benefiting from an identical boost from Calm Mind, and weathered the move as if it was an un-boosted attack.

Solrock, meanwhile, decided to use a utility move instead. I had been intimidated by its Belly Drum equivalent boost, but the move it used eliminated all fear I had and just made me laugh.

Tate and Liza looked at each other in confusion once Solrock’s utility move had finished, and decided to shout to ask me.

“What’s so funny?” they said in unison.

I continued to laugh for a few moments while the Gym Leaders looked at me, a little confounded. The battle was effectively on pause as the Pokémon waited for their trainer’s orders, but Florges started to understand as well and quietly giggled to herself.

I grabbed the Heavy Ball at my belt to send out Mawile, not willing to send out a different Pokémon and disrupt what move Solrock had used, and the Gym Leaders just looked more annoyed.

“That doesn’t-”

“Explain anything!”

Mawile held her hand out infront of her face as the harsh beams of the Sunny Day permeated the battlefield. She glanced around to look at both the boosted Slowbro and Solrock, and took up a ready stance with her jaws wide open.

Solrock spun around in the air as fire formed around its body, then sent that towards Florges. Florges withstood the boosted Fire Type attack, and held up her hands to begin drawing in energy for her next move. Meanwhile, Slowbro looked at Mawile as its eyes glowed blue for a Psychic.

Mawile wasn’t held in place thanks to her Steel Type resisting the move, and got in close quickly thanks to all of her time she had spent running with Ponyta. She didn’t stop at where Slowbro was, but rather a bit in front of it, right next to a large translucent screen. I decided that this was the perfect time to explain.

“The thing is, you two just gave me the perfect setup for a joke,” I said to the Gym Leaders. “I just need to follow through with the right punch line.”

“But what’s-”

“the punch line?” they responded.

Mawile snapped her jaws forward, enhanced with the Psychic Type energy of her TM move, Psychic Fangs, and injected that energy into the Light Screen, destabilizing it and causing it to shatter.

I smirked and stated what I found so funny. It was easy to say; I only needed two words, after all.

“Solar Beam.”

After hearing me call out her attack, Florges finally unleashed the energy she had taken in from the sunlight and a beam shot forward over the battlefield. Solrock had been focusing on engulfing itself in flames in preparation for a Flare Blitz, but instead it was engulfed by the super effect Grass Type energy. The attack was more than enough to faint it, and Solrock started to fall, unconscious.

The Rock Type was returned before it hit the floor, and Tate chuckled at the outcome.

“Told ya we shouldn’t have sent out Solrock,” he said.

Liza hit him in the arm.

Mawile charged at Slowbro before the twins could set out their next Pokémon, and latched onto its leg. Slowbro looked down and focused a Psychic towards her, but was interrupted as grass suddenly grew from the ground and leashed itself around Slowbro, causing it to trip and fall over, interrupting its attack. Taking advantage of the moment given to her by Florges’s Grass Knot, Mawile's teeth sent out a jolt of electricity that dealt super effective Electric Type damage to Slowbro in a powerful Thunder Fang.

However, as that happened, Xatu appeared on the field, and its eyes glowed blue. Mawile was hit by Xatu’s immediate usage of Psychic, and considering she had already taken another of that same attack from the Calm Mind boosted Slowbro, she quickly fainted.

As Mawile returned to her ball, I smiled as I saw another Solar Beam shoot out to hit the prone Slowbro. For all of its play with stat boosts, it couldn’t withstand such a fast onslaught of attacks, and it too was returned to its ball.

The battle went much my way after that. I sent out Ninetales, who overwrote the Sunny Day with the hail from Snow Warning, and Liza sent out her Lunatone. I had the distinct advantage as only two of my Pokémon had fainted, whereas four of Tate and Liza’s Pokémon had fainted.

The battle resumed with Ninetales launching an Ice Beam at Xatu. The green bird’s eyes glowed blue, but no attack came out just yet. Ice frosted over its wings and it started to shiver, its body susceptible to sudden drops in temperatures and taking super effective damage.

Florges, on the other hand, sent forward a swarm of leaves with Magical Leaf that tracked Lunatone through the snow and carved into its Rock Type body. Lunatone tried to retaliate with a Stone Edge, but Florges’s improved aerial movement from her practice with Altaria let her easily avoid the attack.

Ninetales finished off Xatu with a second Ice Beam after withstanding the Future Sight attack it created earlier, and Lunatone quickly fainted to a second Magical Leaf thanks to Florges’s boost from both Calm Mind.

This was expected, as the battle had been effectively a foregone conclusion after Solrock and Slowbro fainted. With Florges boosted, and the Gym Leader’s own boosted Pokémon off the field, my team had too much momentum to lose. I was a little disappointed I never got to use the combination of Ninetales and Mawile at the same time, but it wasn’t like this was the only double battle I would ever do. The Ever Grande Conference had trainers fight in double battles early on, after all.

I was extremely happy with the results of how everyone’s training let us win the battle, and Wally must have been too, considering how low his jaw had dropped and how loud he cheered. This was definitely my best Gym Battle I had yet, with the largest difference in remaining Pokémon at the end. I returned Ninetales and Florges, then approached the two Gym Leaders to meet up in the center of the field.

The normally packed dirt was slush under my foot thanks to the snow from Ninetales's Snow Warning, but it didn’t matter much to me since I was so used to it from our practice. What caught me off guard was when I reached a few feet away from Tate and Liza, and they practically jumped a foot in the air in shock.

"Wow! It was like you didn't even exist-

“then all of a sudden-"

"Bam! You were there.”

“How did you-”

“do that?"

Not willing to tell the truth about the protection on my mind, but also not willing to let this opportunity pass me up, I responded with what felt right.

I shrugged.

"I'm a Fairy Type specialist. Of course I have some tricks up my sleeves."

The kids opened their mouths, impressed at that. I was a little surprised they believed me, but then again they probably weren't strong enough psychics yet to tell if someone was lying.

They both held out their hands to shake, and instead of allowing me to shake their hands one at a time, when I grabbed Liza’s hand, Tate shot out to grab my other one. They proceeded to rapidly move both of my hands up and down as they “shook” my hands in the way only a child could do.

"That was really-"

"fun! We should do it again."

"Congratulations for earning the Mind Badge. You really-"

"deserve it after that battle."

Once they released my arms, I thanked them and pocketed the heart-shaped pin and turned to Wally. I smiled and waved, then moved to head out. I knew Wally would want to celebrate, and I had no reason to decline that offer.