“Do you know the history of White Forest?” Cee asked.

  “I know that it doesn’t get along with Black City, and that they’re both trying to replace each other?” I answered.

  “Not quite,” came his response. “By all means, White Forest was the one to come first, so from that perspective, isn’t Black City the one trying to replace it?”

  We walked along a dirt path that stretched beneath tower-sized trees. After training for so long with Cee, it was getting easier to read how he was feeling under his mask, and with his slight hum, I could tell that he was distinctly amused.

  “I’m sensing a ‘but,’” I replied.

  “There is no ‘but.’ Merely another perspective,” Cee continued, his voice light. “White Forest did come first, yet it is in truth just one large tree and its surrounding grove. The woods that extend out past it are all unclaimed. The forest is open to the point that the first settlers of Black City asked for and received permission from White Forest to create their initial settlement.”

  “Wait, so White Forest approved the creation of Black City?” I asked, turning my head toward Cee. “Then... What happened?”

  Beneath his mask, I could tell that Cee gained a slight smile.

  “A miscommunication,” he answered, and I had a feeling that we were reaching the end of this story. “Some say that Black City took advantage of White Forest and settled too much land. Others say that White Forest didn’t appreciate how quickly Black City grew and pulled back their permission without warning. A few even say that the conflict was encouraged by both sides in a misguided attempt to fuel competition, but no matter what the case may be, Black City has been building its skyscrapers to claim as much land as possible, and White Forest has been using its Grass-type Pokémon to protect the woods by growing trees to grand and legally-protected heights.”

  I stayed quiet as I looked around us once more. Even with the canopy covering our heads, enough light shone through the branches to provide the full illumination of day. Beneath that woven covering, the trunks of the trees were larger than even the record-setting trees of my old world. However, these trees did not possess that same age—a Pokémon’s influence could create incredible things, and White Forest’s Grass-types were what enabled such massive forms of life.

  “It’s kind of amazing,” I said quietly as I took in the faint sounds of distant Pokémon.

  “I know,” Cee said, striding along the dirt path. “It always surprises me to see the lengths that people go through to prove themselves superior. It’s a problem that all regions face, even to this day.”

  Still walking at his side, I sent Cee a glance, but he didn’t react to my look and just continued to move ahead.

  “The job I brought you out here for today is a job that nears the requirement of a Pokémon Ranger’s involvement,” he said, somewhat changing the topic. “It is a rapidly escalating situation, and if we wait any longer, then the League itself will likely be forced to step in. However, I told you the story of these two settlements for a reason—our destination lies right at the edge of both Black City and White Forest.”

  I let out a quiet hum.

  “So it’s something that involves a conflict?” I mused.

  “Everything is defined by conflict, whether it’s obvious or not.”

  This dirt path was not the main road, but it was a road that wound through the trees. For all that Black City and White Forest feuded, various paths connected the centers of both settlements. I was also aware that the largest, most central tree in White Forest was actually quite similar to Black Tower. In fact, White Treehollow had actually come first, but Black Tower was much more popular due to its commercialization, and it had made more sense for me to tackle the tower instead due to how its cameras enabled Cee to observe its interior.

  However, the level of trainer that both places attracted meant that the Pokémon around these parts were far more skilled than the average.

  Case in point, as we walked forward, we stumbled upon a face-down sign lying in front of a cleanly sliced pole.

  I wanted to see what might have been displayed on that sign, but I never got the chance. I took a single step toward it just to have the ground before me explode upwards from a carefully placed, launched-forward blade of wind.

  “Ah. That’s one of those problem Pokémon greeting us right now,” Cee said casually, looking up to eye the further attacks currently hurtling at right where we stood. “Nick. I’d like for you to handle it.”

  I didn’t need to release anyone; Valiant leaped out of their Pokéball. Ringing noises echoed through the air as their weapon flashed to deflect the incoming arcs.

  “I had a feeling that’d be the plan,” I said as I watched a pair of yellow eyes jump from the trees to face Valiant on the earth. “Anything for your tests, right?”

  A pause.

  “Right,” Cee replied after the briefest of moments.

  Bringing back a leg to ready itself for battle was a Pokémon that I hadn’t realized was native to Unova. It pressed forward a hand made of leaves while a white fuzz hid everything but the glare on its face.

  It almost reminded me of some kind of bandit, ninja, or even a vastly misguided samurai. Immediately, I recognized this Pokémon as being fully evolved, and its brown surface resembled some kind of nut’s shell.

  “A Shiftry,” I said, naming the Pokémon that was glaring at Valiant so hostilely. “Any restrictions for us, Cee?”

  “For this, do not call for any direct, slashing attacks.”

  I nodded once in reply.

  “Hear that, Valiant?” I called out. “We’ll be relying on a different kind of plan!”

  My Pokémon acknowledged my shout by readying their blade. As it so seemed, Cee wanted us to utilize the strategies that we’d been working on for the past two weeks.

  As we showed no signs of leaving, the Shiftry once again attacked. However, it did so with a greater level of aggression behind it. It leapt backwards into the air to make room between it and its determined opponent. The leafy fans that it had for hands sliced down, and the air itself hardened to become its weapon.

  The Razor Wind that the Shiftry released threatened to slice apart anything in its way, but without hesitation, Valiant charged to intercept, spinning their polearm to deflect every incoming cut.

  “Should we use a new move?” I asked over my shoulder as the Shiftry slowly drifted back to the ground.

  “It’s your choice,” Cee said. “After all, it’s your training that has brought you this far.”

  “Valiant!” I shouted, turning back and not needing even a second more to think. “Go ahead and trap it! Use your Encore!”

  Valiant was already running straight toward their opponent, but the visual of their eyes narrowed on the screen of their visor. This was a move taught to them solely through Liepard’s help—and if Cee wanted us to expand our viable strategies, then the easiest first step was for my team to spread around some of our most effective moves.

  Valiant’s form of Encore was still a taunt, but it was a kind of taunt that only they could release. It was a challenge—an encouragement to fight. It was a knight’s call to rely on honor and have their opponent repeat their previous attack.

  Funnily enough, as Shiftry was partially a Dark-type, only Valiant’s Encore could have succeeded in this way. If used quickly with Liepard’s Prankster, then the Shiftry would have seen right through the attempt and brushed off the Encore’s effects.

  But here, the Shiftry was more than glad to repeat the strategy it had clearly used so many times before. We’d already seen that its Razor Wind was strong—but easy enough to block—and trapping this Shiftry meant we wouldn’t need to adapt.

  However, as it once again brought up its hands, the Shiftry did not use its Razor Wind.

  “Hold on,” I said cautiously. “Was that not its last attack?”

  Something in the Shiftry’s eyes seemed to gleam, and once it landed on the ground, it hopped back on one foot. The motion allowed it to perfectly avoid the punch that Valiant threw toward the center of its chest.

  “Hmph,” Cee grunted.

  I could tell that he desperately wanted to speak and explain what had just happened, but he also didn’t want to ruin this battle in progress.

  “That hop was too perfect,” I mumbled, verbalizing my thoughts. “Valiant missed their attack by less than an inch. If I had to describe it—”

  Under the trees, the Shiftry leaped away from Valiant again. This leap, however, didn’t seem to be an attempt to make space. Rather, it seemed to be an attempt to buy itself time.

  “Detect. Definitely,” I said, recognizing the Shiftry’s attempt to recover between uses of this half-hidden move. “It’s trying to buy itself time so it can keep defending. After that Razor Wind, it must have used Detect to try to land safely without either of us realizing.”

  I couldn’t help but let out a short laugh at the situation. The Shiftry’s tricks had somehow seen itself end up in even a worse position than I had planned.

  As I had finally identified what happened, Cee spoke up. He’d heard my analysis, so it was time for the actual battle-researcher to chime in.

  “This is a wild Pokémon that managed to reach its final form by relying on a time-proven strategy,” he said. “Razor Wind to attack from range, and Detect to dodge and make room when its opponent threatens to get too close.”

  As Valiant once again gave chase to their foe, I made sure to watch the match carefully. The thing about Detect was that it let its user avoid moves ninety-nine percent of the time—but that last one percent of failure was a pretty big issue.

  We had shown off Encore as one of Valiant’s new moves, but Valiant had at least one other trick in their pocket that we had been ignoring for far too long. With how common protective moves were becoming, this was an attack that’d been seeing more and more use within Black Tower.

  “Feint!” I shouted, and Valiant’s eyes flashed. They raised their blade to prepare a slam down onto the head of their opponent, but at the last moment, they changed it up to instead slam the Pokémon's side with the other end of their weapon.

  Here, Feint was a purposeful misdirection that caused a Pokémon to misunderstand where the attack would come from. The technique was weak, but it allowed its user to slip past any defense.

  As a result, this hit to the Shiftry’s side didn’t deal much damage, but the surprise impact was enough to make the Shiftry let out a wheeze.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  And, more important that that, I needed only one more shout—

  “Dazzling Gleam!”

  —for Valiant’s connecting blade to explode with a brilliant light that sent the Shiftry tumbling far away.

  “Hmph,” Cee grunted again, but an amusement lingered in his voice. “I said no direct slashing attacks, so you rely on technicality and order a slash delivered move?”

  “Hey. Dazzling Gleam is a special attack,” I countered. “No slashing required. Valiant can use it from any point on their body, but they just happen to prefer to burst energy through their blade, instead.”

  We could have won this fight through a more direct offense. This Shiftry was not a strong attacker, just a wild Pokémon that’d managed to earn experience through staying at range. It was a Pokémon that Valiant could have overwhelmed with two back-to-back uses of Close Combat—but doing so would have gone against our developing strategy.

  Cee was right. We couldn’t only rely on direct offense. We needed to act in ways that actually had us improve how we battled.

  Using Close Combat twice in a row would have only weakened Valiant. Instead, with only a single use of Encore and a Feint to lead into a Dazzling Gleam, Valiant was able to finish this battle without needing to spend anywhere near as much energy.

  “So?” I said, looking over to Cee as the Shiftry was sent sliding onto its back. “Did we do well?”

  The Shiftry was just barely able to recover from that Fairy-type blast, but it also seemed to have had enough and jumped away—this time, to flee.

  “The Encore was unnecessary,” Cee commented. “It was nothing more than a flourish to show off a newly developed move. However...”

  His eyes curved up for a smile.

  “I will admit that this was good practice,” he said. “We might be out here for a change in scenery, but we are also out here to ensure you continue to improve.”

  As Valiant walked back to my side, I subtly high-fived my Pokémon behind my back. Cee's comment about Encore was passing at best, but the rest of his analysis seemed positive enough.

  I considered his response to be a success in my book.

  With this obstacle out of our way, Cee turned to continue down the road. He chose to say nothing else, instead choosing to simply walk toward our destination.

  I hurried after him, but Valiant stayed out at my side, just in case. After all, that Shiftry had attacked us, and there was no telling what else would be waiting for us deeper into the forest.

  I enjoyed being in White Forest due to its impressive sights and fresh air. As much as I preferred cities, it was nice to head out and actually experience just how much this world was different from mine.

  But we were here for a job, so I could not take this so easily. Valiant fell into their preferred role of walking at my side on high alert, and the more that we followed the dirt path, the more that the environment around us changed.

  There was this bitterness, a strange sort of sour taste that grew in my mouth. It was slight, but it was also the uncomfortable, prevalent nature of something that I had once been far too accustomed to:

  Pollution tainted the air.

  “The center of White Forest is a settlement,” Cee suddenly said. “As much as it stands at odds with Black City, they both belong to the region of Unova, and Unova is what provides both cities with power.”

  I could see our destination first as a chain-link fence: a thin, patterned divider that stood out from the rest of the forest.

  There were no trees ahead, only an open, yellowed sky that hung above a patch of concrete.

  A faint buzzing filled the air, and I realized that this pollution was more than just a scent. Noise, too, was a problem here, and as we moved closer and closer, the more I developed the distinct feeling of being watched.

  Thankfully, Valiant’s obvious presence and sharp gaze meant that any untoward observers correctly chose to stick to the trees.

  “Careful. Walk slowly,” Cee said to me. “Our task for the day lies just up ahead.”

  It was a transformer station—or a power storage facility? It was some kind of electrical grid infrastructure that I wasn’t very familiar with. However, based on the few pieces of remaining signage, it was both a minor Pokémon preserve and the location responsible for bringing power to both Black City and White Forest.

  Right now, however, the most obvious thing about it was the group of puffy, purple Pokémon floating in the air above the fenced-off area. Magnemite and other metallic Electric-types buzzed and hovered around where a few sparks came out of intentionally exposed wires. As Cee and I carefully approached the station’s front gate, I could also hear shuffling coming from within.

  Briefly, I caught sight of a Garbodor, a fully-evolved, sentient trash bag, walking past two of the station’s largest transformers. The smell that wafted out of its body was absolutely horrendous.

  “Ugh!” I had to fight not to gag. “I thought Garbodor only smell bad when they’re unhappy?”

  Through Cee’s mask, I could tell he was expressionless. From where we stood at the station’s gate, he turned to take a look at the woods.

  “Tell me,” he said to me, speaking into the air, “what do you think is happening here?”

  Turning, I could see glares from wild Grass- and Bug-type Pokémon piercing through the canopy. On the ground, wild Normal-types like Furret and Herdier stood half-hidden in the bushes. They surrounded this place while also positioning themselves to attack.

  Then, with a look back, I checked on the station itself, and I could see that all of the Koffing in the air were floating with a purpose—they were serving as this place’s first line of defense.

  As for that Garbodor, the trash bag Pokémon wasn’t just wandering idly. It was circling the grounds with the distinct intent to patrol.

  “A standoff,” I finally answered, taking in the situation. “My guess is that the forest Pokémon don’t like the pollution, but the Pokémon in this power station don’t like how now they’re trapped.”

  “A microcosm of the greater conflict,” Cee said. “Specifically, a microcosm that has been escalating in the past few days.”

  Humans always wanted to claim land for safe living, but Pokémon existed in this world, too. While it was “easy” to invite Pokémon to live with humans in cities, that wasn’t always the best solution for everyone involved. So, much like how the Strange House was left purposefully abandoned for wild Ghost types, this power plant had been built for two functions—both to assist with power transportation and to offer a safe space for wild Electric- and Poison-type species.

  However, I could tell that this exposed station was currently far too small for the sheer number of Pokémon loitering within it. The Koffing that floated in the air felt as numerous as the brightest stars in the night sky, and the spaces between the station’s concrete and metal structures were filled with movement.

  This place was absolutely packed with Pokémon.

  “But they also aren’t attacking us,” I pointed out, still in my thoughts. “I know that’s kind of a dumb observation, but—”

  “There are no ‘dumb’ observations. All forms of data can be relevant,” Cee interrupted, chiding me. “Nick, I brought you out here for this job intentionally. I would very much appreciate hearing more of your observations and reasoning.”

  We hadn’t yet stepped past the open gates, and both sides of this stand-off were watching us warily. There was no aggression just yet; we had not yet acted in a way to deserve outright hostility.

  Noticing that, if I had to guess—

  “They’re waiting for us,” I said as I slowly tried to piece everything together. “Either for us to pick a side, or to...”

  “Yes?” Cee asked when my words drifted off.

  “Solve their problem?” I offered.

  Unfortunately, my answer came out unsure.

  “Every conflict has its two sides,” Cee went on to say, bringing himself to attention and placing his hands behind his back. “A conflict is defined by its attacker and defender—but it’s also important to understand that everyone believes themselves the defender in their eyes.

  “When it comes to a situation like this,” he continued, “it’s important to think before choosing which side to assist. As it stands, our assigned task is to ensure that this power plant does not end up seriously damaged.”

  I hummed.

  “So, with all of the pollution that’s present... We either need to scare off all of the extra Pokémon here to minimize the effects on the forest, or we need to fight the forest’s Pokémon to make sure any attack isn’t successful," I said.

  Cee nodded as if I’d correctly identified the two potential solutions, but, as I considered them, I found that neither sat well with me.

  Instead, I frowned.

  “That’s a pretty restrictive way of viewing things,” I said flatly.

  At my words, Cee actually seemed to undergo a genuine pause.

  “Like, problems are never that simple,” I continued, vaguely gesturing with my hands. “I mean, just two sides? Really? Sure, you can narrow down a conflict to its ‘attackers’ and ‘defenders,’ but that’s just because a conflict generally needs to have at least two sides.”

  I didn’t like the concept of kicking these wild Pokémon out of their home, pollution-based species or not, but I also didn’t like the idea of fighting on their behalf to keep up the amount of pollution being sent into the forest. There had to be another way to tackle this problem, and as the gate to this power plant had been forced open a long time ago, it did nothing to stop me from leading our group inside.

  Valiant followed, but I had no intention of joining either the “attackers” or the “defenders.” Rather, we were a third party, and I started to stalk around the station’s constructions to try to find out exactly what was going on.

  My Pokémon’s constant glare and apparent strength made it clear to the station’s Pokémon that I had no plans to assist them—but I also had no plans to attack them, as well. The fact that we were intruding on their space wasn’t pleasant, but the fact that we weren’t assisting the forest’s Pokémon meant none of them attacked us for now.

  Once we were past the station’s initial layer, the air became somewhat easier to breathe. The Poison-types here were likely using their gases as a preliminary form of defense. However, even though the taste of pollution lingered in the air, I could see the occasional non-Poison-type species like Pichu and Emolga scurrying about.

  In shadowed corners, Grimer and Trubbish warily watched our group as we moved past. We went unbothered, however, and I was able to explore.

  “You know, we haven’t really talked about how places like these function,” I said quietly to Cee while looking around. “You’ve been helping me understand more about technology, but I can’t say I know how this kind of power station works. It’s some kind of energy conversion? Right? Like, the transformers convert long-distance electricity into usable, short-distance electricity?”

  Cee followed along from behind, and upon hearing my words, it was like something about them caused him physical pain.

  “In a way,” he said, not bothering to elaborate right now.

  “Sorry,” I said with a slight chuckle. “I’m better at working with things hands-on. It’s easier for me to understand something when I’m looking through it personally.”

  “Hm. I agree. Some things must be seen with your own eyes,” he said. “Then, is the same true of your inspection here?”

  “Maybe. I’m still thinking. And I’m also still looking around.”

  As I wandered past the metal and concrete structures that littered this place, one thing quickly became clear:

  The more that I explored, the more that I felt that something else was going on.

  “Something stinks,” I breathed.

  Cee had said that this was a growing issue—a rapidly escalating issue—but a place like this with Pokémon like these was not somewhere that appeared quickly.

  I had questions.

  Why was this a job in the first place? Why had this conflict only started to grow within the past few days?

  “And,” I said, working through my thoughts out loud. “There’s no way that the Pokémon here could have found this place by just wandering through the forest, right? I mean, it doesn’t make sense. Not when the pollution is severe enough to cause nearby wild Pokémon to attack.”

  That Shiftry had attacked us, and it had glared at Valiant purposefully. It had not appreciated the presence of another “artificial” Pokémon that looked to have been approaching this station.

  Valiant’s obvious strength had warded away any other attacks by aggressive individuals, but any Poison-type or obviously metal Pokémon trying to reach this station would have—should have—been turned away before the pollution got this intense.

  As I walked past a gap in the transformers, I was able to look past them and out into the woods. To my surprise, I actually saw a wild Poison-type out there:

  A Scolipede.

  Although it shared a type with many of the pollution Pokémon within this fenced-off area, it didn’t share the same kind of Poison-type; it wasn’t lured here by the presence of so much pollution. Instead, while the Pokémon immediately around me thrived within the human-caused poisons, the Scolipede out there was a Pokémon whose poison was entirely natural.

  “You know, that brings me to another question,” I said, turning away from the Scolipede to look over to Cee. “Why is there so much pollution here?”

  “Well, the Pokémon—”

  “Shouldn’t be able to produce enough to turn the sky yellow,” I said, sending a glance up to that discoloring haze. “This is all so weird. I mean, this is supposed to be the Pokémon world. Isn’t all of its energy supposed to be green?”

  To that, another pause stretched out within our little group.

  “It is,” Cee soon answered, replying cautiously.

  He watched me as I looked around again, and my eyes quickly locked onto a simple, square structure located in the far corner. That concrete box was not just any other piece of power infrastructure, but it seemed to be a building specifically created to better support visits from humans.

  As I approached that building, Cee followed, and I quickly found that its entrance was locked by an electronic keypad. I knew I could send Rotom out to brute-force the lock, but Cee stepped forward instead. With just a few taps on his glove, a beep rang out, and the entrance clicked.

  The door started to creak inwards.

  I pushed to help it open.

  And, then—

  “Ugh!”

  I almost vomited right there.

  The smell that wafted out was so acidic and so sharp that my eyes started to water.

  “Yeah. Whatever’s causing all this pollution is in there,” I wheezed, yanking back the door’s handle to seal away the stench. “You said this place is connected to both Black City and White Forest. That power has to come from somewhere.”

  Unfortunately, I gagged again. The lingering stench was just that bad.

  “I saw a staircase down before I closed the door,” I said as I attempted to breathe out and empty my lungs. “I’d bet you money that there’s something in this place’s underground tunnels.”

  “So you want to go down there,” Cee said, his voice even. He seemed completely unbothered by the smell. “You don’t plan on shooing any Pokémon away?”

  “Nah. That’s not actually our job.” I leaned against the wall to give myself a moment of thought. “These Pokémon are just a symptom—or a microcosm, like you said. We’re here to stop the power plant from being attacked, not to choose which side of the conflict we want to win.”

  I let out one final exhale to get the last of that acidic stench out of my lungs. After taking a moment to breathe within a slightly more tolerable space, I turned back to send Cee a look.

  His yellow eyes met mine.

  “If you brought me out here to help,” I started. “I want to do this properly.”

  I hadn’t backed down when Grey decided to enter the Strange House, and I hadn’t backed down against Kyurem.

  I’d built my entire team around Pokémon that planned to never give up. This whole situation reeked, and while we did have an easy way out, when did taking the easy way out ever provide a worthwhile solution?

  No.

  Always relying on the easiest solution was the exact reason why we had needed to take this period to train.

  Besides, from everything that I was seeing, this was probably just the lingering stench of a nest of pollution-Pokémon or something. We probably just needed to find them and figure out a better place for them to stay. In all honesty, how difficult could something like this really be?

  As I watched Cee to wait for his confirmation, he went on to hum. For a while, he seemed to be deep in thought, but he never looked away from me.

  “Very well,” he eventually said. “I will go with you.”

  A moment passed. His eyes flicked to the door.

  “However,” he quickly continued. “I do recommend that you...”

  “Send out Rotom?” I said, finishing the idea for him.

  Grinning in response, I grabbed a Pokéball as Cee shook his head, slightly amused. Thankfully, Rotom wouldn’t have to ignore the smell; the device he possessed didn’t have a nose.

  Upon being released, he hovered in the air, immediately blowing his fan to bring some air circulation around us. It wasn’t the perfect solution, but cycling the air made opening the door again ever so slightly more tolerable. I also made sure to grab the collar of my coat and drag it upward to better protect my mouth and nose.

  “Thank you, Rotom,” I said. “Everyone ready?”

  Valiant connected the blades of their polearm together at my side, and Cee moved to stand at my back.

  “Great! Then, we’re going in, and I really hope you have ventilators under your mask, Cee,” I said as we moved to step inside. “I can’t exactly say what’s going on in here, but I can at least say one thing:

  “Be careful, because this is really going to stink.”

  I’ve been wanting to talk about White Forest for a while, and I’m glad to have had the chance to discuss it in this chapter. In this world, both Black City and White Forest exist, and I’ve also combined a few other, distinct elements from the games as well.

  Pokémon mentioned in this chapter:

  Emolga

  Furret

  Nick’s Team:

  Current Placement: Great Rank

  (Note: Low-level moves have been omitted.)

  Iron Valiant (Valiant) (Fairy / Fighting type, Genderless, Serious Nature, +-n/a)

  Abilities: Quark Drive

  Moves: Fury Cutter, Feint, Dazzling Gleam, Psycho Cut, Night Slash, Close Combat, Shadow Claw, Electric Terrain, Protect, Encore

  Rotom (Electric / Variable type, Genderless (Male), Quirky Nature, +-n/a)

  Available Forms*: Default (Ghost type), Fan (Flying type), Wash (Water type), Mow (Grass type)

  Abilities: Levitate

  Moves: Charge, Thunder Wave, Discharge, Shadow Ball, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Electric Terrain, Protect, Variable*

  Variable Form Moves*: Air Slash (Fan), Hydro Pump (Wash), Leaf Storm (Mow)

  Liepard (Dark type, Male, Naughty Nature, +Atk/-SpD)

  Abilities: Limber, Prankster

  Moves: Assist, Snarl, Fake Out, Bite, Torment, Hone Claws, Slash, Taunt, Night Slash, Shadow Claw, Psycho Cut, Encore, Foul Play, Protect

  (Steel / Psychic type, Genderless (Male), Adamant Nature, +Atk/-SpA)

  Pokéball: Ultra Ball

  Abilities: Clear Body

  Moves: Take Down, Metal Claw, Confusion, Zen Headbutt, Magnet Rise, Iron Head, Protect

  (Ground / Ghost type, Genderless, Brave Nature, +Atk/-Spe)

  Pokéball: Ultra Ball

  Abilities: Klutz

  Moves: Pound, Astonish, Defense Curl, Mud-Slap, Shadow Punch, Iron Defense, Magnitude, Heavy Slam, Protect

  enormous thank you to everyone reading! Your support keeps this story going.