Bond Bridge
Please be quiet when crossing.
Berry Forest ahead
So read the words carved into the sign erected on the shore leading to the unostentatious wooden span crossing over the strait between the so-called "parent" and "child" islands of Three Island. Discolored by time and the elements as the sign may be, those in the vicinity of the bridge honor the sign's request. The few campers and picnickers dotting the path between Kin Island's town and the bridge keep their voices low and keep quiet as they go about their business. Even travelers, crossing back from the forest with baskets full of berries and fruits, keep their idle chatter to a minimum.
The lapping of the waves on the beaches, the plunking of Slowpoke dippng their tails into the water, the rustling of the wind through the trees, very little disturbs them or the air of tranquility around the bridge. Here, one could be forgiven for forgetting that the Bond Bridge stands only a short distance away from the largest town in the Sevii Islands.
And yet, if you’re a gym badge hunter, here to find the gym leader of Three Island and challenge her to both her trial and her proper gym battle, you certainly don’t forget it - after all, each island’s town is happy to talk about their leader, speaking of them in friendly and engaging terms. That’s why Iono is once again on stream, looking into her camera with a grin. “Hello, Iono Zone viewers! Wow, they really never built anything with this small island, huh?
…Actually, it’s kind of weird how many of the islands are more than one island, isn’t it?”
As Iono approaches the bridge proper, a familiar face comes into view! In a prime position to peer out over the water and focus on some distant point in the sea, Celio, instead, pays the water no heed whatsoever, seemingly lost in his phone, scrolling and tapping, apparently typing in short bursts.
Iono notices Celio, remembering him from last time, and runs up to the computer nerd with her usual sharky smile. “Heyyy, it’s the fan! Uhhh… ummmm. Chaaa- WAIT NO!
Celio! That’s it! How’s it feel to meet your wonderful idol again, huh?”
"Huw?" Iono's greeting snaps Celio out of the stupor he appears to be in, the man whipping around to see who's addressing him before sliding his phone into his pocket with a sheepish look of recognition. "Oh, hi, Iono." He returns her greeting without much enthusiasm, just getting his bearings. "You're streaming already? Was I out here that long?" A glance at the shadows all around tells him that it's past noon, confirming his suspicions.
"Aha, sorry," he nervously chuckles. "I'm planning to tune in, but I guess I lost track of the time. It's great we bumped into each other. I wouldn't want to miss this stream!"
“Heeeh, of course you wouldn’t! Hey, one of these days, as long as you keep showing up like this, you oughta come on stream yourself!
I mean, besides how you already are.”
"I'm not sure I'd be as entertaining to watch as you are, but… We could try it, someday. We could make a surprise out of it. Wouldn't that be great for your stream? If we were on together to do something nobody would expect?"
“I’m down! Let’s see what happens! But first…” Iono strikes a pose. “I’ve got a badge to win! Two down, five to go, this should be easy! You know about this gym leader, right? Any hot deets you can spill to a gal?”
"Right, you should be focused on that now," he affirms, as if dispelling some notion from his mind. "Kin Island's gym leader isn't like Léan or Ultima. She's younger, and so she usually uses more experimental strategies. Oh, but, you probably just need the basics. I'd say you should be prepared for the unexpected, and, whatever you do - you haven't used any in your previous battles, but, still - you don't want to send out any Psychic types. You'll be at a severe disadvantage. And, besides that, um," he hesitates, casting around for the right advice to offer. "Besides that, you should just know that you'll have to go deep into the Berry Forest to meet her. She likes to meet challengers far into the interior."
“Alrightyyyy! Thanks again, Celio!” Iono waves. “I’ll see you after I win! Goodbye, sayonara, auf wiedersehen!" Walking backwards, Iono spins on her heels as she enters Berry Forest, ready to take it on!
"Good luuuck!" He calls out as Iono quests onwards, disappearing into the forest. Iono gone, he pulls his phone back out, returning to what he had been looking at. His thumb hovers over the screen, before, finally, he clicks into a different app, setting his concerns aside for now as he tunes into Iono's stream.
Leaving Celio and the bridge behind, Iono ventures into the woods. The world dims only a few feet in, the canopy above denying the forest floor all but a fraction of the sun's rays. Even here at the edge of the Berry Forest, the forest makes it difficult to keep a grasp on the weather, with bright and clear no longer all that distinct from a dim and grey overcast day. Deeper in the forest, where the canopy only twists itself into a tighter seal for the light and the exits recede from sight, night and day themselves begin to blend.
Proceeding further and further inwards, Iono passes by a succession of company as the light fades, the berry-pickers near the forest edges giving way to Pidgey scurrying across the ground and Weepinbell swaying on the branches above. The birds and the pitcher plants soon, in turn, yield to Oddish, planting themselves in the ground with only their twitching leaves exposed, and Venonat, bounding over tree roots in search of the little insects buzzing around the berries rotting on the forest floor.
Soon, even the Venonat disappear, the activity that had kept the forest from feeling lonely and barren ceasing. Iono no longer glimpses plants and bugs, only the occasional flicker of light which, here where so little sunlight penetrates the canopy, has no business being so bright. Leaves rustle wherever Iono goes, yet no wind blows through the trees here. When there's no flickering light, there's always the transient gleam of watchful eyes, even with no critters or creatures around…
“Hmmmm…” Iono says, her eyes flickering to chat. “So uh, chat. Three Island. You know what type they use?”
“Gotta be dark, homegirl”
“It’s ghost! Of course!”
“Bug. I mean, are you seeing who’s in this?”
“Lmao that guy’s working for the enemy. He’s rusing us”
“I want Iono to step on me”
“My vote is it doesn’t matter! It’s the Iono Zone!”
Regarding her chat with the same input value as usual, Iono looks behind her to try and get her bearings… only to double-take as she realizes it looks like the trees behind her now block any way back. Looking over her shoulder suspiciously, Iono keeps going forward, now watching everything extra-carefully.
"Are…" It's barely more than a whisper. A voice carries through the trees, over Iono's shoulder, but when the streamer turns back to look for its source, there's nothing. There's not so much as a sign of anyone behind her.
"You…" The same voice pipes up as she continues onwards, this time coming from somewhere in front of her, obscured by the trees. "Lost…?" A light flares to life, a small flame floating in the distance - and, for once, persisting - its pulsing glow beckoning her towards it. "Unless you want to be lost here with the spirits, you'd better follow me," comes the voice again, this time from the same direction as the flame.
“IT’S A TRAP”
“It is, but what choice do we have?”
“FOLLOW THAT TRAP”
“I can’t believe Iono is going to fucking die”
Iono agrees with her chat: It’s probably a trick or a trap. But, unsure of what else to do, she sends out Rotom, and the two of them begin to follow the flame together, neither of them very sure as to what’s going on, but knowing there’s only one real option here… especially after the place locked up the path back.
"You're a brave one, aren't you? So brave, so strong, so pretty," the voice continues as Iono draws nearer and nearer to the will-o'-the-wisp casting its light on the forest. "Just keep coming closer," it implores. "A long time ago, they used to tell good little children to stay away from the Berry Forest. They said that there were horrible Pokémon inside that took away little children."
"But those horrible Pokémon are gone now," the mysterious narrator continues, suddenly dropping their almost-inviting tone, seemingly spitting out the words with a vindictive venom. "Now this forest belongs to the spirits…"
"...and so… do… you!"
The voice beckoning Iono onwards bursts into a fit of giggling as she finally reaches the flame, standing directly beneath it. The laughter no longer emanates from behind Iono, nor from anywhere in front of her. It surrounds her, echoing through the trees all around her.
Looking around, and actually feeling nervous for the first time, Iono frets a bit as she tries to keep up with what exactly’s going on. She nearly takes a step back, trying to keep herself from breaking and running. Only Rotom flickering wildly, back in the Electric/Ghost lightbulb-based mode, is able to keep her from losing her nerve as she flails her sleeves around.
“Okay, you had your fun! Live on c-camera, even! Now show yourself, or I’ll have to, uh… uh……. Something or other!”
"There's only ooooneeee way out, now! You've come all the way into the home of ghosts, and we'll only let you go when we've had our fun with you! If you want to get out of here with your soul, you'll…"
A shadow rushes by Iono, near enough and quick enough to even ruffle her hair. As if the air itself had thrown off a cloak, the shadow's passing unveils a figure right in front of Iono. "...have to find me in a game of hide-and-seek!" The new figure's voice matches that of the voice luring Iono deeper into the woods. They step forward, the flame above them illuminating their features. Purple hair, a pale red sash, some kind of a strange white headband…
"You'll play a game with us, won't you, Iono?"
“Wat.” Iono stares blankly.
“That’s the gym leader? Lol lmao”
“buddy I bet she could kick your ass any day”
“Kind of a weirdo, though. All that obsession with the ghosts…”
“Wait, I think I heard of this. There was some sort of… incident? Something happened with a Pokemon on Three Island. I think it killed a child, or something?”
“more like cursed forest”
“I no longer want Iono to step on me”
“TRAITOR TO THE CAUSE”
While her chat goes wild over the woman, Iono crosses her arms. “Hide and seek. That’s your challenge, huh? A bit of a downgrade over breaking a hole in rock with my hands or climbing up Cape Brink, don’t you think?
Buuut… if you don’t mind getting your shit absolutely WRECKED hide and seek wise live and on the air… yours truly, Iono Dollar, is ready to go!”
"You'll be the one begging to leave in front of your audience," the woman - Lostelle - replies, puffing out her cheeks. "Lost, confused, alone, but don't worry. We'll save you, and all it'll cost you is one soul! We'll even let this little one run amok with us," she walks up to Rotom, sticking her hand underneath the electrical ghost, letting her hand tingle under its influence.
"You'll have until the sun sets and true darkness falls in the Berry Forest. Once night comes, and we're free to play however we want, you're ours. Either find where little Lostelle has hidden herself away in the forest before night comes, become one of us in these woods, or cry out for help whenever you want to leave, okay? We take care of any screaming, lost little scared children in these woods, just like you."
"If," she continues, backing away, fading into the shadows of the forest, "you find me… we might just give you… a gym battle." A shadow falls from above, completely obscuring her just before she disappears into the trees. "And if you don't… There's room in the dark… here with us… just for you…"
“Hey, wait a-” And so, with a sudden woosh, Iono finds herself alone. More alone than usual, in fact, as there’s a sudden glitch on her screen. “Hey, chat, what are you…
…Chat?”
Though the chat is still able to see and hear Iono, Iono has been cut off on her end, leaving her totally chatless! She gulps, sweating desperately. “...Okay. Okay! No chat. NO PROBLEM. I’ve got 99 problems and not having chat isn’t one! Right. Let’s make this happpeeeeeen!” Deciding the best way to start is a bullheaded charge, Iono begins to just run in a straight line, ready to turn only if she runs out of road!
Alas! It doesn't take long for Iono to run out of road, or, well, to run out of a straight stretch of road, at least. She makes a little headway, breezing past the rustling leaves and the chattering throughout the forest, but she quickly encounters a dense cluster of trees, turning her path forward into a fork in the road. Which way to go? At first glance, there's little to distinguish the two paths before her. One has a row of trees all marked by a gash, and the other has seemingly blemish-free trees, but it's difficult to see far down either one. Down the former path, the marked trees to the left, a faint child-like giggling rings out from somewhere, while from the right emanates a reverberating moan.
At first, Iono decides that the giggle is clearly too obvious, and that there’s no way it could possibly be that. Deciding to follow the branch in the road, she starts to walk down the right… only for the loud moan to spook her. Shivering, Iono decides to avoid it, and steers to the left instead. Is there even any way to tell how late it is here?
"common iono w"
"that's our girl"
"wait some1 xplain pls, coudn't see :("
"the stump on the left was a whimpering phantump"
"anyone think she's actually dead?"
"wait wait what's she doing"
"ioNO"
"iono don't turn back!"
Iono proceeds blindly onwards, but her chat has a privileged view, a view from which they can more clearly see what lies in wait on the paths ahead. No amount of furious typing helps them actually connect with Iono again, the Iono Zone's devoted followers now without a mouth even as they try to scream out warnings for their idol. On the bright side, a few dedicated fans practically spam superchats in the hopes that they'll somehow reach Iono over regular messages.
As, unbeknownst to Iono, the low-dollar donations pour in, the streamer treads further down the path. Not only does she seem to get closer to the source of the giggling, it seems to come closer to her, approaching far too fast for the rate she's going.
Right on top of her, surrounding her again, the giggling comes from every direction and morphs into a sniffling, sniveling cry, sounding awfully like a child holding back a stream of tears. A figure darts between the trees nearest Iono, and a voice rings out as the figure hunkers down behind one of the trees, practically clinging to it.
"Aw, no fair! No faaaair! You should've fallen for it! You should've gone the other way!"
“...HaHA!” Iono says, putting on a brave face to cover up the fact that her heart is still beating a mile a minute. “Waaatch me, chat! This is the power of the Iono Zone! Iono Hype Squad, cheer me on!
Becaaause, you’re IT-” Iono says as she brings down her hand on the figure’s shoulder.
"IIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTT!" A piercing cry rattles the woods. Something launches itself at Iono, sending the woman stumbling back into a tree. As she collides with it, the figure slams into her, slinking down along with her…
…and weeping, breaking out into tears and rocking itself back and forth, Iono getting her wits about her and recognizing the figure as a Phantump, its quivering crying sounding suspiciously human. The frightened Ghost-type fades away, disappearing and leaving Iono to herself…
…with only Lostelle's voice, calling out somewhere in the distance. "Uh oh! You didn't lose track of where you are, did you? Oh well! You'll just have to wander around all lost now!"
“WHAT THE FUCK-” Iono screams as the Phantump hurls itself at her. She lies on the ground, rolling for a while until she finally recovers. Gasping for breath, she stares up at the canopy of Berry Forest as Lostelle mocks her.
Then she sits up. “Okay! Okay. She’s not done yet. Neither am I! Now, let’s see. My innate sense of direction tells me… this way is east!” Iono says, pointing to a direction and walking.
"where's she going??"
"what direction is that"
"relax ionochads, we can geolocate her"
"what"
"do u no wat that means or u makin things up?"
"i don't"
Confidently, Iono marches towards what is actually the northwest! The same murmuring of the forest follows her as she progresses, sometimes growing riled up, sometimes settling down into a nearly-inaudible chattering. Now and again, a chill runs down the streamer's spine, a wispy mass of chilled air brushing past her.
Is the path curving, or does it just seem to be curving? She'd been going straight this whole time, so she had to still be going east, right? Unless the lines of trees had been curving so gradually she hadn't noticed…
Huh?
A sudden flash gets Iono's attention. Seeing nothing ahead of her, the streamer looks back the way she had come, only to see a pair of lights drifting lazily through the forest. Another flash from behind briefly illuminates the trees, prompting the streamer to turn once again. Now, further down the path, a third light drifts about. The illumination both sets of distant lights provide proves there's no good side branches to take, leaving Iono with a choice - either press forward "east" or turn back.
This time around, Iono knows that there’s something suspicious going on. But she also knows how to try and handle it. If she were to just overload the area with Rotom, that would probably be too suspicious. Instead, with a motion, her two hairclips detach from her head, and they slowly begin to float away. One of them moves towards each of the two directions… and Iono watches, turning around and around.
As she views, the one that reaches the two lights behind her just floats on past that, totally untouched. However, the one moving forward gets suddenly struck by a force, bouncing back and the little Magnemite eye tearing up. Iono quickly recalls it, and begins to walk back towards the two lights, trusting in that route to take her a better direction.
Ahead of - or, rather, behind, now, with streamer turning back the way she had come - Iono, a rattling sneer accompanies the disappearance of a Duskull taken very much aback by Iono's hairclip. Giving up on luring the streamer away, the Ghost-type Pokémon leaves her to her doubling back and following the pair of lights guiding her away…
…which turn out to belong to a Pumpkaboo, Iono discovers. The little pumpkin Pokémon pays Iono surprisingly little heed, drifting on its merry way as she follows behind at a distance. It never strays too far from her, though it does take her on twisting, winding paths through the forest. The murmuring of spirits quiets, as even the ghosts - apparently - fall silent. Fewer shadows weave through the trees, as if deterred by Pumpkaboo's light. Following the pumpkin, Iono makes steady progress - or what she thinks is progress, at least - with her chat following along from home, commenting on the spooks lurking just outside of her field of vision.
Pumpkaboo takes her some ways, but, as if Iono were Cinderella at the stroke of midnight, she eventually loses her guide, Pumpkaboo's lights going dim, and the Pokémon drifting beyond a narrow gap in the trees, out of sight. Looking around, Iono finds herself at what could almost - emphasis on almost - pass for a clearing in the woods, still lacking any visible sky, but open enough to traverse reasonably. Some grasses manage to grow tall within, and… something moves through the grasses, steadily creeping towards the edge of the patch, staying hidden through the blades.
Approaching the clearing, Iono stumbles in, starting to walk through the place - only to stop short. Waaait a second. This… feels wrong. It’s not logical reasoning this time, or even the commands of chat, but just a sheer gut instinct. Iono begins to shuffle around the edge of the clearing, feeling like if she just charges through something will go wrong here. Is there an exit? There’s gotta be one.
Nope! Try as Iono might to find an exit, there's no good gap between the trees to squeeze through, save for turning back the way she came. Not to what she supposes to be the north, nor in any other direction. Someone should've posted one of those "no exit" signs on the path to this clearing, is all Iono can conclude as the rustling in the grass becomes louder, more frantic.
Until, that is, Iono, her eyes well-adjusted to the lack of light at this point, spots something odd about one of the trees to the north. There's no gap between them, but there is a hole in one of the trees, carved into its base. It looks almost, just barely large enough for someone to crawl through…
Oh jeez. It’s gonna be a tight fit, huh? She can already hear all the jokes chat would gleefully make at seeing her shove herself into that. But not much of a choice here, able to tell that the clearing is not a safe place. Shoving herself in, kicking her legs, Iono begins to force herself straight through and into the tree. Where does she end up?
She winds up emerging back on another narrow path in the woods, though this one, at least, diverges into a number of routes. Four paths lie ahead of Iono, two forking off to the left, two forking off to the right, and there's surprisingly little activity on any of them - certainly none of the strange happenings she had encountered until now. The trees all look to be about the same height. There's no particularly apparent difference between any of them. Even the paths themselves are devoid of distinct identifying characteristics. All there is of note are what look to be three oversized cicada shells - or, no, definitely not normal cicada shells, but rather unmoving Shedninja - clinging onto the tree through which she just crawled.
Looking at the shells, Iono tries to figure out if there’s any connection between them and the paths. She nods as she figures something out - clearly, the three shells are pointing to which paths to not take! Confidently, Iono struts down the remaining path, happy to have figured it out.
Maybe half an hour later she walks in and looks around, realizing this path led her in a circle. “Oh come on!” Iono shouts, flailing her sleeves. “What kind of messed-up forest is this?” She starts to study the shells again, trying to see if she can figure out what they REALLY mean.
They've barely moved, or perhaps they've not even moved at all. It's hard to tell. The three shells don't seem to have any particular connection to the paths. It's just one above the others, to the left, a second below that one, a little to the right of it, and one more even lower and even further to the right. The third one, actually, seems to be about at eye level… Was it always there, or had it shifted down? Maybe she should have taken a picture… What a shame that her chat wasn't with her to tell her…
"THAT ONE'S LOWER"
"IONO LOOK AT THAT ONE"
"they weren't arranged like that before"
"sending brainpower to iono"
"think think think!"
Chat screams in vain, their words unable to reach Iono. There's nothing they can do. They must trust in Iono. Oblivious to chat's plight, Iono inspects the shells more closely, finding nothing strange about any given one of them, but....
If they weren't showing her which path not to take, they had to be showing her which path to take, right? So was she supposed to take the first path on the left, because the highest shell was to the left? Or was she supposed to take the third path from the left, because there were three shells, and they were descending from left to right? She tries to peer through the canopy to get a sense of the time, but her efforts are in vain. There's only a sliver of light peeking through the leaves, and it's too difficult to tell whether it's from an afternoon sun or an evening sun. Still, she couldn't have been here all that long, right? So even if this was a 50-50 guess, she'd be fine!
Deciding to take her chances, Iono marches down the third path from the left, taking the gamble and… after a brisk walk down the tight path, she comes across a tree rising above the others, a tree with a little nook underneath it, just shaded enough that she can't see if anything is inside… There's no activity. It's dead silence from the nook. Well, if it were a trick of some kind, there'd probably be something trying to lure her in, right…?
Cautiously, Iono approaches the nook, getting on her knees, crawling towards it with some trepidation. She pokes her head in.
"BOO!"
There's a thud as something smacks into wood, something inside the nook jumping up in response. Iono straightens up and backs away, standing triumphantly. At her feet, muttering and grumbling, rubbing the back of her head, Lostelle reluctantly crawls out.
"I guess you found me," she concedes as she gets up on her feet, looking none too happy about the outcome. "I don't see how it's unfair if Gengar jumps out of the grass just because nobody comes near it," she mutters to herself, turning away from Iono. "Since you found me, I have to give you a battle. Are you ready?"
“Hahahahahaha! Of course I did!” Iono elects to graciously not mention that she was pretty close to cracking at one point. She looks around, a bit surprised to see that the forest seems a little less constricting - Berry Forest is still a dark, spooky wood, but the light from the evening sun is now shining clearly down, and the shadows seem to stay where they are.
Even the connection errors she had suddenly clear up, chat’s words coming loud and clear through the connection. “Hiiii, chat! I can hear you again - and thanks for the sweet, sweet superchats! I highly recommend you giving me money any time I can’t hear you. You know. Just in case.”
“OUR GAAAAAL”
“that’s our iono, confirmed not replaced”
“Please let me talk to Lostelle”
“silence, traitor”
“Right!” Iono says, producing one of her Poke Balls. “I’ve got my chat back and I’ve got you locked down. If it’s a battle you want, it’s a battle you’ll get!”
"Alright, then get ready! You came all the way into the home of spirits, and you're about to learn why everyone says you should fear the spirits in the Berry Forest! I'm the most frightening thing to ever come out of these woods!"
Putting aside the sting of Iono spooking her, Lostelle grabs a Dusk Ball and calls for a Banette, the spiteful doll emerging and awaiting its opponent. Iono counters by tossing out Rotom, and the gym battle is joined!
Banette vs Rotom, ghost vs ghost, it didn't get much riskier than this. Out front at the start of the lineup like this, Rotom could do some serious damage to Lostelle's team… but it could take some serious damage from its fellow spirits all the same.
So they'd have to strike fast, and get the jump on Banette!
Using its speed to full effect, Rotom kicks off the battle by rising up into the air, just beneath the canopy, and firing off a Shock Wave! The electrical pulse spreads across the woods, crackling as it collides with the trees, the ring of electricity breaking into arcing segments. Banette stands its ground as the pulse rushes outwards, backed into a corner. Turning and running couldn't get it away quickly enough, and with the attack sweeping outwards, hunkering down somewhere to minimize its effects is out of the question.
The pulse reaches Banette before the ghostly doll can take a step… only to pass over Banette harmlessly, the doll hiding itself in the shadows shifting across the forest floor with Shadow Sneak. Banette slinks across the ground as Rotom, suddenly on the defensive, desperately covers the area in a veil of twisting, swirling color, projecting an enlarged shade of itself as it tries to stave off an attack with Night Shade.
Banette bursts forth from the shadows, leaping at Rotom! The Night Shade takes effect, the phantasmal Rotom rushing at Banette, enveloping it and forcing it back, leaving it shuddering and on the backfoot as Rotom's psychedelic projections evaporate.
"she scared a ghost!"
"ez counter"
"always knew she could scare anyone w/ her chompers"
"anyone else missing their dolls now?"
"don't need to. over 30 and still got plushies"
Commanding the momentum, Rotom goes in for the metaphorical kill, firing off a Shadow Ball. The spiraling ball of energy hurtles towards Banette, the doll Pokémon once again standing its ground, no chance of escaping this one. The sound of the collision thunders through the interior of the woods, the Shadow Ball exploding on impact with Banette, obscuring the doll from view.
"BOO!"
Even as the explosion shakes the old-growth trees of the deep forest interior, Lostelle shouts out… and in time with Banette, no less, her Pokémon suddenly rising up in front of Rotom, unzipping its mouth and lunging forward, shoving Rotom back with an Astonish. Though a ghost itself, Rotom flinches, giving Banette, a chance to deliver Rotom a hard smack. Knock Off does the trick, sending the plasma Pokémon plunging down to the forest floor, its frail constitution doing it no favors.
"You can always give up if you're scared!" Lostelle calls out with an oddly chipper smugness, tossing a seemingly-friendly wave at Iono while nevertheless sporting a vicious grin.
Not even close to giving in, Iono defiantly sends out Bellibolt. The frog and the doll stare each other down, sizing each other up from a distance. Banette slouches, crouches down, even. It's tired and weakened, Iono realizes. Bellibolt might be able to get the first move, but… even weakened, would Banette be too quick? Being able to dive into the shadows to avoid attacks gave it a great advantage. To knock out Banette, they'd have to do something about that.
"Okay, my ribbit-y buddy," Iono calls out! "Our loyal Iono Zone viewers need a better view! Cue the lights for me, okay?"
Bellibolt's electricity crackles to life, the frog charging up as Banette primes itself to attack, quietly preparing a Sucker Punch. Bellibolt fires off a blast of electricity, and Banette rushes forward, arm wound back for a power-packed punch!
Then Banette stumbles, falling flat on its face as the forest begins to glow, suffused with a soft yellow-blue glow. Sucker Punch let Banette respond quickly to attacks, but this wasn't an attack; Bellibolt had merely used Electric Terrain. The electricity arcing through the trees and sparking along the ground illuminates the Berry Forest, driving back the shadows.
When the Zap Cannon comes, Banette is a sitting duck. Another explosion of energy rocks the forest, with a bolt of electricity escaping from the epicenter and breaching the canopy, briefly snaking up into the skies above the child island. Banette slumps to the ground in the aftermath, Lostelle forced to recall the Pokémon.
"You're almost as bad as those guys who bring Flash," Lostelle grumbles, crossing her arms and puffing out her cheeks again. "Fine! We'll have to drag you into the darkness with us this time! I'll show you what it's like to be taken away to somewhere dark and lonely!"
In Banette's place, out comes Drifblim! The balloon Pokémon wastes no time getting into the battle, matching Bellibolt's battlefield manipulation with some of its own by setting up a Tailwind. A gale blows through the trees, howling as it twists through branches and whooshes around trunks. Bellibolt's Thunderbolt streaks through the forest, forcing Drifblim to take evasive maneuvers - something which the balloon Pokémon does with ease, riding its summoned Tailwind to zoom through the air.
Circling around Bellibolt, Drifblim launches a Shadow Ball that strikes the frog square in the center of its back, toppling it. Though the frog scrambles to right itself, Drifblim presses its advantage, continuing to circle the frog and pelting it with a barrage of Air Slash attacks, cutting blades formed from the air itself slicing into the downed Bellibolt.
Try as it might, flail around as it might, the frog can't push itself up to its feet, Drifblim's relentless attacks giving it no room to rise. Bellibolt in a bind, Iono in a bind, the streamer's mind races. Options, what options did they have? Zap Cannon would be a surefire hit, and one boosted by Electric Terrain, but getting it off amidst Drifblim's barrage would be next to impossible. Discharge would be just as difficult to get off, and switching out Bellibolt, well, it'd be marginally better than letting Bellibolt get KOed here, but getting Bellibolt back into battle would be a challenge. Weakened as it would be, it'd have next to no chance to get back into battle without taking an immediate KO blow…
So they'd just have to hit Drifblim with a parting shot! "Okays! We're gonna have a new guest on the stream now, so give me a Volt Switch, Beillbolt buddy!"
Still stuck on the ground, only having managed to flip over from being stuck on its belly to lying on its back, Bellibolt cloaks itself in a crackling ball of electricity. A bolt lashes out from the ball of electricity to strike Drifblim, an electrical surge overwhelming Lostelle's Pokémon as Bellibolt returns to Iono.
With Bellibolt retreating, out comes Magneton, the magnet Pokémon facing a stunned Drifblim and making the most of the situation by immediately firing off a terrain-boosted Thunderbolt. Volt after volt pours into Drifblim, until the Pokémon is only lazily drifting a couple inches off the ground by the time Magneton finally breaks off the attack. One more little push, that's all it's going to take.
"finish him"
"finish him.gif"
"she's got it"
"finish him"
Iono's viewers flood her chat with the same memetic line like it's the replies section of a popular Tweet, and Lostelle, clearly on the defensive now… grins and nods as Drifblim looks back. The balloon Pokémon lets out a weak croon. Rapidly inflating, Drifblim begins to glow, growing brighter until it surpasses even the Electric Terrain when it comes to casting a light.
The explosion comes swiftly, not, this time, courtesy of any energetic attacks, but from Drifblim itself, using the aptly named Explosion technique. Trees shudder, even Iono and Lostelle have to dig their heels in and shield their eyes, and Magneton is consumed by the blast.
When the smoke clears, Driflbim, naturally, lies on the ground, deflated. Magneton, its metallic body singed and scuffed, still floats.
Holding tough through the force of the explosion, its metal body acting as the armor it needed to tough out the explosion, Magneton may look worse for wear, but still it floats, still hanging on in battle.
"If you won't come with us willingly," Lostelle pouts, clenching her fists and scrunching her face, "then we'll trap you in a nightmare and take you away! I'm going to teach you how terrifying it can be to be hypnotized!"
With those words, Lostelle chucks a Dusk Ball. The light of the ball fades away to reveal nothing but a wide, toothy grin floating in the woods and a pair of shifty red eyes above it. The rest of the Pokémon's body fades in, Gengar stepping up to battle properly.
“Ah”. That’s all that comes from Iono at first, as she processes the final Pokemon she’s up against. Thankfully, there was no sign of Mega Evolution or Dynamax to worry about here, but boy is this an uncomfortable showdown. Gengar’s one of the toughest ghost Pokemon around, and Iono is on the back foot here! Deciding there’s nothing to do but go for the quick strikes, Iono opens hard, aiming for Gengar with a Flash Cannon. If it worked once, it might work again, right?
It's a good opening move on Iono's part! Unfortunately, it's not quite good enough. As the beam races towards Gengar, the Ghost-type simply vanishes, the beam harmlessly passing through the air where it had been. From behind Magneton, Gengar strikes, reappearing as suddenly as it had disappeared, striking Magneton with a full-bodied tackle as it completes its Phantom Force attack. There's but one saving grace for Magneton, that being that Gengar isn't so tough when it comes to physical force, lacking the mass it really needs to make its tackle a hard one.
Not letting up, Gengar follows up with a Shadow Ball, aiming the classic Ghost-type attack Magneton's way while the magnet Pokémon is recovering from the surprise from behind. That one only clips Magneton, the tripartite Pokemon aware enough to recover in time to avoid a direct blow. Still, though, Iono has been placed firmly on the defensive now, and she’s trying hard to figure out what direction to salvage this with. Eventually, she settles on an idea.
“Alright, time for… Thunder Wave!” Yes, just Thunder Wave. It doesn’t pack the damaging power of the other electric moves, but it has a very useful effect - and if Gengar is paralyzed, Iono can start to lay on the smackdown by following up with Thunderbolt properly!
Now that's strategy, Iono! The Thunder Wave finds its mark, Gengar seizing up as the little surge of electricity overtakes it. As the move fades away, Gengar seemingly shrugs it off, unconcerned, and draws back for a Payback attack.
That's when it realizes there's a problem. It charges towards Magneton, ready to punish it with the retaliatory move, but it's moving far too slow, and now it's right in the path of Magneton, and easy target…
Iono knows this next move is gonna be risky, but at the same time… what’s she got to lose? Magneton’s already low on HP, and she’s gotta take the risk to avoid the risk of Gengar knocking it out. She grins.
“ohhhh here it comes”
“THAT’S HER TELL”
“Big finish time!”
“Steel Beam!” Iono shouts, Magneton twirling all its magnets as it focuses… and unleashes a huge, powerful blast of pure steel energy, drawing on its own health and burning it up for sheer, raw power!
That is far from good, for Lostelle, and she knows it, but the Gym Leader maintains her composure. She even grins. This is where it gets exciting. This is where she pulls out her trump card.
"Gengar! Put it to sleep and snack on its nightmares!"
Dutifully compliant, and all-too-eager to plunge Magneton into sleep, Gengar complies, opening its eyes wide and shooting a piercing gaze at Magneton as it fires off its Steel Beam, looking to blunt the attack.
Magneton would fall into a deep sleep before it could finish its attack, giving Gengar a chance to regroup, and Dream Eater would give it a chance to heal up, too. She'd finish off Magneton, and finishing Bellibolt would be a piece of cake!
Or so Lostelle thinks, right up until the moment Gengar gets sent hurtling past her, swept into the air by Magneton's Steel Beam. Not even getting a chance to turn incorporeal, Gengar slams into a tree, slumping to the ground.
"Wha-?" Lostelle looks from the defeated Gengar to Magneton, stunned by the result. There, before her, Magneton remained awake, still hanging on. "I know Magneton can be put to sleep! It doesn't have Insomnia! It doesn't have Vital Spirit! What was that? What did you do?"
“...Wow, you don’t actually know?” Iono looks genuinely astounded. “Electric Terrain! Not only does it boost electric moves… it means nobody in battle can fall asleep, at any time, as long as the terrain’s up! Defeated by the superior tactics of the Iono Zone!”
Lostelle looks skeptical, tilting her head at Iono's explanation, looking between, once again, her defeated Pokémon and the victorious Magneton, floating above the still-sparking ground. "I've never had someone use it against me like that," she eventually begrudgingly admits. "People bring all kinds of strategies to avoid falling for Hypnosis, but there's even a way to avoid it by changing the terrain…"
After contemplating the revelation for a moment, she sighs, recalling Gengar. "Fine. You win." She rummages around for a badge to grant to Iono, eventually pulling out what looks like a stylized tree trunk with, rather than leaves fanning out from it, a will-o'-the-wisp atop it.
"You were brave enough to face the ghosts in the forest, and you kept your courage through our whole game, so take this Spirit Badge as a reminder of the horror of Lostelle of the Berry Forest!"
“HELL YEAH!” Iono says, grabbing up the badge and holding it dramatically before pinning it next to the other two. “Three down! Four to go!” Chat starts eagerly celebrating, Iono looking it over and mugging for the camera as she basks in her victory over yet another Gym Leader.
As she does, one of the discussions makes her perk up. “Hey, is it true a Pokemon killed a kid in this forest?”
Iono celebrates, and Lostelle's mind races with questions. What else didn't she know about terrain effects yet? Who would know the most about the- Wait. What a dumb question. It'd be Ultima. Of course it'd be Ultima. Except Electric Terrain, maybe. He might actually know more about that. She'd have to go all the way over to-
Wait. Did Iono say she had nabbed three badges?
That mention is enough to get Lostelle out of her own head, but it's Iono's next question actually draws Lostelle's attention back to her challenger. With a mischievous gleam in her eyes, she quickly scans her surroundings, as if checking for anyone listening before spilling a secret. A Duskull waiting nearby, one of the hidden audience members for the battle, drifts over to Iono. "You want to know about that?" Lostelle questions, her voice a hushed whisper.
Iono's chat goes dark, her viewers unable to see a thing until the screen flashes back to life, filled with static, the audio and video distorted.
And as soon as chat has their view interrupted, Lostelle drops the horrified act, clasping her hands together and pleading with Iono. "Please tell me that's the story they're sharing online! Please! That's not what happened, but it's better than the actual story!" Overflowing with excitement, Lostelle spins around, gesturing for Pumpkaboo and Phantump to emerge. The two Pokémon act out the story as she tells it. "When I was still little," she says as Phantump wanders around like a frightened child, only for Pumpkaboo to approach, inviting it to come along, "I was at the edge of the forest. A Hypno came out, and I followed it deep into the woods. Someone came and got me, and then the Hypno was tracked down, and that's all that happened."
"It's boring, right? It's not even worth telling. So pretty please, keep the real story a secret from your fans. You'll do that for me, won't you? I'll even pay you back someday. You can have a front row ticket when I'm in the championship match at the PWT!"
“Oh. Wow, that’s… huh.” Iono actually looks taken aback at both Lostelle’s sudden change of tone, and at how anticlimactic the story was. “Yeah! There’s all sorts of horror stories chat is talking about how Berry Forest is a cursed place because a child died here, and that’s why it’s haunted.
…Wait, if that’s not it, then are all the ghosts yours?”
However, the mention of a dramatic story gets Iono’s interest. “Welllllll, it WILL get chat a lot more fun clips and hype… okay, okay!” With that, Iono signals to Lostelle, and chat begins to come back into focus… with Iono clamping her hands over her mouth. “That’s horrible! It’s the scariest thing I ever heard!”
Mouthing a silent "thank you" to Iono, the Ghost-type using Gym Leader plays her part, both as a storyteller and as a member of the Sevii League. "Aaaaand, you get to hear the whole story because you beat all three of the Tri-Pass gyms. If anyone watching you wants the true story, they should come and battle us, too."
Her overt plug finished, Lostelle picks up with commendations she, strictly speaking, was supposed to give challengers like Iono as she awarded their badge. "You've proven that you're brave, that you're strong, and that you have incredible endurance. Congratulations, chall- Iono. You're someone who could make it on our islands, even far outside of town, and the Sevii League hopes you'll always look at your three badges as reminders of your experiences in the Sevii Islands."
It's a little speech that's stiff at times, clearly a mixture of rehearsed words and some ad-libbing, but Lostelle's next comment is completely natural. "But you better not stop here! There's still four gyms waiting for you, with more challenges and more battles, and we're going to beat you!" Knowing she's on camera, she stops short of actually criticizing aloud the many challengers who had stopped after just three islands, even as a cheer of support for Iono rises through the forest, the gaggle of Ghost-types watching the battle offering their own encouragement to the streamer.
“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that!” Iono says, smirking. “I’ve already got my Rainbow Pass lined up. I don’t even know what’s on Four Island, but I know it’s gonna be no match for me!”
Chat erupts into cheers once again.
“FULL ISLANDS HERE WE COME”
“I knew Iono wasn’t going to be one of those tourists who gives up after the Tri-Pass!”
“I still need Lostelle to step on me”
“Did you know a Rainbow Pass barely costs more than a Tri-Pass? I thought that was interesting.”
"If you want that," Lostelle, now making her appeals not just to Iono, but directly to her audience as well, catches sight of a few of the comments in Iono's chat, "come out to Kin Island and wander into the Berry Forest. You can be just like Iono and get on your hands and knees. You can find what you're looking for here," she replies, deliberately keeping her response at least somewhat open-ended. "Come soon, and you can even meet your idol while Iono's still battling through the gyms," she ends off with a metaphorical nudge and a wink.
"So, do you want us spirits to guide you out of the forest so you can challenge the full Rainbow Pass?" She questions Iono, still trying to play up Iono's guaranteed future battles to keep the streamer's audience excited.
“You know what? Sure! Let’s see what you’ve got in that regard!” Iono says with a grin, as she begins to follow Lostelle and her ghosts out of the forest. “A forest, a cliff, and a spa… it’ll be interesting to see what’s next.
Let’s do this, chat! We’ve got a badge challenge to win!”
