Part 34: That Right?
Update 35: That Right?Marnie's Theme - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST
My little sis Marnie’s gonna challenge me next, I bet.
So you were watchin’, bach… You won’t learn anythin’ from seein’ me lose.
I was watching YOUR battle. It’s how I learned to battle an’ all that. That right? That reminds me. Marnie, there’s somethin’ I wanted to tell you. I want you to take over the Gym here in Spikemuth as its Gym Leader. I… Oh for – you too? All right, why do you want me to take over? I think you’d be more comfortable here. You think – you – why is everyone tryin’ to make my decisions for me? Is there somethin’ in the water? Or do you all still think I need people holdin’ my hand everywhere? Piers, why you think all I wanna do is take over the Gym? Now I never said THAT… Did you just ASSUME I wanted to? Did you ever even bother to ASK?
Well, do you? Do I – eh? All else being equal – if the Champion wasn’t on the table, if you could the Champion and Gym Leader at the same time without any problems, whatever, would you want to run the Dark Gym? I… Oh bollocks, I started talking when I shouldn’t have – … Yeah. Yes, I would wanna take over the Gym. You lot drive me up the wall sometimes, I swear, but I love it here and I’d love to do it. But that’s off the table now. I’ve got somethin’ much bigger in mind. Are you really gonna tell me I can’t do it? No. But I’m still not sure you’re ready yet. Oh, not sure, he is. What do I have to do to – Gloria! Wha –
I think I see stars… 
Audience:
Well? I think you’ve proved your point, sis. Now, let your big bro see if you have the skill to be a Champion! Hey, Gloria, thanks for havin’ an amazin’ Pokémon battle with my brother. It’s my turn next! So clear off for a bit, ‘K? Okay…We walk back out and get a TM from the guy at the desk before the screen shakes.
Rando:… Things out! Oh, hey! You gave Piers a thrashing, didn’t you? You should head over there to help. Come on, then! I’ll show you the way.
That was 15 minutes ago at most. How do you know that? I guess rumor obeys its own special laws… Wait, Gloria! Oh. Hello again. I – I wanna apologize. I broke the promise I had us make not an hour after we made it. Plus, I just grabbed you, and I know I don’t like it when people do that to me, so – Look. As an autistic person, I know how infuriating that kind of well-meaning condescension can get. I don’t blame you for getting ahead of yourself like that. Same deal on as before? 
Though I have to say… C’mere. ? I kinda liked it. 
Bye 
.Champion Leon's Theme - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST
The moment we step out the (now open) entrance, we find Leon standing in the middle of the road.
Whatever is making that noise, I’ll see to it! I already told you, didn’t I? Keep your eye on the goal! And for you, that’s winning the Gym Challenge! Look, I know people expect me to be curious, but I’m not barmy enough to go investigating these things. If I feel an earthquake, I’m not going straight to the epicenter! You have fun, mate. Words of wisdom, those are. There I go again! Sorry, there’s a bit of trouble here with my name on it. But you don’t worry about a thing!Route 6 - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST
Following his advice, I head over to Circhester and spend a little time clothes shopping, because why not? Also because it’s been a couple towns since last time.
There we go. Then, I take the opportunity to go catch our party’s newest member.
I’m a sucker for the classics.
Magikarp were introduced all the way back in Gen 1 as a living example of the benefits of evolution. From what I remember (and I bet the thread can check me on this), Magikarp wasn’t actually that awful from a stats perspective, but the game went out of its way to insult and denigrate the poor thing. The Old Rod, your first fishing rod, was rigged up to only catch magikarp as an incentive to find better rods; the Pokémon’s signature move was (and is) Splash, a move that does nothing. Rumors would circulate that it manipulated catch rates or dodge rates; nope. Jack squat, your magikarp just flopped around for a turn. Even in later generations they went out of their way to make magikarp look as bad as possible; every generation of Pokémon includes magikarp, and nearly every time their Pokédex entry goes out of its way to insult them:
Pokémon Red posted:
In the distant past, it was somewhat stronger than the horribly weak descendants that exist today.
Pokemon Silver posted:
For no reason, it jumps and splashes about, making it easy for predators like Pidgeotto to catch it mid-jump.
Pokémon X posted:
It is virtually worthless in terms of both power and speed. It is the most weak and pathetic Pokémon in the world.
Pokémon Black and White posted:
A Magikarp living for many years can leap a mountain using Splash. The move remains useless, though.
Pokemon Ruby posted:
Magikarp is a pathetic excuse for a Pokémon that is only capable of flopping and splashing. This behavior prompted scientists to undertake research into it.
It’s so terrible it’s the subject of scientific research
.Incidentally, there’s also a long-running debate among fans of the franchise on whether people eat Pokémon; while they are highly intelligent and emotionally human enough to make the idea uncomfortable, but, well, Pokémon are animals, and humans have a habit of eating those (there’s also some debate on whether Pokémon eat other Pokémon, but given just how many Pokédex entries mention preferred diets (see above), that’s a lot easier to settle). Last I checked, the consensus was it’s considered acceptable to eat SOME Pokémon at least, and according to episode 16 of the anime…
… Magikarp is one of them.
On the other hand, its evolved form is Gyarados, a flying sea serpent and consistently one of the most terrifying Pokémon you can get your hands on (outside of the double weakness to Electric you get from Water/Flying). It’s a brutal physical attacker with enough health to survive some major hits, and it access to some of the best moves in the game.
It also has a place in history as (technically) the first Shiny Pokémon. Gen 1 didn’t have Shinies at all, so in order to introduce players to the concept, Gen 2 had a Shiny Gyrados show up as part of the plot a few hours in for you to catch. I caught it, of course, because it was a free Gyrados with a rare color scheme. Why wouldn’t I catch it? I did not, however, realize it represented something deeper, and I didn’t find out about Shinies in general until years later. I just thought it was unique
.I’ve only ever seen one other wild Shiny in person, a Tauros in Silver. I was in a hurry when I found it, so I just ran away.
I don’t regret it.
Yes, of course I kept Splash after evolving him. Why wouldn’t I?
Anyway, after tooling around the map for a while, I realize that, instead of letting us take the rational route, the game wants us to actually head towards the danger zone like gormless shmucks. So I do that. Unfortunately.
WHY am I doing this, why am I DOING this, why am I doing THIS…On the other side…
Hop's Theme - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST
Hop!
Gloria! 
That noise – it was like some massive explosion! There was this huge surge of red light, and then wild Pokémon just started Dynamaxing around me, brazen as you like! Bloody hell, really? Mate, are you all right? Oh, yeah, I’m just fine. Nothing even touched me, I just threw out Bonham and he took down a pair of Perrserkers right by the tunnel entrance. I kept a bunch of people safe, too. You know what that means, Gloria? I’m a hero 
. Two out of how many? Well, okay, there were like a dozen total and Leon took most of them. But he didn’t make it to the tunnel in time! I manned the – actually, hold on a mo’. I take it you’re on your way to Hammerlocke? Aye. Then let’s brag to each other on the way. Can do. Wait, do you have the Dark Badge yet? Eh. I mean, it’s right there on the other side of the tunnel, it’s not going anywhere. And it isn’t a long walk back, either, so I have plenty of time to regale you with my achievements! Your… Two achievements, I believe. Hey, how many rampaging Pokémon have YOU stopped? You mean, in the last half hour, or…...