Part 15: *Team Yell Members Slipping Out From Behind a Statue*

Update 16: *Team Yell Members Slipping Out from Behind a Statue*

Galar Mines - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST

As a brand-new babby Pokémon, Dietrich starts out at level 1; I spent some time grinding for her, though not much, just enough to boost her up to about my party’s average level. By the way, Dietrich is female. I’m not changing her name –





I can’t go five minutes in this place! _{Ignore the fact that I doubled back to make sure it actually got me.} Stunfisks hide in the ground and look kind of like Pokéballs, but they jump up to grab you and kick off a fight when they do. They’re very hard to kill, too, and I have enough party members that I don’t want to waste a space on it. I’m not familiar with the meta, are these guys considered any good? Whatever, we have plot to deal with.



… It’s unforgivable for you to get in the way of a Carkoal hard at work!

Grunt A: We weren’t getting’ in its way! We were tryin’ to cheer it on!

Grunt B: Still, you did a number on us in that Pokémon battle, so… It’s time for Team Yell to scarper off and give a moral boost elsewhere!

Cheering is one thing, but one shouldn’t get in the way of honest work!

The Pokémon gargles in agreement.

That’s Kabu… Man, he’s wicked! No wonder he’s the Fire-type Gym Leader!



I’m just training right up until the last moment so that I can guarantee the perfect match when I face you Gym Challengers! I specialize in Fire-type Pokémon, and the Water-type Pokémon in Galar Mine No. 2 are the perfect opponents to train against! Regardless, it’s getting late. Just go straight once you get out of this mine, and you’ll reach Motostoke. Get a good rest at the hotel, and make sure you’re both in your top condition! Come on, Carkoal. Time for you to head on home, too. I’ll make sure you get there safely.

It gargles again

We’re going to be on fire tomorrow!

He has a pretty commanding presence, doesn’t he?

I know, right? Lee says a good third of the yearly Gym Challenger crop burns out against his Gym… But I think I can take him! Man, now I’m getting all fired up, too!



Motostoke - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST



…I guess it must’ve been here on a job. You know about Poké Jobs by now, right?

Oh Lord, I’ve been avoiding talking about Poké Jobs. So let’s talk about Sudowoodos instead!



Remember HMs? Back in Gen 2, just after you got Cut, you could run into something that looked mostly like a cuttable tree – only for it to turn out to be a Sudowoodo minding its own business that would attack you for trying to murder it. They still show up here and there in the series – back in Gen 7, one of the Gym-equivalents included a challenge where you try to identify which trees were and weren’t actually Pokémon – but these days they’re just another Pokémon. Also, despite looking like trees, they’re Rock-types. Isn’t that distracting interesting?

Anyway, soon enough we pull back into Motostoke, head down to the Pokémon Center to heal our guys up –



I guess there’s no avoiding it.



Poké Jobs are little errands you can send your troops on to get you various bonuses, usually a few items and some experience for the creatures involved; you mount them out of the PC and draw participants from the Pokémon you’ve stored there. Thing is? Since I started playing, I’ve always favored keeping a stable party as much as possible. I rarely catch many Pokémon and those that I do tend to sit in my Box forever unless I switch them out. There are exceptions – that Eevee I caught earlier, for instance, will likely be one of them – but Poké Jobs offer me very little I want. Even when I do try to use them, they end up irritating, because they often require a bunch of Pokémon of the same type and I don’t have a bunch of Pokémon I can spare for however long any given Job will take. I suppose for most players they can serve an important function, but I don’t like thinking about them. Whatever, it’s done now!

Marnie's Theme - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST



Heya, Marnie!

Oh, Gloria! Nos da!

Good evening to you, too! See, I remembered!

Actually, Gloria, I wanted t’ ask you a question.

Aye?

We never had a battle before. You wanna fight?



Battle! (Marnie) - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST



FINALLY, you have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to break out this theme. It’s a strong contender for best track in the game. It and this animation are what originally drew my attention to Sword and Shield. Also, notice how Team Yell shows up in the background root for her. I couldn’t get a screenshot because it went by too fast, but in the split-second between when you accept the challenge and it enters to the battle screen, a couple of Team Yell members slip out from behind the statute to start cheering her on

Marnie specializes in Dark-type Pokémon, fitting her punk-y image, plus Pokémon that look scary, intimidating, or…



… A bit like a stereotype (if you don’t see it, wait for its evolved form). Her team really isn’t up to Bede’s standards, though that might be because Psychic-types generally kick ass. I roared through her first two pretty easily.



Morpeko here is her signature Pokémon, much more so than Bede’s Hatenna or whatever starter Hop ended up with. It’s not like those follow them around outside of battle. It’s also this generation’s pseudo-Pikachu. See, after seeing the runaway success of everyone’s favorite thunder rat, a lot of later generations have tried to catch that lightning in a bottle again. The closest they’ve ever come was with Mimikyu, some kind of Lovecraftian abomination that hid in a Pikachu costume because it just wanted everybody to love it like Pikachu ; it got some real traction for a little while before everyone forgot it. Morpeko, however, is just another Pokémon that looks kind of like Pikachu, so nobody cared. Except for Marnie, who cares about it in-universe for personal reasons.





Every time she says that, she uses that move, and not just in this battle. Morpeko is a bit of a gimmick Pokémon; every turn, it switches between two forms that alter the type of its signature move; Full Belly Mode, its normal appearance, makes the move Electric-type, while Hangry Mode (that’s its actual name), which turns it black and gives it angry eyes, makes the move Dark-type. It’s not much of a gimmick, though, and unless there’s something I’m missing, it’s just a middle of the range Pokémon. Her team goes down easy.

Marnie's Theme - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST

… Well, I wasn’t expectin’ that.

Look, I’m pretty good, but I’m not perfect. Do you want me to give you some pointers?

I – Actually, maybe tomorrow. It’s getting’ late, and while that last conversation was great fun, I’d rather not stay up till dawn again.

Same. See you tomorrow!



Bore da! Off to the Gym?

Actually, I was thinkin’… you know how Gyms are always clogged up in the mornin’?

Yeah, we’ll be looking at a couple hours wait while they cycle through Challengers.

You wanna just go out and DO somethin’ for a while? Spend a few hours out ‘til the queue clears a bit.

Absolutely, that’s a brilliant idea! Actually, I was planning on hitting up the shops sometime today. You want to tag along?

…

… I mean, have you seen the Kantonian breed? I mean, it’s not bringin’ home any prizes anytime soon, but it doesn’t have that awful beard.

Full agreement with you there. Just looking at it leaves a bad taste in my Meowth.







You should’ve nipped that one in the budew.

That was onixceptable, Gloria!

It’ll take more than that to give this conversation the raboot.

What you say when a Water-type goes on the lam? It’s laying lotad.

What you call it when a Water-type struggles to finish something something? It bit off more than it can chewtle!

Why don’t you give Pokémon jewelry? You’d be castin’ pearls before piloswine!

What game do you play with baby Pokémon? Peek-a-chu!

What do you call it when your Oddish takes too long t’ evolve? It’s a late gloomer!

What… Oh no, I’m out, I’m out!

How do you know when your Pokémon needs a bath? When it’s a little bit stunky!



What did the Flareon say when it looked back at its high school yearbook? I can’t belieevee I used t’ look like that!

Pfffhahaha oh my God…

…

… I still can’t believe the Battle Café serves breakfast at lunch.

Didn’t make the fight any harder. You said you had pointers?

Yes. So, I noticed you keep a Croagunk on your team, even though it’s not a Dark-type?

Normally I keep my team to Dark-types, but they live in the Spike River, so they get in on –

Café Owner Dwight: Your meals – the daily special!

Thanks.

Thank you. …Marnie, did you read the ingredients list?

Nah, the menu just said “Daily Special”… is that… Look, ‘s that baked beans? In an omelette? I can’t imagine eatin’ either of those on their lonesome, forget them thrown together.

Well, at least we can bond over similar taste in food… And it smells so strong… You know, if I liked either of those things, this omelette would be gone by now, but it’s making me kind of -y just looking at it.

I’m not hungry anymore. Do you wanna just pay and leave?



…

… I’m afraid the tam o’ shanter isn’t going anywhere.

Eh, suit yourself. We can agree to disagree.

I mean, you can pull off black nails, but I can’t.

Now I’m not too sure about – wait, Gloria, look! How about this one?

Isn’t that just the Fighting Gym uniform top?

Yes, but I think it would offset those trousers of yours.

You know what, you might be right, give it over…

…



_{All right, got the new cards printed out and ready to give to Challengers, everything is all set… It’s time to go take down Kabu.}



(As far as other Trainer’s Pokémon go, Bede’s Hatenna and Marnie’s Morpeko are up for naming; as a reminder, I’ll work the name into the narrative, whatever it turns out to be).