Part 58: Leave This Place

Update 59: Leave This Place









Please welcome Gloria! I’m sure you’ll all have lots to teach her.



All our students are so good and hardworking. Everyone really gives it their all around here.



Hello, sweetie pie! It’s not usual for you to bother greeting a newcomer! This is Hyde—my darling only son.





Are you some kind of outlier? Here, you should give this a try. But don’t open it, OK? It’s got tech I developed inside, and I don’t want you to go and ruin it.

You have my word.

Good.

He’s so good with his hands, always making something new. Such a clever boy. And that handsome gent in the back is my darling hubby and the very master of the Master Dojo!









Heh heh, I see you’ve got a sense of humor, too! Good, good!

_{Don’t let him fool you into thinking he’s just a silly old man. He’s a real beast when he gets serious.}



Well, darling, I’ll leave the rest up to you!



We get the opportunity to talk to the students milling around here before the fight; as a whole, they seem nice and accepting enough, but they don’t have anything wildly interesting to say.







Battle! (Mustard) - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST





This is another dirt-simple introductory battle; he has two Pokémon, a Mienfoo and a Shinx, neither of which have anything notable about them.





They both have exactly one level on Avery’s Pokémon. I don’t even have any decades-old complaints to break out here .



The only reason to drag out the description of this fight is to cram in pictures of all his expressions.



Mustard's Theme - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST

The crowd murmurs in obligatory amazement.





.. Then you’re welcome to train here, Champion!

_{Wait, what?}

And it will be an honor to receive your training, Master Mustard. I must admit, if I’d known you were accepting students, I would have dropped by a couple summers ago.

Not that you needed my training to win the Champion Cup!

_WHAT?!

Still. Leon used to talk all about the only Champion to hold the title longer than him… I hope with your help I can exceed you both one day.

That’s the spirit! I think we can all help each other become stronger! I’m happy you’ve come to join us! So on that note, here’s your Dojo Uniform!

...







_{Trying not to fixate on not being able to wear a tam o’ shanter…}

Now then! With Gloria here now, the dojo’s at max capacity!





… Of this dojo!

The crowd murmurs in obligatory greed.

Heh heh, that’s the spirit! Now, lemme explain the first trial…



I daresay it’s unfair for only that child to get a uniform. Unequal, even! I demand an item swap!

I’m 20. And did you really just ask for my clothes?

Uh –

Oh dear. Do you really not have a uniform? My bad, my bad! That’s easy to fix, though! I have another uniform right here for you, Avery!

Wait, why DON’T you have a uniform yet? Haven’t been here for a while?

It was… Torn up recently. Perils of living in a dojo, I’m afraid. But I have a new one for you right –

Something flashes by the screen, snatching it out of Avery’s hands.









Student: That speed... Was it really these Slowpoke?

Other Student: I’ve never seen any Slowpoke move so fast!

How dare you? Are you using Trick?! Return my Dojo Uniform immediately!





This is the first trial, my students…





The crowd murmurs in obligatory reluctance.







Everyone dashes out of the room. With that, the game lets us out on our own again. But instead of, you know, actually following the plot, we go right.





Cripes, it powered down…

He goes over and sits at his computer.



Oh, you’re interested?



Though it doesn’t do a thing right now, since it’s out of power.

Can you just… Plug it in?

No, you can’t just plug it in! It’s a power hog, if I plugged it in I’d run the risk of shorting out what little electrical grid this island has! No, I need Watts to get it running properly – battery-powered, essentially, though standard battery power won’t cut it, I need the sort of steady Galar radiation you get when you use Watts, but…

How much do you need?

All it would take is a measly 500 W to get the Cram-o-matic up and running, y’know? But Mummy won’t give me any more of hers. It’d take me ages outdoors to collect 500 W… And the outdoors and me… Well… let’s just say, our systems aren’t compatible.

Too much going on all at once?

Yeah, exactly! Nobody gets that.

500, right? Here.

Whoa! Seriously?! You’ll give me the 500 W I need?

Can you show me what it does?

Obviously! Okay, there should be a screwdriver on the upper middle part of my desk, pass it to me…









The Cram-o-matic here is half crafting system, half Star Trek replicator. If you missed an item, used yours poorly, or just want another one, if you know the right combination of random junk, you can cram it all into this machine and it’ll spit out what you want. If you know what you’re doing or have access to the Bulbapedia page, you can get everything from TMs to evolution items to holdable items out of it. You can also combine Apricorns (new Berries that come in colors and only show up on this island) to get various Pokéballs. I’m not going to be exploring it on screen because it just isn’t interesting to look at.

But rest assured I used it to pop out a few items. For… Reasons.

Anyway, we have a trial to complete.







Each Slowpoke follows a fixed circuit in one part of this area. They run too fast for you to catch up with them without using the boost on your bike, and that just puts you at risk of slamming into a wild Pokémon and resetting the circuit; you’re better off paying attention to their pattern and intercepting them.



They aren’t anything special in combat, just generic level 60 Pokémon – outside the fact that they have skyhigh Speed, of course. Once you find them, all you have to do is beat them up.



After you do, you get a piece or two of Avery’s uniform. Beat all three and you get the full complement. While I’m here, I take the opportunity to do a little cruising around and exploring…



… Including running into an odd outlying building.



Would you let me in if I was a tourist?

Guard: Yes.

… Fuck!

…



Everybody else shuffles in.



What, do you think I was gonna hold it for ransom?

…Hmph! You have my thanks.

Well mustered, Gloria! You cleared the first trial like it was nothing! Why, I think this is the first time since Leon that someone was able to handle all three fast Slowpoke on their own!



The rest of you tried very hard, too! You were able to catch up to the Slowpoke, but I guess you couldn’t defeat them.

He turns to face the rest of the students.

Tell you what. Anyone who was able to catch up to a Slowpoke at least once gets a pass! Gloria really outdid herself, so it’s only fair everyone else gets another chance. Try to make a comeback, everybody!











These are our sweet little Pokémon, Bulbasaur and Squirtle. We’ve all been taking care of them together. And I’d say they’re more than a little curious about your strength as a Trainer.

Hey, it’s a couple of Kanto starters! The other one, Charmander (another Pokémon the dictation software recognizes), was probably the most popular, largely because Gen 1 didn’t have any fire types easily available until like the seventh gym. Squirtle was… Pretty solid, and as the Pokémon Glitch Exhibition LP puts it, no self-respecting Trainer ever chooses a grass starter.



I could use a name for this Bulbasaur.