Profile
Phid
bug type
first gym
centiskorch / shuckle / orbeetle / shedinja
the area: A small, secluded, swampy town. Towering cypress trees are adorned with Spanish moss and fairy lights. Houses are small but brilliantly painted with neons and pastels. The air is thick and humid, but residents still prefer to eat warm, spicy meals. The people here have lived there forever, and most travel off into the bigger world, only to return home when they realize there’s nothing quite like Mantossier. It’s a renowned place to catch rare Bug types, and its trainers make a point to improve their town by displaying their own collections and educating others. There’s lots of bug, grass, water, rock, and ground type pokemon to be caught… and ghost types if you dare to wander into the swamp.
the leader: They have a relaxed demeanor but take their job pretty seriously. They consider themself a teacher of sorts and want to teach or refresh every challenger on the obstacles they have ahead of them. As the first gym they’re a bit of a pushover, but that’s only by design. They only hope to get you started off right and take their losses in stride. That doesn’t mean they’re weak by any means. If you let your ego get too big, they’ll be sure to humble you.
As all televised gym leaders do, they have some amount of fame, but prefer to keep to themself in their small town. Fans find their big-sibling-like behavior during Challenger battles endearing, but know that their serious matches against seasoned trainers and other gym leaders are a show worth watching. They enjoy a good battle, but loathe the idea of having a rival.
the gym: Not so much a puzzle as much as it is a memory test. There are 5 sections, and you need to catch a pokemon to proceed to each. You are provided with plenty of pokeballs, don't worry. The leader will ask you to catch a pokemon of a specific type. If you catch 3 of the wrong type, you lose the challenge. The first 2 sections will have pokemon you encountered in the surrounding area, so you will hopefully have remembered their types. The last 3 have new pokemon from areas you haven’t gotten to yet, so you’ll have to deduce their type from their appearance and the moves they use. … Also after the challenge, you get to keep all the pokemon you caught. Cool!
the fight: A pretty typical early game battle. Not complicated and pretty straight forward. The only trick is the Shedinja, who can only be damaged by super-effective moves. The point of this gym was to teach you about types, so this is where you need to remember what hurts Bug and Ghost pokemon the most. If you didn’t prepare accordingly, too bad. They gigantamax their Orbeetle on the final turn.
the rematch: When they're taking things seriously, they're a fearsome trainer to go against. Unlike most gym leaders, they will not rematch you with a single-type team. Their job was to teach you about type match ups, after all. You'll need to ready a diverse team and stay on your toes. (I'll make a team for this later.)
It stings to lose, but they take the L with a tired smile. Knowing that they taught you right so many gyms ago fills them with more pride than any title or medal would.
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