Pokémon XD: Narrated Gale of Darkness

Chapter 20

- Phenac City -

After driving many miles yo the east, the city of water had been reached.
From the outside, nothing seemed to be wrong.
'Does this mean I might still be on time?'
He entered through the southernmost entrance gate.
"Whoaa." Michael was amazed with all the waterfalls and rivers running through every part of the city.

"Ah, welcome to Phenac!" A woman in a pink dress said enthusiastically as she approached Michael. "And, hooray! Congratulations!"
"Thank you! But... for what exactly?"
"Incredible as it may seem, you're exactly the one millionth visitor to Phenac!"
"One millionth?!" Michael quickly looked around. "Me??"
"Yes~. And in commemoration, please accept this: a Disc Case which already comes wih some Battle CDs!"
"Oh, wow! Thank you, miss!"
"Okay! You should take that to the Realgam Tower next to the town."
"But-"
"Go, go, go!"
Michael looked around to see if there were no suspicious characters walking around.
"The Realgam Tower is a top battling facility where trainers can enjoy Battle Sims, among other events, using Battle CDs."
"Can I first-"
"Off you go! Have a good time!" The woman said as she gently - yet persistently - pushed him out of the city.

Michael stepped onto his scooter now that he couldn't enter Phenac City yet.
'The coast seemed clear... I can while away some time, right?'
He then started the scooter's engine and drove a little westward until he reached an immense, shiny tower.

---

- Realgam Tower -

"What is it with these Battle CD things?!" Trudly frowned. "Pokemon appear all right, but when the battle ends, they just fade away! You don't get to keep them?!"
"Oh, sheesh... I dropped all my secret savings into them because I thought I'd get rare Pokémon for real! There goes money down the proverbial drain!" Folly complained. "Lets get out of here!"
They started walking away, to the tower's exit.
"What'll we do with these Battle CD things?"
"What good are they if they won't give any Pokémon?" Folly threw his hand up and through the air. "Just toss them out somewhere."

Not soon after they were gone, Michael arrived.
"Holy-!" He looked up after getting off of his scooter. "That thing is humongous!"
Walking down the stairs, he admired the two Sudowoodo sculptures on the fountains. 'How do they let them spin? And those lights... how do they create those prism like orbs?? This place is fascinating.'

Behind the entrance door, a relatively big sculpture was build.
'Is this a small replica of Realgam Tower? Wow. There's a colosseum on the top of it?? Cool!'
The next two rooms were furnished as a small Pokémon Center and Pokémon Mart.

Michael rode the platform behind the silver, mechanical door. At the end, he found himself in a big entrance hall. He walked up to the reception.
"What is this place??" He asked whilst he was still looking around.
"Welcome to Realgam Tower. The pride of Phenac City, it is a fully integrated facility dedicated to battling. Trainers may take part in Colosseum Battles, Battle Sims and Battle Bingo. We sincerely hope you enjoy to your heart's content all that we have to offer. Also, you can earn Poké Coupons here. They can be exchanged at Mt. Battle for items and TMs.

'A place dedicated to battling???' Michael's senses started to tingle. 'I love this place already!'

He entered the Colosseum Battles, but couldn't get past the first round. His opponents had Pokémon which were on levels that were about twice as high as his own.
'Haha. Well... that went wrong.'

The eastern chamber was were Battle Sims could be done.
"Hello, miss."
"Ah, welcome! You may experience Battle Sims here by using Battle CDs. Unfortunately, thieves made off with a huge haul recently, so we only have a small selection of Battle CDs available right now. What's more, two customers just came in and bought up most of what we had left."
"Oh... That's a bummer. I do have a few of my own already, though."
"In that case, you may certainly use them here. Please let me know which one you would like to play."
"I'd like to start with this one." Michael handed over Battle CD 01.
The lady inserted the CD as Michael walked up to the VR-system.
His surroundings changed until it displayed an area similar to an oasis. His holographic opponent sent out a Tropius. Michael himself sent out a Pidgeot.
'Okay. This battle is limited to two sets. My pidgeot has a moveset of two damage-dealing attacks and two to raise it's stats. Tropius defences might be too high to get beaten in one hit, despite them being strengthened. So...'
"Pidgeot, use Double-edge!"
"Tropius, Fly."
"Shit..." Michael mumbled. "Wait... does...? Use Gust attack!"
It hit, ending the battle with a win.
The area changed once more until Realgam Tower was visible again.

"Congratulations! You've cleared that Battle CD. A wonderful battle, too! To commemorate your clearing Battle CD 01 for the first time, please accept this reward. Let me know if you want to play some more."
He did. Michael used every Battle CD he had, which were just five more: Battle CD 02, 03, 04, 07 and 20.

Next up were the Battle Bingos in the western chamber.
The first Bingo Card was one with a Dragonair. The tiles were divided in 3 white questionmarks, 3 waters, 4 fires and 4 grasses; indicating what could appear when flipping one around. Using the Dragonair and three other caught Pokémon - Mudkip, Charmander and Treecko - every tile got turned around, beaten and lead to a full bingo.
The rewards for clearing the card were two Ethers and some Poké Coupons.
'Meh, too bad I can't keep these Pokémon. Would've been a nice bonus.'

The Nidorino and Lotad cards were cleared right after. Three more Bingo cards were unlocked. After the Charmander card got cleared, Michael decided it was time for a break.
At that moment, when the enthusiasm and adrenaline faded, fatigue took over. As a result, Michael fell asleep right on the spot.