Work Text:
The first sensation it experienced was sound.
There was a voice. It was speaking Kalosian, and his sensors automatically adjusted to the language. Male, relatively young. Further ahead, a younger-still female. A steady pump-and-hiss from inside itself, gears clacking and steam ticking away.
Next was touch.
It was suddenly, too-quickly, keenly aware of the table beneath it (stainless steel, twenty degrees celsius, worn and used). Air surrounded it, lightweight but presence still keenly felt. Wait… loading. Not on a table anymore. Slanted, on the ground, a slight pressure near the top-left side of its cranium-like structure.
A hand, warm to the touch. In the middle of its face. Slow, methodological.
“Please bear with me from now on.”
Last was sight.
“My name is Clemont, the Gym Leader…”
Doors close, and no matter how much it checked its memory, all it could recall was a flash of blue and yellow.
“And you are—“
Clembot. Its name was Clembot. It was a Gym Leader Robot.
Or that’s what it was told. It had barely seen its creator, who had swiftly left it in this cluttered corner while he had gone off in the direction of other voices, notably human, and that did not Compute. It was a Gym Leader Robot. Its creator was a Gym Leader. What was the point of its existence?
It had something to do with Pokemon, it knew.
Some time passes. It stayed in its neglected corner, waiting.
A sign.
A signal.
A measurable way to understand when to start.
A skittering sound echoed down the hallway, and the automatic doors slid open and shut with half a minute in between the two actions. A few seconds later a black muzzle poked into its abdomen, and one of its objectives lit up inside it, blindingly clear:
{AS A GYM LEADER, YOUR POKÉMON ARE ONE OF THE MAIN ASPECTS OF YOUR DUTIES. TREAT THEM WELL, AND DO NOT FORGET THEIR TRUE POTENTIAL}
The Pokémon attached to the muzzle sneezed, and its frills flared around it as it stumbled back and rubbed at its nose, hissing slightly. Clembot rose up to a suitable seated position, trying his best not to startle… them.
Its eyes flashed, trying to make the room brighter for greater clarity of the situation. Its vision narrowed then reconfigured itself, matching the visual capacity of a Luxray (the Gleam Eyes Pokémon, an Electric Type native to Sinnoh); now it can see the intruder, it has noticed that it was a Heliolisk, the Generator Pokémon and another Electric-Type, a real one, this time from Kalos itself.
Electric Pokémon. A Pokémon Gym.
Although Heliolisk are also half-Normal, so no conclusive statements could be made at this point of time.
The Heliolisk, which was most decidedly male considering the larger head size and more vivid colourations on his outer frill, gave it a weary look, backing away slowly while growling in alarm. It raised its hands up, making a creaky noise as its joints were finally put to work. Connecting its oral receptors to its voice box, its crackly voice filled the small space as it murmured, “Hello there. My name is Clembot. What is yours?”
“Heliolisk?”
Its eyes shuttered, taking in vocal fluctuations, facial expressions and body language, before flashing twice in recognition. “Okay. Hello, Heliolisk.” It raised its right hand forward, to gently rest atop his head. It was cool as of the moment, as characteristic of Pokémon belonging to the Dragon Egg group.
A light spark jumped from between them, likely as static electricity, and Heliolisk hummed as he gently lowered his frills back down. Noted. Heliolisk enjoys electricity/warmth, or at least some manner of contact, maybe even all of these in conjunction.
More research must take place in order to verify fact.
(That’s okay. It has time to spend, after all)
Heliolisk had periods of frequent visitation where he would amuse himself by interacting with the Gym Leader Robot, which was doing very little relating to its intended purpose. As it was, it was experimenting with the Pokémon, understanding him and through it, it itself.
More experimental data meant for more knowledge, more clarity, more of a purpose.
{AS A GYM LEADER, YOUR JOB WILL BE LONG AND STRENUOUS—BUT YOU MUST ENDURE. YOU MUST BE MORE}
After one such session, Clembot had decided to follow after the Pokémon for once to find where he went. Gauging his electrical input, speed and moveset was progress, but it was not enough. It needed to know more to satisfactorily meet the standard imbedded within its Core, and maybe encounter even more Pokémon on the other side of that door.
Out of the workshop. Outside, to where the Gym was inevitably located.
Gym. Its Core clacked quicker, warming with purpose.
It had to get up, first. It had noted the way Heliolisk had risen, standing on two legs to greet it every time, and tried to mimic the action. Place one hand done, splayed fingers on the ground, push body upwards. Flex knees, rise from a crouch, and stand up.
The Pokémon, which had headed towards the door, paused and watched the robot's actions curiously, moving closer and chirruping in encouragement once he understood what was occuring. Clembot pushed itself up more, hydraulics pumping and engine whirring as it needed/wanted-needed-needed- wanted to get up.
Get up.
A Gym Leader must endure.
Steam puffed and its legs wobbled as it righted itself to an upright position, its view gaining more height than it had ever experienced in its functional lifetime. Suddenly Heliolisk, who was hopping from one leg to another, was no longer so staggeringly tall, and it could see out of the blinds now, where the sun filtered through (2:41 pm, Central Evros Time), and all of its body was engaged now.
It felt empowered. It felt strong.
It felt like a Leader.
It took an experimental step forward, almost collapsing as it miscalculated the bend of its left knee. Heliolisk hissed worriedly, rushing forward to support the robot’s weak side. “Lio-li, heli!”
“Do not worry.” It blinked in a reassuring manner, straightening up once more. “This is a test run. Or a walk, as it would appear.” It raised its arms, trying to balance its upper body with its lower limbs. “This is a matter of perseverance.”
It took another step, and promptly fell down.
Heliolisk peered at its head, twisted to the side and staring blankly at the hastily-stashed toolbox underneath the worktable, and clicked in disappointment.
A few error messages and practice walks (and falls) later, Clembot had finally mastered somatic control over its limbs. The sun had gone down significantly during this time and yet Heliolisk stayed with it, chirping in encouragement or hissing in disappointment whenever the situation called for it.
Strangely invested, but not unwelcome. An interesting development between the two of them, metal and flesh.
Within this time another Pokémon had landed outside by the far-right windowsill, a white Flying-like Pokémon with yellow cheeks and black fur covering the back of its rounded ears. Further analysis was running at the furthermore part of its internal processor as it endeavoured to take a step forward, and now there two Pokémon watching it, two Pokémon calling for it, expecting a result, expecting more, a Gym Leader is—
“—no, I’m not going to take that lady out ever, okay?”
Both Heliolisk and the unknown Pokémon froze at the tail end of their cheering-turned-argument, but Clembot for once hadn’t noticed, and how could it be blamed? Searching databases, adjusting coxal joints and plantar pressure, mediating sensors for fluctuating light levels and internal versus external systems, full of conflicting want/need/it has to be need?
Just a robot. Can’t even stand, floundering like a Deerling (the Season Pokémon, a Normal and Grass Type).
It has to stand. A Gym Leader stands tall, for the Pokémon and for—
“Oh.”
It stumbled forward, one-two-one, one foot over the other, loop code and adjustments needed, watch out for that socket wrench, chest up but always keep feet in view, zero point six metres to the door.
Right when it crossed that distance, long legs finally breaching that distance, its sternum bumped a warm body as its eyesight registered the black sneakers in front of it. It craned its head up, coming face to face with a soft face, thin-but-wide-rimmed glasses, a mop of golden hair, hand on back of a head. A male human, appearing around adolescent age, voice deep yet level at the same time.
It whirred, processors trying to compute.
“Uh,” he said, adjusting his glasses as he looked up at it. “So.”
Heliolisk ran in between them, and the other Pokémon swooped from above and perched on top of the boys head, earning a knee-jerk reaction akin to an aborted giggle.
Then he looked back. Noted the knocked-down boxes, trays; the state of its legs, the Generator Pokémon in between and strangely protective, to its calculating face, searching-searching-keeping still. “You’ve been busy, haven’t you?” he managed to say, voice slightly breaking on the last words.
It blinked. P-Processing the st-statement. “As a Gym Leader Robot, I must be proficient at locomotion, correct?”
“Yeah! Yeah…” He looked down at his own feet, scuffed shoes as he thought for twenty-six seconds before easing his head up, glint overtaking his eyes completely. “Well, it’s a little late now, but tomorrow I’ll definitely show you around the Gym and the rest of the place, where we are, you know, Prism Tower. Get you accustomed to being, well, a Gym Leader and all that, although I don’t think you will need half as much guidance as I thought now that I think about it. At least considering your progress with these little guys here, you have done far more than, well…”
The other Pokémon chittered, talking about their experiences and gaining his attention, and his voice faltered as he bent down and rubbed their heads, mumbling, “…shouldn’t be surprised, but you’re working better than I expected.”
And what is there to say?
It has to.
More.
>>DIRECTORY FOUND—#0567; EMOLGA, Sky Squirrel Pokémon, Electric/Flying…
-
…SEARCHING
…SEARCHING
::ERROR— FILE NOT FOUND
-
NEW RECORDING—#6
“So, you see, most Gym Battles here would be a three-on-three match, which does not mean you actually bring out three Pokémon all at once, by the way. You bring out the first Pokémon and wait for them to bring out theirs, then test that by sending out a Thunderbolt—that allows you to test their reflexes and their split-decision making skills.”
“Hey, where are you?”
“Oh, um, I’m sorry for the interruption but—C’mon, Bonnie, don’t you know that I’m busy right now?”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re always busy. I just want you to come see this!”
“Can’t it wait?”
“I don’t know, can your delivery wait? Because the delivery… person looks pretty ready to leave right about now~”
“Huh, really? I gotta go check this out, Clembot; I’m sorry but I’ll continue the overview afterwards… Wait, so do you think they finally got the latest…”
NEW RECORDING—#28
“MAG-NE.”
“Aww, it looks like Magnetron really likes you, Clembot. Don’t you think so too, Clemont?”
“Hmm? Yeah, it makes sense it would, considering their properties.”
“Properties?”
“You know. Clembot is metal and a replica of me, Magnetron’s Trainer. And as the Magnet Pokémon, they would be attracted to metal and electrical fields and… okay, I don’t think you’re listening anymore, are you?”
“No?”
“TRON NE-NE.”
“Hey…”
“Well, in either case I’m just glad that Magnetron doesn’t have Magnet Pull as its ability. Wouldn’t be too good if you were stuck with him, now, would it?”
“But imagine if it got stuck to you instead, since you always have those tools with you and—“
“Ugh, wait a minute… Seems like there’s a challenger waiting for me. Just my luck, now of all times. Okay, I’m going to go now, so Magnetron, you can come with me, and Clembot, you can come and watch me too for more study material. And Bonnie, if you know what’s good for you, please don’t message some random woman on Cindr, okay?”
“No promises!”
NEW RECORDING—#53
“Emo… GA!”
“Oh man, you totally beat me! You’re one super tough Gym Leader, that’s for sure.”
“Are you sure that’s the guy? Thought he was, I dunno, human or something.”
“Hey, he’s the Gym Leader and if you can’t accept your friend losing, then maybe you shouldn’t be a Trainer in the first place! …Yeah, I’m sorry that you had to go through that, Clembot. To be fair, these people aren’t the best with Clemont either… he always comes off a lot stronger than he should.”
“Em-me?”
“Haha, but he can never find you as quickly as Clembot did, can he? Wow, you really know the Pokémon, don’t you?”
“Emolga!”
“I agree. If my brother was here, he would definitely see how good of a Gym Leader you really are! Imagining a battle between the two of you… that would be one to remember, for sure!”
END OF ‘SAVED’ MEMORIES. MAKE ANOTHER?
The Gym Leader, in all observable time, has been concluded to be a very busy person.
He was always doing ‘something’, gone ‘somewhere’, preoccupied with different stimuli that may or may not be related to the job position at hand. Yes, he had initially presented the actual site of the Gym to Clembot as he had mentioned he would do beforehand (its purpose, its place, its c-c-cause for being) and explained the process, modelled the procedures necessary, but it was still lacking.
It was still not enough.
It wasn’t the ideal Gym Leader yet.
{AS A GYM LEADER, YOU MUST TEST ALL CHALLENGERS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE READY}
{AS A GYM LEADER, YOU SHOULD NOT WASTE YOUR TIME ON ANYTHING ELSE. ALWAYS BE PREPARED FOR BATTLE}
{AS A GYM LEADER, YOU SHOULD ____ ACCEPT FOUR BADGES FROM ALL CHALLENGERS}
“Lio…”
Clembot turned its head thirty-five degrees to the left, noting how Heliolisk had just made a mournful sound now as he was scrabbling at the door of the lab once again (fourth time this week). His frills were snapped shut and tightening a fraction more and more as time passed by with no response, and yet it never changed.
Nothing ever changed with this Gym Leader.
He wasn’t…
“Emo?” Emolga has now shown up, popping up from one of the upper vents and tilting his head questioningly at the Generator Pokémon. “Emolga-emo?”
“Heli.” Heliolisk had turned away from the door quickly, pretending to not notice the claw marks on the door. His heart rate has risen significantly in this time, and yet the only sign of physical discomfort was the edge of its frills flickering with retrained electricity. Clembot decided to take a few steps towards the door in question, Magnetron humming above them all in their own rounds as the robot observed its reflection on the metal.
On the other side is the Gym Leader.
(Who has done nothing of note.
Who has neglected his duties, and Pokémon, challengers and the Gym alike.
Who indulges in his own desires rather than being something more)
It was waiting too.
For discernment.
A denouement.
A definite answer to the end.
::ERROR—MEMORY NOT FOUND. TRY AGAIN?
::TRY AGAIN?
::TRY AGAIN?
…TRY AGAIN LATER
Clembot was two minutes and seven seconds away from taking extreme action, an irreversible move.
There was no final straw, prompt, or event moral horizon, according to the root cause analysis. This situation couldn’t be easily explained with a bathtub graph, and it was no tame problem it was overwatching. No true reason for the actions about to be taken today, except that it had enough.
(The challenge to the Trainers was lacking;
The battles underwhelming)
The Pokémon, too.
(Magentron needed increased iron supplements;
Heliolisk required more regular sand baths)
{THE GYM IS YOUR MAIN PRIORITY. ALWAYS}
(What the ___ never was.)
Its resolve strengthening, strong, enduring past its creaking Core-life and jittery joints.
For the Pokémon. For the Gym.
For the Gym Leader of the Electric-Type Lumiose Gym in Kalos.
(A hitch in the cogs, before rolling in as usual)
When the clock struck eight in the morning, a mere hour before the Gym was supposed to open, the speakers crackled to life from within and said, “All interlopers must remove themselves from Prism Tower at once.”
From the camera view in the workshop, the boy looked up, face visibly confused as he stood up from his seat and shouldered his nearby bag on his shoulders. The young girl beside him startled awake from a sleeping position sitting beside the table, lifting her head out of her interlocked hands and asking a question, too low to currently hear, and he shook his head before walking out of the room.
The nearest camera in the adjacent hallway had shown the boy looking up and down the area, calling out to the supposed person, and then Clembot, and then the Pokémon themselves. The girl hurried up and caught up to him, now murmuring about ‘how strange this really is—what do you think happened?’ and the boy was fiddling with some sort of device, rambling on about how ‘the system won’t cooperate—there’s only one option I can do—maybe the security footage will show us what’s going on, just wait, please’.
A few minutes later a small screen descended from the ceiling in front of them, and the boy made a triumphant exclamation that was strangled short a few seconds later.
The screen blinked innocently as it showed a reflection of their blank faces, before switching off automatically and vanishing upwards.
“Wha—“
“Please remove yourself immediately.”
And then the trap door activated, making the duo yelp as they narrowly escape the drop.
“Clemont, what’s going on?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.” A sheen of light covered his glasses as he straightened himself out and stood up, clicking a button on his bag that pulled out a white hand to tap a near-invisible button on the wall beside them. He then attempted to call out on the loudspeakers, asking for the Pokémon’s assistance and stating the floor they are on.
The only answer was an electrical surge of light that ran up the ceiling, popping the lights installed above them and showering them with sparks.
“Wasn’t that—“ The boy’s eyes widened as Heliolisk crawled up from the back of the hallway, four-legged gait slowed and powerful. “Heliolisk! Are you alright? What happened? What were you doing?”
The Pokémon just growled, baring his teeth as he crouched down and flared his frills. “Heli!” Another burst of electricity flashed out of him, and the boy was pulled down by the girl as the electricity arced over them, chests hevaing as a slow realisation washed over her.
The girl said it first, surprisingly loud and with an empty tone. “Clemont, I think Heliolisk is attacking us.”
A pause, then, “Yeah, I think you’re right, Bonnie.” His glasses turned a blinding white as he pulled out the device from earlier, contemplating the action he was about to take. The Pokémon slammed its tail against the ground, now standing upright with a fierce look on its face, and the boy shook his head before throwing it in front of the electric lizard, which immediately burst into smoke with contact against the sputtering sparks still dancing on the metal floor. “Okay, that should hold him off for a bit, so let’s run while we can.”
“Run?”
“Yes,” he said, tugging her ahead as she looked back at the smoking mess behind them with a forlorn look. “Look, I don’t like it either, but we can’t fight against a Pokémon on our own. We need another one, like Emolga or Magnetron, to hold our own against Heliolisk, especially since he’s like… that.” They turned right at the t-section, hiding behind one of the walls and starting to slump downwards in relief at borrowed time.
Then the girl perked up, jumping to her feet once more. “Wait, Emolga?” The girl pulled out a pink berry out of the boy’s bag side pocket, causing him to yelp in surprise as she knocked on the walls gently. “He likes Pecha berries a lot, so I’m sure that will get him out of here.”
He opened his mouth, starting up a rebuttal, when said Pokémon poked out of a nearby vent, starting towards the berry in the girl's hands. She smiled, bending down and offering the treat. “That’s right, it’s a Pecha!”
The Pokémon reached towards it, before a shadow loomed over the two of them. The boy smiled as he bent down from above them, also lending an offering hand, albeit empty. “Hey, Emolga, long time no see.”
Emolga whimpered, backing away as his tail stiffened. His cheeks started to crackle, and he closed his eyes as he started to close up. The girl, undeterred, scooched forward with the Berry at hand, soft and inching closer to the strangely quiet Pokémon until the ground started to shake.
“It’s a Pound attack!” The boy, who started to look back at the hallway they left, turned his attention back to the Pokémon in front of them. “Heliolisk is switching tactics and trying to shake us out now. We need help to calm him down, so, Emolga, can you—“
There was a flash of indecision in Emolga’s face, a minsicule change that only lasted a millisecond on the camera footage when zoomed in by a factor of 100x and then further clarified. That was the only sign of remorse before Emolga turned tail, flying off, and the boy cried out in despair as if the moment never happened.
(Because it didn’t)
Another Pound attack shook the floors, and the boy scrambled upwards, heaving breath as his sister ran ahead and called out to him, voice breaking. There was an elevator just a few steps away, and the duo made a mad dash towards it, not looking back as they ran inside and slammed their fingers into the buttons.
Right when Thunder zipped through the halls, blinding shocking quick, the doors closed with a resounding thud.
Twin exhales echoed in the metal box.
The next camera was above their heads, lit up by a thin neon light. A flash of a golden brooch-like hair tie preceded the question, “What’s… wrong with the Pokémon, big brother?”
Silence, before a long sigh. “I don’t know, Bonnie. They never acted like this before, and I have never heard of anything like this either. Maybe there’s some electrical interference messing with them.” His tone was flat, but his glasses still shimmered with a focused glint. “Their Pokéballs are at the Gym, I’ll just return them and then get them sent to Nurse Joy or something. All we need to do is get to the Gym and then everything will be fine.”
“You think? And what about the intruder, wasn’t there an announcement—“
“I’m not sure if that announcement is even real.” He started to pace inside the elevator as it went down, down, down. “I couldn’t access any of the systems within the tower, to be honest I didn't even call down the screen from earlier, and the only signs of a disaster that I can see is my Pokémon attacking us for no reason. Everything was just fine yesterday, and I can’t imagine that something happened last night since I was here. It just doesn’t make any sense—“
The elevator shuddered as it halted in its tracks, lights blinking off. “Huh, that’s strange. Maybe that Thunder attack made all of the systems malfunction.”
The girl's voice cut through the darkness. “Wait, weren’t we supposed to be at the Gym level?”
“No, I pressed the Spire level because I needed to check if the cellular connection has been disrupted. Okay, so just wait for a second and step away from the doors, I’ll peel it open with my Aipom Arm.”
The camera view from directly outside the elevator showed the hints of white appendages peeking through the periphery, before punching through the metal doors. Purple cord connected to the three-fingered hand snaked back into the bag of the boy as he walked past the ruins, girl trailing beside him with both of their fingers intertwined.
He straighted himself up as he checked around themselves before repeating, “All we got to do is get into the Gym and get the Pokéballs back, okay?” He then looked straight forward, towards the door just a metre or two in front of them, the only door on the floor that they were on. The door to the Gym.
“I’m scared,” she whispered as they started their walk down the small hall, just as the small unassuming door loomed in front of them. The Gym Leader’s entrance.
“Don’t worry,” he whispered back, as he took the last few steps and opened it to a bright flash of light.
[CAMERA VIEW switched OFF]
As they blinked past the blinding lights, they noticed that the field was, for the most part, void of any markers—no signs of a battle, or Pokémon, or casual wear-and-tear. It was immaculate, to an unnerving degree, and it made the young girl whimper as she huddled by the boy next to her.
The boy, for one, did not show any signs of worry except for a rapidly rising heartbeat and increased sweat production. His pupils turned to pinpricks as he looked around wearily, stepping around in an attempt to locate the Pokéballs that were needed to end the entire problem that they were facing.
The Pokéballs that a Gym Leader should have.
(The Pokéballs currently in the Gym Leader’s possession at this moment of time.)
Clembot walked out, retracting the Pokéball shooter into a hand again. The boys eyes zeroed in on the flash of red-white inside the shooter before it disappeared, and then his focus moved up, staring at those glowing blue eyes, so similar to his own.
(A broken mirror)
“Leave. Now.”
The boy startled, now scanning around the area wildly as his eyes never connecting with any one thing, trying to to keep a steady voice. Avoiding eye contact or scouting for a Pokémon attack, it could not be ascertained. “Clembot? What are you doing—wait, what do you mean, leave?”
Clembot brought out its arms, electrifying its fingers until a web of blinding golden light enveloped them. “Vacate the premises immediately, or force will be used.”
“Clemont,” the young girl said to him, eyes wide, “What does he mean?”
“It,” the boy corrected, gaze now back to focusing on the robot in front of it. “And I’m not sure, but I’m not going to give up that easily. It’s just a bug, I’m sure of it.” His glasses shine over, and he called out, “Okay, Clembot, activate Master Recognition Battle Mode now.”
“Voice code will be needed for activation.” A Gym Leader must be more. Must be prepared. Must be strong. Must be smart.
Must endure.
“Master what-now? What are you talking about?”
“Bonnie, please, I’ll explain it all later.” Turning to the robot, he said, “The code is ‘galvanism’.”
…SEARCHING
X INCORRECT X
“Incorrect. Please try again later.” Automated, smooth. Vestigial action, unneeded and yet.
This is/is not a Gym Leader.
Who are you?
“Incorrect?! What do you mean, incorrect? It was galvanism, I know I recorded that and everything!”
The younger girl pulls at his suit from the hip, trying to get his attention. “Uh, Clemont?”
He just gave her a warning tap, never pulling his eyes away from the robot in front of him. He steadied his voice again, trying to stand tall and firm. “I’ll repeat myself again, just in case you didn’t hear me the first time: the code for the Master Recognition Battle Mode is ‘galvanism’. That has to be correct, right?”
“Incorrect. Please try again later.” It drew itself up to its full height, a hulking six feet five inches, electricity pulsing threateningly. “Vacate the premises immediately, or I will use force.”
Its reflection shone across the glasses of the boy, which was misting up with emotions and thoughts. “How…” he echoed emptily a delayed moment later, defiant hands slipping down to his sides.
His sister grasped one of them, pulling it to grab his attention. “Big bro, I don’t know what just happened but the Pokémon—“
“Helio-LISK!” A glowing green tail slammed next to them, and the boy covered the grip as he instinctively pulled her away. He scrambled upwards, trying to pull her up, and his eyes reflected genuine fear as he started at Heliolisk, who was growling with his frills up.
The boy opened his mouth.
“MAGNE.”
His head snapped up, eyes tracking the direction of Magnetron’s droning tone. The last Pokémon left, what Clembot had released earlier at the start of the confrontation.
His gaze glazed over the robot in between, glowing, sparking, a true Gym Leader.
“Big bro!”
He turned his head away, now tugging her arm as he swallowed. “…Let’s go.”
“But—“
“TRON!” A Sonic Boom attack landed nearby, and Heliolisk was charging up, a Parabolic Charge probably, and the boy stumbled once as he ran out with the girl in tow, yelling and arguing and holding each other tighter than a trope of Fallinks.
The second he passed the iron doors, they slammed shut in front of him.
The attacks stopped.
The voices stopped.
The dust settled.
It checked the cameras idly, making sure that the two intruders have fulfilled the demand. It watched as the boy banged on the door and called out, in every way that he could, for Clembot to open the door.
Clembot does not open the door.
Clembot does not give in.
A Gym Leader must endure, and it is the one and only Gym Leader here.
(Core clanging in time with the beats, calling, calling, not found)
ENTER NEW /IDEAL?
>>EDIT: {THE ONLY OCCUPANTS ALLOWED IN THE GYM IS THE GYM LEADER, GYM POKÉMON AND CHALLENGERS ONLY. ALL OTHER INDIVIDUALS MUST BE KEPT OUT AT ALL TIMES}
SAVE?
SAVED.
.
.
.
.
.
And what is there to say?
(Heliolisk growls, letting the Thunder Wave run over its frills as he jumps over Magnetron—trying to land a Pound Attack and slipping, missing,
—and hitting the ground next to the challenger’s Lairon, toppling the Pokémon with a shockwave that shakes the ground and knocking it out.
FILED UNDER: HELIOLISK MOVESET—BULLDOZE)
>> {GYM POKÉMON MUST UNDERGO THOUGH TRAINING TO UNLOCK THEIR TRUE POTENTIAL}
(Magnetron buzzed in a confused manner, noting the smaller pre-evolution that has been sticking to the robot for the last day. “MAG-NE?”
“This is a Gym, Magnemite,” Clembot finally says as it stops in the middle of the third floor corridor, not turning its head lest it shakes it off. “For you to continue your stay here, you must be willing to battle challengers by my side.”
The Magnemite drifts around Clembot, its singular eye roving around the metallic walls. It then flaps its magnets, nodding in approval. “Magnemite!”
The other Pokémon, attracted to the commotion, cheered for the new addition to their team, and Clembot gave it a conceding nod. Raising a spare Pokéball—stored in a pocket in its right arm—it then gently taps it on its head with a flash of red light.
“Then welcome to the Lumiose Gym, Magnemite.”)
>> {THE GYM LEADER AND THE GYM POKÉMON MUST BE STRONG AND CONSTANTLY IMPROVE. ONLY WORTHY CHALLENGERS CAN DEFEAT THE GYM}
(“No-no-no, I couldn’t have lost. Not to you! I’ve trained all the time and even got strong Pokémon and—“
The same complaints.
“Huh, I lost? Can you give me some—“
The same people, weak and coarse, and the same arguments, empty and hollow.
“Should’ve seen that loss coming, huh? Anything I should improve—“
Clembot looks on dispassionately as it activates the trap door, throwing another challenger out of the Gym once more.
A Gym Leader must be strong. It’s the way it has always b-b-been.
And if the challenger is weak?
It is of no concern, and to be discarded immediately. For after all, the Gym must be held to a timely schedule—no time wasted once the results were concluded. Only the best will succeed, everyone else will fail, and that's the way the Gym works.)
>> {FAILED TRAINERS MUST BE DISPOSED OF AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, TO MAXIMISE EFFICIENCY AND PREVENT OVERTIME}
.
.
.
.
.
The Gym has been perfected. The Gym will endure. The Gym is everything, was everything and will be everything, and as the Gym Leader Clembot will do everything within its power to make sure it remains as so.
Perfecting. Unerring. Strong.
A Bolt Strike hitting true, obliterating all in its view.
Except, that’s not all this Gym had.
There was a weak spot, so infinitesimally small and overlooked that no one—human, robot or even Pokémon—could sense it. For all the glory and care that crafted Prism Tower, it was made by mortal hands with breakable materials and constant maintenance needed every few years. A symbol that can outlive humanity, but also can be destroyed by them as well.
So strong yet fragile. A few attacks away from complete annihilation.
When a rampaging Garchomp demolished part of the base a few months ago, cracking the worn-down finish of the building and reducing it to mere inelegant boulders, there was no alarm. It was minor damage, purely cosmetic, and no one would dare to sneak inside the building through such a dangerous opening when stories of the metal Gym Leader had already spread across the city. There were safer ways to get in, after all (though how much safer was the debate), and safer places to break into.
Of course, on the other hand the metal Gym Leader would not let anyone repair the building either. The news couldn’t weasel a statement out of the Gym, and the public workers assigned to the task had just draped tarp over the rubble and cracks, the best fix that they could muster even with the extra pay.
Techincally, it counted as the front of the Gym. The main entrance, in which only challengers can pass through.
It was, in short, the only oversight Clembot had ever made.
It was also the most massive one Clembot has ever made.
(And while no one would sneak onto such an obvious opening, it didn’t mean that someone, or someones, couldn’t do it if they tried. And if they wanted to. And if they had the purpose to push away the fear, a purpose to grant them courage, a purpose to right a wrong.)
There was no alarm, not initially.
When it sensed movement inside the Gym, it had come to the conclusion that there was an intruder within. In all of its recorded time in the Lumiose Gym, Clembot had dealt with a total of three attempted break-ins, all before the Garchomp incident, and had dealt with all of them swiftly and accordingly.
So, as a result, it had merely sent out a low frequency sound wave towards Magnetron and Magnemite, who were patrolling the floors at that present time. Despite being Gym Pokémon, Magnetron has especially started to shirk his battling duties as of late, and Emolga has been even more distant, disappearing for days at a time at a more frequent rate. Magnemite was still new and was barely interested in humans and Pokémon afflicted with them, and so to make up the deficit, Clembot has increased the difficulty of their training whenever there was time.
Improving upon their potential. Helping them to endure, just like it. Making them more, testing challengers more, becoming more.
The majority of the Gym Pokémon may have started to lose sight of their goal and purpose, but as Gym Leader, Clembot will/cannot forget. It is embedded in its m-memory, in its Core, burning hot and spewing steam, working at full capacity in a constant strive to become More.
(It is a Gym Leader’s duty and Clembot is the Gym Leader.)
Heliolisk, however, has risen above the strenuous training and became even more proficient as a battler, usually decimating the challenger’s Pokémon without needing to switch out. Heliolisk does not forget, does not falter, striving step for step alongside the Gym Leader. Just like a true Ace.
And as it was, Heliolisk has just returned from the last battle against a Ralts, curled up inside his Pokéball and resting within. Unsurprisingly, Emolga was still absent, and Clembot still has not retreated from the battlefield as of yet.
It was waiting for something.
[You cannot escape from a Trainer battle!]
Distant echoes of metal clashing against metal, strangely dulled, sounded from the floor below. The Gym Leader does not stir from his position, does not leave. It had to wait, it had to be prepared, its Core was telling it that there was a challenger approaching but from where—?
Magnetron and Magnemite do not return.
The sounds stop.
Instead, in the Pokémon’s place, a group of four humans walk into the field, strangely subdued under the cover of low lighting. Making up this group was a tanned boy with a red cap and navy jacket (Pikachu hairs on his shoulders, an Electric Kantonian Pokémon), a teen girl with a pink hat and long brown hair, a younger girl with a yellow pouchette radiating electricity, and at the forefront [MEMORY NOT FOUND]
(Why couldn’t it reject their presence? They were supposed to be intruders but Any person standing on the battlefield was a challenger, and that automatically means they have four badges, and thus should be fought against as a Gym Leader.)
Blonde hair, thin-but-wide rimmed glasses, blue jumpsuit and set jaw. Male, Kalosian, around adolescence. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and took a step forward—situating himself into the challengers box marked on the ground.
The [MEMORY NOT FOUND] raised his voice, echoing over the field, and said, “Clembot, I challenge you to a battle.”
And Clembot couldn't refuse, couldn't it?
(Not him.)
[WHO IS HIM?]
"Bring out your first Pokémon."
A Gym Leader Robot, through and through.