With great speed, the flaming horse charged forward but a stray spark interrupted its gallop as lightning seized its muscles and its movement. Nova then pounced and struck down the Ponyta with a Critical Night Slash. Initially, the Ponyta seemed to have withstood the blow but it then toppled to its side after its stamina completely depleted.

  The young Camper then left dejected as Harrison claimed another victory along with a bit more prize money.

  After his third victory, Harrison decided to check on the others.

  Christine was insistently drilling type advantages into Chimchar as the monkey had mistakenly provoked a wild Geodude that subsequently demolished her Starter as any Rock type would against a novice that only knew Scratch and Ember. She then spent a good while trying to get Chimchar to learn a Fighting Type move but it was too inexperienced and struggled to make anything other than a bruise on its hands.

  As for Gavin, he was instructing both Piplup and Seedot. Seedot constantly spammed Rollout while Piplup struggled to dodge in time and was unable to land a Peck whenever there was a chance to land a strike.

  He then let the two be as they practiced their moves and went over to Harrison who was viewing previous Oreburgh Gym Battles on his Poketch. As they were primarily watches, the screen size for most Poketches were quite limited but Harrison had a custom Poketch that could expand the screen and he basically had a large phone on his wrist.

  Gavin joined in and he then noticed that they weren’t recent battles. Even though the Gym Circuit had restarted a few days ago, all the recordings available were several months old.

  Gavin then pointed back towards Oreburgh City and said, “I know you like looking on the screen more but we’re literally in Oreburgh. We could just go in the Gym and watch the matches that are happening right now”

  “Nah, I’d rather not. Wouldn’t be able to train if we were seated in the arena and I don’t feel like asking a random stranger for permission to spectate on their battle. Besides with all these recordings, I can immediately check Roark’s team, how he battles, along with the few times he isn’t challenged by a complete rookie”, Harrison stated as he continued scrolling through the records.

  The records were informative but they weren’t comprehensive as full battles were rarely featured with only a few interesting moments being included in a montage that encompassed entire weeks of battling. Gym Leader Roark was always present but the opponent would often remain anonymous which made it harder to gauge the strength of the other Pokemon. But what was shown and what could be gleaned were close to what Harrison already knew about Gym Leader Roark whether it be as a person or as a sprite on a screen.

  “Sounds like you already know how to beat Gym Leader Roark then. Got any tips for the rest of us who aren’t as confident?”, Gavin asked.

  “It’s not that bad as long as you have a way to deal with Rock types. Matches at the first badge level aren’t supposed to be demanding so as long as you do well in the battle, you technically don’t even need to win to get the badge”, Harrison responded before turning to check Christine’s progress.

  Her Bidoof was using Rollout alongside Seedot as an extra level of challenge and Chimchar had joined Piplup in the obstacle evasion course. As for Christine, she was observing a wild Machoke far in the distance as it battled against a Graveler.

  The bodybuilder readied his stance and braced itself as the Graveler barrelled forward with Rollout. Machoke caught the Graveler and the big boulder rolled in place as Machoke held it back with both hands. When the momentum of the boulder dampened, Machoke raised its other hand and struck with a swift chop. The blow landed on Graveler with full force and threw the boulder backward while leaving a visible crack that spanned over a quarter of the Rock Pokemon. The Machoke then laughed and flexed both of his biceps before walking away.

  “I got it!”, Christine suddenly exclaimed. She then picked up Chimchar and ran off somewhere. Bewildered, Bidoof then ran after its trainer.

  “Piplup?”, the penguin stated in confusion. They then resumed training when their Trainers showed no alarm or concern.

  “I’ll probably be fine then but you don’t have any type advantages. Other than Magikarp, your Team isn’t good against Rock or Ground”, Gavin stated.

  “Yeah I don’t. My team is strong enough but that might not be true for a higher level challenge…”, Harrison stated as he mulled over the possibilities.

  He then brought out Stratus and said, “I’ll have to be creative but just in case, I’ll create a Type advantage for the worst case scenario”

  “Star!”, Stratus crowed, ready for a challenge.

  A few more hours of training then went by and significant progress was made. Christine returned with a tired but beaming Chimchar with hands that were severely bruised.

  Harrison and Gavin already had lunch and were taking it easy with their Pokemon who were already resting on the grass.

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  “You seem energetic”, Harrison stated as he stretched from all the exercise.

  “Yeah! Chimchar learned Rock Smash. I was really going for Brick Break but Rock Smash is enough for now. Chimchar even beat three Geodudes”, she stated with enthusiasm.

  “Char!”, Chimchar exclaimed with pride. The monkey then winced as it had exerted itself a bit too much. Harrison pulled out a Potion and began treating the bruises on the monkey’s hands.

  Christine’s stomach then growled loudly as her focus on training led her to forego mealtime. Gavin handed her a sandwich which she scarfed down immediately.

  “I’d say that’s enough training for one day. Got anywhere you want to check out?”, Harrison asked as he finished bandaging Chimchar.

  “Hmmm.. There isn’t too much here that you can’t find anywhere else but other than the Mine, there’s the Museum and they have a pretty big Rock Climbing Gym”, Gavin stated as he thought about the options. There were way more buildings than the public ones but it wasn’t like they could just barge into a stranger’s home to explore without a good reason. Well, maybe he could take out the trash for them.

  “I’ll take the Museum. I’ve had enough exercise for a whole month”, Christine stated as she moved her aching joints that were caused by searching for Geodudes in piles of rubble.

  They then headed towards the Oreburgh Mining Museum which was a tall scientific building with a distinct modern architectural style as the large dome entrance separated it visually from the rest of Oreburgh. At the reception, a lady with green hair greeted them.

  “Welcome to the Oreburgh Mining Museum!”

  “We’d like three tickets, please”, Christine said to the lady.

  A bespectacled man in a lab coat then came by reception and said to the trio, “Entrance is free but if you want something that might cost a bit, the Museum is planning on hosting a live Aerodactyl at the end of the week”

  “An Airo-dattyl?”, Christine asked in confusion.

  “Ah you’re unfamiliar? It’s one of the more famous fossil Pokemon but since it’s most often associated with Kanto, I can see why you wouldn’t know. It’s a flying pterosaur from the dinosaur age that ruled the skies with great ferocity. It is most notable for not having a fossil while every other fossil Pokemon has a fossil that they are extracted from. But Aerodactyl only has Amber and no other definitive source. Even the Aerodactyl fossil here is a replica based off of the skeletal structure of successfully revived Aero-”, the man started rambling before being stopped by the lady at the reception desk.

  “Please enjoy your visit. We are planning a showcase of a live Aerodactyl but it’d be far more interesting to see it in person than from his ramblings”, she said apologetically to the trio.

  They then walked further in and began looking through the glass casing. One was a large diorama which displayed the entire process of how coal is created. On each step was a sign which labelled and described the process.

  Christine immediately moved on but Harrison stared a bit longer at the detail put into the trees in the earlier steps of the diorama.

  For the Oreburgh Mine section, they recreated a tunnel with actual rocks for the walls. Alongside the tunnels were different lamps throughout history along with the various generations of mining helmets. There was even a large dark room with a single button at the center that when pressed, would simulate the power of Flash in dark caves.

  “I think I went blind”, she muttered after the flashbang blurred her vision.

  “Same. This is sooo much worse than turning on the light at night”, Gavin stated in a dazed tone.

  Next were tools used for mining with the conventional pickaxe, worn down wooden tools from the olden days, and even an entire vehicle used to drill tunnels with the drill being as tall as a grown man.

  “I wonder what would win. A Horn Drill or this machine?”, Gavin mused as he marvelled at the size of the pristine drill. Although the machinery was likely retired from operation, the drill seemed to still be polished and maintained.

  “That’s if Horn Drill even lands”, Harrison responded.

  They then entered an entire room dedicated to rocks. At the center was a huge slab of dark coal that nearly reached the tall ceiling and towered above every other exhibit. Everything else was of a more manageable size. Nearby, there were boxes that showcased samples of coal from different regions and boxes that contained minerals of many types. Some were polished and some were still in the geodes. They were even larger than the ones for sale at the mineral exhibition.

  “Wow…”, Christine muttered as if entranced.

  Harrison then turned and saw a display of every single evolution stone currently known. There were the famous elemental stones along with the Shiny Stone, Dawn Stone, and Dusk Stone. What made the display fascinating was that they weren’t extracted but remained in the rock that they were found in. It wasn’t just an Ice Stone but the entire Ice Rock which appeared to be a frozen crystal boulder the size of a shipping crate. Through the rock, it was apparent how the elements and power of the Evolution Stone seeped out with colored cracks that emanated great power.

  Finally, they then arrived at the Fossil section which had an entire Kabutops fossil in a glass case. Judging from the material, the Kabutops fossil seemed to be genuine while the Aerodactyl fossil hanging from the ceiling and huge Tyrantrum fossil were replicas without any of the texture expected from a fossil or even a rock. There were also life-sized statues of Rampardos and Bastiodon that were featured prominently, possibly due to the Gym Leaders of Oreburgh. To the side, a box displayed paper mache replicas of the fossils that the Pokemon came from along with a video that displayed an already resurrected specimen in motion.

  Makes sense, Harrison thought. If fossils could be used to resurrect the ancient Pokemon, why bother putting the actual fossil in a museum?

  He then noticed that they were missing a few Pokemon that were considered fossil or ancient Pokemon. Notably Relicanth but also the chimera fossils of Dracozolt, Dracovish, Arctozolt, and Arctovish. Guess they weren’t considered legitimate.

  They then left through the gift shop section that any cunning museum would place at the exit. Harrison purchased a functional miner’s helmet and goggles which he intended on using. Gavin bought a book on caves for tomorrow’s adventure and Christine bought a globe that displayed a vibrant crystal which shimmered with a myriad of colors.