Previously on Galarian Days...
After sharing a meal with Elle and Turner at the Captain's Table, Zander ends up finding the Electric-type Gym Leader Raphael, with both events increasing his League Card collection...
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Now that Zander was finally out of the other mines, he was able to take in some more sunshine on his fur, but not as much since the sun was already setting. So, he made his way through the Motostoke Outskirts, battling Trainers along the way and crossing the bridge back to Motostoke itself. There, he saw the lights on the stadium were on, illuminating the bottom of the banners with a dull, yellow glow.
"Welp, here I am... again," Zander said to himself as he walked up to the door... again, entered the stadium... again, and approached the staff member at the desk... again. "Remember me?" he asked.
"Ah, Challenger Zander! Back so soon?" the staff member greeted.
"I am, and I'm here to challenge Raphael this time," Zander confirmed as he showed off his Challenge Band containing his Bug and Poison Badges.
"Okay, then! Once you get changed into your uniform, everything will be in order!" the staff member said. "But, fair warning: the Motostoke Gym Mission is pretty difficult, and Raphael can be rather tough as well."
"Oh, I'm sure I can handle it," Zander said as he got into the changing room... again. Once he was in proper attire, he was escorted into the chamber...
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Inside, the chamber was a bright yellow with a circle platform. On the platform, patches of fluffy carpeting surrounded by pylons were circling a scoreboard in the center. On the scoreboard, three gauges were showing the level of something at the bottom notch in the red level.
In front of the scoreboard was Dan, and he approached Zander to say, "Welcome to the Electric Gym Mission of Motostoke Stadium! The object is this: by walking along the patches of carpeting, the resulting static electricity will charge these gauges! Simply run along the carpets to charge all three gauges, and you shall complete the Gym Mission! But be warned: wild Pokemon are hiding in the carpeting, and they, along with the Gym Trainers will attempt to impede your progress! With all that said, let the Gym Mission begin!"
As soon as Dan finished, the starting whistle blew, and Zander decided to go for the back-left patch first. As soon as his foot touched the carpet, a small spark popped, and the left gauge lit up a notch, so he kept walking to make more notches light up. As soon as the gauge reached the yellow level, though, a Pichu started chasing after Zander and caught up with him, and the Gym Trainer, Greg came up to Zander's side and sent out a Chinchou while Zander sent out his Sandygast. One Sand Tomb later, though, and Pichu went down, saving Sandygast from any potential hits from Chinchou's Water-type moves. With that out of the way, Zander was free to continue charging the gauge until it reached the top notch in the green level with a "ding!"
Next, Zander made his way to the front patch, putting energy into the middle gauge. Once it reached yellow, an Electrike went after Zander, and the second Gym Leader, Beth tossed out her Helioptile next to Zander and his Sandygast. Deciding to go bold, Zander ordered Sandygast to use a new move: Bulldoze! Sandygast pressed its body downwards into the ground, and a shockwave of orange-brown energy pulsed from all around it, knocking out both Electrike and Helioptile and freeing Zander to charge the middle gauge to the top.
Another "ding," and Zander only had to charge up the right gauge by running along the back-right patch of carpeting. But he bumped into a Pincurchin when it reached yellow, and Gym Trainer Kyle sent out a Yamper while Sandygast came out again. Yamper managed to use Charm on Sandygast, weakening its Bulldoze enough for Pincurchin to hit it with Bubble Beam afterwards, dealing super-effective damage. But Sandygast siphoned the last of its health with Mega Drain, knocking it out and freeing Zander to charge the last gauge to the last "ding!"
"The Gym Mission has been cleared!" Dan said after the whistle. "But now you must face the Lightning Retainer himself, and he will not let up! So, best of luck to you!"
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Zander walked down the hallway to the pitch... again. But, just as Elle said before wrapping up at the ceremony, it had been remodeled into a dark-yellow floor coated with tempered glass, and instead of paint, the lines were neon lights! Impressed by the remodel, Zander suddenly found Raphael standing next to him, and the two walked to the middle of the pitch together.
"Alright, glad to see you could make it!" Raphael said as they reached the center line... of light. "You really believe you can break the monotony like you said?"
"Believe me, Raphael," Zander said, "when I make something my mission, I don't stop trying until I accomplish it."
"We'll just see about that!" Raphael said. "You've been getting stronger with every win, but so have I!"
The two competitors then took their places, and the battle was on as Raphael started things off with a Raichu from an Ultra Ball while Zander sent out Sandygast. Raichu started things off with Sweet Kiss, managing to confuse Sandygast. But it managed to land a Bulldoze and hit Raichu, knocking it out.
But Raphael, undeterred, sent out his next Pokemon, Heliolisk. Luckily, Sandygast snapped out of its confusion to hit it with Sand Tomb. But unluckily, Heliolisk hit it with Thunder Wave, paralizing it. But, due to its Ground/Ghost type, Heliolisk couldn't hit it with Pound or Thunderbolt, giving Sandygast enough of an opening to strike it down with another Bulldoze, as well as let its paralysis wear off.
"That's it! No more messing around! Time to really dig deep!" Raphael said as he sent out his last Pokemon: Manectric. But instead of switching out for another Pokemon, Zander kept Sandygast out and used a Dire Hit he bought while he was shopping at one point.
"And now to pour my energy and then some into trying the last!" Raphael said as he called Manectric back into its ball, which then grew to basketball size. He then threw the ball like a shot-put behind him as hard as he could, and Manectric came out of it and grew in size three times before landing on the ground and growling in pride. This apparently triggered another function of the stadium's pitch: lights shaped like lightning bolts flickered beneath the glass on Raphael's side as Manectric growled.
Manectric called on the Dark power of its Bite attack and used Max Darkness; two black portals appeared at its sides, and a black tentacle shot out of each one and wrapped around Sandygast until they exploded in a massive burst of inky-black energy, knocking Sandygast out in one shot! Zander then tried Klefki, but Manectric knew Fire Fang and used it to create a massive fireball that swallowed it up in a prominence of flames, one-shotting it with Max Flare and making the sun shine inside the stadium! Making a desperate gamble, Zander sent out his Fletchinder, and while its higher Speed combined with the harsh sunlight did manage to land a big hit on Manectric with Flame Charge...
"A bolt of lightning, a clap of thunder... AND MY ENERGY WILL PREVAIL!!!" Raphael boasted as a black thundercloud appeared over Fletchinder before a massive lightning bolt split the air in two and crashed down on it, knocking it out and running an electric current though the pitch that made the lights go haywire!
As Manectric shrunk back down to normal size, Zander sent out his final option: his Rockruff, seething with hormone-fueled anger as it was being held back from evolving. Manectric hit it with Thunder Wave, but Rockruff's sheer anger instantly broke the move and followed it up with Rock Tomb, finally knocking Manectric out and giving Zander his victory!
As Zander and Rockruff let out victory howls, Raphael stumbled back in shock and exclaimed, "But my energy! I gave it everything I had!" Suddenly, a fleeting phenomenon happened outside the stadium, the sun set over the horizon, showing a glint of green light through a window and shining on Rockruff as it evolved. Its muzzle grew longer, its ears became more erect, its chubby tummy was swapped for a more lithe frame, and the pebbles on its neck grew into stone spikes as its neck fluff grew on top and swooshed over its head until... Rockruff was no more, and in its place was a Dusk Form Lycanroc!
After the initial shock passed, Raphael calmed down and said, "Well, it finally happened. Took its sweet time, but it's happened. I met a Trainer who promised a broken monotony, and they made good on that promise. Normally, the way it would go is the Mission would frustrate them, or I'd push them too hard and flip out on their team with Dynamaxing, but once in a blue moon, I'd hope for someone to at least meet me at the top, if not pass me there. And you did it."
"I see," Zander said, sympathizing with Raphael. "Well, I'm glad I could give you your wish before you lost your mind about it."
"But enough about that!" Raphael said, back in good spirits. "Right now, we have a Trainer who just earned his Electric Badge! And believe me, anyone who can withstand my energy deserves it!"
As Raphael and Zander shook hands, a piece of gold with a yellow lightning bolt was set into Zander's Challenge Band, connecting with the other two badges: the Electric Badge.
"And now that you own 3 badges, you have successfully conquered mid-southern Galar!" Raphael said. "Perhaps we may be underestimating our opponents and overestimating ourselves...."
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Back at the desk, Zander was back in his normal clothes and trying to smooth out his fur from the static electricity frizzing him out. "Man, if I were any fluffier, I'd float out the window!" He then looked outside to see that it was getting late. "Speaking of windows, I see out this one that I'd better get some rest for tomorrow, and luckily, there's a place to do just that right next door!" He then exited the stadium and checked into the Budew Drop Inn... again.
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Meanwhile, back in Wyndon, (more specifically, in the top floor of Rose Tower) Elle was settled back in her business attire, with Turner next to her as they both looked down on the view of Galar they had below them. "Turner, I've been thinking," Elle started.
"Yes, miss Elle?" Turner inquired.
"About my grand master plan," Elle said. "I just figured out the first thing I'm going to do after it gets carried out."
"And that would be?"
"Starting a grocery store," Elle said. "Like, we have all of these different ingredients for cooking delicious curry dishes, but there's no way for people to have easy access to them. I want to change that."
"Very well, miss Elle," Turner said. "Shall I send the order to search for a plot of land to begin construction?"
"Not yet, Turner," Elle said. "Now where did you put my Dyress Up Key and my Dyna Perfume after I gave them to you before we met up with that wolf boy?"
"Ah, yes, right away, miss Elle," Turner said before he walked to the center of the floor and rode the elevator to a different level with an ordinary room. Inside the room was a shelf with a black safe, and Turner entered the combination, opening the door and extracting the key and perfume bottle before carrying them back up to Elle. "Here you are, miss Elle. I was holding them in the safekeeping vault."
"Excellent," Elle said before taking them back, "and thanks for holding on to them so I wouldn't have their scent on me at the Captain's Table."
"Of course, miss Elle."
"Now, I believe that I should expand my roster... before we make any final moves," Elle said as she looked down on Galar again...
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