Coumarine City was built around one single, massive hill. It might have been more accurate to call it a mountain the way it towered over the coastline that surrounded it, but its slope was gradual and covered with grass, making it not look like the classic image of a mountain at all.

A number of houses were built around its base to create a city in the shape of the donut that extended along the coast to the west and south. No houses were built on top of the hill, the space instead occupied by a tree so massive that it made the hill look small.

Hope and I soared above the city with Tropius and Altaria carrying us. Since Hope had caught Tropius in Hoenn, this was her first time flying above her home. She excitedly pointed out places of interest to me, such as the docks to the northwest where the bluffs ceased and the beaches started as well as several different resorts to the northeast that overlooked ocean cliffs with people rappelling down them.

Apparently, one of the Gym Leaders of this region was really into rock climbing, and as a result, it was slowly becoming a regional passtime.

After about a half an hour of drifting above the coastal city, Hope started to fly toward the large tree on the hill. As we approached, she informed me what it was, and I had to do a double take after finding out it was the Gym.

The tree that made up Coumarine Gym was as tall as a skyscraper and as wide as a city block. Large vines hung down around the sides, and there were equally large ropes tied around the center of the tree. If I squinted my eyes, I could picture the tree as being just a normal tree, since all the proportions lined up.

Hope and I touched down on a dirt path within the empty field around the Gym, and already I could see Grass Types milling around the edges. There was a family of Roselia and Budew led by a Roserade tending to a few bushes, a large number of Sunflora holding out their arms out to collect sunlight, and even a few Gogoat roaming around. To my surprise, there was also a singular Chesnaught, the final form of Kalos’s regional Grass Type starter, meandering about, with a squad of Oddish hopping around it and using its body like a jungle gym.

The dirt path led up to the base of the tree, where a decently-sized glass sliding door was built in the roots. It was hard to see at a distance with the way the roots spread out and curved, but it was pretty obvious up close.

Entering it, we emerged into what would be a perfectly generic Gym waiting room if it wasn’t for the fact the walls were formed out of currently living wood. The room was completely empty save for a single front counter against the back wall and a few doors around the sides.

“Heyyyy! I’m baaack!” Hope yelled out, walking a few feet ahead of me.

I flinched from the unexpected loud noise and shuffled in place awkwardly while we waited. Hope made no moves to enter the tree-building further, just standing there patiently.

Eventually, a door in the back was opened, and the form of a diminutive old man was revealed.

He had to have been at least eighty with the way he was hunched over and the number of wrinkles on his face. He wore a pair of dark suspenders over a thick green shirt, as well as a pair of gardening gloves on his hands. He adjusted a green flat cap on his bald head and tucked a pair of scissors that were at least two feet long into a sheath at his side.

“So yer back, eh?” he grunted. “Good to see you again, sapling.”

There was a moment of tense silence only interrupted by Hope whispering “...Sapling?”

The man smiled at Hope with his eyes closed, and she seemed to be almost completely still from shock. Once more, we were sent into near silence, but the faint sound of sniffles started to echo in the room.

“I’m proud of yeh.”

Hope ran forward and swept the man off the ground, who laughed happily and patted her on the back, but then almost immediately begged to be let down because she was hurting his back.

Acting quickly, she quickly set him back on the floor, and with her hand on his shoulder, turned to face me, wiping tears out of her red eyes.

“Ramos. This is Alex. Alex, Ramos.”

I nodded at the wizened old Grass Type Gym Leader, and he made a purposeful show of looking me up and down while rubbing his chin. Hope continued to speak.

“Ramos is the Coumarine Gym Leader as well as my sponsor. He’s worked here for a few decades, and, uh, so you know how you’re both Type specialists?”

I nodded.

“Ramos is a Grass Type Master.”

My body froze as I looked at the relatively unassuming old man in front of me. At best he looked like a gardener, his appearance not screaming Gym Leader at all. Ramos’s eyes were closed and he had an incredibly large grin on his face, standing proudly with his hands behind his back.

“Aye, I’m a Grass Type Master. When you’re my age, you’ll find it hard not to have masses of titles heaped on you. It’s not a big deal, just a reflection of what I’ve been working with my whole life.”

Ramos was wrong. The fact he was a Type Master was a big deal. Type Masters weren’t just Type Specialists, they went above and beyond. They were trainers that knew everything about a Type, and were said to be able to take an unevolved Pokémon and turn it into an Elite-tier Pokémon in months.

Becoming a Type Master was harder than winning a Conference, and even then that was an understatement. I would say that becoming a Fairy Type Master was my dream, if it wasn’t so incredibly hard to do.

At most, each Type’s Type Masters could be counted on each hand, and that was only for the most common Types like Water and Flying. Wallace, ex-Hoenn Gym Leader and current Hoenn League Champion was a Water Type Master, and now, Ramos the Grass Type Master stood before me.

Interrupting me from my shock, Ramos spoke up.

“So, why have yeh brought Alex here, sapling?” he asked Hope.

Hope cleared her throat, then nervously bent over to whisper in Ramos’s ear. As she did so, the grin somehow managed to deepen on his face and he began to chuckle.

“Oh, ‘training,’ is it? Come along, then. Yeh’ll start now.”

I shot Hope a more than thankful look and followed them deeper into the building. We passed through a simple hallway that wasn’t made out of living wood and wouldn’t have looked out of place in any other Gym I’d been to, and we entered an elevator that rapidly lifted us through the tree.

“So what Pokémon are yeh seeking to train?” Ramos asked me while a faint tune played within the compartment.

“Well, based on previous advice from Hope, primarily the abilities of Florges, Whimsicott, and Azumarill. Also, Whimsicott is trying to actually learn attacking moves, as well. He has the basics of Energy Ball down, but not anything I’d say is ready for battle.”

Ramos hummed and eventually the elevator doors dinged, and we were let out.

My mouth dropped open at the absolutely incredible room we entered. As far as I could tell, we were as high as we could go, at the very top of the tree within the canopy. Built at the top of the trunk was an entire battlefield with a wooden floor illuminated by beams of light poking through the leaves above. I was stunned, just taking in the view as Ramos approached the other side, where he took out his scissors and banged the tip of them on the ground like a staff to regain my attention.

“So this’ll be a three-on-three battle, using yer Pokémon yeh want to train. Hope, yeh’ll ref for this,” he called out to me from his newly gained distance.

Hope nodded and jogged over to take her spot, but I just sputtered where I was standing.

“W-what? A three-on-three battle? Out of nowhere?”

“Of course,” Ramos responded, smirking. “If yeh want me to help train yer Pokémon, I have to see ‘em in battle.”

Going along with the aged Gym Leader, I took my spot within the trainer box, and made sure to toss my team out behind me. There was plenty of space within this area for them to stand, and I wanted them to watch the upcoming battle if we were going to face such a powerful opponent.

Dedenne also climbed out of my backpack at this point, and took a spot right on top of Altaria’s head. Standing there, he had a decent view over the field, and for some reason, looked a little smug.

Seeing my team, Ramos whistled, impressed.

“Fairy Type then, eh? Should’ve figured with the Pokémon yeh listed.”

I nodded in acknowledgement and gave my team a quick rundown of what was going on. Azumarill grinned viciously while Ninetales looked disappointed she wasn’t going to compete. As I started to talk strategy, I realized I was missing some information and called out to Ramos to ask.

“How many stars is the team you’re going to use? I’d like to know to prepare myself.”

Ramos smiled, exposing his teeth, and gripped his scissors a bit tighter.

“Oh, yeh know. Just my personal team. Ten stars.”

I almost took a step back with the sudden aura of intimidation he was giving off. For an old man, he was frightening. I hardly remembered this generation of games, but I could have sworn he was much more relaxed in them than he was acting right now. I quickly went through the options in my head and quietly discussed with my team before deciding on a plan giving Hope a nod to signify we were ready.

She raised her arms and began to speak as a referee would.

“This will be a three-on-three single battle between Trainer Alex and Gym Leader Ramos. ...Please don’t do anything too tricky in this.”

“No promises.”

“Can’t say I won’t.”

Ramos and I both exchanged a look, and Hope shook her head. She briefly went over the rules—I noticed there were no limits on switching, which was interesting but nothing special for a casual battle like this—and we began.

“Azumarill, you’re up first,” I said to Azumarill.

Azumarill swung her arms around and walked onto the field before taking up a ready stance. Ramos, meanwhile, tossed a ball forward and called out to his first Pokémon.

“Jumpluff, mulch ‘em!” Ramos yelled.

A blue dandelion-like Grass Type appeared on the field and hopped into the air as Azumarill set up an Aqua Ring. Her body was coated with a faint layer of water, and next, she began to use Misty Terrain.

Against a Grass Type trainer, it was imperative we stop him from using status conditions.

Ramos hummed.

Jumpluff simply bounced up and down in its spot as Azumarill set up its moves. Upon each jump, it slowly floated back to the floor with a smile on its face, and Ramos watched impassively.

It was only when Azumarill looked like she was about to use Belly Drum that he gave his first orders.

“That’s enough of a head start. Shut ‘em down with Bullet Seed.”

Immediately, Jumpluff opened its mouth and an absolute barrage of small black seeds shot out. Azumarill was forced to stop her Belly Drum before it even started to Aqua Jet out of the way, and, no longer able to set up any utility moves, she charged in.

Belly Drum was a stretch, and we both knew it. I had told her only to use it if she could pull it off, because while she was capable of incredible amounts of damage with it, Ramos’s mastery of Grass Types might have meant the damage Belly Drum dealt would let him easily faint her. So we decided the best option was to get close, where most Grass Type moves like Razor Leaf and Bullet Seed would have a harder time hitting her.

Azumarill zig-zagged across the field, shifting directions on a dime to avoid what was essentially machine gun fire from Jumpluff. There were few breaks in its attack and its aim was near impeccable, which meant Azumarill was frequently clipped by the Grass Type move and was constantly changing directions.

However, despite taking the super effective damage and being forced to take a winding path, she was quickly on Jumpluff, where she jumped into the air and spun, using what could have been either Liquidation or Aqua Tail.

As her water-coated tail moved in, I saw Ramos’s grin and realized that was a mistake.

“Get out of there!” I screamed.

“Into the air with Bounce, Jumpluff!”

Jumpluff pulled in its dandelion bulb arms and controlled the wind to push itself down towards the floor at a surprisingly fast rate. As a result, it dodged Azumarill’s attack entirely, and once it touched down, immediately kicked off of the wood with its legs to slam into Azumarill’s stomach and carry the two of them into the air.

Soaring above the field, Azumarill just barely managed to graze Jumpluff with a Liquidation punch, and as it didn’t even flinch, Ramos called out his next command.

“Stun Spore!”

It took me a moment to fully process what he had done, and his cleverness made me curse.

Misty Terrain only prevented status conditions for grounded Pokémon and Pokémon close to the floor. The height Florges reached when she floated in the air meant she just barely benefitted, but a Pokémon that flew around like Altaria would get no effect. With Jumpluff sending Azumarill into the air with such a powerful hit, she was no longer grounded, and thus Misty Terrain didn’t protect her from getting paralyzed.

With one well timed move, he completely negated something my team relied so heavily on.

As miniscule yellow spores puffed out of Jumpluff’s bulbs and attached to Azumarill, she immediately stiffened from the reaction and reached out to Jumpluff. I could see her trying to do the start of Play Rough, but the Flying Type Jumpluff easily floated out of the way and Azumarill soon crashed into the ground, unable to move.

As if to add insult to injury, Jumpluff then coated Azumarill with Cotton Spores, gunking her up and practically gluing her to the ground with the fluffy masses.

Not seeing a way for Azumarill to continue, I returned her with the hopes Florges could cure her of her paralysis.

And then, of course, Ramos returned Jumpluff immediately after.

My face contorted in frustration as I grabbed Florges’s Heal Ball. Already, Ramos had shown his expertise by immediately ignoring a move that shut down his ability to incapacitate his foes. With how easily Azumarill was disabled by Jumpluff, I could tell this fight would be difficult.

Wary of whatever Ramos would send out next, Florges appeared on the field, and, with a few quick orders, she refreshed Misty Terrain and used Aromatherapy to heal Azumarill. However, she wasn’t able to set up a Calm Mind before Ramos leisurely sent out Victreebel.

The vicious pitcher plant opened its top leaf to reveal a mouth dripping with acid and screamed its name in a surprisingly squeaky voice. Without Ramos even needing to give it orders, it flicked the leaves at its side forward and Florges was forced to immediately take evasive action, but was only able to turn the Razor Leaves into glancing blows.

“It’s a Poison Type, so be careful,” I called out. “Fairy Type moves will deal more damage than Grass Type moves against it, but it resists your attacks no matter what. See if you can hit it with Moonblast!”

Florges nodded to acknowledge that information while eyeing Victreebel carefully, and focused to create an image of a moon behind her. She held her hands close to the center of her body as a ball of pure Fairy Type energy formed and she sent it forward as it tracked Victreebel’s position.

Ramos whispered a few commands I couldn’t quite make out to Victreebel, and it waited just long enough for the Moonblast to nearly be on it. Before the attack could land, however, Vine Whips shot out of its leaves like twin harpoons into the ground as it jumped over the attack, letting it slam into the ground of its old position.

And then, it started to lope forward, using Vine Whips to increase its speed.

Well, at least I know where Hope’s Venusaur learned that technique.

Once Victreebel reached the center of the field, it used Vine Whip one more time to launch itself into the air. Florges easily moved out of the way of its trajectory, but it lashed out with its vines to wrap around her waist to drag her closer.

It then proceeded to jam Florges into its mouth, and a stream of Acid started to pour from its body.

Florges yelled in pain as the Grass Type landed on its side on the ground, and I saw its body deform as she used Fairy Wind inside of it to try to escape. Puffs of pink mist disrupted the flow from the outside, but the super effective attack was dealing far too much damage to her.

“Florges! Use Grass Knot to pull yourself away!”

Rather than just leashing herself with ropes of grass, two separate masses of tangled knots grew out of the wood to wrap around both Victreebel and herself. She commanded the vines to tug back, and with a pop, managed to escape from Victreebel’s grab and float back into the air, away from it.

The room went still when Florges was revealed.

She looked awful. The Acid attack within Victreebel had eaten away most of her flowers and her usually white skin was now red and raw. She was still and shivering from the pain while glaring at Victreebel. For the briefest of moments, I caught a look at her face and saw her expression was locked to one of cold fury.

I had never seen Florges so angry.

Victreebel pushed back upright, and an image of the moon appeared behind Florges. With speeds nearing that of her Fairy Winds, Florges conjured pink spheres of Moonblast to throw at Victreebel.

Victreebel used Vine Whip to lunge to the side, narrowly dodging one and being grazed by the other. Another swarm of the powerful Fairy Type attacks were sent at it, and it knocked them away with the same move.

However, each time it did, the energy contained within the attack was so dense its vines were slowly becoming seared.

“Stockpile,” Ramos orders.

As Victreebel desperately defended itself from Florges’s onslaught, a new gurgling sound rang out as it started to build up... something inside of itself. Florges continued to attack, but she was slowly tiring herself out and was starting to look exhausted.

This strategy was working, however.

At one point in the past, I had thought Florges would never match the strength of the rest of my team. She hadn’t been the most motivated of battlers, but over time, I could see that changed. She attacked with the fury of a molten hot sun, and even the brief healing Victreebel received after Ramos called out “Synthesis” barely helped. My team was completely silent behind me, watching Florges with awe as she repeatedly used one of the most powerful Fairy Type moves there was as if it was just a basic attack.

And then Ramos called out for “Spit Up.”

Victreebel’s body shifted and squashed down as a heaving sound rang out. It reminded me of what a cat sounded like before it vomited, and Florges actually paused to eye it carefully. Then, with an unexpectedly strong force, a mass of something too gross to describe was hurled out of Victreebel’s large mouth to hurtle straight at Florges. Her exhaustion meant she moved too late, and the attack hit her in the center of the chest, sending her flying into the air and crashing into the branches above.

Ramos whistled.

“Yer Florges is extremely impressive, sprout. Haven’t seen one this powerful in years.”

I recalled Florges to her Pokéball with mixed feelings about it. On one hand, Florges had performed admirably against a Grass Type trained by a Master with decades of experience, but on the other hand Victreebel still handily finished her off. It was more than tired, however, and even the faint glow on its leaves as it attempted to use Synthesis was barely helping.

Seeing that, I decided to settle on being proud of Florges, and sent Azumarill out next.

After all, Victreebel was a brutal Pokémon, and just like fighting fire with fire, it was best to fight brutality with brutality.

Free from her paralysis, Azumarill swung her arms out and roared, and I quickly shouted out to inform her about her opponent.

“Victreebel can move around with Vine Whip, and swallowed Florges whole to melt her with Acid. Don’t let it use its Stockpile-Spit Up combo, since that’s what did her in.”

Hearing what happened to Florges, Azumarill stomped on the ground and glared at Victreebel. As the Grass Type tauntingly started to bring out its vines with Vine Whip, Azumarill held a paw out and made the “come at me motion” that signified Swagger.

Ramos grimaced.

“I wouldn’t have done that if I was yeh. Don’t even have to give orders now,” he said.

I frowned.

Victreebel charged forward, using its vines to launch itself like it had done before, and, in its confused rage, tried to swallow Azumarill whole. She moved out of the way with Aqua Jet, intent on hitting it in the side with Play Rough as it fell, but Victreebel spun in the air and one of its vines swung out to hit her in the side.

Azumarill was launched back from the impact, and the moment Victreebel hit the ground, it pushed itself away to jump right back at Azumarill. Razor Leaves shot out of the leaves on its side to tear into Azumarill, and it spat out several bright yellow-orange globs of Acid at her.

The Razor Leaves managed to hit Azumarill, but she was actually able to dodge the Acid. She had taken a decent chunk of super effective damage and I could tell she would faint soon, but so would Victreebel.

Instead of moving in, Azumarill jumped back further away from Victreebel. She started to move around the field with Aqua Jet, and slowly over time, a large wave formed behind her.

Using Surf, Azumarill proceeded to charge straight at the tired Victreebel, and not even another Razor Leaf called out by Ramos could stop her.

There was a near deafening bang as Azumarill crashed into Victreebel. Not only did her massive wave from Surf land, but her entire mass was sent forward with Play Rough to assist the job. I rubbed my eyes briefly as I recognized that technique as a modified version of what Ponyta had done earlier this month, and glancing over to him I could see his eyes literally glimmering with excitement.

However, despite that strong hit, Azumarill did not get out unscathed. She had moved in close enough to Victreebel where its vines swung out and lashed around her, then slammed her into the ground.

That retaliatory attack unfortunately fainted her, but after swaying back and forth for a few moments, Victreebel, too, collapsed.

Ramos's eyes were wide and he looked genuinely shocked.

“To be honest, I didn’t expect yeh to faint any of my Pokémon here. Yeh and yer team keep on surprising me, sprout. I look forward to seein' what you send out next.”

Following up Azumarill was Whimsicott, and following up Victreebel was the return of Jumpluff.

As kind as Ramos’s previous words were, we didn’t live up to it.

Whimsicott tried his best, he really did. However, he just didn’t have a way to deal damage against a Grass Type. Jumpluff knew both Synthesis and Sunny Day, so it healed whatever damage Whimsicott’s weak Fairy Wind did, and Mega Drain wasn’t much better. What’s worse was that, as a Flying Type, it also knew Acrobatics, meaning it could completely outmaneuver Whimsicott in the air and easily deal super effective damage.

The battle would have been quicker if Whimiscott didn’t know Substitute and Protect, but even with him stalling with those moves, he just couldn’t find a way to actually faint his foe.

I didn’t return Whimsicott early even though he had no chance, simply because doing so would be an insult to his determination. I could see he was trying his best, but it broke my heart to see him fight a losing battle for so long.

When he fainted, I returned him and whispered a few positive comments to his Pokéball, and the battlefield was left with only a single Pokémon on it.

Jumpluff was soon returned with a flash of red light.

“That got my blood pumping for the first time in a while,” Ramos called out. “Yer Pokémon are strong, sprout, but they definitely have some weaknesses that need to be shored up. With those fixed, I could see you maybe beating a Leader’s personal team or two.”

My head snapped up from where I was staring at Whimsicott’s Pokéball to look Ramos in the eyes.

"What, really? But you didn’t even send out your third, and we only fainted one!"

Ramos shrugged.

“Sure, but I’ve been doing this for decades. I doubt yeh could handle an older, more experienced one, but a new Gym Leader? Yeh’d definitely have a chance.”

My confidence surged at his vote of confidence, and I proudly put Whimsicott’s Pokéball back at my waist. Hope took this moment to speak up, interrupting us.

"So are you willing to train with us, Ramos?" she asked.

Ramos rubbed his chin.

"Yer helping our Sycamore, right sprout?" he asked me.

I nodded.

"Considering how well yeh did after our battle, I’d be a bad Gym Leader if I said no. I'll help yeh as long as yeh help me too. Too many Gym Trainers are out on break right now. I’ve got jobs that need taking care of. Scratch my back, and I scratch yers. Deal?"

“Of course. It would be an honor,” I replied.

Ramos smirked and Hope snickered, and he dramatically banged his scissors against the ground once more.

“Then let’s start with spreading the fertilizer. Chop chop.”

After taking a moment to make sure my team was healed up with Hope’s Cherrim’s Heal Pulse and a few medicinal items (we would need to stop by a Pokémon Center soon, but what we did was good enough to make sure they weren’t in any more pain), Ramos started to walk back to the elevator, and I followed.

A few jobs here and there was practically nothing if it meant someone like Ramos would help my team.