(Written by Vergil Tanner)
After defeating Cassie and the Newcrest Gym, you find yourself at the beginning of a rather sizeable trek. Leaving Newcrest, you journey back across the lake to rejoin the main trail and follow it around towards the eastern coast of Illyna's main island. Coming to the eastern coast, the road ends on an otherwise unassuming beach, with the first of the south-eastern island chain rising in the distance across the waters. The message is clear; unlike with the Harmony Badge, you are expected to make your own way instead of relying on a ship to ferry you across.
The crossing is difficult, with the strong currents and various riptides and reefs pulling you this way and that, preventing you from taking a shortcut straight to your destination. Instead, the waters deposit you and your Pokemon – eventually – on the northern part of the topmost island in the miniature peninsula. This section of Illyna is made up of a trio of islands running along the eastern and southern coast of the central landmass, the largest of which you stand upon now. It's an extremely mountainous area, and you face an extraordinarily difficult climb towards your destination.
The road ahead of you climbs upwards at a steep pace, though it seems broken and crumbled in several locations, as if designed to be as challenging as possible. The climb is long and arduous, forcing you to alternatively skirt sheer drops and dive into deep, labyrinthine caves. Eventually, you step out of a long, neatly paved passageway. After blinking the sun from your eyes, you finally see your destination and the latest stop along your journey.
Calchester City.
Despite its isolated location and somewhat difficult Trainer-path, Calchester is renowned across all of Illyna as the center of higher education and Pokemon research. If Caldoshire is the archaeological and historical capital of the region, then Calchester is the scientific hub. Every Professor of the Region has studied or worked in the famous Silverspire Laboratory which conveniently sits right next door to the Grand Library Of Illynan Scientific Learning, where everything ever researched and documented about the Pokemon native to the region is catalogued and stored. On the clifftop behind you sits The Observatory, its massive telescope pointed to the sky to research and document the regions unique weather patterns and climate, and looking down across the city you can see hordes of researchers, students and university-orbiters alike going about their daily business. Even the Pokemon Center is cutting-edge with an attached research lab and veterinarian school to support the students attending the famous Westwood University.
After a good long rest at the Rookidee's Rest, you are ready to challenge Calchester's gym, headed by the co-founder of the Illyna Region and Pokemon Professor of the Illyna Region himself, Dante Young. His gym has a fearsome reputation for being fiendishly difficult, but you are undeterred. You weathered Juniper. You endured Ransom. You outlasted Kirana. You overpowered Elias. You resisted Evelina and outfoxed Cassandra. The overwhelming majority of gym challengers never get this far, and you are not giving up now.
Upon entering the gym, you find yourself in a locked room, with the way forwards barred by a large mechanical device. There's a table in the centre of the room, and four pillars at each corner. The table gives you a riddle regarding the four pillars in each corner of the room, which in turn gives you the clue you need to progress; in order to unlock the door, you must strike the lock in a very particular way. If you guess incorrectly, the lock will seal permanently and you will be required to leave the room; the riddle and answer will then be randomised for the next attempt. Upon completion, the door opens to reveal two of Dante's students, who challenge you to a Double Battle before you proceed.
After fighting Dante's students, you're led to the second room. The door slides shut behind you and a light flickers on overhead to reveal a rather bizarre chamber; in the center of the room is a large digital clock, which begins to count down from 60 as soon as the door closes. Beneath the clock is a large button labelled “Reset.” A statue of a trainer stands next to the hourglass, with a replica of a Klefki dangling from his outstretched hand. A scroll dangles from his other hand, which gives a cryptic riddle regarding the puzzle. Small holes line each wall of the room, each about the size of the charms on the Klefki's ring. However, this riddle is not as straightforward as it may at first seem. Should you somehow manage to solve the riddle, though, the door opposite you will slide open to reveal one of Dante's assistants who promptly challenges you to a Rotation Battle.
The third room is somewhat different to the others; it's a wide open space with nothing between you and the door opposite. You walk forwards suspiciously, but find nothing unusual about it and reach the other side quickly enough. Pulling it open...you find yourself staring back into the room you just left. Turning around, you see a door on the far wall. It is then that you notice a cryptic riddle in the wall next to the door you stand before;
Though you travel far and wide,
What changes most does lie inside.
You should always keep in mind,
The path ahead lies behind.
Should you manage to successfully complete the challenge, you are met by a trio of assistants and challenged to a Triple Battle. If you win, you are allowed through the door to the final room.
In the final challenge, you are confronted with a wide arena and a large, high-level Pokemon that you are required to defeat. But you quickly find that simply attempting to wail on it with a Super-Effective move simply isn't enough; the Pokemon is protected by a mysterious barrier that grants it immunity to anything you try and throw at it. The challenge in this room is to figure out where the barrier is coming from and disable it long enough to defeat the Pokemon before it defeats your team through attrition. Once you've found the source – wherever it is – you are required to solve yet another puzzle to figure out how to disable it. Good luck.
Once you have managed to overcome that ordeal, a pair of Dante's understudies will challenge you to a Double Rotation Battle. If you manage to triumph...only then will you be allowed to challenge Dante himself. Dante greets you respectfully as you enter his challenge chamber, a vast, empty room with nothing but steel panelling on the floor and walls. Certain panels have odd symbols on them, but beyond that, it is a sterile, sleek and utterly featureless environment save for the two doors behind where Dante stands. Despite being aloof and detached in his demeanour, he congratulates you genuinely on reaching him – especially on finding victory over his wife, Cassandra – and wishes you good luck for the battle ahead.
Dante's team is as follows, in order of appearance:
1. Ajax, his steadfast and immovable Aggron.
2. Grael, his calm and unflappable Metagross.
3. Mrs. Stabbington, his aggressive and vengeful Aegislash.
4. Ryu, the proud and noble Lucario leant to him by his Belle.
5. Corva, his protective and vicious partner, Corviknight.
Dante is an exceptionally difficult combatant to face. Dante uses the time you take to get through Ajax to determine what kind of trainer you are; are you aggressive, or defensive? Reckless? Cautious? Do you fight by the book, or do you employ unorthodox methods to try and trip him up? Do you focus on the battle, or do you try to read the trainer? All of this is analysed with the cold, impassive face of a man who seemingly has no emotions. The only words he speaks are to give cryptic one-or-two word coded commands to his Pokemon that often spark various combinations of moves in quick succession.
Once he has established what type of Trainer you are is when he engages his counterattack. A series of sharp commands are given that are designed to exploit your strategies weak-points, or to force you to overextend yourself to give him openings to punish. More than that, however, he also plays the trainer; if he believes you are waiting for him to flinch or indicate his next move through his facial expression, he will reel you in by refusing to blink...and then give the barest of twitches in order to double bluff you into making a mistake. If you're hot-headed, he will deliberately play defensively to frustrate you into making a mistake. Etc ad nauseum.
But that isn't the only thing you have to worry about; during the fight, Dante will order his Pokemon to strike the various symbols around the arena. Once struck, these icons change the terrain in drastic ways. Whether it be creating a river or a lake in the middle of the arena, changing the weather patterns within the room, forming craggy plateaus or deep undergrowth, it seems that the entire room has been designed to be able to reconfigure the terrain at a moments notice. Defeating him requires you to think on your feet and remember what the tiles do; only by turning the terrain to your advantage will you emerge victorious!
Upon your victory, Dante rewards you with The Bastion Badge and gifts you the TM Gyro Ball. Dante congratulates you and shows you through one of the two doors to the outside of the Gym. He points to a vast stone bridge to the rear of Calchester connecting the southernmost point of the island to the north of the next one in the chain. Before you leave, he pauses to give you a word of advice. “Don't let Markus get inside your head,” he says simply, “or you'll never defeat him.” And with those ominous words...the final leg of your journey begins.
The Illyna League: Gym Leader Dante
by PentheWonderful
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Vergil Tanner
@Red Gallade It works in game, too, since they're both in the Field Egg Group!
PentheWonderful and RenzFlintrock like this. -
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Vergil Tanner
@Red Gallade I made Dante on my first runthrough. As soon as Isle of Armour drops, I'm transferring Rockruff over from Home and doing a playthrough with Elias!
PentheWonderful and RenzFlintrock like this. -
Red Gallade
I feel like I should try and see if I can give myself a lil' something on Sword and Shield and actually try to make my Gym Leader OC's team.
The Gym Leader is Brian, a Psychic Type Gym leader with his own polite behavior and a strong belief in destiny. (You can find out more about him in my signature)PentheWonderful, RenzFlintrock and Vergil Tanner like this. -
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Red Gallade
I'd rather not be envious... at all.
Lighter topic: Corviknight is officially my new favorite bird Pokemon as well.RenzFlintrock, PentheWonderful and Vergil Tanner like this. -
Vergil Tanner
@Red Gallade Lol, why would you be envious and PO? xD
You can Like it and be enviousRenzFlintrock and PentheWonderful like this. -
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Vergil Tanner
@RenzFlintrock
Just one question. Why did the Spinda King have a Pokemon Shredder, and where did he get it? Pbay? XD
I mean, the new anime and art style was supposed to be a reboot to address the whole "26 years old thing," but then they referenced things that happened in the old series, defeating and the point. I just don't think the anime writers are the most consistent team on the planet in quality xD
Interesting! That DOES make sense, given the rules for Z Moves set out in Canon.
@Merciless Medic Dante is 22 in UW ;-)
GOOD! It's supposed to be hard If they can't solve basic puzzles, how can they expect to be champions, eh?
If you lose to him, you get one free rematch. If you lose again, you have to redo the puzzles, which will be reset to having different answers.PentheWonderful, Merciless Medic and RenzFlintrock like this. -
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Merciless Medic
@RenzFlintrock
That's an interesting theory. :3 I might implement that. My theory is that when you do a specific synchronized dance with your Pokemon, you build up Z-Power within yourself that you use to power the Z-Ring, which ultimately gets powered by some power multiplier by the Z-Crystal, and it in turn gives power to a move for the Pokemon's use.
I can also vouch for Dante's difficulty. I have seen some RP posts of Dante's fighting capability when he was like... 17 in Uncharted Waters? Yea, if he refined that for another decade yea, no wonder. XD
And yes @PentheWonderful this looks amazing
Also, @Vergil Tanner, the Silverspire Laboratory... Yea, it's going to take several Machamp to get Shade out of that tower to continue the gym challenge. XD but she'll excel at the puzzles, just.... everybody else will have a difficult time XD Miel may do better, but the rest of them will get stuck.
But hey, if they manage to get past the puzzles and lose to Dante, would they have to get through the puzzles again?Vergil Tanner, PentheWonderful and RenzFlintrock like this. -
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Vergil Tanner
@RenzFlintrock
Everything is your fault. Everything in perpetuity from the dawn of time to the end of existence is purely your fault.
Oh, definitely! If played properly. It would be just Renz's luck to be like "Z MOVE!" and Mrs. Stabbington to be like "Kings Shield, SUCCCKAAAAAAAA." xD
Ash is always awful. "I got a new Pokemon! Let's use it for an episode and then send it to the timeout box forever." He never really varies his tactics, it's just "My level 100 Pikachu uses thundershock. What do you mean Ground is immune to electricity? Whoop, I lost." No wonder the only League he's won is Alola, the one that technically doesn't have a dedicated League. xD
If he beats Galar, as a proud Brit, I will flip my lid
I live for theories, both interesting, crazy and cockemamy!PentheWonderful, Merciless Medic and RenzFlintrock like this. -
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Vergil Tanner
@RenzFlintrock
You monster.
Doesn't mean he can't appreciate the effort it takes to be a successful coordinator!
True, but let's be honest, who doesn't have Z-Moves at this point? If Ash, the worst trainer in the canon, can get one...anybody can. How do you know Dante isn't packing one? At this point in his life (mid-thirties) he's at least visited every major region.
Besides, Z-Moves aren't an Auto-Win! They're powerful moves, but they don't guarantee anything! EG, Brock's Steelix was blasted by one, and he still ended up winning.PentheWonderful, Merciless Medic and RenzFlintrock like this. -
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Vergil Tanner
@RenzFlintrock
Well, I would hope that somebody didn't deliberately cut off his leg! :O
Well, even if he has friends who do the same thing, it doesn't mean he knows what each coded command does But yeah, he would be able to adapt better than people who are like "What the hell is he...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" xD
Boo, you're no fun Well, it might just be a "Hey, is that-" thing like walking down the street and being like "Wait a second, did I just walk past Adele?!" xD
God, I know, right? Steel Types in general are pains in the arses, but Aggron is just a defensive powerhouse. Mega Aggron is even worse xDPentheWonderful, Merciless Medic and RenzFlintrock like this. -
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Vergil Tanner
@RenzFlintrock
And as I said, I admit that Renz would beat Dante if not on the first try, then probably the second and almost certainly on the third (not to say he couldn't first try it, just that it wouldn't take him more than three attempts, given his team layout!).
And oh, cool! See, even disabled Pokemon can still fight! I've always kinda wanted an anime revolving around a disabled Pokemon. Like maybe a Machamp who lost or broke one of his arms, so he is objectively less capable than other Machamps, but still finds a way to push through. Could be an inspiring episode!
One thing I forgot to mention is that Dante doesn't call out Pokemon Moves. He has a series of codes instead, so his opponents never know quite what's coming at them. His codewords are usually references to combos or attack plans that he's drilled with his team.
But I might take you up on that! I like coming up with strategies. Though Renz might be a bit distracted if Dante's sister has come to watch the battle! She's not a Gym Leader; rather, she's the "Contest Champion" of the Region, and she's also a professional model / fashionista. So if Renz isn't disciplined, he might find his gaze wandering. Depending on how we feel at the end of the Gym Challenge Entries, you MIGHT get to see a proper PentheWonderful-style art of her and her partner (depending on how Pen feels).
[One last thing, Aggron can learn Protect. So best case scenario for Dante, it would take Renz four turns rather than two to get through Ajax [Protect --> Earthquake --> Protect --> Earthquake]PentheWonderful, Merciless Medic and RenzFlintrock like this. -
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Vergil Tanner
@RenzFlintrock
True, but then, I would say that battles are Dante's jam as well. It's not like Renz is going up against somebody whose only defence is puzzles, now is it? And remember, battles in the anime / manga aren't like in the games where they just politely stand opposite each other and take turns. xD There's a number of factors to consider there!
Let's take Aggron in a vacuum, for example. Yes, two Earthquakes would kill him pretty quickly. Looking at Renz's trainer card...
If the attacker was Garchomp, Aggron can learn Ice Beam and Icy Wind, so Garchomp would either be dead or near death in the process. Same with Torterra and Krookodile. Typhlosion is handled by Rock and Piloswine is handled by Steel. My point being that it's not gonna be quite so easy to deal with him just because you have ground moves.
And his team isn't JUST Aggron. Aegislash is notoriously tricky to deal with. I would personally argue that being literally able to float above the ground, things like Earthquake wouldn't really bother Aegislash that much, but even if it did, it has HUGE defences and Kings Shield to protect it, so it would take even a Type-Advantaged team a while to punch their way through Aegislash. Or, Dante could opt to send in Corviknight early, rendering all of your Ground-Type moves useless since - as a Flying Type - it's immune to Ground entirely. Still vulnerable to fire, yes, but still.
There's also the fact that his battle arena isn't just a wide open space, it's a constantly shifting battleground where new environments can emerge at a moments notice, so if you can't think quickly, you're not going to be able to take advantage of them.
Of course, I'm not getting into a "My trainer could batter your trainer," that's not what I'm intending to say xD Renz would probably win, if not on the first try then probably on the second. I'm just saying that Dante has a very sticky team that is good at enduring even SE attacks, so between Aggron and Aegislash's high defence and Lucario's agility, he will have ample chance to work out what kind of trainer Renz is. It doesn't take long to determine if somebody is aggressive or defensive, for example, after all. He's also very good at using the terrain to his advantage. Plus plus, this would come at the end of a particularly gruelling Gym Run, so Renz might not be "awake" for the first little bit of the match xD
You're right, Renz has a decent chance considering his type advantage! He'll definitely have an easier time than, say, a rock or fairy Specialist, and he'll definitely find the eighth gym a LOT harder. Arguably even the first gym, considering the type. But it certainly won't be easy, and if he loses focus or underestimates Dante for even a moment, this gym leader is more than capable of punishing him harshly for it. He's not the seventh gym leader for nothing, after all!
But as I said...I don't want to come across like I'm arguing that my boy is the best and unbeatable. Obviously he's not invincible. xD That would be boring I just like talking strategy xDPentheWonderful, Merciless Medic and RenzFlintrock like this. -
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Vergil Tanner
@PentheWonderful Indeed they do! They have to remind the young upstart challengers where they belong
I hope she does a lot of that Dante enjoys showing off a little for his gorgeous wife ♥
WE SHALL INDEED! ♥PentheWonderful, Merciless Medic and RenzFlintrock like this. -
PentheWonderful
@Vergil Tanner Lmao, this is true.
They have a reputation to maintain, and first impressions matter!
Considering her gym opens when the sun goes down, she has aaaaall day to come and admire him
We shall have to see, no?Merciless Medic, RenzFlintrock and Vergil Tanner like this. -
Vergil Tanner
@PentheWonderful
Of course she did! Dante picked it deliberately to make his missus swoon. And she no doubt helped with the finer elements of his fashion, just like he helped her with the finer elements of HERS. They have to show everybody else just what they're missing, now don't they? And Cassie wouldn't want Daddy to look anything other than his best.
I hope she comes to visit / watch him crush the challengers sometimes, like he does with her gym
Let's just hope that Eve approves of Markus's eventual design, eh?Merciless Medic, RenzFlintrock and PentheWonderful like this. -
PentheWonderful
@Vergil Tanner Of course he does! He's the complete package AND he's got the looks to match
Lmao, you can do it!
Lol, of course she does. I'm sure she would have had a hand in picking out that very ensemble.Merciless Medic, RenzFlintrock and Vergil Tanner like this. -
Vergil Tanner
Awwwww, there's ma boi in all his dapper glory! I bet he has his fair share of fangirls
And Corva looks so badass!!! I want a Shiny Corviknight in my game now
You always do such an amazing job, @PentheWonderful I love him so much! And I hope Cassie approvesMerciless Medic, PrincessPika~chan, RenzFlintrock and 1 other person like this.