Disclaimer: Pokémon is still owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.


Chapter 3: Toxic Ordeals

Jane led Keith out of Lumiose Airport with certainty that probably came from coming there at least once a year. Keith didn't mind: he was still in awe at the size of the airport itself. It had to be as big as some of the towns he visited since he had left home, and it was as busy as the Mauville markets. He wasn't sure how nobody bumped into each other with all the suitcases and bags being dragged or carried through the halls, but he hadn't been sure of that in Mauville Airport either.

And then they stepped outside, and Keith experienced temperatures far below freezing for the first time in his life. "Shit," he spat. "It's like standing in an Icy Wind, only worse." The weather report by the captain of the plane had warned them, but he hadn't been expecting it to be this cold!His breath was visible with every exhale!

"It's colder than normal," Jane told him as she raised the fur-lined hood of her coat. "Kalos isn't warm in winter. They changed the League date to May this year. because of it"

"Huh, so that's why." Keith had been wondering why that had happened. The old guidebook he had read back during the Ever Grande Conference said the Kalos League was twice a year in February and August, but a Kalosian participant passing by had corrected the book. "Jane? Where's your uncle?"

"Right here," boomed a deep voice from behind them, and Keith jumped. Just a tiny bit. Jane didn't, instead turning around and hugging her uncle. "Oh, someone's happy today. Or is it because I'm so warm and big?"

Big was the right word. Jane's uncle Bryan was both tall and wide, and the easy smile on his face made Keith like him instantly. "Good to meet you, sir."

"Can the formalities Keith," the man replied, extending his right hand around Jane. He wasn't wearing gloves, to Keith's surprise, and they shook. "I'm too young to be called sir. Just call me Bryan. How was your flight? Uneventful, I hope?"

"Mostly." There had been that crying baby about an hour in, but that was it. "Jane tells me you live in Lumiose, s… Bryan?"

"I rent an apartment in the east of town, yes. It's not big, but it's close to work. Moved there recently, hope you don't mind boxes."

"You liked the old apartment," Jane said as she stepped back. "It was close to the airport."

Bryan nodded, plunging a hand into his coat. "I liked the apartment, but the landlord wanted to sell, and so I had to leave." A Pokéball appeared in his hand. "It does have a few perks, like our transportation." A xatu appeared on the snowy steps, squawking once in what Keith thought was a greeting. "My neighbour's. We often share Pokémon in our complex. My other neighbour has a garden patch out of town, so all our Grass-types go help there, for example."

All of them placed a hand on the Xatu, and in a flash, they were in a small, homely, and warm living room. It had more than a few boxes stacked up in corners. "You weren't kidding uncle," Jane said as she took her coat off. Keith hastily did the same. "When did you move in?"

"A month back, but work has been killing me. Last week especially. You want something to eat?"

They said yes, and Bryan gave them a short tour in between frying a few sausages and taking some salad out of the fridge. They also met some of Bryan's Pokémon: a cheerful chimecho and a cute small Fire-type called litleo. Keith sent out his new tyrogue, not even five days old, and Jane's plusle completed the Pokémon bunch.

"Which Gyms are you going to hit up?" Bryan wondered as he watched the teenagers eat, nibbling on some crispbread himself. "There's a Gym right here in Lumiose, y'know."

"We know," Jane confirmed. "That's the last one. We're heading to Santalune first. Then Snowbelle and Anistar."

"A counter-clockwise circuit. I see. Strange to go to the colder part of Kalos first."

"Jane wants to find a sneasel," Keith said, barely holding a yawn in. "Man, I know it's past midnight in Hoenn, but it's still light outside. Time zones are weird." Another yawn followed, unrestricted and massive, and Jane followed Keith's example.

"I think you need to head to bed. Keith, you're in the second bedroom, and Jane, you're in my bedroom."

"What about you?" Jane asked as she returned plusle.

"Have you felt this sofa? It's almost as comfortable as my own bed."

~~§~~§~~

Danny leant against the doorpost as he waited for Max and Serena to join him for breakfast. Serena was in the shower, and whatever Max was doing he didn't know. His best friend had been out of the room before either of the other two had gotten out of bed. Danny could have gone looking, but Max's pack lying on the empty bed had him not worried.

They found Max in the cafeteria, at a table with breakfast for three, two of his Pokémon by his feet eating. Vulpix's tail swayed from side to side, telling Danny the canine liked the food. "Good morning," Max greeted them. "Ready to make it to Plantachid today?"

"You're chipper," Danny remarked as he grabbed the cereal and some milk. "How long have you been awake?"

"Two hours?" Max glanced at the watch he received for Yule. "Close enough. Keith and Jane called at quarter to six, and I heard the Holo Caster vibrate. They're in Lumiose, staying at Jane's uncle. We had a good chat about jet lag too."

"Quarter to six?" Serena said, making a disgusted face. "Ugh, so early. You could have let it go to voice mail."

Max shrugged as Danny passed him the carton of milk. "Forgot that was a thing. It's still new to us. Besides, I was half-awake already. Stuff on my mind."

"Like the Gym?" Serena wondered, drawing chuckles from both of the boys. "Hey, you were talking about it when I went to bed last night. What time did you go to bed anyway? I heard you leave for me, but I didn't hear you come back."

"Sometime later," Max said, and Danny nodded in agreement. "I forgot to check the time."

Danny hadn't forgotten. "Quarter to ten, so about an hour after you went to bed. Someone in the lounge had a weird rattata from Alola. Yes, I took a picture," he added before Serena could ask him. "I'll show you tonight. Battery's empty and the charger is deep inside my pack."

After they had eaten breakfast, and before they were ready to leave – Max had to retrieve some Pokémon from Nurse Joy's care, and Serena was making her first weekly call home – Danny turned on the television to pass the time. He wanted to go watch some cartoons, but the first words he heard caught his attention.

"… attack last night in Laverre. The perpetrators were seen wearing red suit-like clothing and unusual eyewear. Reports of injuries are still coming in, but current information suggests that about a dozen were lightly injured, and that one guardswoman was severely injured when a golbat's Air Slash hit her wrist. The guardswoman was employed by the Pokéball Factory. The company running the Factory declined to comment at this time, saying they would rather be certain of their numbers. However, anonymous employees have mentioned that the thieves were able to access the storage vault. The effects of this on Pokéball prices remains unknown. Meanwhile, on the stock market..."

Danny kept watching the coverage, which included various experts talking about stuff he understood maybe half of, but it was the important half. For once, he was glad one of his old teachers had taken the time she had to talk about current events with Danny's class, back when Team Magma and Aqua were still doing things in Hoenn. It actually helped a lot in understanding what they were talking about and what they were focusing on.

He didn't hear Max re-enter the room, and the first thing he heard from his friend was a swearword that made Danny jolt in surprise. "They injured people? On purpose?"

Danny kept his eyes on the television, which was now showing how the attack had probably happened. "From what you told me, Team Rocket did that all the time, and you had run-ins with Magma and Aqua too. Archie sure seemed to want to hurt us." And Max especially.

Max scoffed. "Bruises and scrapes were the worst of that. Maybe a sprained ankle or a random elemental attack," he said, as if being hit by a Water Gun was normal. "Magma and Aqua were the same, except for..." That one time they tried to change the world's climate with rampaging Legendary Pokémon.

Danny glanced aside, and as he thought, Max looked angry. Fists balled, eyes probably trying to burn a hole in the television, but at least he didn't look as tense as he had done back on Mt. Pyre. "Easy, Max. They'll be caught and put in jail."

"And how many will be hurt before that?" Max shot back venomously, apparently to his own surprise. "Uh, sorry. Didn't mean that."

"Didn't mean what?" Serena said as she closed the door behind her. "Ma… What's that?"

"Attack on the Pokéball Factory in Laverre City," Danny told Serena, unnecessarily as those same words appeared on the screen following a short intro sequence. "Just watch."

It was a muted group that left for the ten mile journey to Plantachid. Serena had been horrified at the actual injuries that had been reported. They went a lot further than Max's report of bruises and scrapes. Two of the guards had been mauled by mightyena, and most of the injured bystanders had light to moderate burns from houndoom keeping them at bay.

The list of injuries didn't sound too unlike the last time Ghosts went rampaging in Hoenn. Thankfully, that appeared to have stopped over Yule, but Max had privately guessed – and Danny had agreed – that it wasn't because the ones doing it had been caught. They would have heard about that somehow.

It was a cold day, and only their well-insulated clothing and constant walking kept them warm enough. They had moved past it now, but the first day of travel, both of the boys had thanked Serena extensively for insisting on getting them proper boots instead of their walking shoes. It was a bit more weight in the pack, but their feet were kept wonderfully warm, no matter the terrain. The shoes wouldn't have been enough, Danny thought as they trudged through the white countryside. They were off-route, meaning more aggressive Pokémon and less people, but the main route led them away from Plantachid towards Camphrier first, and that'd mean another day of travel.

Their destination had just become visible in the distance, maybe two miles away, when Danny heard a metallic sound from behind them. All of them turned around, spotting a honedge making threatening gestures at them.

Froslass and manectric appeared in a flash, before Serena had even made a move for her belt. "Need a hand?" Danny asked.

Max's answer was a small nod as he ordered manectric to unleash a Thunder Wave. The honedge avoided it by melting into shadow, quickly travelling across the ground towards them, but a second quick jolt of electricity forced the Ghost-type out of hiding, into the open.

Honedge came in at manectric and Max, blade glowing red. "Shadow Ball," Danny ordered as Max tapped another Pokéball on his belt. Baltoy came out, not even needing any orders.

Shadow Ball passed by Max's head, over manectric's body and missed honedge, but it did stop the Fury Cutter in its tracks long enough for the canine to move in with a Fire Fang that made the part Steel-type move back, recoiling from the flame. Manectric went after it, still trying to bite.

At a whispered order, froslass moved to the side, raising her hands in the air, white starting to dance around them. If honedge noticed, it wasn't able to do anything about it because manectric was being a terror in keeping it busy between Fire Fangs and Thunder Waves.

To its credit, honedge avoided most of those attacks, only being bitten once.

"Now!"

Max returned manectric mid-leap, right out of the path of the Blizzard froslass had summoned. Honedge had no time to avoid it by going into the shadows, and dodging it was not an option. The attack was too wide and high for that.

One Pokéball later, honedge was now Max's first Kalos Pokémon, and Danny returned froslass as the capsule disappeared, off to Lumiose. "Yes!" Max said, doing a fist pump. "Thanks Danny."

"No problem," Danny replied as they started walking again by unspoken agreement. He saw Max lazily return baltoy as well; thankfully unused. "First Pokémon you battled to capture in a while. Thought you might need the help. You know, after I caught that spritzee without any problems yesterday."

Max's rude gesture only made Danny laugh.

"Isn't battling how you capture most Pokémon?" Serena asked, sounding confused. "That's what they taught us at school. Some might want to join you, but they're the exception."

"Normally, yes. If you're called Max, no," Danny quipped. "This is only his third Pokémon he battled."

"Fourth," Max corrected. "Vulpix too, remember?"

Danny nodded, remembering the lie they had told everyone. He wasn't sure why he hadn't counted her; it wasn't as if he hadn't lied about that a few times in the past month. "Not a big difference. It's your tenth Pokémon, and you've only fought four. I'm on seven fought and three not."

"What about the other six?" Serena wondered. "One's grovyle, sure, but the others?"

"Baltoy was ill, Max nursed it back to health, nincada liked our food, we found bagon's Egg, Max saved clefairy's life, poliwag liked us," Danny listed quickly, before Max could downplay any of it. "Nincada and bunnelby were pretty much the same, come to think of it." Danny's new bunnelby had just wandered into Max and Danny's snack break while exploring two days back. Serena had stayed at the Center to rest her knee, but she'd been told the story.

"Wait a second," Serena said, pulling on their packs to force them to stop. "Saved clefairy's life? You can't just say that and not explain it!"

"It's a long story," Max said with a glare sent Danny's way. "I'll tell you when we're in the Pokémon Center. If you want a short version, Danny is good at that."

"I try," Danny replied, grinning as he gave a short summary of what had happened. Embarrassing Max was always a good way to pass the time, no matter the occasion.

~~§~~§~~

Three days after Max's capture of honedge and them arriving in Plantachid Town, they made their way over to the local Gym. The temperatures had risen to far above freezing during the day, leading to enough slush on the ground to make Danny wish for the snow to come back, but the lack of a piercingly cold wind was welcome.

The Plantachid Poison Gym was located inside an old manor, of which there were apparently quite a few in Kalos, or so Danny had read. This was the first one they had seen up close, and it was as beautiful as a house could be.

The entryway they stepped into looked like a sewer. Just looked, thankfully, and the antechamber they were led to by one of the Gym Trainers ended up being a normal room, which they entered after a short wait outside. "Welcome," a greying man said as he rose from his chair. He wasn't tall, but there was a presence to him that made Danny pay attention anyway. "Welcome to the Plantachid Gym. I am Jean-Luc, the Gym Leader, and I am told that there are two challengers for me today?"

"That's us," Max said, waving a hand in Danny's direction. "I'm Max, and this is Danny. We're from Hoenn."

"Ah, ever-warm Hoenn. I trust the recent weather hasn't provided you with too much discomfort." Both of them shook their heads. "That is good to know. Now, to business." The Gym Leader snapped his fingers, and a hidden door to their right slid open, showing nothing but pitch-black. "This Gym operates differently from other Gyms in Kalos. Here, Trainers must first earn the right to challenge me. Through this door, you will face six of my Gym's Trainers in a one on one battle. Substitutions are not allowed, nor are they allowed between battles. Your Pokémon fights until fainting or forfeit. If a Pokémon faints, the battle is over, and you move on to the next Trainer in line.

"Any Pokémon you lose in the gauntlet, you cannot use against me. I use three Pokémon, and you may use however many you have left. You are allowed substitutions, while I am not. If you win, you earn the Sludge Badge. If you lose, you are allowed one rematch in a week's time under the same rules," the Gym Leader told them. "Now, as I can only battle one of you at a time, which of you will be going first?" Danny stepped forward. "I see. When you are ready, go through that doorway."

After being wished good luck by his companions, Danny moved towards the door, stopping at the doorway. It was actually a black curtain that hid the way on. He hadn't been expecting that. So… normal.

Before he could make his way in, the Gym Leader spoke up once more. "Be warned, young Trainer. Poison wears opponents down until they lose. It is insidious, and many a Trainer has come here, only to fall prey to the slow demise of my Type. For your sake, I hope you are not one of them."

Danny hoped so as well.

The same Gym Trainer who had led them to the antechamber was waiting for Danny inside the hallway beyond the curtain, leading him outside again, to a hidden open-air arena. There, six trainers waited, and after a short repeat of the rules, they started the battles, Danny leading with bunnelby, and his first opponent sending out a gulpin.

Twenty-or-so minutes later, froslass managed to take out a toxicroak with her last bit of strength before succumbing to the poisoning the previous stunky had inflicted on her. It left Danny with three Pokémon to use, after bunnelby and skorupi had also not made it through the back-to-back battles.

He was led back inside through a different door, one that opened into another arena. Like the entryway, the room looked a lot like a sewer, though the arena itself was standard. Serena sat on a bench on the side, fennekin beside her. Max was nowhere to be seen.

"Danny Birch of Petalburg," the Gym Leader intoned, voice carrying across the room, "you have passed the gauntlet with three Pokémon remaining. Choose your first Pokémon, so our battle may be started." He held up a single Pokéball of his own.

As Serena shouted words of encouragement from the side, Danny sent out his first Pokémon, only to see a sight he had seen before, not even a month and a half back. Again, he would be guiding marshtomp through a battle with a nidorina.

Somehow, he expected this battle to be a lot harder than that other one.

Shields sprang into being as Jean-Luc ordered a Poison Sting, but deflecting those was easy for marshtomp. The Water Gun made nidorina move sideways, the movement as small as possible to avoid the water before launching a second burst of the attack. That, too, was stopped by a jet of water, and Danny saw the Gym Leader order something else.

"Mud Shot," Danny said as the nidorina sprang forward, trying to close the gap with marshtomp. The Mud Shot managed to hit her, however, making her stumble and slide, and marshtomp followed it up with a larger Mud Bomb that hit her right in the eyes. "No Water attacks. Move."

Marshtomp went left, but nidorina, despite being blinded, still charged in the right direction, mouth glowing with purple. She lunged for marshtomp, but missed, instead receiving a blast of mud on her leg. That was cause for the Poison-type to retreat, Jean-Luc telling her where to dodge as marshtomp sent mud at his opponent's back.

She was pretty good at dodging, creating a stalemate situation with marshtomp firing Mud Shots and nidorina avoiding all of them. This wasn't going anywhere, and the nidorina looked used to dodging like that. Change of plans, then. "Icy Wind!" A concentrated gust of cold flew across the field, lightly frosting the ground but missing nidorina by a hair. "Again."

Nidorina escaped by Digging into the ground, but ten seconds passed without the Poison-type popping up. Danny and marshtomp scanned the arena, looking for signs of where she could be, but none were visible, except… "Left!"

Marshtomp turned to the small hill that had just popped up, but it was a trap, as nidorina jumped onto the Mud Fish Pokémon's back, forcing them both to the ground. The Poison Pin Pokémon tried to bite marshtomp again, but Danny's starter was flailing around in an attempt to get the nidorina off of him. He landed a few punches, and finally forced her off with a powerful Water Gun to her face. She ran back, he got up, and Danny saw more than a few scratches on his Pokémon's hide, thanks to claws and poisonous spikes. He couldn't tell if marshtomp had been poisoned.

It would be safe to assume he was. "Icy Wind, freeze the arena!"

Nidorina went back underground as marshtomp froze about three quarters of the arena, moving out onto the frozen patch himself, waiting for the nidorina to pop up again.

A sharp crack gave nidorina's position away. "Protect, then Mud Bomb!"

The nidorina slammed into the Protect, being forced back and landing awkwardly on her side, sliding back on the frozen floor. The Mud Bomb hit her in the belly, shattering the layer of ice underneath her as well, sending shards of ice and Pokémon alike flying.

To Danny's surprise, it was enough to knock the nidorina out. Jean-Luc wasted no time replacing her with a beedrill.

Danny signalled that he wanted to replace his Pokémon as well, and he returned marshtomp with muttered thanks, before sending out masquerain and training his Pokédex on beedrill. It was about as heavy as marshtomp, apparently. He could work around that. "Gust!" he ordered as the referee signalled the start of the next fight.

The beedrill took the Gust head-on, powering through it with stingers glowing purple, but it bounced off of masquerain's quick Protect, recovering quickly and zooming off to avoid any attack Danny's Pokémon might think of using.

None came as masquerain moved around the arena, waiting for the beedrill to attack, or at least get in closer.

A set of Poison Stings met a shield of bubbles. The barrier was popped, but Danny saw that only a few stings made it through, making it a lot easier for masquerain to avoid them. "Stun Spore, then Bubble."

It worked perfectly. The Stun Spore forced beedrill up high to avoid the paralytic spores, and masquerain was ready to unleash a stream of bubbles that impacted Jean-Luc's Pokémon., halting it, forcing it away as moisture clung to its abdomen and wings. Danny told masquerain to let it go. There was no need to waste energy chasing it. He was the defender, and that was the way he liked it.

Then beedrill split into five, the copies moving independently of one another, some of them crossing each other's path as they converged on masquerain from all angles, even as Danny's Bug-type tried to flee from them with fierce beats of his wings, pumping them into a powerful glide. "Bubble and Protect!"

The water popped one of the copies, and the green shield removed two more from the equation as they came in with stingers glowing purple, but they were fakes, and that meant…

The moment the Protect fell, the real beedrill was on masquerain, punching its left stinger forward, forcing masquerain to twist in mid-air to avoid the attack. Beedrill was ready for that, and the right stinger didn't miss.

Masquerain fell in the air, catching himself several feet down, an angry welt visible on his lower body. Purple oozed from the welt, making Danny groan. Now he was going to have to be on the offensive. "Stun Spore from high." Masquerain obliged, and beedrill quickly fled back to the other half of the arena. "Now Gust the spores over."

The move didn't work, as beedrill simply flew over the spores, sending a round of Poison Stings that were easily avoided by a spiralling glide, and a Pin Missile that landed glancing hits, before both of them started circling the other in mid-air.

Aron was pants against beedrill, and marshtomp was still tired. Danny needed to make this count. "Get close, Bubble."

The bubbles landed on beedrill, who took them in exchange for trying to land another Poison Jab, but masquerain folded his wings in time, causing a miss, and a flinch on masquerain's end. The poison was progressing fast, but Danny had an idea. "More bubbles, cover beedrill!"

The Eyeball Pokémon moved in close and started spewing bubbles all over his opponent, who was still hindered by earlier moisture on his wings and body. The bee didn't dodge, instead delivering a vicious pair of Poison Jabs, landing direct hits, but it was covered nearly fully in bubble remnants, even as masquerain fell.

Danny didn't waste a moment to return masquerain and to send marshtomp out again, ordering an Icy Wind, and his starter delivered.

Beedrill tried to dodge, but it was only half successful, and its right wing and stinger ended up frozen, the Poison Bee Pokémon falling to the ground, only to be returned by Jean-Luc before the Water Gun could land. Danny let out a sigh of relief; if that hadn't worked, he would have been in trouble.

Jean-Luc's last Pokémon was an arbok, and again, Danny signalled to return marshtomp, sending aron out this time. The more rest he could give his starter, the better.

The ground underneath arbok was slightly wet, but not frozen any longer, which didn't hinder aron or arbok anything. Probably. "Wait for an attack," Danny ordered as the referee gave the signal to start.

He didn't have to wait long. A large Mud Bomb soared through the air towards aron, splashing on a Protect, and a second one missed because aron went right when arbok aimed left. Danny wasn't sure why he assumed arbok had known nothing at range, but he was feeling a bit stupid. "Dig! Like we practised."

Aron vanished from sight, and arbok started moving around in the arena instead, trying to minimise the chances of being hit by the attack.

Aron gave no signal of coming up until he actually did, head glowing in an Iron Head that they had practised the day before. Arbok slid away at the last second, making the hit glancing, but some of the dirt aron threw up landed in arbok's left eye as it tried to circle back around. "Get it!"

Danny's Pokémon, moving faster than anyone who didn't have an aron would expect, avoided a wild lunge by the arbok, and scratched a Metal Claw across the exposed underbelly of the snake, using Protect immediately after to block a Mud Bomb he saw coming, and then using his mouth to try and bite through the arbok's skin.

The Cobra Pokémon was none too pleased with that, and it slammed its tail on aron, which distracted Danny's Pokémon long enough for arbok to land a Fire Fang, judging by the cry aron let out.

The cry was pained, but it was also something else, and the reason for that became clear immediate. White light exploded from where aron was hidden from Danny's sight by the snake, and arbok slid away quickly, leaving Danny with full view of his evolving aron.

Lairon was a lot bigger than aron, with more spikes on and holes in its armour to boot. His feet had actual claws now, instead of just the stumps that still worked for Metal Claw, and each leg held some kind of metal band. Danny also knew it was about twice as heavy as aron, and a lot more sturdy as well. He had read up on lairon before. "Way to go! Iron Head!"

One thing lairon wasn't, was fast. Probably faster than aron, but that wasn't hard. The slakoth Max's Dad had used to fight aron had been faster than Danny's Pokémon. Still, at double the weight it previously was, the run was audible in the arena, thuds announcing every time lairon hit the ground with his feet.

Arbok, wisely, got out of the way, going underground just to avoid lairon, Danny thought. He didn't know how heavy arbok was, but trying to bash a head into lairon would probably lead to a headache or worse. "Just wait," he told lairon.

Lairon roared… defiantly? Danny didn't know, but the armoured Pokémon turned around until he was looking straight at Danny, roared again, and reared up once, coming down with an audible crash.

Was that a glint at his feet?

Lairon reared up again, and this time, both of his front legs glowed white, and when they came down, the arena shook.

Danny watched, amazed, as the Earthquake rattled the arena, thankfully not reaching to Danny. It did a number on the floor, cracks appearing, and arbok, who had been underground, was forced out, launching itself out of the ground not too far away from lairon, looking battered just from the one attack. It landed awkwardly, barely avoiding going down nose-first.

Then lairon rammed himself into the arbok, Iron Head glowing, and the snake went flying. It didn't get up again.

Cautiously, Danny approached his new lairon. The cracks on the field could hide nasty falls, but the ground felt stable enough as he passed through, kneeling by his happy evolved Pokémon. "You did it," Danny said, hugging the lairon carefully. "Any other tricks you learned?"

Danny's Pokémon shook his head before licking his trainer's hand in the same way he had done as an aron, grumbling contentedly when the human ran a hand across his unarmoured belly.

Jean-Luc had traversed the field as well, holding out a hand for Danny to shake. "You fought well, and even without that timely evolution, I would have found myself hard-pressed to be the victor.," he admitted, inclining his head. "The Sludge Badge will be yours after the battle with your companion." The Gym Leader cast a glance aside as Danny idly returned lairon. "Nidoqueen, be a dear and fix the arena."

Nidoqueen started to work, glowing gold with Earth Power, as the Gym Leader and Danny moved out of the arena. Jean-Luc went to a Gym Trainer Danny only now noticed – he was certain the woman hadn't been there when he entered – and Danny walked over to Serena and fennekin.

"Congratulations, you did it!" Serena said, doing a little shuffle on the spot as Danny came closer. Fennekin yipped happily as Danny approached, circling him once. "That was a great battle to watch, too." She sat back down on the bench, Danny dropping down next to her. "And you only lost one Pokémon too. That's something you never did before, right?"

"No," Danny confirmed, just now realising that that was actually the case. "Guess I'm tied with Max on that now. Not winning with one Pokémon left, I mean."

"Do you have to make everything a competition?"

"No, but it's fun that way." Both of them grinned, lapsing into silence as they waited for Max to arrive indoors.

To no surprise at all, Max also won a Sludge Badge, using the advantage he gained from the gauntlet – he had only lost two Pokémon – to defeat the Gym Leader. Serena, now that she could, asked Danny a lot of questions about battling, and he did his best to answer. When he wasn't distracted by Max's antics in battle, that was.

When did he come up with that throw-the-sheath move to knock swalot out anyway? It wasn't even a real move and honedge had been with them for two days only!

Before long, Jean-Luc, Serena, Max, and Danny were all together in the antechamber they had been in before. Both boys were holding a badge in their hands; a purple triangle with white bones crossing each other at the bottom. "Hoenn acquitted itself well today," Jean-Luc said as he sat back down in his leather chair. "Both of you have a good arsenal of stratagems, and adapt well to circumstances. I wish you the best of luck with your Gym challenge, and I expect to see you at the Lumiose Conference sometime in the coming two years."

~~§~~§~~§~~§~~

Darius,

Your fundraising operation is permissible. Select three others and depart for Location everything you find, and avoid local police. A low profile is essential, pursuant to directive XI.

Play it smart and you might be in line for a promotion if this is a success. I am lacking a competent second-in-command after Alex landed himself in jail for battery.

Scientist Aliana


Author's Note: More Hoenn kids arriving in Kalos, first captures of the region, and the first badge, with a bit of a gimmick to boot.

Oh, and a bunch of villains acting up. They, too, are getting started early this time.