As Viola and I walked to our spots on the arena, I tried to think about the possible pokemon she might be sending out. For the past two weeks, the pokemon center had been abuzz with newbie trainers sharing notes on their battles. She had at least five challengers a day, some of them right after the other. She couldn't just use the same two pokemon for each one.

Violet and I had sat down in the lobby of the dormitory and gathered information every night. Rather, I sat down with noise-cancelling headphones and pretended to read a book while Violet listened to conversations and we discussed them with telepathy. It was the only way I could stand to be in the middle of the noisy crowd without melting down, and the intel was important.

We figured out that Viola had a pool of at least ten pokemon, though it was probably more. I was scared of her Surskit and her Dwebble, because they'd be the hardest for Raine to deal with. Water and rocks were not good for my poor little fire type. I hoped Viola'd start out with something particularly flammable, so Raine had all her energy saved up for her second pokemon. Viola always finished her newbie matches with a Vivillon, so we didn't have to worry about divining what her second pokemon would be. I idly wondered how many Vivillon she had on hand

I heard a buzzer go off and saw Viola throw a pokeball. I threw Raine's in response. Viola's pokemon finished materializing first and I groaned as I saw the tiny blue water skater. Of all her pokemon, I'd dreaded her Surskit the most.

Viola smiled. "Looks like I made a good choice. Were you expecting something different?"

I grimaced. "I was hoping."

Raine turned her head toward me and asked, Is this the pokemon gym?

Yeah. We'll show you around after we're done with the battle. It's pretty down here.

You'll do great, Violet added. We'll be proud of you whatever happens.

I was about to join her in saying something encouraging before I saw a jet of bubbles approaching Raine. Run to your left! I might have sounded a bit more panicked than I meant to, but it took me by surprise.

I wondered how much of that surprise showed on my face, because Viola said, "Don't give your opponent free time to set up. They'll catch you by surprise. Be decisive!"

Raine ran on her stubby little legs and avoided the stream of bubbles. The Surskit had us on the run, and I expected her to press the advantage, but she didn't. I think she and Viola wanted to see what we'd do.

I considered my strategy briefly and was afraid I was going to disappoint her. It wasn't very decisive. I'd thought a lot about how to neutralize a Surskit, and theirs was probably the pokedex page I'd read the most.

Throw the hottest gouts of flame you can. Make it so she has to keep moving.

Raine stood still and the flame on her back flared. A fast moving ball of fire headed towards the Surskit. I couldn't tell, but I think I saw Surskit secrete oil from the top of her head. They only do that when they're nervous. Excellent.

The Surskit barely dodged. She was on land, and couldn't move as quickly, so Raine at least had the speed advantage.

I can't shoot something that strong again for a while, Raine said.

That's okay. Keep firing, but make them as strong as you can without feeling uncomfortable. We want to keep her moving.

Raine nodded and kept firing. Raine stood still, the fire on her back flaring, while the Surskit glided around the arena.

"You can do it, girl. Answer every blast of fire with a barrage of bubbles."

The Surskit had more experience than us, and she could send out bubbles as she dodged, but they were unfocused and weaker than the first volley. The heat of the passing flames popped them before they got close to Raine. I wondered how much reserves of water the Surskit had left in its tiny body. She was small and far away, but I was hoping her skin was getting cracked and dry.

I was trying to play an endurance game, and this was dangerous. I was fighting a gym leader's pokemon, after all, and she must have been leagues more experienced than I was. I wondered how much of the job was judiciously holding back so their opponents could prove themselves.

Pay attention, dear, Violet reminded.

I snapped back to reality and saw the Surskit was moving faster, and her body was practically glistening. She was dropping secretions from her body that I knew from reading the pokedex that were probably oil. I didn't know if she was running out of water and wanting to stay hydrated, or trying to go for an increase in speed so she could dodge better. Maybe a combination of both.

In any case, it was time to move on to the next part of the plan, the one that would either be brilliant or asinine. Violet, Raine, and I had huddled in our room at the pokemon center and tried to think of something better and failed.

Raine, I think it's time. Get as close as you can and launch a huge fireball at her. If that doesn't work, aim again for the ground under her..

Raine nodded, dug her feet into the floor, and sprinted towards the Surskit. As she charged, the fire on her back surged, and she let out a huge ball of flame. She hit the Surskit directly and her whole body lit up in flames. The Surskit glided frantically around the arena, then stopped and collapsed as her feet also caught alight. Viola got out her pokeball and with a flash of light, the Surskit disappeared. I hoped she'd be okay.

Viola looked at me. "Okay. Explain what just happened."

Before I answered, I signaled for Raine to come over. I got out a water bottle and let her take a few sips. I figured that she might appreciate the hydration after all the running around, then wondered if this was technically considered cheating. Viola didn't say anything, so I didn't bring it up.

"I read on the pokedex that Surskit secrete oil from the tops of their heads when they're nervous, and oil from their feet to glide along the water. I figured my best shot to win was to make your Surskit exhaust itself and cover herself with oil, and then hit it with fire and hope against hope that it was flammable."

"Half strategy, half blind luck?"

"I figured there was a 50/50 chance it'd work," I said. Then I frowned slightly and muttered to myself, "No, I suppose it'd be a 100% chance it would or wouldn't work, and I'd find out which once it actually happened." I shook my head as if to discard that thought. "But yeah, it worked, and I'm happy, and I hope she'll be okay."

Viola smiled a little. "She'll be fine. She's not too badly hurt, just a bit freaked out. I just hope you have a concrete plan for dealing with this little cutey." She chucked her second pokeball into the air and released a Vivillon with dark and light blue wings, with a splash of white in the center near his body.

I chuckled nervously. I didn't have anything more than a half-baked conjecture for this fight either. Again, I hoped she wouldn't be too disappointed.

"Are you ready?" Viola asked. I nodded. "Aquamarine, restrain the Cyndaquil."

The Vivillon immediately released a black cloud that homed in on Raine. Raine tried to jump to the side, but whatever the swarm was, it was faster. I saw little black things crawl their way up Raine's body and her movements gradually slowed until she was completely stuck in place.

I don't like this feeling, Raine said. It's a new feeling, and it's interesting, but I want them off! She flared the flame on her back in an attempt to burn them off. A small number of them seemed to stop moving, but they still hung on to her. Aquamarine kept creating more of them, and Raine kept getting slower, and I didn't know what to do. Help! she cried.

I wanted to run over there and pick her up and cradle her in my arms. I wanted to return her safe to her pokeball and end it, and I felt a stabbing feeling of guilt that I didn't, because I also wanted to win. I didn't know what to do and I wasn't sure I could move. I vaguely heard Viola give a command to her pokemon. I wasn't focusing on her for the moment, which I knew was a mistake, but I couldn't help it.

Calm down, both of you, Violet said in as soothing a voice as she could. It'll be over soon, and we can all hug later. But right now either fight or forfeit.

Raine, do you want to keep fighting?

Raine kept trying to thrash and failing. The Vivillon flew straight above her and battered her with rays of strange green light, but it didn't seem to be doing much. I was wary of a death by a thousand papercuts, though.

Raine asked, We have to do this again if we stop, don't we?

Yeah.

Then I want to get this over with now.

I nodded, not that she could see it. Then we should continue with the plan, probably. Dim your fire as much as you can and try to release as much smoke as you can.

I took the water bottle in my hand and dumped a bunch of water on the front of my shirt, then brought the wet fabric up to my nose and breathed through it. I hoped the smoke wouldn't be too bad of a sensory experience. Viola looked at me like I'd grown a second head.

Raine released smoke from her mouth, creating a large column of black gas. The Vivillon jerked away for a second, curious. The flapping of his wings seemed to be keeping most of the smoke away from him, but it slowly built up around and on his body.

How are you holding up, dear?

I'm okay, but I really want this to be over soon.

Okay, I said. Set the whole thing aflame.

Raine let out wisps of flame from her mouth and suddenly the whole column of gas ignited. The flame reached the Vivillon faster than he could dodge, and he was blown away by the sudden heat. He flapped his wings to restabilize himself and fed more oxygen into the flame. The layer of smoke on him caught fire and he jerked around in the sky, trying to extinguish the flames.

The fireball dissipated quickly, having run out of fuel to burn. The black things on Raine seemed to fade as the Vivillon tumbled around in the air, his concentration gone. Aquamarine was forced to land, at least for an instant, by the unsable air currents.

Fire! I said, and Raine aimed a fireball at the perching butterfly. He jerked back in shock and then tumbled back as Raine quickly followed up with a tackle. Raine tried to hit him again but Aquamarine suddenly flew up and emitted a flash of light.

Viola clapped her hands together. "Okay. That's Aquamarine's signal that he wants a battle to be over. You can stand down now." Aquamarine perched himself on Viola's shoulder and she pet him softly on the head.

I blinked. I blinked again, the realization setting in. "Wait, wait, wait," I say. "We're done? We're done and I didn't lose, so..." My brain didn't believe the connections it was making. I half-fell half-sat on the floor and called Raine over so I could pet her while my mind was being blown.

"Just one thing first. Tell me what your strategy was."

This again. "Why do you ask?"

"Part of my job is assessing your skill as a trainer. Even if someone wins the battle purely with luck and sheer force, I can technically deny them a badge. Beating me is not the sole point of this exercise. Your strategy matters an extra amount to me because you didn't go through the maze. So go ahead."

I nodded and gulped a little, suddenly really nervous. Violet nuzzled against my leg, and I petted her softly. I tried to focus on how nice she felt as I spoke. "When I was out training with Raine, we were trying to see how much smoke she could produce. She sneezed and the whole column shot up in flames. We looked it up later and apparently smoke is little particles of fuel that havne't been burned. So I figured I could let a bunch gather in the air and then ignite it all at once."

Viola looked at me, eyebrow raised. "That seems awkward and convoluted."

"Well, if it was me and I had a flying pokemon, I'd stay in the air all the time. I'd probably be faster than my opponent, and why would I give that advantage up? So I had to figure out some way to hit you."

"We would have landed eventually. The point is to test you, not to be unfair."

"It's safer for me to overestimate you than not." A beat. "Umm, that didn't come out right."

Viola laughed anyway. "No, I get what you mean. How'd you plan for my team, though? There were tons of pokemon I could have chosen."

"Well, umm." I wasn't sure if I was supposed to say this. I hoped I wasn't getting anyone in trouble. "Trainers gossip. A lot. The past two weeks, the pokemon center's been full of people dissecting your team, and so we tried to plan for the most dangerous ones."

"In retrospect that was obvious." She dug into her right front pocket and pulled out a badge. "Well, here you go. Your very own Bug Badge."

She held out the badge to me and I gingerly took it. I still wasn't convinced it was real, and felt like it might disappear in an instant. I ran my fingers all over it, trying to feel every contour, the smoothness of the metal underneath my fingers, trying to internalize that this is ours, and we earned it.

Viola sighed. "You know, I really hate fighting psychics. You don't realize how much you end up relying on hearing the other trainer's plans until they're suddenly silent. Neither I nor my pokemon can react as quickly."

"I'm not a psychic," I said, confused.

"Psychic pokemon, telepathy, you fit the bill. Anyway, be careful. Dark types can disrupt the connection between you and your Espeon, so make sure you don't rely on her too much."

I nodded. The thought made me nervous, but I didn't want to think about it right now. I wanted to ride the high of winning as long as I could.

"May I pet her? I don't get to see many psychic types at this gym." Viola asked. Violet nodded, and so I nodded. Viola explained how to use a TM as she scritched Violet behind the ears.

"Where are you headed to next?"

"Lumiose, I think. Snowbelle is farther away, and there's nothing I need beyond Santalune Forest."

"Good luck. I'd invite you to stay for longer, but I think I see the next challenger coming. You know where the exit is, right?" I nodded. She smiled. "Come back when you've got all eight badges and I'll give you a rematch!"

I smiled and started to head to the stairs. Part of me wanted to wish the challenger good luck, but I was burnt out on social interaction. I left as quietly as I could back up the stairs and tried to focus on the warm fuzzy feeling of happiness, rather than the stabbing in my leg.

After a quick dinner, Violet, Raine, and I retreated to our room at the pokemon center. Snuggled under the blankets, we felt each other slowly relax as we drifted towards sleep. It'd been a good day.