This was it.

Marinette stood in front of the quaint, but still imposing entrance of the Santalune City Gym. It was morning and it was best to get it done now while she was fresh from sleep and content from eating a full breakfast. The day had come where she had declared her intention in challenging the standing Gym Leader, Bug specialist, professional photographer, and top Jagged Stone fanatic, Vincent Aza. She easily recalled the day before in which she and Alya watched a Gym battle take place. Adrien had cleared through the challenge without losing any of his Pokémon. Marinette wondered if she would also be able to pull it off.

Before she could even reconsider, Alya was behind her and blocked any possible escape. At least with the pressure she was under now, Marinette could safely say that it wasn't as bad as her past attempts at asking out Adrien, wherein she lost control of her vocals and her tongue refused to cooperate while speaking, thus resorting to run away before the poor boy could even comprehend what just happened.

"You know there's no turning back now, Marinette," Alya advised. "This is the last day Vincent will be in town before he leaves for his photo excursion. You got this, girl!"

"Let's hope so," Marinette gulped audibly. "I was only apparent to me recently on how much the skill gap is between me and Adrien."

"What do you mean?" Alya inquired with a raised brow.

"I had no doubt he'd earn the Bug Badge in one go, but I realized that he had trained early on in his life for this purpose alone," Marinette elucidated. "I've only learned the basics from Jr. Trainer School and Lumiose Academy."

"Sometimes the basics are all you need," Alya surmised optimistically. "Adrien won in the end with a type advantage and having a bit of extra power for insurance. Though I gotta admit his Assist wildcard was off the chain! But other than that, you've done as much prep if not more for your Gym battle, girl."

"I hope so too," Marinette nodded rather nervously.

Alya placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her the reassuring confident smile she could to encourage her friend to believe in herself. Marinette smiled back and said nothing more as she reached for the door and entered with Alya strolling behind. There was definitely no turning back at this rate.

It didn't take long to navigate the long hallway filled with Vincent's photographic works depicting various Bug-type Pokémon living peacefully and going about their daily activities. They soon found themselves at the Gym's indoor battlefield, where Vincent was waiting with folded arms at the very center.

"I was expecting you," Vincent greeted genteelly. "You had the rest of yesterday to prepare, so I expect a battle with similar if not higher standards. Since you said you were also from Lumiose Academy, it's only fair that I go all out and put you to the test if you're truly worthy of the impeding fame great Trainers achieve."

"Bring it on," Marinette demanded eagerly. "I'm ready to go."

"Such enthusiasm is certainly a Kodak moment," Vincent nodded. "Very well."

Without another word, everyone had gotten to their respective positions. Marinette and Vincent were stationed at opposing Trainer boxes. Alya was leaning upon the outer railing of the battlefield. And the officiant was at the side about to announce the formalities of the official Gym match.

"This Gym battle will be two-on-two," the officiant announced. "The battle will be over when all Pokémon from either side are declared unable to battle. Furthermore, only the challenger will be allowed to substitute. Lastly, there is no time limit. Now select your first Pokémon."

"Surskit, look into the lens!"

Vincent started out the same way he did in Adrien's battle by calling forth the Pond Skater Pokémon. Surskit skated side to side readily to see who his first opponent would be.

"Time to give you a shot," Marinette mumbled under her breath, gripping the Poké Ball in her hand tightly. She refocused herself upon the battlefield, ready to show what she had learned so far. "Sewaddle, let's go!"

Alya looked intrigued as her best friend opted to start out with her most recent capture. Marinette had conveyed to her earlier having done some training with Sewaddle yesterday as to quickly understand how one another operated in order to get into synch as soon as possible. In any case, this was bound to have some interesting results.

"A Bug-type battle, this is something I don't face often," Vincent remarked. "Though your Sewaddle has an additional type advantage due to being part Grass-type, we'll see if your performance with your Pokémon can be truly worthy to be immortalized in a gorgeous frame."

"We've got some tricks up our sleeve," Marinette responded. "Let's just hope we get lucky to use them right."

"Battle begin!" the officiant declared.


Marinette Dupain-Cheng & (Sewaddle, ?) VS Gym Leader Vincent Aza & (Surskit, ?)


"Sewaddle, start us off with Tackle!"

"Surskit, dodge!"

Sewaddle scurried over as quickly as she could to land a hit, but Surskit proved to be superior in ground speed as he swiftly slid out of the way right as she went for a dive. Sewaddle then backed up a bit for some safe distance from her opponent.

"Sewaddle, use String Shot!"

"Use Signal Beam!"

As if he read her movements, Vincent had his Surskit intercept the incoming String Shot with Signal Beam. However, the beam didn't stop there as it continued towards Sewaddle, who managed to roll away and escape a direct hit. A small aftershock resulted when the Signal Beam zapped upon the ground, managing to reach Sewaddle and damage her quite an amount while knocking her further away.

Vincent looks like he's really pulling out all the stops on me, Marinette thought urgently. "Sewaddle, let's build up some momentum! Use String Shot on the lights above!"

Knowing what her Trainer had planned, Sewaddle locked her eyes upon the light fixture that would help carry out their planned strategy and spat out a sturdy string of silk to hook onto. Sewaddle pushed her small weight forward upon the first swing, building enough power upon the rebound to swing even faster.

"How interesting," Vincent commented. "Were this not an official battle, I would certainly snap a shot of this fabulous spectacle. Sad to say…" He sighed as he shook his head. "Surskit, slow them down with Bubble Beam!"

It had appeared that Surskit's Bubble upgraded to Bubble Beam as the bubbles being shot from the tip of Surskit's antenna were more concentrated and appeared to pack even more of a punch if they hit.

"Sewaddle, keep going! String Shot!"

Her Pokémon bit off from her silk string and spat a new one towards an adjacent light fixture to keep up her swings. She pulled herself up to gain some additional distance off the ground and from Surskit's attack range. She continued this a couple more times to pick up speed. Sewaddle was swinging even faster now.

"That's it! Go into Tackle!" Marinette signaled.

Upon swinging into an ideal angle over Surskit, Sewaddle released her current String Shot and dove down towards her target. She landed a blunt strike against Surskit before the Pond Skater Pokémon could even react. Surskit stumbled back from the hit; it was clear that he suffered quite an amount of damage.

"Not bad, but not quite there yet," Vincent chastised. "Ice Beam!"

"Get outta there! String Shot!"

It became clear that Sewaddle displayed a mastery over utilizing String Shot to its fullest as she was able to shoot one out from the back of her head and pull her away before the Ice Beam struck. Instead, Surskit's attack left a large patch of ice where the Sewing Pokémon once stood.

"I suppose there's no need to hide it any longer. Use Ice Beam on the entire field!"

Surskit resumed his attack, aiming it high in the air in which the Ice Beam diverged into multiple directions. Marinette and Alya were left gaping at how he was changing the entire battlefield at his disposal, though Marinette could've sworn that he was aiming to do something like that from his battle with Adrien.

"Okay, now this totally fits into Surskit's style and gives Vincent a huge advantage," Alya commented.

Sewaddle descended back onto the ground, finding the task to stay firm on the slippery surface difficult. She had regretted letting go over her previous String Shot as she struggled to even move around on the ice field.

"Sewaddle, hang in there!" Marinette called out. "We got this!"

"Let's see if you can handle this one next," Vincent challenged. "Surskit, skate around Sewaddle and use Signal Beam! Find the perfect position to take your shot!"

As Alya had mentioned not too long ago, the ice field played up to Surskit's strength of skating around at a high speed. It was clear that Surskit was well trained to be able to control his fast speed while maneuvering about on the ice around Sewaddle.

During Sewaddle's moment of weakness, Surskit fired his Signal Beam and sent her flying from the blast on contact. Sewaddle instinctively fired a String Shot into another light fixture as an attempt to minimize the damage that she would've suffered had she landed back on the field hard. However, she was now hanging by a thread, both literally and figuratively.

Marinette and everyone could see Sewaddle glowing light green, signifying the activation of her Ability, Swarm. Her Bug-type moves would receive a major power boost, but at the current moment, Sewaddle's only offensive Bug move wasn't helpful. However, what would it say about Bug-type support moves?

"We need to stop Surskit now," Marinette muttered in a low tone. "Problem is that we stand no chance on the ground, so it looks like we'll need to stay in the air." First thing that the dark-haired designer noted was that her Sewaddle was hanging with her mouth. Her Pokémon needed to face Surskit in order to slow him down and counterattack. "Sewaddle, use String Shot from the back of your head! Pay close attention to Surskit!"

Sewaddle followed through with the command, this time hanging from the back of her head while she was free to observe and target the Pond Skater Pokémon from the air. Surskit didn't stay in one place for too long. He kept skating around swiftly across the ice. It was going to make landing an attack difficult unless Sewaddle could predict where he would go.

"I'm afraid this round will end with a picture perfect victory for us," Vincent quipped. Marinette rolled her eyes; she was so getting done with this Gym Leader's photography-related puns. They were definitely not as good as Adrien's occasional Pokémon pun. At least the love of her life had class to him on top of his kind heart. "Surskit, Signal Beam!"

"Now! String Shot!"

Out of desperation and using the most from Swarm's enhancement, Sewaddle sprayed a particularly strong string of silk, the difference easily noted by a skilled fashion designer, out of mouth to latch upon Surskit. The speed that it reached him was remarkably fast, catching him while he charged up Signal Beam.

Surskit's body was completely wrapped up, but Sewaddle didn't sever the connection. Instead, she seized the moment while Surskit was trapped by pulling him up and swinging him around in the air. Sewaddle easily controlled the length of their connection, lengthening it enough so that Surskit would crash into a surrounding obstacle and retracting the length to keep him within control.

Surskit was very dizzy at this point. However, Sewaddle appeared to have stopped swinging him upon ramming him into an arena wall.

"Sewaddle, Energy Ball!" Marinette commanded.

The vibrant sphere composed of Grass-type energy was formed along the String Shot line. It practically traveled down and collided into the downed Surskit. There was no way to avoid it. The volatile green orb exploded upon contact, conveniently eroding the silk wrapping to show how worn out Surskit was.

"Ice Beam!"

"Dodge and use Energy Ball!"

In spite of his weakened state, Surskit released a rather unstable Ice Beam due to fatigue. Sewaddle swung out of the way, allowing the Ice Beam to soar past her and strike several of the light fixtures overhead, just like last time against Adrien. However, Marinette took a mental note of which lights were covered in ice for convenience, hoping to make something out of them when the situation called.

At the meantime, Sewaddle tossed the Energy Ball mid-swing right as Surskit ceased attacking, unable to dodge or react as the attack appeared to finish him off for good, swirling eyes evident once the resulting smoke cleared up.

"Surskit is unable to battle!" the officiant declared. "Sewaddle wins!"

"Woo! Way to take charge, girl!" Alya cheered, pumping and waving a fist proudly in the air. "Woo-woo-woo! One down, one to go!"

"Surskit, return," Vincent recalled his defeated Pokémon. "Thanks for the hard effort out there." He looked up to face Marinette and her Sewaddle, who returned back to the icy battlefield and simply laid still as to avoid unnecessary slipping. "You Lumiose Academy graduates are something else. I probably should expect more of you kids once I return from my photo excursion."

"I can imagine a good number of them staying in Santalune City until then," Marinette added. "Though they'll probably be stronger since this Gym might not be their first."

"Duly noted," Vincent nodded, taking out his second Poké Ball. "Let's continue this, shall we? Vivillon, look into the lens!"

As expected on Marinette's end, the Gym Leader's last Pokémon was Vivillon. She remembered how Adrien had recalled Plagg back almost instantly and sent out a stronger Litleo to take the Scale Pokémon down. Unfortunately for her, none of her Pokémon currently has that kind of raw power, but that didn't mean she was not going to give it her best shot.

Her desire to win was secured as she glanced upon Sewaddle, who turned her head back to face her and give her a poised nod. It seemed that the bluebell-eyed girl had made her decision.

"I'm sticking with Sewaddle," Marinette affirmed, followed with a tenacious cry from her Pokémon.

"Fine by me," Vincent accepted. "Why don't you start us off?"

"Gladly! Sewaddle, String Shot!"

The Sewing Pokémon shot a durable string from the back of her head to latch onto a frozen light fixture, pulling her up and off the ice field for better control. She then sprayed her second String Shot from her mouth to ensnare Vivillon's main body. Her wings and head were still free, but the rest of her body was bound and connected to Sewaddle.

"This is just like before," Alya mused to herself. "Wonder what tricks Vincent has now. Hope Marinette doesn't fall for them."

Sewaddle tugged on her silk string connected to Vivillon, but found that she lacked the power to pull the Scale Pokémon to her will. In other words, she was stuck.

"Energy Ball!" Marinette ordered, seeing as Vivillon wasn't as compliant as Surskit.

"Gust!"

Right after Sewaddle sent an Energy Ball down the String Shot line, Vivillon flapped her wings insistently until a concentrated blast of wind was formed to blow back the Energy Ball. With nowhere else to go under an unexpected short notice, Sewaddle was forced to take on a rebounded Energy Ball powered by a very super-effective Gust.

"No! Sewaddle!" Marinetted cried out.

She was forced to watch the Sewing Pokémon fall unresponsively to the ground right after the returned Energy Ball practically blew up back in their faces. Sewaddle shared the same dazed look as Surskit did.

"Sewaddle is unable to battle!" the officiant declared. "Vivillon wins!"

"Now they're both down to their last Pokémon," Alya narrated, anxiously bouncing on the tips of her toes. "Girl, you've got this. Don't fall under pressure."

"Good job, Sewaddle," Marinette commended gently as she recalled her fainted Pokémon. "Considering it was our first battle as a team, I couldn't be prouder. Please rest." She took a good look upon the battlefield as she switched out Poké Balls. The ice battlefield ultimately wouldn't matter with this final round. "It's time! Tikki, spots on!"

Out of her remaining Pokémon, her Ledyba stood a better chance. That was not so say that her Ralts couldn't survive, but this was a battle Marinette needed to fight wisely in order to emerge victorious. It needed to be done now or wait until Vincent returned for another chance.

Tikki appeared in the air, taking notice on her rather bizarre surroundings. The field was covered in ice, as well as several light fixtures hanging overhead. There were also plenty of discarded silk strings hanging off some of them like vines, no doubt having been created by Sewaddle earlier.

"Oh? Think you're a better Bug specialist than yours truly?" Vincent jested. "I'm kidding. I think it helps to lighten the mood, especially with the intensity of this being the final round and all. You need to be at your highest if you hope to even defeat me."

Marinette didn't say a word, opting to follow his advice and relax herself a bit. It was true that this was the final round of their Gym battle, but she was well aware that if she had remained caught up in her internal panic and nervousness, she would likely lose in a matter of seconds.

The officiant signaled for their battle to resume.

"Tikki, use Tackle!"

"Dodge it!"

Vincent pondered it to be a bit strange that Marinette was going with a straightforward assault that was easily avoidable at best upon heads up. That was what she did the beginning of their battle. Nonetheless, he pushed the thought aside as he watched his Vivillon fly away from Marinette's Ledyba, who proceeded to give chase.

"Stay on their tail, Tikki!"

"Shake them off!"

It had turned into an aerial battle, for sure. Now Vincent couldn't help but wonder what Marinette was planning by getting in close. He knew that Vivillon was fast enough to outmaneuver Tikki from whatever direct attack she had. Whatever the reason, he also knew that he had to shut this strategy down before Marinette could enact. He had to put the pressure on her.

"Vivillon, Sleep Powder!" Vincent ordered.

"Supersonic!"

The sleep-inducing green powder was released behind Vivillon's trail. Tikki immediately countered with concentrated sonar waves that blew away and prevented the Sleep Powder from reaching her. Vivillon, however, took the opportunity to escape further upward before any trace of Supersonic reached her.

"Vii!" Vivillon suddenly cried.

"What in the world?!" Vincent gasped, to which Marinette couldn't help but smirk.

Vivillon found herself entangled in some of Sewaddle's leftover silk strings during her momentary escape route. There were plenty bunched closely to each other that running or flying into them would ensure a high degree of difficulty in getting untangled. However, it was also a risk leaving the Scale Pokémon alone despite being trapped.

"It was worth a shot, but I didn't think I'd get to lead Vivillon into those threads," Marinette confessed. "Now Tikki, use Comet Punch!"

With fists ablaze in temporary power, Tikki flew in and pummeled Vivillon as hard and rapidly as she could. She could understand her Trainer calling for this attack as Vivillon was bound to break free from the threads at any time. The force from the Comet Punches was enough to free her, albeit sustaining a good chunk of damage from the continuous attack.

"Vivillon, Psychic! Do it!"

Using her newfound freedom from the threads, Vivillon's eyes glowed a bright blue as she unleashed a powerful telekinetic wave that easily captured Tikki's body. Her outline held the same color, indicating that she was no longer in control of her body.

Vivillon promptly sent the Five Star Pokémon dragging against the icy field with a wave of her head, causing Tikki to accumulate even more damage from the ice in addition of being afflicted with Psychic. Tikki was eventually sent careening into a wall and forming a medium sized crater upon impact.

"Tikki, are you okay?!" Marinette called out worriedly.

From the dust and debris that were kicked up from the crash, she saw the silhouette of her precious partner struggling to walk on her limbs. The dust cleared and Tikki was revealed to be out of breath and quite scuffed up from that one attack.

"Whoa, thank goodness," Alya exhaled, wiping a figurative drop of sweat off over her beauty mark. "That seriously had me on the edge of my seat. Come on, Marinette and Tikki!"

"Can you fly, Tikki?" Marinette asked, holding her breath anxiously. She felt herself breathe again when Tikki managed a nod. "Good, now let's go!"

"I'm afraid we can't let you have that chance," Vincent intervened. "Infestation!"

Right as Tikki managed to get a few inches off the ground, Vivillon had summoned a black mass of jittering particles under her shadow. It reached up and snagged her lowest right limb. Instead of pulling her back down to the ground, the mass crawled up as far as it could onto Tikki's body.

While it didn't prevent her from flying back into the air, the Infestation did appear to hinder her quite a bit. Marinette bit down on her lip. It was down to how much more Tikki was willing to endure on top of dealing with an active Vivillon facing her down.

"Just hang tough, Tikki," Marinette assured under her breath. "I know we can win."

"Vivillon, use Gust!"

Tikki was really put to the test as she had to brace herself against the blunt forces of wind the Scale Pokémon was sending her way. However, she held her place in the air despite the brutal hits she was taking. Her infestation continued to whittle away as much stamina as possible despite not being a very effective attack.

She trusted Marinette's timing in when to counterattack. Tikki knew her instincts were very acute despite her outwardly gawkish demeanor. What Marinette lacked in power she made up with intuition. The only problem was that she lacked self-confidence, though Tikki originally thought that it was only when dealing with Adrien.

In any case, Tikki needed to wait a little longer.

"Tikki, we're almost there!" Marinette encouraged.

Whatever she has stops now, Vincent affirmed in his mind. This bluebell-eyed girl was certainly one of the most interesting opponents he ever faced. Most Trainers that he fought since becoming Gym Leader had mainly relied on basic tactics with their own unique twists as parts of their battle styles. But this challenger had a particularly unique battle style, to be certain. "Vivillon, push up the Gust even more!"

At the command, Vivillon flapped harder, sending stronger wind blasts over to Tikki to send her for a loop. The Infestation was also wearing down, the black mass gradually disappearing from her body. It was time to finish this.

"Now Tikki! Up!"

"Ree!" Tikki hummed, zipping skyward before Vivillon's latest Gust could strike her down.

"That's fast!" Vincent exclaimed, taken aback. "When was her Ledyba this fast?"

"Tikki, use Tackle!"

"Ah! Vivillon, Sleep Powder!"

Before the Scale Pokémon could shed off the Sleep Powder, Tikki had instantly appeared under her and charged her way upward, bumping into her squarely in the abdomen and essentially shoving her right into a hanging light fixture that was encased in ice from Surskit's Ice Beam.

Tikki quickly backed off and flew a safe distance away while Vivillon attempted to recover from the collision, pushing herself of the indentation her body made in the ice. Vincent gaped as he discovered his Pokémon struggling to stay in the air as Vivillon's stance in the air appeared to be unstable.

A closer look upon one of Vivillon's wings was that there was a patch of ice that latched onto her after Tikki tackled her into the iced light fixture. That wing was majorly damaged.

"Bye-bye, little Vivillon," Marinette quipped to herself, poised to take her decisive moment. "Tikki, Acrobatics!"

"Vivillon, use Psychic! Stop them!"

Vivillon couldn't react in time while struggling with an injured wing. She couldn't focus as a speedy, glowing Ledyba performed several loops and somersaults in the air before crashing into her from above and plowing her right into the icy ground.

A small crater had formed from the crash, distinguishing itself from the rest of the battlefield.

Tikki wearily flew out of the hole and went over to her side.

Vivillon didn't.

"Vivillon is unable to battle!" the officiant judged, raising his arms up to end the official Gym match. "This means that victory belongs to the challenger, Marinette Dupain-Cheng!"

"Atta girl!" Alya cheered loudly.

"… W-We did it," Marinette said calmly, the realization slowly starting to come in. Her emotions were soon elated as soon as she determined that this was real. "We really did it!"

Tikki flew over to her and hugged her head despite her exhaustion. While Marinette celebrated and petted Tikki for a job well done, Vincent had recalled his Vivillon and silently thanked her while bearing a pleased smile on his face.

"You are a very resourceful Pokémon Trainer, Marinette," Vincent commended aloud, walking over towards the dark-haired designer. "You managed to stay calm in spite of the opposition and followed through with your strategies rather flawlessly. They're very camera worthy."

"Thanks, but most of the work really belonged to my Pokémon," Marinette replied, her cheeks glowing light pink from the compliment.

"Perhaps, but remember that it was because of the strong bonds you have managed to hold with your Pokémon that you won this day," Vincent reminded. "You've certainly earned a spot in my personal hall of fame as a special Trainer, not to mention that you used Bug Pokémon so skillfully. I have to ask how you managed to pull off that last gambit. I have a feeling that your Ledyba's speed boost came from an Ability."

"I didn't think I did that much," Marinette brushed off, hand scratching the back of her neck awkwardly. "And yeah, while Tikki was under Infestation, her speed steadily increased thanks to Rattled. But even with Rattled activated, I knew your Vivillon was still fast enough to avoid direct attacks so I needed to slow her down for Tikki to hit her with Acrobatics."

"Because if you used that move immediately and Vivillon got out of the way, then I would have been more in guard," Vincent finished. "That was a big risk in relying on your Pokémon's Ability by waiting out through some tough attacks. You're really lucky that Tikki was able to survive long enough to enact your counterattack."

"It doesn't really sound that impressive now that you broke it down," Marinette remarked modestly.

"Nonsense, girl, you're just being super humble about it," Alya grinned, having gone down to meet with Marinette at the field and placed an arm around her neck. "Heck, I think you can really give Adrien a run for his money if you kept this up."

To this comment, Marinette felt her face predictably heat up while the shy, uncomfortable sensations that arose whenever the blond prodigy was discussed bloomed in her gut. Vincent had let out a short amused laugh while motioning to his officiant to come over with the Santalune Gym's badge.

"I'm pleased to present the Bug Badge to you, Marinette," Vincent announced, taking hold of the Bug Badge by its sides and handing it over to the triumphant challenger. "Congratulations."

"Thank you," Marinette responded as the badge was in her fingers. She really wished that Adrien had been around to have watched her battle, even if she was about to make herself look like a fool in the next few seconds. She held her first Gym badge high in the air and posed. "Miraculous Ledyba! I won the Bug Badge!"

Her joy was rather infectious among present company, even towards someone uninterested as Vincent as his main passions were Bug-types and Jagged Stone. Marinette was certainly a memorable challenger.

That was why he kept a group photo of her, her Pokémon that participated, her best friend, and him in his special studio filled with many shots of Jagged Stone and excellent shots of certain Bug Pokémon.

Her photo was among a select few of Trainers that have more than impressed him.

And this was only the beginning of the journey through the Kalos region.


I probably could've been more creative with the Gym battle as most parts of it were based off of the Pokémon XY anime. Though hopefully I made Sewaddle's usage of String Shot closely reminiscent of Ladybug swinging by her yo-yo during the battle. Still working on writing battles in general, but what do you think?

Marinette now has her first badge and is ready to catch back up with Adrien. We'll see when they'll meet again. And what of their previous classmates? We might actually see them again in the next couple of chapters. I still have time to possibly put up a couple of more chapters this week before my surgery.

Please review!