21 chapters in and we're only at Burgh's gym. I have the feeling this is going to take a while...

"Too slow!"

"Not everyone is short enough to hop around like that."

"Hey!"

The normally-silent amusement park was filled with the sounds of Pokémon, hopefully not loud enough to draw any attention from outside. It had been three days since they arrived in Nimbasa, and Axle seemed to get better every day. Ryan considered that he'd have to thank Concordia for giving him that full restore if they saw her again; he'd tried to get some from the Pokémon Centre mart in case they came across any other injured Pokémon on their travels, but the clerks had told him that he didn't have enough gym badges to buy them. He'd managed to get some potions at least, so if any of his Pokémon managed to pick up any injuries from battling they'd be able to deal with them.

Most of Ryan's time had been spent at the old park; from the looks of things Axle enjoyed the company. They'd told him about their journey so far, about the battles and gyms and people they'd met; the dragon told stories of wild battles he'd fought in the past and the type of stories that most wild Pokémon told, but with how many different types of Pokémon there were they never failed to interest him.

It might have been to test that his strength had returned, but Axle seemed willing enough to play fight with Charlotte; the Mienfoo was using the rubble to her advantage, jumping around the pieces of fallen metal to where she was out of the dragon's reach. Jay watched nearby with gleaming eyes while Mariana scanned the park nervously, as if she expected someone to come in there and attack them.

"You're just jealous you don't have my agility," the fighting-type scoffed, tail flicking.

"If I tried to climb up there the whole thing would probably collapse."

"Details, details!"

Axle simply rolled his eyes. "A real fighter doesn't just hide away out of reach."

That was enough for Charlotte's pride to be slightly hurt, if nothing else. "Alright, since you asked for it!" She leapt from the metal, aiming to land on Axle but the dragon had long seen the attack coming and moved out of the way.

Nobody expected the ground to explode when her paw hit the earth. A few small pieces of metal were launched into the air and a cloud of dust quickly gathered.

"Whoa—!" Ryan was left looking slightly dumbfounded; concerned as well. "Charlotte…?"

A few coughs were heard from somewhere within the settling dust. "I'm okay! I think…" She coughed again as she padded out into the fresh air, trying to waft the dust away. "The heck was that?"

"Looked like force palm to me," Axle mumbled with a flick of his tail. "The idea is you're actually supposed to hit your opponent with it."

"That was awesome!" Jay cheered. "Do it again!"

"Did you hear that? Was that an explosion!?"

"Uh oh," Ryan muttered, hearing the distant voices. He couldn't see anybody yet, but staying out here in the open might get them caught. "Quick, hide!"

He made a beeline for the nearest fallen car, his Pokémon soon getting the idea and racing over to hop through the door. It was on its side amongst some fallen metal, but at least the lower half couldn't be seen through.

"Why hide? We can just fight them off," Axle pointed out.

"No! We can't let them know there's anyone here," Ryan insisted, making a frantic arm motion to try and get him to follow them. "It'll be safer if they just think the place is empty. For us and you."

The dragon was silent, and for a moment Ryan was worried he might protest. After a quick glance in the direction of the gate, the sound of heavy footsteps getting louder, he nodded.

"Okay, good." Hoping he wouldn't go back on his decision, Ryan made a run for it to the fallen car, climbing through the broken door. Fortunately he was small enough to be able to hide behind what was supposed to be a seat but acted more like a wall with the car on its side like this. Axle appeared a moment later, hiding behind the seat on the opposite side. Hopefully all of them were out of sight. Ryan considered returning his Pokémon to their capsules, but he could hear the voices again and was worried the light might attract their attention.

"Why is the gate unlocked?"

"It is? That's odd. But what was that explosion? I wasn't just hearing things, right?"

"No, I heard it too. You don't think anyone's put explosives in the place, do you?"

"I don't know. Maybe we should contact the boss. If there is anything in there, it'd too dangerous to go in without equipment."

"Roger that."

Once the voices stopped, Ryan managed to work up the nerve to emerge from his hiding place, peering out through the windows of the old car. The place appeared to be empty now, the people who had spoken a moment ago out of sight even through the gate.

They'd said they were going to return, though. If they stayed here they were going to end up in a massive heap of trouble.

Letting out a long sigh while he still felt like he had the chance, Ryan leant back against the wall of the car. What was he supposed to do now? "Sorry, Axle…"

"Why? It's not your fault. Perhaps if skippy over there hadn't decided to create such a ruckus in missing her attack—"

"Well excuse me! I'll have you know, that was a new move," Charlotte tutted.

"The people are going to come back," Ryan said pointedly. "I don't think it's safe to stay here. I'm not sure what they'd do if they found you here either, Axle…"

"Right, right, it's dangerous, I get the idea," he muttered. "Besides, I'll never find Denny if I just sit around in this old human place. But if you don't mind having a dragon tag along on your journey, I guess I wouldn't complain…"

It took a moment for what he'd just said to sink in. "Axle, you want to come with us?"

"Well, for a human, you seem decent enough. And everyone seems so interested in the whole battle thing; I guess it can't be that bad. Not to mention, if travelling with you is likely to increase the chances of finding Denny… I'm willing to take the chance for that."

"Alright," Ryan nodded, a small smile finding its way onto his face. "If you're travelling with us, though, you'll need to go in a Poké ball. Just makes travelling easier… but I promise, if you want to be released, all you have to do is ask, okay?"

The dragon seemed slightly less enthusiastic at the mention of the capsules – after all, he'd probably witnessed his friend get captured in one when he was taken away. Axle seemed to waver slightly for a moment in his determination, but soon gave a definite nod. "I guess I can put up with that."

Flashing a smile as he quickly hunted through his bag, Ryan considered that it'd probably be better to find him one now – it'd be easier to slip away unnoticed if he didn't have a dragon following him. When he finally found an empty Poké ball, he held it out to Axle. "Just tap it."

Axle stepped forward, pausing briefly to sniff the capsule before nudging it with his nose. The dragon vanished inside with a flash of red light, the capsule shaking a few times in Ryan's grasp before it finally emitted a soft click.

"Okay, everyone else return as well, we need to get out of here," Ryan said hurriedly, drawing the other three back inside their capsules before shrinking the orbs and zipping them back into his hoodie pocket so they wouldn't fall out. He took off at a sprint, making sure to watch where he was going so he didn't trip over any of the rubble.

The gate had been left slightly ajar, probably by whoever it was that had been here before. Ryan quickly glanced out through the bars, looking left and right to see if there was anybody around. Thankfully there were no people in sight, but he still held his breath as he squeezed through the gate, not wanting to make any noise. Once through, he raced away towards Route 4.

The weather on the route was much the same as it had been a few days back, and once he was sure nobody had noticed or followed him, Ryan sat on one of the rocks at the side of the path to catch his breath. As he released the Pokémon once more, Axle seemed to briefly check that he was still in one piece.

"It's all sandy here!" Jay complained, jumping back to his paws the moment he sat down, trying to shake off the grains that stood out on his dark fur.

"Wow, really? I hadn't noticed," Charlotte muttered sarcastically.

Jay just stuck his tongue out and hopped onto Ryan's lap instead.

The boy had to lean back slightly as he almost got slapped in the face by an ear. "It's alright, Jay, we'll move on soon. Burgh might be back by now; it's been three days."

"What's a Burgh?"

"You know… the gym leader in Castelia?"

"Gym leader? Are we going to fight the gym?"

"Well, you might have to sit this one out, Jay," Ryan replied wryly, ruffling the Umbreon's ears when they drooped slightly at his words. "It's a bug-type gym, and you're a dark-type. Bug-type attacks would hurt you pretty bad."

"Leave this to the experts," Charlotte said, folding her arms. "Since some of us are actually able to put up with bugs."

"Fighting-type isn't very effective against bug-type either," Axle pointed out nonchalantly.

"That wasn't the only move I know, genius."

"I'm sure something will work out," Ryan concluded, hoping to avoid them getting in another squabble. "Axle, you don't have to battle, unless you really want to."

"Eh, it's just a couple bugs. Could probably just step on 'em and be done with it," he muttered.

"I'll keep that in mind," Ryan said with an amused smile.

After a lot of searching to find the gym again in the maze that was Castelia City, Ryan discovered that the building was actually open this time. He pushed open the door and stepped in, expecting to see the gym guide, but instead got something rather different.

"Whoa…"

The room was filled with grass that seemed to be metres tall; it was far too high for him to see over, and he had the feeling even a really tall person wouldn't be able to see over the top of the blades either. Briefly Ryan wondered if this was what happened to someone's lawn if they didn't cut it for years.

There was a rustling noise from nearby, some of the ferns parting as the gym guide appeared from within them. "Ah, hello again, young man! I see you've returned for your gym battle!"

Ryan nodded but then hesitated for a moment. "Burgh actually is here this time, right?"

"Unless he's sneaked out again without us knowing!" the guide grinned. "I'll explain how this gym works. This grass is a maze, and it starts here," he pointed to where the ferns parted slightly, "and the goal is to reach the back of the gym, where Burgh is! However, there are some trainers waiting for you in the grass as well, so I'd keep an eye out if I were you." He tapped a temple to emphasise his point. Holding out a bottle, he added, "Also, please take this fresh water in case your Pokémon need to rest before the battle!"

"Thank you." Nestling the bottle in a pocket at the side of his bag, Ryan headed for the grass. He'd spent a lot of time out in the forest navigating the foliage growing up, so this shouldn't be too difficult.

It hadn't been too much of a task navigating the grass maze. They'd battled the gym trainers on the way through, seeing many Sewaddle, Venipede, Dwebble, even a Joltik at one point. Charlotte had done most of the battling throughout, so Ryan waited a while for her to rest and drink some water before they headed onwards to the leader.

Close to the end of the maze, he took a moment to look around at the gym once more while he waited. Although there wasn't much to see on eye-level because of all the grass, further up the walls at the side of the gym there were various paintings hanging on the walls, likely painted by Burgh if he had to hazard a guess. They were certainly very colourful, but it was difficult trying to make out what most of them were actually supposed to be. Perhaps that was one of those art things he wouldn't be able to understand. Ryan never had been particularly big on art.

"You ready?" he soon asked, noting the now-empty bottle of water.

"Ready to kick some tail!" Charlotte said proudly. "Wait, do bugs have tails? Err—ready to kick some… cocoon!"

Ryan couldn't help but laugh. "Okay."

Pushing through the last of the grass, they emerged into the clearing on the other side. After seeing nothing but green, the room seemed to be bursting with colour. The walls were splattered with brightly coloured paint, some of it seeming like decoration and other parts looking like someone had accidentally spilt something. A man with curly brown hair was looking intently at a canvas which was rested on a painter's easel. The painting seemed to be made up of colourful swirls of purple and green.

"Hmm… what do you think, Leonardo?"

The Leavanny standing next to him just looked at the painting and tilted his head, one leafy arm going up to rest on his chin to complete the slightly confused look. "It's… very nice…? What even is it?"

"Hmm, you're right. What this painting needs is more… blue. And perhaps some yellow. And some red in the corner over there…"

Leonardo let out a quiet sigh at the misinterpretation. "If you say so." His antennas twitched suddenly, and he glanced over at the boy. "Ah—Burgh, there is a challenger for you!"

"Hmm, some more green? Leonardo, your opinion is very—oh?" the man's attention was finally caught as the bug-type tugged at the hem of his shirt, and he looked away from his artwork at last. "Oh! Hello there, fine sir! Are you here to challenge the gym?"

"Yeah," Ryan nodded. Hopefully he's not too busy painting for a battle.

"Marvellous!" he cheered, tossing the paintbrush he had been holding behind him and adding to the colour on the walls. "Well, as you may know already, my name is Burgh, and I am a lover of these darling bug-types!" Placing a cloth over the painting and setting the easel at the side of the room where it wouldn't get damaged, he picked up two slightly paint-covered Poké balls from the pallet, leaving a third there. "Now then, how many gym badges have you acquired?"

"Two, so far."

"Fantastic! That is the number most trainers have when they challenge me," Burgh said with a smile. "Very well. Kiefer, it is time to show your talent!"

The gym leader tossed one of the colourful capsules into the air, a flash of light causing a fierce screech as the whirlipede landed, eyes watching them carefully from its curled-up body.

"I certainly hope you have come prepared for an artistic battle!"