Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any other property in this work that I didn't make myself.

Bea and the autistic gym challenger

Chapter ten: Challengers trying their hand at passing the threshold

Just like what my friends and I did upon their path to Truffield, we all decided to take the Corviknight taxi to Motostoke. Sashay, Rosie and Marina were all prepping themselves for when each of them got ready to take on Kabu's gym. As the third gym leader that gym challengers taking part in the gym challenge have to face, Kabu is known for being quite powerful. As I have said before, Kabu is known for being something of a roadblock to gym challengers, with many giving up on their challenge due to not being able to get over Kabu.

With that in mind, the girls were all planning on doing quite a bit of training in the Motostoke Outskirts before any of them tried to challenge Kabu. They had also decided to increase their parties a bit before beginning the training. Sashay knew that she'd struggle with Kabu as she uses bug Pokemon while he uses fire Pokemon, so she was the most keen on training before she tackled him. As a testament to this, she hopped on over to Route 5 really quick to hunt down and catch a Dewpider, a bug type Pokemon that is also part water type. During her training before taking on Kabu's gym, Sashay was able to evolve her Dewpider into Araquanid, as well as evolve her Sizzlipede into Centiskorch.

The other girls worked on training as well; Rosie had revealed that while she was in Hulbury she had fished up and caught a Chinchou. During her own working with her Pokemon, Rosie had been able to evolve her Toxel into an amped form Toxtricity, her Yamper into Boltund, her Electrike into Manectric, her Chinchou into Lanturn, and she used a Thunder Stone that her mother had given her during our dinner at The Captain's Table back in Hulbury to evolve her Pikachu into Raichu.

As for Marina, she had been able to catch a Galarian Corsola and a Gastly at various points, and in her training for Kabu's gym Marina had evolved her Frillish, Gastly, Galarian Corsola and Litwick into Jellicent, Haunter, Cursola and Lampent respectively. To further evolve Haunter and her Phantump, Marina needed to trade them to Rosie who volunteered to help, and after Haunter and Phantump had evolved into Gengar and Trevenant respectively, Marina and Rosie traded their Pokemon back.

Then came the part where Marina was going to evolve her Lampent into Chandelure. "I still can't believe that you're going to use what Ninny Nina gave you," Sashay remarked as she watched Marina take out the Dusk Stone that she had received as a gift from Nina the day our school had our field trip to Spikemuth.

"Well with all due respect, I do need to use a Dusk Stone on Lampent in order to evolve him into Chandelure," Marina pointed out as she applied the Dusk Stone to her Lampent. The stone glowed as it was exposed to Lampent who proceeded to glow as well while the stone crumbled away. Lampent grew and changed form as it evolved, and by the time all was said and done, it had evolved into Chandelure.

With their respective parties all fully evolved now, as well as getting in a little bit of training, the girls decided to pack it in for the night and head on over to the Budew Drop Inn. I tagged along, figuring that I had time since no gym challenger had even tried challenging Kabu's gym yet; I do fully intend to take a Corviknight taxi straight to Stow-on-Side the moment I hear word of the first gym challenger to defeat Kabu's gym and earn themselves the Fire Badge, however.

When we got to the Budew Drop Inn, my friends and I were greeted by the sight of a number of those Team Yell hooligans partying like they did the night before the opening ceremony. As the girls made their way over to confront the Team Yell hooligans, that Marnie girl walked over to her fan club, followed by Nina who was cowering a bit while covering her ears with her hands. "Oi, can't you lot behave yourselves and quiet down?" Marnie scolded, "It's getting late and there are others here aside from just me gearing up to challenge Kabu tomorrow."

"And what does your fan club here have to party about this time?" Sashay asked, getting Marnie to turn to face her.

Shooting Sashay a dry look, Marnie explained, "They're just happy that I won another casual battle against that Bede fellow in the mine between Hulbury and Motostoke is all." The girls were all shocked by what Marnie claimed, and as I pulled out my phone for evidence one of the Team Yell hooligan girls showed on her own phone a recorded video of said battle where, sure enough, Marnie defeated Bede while Nina and a group of Team Yell hooligans were all on the side watching things.

Also, it turned out that a worker who was working in that mine had also recorded the same battle on their phone and that clip of theirs went viral in Galar; on a hunch, Marina checked the rankings list and saw that it had changed. Now Sashay was back at number one and Bede was back down to number two, but everything else remained the same among the top eight favored gym challengers competing in the gym challenge this year.

Sashay was obviously happy to be the number one favored gym challenger again, but Marina gently warned her not to let it go to her head. After all, first thing tomorrow morning was when Kabu would be ready to receive challengers to his gym; Kabu was going to be tough for all three of my friends even with all the training they had done. Sashay had to be especially wary due to how she was going in with a type disadvantage.

Eventually, everyone had settled down, and after Team Yell took off with the promise of coming back tomorrow to cheer for Marnie as she had her battle against Kabu, everyone either went back up into rooms they had already checked into or checked into rooms and went up to them. The last thing that I saw before I had gone up was Harry and Darnell arrive at around the same time as that Bede fellow, who I heard say he had just come from the nearest Pokemon Center.

I found my Inn room, the same one I had when I stayed the night before the opening ceremony strangely enough, went in and got ready for bed. Tomorrow was going to be a big day for many; even the people all over Galar who are following the gym challenge on the telly at home are all eagerly anticipating the first battles Kabu will be having with gym challengers, because Kabu is by many considered the first real challenge that gym challengers as a whole tend to face, so getting over him is a big deal.

Partly because those who get over Kabu will get to challenge me next.

(Two years ago)

My first year as a gym leader in Galar was not the most exciting one in Galar history outside of the fact that it was my first year as a gym leader. In the end, the championship title match ended up being between Leon and Raihan, and predictably Leon had won, maintaining his winning streak for the umpteenth time in a row. Still, I did get a fair bit of attention due to the fact that it was my debut year as a gym leader.

In fact, during some free time during the championship tournament in between rounds, I had been met up by Piers. "So, you're the up and coming big name from Stow-on-Side, huh?" Piers remarked casually, "I have to say, I think part of why no gym challengers made it to the end this year is because you weeded out some of who was left after they cleared Kabu's gym. Thanks for helping to net me a break, by the way."

"Well I take any and all opponents seriously," I replied, "If I see a chance to defeat my opponent, I take it without hesitation."

Piers smirked a bit in amusement. He held his hand out to offer a handshake. "I haven't properly introduced myself yet, have I? The name's Piers."

Being cordial, I accepted the handshake as I gave my name. "Bea."

Taking the seat next to me on the padded bench, Piers said, "It wouldn't be too much prying if i asked a bit about you, would it? Get to know the new gym leader and all that."

"It's fine," I replied, "Anyway, it's probably no secret that my mother is Commissioner Malty of the Galar Pokemon League commissionery board."

Piers nodded in agreement. "Yeah, she's part of the group of fancy bigwigs that help to run the league whenever Chairman Rose acts eccentric."

"I also have a father and a younger brother," I continued.

I noticed it that Piers arched a wry eyebrow, indicating that I had piqued his interest. "I knew that Commissioner Malty had a husband and that you were her daughter, but this is the first that I'm hearing of her having a son as well."

Scoffing, I said, "Well that doesn't surprise me. Mother acts like my little brother doesn't exist whenever she can help it. She's been like that ever since my little brother was diagnosed with autism back when he was two."

Piers turned to face me better. "...You don't say."

I had noticed the change in Piers, as if what I said about my little brother had struck something of a personal chord with him. "...Do you know someone with autism as well, Piers?"

"This one little girl living in Spikemuth, yeah," Piers replied, "My little sister Marnie is friends with her. They both go to Spikemuth elementary." A hint of resignation, laced with a bit of anger at something he clearly thought was dotty, appeared in Piers's expression. "...Marnie is literally the only kid at Spikemuth elementary who's willing to be friends with that autistic girl. It makes me both proud of Marnie for being so accepting, and peeved that people here in Galar by and large would rather that those with special needs just stay hidden away."

I wasn't sure if I could relate or not; on the one hand Piers had accurately described mother in the sense that she's one of the people living in Galar who'd rather that special needs citizens just keep hiding themselves away and out of public and sight, but on the other hand I can't really side with Piers either as I'm not as accepting as his little sister, if my distancing from my little brother at mother's word is anything to go by.

The conversation would have gone on for longer, but at that point the next match in the championship tournament was being called for, and it would see Piers himself go up against Raihan. Piers ended up losing to Raihan, who went onto face and lose to Leon in the title match. And thus was how my first year as a gym leader in Galar went down, the only thing of personal note to me being that conversation that I had with Piers.

(Present day)

I woke up with a bit of a start in bed, looked at the time on my phone. A half hour before I had to get up, so I got an early start on my day. After I had cleaned and was in my 'incognito' outfit, I was ready to go meet my friends down in the lobby of the Budew Drop Inn. I saw them all in a group and went over to them. "Today is the day you girls will face your first real challenge," I said, "Here's hoping all that training paid off, because I'm itching to have a go at you if any of you make it past Kabu."

With a bit of a self-assured air she was giving off, Sashay replied, "Oh, Kabu should be no issue for me, even with the type disadvantage that I'm going in with." Sashay would have gone on, but she stopped short when she and the rest of us heard Marnie and Nina talking from over a ways away from where we all stood.

We turned around and saw the two Spikemuth girls talking. Remembering the dream I had woken up from, another dream about something that happened in my past, I realized as I saw Marnie and Nina talk that Nina must have been Marnie's friend that Piers was talking about. But that wasn't important now. At the moment, the two Spikemuth girls were wishing each other luck as both of them intended to take on Kabu today.

"Well my team is as ready as they'll ever be," Marnie said. Gesturing to Nina, Marnie asked, "Who are you going to go in with?"

Nina took a pokeball out and held it, looking down at it contemplatively. "...I'm going to use Habuko first when I face Kabu." That's right, Nina gives names to her Pokemon; until I saw what this 'Habuko' was, I had no idea what Pokemon Nina was talking about.

Marnie offered her friend a warm smile. "Yeah, she'll cause no end of trouble for Kabu's fire Pokemon. Good choice, Nina."

The two girls from Spikemuth then took off, and my attention was drawn back to Sashay who gave an incredulous scoff. "Like hell a freak like Ninny Nina will be able to defeat someone like Kabu," Sashay said as she gently shook her head, "This is where her gym challenge ends girls, mark my words."

I couldn't be so sure; unlike with everyone else in the top eight favored gym challengers who all specialize in a single specific type of Pokemon, Nina has been known to use all sorts of types of Pokemon. That diversity shows not only that Nina is prepared for all manner of opponents, but that she doesn't discriminate.

(I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the same courtesy hasn't been shown to Nina herself all that much in her life.)

The girls and I proceeded to make our way to the Motostoke gym, but I stopped short when I got a call on my phone. Answering it, I saw that it was from my dad. I told the girls that I would have to catch up with them at the Motostoke gym later as I needed to talk with dad to see what was up. The girls understood and took off, with Sashay saying that chances are she'll have her third gym badge by the time I had met up with her and the others.

As it turned out, dad was telling me that the construction company he worked for was wrapping up work on some new dinner and a show type of restaurant over in Stow-on-Side, where people would have dinner as they watched live Pokemon battles down on the battlefield that was in the pit. Huh, so that's what that one big building I pass regularly on the way to and from school was for. Sounds like it will be an interesting place.

Anyway, by the time I had finished talking to dad on the phone, which ended with my little brother timidly saying hello and hoping I'll be back soon, I ended the call and slipped my phone away. I would have said more to my little brother, but I need to go see my friends over at the Motostoke gym. Hopefully none of them had lost to Kabu, because that'd slow their progress through the gym challenge.

As it turned out when I had met up with them, none of the girls had even battled Kabu yet; Sashay, Rosie and Marina were standing around while a number of the girls from that Team Yell hooligan group were standing in front of Nina with their backs to her in what was clearly a protective wall. "Oi, you lot better shut it!" the Team Yell girl in the middle of the line standing protectively in front of Nina said as she and the other Team Yell hooligan girls kept people clearly eager to ask Nina about her battle with Kabu at bay, "Nina here'll answer questions about her win against Kabu one at a time, but you gotta be quiet and patient!"

Ah, so Nina defeated Kabu. That means I'll have to head back to Stow-on-Side as soon as I can since I know at least one gym challenger got their third badge. I walked closer to the people that were clamoring to see Nina, joined up with my friends. When I got close enough, I saw that Nina, who looked very nervous, had a Sandaconda out next to her.

One of the men wanting to ask Nina about her battle said, "Gym Challenger Nina, is it true that you defeated Kabu on your first go at him?"

Looking up a bit, Nina replied, "Y-yes. I was able to win thanks to Habuko here." The Sandaconda that was out next to Nina gave a hissing cry that clearly sounded like the Sandaconda was proud of itself. Huh, so Nina was talking about her Sandaconda earlier; a ground type Pokemon like Sandaconda would be quite a bit of trouble for a fire Pokemon user like Kabu.

"Is it true that you gigantimaxed your Sandaconda here during your battle against Kabu?" a girl asked Nina while gesturing to the named Sandaconda.

Nodding once, Nina replied, "Yes. Habuko can gigantimax." Her named Sandaconda can gigantimax? Interesting; I was able to pick it up by watching footage from the battles that Nina had against Milo and Nessa that the Pokemon she used to beat them respectively, Corviknight and Flapple, can't gigantimax even though they're both gigantimax-capable species of Pokemon, as they only went dynamax. But her Sandaconda can gigantimax, same as a lot of Pokemon in the parties of the gym leaders in Galar, as well as Leon's Charizard. I got my work cut out for me it seems, even though I myself also have Pokemon that can gigantimax.

As the questions went on, everyone's attention was caught by that Marnie girl coming out. She looked unreadable for a few moments, then offered a small but notably self-amused smile as she held up a Fire Badge. "Guess who just earned her third badge in the gym challenge?"

The crowd went wild with excitement, especially the Team Yell hooligans. Nina cowered a bit and covered her ears with her hands, but luckily Marnie got a lot of the people to quiet down. As the crowd was now starting to pester Marnie, I turned around to leave. My attempted departure did not go unnoticed by my friends, however, and I was stopped when Sashay called out to me, "Where are you off to?"

Stopping in place, I turned around to face my friends before I spoke. "...Well as you girls should be able to plainly see, there are at least two gym challengers who had made it past Kabu. I'll be the next gym leader that they'll be gunning for, so I'm heading straight back to Stow-on-Side so I can be ready to receive them at my gym."

Rosie folded her arms over her chest, gave me a wry look. "You're seriously going to roll out the red carpet like that for Ninny Nina of all people?"

"Like it or not, she's a gym challenger who has earned her first three badges in the challenge," I pointed out, "I'm the gym leader she'll be seeing to try and earn her fourth badge." Shooting Rosie and the others a knowing look, I added, "...She and that Marnie girl better not be the only gym challengers I'm going to be seeing over at the gym in Stow-on-Side, you know."

That got my friends smiling. "Oh there's no way that we're going to let those little brats from Spikemuth overtake us," Sashay said, "We'll be getting our third badges here no problem. That being said, you better be ready for the storm coming your way." I smiled, nodded to Sashay in acknowledgement, then turned around and left. I'll be able to pick up on how well all of the gym challengers do against Kabu by checking my phone periodically on the Corviknight taxi ride from here to Stow-on-Side, so I'll get some idea of what to expect.

By the time I got back to Stow-on-Side, I saw on my phone that all three of my friends were able to defeat Kabu, although reports on Sashay's battle made it clear she was banking heavily on her Araquanid and Crustle whose respective dual typings helped even things out against Kabu's fire Pokemon. Additionally, that Bede fellow also won, as did Harry and Darnell; this means that all eight of the top eight favored gym challengers in the gym challenge this year had all been able to get over Kabu on their respective first goes.

This little bit will probably only go on to strengthen why exactly they're the top eight favored gym challengers.

However, Kabu still isn't a pushover by any means, and as a testament to this he is the first gym leader in the gym challenge this year that some competing gym challengers failed to defeat on their first tries; outside of the top eight favored gym challengers, the only one who had been able to defeat Kabu on their first go was that Ginny girl who sits with Harry, Darnell and that Luna girl in class at my school, and I would attribute Ginny's win mainly to the fact that she is a water Pokemon user, similar to Nessa.

I was a bit surprised to see my classmate Ginny competing in the gym challenge, and her winning on her first attempt at Kabu pushed her up a bit in the rankings list; indeed, she had gone up to number nine, placing just below Darnell who's the bottom of the top eight. Ginny may be one that I would have to keep an eye out for, although how she was able to get endorsed so that she could enter the gym challenge escapes me.

(Harry and Darnell also obtaining their endorsements is something that also eludes me, if I'm to be completely honest.)

But all of that is for later, I noted to myself as I got out of the Corviknight taxi where it landed outside of the local Pokemon Center in Stow-on-Side. Seeing as how I'm back in my hometown, as well as how I'm expecting multiple gym challengers to be coming here to challenge me for the Fighting Badge, I figured that it wouldn't be too big of an issue for me if I were to stop using my 'incognito' outfit and slip into something casual but not a disguise.

As I made my way from the Pokemon Center to my gym, I passed by a building that, while clearly still being worked on, also clearly was just about done. This I now know is that dinner and a show type place dad had told me about, where people can go to not only enjoy some fine dining but also be entertained by live Pokemon battles. Granted it looks like it (most likely) won't be capable of battles where trainers can dynamax and gigantimax their Pokemon, but it's bound to be one of the most (if not THE most) popular restaurants here in Stow-on-Side.

Anyway, I walk into the Stow-on-Side gym, and right away was greeted by Claire, who had a bit of a worried look on her face. I could tell that she was worried, so I asked, "What's up, Claire? I take it you heard that the gym here is set to receive its first wave of gym challengers soon?" I'll admit that what one of my gym trainers said next caught me by surprise.

"Umm, Bea," Claire began in an unsure tone, concern clear in her expression, "Your mom is here waiting for you. I'm not sure why, but I'm getting vibes from her that there's something that she's not entirely happy about right now."

I can see why Claire would be worried; mother, in addition to, well, being my mother, is also one of the commissionery board members for the Galar Pokemon League, and as such she doesn't exactly need to announce herself ahead of time if she wishes to visit one of the gyms here in Galar. I had a very strong hunch what the inevitable talk is going to be about, so I steeled myself and went on into the side room where I found mother waiting.

Just as Claire had warned me, mother was exuding a thick aura of displeasure, her arms folded over her chest and her right leg over her left as she sat on a padded bench that was up against one of the walls. She noted my entrance into the room right away, her gaze narrowing as she locked eyes with me. I opened my mouth to speak, but mother cut me off before I even got out one word by holding her right index finger up in a gesture of demanding my silence.

She got up from where she sat, walked up to me and stood within clear talking distance. The narrowed gaze that she gave me helped to carry the severity of what she ordered me to do after she had come up to me.

"That freak girl is not to defeat you. That is all."

Without another word, mother made her way past me and left the side room then was out the front door of the gym. I'll admit that, out of all of the gym challengers that I'm expecting here at the Stow-on-Side gym, the one that I'm most worried about was Nina. However, that wasn't due to anything of Nina's doing deliberate or otherwise. Rather, I'm worried about how mother would react if she saw Nina earn the Fighting Badge off of me.

Mother can be quiet scary when she wants to be.

END, CHAPTER TEN

Author's notes;

I had wanted to reflect the part in the games where Kabu is said to be a challenge for many of those who take the gym challenge in Galar, so to reflect that only the top eight favored gym challengers and one girl outside of the top eight were able to defeat Kabu on their respective first goes at him. Those who failed can try again, but I'll put in a bit later saying that some of the gym challengers ended up giving up due to being unable to overcome Kabu, again to reflect what is said in the games.

But more on that later. Anyway, the next chapter will see Bea relax a bit as she learns of news breaking out in Hammerlocke, which gym challengers pass through on their way to Stow-on-Side. There will also be a few bits featuring some citizens of Stow-on-Side welcoming the first wave of gym challengers that are aiming to challenge Bea, with many of said gym challengers being hailed for returning home to their hometown during their gym challenge adventure.