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 eleven: Stow-on-Side arc part one- A homecoming that's a long time coming

It was the morning after I had returned to Stow-on-Side and saw mother at my gym. I was at my gym, deciding to have a small breakfast there while I go over things with my gym trainers in preparation to receive the first or the gym challengers who would be coming on by to face me in an attempt to earn the Fighting Badge. At this point, we were just making sure all of our tasks stayed topped off, as well as getting in a bit of exercise to stay in shape; it wouldn't do if gym challengers beat us because we hadn't been keeping up with working out.

I was sitting on a bench in the front lobby of my gym when Claire, one of my gym trainers, came over to me, the expression on her face a mix of feelings that weren't quite discernible at first glance. "Hoo boy, you are not going to believe what had just made the news on tellies all over the region," Claire said as she approached me.

I arched a wry eyebrow as Claire approached, my interest piqued by what she had said and the tone in which she had said it. "...What happened?"

Sitting down next to me on the bench, Claire proceeded to explain, "Yeah, a number of the gym challengers who beat Kabu on their first tries passed through Hammerlocke, and they were all greeted by Raihan, right? Well get this; he's getting some real disconcerting press right now due to what he said to Gym Challenger Nina when she and Gym Challenger Marnie passed through."

This can't be good; Raihan must have said something really bad to Nina if his faux-pas had made Galarian news right now. Given that the people of Galar are obsessed with anything that relates to the yearly Gym Challenge, Raihan's comment to Nina, whatever it is, either is so bad it made the news on its own merit, or it's related to the gym challenge. Chances are that it's the latter of the two, given that one of Galar's gym leaders and one of the gym challengers taking part in the current gym challenge are involved.

...

It turned out that Raihan, in a joking manner, said that he wanted to try Nina out right away upon her entering Hammerlocke. Try her out in the sense that he wanted to battle her. The reason why this would generate the aforementioned disconcerting press on the telly is because him wanting to battle Nina, a gym challenger taking part in the current gym challenge who right now only has three badges, is a serious violation of Galarian Pokemon League protocol. Nina needs to earn the badges from me, Opal, Gordie and Piers first before Raihan can 'try her out'.

Some people have viewed this as Raihan, who isn't known as the strongest gym leader in Galar for nothing, trying to bully a gym challenger. To make things worse for Raihan, due to Nina having autism, she's classified as a special needs citizen; someone of Raihan's status trying to bully a special needs girl will blow up in his face, even though he was merely joking around and was not trying to be a bully in any sense. I was able to pick that up when Raihan, backed by a few support staff, had to hold a press conference to explain and apologize.

Luckily for Raihan, Nina understood that he wasn't acting with an ounce of malice and did not hold his playfully wanting to battle her right away against him. This did a good bit to ease the heat that was on Raihan off of him. Champion Leon had also made an appearance in Raihan's city upon hearing about Raihan playfully saying he wanted to battle Nina right off the bat, and gave him a friendly reminder (that I could tell was Leon trying to play along with Raihan's joke) that he had to wait until Nina earned the other badges first.

After Claire finished telling me all of this, I let out a sigh of relief. I was worried that Raihan may have said something far worse than him jokingly saying he wanted to battle Nina right now, which Claire and I learned was due to Raihan having heard a lot about Nina's victories thus far in the gym challenge, as well as her battles back in Spikemuth against me and my friends to show her competency as a trainer. In a way, Raihan jokingly saying he wanted to battle Nina right now was showing some considerable respect.

Claire slipped her smartphone back into her pocket, she turned to face me fully. "The first of the gym challengers who made it past Kabu should be on their way here, Bea. From what I gathered it's the top eight favored gym challengers plus that Ginny girl who's ranked at number nine. You think you can make them all work for the Fighting Badge?"

I gave my gym trainer a wry, mildly self-amused look. "You forget who you're talking to, Claire. Sure, they all got past Kabu, and a large portion of the lot are classmates of mine over at Stow-on-Side middle school." I jerked my right thumb at myself. "But I'm a different show from Kabu entirely. The first of the gym challengers that got past Kabu will find me to be tougher than the man they had managed to overcome."

Claire nodded in agreement with me, proud to see that I was going to be taking things here seriously. As I always do, of course; as I have mentioned before, I am a professional, so I have a standard to uphold. Seeing that everything was topped off for the time being, I decided to take my leave from my gym. I wanted to get out and stretch for a bit, maybe tour around Stow-on-Side to see how the citizenry was preparing to receive the gym challengers coming to face me for the Fighting Badge.

It'll be something of a homecoming for many of the oncoming gym challengers.

I was walking around Stow-on-Side in a casual outfit; there was no need for me to wear my 'incognito' outfit as I was in my hometown. As I walked, I saw that I was about to pass by the currently under construction building I know now to be that dinner and a show type stadium that the construction company my dad works for is working on. However, when I rounded the corner, I saw that the place was actually finished.

What's more was that I saw my dad talking to Commissioner Kankuro (Marina's dad) of the Galar Pokemon League's commissionery board outside of the stadium restaurant. Curious, I made my way over, with dad seeing me approaching about a dozen feet from him and Kankuro. "Hey dad," I greeted as I got up to the men, "What's up?"

"Ah, Bea," dad said in a friendly and mildly surprised tone, "I was just talking to Commissioner Kankuro here about how the stadium restaurant has been completed."

Kankuro nodded in agreement. "Indeed. As a matter of fact, it was I who had commissioned the stadium restaurant to be built in the first place."

I was surprised to hear that part; I did remember Marina telling me that her dad was having some big business venture built for him, but I would never have expected this. "I bet that you're looking forward to the grand opening, Commission Kankuro."

"Indeed I am," Kankuro replied, "In fact, I actually have something planned to kick off the grand opening, and what I have in mind makes me glad that I ran into you before any gym challengers had shown up here in Stow-on-Side to face you." My interest was piqued by this, so I allowed Kankuro to explain what he had in mind. "I plan for the grand opening to feature a three round mini tournament in which all eight of the top eight favored gym challengers will face off, with a dozen Comet Shards as the prize for whoever wins."

Now that would be incentive for anyone to enter the tournament Commissioner Kankuro plans to have at the grand opening of his stadium restaurant; selling all of that would net whoever made the sale 150,000 in money. Even my friends, who due to each of them having parents on the commissionery board were rich, would benefit from having that much spending cash on hand. But it would be a greater boon to some of the other gym challengers who made it past Kabu on their first tries.

I don't know too much about Bede's financial status, but I do know that Harry, Darnell and Ginny are all lower middle class. I can also guess that Marnie and Nina, both being girls living over in Spikemuth, are not anywhere near the same income bracket as my friends and I. As such, a part of me hopes that one of the top eight favored gym challengers that aren't one of my friends will end up winning the grand opening tournament of Commissioner Kankuro's stadium restaurant.

"How will the gym challengers you intend to invite to enter the tournament be informed?" I asked Commissioner Kankuro, "Some of them may try heading straight for my gym the moment they enter Stow-on-Side. In fact, I can count on Sashay to do that since I know her personally and can expect her to act in such a manner."

"I have people keeping an eye out for the gym challengers to catch them before they try to go straight to the gym," Kankuro proceeded to explain, "They'll invite the gym challengers to my place to attend a social party I plan to hold to celebrate the completion of my stadium restaurant, where I will announce the mini tournament and invite all of the top eight favored gym challengers to enter." Gesturing to me, Kankuro added, "Oh, I'm inviting you to the social party as well. It wouldn't do to hold a social party here in Stow-on-Side and not invite Stow-on-Side's resident gym leader, now would it?"

Yeah, that plan does sound good. And it would also be a good chance for Commissioner Kankuro to get good press by playing host to the first of this year's gym challengers that had made it past Kabu. The other members of the league's commissionery board may try to do a bit of socializing at the party as well; I could very easily see mother at the party, as she would be in her element in such a setting.

I was about to speak up, but I was cut off by some excited taking from over a ways away. Dad and Commissioner Kankuro must have heard it as well, because they all followed after me as I made my way over to see what was going on.

When dad, Commissioner Kankuro and I got close enough, we all saw a number of people gathered around a Corviknight taxi drop-off area outside next to City Hall. From what we were able to see, there were two Corviknight taxis that a large crowd of people were surrounding, all of them clamoring excitedly in a way that made it clear to me that some of the gym challengers had just arrived in Stow-on-Side.

Indeed, when dad, Commissioner Kankuro and I were able to make our way to the front of the crowds, we saw a number of Galar League officials professionally receiving my friends and Gym Challenger Bede, with a girl among the officials proceeding to explain to them what I had been previously told by Kankuro. However, the man himself stepped forward to take over for the girl among the league officials.

"I'm glad to see the first among you gym challengers who made it past Kabu's gym have finally arrived here in Stow-on-Side!" Kankuro began, "And I expect that the first thing that some of you want to do is challenge Bea's gym to try to earn your fourth badge."

"Well why wouldn't I want to face Bea first thing upon arriving here?" Sashay replied right away; just as I had predicted, the first thing on Sashay's agenda upon coming back home to Stow-on-Side temporarily during the gym challenge was to challenge me to try to earn her fourth badge.

Kankuro nodded in understanding to Sashay. "Indeed, and such an attitude among the gym challengers, wanting to face strong opponents, is part of why Pokemon battles are the biggest thing to watch on the telly here in Galar." With a gentle shake of his head, Kankuro went on to say, "But Bea's gym can't receive challengers right away."

I saw a look of curious confusion on Marina's face. "What do you mean, dad?"

"The stadium restaurant that I had commissioned has officially finished construction," Kankuro proceeded to explain, "And to celebrate, I'm hosting a party to which all gym challengers who made it past Kabu will be invited. Then, the morning following the party, the stadium restaurant will have its grand opening, with the highlight being a tournament that I'll invite all of the top eight favored gym challengers to enter. I'll make a more formal announcement of this later at the party I'm hosting."

What her dad said caught Marina's attention, as well as that of Sashay, Rosie and Bede. In fact, it was Bede, the lone boy among the first of the gym challengers to arrive, who spoke up first. "Well now, that certainly sounds like a fun little bit of training to get in before I go on over to Bea's gym to earn my fourth badge. I hope, Commissioner Kankuro, that you won't go holding it against me if I defeat your daughter Marina during the grand opening tournament over at your stadium restaurant."

The way Bede spoke, the way he came off as; it reminded me strongly of Sashay. In fact, Sashay herself looked like she was about to speak up. However, she was cut off by some citizens of Stow-on-Side running over saying that Harry, Darnell and Ginny had all shown up. This caused all of the gathered people to talk excitedly, and when the three newly arrived gym challengers all walked into view, most of the gathered people tried to crowd them. Luckily, the league officials were able to get to and shield Harry, Darnell and Ginny first.

My classmates who had just arrived all looked confused and a bit startled by so many persons coming to greet them, but the league officials that were shielding them from being swarmed had explained what was going on. Commissioner Kankuro then explained to them what he had in store and extended the invitation to them to come to the party he was holding. The boys of the group accepted right away, but I could tell Ginny's acceptance of the invitation had just a bit of suspicious doubt to it. Does Ginny have some reason to doubt Commissioner Kankuro?

...

It had been an hour since Harry, Darnell and Ginny had shown up in Stow-on-Side, and everyone was still right where the arrived gym challengers were gathered. News people had come to get live footage of the gym challengers to put on the news, both local and regional; given how big of a deal the gym challenge is in Galar, the fact that seven of the nine gym challengers who had made it past Kabu on their first tries were all gathered in one spot was quite a bit of excitement for the people of Stow-on-Side. This is doubled since out of the seven said gym challengers, six are Stow-on-Side natives.

And to think, no attention had been drawn to me. Thank goodness for the break.

As a field reporter I recognize from the news that dad likes watching on the telly tried to interview Bede, one of the citizens who had gathered to see the arrived gym challengers called out, "Hey! The girls from Spikemuth are coming up!" A number of people, myself included, all turned to look in the direction that the guy who had called out was pointing in. Sure enough, I and a few others were the first to see Gym Challengers Marnie and Nina come walking into Stow-on-Side, surrounded by a group of those Team Yell hooligans.

Acting as if on instinct, the league officials sent some of their group to receive Marnie and Nina before any excited citizen could even begin to run over. The Team Yell hooligans were helpful in keeping the girls from Spikemuth from getting swarmed by gym challenge fans. Commissioner Kankuro then approached Marnie and Nina to tell them about what he had told the other gym challengers that made it past Kabu, as well as invite them to both the party that he was hosting and to enter the tournament that he was holding over at his stadium restaurant to celebrate the grand opening.

"Sounds rather grand, Commissioner Kankuro," Marnie replied in an amused tone, "And it sounds like Nina and I will get some time to go check out the nearby Glimwood Tangle to get in a bit of training." Nina was looking down, as if overcome with shyness, and allowing Marnie to lead the way. Maybe she was still a bit rattled by so many people trying to swarm her earlier. Either way, both girls from Spikemuth said that they would both attend the party and enter the tournament at the stadium restaurant's grand opening.

Eventually, the crowds began to dissipate, giving the gym challengers some breathing room. My friends said that they would head to their respective homes to rest a bit; normally during the gym challenge, gym challengers are given free room and board at hotels. However, since six of the nine gym challengers who made it to Stow-on-Side actually live in Stow-on-Side, they are given the option of resting at home. This is something that my friends, as well as Harry, Darnell and Ginny all took advantage of.

As for Bede and the girls from Spikemuth, they could still get free room and board at the local hotel. I saw my friends take off to their respective homes in preparation for the party over at Marina's, and my classmates Harry, Darnell and Ginny went to their respective homes as well. I saw Bede make a Combee-line right for the local hotel where he would be put up for free as he is a competing gym challenger, but the girls from Spikemuth lingered a bit.

Nina was still looking down, and this caught Marnie's attention. "...You okay, Nina?" Marnie asked in a tone that was a mix of gentle, friendly and concerned.

"...I used to live here in Stow-on-Side," Nina said, "I was bullied a whole lot. I had no friends here, and I was laughed at one time simply because I had shared with a class I was in a secret wish that I had." Seeing Nina like this, hearing her speak of her past, reminded me of her back when we were all in elementary school together. The shy quiet girl I had remembered from my dreams that replayed the past had returned to the very place where a lot of bad memories for her had been cultivated.

I saw a glimpse of Marnie's face as Nina spoke. "...Oh yeah, you told me about how you used to live here." The younger sister of the Spikemuth gym leader scowled a bit, showing displeasure in how her friend used to live prior to Spikemuth. "Didn't you tell me you were pulled from school by your mum because some dotty blokes shoved a trashcan down over your head?"

Nina shuddered a bit at the recollecting of a bad memory, but she nodded twice in the affirmative. "...The last time I came here was last year, when I traveled with Hop when he took the gym challenge."

"Yeah, he's Leon's younger brother, if I recall correctly," Marnie said. Shrugging, Marnie went on, "Well anywho, let's go check out Glimwood Tangle. We can get in some practice, and there's something I believe I can find there that I want to get." Nina, seeing a chance to get out of Stow-on-Side even for a few moments, nodded in agreement with Marnie before going off with her and a few of the Team Yell hooligan girls while the other Team Yell hooligans, both the other girls and all the boys, went to make sure the lodging for Marnie and Nina were secure.

I'm not quite sure what it is that Marnie intends to find in Glimwood Tangle, but she should be able to get in the training she seeks. And it's a quiet, peaceful wood that is home to Pokemon that won't bother you unless you have Pokemon of your own or you provoke them; it would be a bit of a safe haven for Nina, allowing her to calm down and catch her breath. Regardless, I'll be seeing them at the party that Commissioner Kankuro was hosting. Anyway, I took off to home as well, as I have a party to get ready for.

I bet that mother will be at the party as well; it sounds like the kind of social events she loves going to.

Later that evening, there was a big social party over at Marina's family's large, stately home. In addition to many notable citizens of Stow-on-Side, the gym challengers who made it past Kabu thus far were also there. There were even a few non-residents of Stow-on-Side in attendance not counting some of the gym challengers; it was mainly the other members of the Galar Pokemon League commissionery board, although there were some members of the media there trying to get the scoop on the party due of so many notable people being there.

I, naturally, was at the social party, dressed in my gym leader outfit; mother who also came to the social party wanted me to dress 'properly' for the social party, insisting that Commissioner Kankuro would want me looking proper. However, and to a bit of embarrassment for mother, Commissioner Kankuro himself actually wanted me to dress in my gym leader outfit, based on the fact that the party is celebrating the progress of many gym challengers in the current gym challenge and to celebrate the completion of the stadium restaurant.

The social party, when you got right down to it, was celebrating the hottest televised event in Galar, which was Pokemon battles in the region's league.

Of course, there were still some of the gym challengers who dressed in a manner that mother and some other members of the commissionery board would favor; all three of my friends were gussied up in lovely dresses, with high heels, a few jewelry accessories and even touches of makeup here and there. Similarly, Gym Challenger Bede was wearing a formal party suit, the kind one would expect men to wear to big fancy parties such as this. I suspect that mother, as well as Commissioners Rosalia and Robin, were behind this as they're all backing Bede in this year's gym challenge.

But my friends and Bede are only four out of the nine gym challengers who made it past Kabu on their first tries. Harry, Darnell and Ginny were all dressed casually, having basically gone home and changed into different t-shirts and pants, although Ginny clearly tried to at least give some effort to dress nicely. And the girls from Spikemuth showed up wearing what they had on when they arrived in Stow-on-Side, although thankfully their clothes weren't all that dirty.

During the party, I caught a glimpse of Marnie and Nina talking together alone in a somewhat secluded area of the party area. It was clear Nina was trying to calm down and catch her breath; she must have gotten a bit overwhelmed due to the atmosphere of what is undoubtedly the most fancy party she had even been invited to. Remembering that Nina is special needs due to having autism, I had a thought that this was probably one of the very few things overall that she had ever been invited to. My little brother never gets invited to anything any of the kids over at his school do, like parties or sleepovers.

I also saw that Marine had a Morgrem out, and it looked like it was trying to help Nina calm down; seeing this, I had an idea on why Marnie wanted to check out the Glimwood Tangle as it's a location where one can find wild Morgrem. It's a dark type Pokemon just like what Marnie and other Spikemuth residents prefer, and it's also part fairy type; I suspect Marnie was aiming to catch and add a Morgrem to her party in preparation to challenge my gym.

Finally the moment came where Commissioner Kankuro formally announced that the stadium restaurant he had commissioned was completed, that the grand opening would be tomorrow, and that all of the top eight favored gym challengers right now were invited to enter a special tournament that would serve as the main event to commemorate the grand opening, with said tournament also being broadcast live on tellies all over Galar. Commissioner Kankuro had also brought up the first place prize of a dozen Comet Shards.

Naturally, my friends all jumped at the chance to enter, more for being able to show off than for the chance to win a prize. Bede was of a similar attitude, wanting to prove that his being known as a Pokemon battle prodigy was not just talk. The others of the top eight did show some interest in the Comet Shard prize, with Darrell being the most obvious; Ginny also expressed interest in the prize, saying her family could really benefit from the money, and said she wished that she was offered a shot at it. The difference in social status amongst the gym challengers was very clear.

But that all is besides the point; all eight of the top eight favored gym challengers accepted the invitation to enter the grand opening tournament tomorrow at Commissioner Kankuro's stadium restaurant, and a few of the news media people at the party were already excitedly reporting on this to their camera crews. The news on tellies all over Galar tonight is bound to be saturated with talk of this tournament over at the stadium restaurant, and I suspect that bets are going to be made on who will win.

I wouldn't be surprised if a few notable persons of Galar decided to show up to watch all of the battles at the stadium restaurant's grand opening tournament.

END, CHAPTER ELEVEN

Author's notes;

The next few chapters are going to be set in Stow-on-Side, as it's going to have a lot of bits that will build up the story as a whole, provide context for a few things, and give some hints on what is to come. But that will be at later times. Anyway, the next chapter will have the tournament at the stadium restaurant's grand opening. A number of characters will also show up to watch, but who said characters will be is something that will be shown when the time comes.