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 fourteen: Stow-on-Side arc part four- A blaze that burns evil hearts

"Hitmontop, use Revenge!"

"Usagi, use Fire Punch!"

My battle against Nina, an official challenge to my gym in Nina's bid to try to earn the Fighting Badge, kicked off with seeing my Hitmontop taking on Nina's named Cinderace. Hitmontop ran right at Cinderace, prepared to deal a powerful blow with his fist he had pulled back. However, Cinderace was by far faster, dashing forward with his fist that was engulfed in flames pulled back to strike at my Pokemon.

Cinderace quickly slugged my Hitmontop in the gut with his blazing fist, stunning Hitmontop so much he actually coughed up a bit of spit as he was thrown back by the attack, stumbling backwards before falling over and passing out, clearly out of it. Holding up his left hand, the league official who was acting as referee announced, "Hitmontop is unable to battle! The winner is Cinderace!"

I recalled my fainted Hitmontop, him never being able to land his attack. Nessa had viewed Nina as the biggest threat to her out of all of the gym challengers; what I had gathered about Nina, had seen firsthand, had experienced firsthand both back on that day in Spikemuth and right now, it all made Nessa's claims valid. The last time I had faced Nina, she used that named Perrserker of hers against me in our exhibition battle.

Now she was using her named Cinderace, proof that the desire she had ever since she was six (at least) to get a Scorbunny had come true.

No, I cannot allow the memories of my past that keep bubbling up to get in my way. I toss up the pokeball that holds my second Pokemon for this official gym battle. "Pangoro, I choose you!" Pangoro roared confidently upon coming out to battle. I pointed right ahead at Cinderace. "Pangoro, use Night Slash!"

"Usagi, use Low Sweep!" Nina ordered.

Both Pokemon ran at one another, but Cinderace was far faster; he got in close, dropped into an amphibian Pokemon crouch, then stuck his right leg out before spinning around in place, tripping Pangoro up and striking him hard before he fell over, landing hard on his back. After he stopped struggling to try to get up, Pangoro passed out; he is part dark type, and he did just take a fighting type attack.

"Pangoro is unable to battle!" the league official called out, "The winner is Cinderace!"

I recalled my fainted Pangoro, worry starting to bubble up within me. I was down by half my party so far. I need to buy some time to come up with some manner of strategy to at the very least land a hit. "Sirfetch'd, I choose you!" My third Pokemon, Sirfetch'd, came out as he gave a cry of prideful eagerness to fight. "Sirfetch'd, use Detect!"

"Usagi, use Pyro Ball!" Nina called out. Sirfetch'd was able to raise a protective barrier that would ensure he'd last a while. Meanwhile, Cinderace kicked up a pebble that became engulfed in a sphere the size of a football (Galarian, not Unovan) that he kicked right at Sirfetch'd. Given how the Pyro Ball slammed into the Detect that Sirfetch'd had thrown up, I have no doubt that, had he not protected himself, Sirfetch'd would have gone down.

I have an idea, though, but I have to hope for the best. "Sirfetch'd, use Swords Dance!"

"Usagi, use Iron Head!" Nina ordered. My Sirfetch'd proceeded to perform the dance that would boost his attack, but as Sirfetch'd was in the middle of performing his attack, Cinderace ran up and, his head shining like a polished metal ball, he headbutted Sirfetch'd right in the face, mostly in the left side. The slamming force of that attack stunned Sirfetch'd, threw him back until he fell over, clearly out of it.

The league official raised his left hand. "Sirfetch'd is unable to battle! The winner is Cinderace!"

I recalled my third Pokemon to go down. This battle was reminding me of the exhibition battle I had with Nina that day back in Spikemuth, but things would be different here. Unlike over in Spikemuth, here in Stow-on-Side we have a Power Spot. I allowed myself a tiny smirk as I sent out my last Pokemon. "Machamp, I choose you!"

My Machamp, the strongest Pokemon in my gym challenge party, cried out as it entered battle. Right away, I looked at Nina. To my surprise, she recalled her named Cinderace to his pokeball, but power flowed from her Dynamax Band to the pokeball, making it grow giant. Nina then turned around and threw the giant pokeball into the air behind her, calling Cinderace back out. But he grew fairly big, his ears becoming incredibly long, and he stood on top of a gigantic ball of fire that had what looked to be a face on it.

So Nina's Cinderace can gigantimax.

It's a good thing that I can return the favor. "Argh! Fine then, let's just destroy everything! Your skill is worthy of respect- and gigantimaxing!" Just as Nina did with her Cinderace, I proceeded to gigantimax my Machamp. I had done this a lot today, in all of the challenges I fought against the other eight gym challengers prior to Nina. Once the gigantimax was complete, I pointed right ahead at the gigantimaxed Cinderace. "Machamp, use G-Max Chi Strike!"

"Usagi, use G-Max Fireball!" Nina cried. As my Machamp prepared to attack, to my shock I saw Cinderace jump up and kick its gigantic ball of fire right at Machamp. Before Machamp could even get its attack off, the G-Max Fireball blasted right into it, exploding all around it. After the flames died out, Machamp's gigantimax became undone, and when that was finished Machamp was laying on the field in the pitch, knocked out.

Cinderace's gigantimax became undone as well, but due to the fact that the battle was over. "Machamp is unable to battle! The winner is Cinderace!" the league official announced. Gesturing to Nina, the league official declared, "Victory of this battle goes to Gym Challenger Nina!" The roaring cheers of the audience reached a fever pitch, making Nina cower a bit as she covered her ears with her hands.

Nina clearly forced herself to get used to the loud volumes, as she seemed to be gritting her teeth to push through. She recalled her Cinderace as I approached her. Respectfully, I bowed to the girl who had defeated me. "Thank you for the battle." I let out a breath that I was holding in, which I didn't realize until just now.

"Phew... Facing you gave me all the explanation I needed. Battling against you and your team... I hadn't expected it, but it made my heart dance. It's good to be unshakable in the face of battle. But it's good to be moved by battle as well." I could tell that Nina was shaken, but I could also tell that the battle we just had against one another had nothing to do with it. Mother will not be liking this, but there's no choice since Nina won.

"Thank you again. Take the Fighting Badge." I handed Nina the badge that she had rightfully earned, then offered her a handshake, which she accepted. "I hope that you'll meet many more trainers and have many more matches in the future. And I hope that every one of those encounters will nourish your spirit." Nina smiled a bit, happy that I was being courteous towards her. She's earned it as far as I'm concerned.

(Though I highly doubt mother will agree with me.)

A few moments later in the front lobby of my gym, I saw a number of people crowded around Nina, who was standing with her Cinderace, as well as Marnie who had her Morpeko out. The Spikemuth girls and their Pokemon stood behind a protective wall of those Team Yell hooligans that followed Marnie around, clearly trying to keep Nina from being swarmed. Already a few news media persons were trying to shout questions at Nina about the battle she had just won against me, and some Team Yell girls were snapping at them to tone it down.

As I saw all of that unfold, I heard a familiar male voice call out to me from behind. "You know, back when I took the gym challenge last year, Nina would hide someplace quiet with very few if any people around while I was interviewed whenever I defeated a gym leader while I was going through the process of earning all of my badges." I turned around and came face to face with former Gym Challenger Hop, a mildly amused look on his face.

He turned to look over where Nina seemed to look unsure as she was being interviewed. "I never would have expected that Nina would do something like this, taking the gym challenge herself. Of course that belief is due to how Nina is autistic, and that classifies her as a special needs citizen which are barred in Galar from taking the gym challenge."

"From what I had gathered-"

"I already know the story as to how Nina was allowed to compete," Hop cut me off, "Lee told me about it." Hop looked over at where Nina was being interviewed; she gently ruffled the top of her named Cinderace's head. "...Nina came with me on my gym challenge journey," Hop said, "Her mum was hoping some worldly experience would help Nina grow. I even remember the day that Lee gave me the Grookey that eventually became my Rillaboom, given that it was also the same time that Nina got her Cinderace as a Scorbunny..."

(One year ago)

Hop was standing outside of his house with his family. His mom's friend from Spikemuth, Sage Blossomwood, had come over on invitation to the outdoor barbecue that Hop's folks were holding to celebrate Leon coming back home for a bit. There was also something else to Leon's return home; Hop was gearing up to take the gym challenge himself, and Leon, wanting to help his little brother, brought some special guests along.

Three young Pokemon, a Grookey, a Scorbunny and a Sobble, were all brought out by Leon. The three young Pokemon all looked up at Hop expectantly. ...Well, Grookey was actually scratching his butt while giving off a space but comfortable expression, Scorbunny belched, and Sobble despite the reputation of its species had an angry look on its face that reminded Hop of this one scene from this one movie where a wizard shouted at a hobbit.

"They're all a bit rough around the edges, to be sure," Leon said to his younger brother, "But I bet that with time and dedication, the one among these three you pick to add to your team along with that Wooloo of yours that you already have will become an awesome partner to you."

Hop was very much excited to pick the one from among the three Pokemon before him that he wanted, but before Hop could even speak he was cut off by his and Leon's mom, who walked over with Sage. "Leon," Hop and Leon's mom began, "Sage and I were wondering if we could ask you something."

A look of curious interest appeared on the face of Galar's undefeated, unbeatable champion. "Hmm? What's up, mum?"

Gesturing over to where Sage's daughter sat at the picnic table, reading a book with her back turned to everyone else, Hop and Leon's mom said, "You know how Sage's daughter Nina will be traveling with Hop on his gym challenge journey, right? Getting worldly experience and what not even though she won't be taking part in the gym challenge?"

"Your mum and I were hoping that you'd consider letting Nina have one of these Pokemon as well," Sage said, "I believe having a Pokemon would further help Nina grow as a person."

The look on Leon's face made it clear he was on board with the idea. "Should be no problem." Sage then went over to get Nina, had her come over. The then ten-year-old autistic girl was clearly nervous, but all worry fled from her when the situation was explained to her and she was given the go ahead to pick from among the three Pokemon that Leon had brought to have one of them as her own.

Right away, Nina was drawn to the Scorbunny. It looked up at Nina with a smiling face, but it let out another belch. The women, and Leon to a lesser extent, were a bit weirded out by that, but Nina simply giggled cutely and picked Scorbunny up. "...I want Scorbunny, if that's okay."

No one was going to object to Nina wanting to pick Scorbunny as hers to keep. Hop least of all, as he sort of had his eye on Grookey to be honest, which he ended up picking a few moments after Nina ran over to stand next to Sage, sort of hiding behind her as she held Scorbunny in her arms. "Oh! Before I forget," Leon said, "Hop, Nina, are either of you two interested in giving nicknames to your new Pokemon?"

Hop gently shook his head in the negative. "Nah, Grookey is fine as is."

Nina looked down to where Scorbunny laid in her arms, now asleep. "...Is Scorbunny a boy or a girl?"

"All three of the Pokemon that I presented to Hop to pick from are boys," Leon confirmed.

Nina smiled cutely, looked down at her Scorbunny as he snoozed away. "...I'm going to name him Usagi."

The ladies and Leon smiled at that, and Leon turned to face the unpicked Sobble. However, in all of the celebrating of Hop and Nina receiving their Pokemon, the Sobble grabbed its own pokeball and ran off, escaping before Leon or anyone else could stop him. This was rather worrisome to be sure, and Leon filed a report on the runaway Sobble, but that was the extent of what could be done at the moment.

Looking back at Hop and Nina, both happy with Grookey and Scorbunny, Leon couldn't help but smile, his concern over Sobble randomly running off like that evaporating as Leon had taken care of what he was aiming to do (technically) and then some.

(Flashback over)

"...Yeah, Lee never found out what became of that runaway Sobble, but I think he actually forgot all about it to be honest," Hop said. Smiling gently, Hop shook his head. "But that all is besides the point. The point here is that Nina has certainly come a very long way. She's still got a few bits here and there that trips her up, but I'd say she's made considerable progress. Her mum will be so proud, mark my words."

I nodded in agreement with Hop, wishing that mother and I had the kind of relationship that Nina clearly enjoys with her mum. Speaking of which, I saw mother walk past me, accompanied by Commissioners Rosalia and Robin. All three of them, mother in particular, shot me unhappy looks before taking off. This did not escape the notice of Hop, who let off an annoyed whistle as mother and her fellow commissionery board members passed us.

"Geez, what got into the britches of those ladies, I wonder?" Hop asked, "They all seemed fit to chew your head off for some odd reason. Hey, do you know who they are, by the way?"

Hop had no idea who mother and the others were? That's a surprise, given that mother and Commissioners Rosalia and Robin are part of the group that has taken over essentially running the Galar Pokemon League and the region as a whole ever since the down fall of former chairman Rose a year ago. ...Speaking of, wasn't Hop involved in resolving all of that messy business, as well as other things?

I'll have to ask him for details later.

Malty was very much unamused right now. Despite having given Bea the express order to do so, she had not only failed to so much as keep that freak girl Nina from proceeding through the gym challenge, but had gone and made a complete fool of herself during said battle. Malty had never felt more mortified in her life. She had no idea what to now, given that her one shot (that Malty could control) to keep Nina from advancing had gone up in smoke.

Her fellow commissioners on the Galar Pokemon League commissionery board, Rosalia and Robin, were sympathetic towards her; they too couldn't stand it that some freak girl was being allowed to parade all over the region. The three ladies had no idea why Kankuro and the three senior members of the commissionery board, as well as Champion Leon, would all be in favor of having Galar embarrassed on an inter-regional stage.

As such, Malty, Rosalia and Robin all knew that they had to take action, now that Malty's daughter had failed to do as she had been told. While Bea was busy, the three ladies had called Sashay, Rosie and Marina over to Rosalia's residence, where Rosie also lived. The three ladies had wanted to discuss something private with the three girls who they felt they could trust to be loyal to them, if only because they held the same view as they did. ...Well, Sashay and Rosie did for sure; Marina was not as certain, but the ladies felt she was more easily manipulated than Malty's failure of a daughter.

"You wanted to speak to us privately, mom?" Rosie asked, a curious look on her face.

Rosalia let out a troubled sigh. "Rosie, sweetie, I'm not sure if you and your friends here are aware of it, but Gym Leader Piers is trying to plunge Galar into complete and total anarchy."

The three girls all looked at Rosalia dryly. "...Uhh, ma'am," Sashay began, "Piers is the king of Galar's punks. What you're saying he's trying to do doesn't come as a shock."

"You don't quite understand the scope of what Piers is up to," Malty began, "The girls from his city, they've been clearing their way through the gym challenge more or less unhindered. Now imagine it if either one of those Spikemuth girls, or worse yet both, manages to reach the championship tournament at the end of the gym challenge. Hell, imagine it if one of them is able to, despite all logic, reach the championship match against Leon!"

The three girls nodded in agreement, although Marina (not that anyone noticed it) was a little bit hesitant. "Yeah, someone from that backwater town Spikemuth making it that far would give the whole of that place a swelled head," Sashay said, "They have no class, so letting them think that they can stand on equal social footing as the elite of Galar society would lead to the whole of the region looking like it has no class."

"It's part of why my fellow commissioners here and I went through the trouble of locating a trainer who could match those girls from Spikemuth, dear," Robin explained, "Find a prodigy who could not only go toe to toe with those girls, but beat them back and make Piers look foolish for letting them try to embarrass Galar."

"You...You mean Bede, ma'am," Marina remarked, drawing an affirmative nod out of Robin.

The other two ladies nodded in the affirmative as well. "Yes, Bede had been chosen by the three of us to champion our cause, as it were," Malty explained, "The cause of saving Galar from total embarrassment. A prodigy of Pokemon battles like him would get the job done quite well." Malty then let out a resigned sigh. "...At least that's what the theory was. As I'm sure you girls should be aware, every time Bede has had a run-in against Spikemuth's people, it's a battle against that younger sister of Piers's, and Bede loses to that girl every time."

"In Bede's defense," Sashay began, "He's a psychic Pokemon user. That Marnie girl is a dark Pokemon user, so she has the type advantage. Hell, Bede would be in a similar spot of he got into a battle against me or Marina, since my bugs and her ghosts also hold the advantage."

Marina nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Despite how he always loses to that Marnie girl whenever he battles her, Bede still has had a flawless record in the gym challenge otherwise, so he's still been able to prove himself as the Pokemon battle prodigy that everyone hears of him being."

Malty gently shook her head. "It doesn't matter. The fact remains is that Bede's repeated failures against stopping Piers's obvious plot to plunge the region into total anarchy cannot be allowed to continue. As such, Rosalia, Robin and I have concluded that there is no other choice but to have Bede's gym challenge discontinued."

This announcement from the three younger women of the commissionery board gave all three of the girls a bit of a surprise. "...You're going to revoke Bede's sponsorship?" Sashay asked, more confused than anything else.

"That's the plan, sweetie," Robin replied with a single slightly grim nod, "Or at least, it's what we'd like to do."

Malty nodded to the girls in confirmation. "You see girls, while Rosalia, Robin and I technically could just up and revoke Bede's sponsorship right now, thus disqualifying him from the gym challenge, it would look bad on the three of us if we did so without something we can present to the whole of Galar as a justifiable reason for us disqualifying Bede. He needs to do something that the good people of Galar would accept as a good enough reason for us to kick him out of the gym challenge."

"Unfortunately for us," Rosalia proceeded to explain, "The only thing that Bede's done that can be considered bad by any means is lose to Piers's little sister Marnie whenever they battle each other. We can't use that as an excuse because it would arguably make us look worse for kicking Bede out of the gym challenge than if we gave no real reason. People wouldn't view me, Malty and Robin favorably for kicking the boy we've sponsored out of the gym challenge just because he ended up losing a few battles."

"So what do you and the other commissioners here plan to do about it, mom?" Rosie asked.

Rosalia leaned forward slightly, her eyes fixed on the girls as a whole. "That's where you and your friends here come in, Rosie. You see, Malty, Robin and I need you girls' help in...fabricating an excuse to disqualify Bede from the gym challenge."

"You want us to frame Bede for something bad that you and the others here can use as an excuse to disqualify Bede." Robin nodded in the affirmative to Sashay's statement. Sashay folded her arms over her chest. "Well what exactly is it that you have in mind for us to do to make Bede seem like a bad guy?"

Malty let out a resigned sigh at this. "...I'm afraid that you aren't going to like this part, girls. But before we get into that, you're going to want to check the current rankings on how you and the other gym challengers are doing right now." Curious, Sashay and the other girls took out their respective phones and used them to check the current rankings among them and the other gym challengers at the moment.

To the collective surprise of the girls, the top eight had changed. The original top eight were all still in the top eight, meaning Ginny was still the number nine favored gym challenger, but the order of the top eight had changed considerably; as things stood right now, Marnie was now the number one favored gym challenger in the gym challenge right now, and going from there in order of second to eighth was Sashay, Bede, Nina, Marina, Harry, Darnell and finally Rosie.

"Yeah, Piers's little sister outranks all three of you," Malty explained, "And that freak girl outranks both Marina and Rosie."

Sashay and Rosie were both shocked with how much they had fallen in the rankings, Rosie especially so given that she is now bottom of the top right. "...So what is it that you want us to do, despite how you say we aren't going to like it?" Sashay asked.

Malty let out a troubled sigh at this. "...That freak girl, despite all logic, has actually managed to become something of a fan favorite among the people of Galar. My guess is that they see her as something of a special interest story that warms their hearts or whatever."

"The main point here is that the people like Nina, and not only because she's proven to be a strong trainer," Rosalia said. A bit of a devious smirk appeared on Rosalia's face. "...That being said, imagine how the people of Galar would react to it if, say, Bede were to be really cruel to Nina out of the blue for no discernable reason."

"Meanwhile you three come to her defense as friends," Robin further explained, "It would not only give me, Rosalia and Malty the excuse we need to disqualify Bede from the gym challenge, but also it would make you girls look good by coming to the aid of the special needs girl that has somehow manage to capture the hearts of the people."

The girls all looked surprised at this. "...So let me see if I got this straight," Sashay began, "You want us to do something really cruel to Ninny Nina, frame Bede for it, then get him in trouble while coming off as friends to that stupid freak."

"That's the idea, yeah," Malty replied.

"I really don't like the idea of having to play nice with Nina at all," Rosie admitted flat out.

Marina kept silent, not sure on what to say; a part of her actually wants to be friends with Nina for real. After all, Nina has been nothing but nice, has given no (real) reason for others to not want to be friends with her. This seemed like the perfect chance for Marina to build the bridges necessary to achieve actual friendship with Nina. But it would come at the cost of having to frame someone for an offence that they didn't do.

"Whether you girls like the idea or not doesn't matter," Malty explained, "What does matter is us cutting our losses while trying to cultivate as much positive image as we can." It was clear that the girls weren't exactly being given an option here, and it was obvious that they couldn't say anything to anyone about what went on here, what was spoken here. They had to keep quiet as they framed Bede for bullying Nina, come to Nina's 'defense', and give the ladies the excuse that they seek to boot Bede from the gym challenge.

...But then again, none of the girls were exactly wanting to say no. Sashay and Rosie, despite their total dislike for Nina, enjoyed the idea of looking good in the public eye of Galar by coming to the aid of the special interest story that has captured the region's heart; Rosie especially, as this plan would undoubtedly help to boost her ranking if only by virtue of one of the current gym challengers getting booted from the challenge. And Marina, despite her reluctance in taking part in a plan like this, did view it as a chance to do something she's kind of always wanted to do.

As such, the three girls, despite all of them carrying some level of reluctance each for varying reasons, agreed to help the three younger women of the commissionery board. All that remains now is how to carry out the plan. Luckily for the three girls, Sashay had an idea on what to do and how to carry it out.

END, CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Author's notes;

With this chapter, all of the gym challengers are halfway towards the goal of qualifying for the championship tournament at the end of the gym challenge. There was also a bit of delving into Nina's past, showing how she got her Scorbunny that she has wanted since chapter one, although the Scorbunny is now a Cinderace. But Malty, Rosalia and Robin are not happy at all that their efforts to, in their view, make things right have been foiled time and again.

The next chapter will be a rather dramatic chapter to be sure, and it will help solidify the kinds of characters that Malty, Rosalia and Robin really are. Sashay, Rosie and Marina to some extent as well. How things will go down must be seen to be believed, especially considering what Nina is going to be shown to have in her line-up.