[A/N: YEAH, YEAH! I KNOW! It's late! I completely underestimated how much time it would take me to write this part. It was way more lengthy then I thought it was. So, because of that, you are going to see a lot of Plot Oversights, because I started to get real sloppy. Because when I originally wrote this part (back in the beginning of January), there was a lot of Plot Oversights. And since I'm rewriting and polishing what I wrote back in January, it turned into more of just a rewrite. I will try and polish this part up properly once I finish Chapter 1 Part 4. Once I publish that one, I'll go back and polish up this one. Don't worry, I'll tell you when I do it. Now, enjoy this barely proof-read, late, lengthy Part 3.]
The next day...
The flying types were singing, the grass types were swinging, and the water types were swimming. It was a great day in Postwick. Not a cloud in sight. And Hop just got finished telling Gloria about the thief that came by Hop's yard last night. "That definitely sounds like a interesting experience." Gloria said, a bit confused. "So Hop- you spent all night with your starter, right?" Leon asked, "You two getting along alright? Understanding one another?" Leon asked again, like he didn't make it clear the first time. "Of course I did, Lee!" Hop said with a reassuring smile, "And Gloria made fast friends with her Scorbunny too." Hop added. "Then listen up young trainers, believe in yourself and your Pokémon- if you trust in each other and battle side-by-side, day by day, then you just might become worth rivals for me! The champion!" Leon finally finished his long speech. The entire time he was making that speech, his eyes were staring at Gloria. "Hey, Lee! What're you looking at her for? I'm gonna be the next champion!" Leon couldn't even explain before Hop said another thing- "If you think Gloria will be the one to challenge you, then I guess she's my first rival." Hop explained while shouting. Gloria looked at Hop like he just said they were rivals. The only reason she questions this is because that's not a very good move considering Hop's skill. She's seen him battle before, not that great. "Yeah, I guess you are." Gloria said. Hop turned to Gloria, "But, I'm not planning to lose to her and miss out on my chance to beat the unbeatable champion!" Hop shouted, rambling on. This time, Hop was actually talking to Gloria, "Just having a Pokémon doesn't make you a real trainer, you know. Proper trainers raise their Pokémon to be first rate in battle!" Hop said, pretending like Gloria didn't know all that to begin with. "Sure Hop." Gloria stated, deciding to humor Hop instead of shutting him down. "Wait, wait- you think your worthy of calling yourself a proper trainer, Hop?" Leon questioned, Hop looked to be getting a bit heated. "Guess I'll be the judge of that! Let's see you go up against your friend. If she'll be up for it." Leon proposed with a slight smirk on his face.
"Oh, you're on!" Hop yelled.
"Sure." Gloria accepted, once again hiding her intense excitement that she's about to have her first Pokémon battle. Gloria and Hop stood on opposite ends of the battleground, the battleground was unusually small. Like, ridiculously small. "Looks like everyone's on board? Pokémon, and trainers alike?" Alright, let's do this." Leon said with immense excitement. "I've watched every match Lee's had! I've read every single book and magazine he's left at home too! I know exactly what to do in order to win!" Hop shouted while getting ready to throw out that iconic ball, and just like that, Gloria heard Leon yell, "LET'S HAVE A CHAMPION TIME! GO!"
Hop threw his first poke-ball into the air, it sat in the air for about two seconds before returning to Hop's palm as he smacks his hands together with the poke-ball in between. 'Weirdly unnecessary.' Gloria thought as she took out her poke-ball and tossed it into the battlefield, the poke-ball released Gloria's Scorbunny, Orwell. Hop threw his first poke-ball out into battle, it landed and released a Wooloo. "I'll go ahead and let you go first. It's only fair." He said confidently. Gloria took a deep breath and commanded Orwell to use tackle. The scorbunny quickly ran over to head butt the Wooloo, it only caused the Wooloo to step back a bit. Hop did a small cackle. "Get around them and use tackle!" Hop shouted, the Wooloo swiftly accepted and tried to run as fast as it could to get around the bunny, "Keep an eye on it and use tackle!" Gloria shouted as Orwell shifted himself around, looking for the best time to strike. Eventually, the scorbunny finally ran towards the fluffy enemy, ready to head butt it again. Unfortunately, "Dodge it and use tackle!" The Wooloo was surprisingly able to dodge it swiftly as the scorbunny tried to stop in it's tracks. Orwell suddenly got hit from behind and flew forward into the ground. It quickly got up and waited for Gloria to give it the next command. The Wooloo stared the bunny down, maliciously. Gloria had to think for a second, she's been trying to brute force the battle without coming up with a strategy like Hop. "Aren't you going to do something? Or have you given up already?" Hop said, very proud. "Use tackle!" Gloria shouted, the scorbunny, a bit hesitant, starts running towards the Wooloo, ready to strike again. "Dodge it and hit them from behind!" Hop shouted as the Wooloo jumped out of the way. The Wooloo landed and began running straight to Orwell, "Quickly! Fall Flat!" Gloria shouted again. Orwell was a bit confused, but still complied as he laid down on the ground. The Wooloo suddenly tripped over the scorbunny and fell on it's side. "Tackle!" "Get up Wooloo!" The two soon-to-be trainers yelped at the same time. The bunny swiftly got up, much faster then the sheep. Orwell began sprinting towards the Wooloo, about to one kick it's stomach. The bunny's foot smashed into the Wooloo's stomach as the sheep was slid several feet forward, completely knocked out.
Gloria smirked as Orwell jumped up in victory. "Uh well- that was just a warm-up! Wooloo, return!" Hop said as he held out his poke-ball for the Wooloo to enter back into. "Now it's time for my main Pokémon, come on Grookey!" Hop yelled as he threw another poke-ball into the battlefield, this time releasing Hop's Grookey. "I'll let you go first, it's only fair." Gloria mocked. Hop smiled confidently, "Big mistake!" He said before commanding the Grookey to use scratch. It complied and sprinted towards the opposing force. "Dodge it!" Gloria commanded, Orwell swiftly got out of the way as the Grookey scratched nothing but the dust of Orwell. "Tackle!" Gloria shouted as the bunny quickly head putted the frog. Grookey got pushed back a bit before stabiliizing their self. "Just wait Grookey." Hop said. 'He's definitely planning something.' Gloria thought with overall confidence. "Tackle!" She commanded as the bunny started running towards the frog. Hop formed a dramatic smirk. As soon as Orwell came in close to the Grookey, Hop shouted, "Use Scra-" before he was cut off by Gloria saying, "Jump!" The scorbunny jumped with ridiculous height, "Land on him!" Gloria added while Orwell was in the air. Grookey and Hop, both still trying to process what just happened, tried to yell a command. "Dodge it!" Hop shouted, but the scorbunny had already landed on the Grookey. The Grookey was dizzy, but not out. "Snap out of it!" Hop shouted in desperation. "Use Tackle!" Gloria yelled as Orwell swiftly tackled the Grookey. The Grookey then fell unconscious and Gloria had the victory.
"Woohoo!" Gloria squawked out into the sky before spinning around and performing the Charizard pose. "Aw man. You beat my Wooloo and my Grookey? You and that scorbunny are too much." Hop said in defeat. Gloria felt kind of bad for beating Hop. Her one Pokémon was able to beat two of his. She sighed. Hop, despite not looking like it, is a good sport. For the most part at least. "Well, that was a shock. I guess I know why Lee gave you a Pokémon too." Hop said while dramatically frowning. "Both of your Pokémon fought hard. Almost made me want to release Charizard out for some fun too." Leon said with a full grin. While Gloria understands what he meant, she's pretty sure if she fought Charizard at this point in time, her Pokémon might be killed. Gloria has heard stories of people's Pokémon dying various ways during battle. Like, Gloria's grandmother, who was a trainer for most of her life, had a Pikachu and during her battle with the seventh gym leader of the Kanto region at the time, hit her Pikachu with a hyper beam. The Pikachu fainted and seconds after, died from fatigue. This was mostly because her grandmother's strategy was to tire out the gym leader's Pokémon, and then strike. But, the exact opposite ended up happening. Leon turned to Hop's Grookey, which was on the ground, fainted. "Good job out there Grookey, let's get you to a center." Leon said before picking it up off the battlefield. Leon turned towards Gloria, "You, you've got some real promise. Hey, I've got a favor to ask you." Leon stated. "Yeah?" Gloria exchanged. "Be a good rival to Hop. Push him to get stronger, got it?" Leon asked. "You got it." Gloria replied. Leon then turned to Hop, who was already about to say something. "I already want to get stronger all the time! So- come on Lee! Give me the endorsement so I can take those Gym Challenges." Hop tried his best to persuade. The gym challenges were always something unique to Galar. Most regions just had gyms. But Galar, Galar had gym challenges. Where you have to complete a challenge related to the theme of the gym to get into the actual battle. It was unique and many outside regions have criticized Galar's Department for Pokémon Sporting for approving this to happen. Galar's Department for Pokémon Sporting responded with making a correlation between the gym challenges and Kalos' Prismm Tower, and that was the entire response. The only thing Gloria would consider stupid is the 'Champion Endorsement' where you have to be noticed by the Champion to even have a chance at getting to challenge the Gyms. All that does is limit that become Champion next. Now, Gloria isn't saying that Champion Leon bribed the Department for Pokémon Sporting to approve of this rule and keep him Champion for a long time. Yeah... not saying that.
"You? Join the gym challenge? You think your ready for the greatest competition known in Galar history?' Leon questioned. "Not putting the cart before the Rapidash little brother." Leon responded to his own question. 'What does that mean?' Gloria wondered. "If that's what you want to do. Then you two are gonna have to learn a lot about Pokémon." Leon stated. "Wait, why-" Gloria was interrupted, "Especially your friend Gloria over here, before you think about getting you should focus on getting a Pokedex first." Leon disclosed. "A Pokedex helps trainers learn a lot about Pokémon, including their strengths. But you know, it's not all about data. It's about a trainer's passion and love for learning about Pokémon." Leon's lecture stopped. "Right, right. We get it. Pokedex! Let's go get 'em!" Hop shouted with passion. "Looks like it's off to the Research Labs for me and you, Gloria!" Hop said. "Mkay." Gloria responded, unenthusiastic. "I'll let the professor know you guys are on your way." The Champion uttered. "I'm going to be the next Champion, so completing a simple Pokedex will be easy!" Hop yelled again. He should really use his inside voice, huh? Even though he's outside. "Just another page to my legend!" Hop stated. "Hey Gloria, you probably should go tell your Mum that you're going out. Wouldn't want her to worry." Hop suggested. "Sure. I need to grab some breakfast anyways." Gloria said before turning around to leave. As she was walking to her house, she suddenly heard a big crash near where she was heading. Gloria looked back at Leon and Hop, and both of them also seemed to have heard the crash. They all glanced at each other, confused. "Uh, did anyone hear that?" Gloria asked. "Yeah..." Hop said slowly, staring at the source of the crash. "I'll go check it out with Gloria. Leon, you take Grookey to the Pokémon Center. We got this." Hop declared before race-walking over to the source of the sound. "Alright then. Be careful." Leon responded. Gloria soon followed Hop to the crash site.
Once the two of them reached the source, they both saw the fence gate to the forest was WIDE open, and the wooloo trying to smash it yesterday nowhere to be found. "The gate's open, and that wooloo is gone." Hop said, pointing out the obvious. "Crap..." Gloria muttered. Her Mum is going to kill her. 'Well, the only easy way out of trouble is going into the Slumbering Weald to get that wooloo back. But is it really that worth it? I mean, I'm sure Mum wouldn't mind putting together a search party.' Gloria thought to herself. "You don't think it actually broke in there, do you?" Hop asked, quietly. "I think so." Gloria replied softly, contemplating her decisions. "But, it's off-limits! Nobody's supposed to go in there!" Hop informed. "Yep..." Gloria replied softly again. "I remember the professor's granddaughter went in there and came back in a real state." Hop explained nonchalantly. "You're not helping, Hop." Gloria said sternly. "Sorry." Hop said in response. "Well... I'm not going in if your not going in." Hop explained looking into the beast that is the woods. Gloria took a deep breath and stared into the entrance of Slumbering Weald. She's lived here for two years, never gone in there. And now, she has too. "I don't want to get in trouble, so... I guess we're going in." Gloria decided. "I hope your ready for anything." Hop said in disbelief that their actually doing this. "Definitely not." Gloria responded before walking straight in, trying her best to not seem terrified. "Wait for me!" Hop yelled before running to catch up with her.
As they entered the unusually covered in fog forest, Gloria immediately got a sense of dread crawling on her back. "That wooloo, now where do you reckon it got off to?" Hop questioned while admiring the inside of the wooded area. "I have no idea." Gloria answered. She was already worried, but it was for the Pokémon. All of a sudden, the fog starts getting thicker. "The fog is really coming in now, we'd better hurry. Or else this might be trouble." Hop stated in a worrying tone before walking ahead. Gloria hanged behind him, occasionally checking her six, three, and eight for anything weird. This forest was special. Obviously, there's a lot of folklore stuff about it, most of the folklore could be written off as pseudoscience and nothing else. But the fog? No explanation. Zero. The literal only explanation is that a legendary Pokémon lives inside and is currently surrounding the forest with fog to make sure nobody comes inside. There are weirder things in this world. As the two teenagers walk though the heavy fog, Gloria and Hop both attempt to dodge the tall grass patches Their not ready to catch Pokémon just yet. On the path, walking carefully, Gloria thought about something. If their really was a legendary Pokémon here, then why would there be wild Pokémon about, instead of just the legendary? Maybe it's sharing? Despite that weird thought, Gloria continues to go down the rabbit hole that is her imagination. She imagined what it would be like to capture a legendary Pokémon and beat the Champion with it. That'd leave the audience speechless. And then she thought about what would happen if she lost to the Champion with a legendary. That'd leave the audience speechless. After dodging several engaging Pokémon, crossing a stone bridge, and being legit terrified. They eventually hear a loud howl. Possibly coming from a Pokémon. "Did you hear that, sounded like a Pokémon?" Hop stated before looking around quickly. "Yeah, I did hear it." Gloria responded. "I hear it again!" Hop shouted, "It's over there!" Gloria yelled while pointing in the direction of the sound. They both hurried along the path as the fog got heavier and heavier, eventually resulting in them only able to see a few feet ahead of them. Gloria and Hop couldn't even see each other anymore. "Gloria!" Hop shouted ahead of the path. "Yeah!?" Gloria shouted back in response. "This fog is getting really dense, think we should head back?" Hop suggested. "Uh-" Gloria was interrupted, "Nah! We got to find that wooloo!" Hop answered his own question. As the two of them ran through the dense fog, they heard the howls get closer. "Uh, Hop?" Gloria said. "Yeah?" Hop asked, barely able to see Gloria. "I don't think those howls are from a wooloo. It sounds like an actual howl." Gloria explained while trying to see through the fog. "Well, if it isn't the wooloo, then what is it?" Hop inquired. "...I think I'm starting to get why this place is off-limits." He said in a semi-joking tone. "Yeah-" Gloria replied while sweating from the tension of the echoing howls throughout the forest.
Suddenly, the two of them start hearing footsteps. Both of them freeze and start panicking. They both begin frantically looking around them in the thick fog to try and spot the creature, eventually they stared at each other as the footsteps got closer. The two terrified teenagers both look at the source of the footsteps and see a wolf-like creature walking towards them. "WHAT IN THE-" "-bloody hell..." Gloria muttered, interrupting Hop. Suddenly, the creature made a loud screech, and that ended up activating Gloria's flight or fight senses. Gloria opened her bag revealing her Scorbunny, asleep. She swiftly took him out of the bag and placed him on the ground. Orwell jerked up awake, seeing the beast in front him, Orwell started trembling. Gloria instructed the Scorbunny to use ember. Orwell took a deep breath and started rubbing it's paws together extremely fast, eventually causing enough friction that a flame formed in the bunny's paw. Orwell shot the ball of fire towards the mysterious being. The ball of fire flew through the air and hit the creature point blank, and it did... nothing? In fact, the fire just went straight through. Almost like it was an illusion. Hop said something, but Gloria was too focused on fighting the literal god in front of her. "Hop-" Gloria was rudely interrupted by something hitting her in the back of the head. She fell to the floor. She could hear Hop hit the floor also. The last thing she saw before falling unconscious was Orwell running to hide inside Gloria's bag.
Time ticks by...
Gloria was lying on the ground. Fairly uninjured, surprisingly. She slowly opened her eyes to see Orwell standing in front of her, trying to get her to wake up. She eventually moved her head up to see where she was, and she's still in the forest. The teenager got up carefully, her head was a bit sore but that was it for injurie's. She heard another person getting up, it was Hop. He seemed pretty good as well. "Hop! Gloria!" Leon shouted from the dense fog behind them. Orwell cried out to the rescuers. "Lee! I thought you'd come sooner!" Hop complained. "Oh come on. I had to bring Grookey to the Pokémon Center, remember?" Leon mentioned. "Oh right." Hop remembered. "I know I'm pants at directions, but after about thirty minutes, I started to get a bit worried." Leon explained quickly. "Right, so- are you guys okay?" Leon asked. "Mhm." "Yep." Gloria and Hop said in unison. Hop asked Leon something about the wooloo, but Gloria was too preoccupied with stuffing Orwell back into her bag and putting it on. She turned around to face the two brothers to see that their conversation has ended. "So, do we have the wooloo?" Gloria asked. "Yup." Hop answered before pointing at the guilt-ridden wooloo. "At least it wasn't all for nothing, right Gloria?" Hop said with a smile, "Mhm." Gloria carelessly answered, still in shock of what just happened. "Oh! And before we go, Hop, you mentioned something about a 'Mad Pokémon'. What's all that about?" Leon questioned with his eyebrow raised. "It's more powerful then any other Pokémon I've ever seen, and it just had this sort of Aura around it. It was basically an illusion since the moves had no effect-" Leon finally stopped the boy from talking, "Your moves passed right through, right?" Leon said while turning to Gloria. "That's correct." Gloria answered. "With all the fuss that's been going for decades about the presumed fearsome Pokémon in Slumbering Weald... are they just illusions?" Leon said in confusion. "Get strong enough and one day you might be the ones to figure it out." Leon said. "Can we get out of here now?" Gloria asked while glancing around her like a deaf paranoid dog. "Yes!" Leon accepted as he started walking towards what he thought was the exit, with Gloria and Hop sticking close to him.
ith the three of them walking up the path, Hop turned to Gloria to walk and talk. "Even if we did get an earful from Lee, this surely was an experience. What a great first page to my legend!" Hop half-jokingly said. "You mean Third Part of first Chapter, right?" Gloria added with a stone serious face. Hop just stared at her, confused. "Yeah, sure." He replied before continuing to walk forward. Eventually, the trio exited the cursed woods with relieving faces. "Whew. That was a close one." Hop stated. "Yeah, really close." Gloria added while wiping sweat off her brow. "Well, I'll see you guys up ahead." Leon said before running off to Wedgehurst. "Don't forgot to tell your Mum that you're off to Wedgehurst." Hop mentioned before running off to Wedgehurst. Gloria sighed and ran up the steps to her own house. She slowly opened the door, and saw her Mother sitting on the red sofa, sipping tea while reading a book. "Hey Mum-" Gloria was interrupted by the sounds of her Mother swiftly putting the tea on the table and sprinting off to couch to Gloria. "Oh, Gloria, where have you been? It's been an hour!" Gloria is pretty certain it's been more then an hour. "I was... just dealing with those pesky wooloo's." Gloria lied. It was pretty believable, considering recent events. "Well, okay." Her Mother responded. Still a bit suspicious, but not actively worried anymore. "Oi! I'd like to see that Pokémon you got." Her Mom commanded. "Sure." Gloria accepted while getting Scorbunny out of her bag, who was disturbed from his sleep again. "D'aww!" Her Mom uttered before scratching the bunny's ears. "Why isn't he such a sweetheart. But, I assume your not here to just give your mother a hug, right?" Her Mother said. "Uh yeah. I'm going to Wedgehurst." Gloria mentioned. "Oh, well. Go on then! Off to Wedgehurst! You too Scorbunny!" Her Mother commanded. Orwell jumped up on Gloria's shoulder, Gloria waved goodbye to her mother and exited her house. She saw those two signature lazy Pokémon eating whatever her Mother put out. Gloria raced down the steps with Orwell and ran to Route One.
The teenager got to Route One, where she found Hop training Grookey in the tall grass. Gloria considered getting another Pokémon, so that Orwell has someone to train with. It only makes sense. She walked over to the tall grass, and stood next to it. Orwell looked as ready as she was. They both stared at the small Pokémon trotting along inside the tall grass, it was kind of relaxing for Gloria. Orwell and Gloria looked at each other and nodded, they then jumped into the tall grass, waiting for their first attacker. Suddenly, a Skwovet jumped in front of them from the tall grass. Gloria got her Poke-ball ready as she commanded Orwell to use ember. The bunny nodded and shot a ball of fire from his paws after lighting them up. The Skwovet simply panicked and just barely dodged the ball of fire. The grey squirrel started running towards the bunny, ready to bite the living hell out of it. "Use ember again!" As the squirrel was sprinting towards the bunny, Orwell lit his paws up and shot another ball of fire. It hit the Skwovet point blank! And it hit effectively! The Skwovet fell backwards onto the ground, completely vulnerable. Gloria saw the opening and swiftly threw a Poke-ball at the hopeless Pokémon, it collided and the Skwovet was sucked into the ball. Gloria, after so long, as in somewhere around five months, finally is about to catch her first Pokémon. The Poke-ball swung from side to side, once, twice, a third time, and then... it clicked! She had caught her first Pokémon! She was about to scream from sheer excitement, instead of that, she just did a quick spin and Charizard pose. Gloria went up to the Poke-ball lying on the ground. She picked it up and pressed the button to release the Skwovet. The Skwovet sat on the ground, looking up at Gloria, who was couching down to a little bit above the Skwovet's eye level. Gloria stared at the grey squirrel. The squirrel stared back, confused. 'What should your name be?' Gloria thought to herself while staring at the Skwovet. "I got it!" Gloria said. "Hello, Grey." Gloria said, greeting the new member of the Glorian Empire. Grey simply does a friendly squeak. "Great!" Gloria says before returning Grey to his Poke-ball. Gloria started moving through the lengthy grass. She's not getting another Pokémon yet for obvious reasons. More Pokémon = More training. And she doesn't want to do a lot of that right now. Really, she's mostly doing this to be Hop's rival. Speaking of Hop, Gloria hasn't seen in Route One ever since she was about to fight the Skwovet. 'Maybe he went to the Professor's Lab... eh, might as well try it.' Gloria thought to herself before exiting the landscape of Route One.
Gloria stepped into the peaceful town she knows all-to-well at this point. The streets weren't that populated, although there was the ultimate Charizard standing by some people. She made a small laugh. It was kind of heartwarming to see people get this excited about the Champion's Pokémon. Despite her thinking this town is kind of boring, small moments like the Ultimate Charizard showing up with the Champion at least partially make up for it. Gloria starts walking down the road towards what she assumes is the Lab, and sees some people fan-girling about the Champion, so, nothing out of the usual there. And then she sees something that is unusual. A wanted poster. It showed a boy that was about her age, had the same brown hair as her but was a bit darker. He looked dirty and unkempt, especially with the red jacket he's wearing in the photo. The wanted poster talks about how the boy stole a sandwich. She frowned. 'Wedgehurst is a boring town and all, but I don't think stealing a sandwich deserves Wanted status. I think everyone needs something to do here, because it seems like their getting desperate.' Gloria pondered. She stopped looking at the wanted poster and continues walking to the Lab. She reached the Professor's Lab and saw Champion Leon standing next to the entrance. "Well done! You found the Research Lab!" Leon said. "You did far better then my first time. I'm hopeless with directions." 'Lies.' "I'm sure glad I got Charizard with me... to help me from getting lost all the time." 'More lies.' "Now in we go!" Leon shouted. The Ultimate Charizard roared, which startled Gloria a bit. Leon skipped inside the Lab, with Gloria behind him.
As the soon-to-be-trainer and Champion of Galar entered the marble-filled laboratory. 'Looking a lot like a bookstore rather then a Research Laboratory.' Gloria thought, looking around at wall after wall of bookshelves. "I've got to hand it to the Professor, this looks really good." Leon complimented. If Gloria had to agree on something about this place, it'll probably be that if this place was a library, it'd be a lot more fitting. Suddenly, a Yamper comes out of nowhere. It barks while staring at Leon. The Champion looks down at it before petting it's gracious fur. Gloria just stood there, staring at the small Pokémon. Then a women shouts down from the railing above them, "What is it today, Leon?" The unknown women questioned. "Another rare, never seen before, super strong Pokémon you want information for?" The women asked. "I'd wish you stop with these outlandish requests." The women stated. The ginger-ish young adult female came down the steps as Leon looked to Gloria. "Yamper here is a real champ. He's real good at giving you directions." 'How.' "Oh, and good to see you too Yamper." Leon said to the now happily-barking Pokémon. "Oh, and that's his trainer, Sonia." Leon disclosed before pointing at the ginger-ish women. "I like the way she cooks." Leon said half-jokingly. "Tsh- how could you answer with that? Did you forgot that we were rivals back in the day?" Sonia questioned. "Anyways, nice to meet you. Name's Sonia. I'm the Professor's Assistant." She said with a clear smile on her face. Leon turned back to Sonia, "This is Gloria. She's a new Pokémon trainer, set her on the right path, will ya?" Leon softly requested as he followed Yamper around. Sonia sighed. "What does he think I am? He's always got his head in the clouds. No wonder he gets lost all the time." 'Fake news.' "Oh! You've got a Rotem Phone. Hey Rotem!" Sonia called out before the Rotem Phone flew out of Gloria's bag pocket. Gloria always thought the Rotem Phone's were unnecessary, but she still likes having one. "Rotem Phones are useful little things aren't they? They've got a map and navigation tool." 'So... a map and a compass? Couldn't you just buy a map and a compass?' Gloria pondered to herself again. "Then again, Leon still gets lost so..." 'I swear to god-' "Oh sorry, do you know a lot about Pokémon?" After Sonia said that, the Rotem Phone went back into Gloria's coat pocket thing. "Pretty much." Gloria said. "Good! I'll get this Pokedex attached to your Rotem Phone real quick." Sonia declared. "Oh, and also, could you tell Gran that you've received your Pokedex attachment?" Sonia asked. "Who's your Gran?" Gloria reasonably questioned. "Hehe. Sorry, my Grandma is the Professor." Sonia explained. Gloria had an 'ohhhh-' moment right there. She hasn't really heard of Professor Assistants before and Sonia's the granddaughter of the Professor so... It makes a lot more sense. Especially if you feel bad for your granddaughter who probably worked extremely hard, yet didn't become Champion and was now probably sixteen with no future plans. And least that's what Gloria thinks. She handed Sonia her Rotem Phone and Sonia walked with it to behind the counter, plugged in the computer and waited a bit... then Sonia took the Rotem Phone out of the PC and handed it back to Gloria. "Thanks." Gloria said while looking at the new feature on the screen. "You're welcome." Sonia replied with a warm smile. "So. Where's the Professor's house?" Gloria asked. Sonia was a bit shocked by the lack of excitement from Gloria, this is mostly because the last person she gave a Pokedex seemed like he was about to constantly explode from excitement. In reality, Gloria was about to start uncontrollably fan-girling. But, she can keep her composure. "It's a house down Route 2." Sonia explained. "Alright, see ya." Gloria said before leaving the Lab.
The soon-to-be trainer walked out of the lab and started plodding down the street to Route Two. Until she was stopped by some random guy running towards her. "Hey there, trainer!" The random stopped in his tracks. "You just came out of the Professor's Lab, yeah?" The man expounded. "Yeah." Gloria responded. "So you have one of those Pokedex, yeah?" The man also expounded. "Sorta." Gloria responded again. "Sorry, I just love teaching these things to new trainers." The man explained while scratching the back of his head. The man gave Gloria a Pokémon First Aid. "If you can't find a Pokémon Center, just use one of these. They aren't as effective as the stuff in Centers, but they get the job done." The man explained. "Oh... thanks." Gloria said, surprised. "I'm pretty sure you can find them in Centers, actually. Anyways, I need to go teach other trainers things." The man ran off to presumably help more trainers out. Gloria put the first aid into her bag next to where Orwell was sleeping. She locked the bag up and headed on her way. 'Well, if Hop went to the Professor's Lab, then he was probably sent the same way I was.' Gloria deduced as she was walking across Wedgehurst to Route Two. Eventually, she reached the start of Route Two and saw Hop.
"Did you get your Pokedex from Sonia?" Hop asked. "Yep." Gloria answered. "Good! Then you must be ready to build a strong and resilient team!?" Hop shouted. "Yeah, I've got time." Gloria semi-sarcastically answered. "Alright! Let's-wait, do you know about Pokémon Centers?" Hop questioned. Gloria ust stared at Hop with an annoyed expression. "Okay, fine! Bad question! But I bet you haven't been inside one!" Hop stated. "Yep. I've been inside one before." Gloria explained. "Aww. I really wanted to show you the Pokémon Centers." Hop dramatically frowned. Hop sighed. "You know Gloria..." Hop started off. "What is it now?" Gloria questioned, getting a bit agitated. "If you truly want to become a trainer, you'll have to participate in the Gym Challenge." Hop said, acting like Gloria didn't know what this was... for the fourth time. "Yeah, and?" Gloria said. "Mate, it's the Gym Challenge. You know what that is, right?" Hop asked. Lately Hop has been asking really dumb questions. Gloria just stared at Hop with a disappointing look. Hop sighed, realizing what he just said. "Okay, this is the last question, you know how we have to get endorsement to participate in the Gym Challenge?" Hop stated. "Mhm." Gloria responded. "Well, Lee doesn't think I'm up to the snuff." Hop disclosed. 'I guess why I'm particularly annoyed today is because Hop is being extra Hop. Well, at least he has a reason to be.' Gloria wondered. "As one of my probably many rivals, it is your job to push me to become stronger and stronger." Hop explained. Gloria had a very confused face. 'He just said the definition of being rivals.' Gloria thought. "Mkay." She simply responded. "A proper rival is what every trainer needs, right? Keeps you motivated?" Hop said, stating the obvious. "The Professor's house is way down their at the bottom of this hill. Let's head down it, eh?" Hop disclosed before running down Route Two. Gloria looked at the absolutely gigantic hill. She ponders for a while how's she going to get down so fast. This may take her a while. Well, no use in complaining about it, might as well get it over and done with.
Meanwhile at Route One...
Victor paced around on a pathway in Route One. He was still trying to figure out how he was gonna pull this off, it kind of sounded impossible. Like the entire town would have to be incredibly stupid to fall for this. He sat down on the grass and started generating ideas. First of all, he can't just go to the station, he needs to con his way into getting a new Pokedex and one of those Dynamax things. Those will come in handy But, how does he get one? Well, that's what he's stuck on. And then once he's got all that stuff, he'll just leave. Go to the next town, and continue being homeless. "You know what? Screw it, I'll just cut through the fields and sneak into the Lab, once I get in there I'll steal a Pokedex and... find a book on Dynamax, then I'll leave. And if anyone finds me I'll just threaten them with my knife." Victor disclosed to himself. He put on the dirty glasses and sneaked through the fields past Route One. He arrived at the fence separating the field and the town. Victor simply stepped over the fence and hopped across the ditch. The thief attempted to sprint over to what he assumed to be the Professor's Lab, as he reached the front door, he slowly opened it and slid into. The brunette took a couple of steps inside and saw a Yamper. The Pokémon barked at him until some lady walked up to it and picked it up. "Hello! I'm guessing your a trainer?" The lady asked. 'Wait, she doesn't know about me? She must not get out much.' Victor thought to himself. "Yes, yes, I am that." Victor said in his normal accent. He assumes nobody has heard him speak in his regular accent, so he's probably fine speaking normally. "Name's Sonia, what's yours?" Sonia let go of the Yamper to hold out her hand. "John Darling." Victor came up with it on the spot, probably not smart to use Donald Derr again. He then preceded to shake Sonia's hand. "Well, I'm assuming your here for a Pokedex?" Sonia asked while walking away from him towards the Yamper. "That'd be correct." Victor replied. "Alright the. Do you have a Rotem Phone?" Sonia asked again. "Nope." Victor responded. "Well, that makes my job a whole lot easier." The semi-ginger said before heading into the back and grabbing a Galarian Pokedex. After getting the object, she waltzed on over to Victor and gave him the Dex. "Thanks." Victor said. "You're welcome, now you should go visit my grandmother, she's down the hill at Route Two, I'm heading there also. So, I'll probably see you there." Sonia explained before heading out the door with the Yamper following shortly. Victor was the only one left in the Lab.
"She's basic as hell." Victor said under his breath, pocketing the New and Improved Dex. "Well, I'm glad she didn't know that I stole a sandwich. Yeah, such a career-destroyer, stealing a sandwich. God, that's still so stupid." He said in a enraged-like voice. The brunette walked outside the Lab, getting ready to go hunt down a Dynamax. Suddenly, some guy out of nowhere started running towards him. It was someone overweight. Victor panicked and dived into the bush next to him. Victor saw the overweight guy go up to where he previously was and look around, confused. The thief had a sigh of relief. The overweight guy just left the area. Victor poked his head out of the bush, checking the area. It seemed clear. He got out the bush cautiously before booking it to the next one. 'I'm probably overreacting here, but, I have no idea if these townspeople have a Garchomp or something looking for me in the streets.' Victor thought to himself, heart beating pretty fast. The thief ran from bush to bush, being able to dodge most citizens walking along the stone-paved road. Victor eventually came across a sign that listed off several of the locations in Wedgehurst, one of them was describing where Route Two was. 'Score.' Victor wondered to himself from a bush. He got up from the bush he was hiding in and sprinted over towards Route Two. Victor reached the turn in the path that led to Route Two and noticed that the Professor's house looked to be down a very big hill. 'Oh, you have to be kidding me. Is there any way around?' Victor looked around the pathway, finding nothing. 'My god. I'm wicked pissed right now.' The thief thought to himself. 'Well, I don't really have a choice now, do I?' Victor added before walking to the Route Two entrance. "Stupid Professor Pokedex thing-" Victor mumbled to himself as he walked down the steps.
[A/N: Did you spot all the Plot Oversights? Like how I didn't mention at all what happened to the Wooloo after they brought it back? But, whatever. I'm just glad I got this one published. I hope this one was at least entertaining. Now, about Part 4. Part 4 will probably not be out until the day AFTER tomorrow. Because I think Part 4 is as long as this one, maybe shorter, I don't remember. Either way, that one will be better then this one, I know that for sure. Anyways, see you then.]