Thad stretched his arms out, exhaling loudly as he strutted down the main street of Ecruteak City. The cool evening air brushed against his bare chest, and Jasmine trailed behind him with a rejuvenated glow about her, despite the slight frown upon her face.

"That...was some dance school, eh Jazzy?"

"I can't believe you had them give us foot and back massages," Jasmine murmured, crossing her arms. "It's not becoming of a Gym Leader to prey upon other's generosity. You should think the same. They'd already performed for us that wonderful dance."

Thad chuckled and turned back, giving Jasmine a lopsided grin. "But, they offered to do it! I figured it would be rude to decline."

"I think they were just trying to be friendly," Jasmine rebutted. She lowered her voice and turned her head. "That, or they were too busy drooling…"

"What?"

"Nothing!" Jasmine hastily replied. "Uh, the gym is right up ahead. You thinking about challenging a trainer before the night is over?"

"Yup. The bossman himself."

"That's...not how it usually works," Jasmine timidly said. "You generally have to test yourself against the gym's trainers before the Leader accepts your challenge."

Thad shook his head and waved Jasmine off. "I'm not gonna waste my time with his lackeys. I want the whole enchilada, ya know?"

"No, I don't know." Jasmine clenched her jaw as Thad swung open the gym door, posturing in the doorway with his hands triumphantly placed on his hips. "Will you at least consider it? I know how you like practice!"

"That's cute, as I know what you're doing," Thad said, tapping the side of his head. "Nah, we just gonna swagger up into this place like we own the joint."

Thad ducked through the threshold and Jasmine followed, nearly falling over as he stood in the door frame, humming in a low tone. She staggered back, trying to peek past his shoulder blades at the rest of the gym. Jasmine squeezed past the muscled hunk and the doorframe, popping out beside him. His eyes were in a focused squint at the large swath of black that covered most of the dimly lit gym.

"Jasmine."

"Yes, Thad?"

Thad pointed at the three folks standing in the void-like area. "You didn't tell me this gym had an ice rink." He turned toward Jasmine with a grin. "You should have told me sooner. I shred on the ice."

"Actually, I believe Morty described it as a tether of spiritual energy to create a challenge for trainers and to test his own trainers," Jasmine added. She tapped her lip with a finger and tilted her head. "Granted, it's been a while since I've visited and I don't remember the path. With some trial and error, I think we can reach Morty at the end while getting some practice battles in."

"Or," Thad rolled his shoulders and spread his legs apart slightly, forming a solid base. He scooped up Jasmine in his arms and placed her on his shoulder in a fireman's carry. "I was all-state in the triple jump. We don't need to know where the platforms are."

"Thad, please put me down," Jasmine's voice was high-pitched and panicked as she struggled against his ironclad grip. "You can't make a jump that far!"

"Nah, but those dudes out there are on something solid. Just gotta jump from dude to dude."

Jasmine wriggled more to no effect in Thad's grasp. "Please, please don't—"

"YEET!"

He dashed toward the large swath of darkness with the grace of an antelope. His body coiled like a snake as he reached the edge, and then burst out with a tremendous leap. Jasmine's wails and Thad's boisterous laughter mixed into a cacophony of garbled noise as he bounced from platform to platform, nearly flattening each of the trainers standing in the ominous field. The last monk observing the soaring jock had the foresight to step aside and let Thad finish his feat of athletic prowess.

Thad landed firmly on the other edge, locking eyes with the bewildered, dark-haired Gym Leader. He let Jasmine fall to the floor, inhaling sharply from the sudden change in velocity. Her arms and legs shook as she clung to the solid surface, while Thad merely set into a lunge.

"See, Jazzy? When you combine brains and brawn like mine, it's just not even fair. Haha!" Thad triumphantly placed his hands on his hips, and locked eyes with the scarfed Gym Leader who stood across the platform with a pensive look upon his face. "Yo, bro, sweet obstacle course!"

"That's Morty, he's the Gym Leader here," Jasmine wheezed out. "Just… give me a moment."

Thad patted Jasmine on the shoulder, accidentally knocking her back down to her stomach from her hands and knees. "It ain't no thing, Jasmine. I've got this." Thad tilted his chin upward and looked at the opposing Gym Leader up and down. "Ey! We gonna do this thing or what?"

"Excuse me?" Morty replied. His voice was soft and quiet, and his eyes instantly gravitated toward Jasmine. "Are you alright, Jasmine? It's been a first that someone has completed my little gym puzzle with such… interesting tactics."

"I'm fine," Jasmine said, her voice more clear and controlled. She scrambled to her feet and straightened her summer dress, then extended a hand to shake Morty's own. "It's good to see you again."

The Ecruteak Gym Leader wore a black long-sleeve shirt with a purple scarf and headband, both with etchings of red highlights. Thad's eyes squinted at the white squiggly pin he had attached to his scarf, but Morty paid Thad little mind. The backdrop of his area was a small tennis court-sized arena filled with dirt and wood chips, though the lack of equipment did dampen Thad's spirits.

"So, bossman of the totally-not-an-ice-rink gym," Thad said, stepping forward offering his hand for a handshake. Morty took it, though winced as Thad snatched it up in his vice-grip, gave it two solid shakes, and then released. "Good to meet you, bro. So… what kind of gym is this?"

Morty raised an eyebrow and looked over to Jasmine. "You didn't tell your…—"

"Friend," Jasmine interjected. "I've been showing him the ropes on Pokemon care and battling as a favor to Chuck."

A ghost of a smile graced Morty's lips. "Not to mention getting to leave Olivine City for a bit."

Jasmine's gaze drifted toward the floor. "Well, that may have been a small part of it." She then quickly coughed into her fist and gestured to Thad. "This is Thad, my shirtless, uh, friend who's quite enthusiastic but pretty new to Pokemon. He heard there was a gym in town and was excited to see that you were still open. So, now that we've seen it we can—"

"I thought these were for battling, right?" Thad said, grabbing Chad's Pokeball from his belt. "Then if it's okay with the leader man, I'd like to burn off some steam and get a workout for my dudes in."

"We can do that," Morty said, shrugging. "It's pretty slow, and an exhibition would be pleasant." A faint gleam flared in the solemn Gym Leader's eyes. "Unless you're going for badges?"

Jasmine smiled and waved her hands. "Oh, that's awfully kind but I don't think—"

"Hell yeah, bro! Let's make it spicy!" Thad pumped his fist in the air and trotted off toward the battlefield, hooting, and hollering. "Let's go!"

Morty chuckled as he watched Thad get set up with his Machop, and pose with the fighting-type Pokemon. He leaned toward Jasmine and whispered, "so, does he know?"

"We left off on the difference between Ground and Rock types, so he's got no idea," Jasmine relented. "Honestly, he's picked it up fast but gets sidetracked very easily. Mostly by anything he can do a pull-up on."

"Should I go easy on him?" Morty asked.

Jasmine paused, steepling her fingers underneath her chin. "No. Go ahead and give him a challenge. Something tells me he would figure it out if you went easy, and I think he could use a good loss."

"Not so confident in your friend, are we?"

"Let's just say it's mild payback for making me do more squat thrusts than I could count. Or he could count for that matter."

Morty gave a brief salute and jogged off toward the opposite end of the field. Thad had Dwayne and Chad out of their Pokeballs, hyped up and chattering like a sports team going through their pregame preamble. Morty unlatched one Pokeball from his belt and rolled it around in his palm.

Jasmine walked up to the sidelines and sat down immediately, plopping her butt against the hardwood floor. It stung a little, but the momentary pain was well worth giving her legs a break.

"Thad, are you ready for a gym challenge?" Morty shouted, though his soft voice tempered the loudness down. "First I must ask, how many badges do you have?"

"Uh, one I think? One tic," Thad threw off his travel bag and dug through it for a moment, pulling out a small journal. "Yeah, looks like Chuck gave me his. So I got one."

"Wait, you beat Chuck in a Pokemon battle?" Jasmine's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "When were you going to tell me?"

"Well, you see," Thad laughed and nervously rubbed the back of his head, "I didn't really beat him in a Pokemon battle. More like I just wrestled him and his Poliwrath at once, and won. Plus, since I rep his gym he gave me the badge. So I earned it, but not by the way you go on about. Still works, right?"

"It's always up to a Gym Leader's discretion to how they give out the badge," Morty clarified, much to Jasmine's relief. "I've done it for aiding in natural disasters to trainers as much as defeating me."

"Well, there we go. Now, we gonna get this on?" Thad said; a toothy grin on his face. "My boys are hungry for a scrap."

Morty held up his Pokeball and nodded. "Of course. Send out your chosen participant and we can begin in earnest. Jasmine," Morty turned to the steel type leader, "care to referee?"

Jasmine nodded and gave a thumbs up to Morty. Thad gave his Machop a fist bump, and then Chad ran out near the center of the field. The spunky Machop raised its fist and sunk into a karate stance with its knees bent shoulder-width apart.

"Come on out, Gastly!" Morty shouted, tossing the ball into the air. A red stream erupted from it as it reached the peak of the toss, and a purple ball of gas with large eyes and a mouth with two canine fangs formed in the air as the Pokeball returned to Morty. "My specialty is Ghost types, Thad. Prepare yourself."

Thad squinted at the floating Pokemon and then back down to Chad. Then back up again. Jasmine tried her best not to giggle as she watched the gears in Thad's head go into overdrive.

"That's...a fart with eyeballs, bro," Thad pointed at the Gastly. "Uh, you said ghost dudes?"

"Yes, that is roughly what I said," Morty confirmed. "Though, I'd appreciate it if you didn't make derogatory comments toward my Gastly. They're a little self-conscious about their body image."

"Bet." Thad gave a curt nod and then refocused on Chad, who also appeared mesmerized by the floating Pokemon. "Well, uh, go ahead and give 'em the ole slap, I guess?"

"Chop!" Chad shouted back and charged at the Gastly. Morty gave no instructions as the Machop closed the distance, raising an open palm over its head. The Gastly looked unphased as well, almost confident as the Machop came within striking distance.

Then, as Chad swung his hand down, a faint pop boomed from the field as the Gastly was hurled backward from the Machop's strike; a small clear tag dropping from its trail of purple smoke.

Morty hummed in approval. "Dark-type moves on a Machop? Quite clever. I must admit that I didn't see that coming."

Thad turned to Jasmine, loudly whispering, "Psst. What's a Dark-type move?"

Morty gave Thad a blank stare while Jasmine buried her face in her hands. So either that was the wrong question...or I'm just way better than they thought, Thad quickly surmised. He smirked and pointed at Gastly. "Alright, do it again Chad! Take that floaty dude down!"

"Alright, Gastly. Use Hypnosis," Morty commanded. A faint blue aura surrounded the Gastly, and then the air rippled a bit as the Machop closed in, but he dramatically slowed and then fell on his face, sound asleep.

Thad's jaw dropped. "What. They can do that?" He turned to Jasmine. "Is that like a foul or something?"

"Yes. Status afflictions are a legal move type and sound strategy," Jasmine replied. "Sorry for not explaining that earlier, but you got hung up on that theory—"

"Gastly, use Dream Eater," Morty softly commanded. A swirl of purple energy engulfed the Machop, and then ripped away from the snoozing Pokemon and filled into the Gastly. "Psychic-type moves are a staple against Fighting-types, though they are a niche pick against my gym at times, especially considering trainers coming from Goldenrod."

"I didn't need the history lesson, bro," Thad replied in an irritated tone. "I literally didn't know that putting dudes to sleep was a legal fight move. Seems kinda wack if you ask me." He looked at the snoozing Machop, his chest rising and falling very shallowly along with some twitching, and grumbled under his breath. Thad took out Chad's Pokeball and recalled him. "Fine then. I'll have Dwayne give it a swing."

The Geodude hopped into the field, locking eyes with the Gastly. The two Pokemon exchanged little quips as Thad analyzed the field of play and the relaxed-looking trainer.

"Alright, throw some stones, my dude!"

"Gastly, dodge, and then go Hypnosis!"

"Dwayne, close your eyes and throw more turf!"

The Geodude quickly began to uproot the dirt floor of the gym, quickly balling up the matter into dense stones and hurling them across the arena at the Gastly. The ghost type used its full mobility to weave in between the buckshot of rocks. Once the hail of rocks cleared, the Gastly paused and looked around fervently for the now missing Geodude.

"Gastly, on guard! The Geodude is—"

Thad smirked as the Geodude erupted from the ground below Gastly. "Right on time, bro!"

Unfortunately, the fanfare was short-lived as the Gastly merely drifted upward out of the Geodude's range, avoiding the ground attack altogether. Thad pinched the bridge of his nose as the Gastly and Morty took advantage of the opening with the Hypnosis/Dream Eater combo, managing to lull the Geodude into a soft slumber.

"Geodude is unable to battle!" Jasmine shouted, and then extended her arm gesture toward Morty. "The victor is Morty and his Gastly!"

"Well, that was something," Thad grumbled, recalling Dwayne to its Pokeball. "But...I gotta be a good sport. And find a damn rulebook," he whispered under his breath as he walked to the center of the slightly disheveled arena to meet Morty.

Morty extended his hand out again for a handshake, offering a sheepish smile. "You gave an honest effort, and I can respect that. I just think you need more time acclimating to how Pokemon battles really work, as well as type and ability knowledge. You have talent in this."

Thad gripped the hand of the Gym Leader, giving him a tight squeeze. "Aye, I get it. I thought you were cheatin' for a hot second. I guess I do have more to learn…"

"Please return whenever you're ready for another challenge," Morty insisted, smiling. "Again, I do believe with more practice, you could be quite formidable."

"Gotcha, bro." Thad nodded. His voice had lost the fire from earlier and his eyes appeared dulled as he walked toward Jasmine, helping her up. "Let's get some sleep, eh? I think it's been a long day."

"We're not going to do that evening routine that you—"

"Not tonight, Jazzy. Just some meditation," Thad said in a tired tone. "I let my bros down, and that's on me. Gotta do some reflecting. That's all."

"Oh, okay. Then to the Pokemon Center?" Jasmine asked in a cheery tone. She smiled up at the buff trainer, though his face was neutral, his eyes were wandering and his mind clearly elsewhere.

As the duo made their exit from the Ecruteak gym, Thad coughed and lowered his voice. "Hey, Jasmine?"

"Yes?" She immediately replied, excited to hear him talk rather than him merely stew in his own thoughts. "What's on your mind?"

"If ghosts are real, what else have you been holding out on me?" Thad whispered.

"Excuse me?"

They stepped into the street, only the lanterns from nearby houses illuminating the night. "Like, are dragons a thing? And other fantasy stuff?"

"Yes, dragon-type is another type we haven't gotten to yet, but—"

Thad placed a finger on Jasmine's lips, silencing her. He leaned in; a quizzical look upon his face. "So you were waiting on telling me about all the cool Pokemans? Instead, ya had to talk to me for hours about why some corn has legs and others don't?" He reeled back as if he'd been struck in the gut. "Bruh."

"I...think this is a tomorrow conversation, yeah?" Jasmine offered; her haggard voice matching her exhausted movement. "Is that good with you?"

Thad let out a puff of air, observing the frosty breath for a moment. "Yeah, that's fair. Let's hit the hay and come up swinging tomorrow."

Jasmine groggily came to the sounds of Pokemon chatter and Thad's booming voice in the far corner of the room. Her eyes were blurry as she turned her head, trying to look at what the jock had gotten a jump start on. Her hand settled on her PokeNav she left on the bedside table, and after a few blinks, she read the time.

5:48.

"Why is he up," Jasmine groaned, pulling the covers over her head. "Why."

Another round of chatter and high fives erupted from Thad's posse, and Jasmine tossed the covers off. There would be no rest when Thad had a plan it seemed.

"Ey, look everyone, Jasmine's awake!" Thad said, waving to her.

His outfit had changed slightly since they had gone to bed: he now wore a red and white headband along with his generic white gi pants. Chad and Dwayne also had matching headbands.

On the far wall of their rental room, he had placed up a large butcher paper covered in indescribable markings with various colors. Jasmine's morning daze quickly evaporated as she squinted her eyes at the large makeshift poster.

"Okay...what did you do? Also, it's not even 6," Jasmine stated, swinging her legs to the side of the bed. She'd slept in her clothes from the other day much like Thad had; Pokemon Centers were a treasure trove of resources for passing by trainers from rooms, to showers, and other Pokemon accommodations, considering one was registered within the region.

Thad's eyes lit up and he clapped his hands together. "Nice to see you up. You looked tired, so I let you sleep in, which is when I decided that—"

"You let me sleep in?" Jasmine's voice dripped with an incredulous lilt. "You can't be serious."

"Oh, yes actually, and you're welcome by the way," Thad said matter-of-factly. "Did you know the PokeMart sells big paper? And charts? Cause I didn't until about an hour ago."

Jasmine squinted her eyes and nodded along. "So you made...a chart on Pokemon types and advantages, if I can read your handwriting correctly."

"Exactly!" Thad pointed at Jasmine as if to exemplify his motif. "You see, any sport is two-fold: execution and planning. I got the goods to execute but I didn't have a plan, cause I didn't have all the information! But it gets better," Thad rushed over to the large butcher paper and flipped it over with the help of Chad. The other side of the paper was completely covered in diagrams and silly figurines. "You see Jazzy, I wasn't a student of the game. And if Madden taught me anything, it's that my head needs to be in it."

"So you're feeling better?"

"Oh yeah. Like after any loss, I woke up in the middle of the night, gave myself one walk in the moonlight to reflect upon my failures," Thad made a popping sound with his mouth, "and then it's back to the grind, baby."

"Wow. You are resilient, I'll give you that," Jasmine said, now fully awake. She looked closely at the headbands he and his pokemon were wearing. "You said you went to the Pokemart. Did you get anything else?"

"Oh!" Thad snapped his fingers and rushed over to his travel bag. He began digging through the bag until he pulled out a small spritzer-type object, and tossed it to Jasmine. "You gotta try that spray body oil. My skin feels smooth as silk. The dude at the market said it works great on healing Pokemon too! "

Jasmine narrowed her eyes on the pinkish canister. A swear nearly slipped past her lips as she looked up at the excited jock. "You used… a hyper potion as body oil?!"

"Sick branding, right?" Thad chuckled, giving Chad a fist bump. "My crew and I are looking mighty slick. You should try some."

Jasmine dropped the depleted potion and leaned back against her bed. She looked to Thad's bed; already cleaned up and perfectly folded like nobody had slept there. She wondered if he had even slept, let alone if this was how he coped.

"Are you okay?" Jasmine asked. She began to twiddle her thumbs and looked toward the ground. "I know we don't know each other that well yet, but I want to make sure that I didn't cause you too much stress. I know I could have warned you better, but tell me if—eeep!"

Thad had slid up to Jasmine, down on one knee, and a finger to her lips. His smile was like a sunrise as it warmed her heart and his sparkling eyes bore into the depths of her soul.

"Jazzy," his smooth, sultry voice filled her eardrums, "I know not everyone can handle me all the time. I got a lot of energy. I like to show off. But can I be real with you?" Jasmine nodded, feeling locked in place but not panicked. She could smell the mix of floral hyper potion mixed with oaken aftershave as stared up at her. He rested a hand on her thigh and sighed. "I'm just a dude that's got no clue what is going on like most of the time, and I can flex like a straight-up champ. I know shit was wack last night with that fight and then the gym battle, but lemme know when I need to tone it down for you, alright? We gonna be on this road for a bit, and I wanna make sure it's rocking for the both of us. Ya know?"

"I...think that sounds good," Jasmine softly replied. "So what are—"

Thad yanked Jasmine up into a great big bear hug. "Alright, bring it in!" Thad's head looked over to his Pokemon, and he gave them a side nod. "Bring it in my dudes, it's a group hug!"

"No that's really not—"

Jasmine groaned as she felt the Geodude and Machop dogpile onto the hug, squeezing the already airtight hug. She felt her ribs momentarily whine for release, and then her wish was granted as Thad and his crew gave her some space to breathe.

"Alright my dudes, we got a five-minute water break and then we going out in the field to practice some of our moves! Especially the one."

Chad and Dwayne hopped up onto Thad's bed and sprawled out; at least the Machop did and the Geodude rolled onto his back. Thad gave his two Pokemon a thumbs up and looked back to Jasmine.

"So, are you going to be ready in a bit? Was going to crack that mystery ball I snagged last night. Talked to the nurse downstairs earlier, and she said it wasn't registered."

"I can be ready." Jasmine instinctively ran her hands through her bedraggled bed head. "Just let me change and then I can be right there with you. Pokemon from Team Rocket can be volatile to change."

Thad flashed her a toothy grin. "Nice! Also, I took the liberty of getting us a bunch of calcium, protein, zinc, and iron. Gotta have those supplements!" Thad double-take toward his Pokemon, and then leaned toward Jasmine's ear. "Also, there's this stuff called HP Up and PP up. Is that like, legal? Also, does it work? Asking for a friend."

"It's primarily for Pokemon, like extending their memory for move usage and bolstering their health," Jasmine confirmed. "What did you think it was?"

"Nothing," Thad replied a bit too quickly, earning a small glare from the short brunette. "Anyways, see you changed in five?"

Jasmine grabbed her travel bag and skipped toward the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. She looked in the mirror; dark circles dominated underneath her eyes and a thin line of sweat had collected on the collar of her grey summer dress.

"Can't believe I look like such a mess. He's gotten me running ragged," Jasmine mumbled to herself. Despite how her muscles felt depleted and her mind was exhausted, a small smile had fought its way onto her face. She looked up at the mirror and smiled at the tired girl who looked back at her. "But this is an adventure. My adventure. I finally got one after all this time being cooped up in the gym. I'm going to get him to Bruno. We're going to prevail."

A small crash echoed out from the rental room.

Jasmine whirled away from the mirror and shouted, "Everything okay?"

"Fine! Just trying to do curls with Dwayne!" Thad replied, his voice tense. "Just a few more...reps!"

Jasmine giggled and rolled her eyes. "And it looks like I'll never be bored with him around either."

A/N: I have returned for another installment of sheer insanity. Maybe not insanity, but it's certainly fun to write up. Thad's being a bro, in action and in sentiment here. I haven't fully decided if it's going romance or just really good friends yet, but I'm just playing it scene by scene and seeing what feels natural for these characters that help compliment each other. We'll see, right?

Next chapter: More Pokemon action and interaction, so if it felt light on Dwayne and Chad, then you'll be getting more of them next round along with what's in the mystery ball!

Once again, thanks for all the awesome reviews and feedback! That kind of stuff makes my day, and I highly appreciate the input. I read it all, and consider what you all have to say, so once again, thanks :)

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Until next week, take care, and thanks for reading!