A/N: Team Roster: Jackson (Scorbunny), Bella (Yamper), Lacey (Wooloo)

Chapter 3 - The Gym Challenge

It was their third day in the Wild Area. Dolly's chest heaved as she pried off her boots and inhaled sharply as she peeled off her socks. Laying them out in front of her with a grimace, she slowly wiggled her toes.

They were swollen, with blotches of red pocking where her shoes were too tight. The skin around her blisters were peeling up, just a bit paler than the fresh skin around it. Her legs ached, and her shoulders had a simultaneous dull and sharp shooting where her backpack straps sat. She let out a groan and flopped back onto the grass.

"This is rubbish," she grumbled. "Hop better be grateful that I'm doing this for him,"

"That's what you get for always sitting on the couch," Jackson stated, raising his eyebrows.

"What do you know, we only met a week ago," she huffed from her spot on the ground.

Her view of the sunset sky was interrupted by a Scorbunny face.

"Am I wrong? You have like, zero muscle."

Dolly looked to the side, avoiding eye contact with the Pokémon in front of her. She grumbled as she lifted herself back up to a sitting position, gazing at the camp before her as Jackson trotted off smugly. She lifted her arm and tried to flex. Maybe if she pushed some skin up on her upper arm it could look like a bicep? Whatever. He was just a foot-tall bunny with toothpick arms too, what did he know.

Her team darted about, filled with an unimaginable amount of energy compared to how she was feeling. She leaned back on her elbows as she watched them play. There were only two new team members, a Bunnelby and a Grubbin, who seemed to be getting along fine with the rest of her Pokémon. One more team member and that would be six - couldn't get too attached to too many, just in case.

It had been a while since Dolly interacted with so many Pokémon at once, and she wasn't quite sure how to do it. Should she treat them like a classroom of students? As a group of friends? Or something more dramatic, like a team of seasoned warriors or something?

They all cheered as Lacey headbutted Jackson into a tree stump. She scratched the seasoned warriors idea out pretty quickly.

Her stomach tightened as dusk crept over the Wild Area. This night was exactly like the one so many years ago: cool, a slight breeze, the grass already dewing over in the spots the sun hadn't hit for a while. It had the type of air that sticks to the lungs a bit, then chills and makes nose hair prickle. The kind where her feet ached, dirty and grass-stained, but it was okay because she could wash them up quick before supper - but only when mum flashed the back porch light a couple times. It was after a day of adventuring, of training, and plenty of laughter. Of just her and her Pokémon. Just one, at that time, though.

Her Pokémon and her used to dart around the forest with the flower crowns they made together, giggling as they pricked their fingers on burrs and thorns as they reached for the Pecha berries in the bushes behind her old house. She could remember how she smiled, what her laugh sounded like. Her heart clenched in her chest at the thought. That was before…

Dolly fiercely shook her head, almost whipping her glasses off her face. She shook it again for good measure, as if to shake the memories out altogether.

That was a different time, a different life. That was before she moved to Postwick. Perhaps it won't happen like that this time, she faintly hoped. She let out another deflated sigh as the sun finally sank beneath the horizon. Perhaps things will be different this time.

"Alright, team," she called, forcing herself up off the ground, wincing as little pebbles dug into her raw feet. "Who wants some grub?"

They all circled around her gleefully with cries of 'Me! Me!' and an excited buzz from Sap, her new Grubbin.

After a quick batch of curry, they settled in for the night. They all snuggled up against one another as Dolly unfurled her tent like a blanket over all of them. After an unfortunate escapade filled with plenty of frustrated grunts, an accidental fireball, tears in the fabric, and an apologetic Yamper, their first night in the Wild Area set the stage for the rest of their nights in the Wild Area: all sleeping together to keep warm under their dilapidated tent shreds. At least it wasn't raining this time.

It took eight hours, Jackson leading morning calisthenics, breakfast porridge, and they were on the road again.

"Miss Dolly, are we almost there?" Lacey asked, trotting along beside her. "I don't mean to complain none, but some of the folks on the team are getting real tired of traipsin' through these fields,"

Dolly reached down and gave her Wooloo a pat on the head.

"I'm sure we're getting close, Lacey," she said. "Motostoke's getting bigger by the day. I suspect we'll be there by lunch time."

It was true. The city that was just a speck at the Wild Area train station was now a looming industrial giant.

"I don't mind travellin' so much anymore, though, Miss Dolly," Lacey said, looking down sheepishly and brushing against Dolly's leg. "At first, I was real scared, but now it's not so bad. I like havin' everyone on the team, they're all real friendly. An' you're a real good Trainer,"

Warmth spread throughout her chest and Dolly bit her smile back. Maybe keeping two would be fine.

As they traveled closer, Motostoke seemed to loom taller and taller, and yet the path winding there looked longer and longer. They encountered an array of wild Pokémon, built up a few levels, and finally made their way up the steps of Motostoke.

Dolly's legs wobbled as she took in a breath. The city was magnanimous. Bricks, vendors, and Pokémon lined every inch of the streets and smoke billowed out of the skyscraper-like pipes that rose in the air. Windows sparkled in the sun, casting an orange glow on the city.

She had a crick in her neck, but she didn't care as she arched her head to see the tops of the buildings. The river gushed beneath the bridge, coursing through the city just as the residents above did. Dolly stopped at the end of the bridge, taking in the rest of the site before her. People and Pokémon bustled to and fro, stepping around the wide-eyed Trainer standing in the middle of the street. She had never seen buildings so tall, not even before she moved to Postwick. The city seemed to buzz with music, as Pokémon sang with their Trainers on the corners, and shopkeepers shouted their deals from their welcome mats. Dolly grinned as the magnanimity of the city soaked into her skin.

"Hey, Dolly, you finally made it!" a voice called.

Dolly waved a greeting as a tall red head sauntered up to her. Sonia stopped and twirled her hair with a grin.

"Real ace of you to make it through the Wild Area! Seems like your trek ran you ragged, though," she added with a pitiful glance to Dolly's haphazard appearance.

Dolly looked through her smudged glasses to the rips in her dress, the mud on her shoes, and the dirt under her nails. Yikes.

Sonia offered her a pity laugh and set her hands on her hips.

"Alright, here's the deal. It's barely the afternoon, and something about the way your mouth's been hanging open this whole time tells me you've never been to a city like this, and Sonia's here to show you around. Let's pick up some new clothes for you, I've got a friend at a salon down the road that can fix up your hair, and then I'll treat you to lunch, sound good?"

"If Sonia's buying lunch, count me in!" another voice called. Hop jogged up to meet them, grinning. His eyes widened when he took in Dolly's haphazard appearance and he took in a quick breath through his teeth. "Yeesh, Dolls, did you crawl all the way here?"

Dolly was about to retort but Sonia interrupted.

"Dolly and I are actually about to go shopping and get our hair done, if you'd like to join that?" she asked, setting a hand on her hip. "If not then buzz off."

"Buzzing off," Hop said with a salute. "I'll catch you guys later then."

Sonia and Dolly laughed at the grimace on Hop's face and they headed toward lunch first (per the request of Dolly's grumbling stomach), then the boutiques together. She tossed out her old pink dress in favor of non-disgusting, inconspicuous, normal leggings and shirt. Sonia kept trying to get Dolly to buy lots of frills, lots of patterns, and lots of blindingly-bright neon that made Dolly's skin look like washed-out paper. After a little back and forth, Sonia did persuade her to buy a skirt to go over her leggings and some peach-colored glasses, just to liven up her look at least a little bit.

"Thanks for all of this, Sonia, but you really don't need to spend all this money on me," Dolly said, feeling along the fringe of her new black skirt. "I feel a little guilty,"

Sonia waved her off, grinning and twirling her hair again.

"Oh, come off it. I've always wanted a little sister to spoil, and you looked so bedraggled coming up those steps to Motostoke. Gran gave me some pocket change, and it's the least I could do for my best mate's little brother's best mate."

It took her a second to do the mental math as Sonia laughed again.

"Speaking of those two, though," Sonia continued as they made their way toward the salon. "Leon said you can talk to Pokémon, is that true?"

"Um, yeah. Sometimes it's nice, sometimes it's annoying," she shrugged. She really wouldn't mind not hearing those two Sqwovets screaming at each other every time she sat in her living room.

"Fascinating," Sonia replied, looking into the sky. "Do you know why? Like, did you learn it somehow?"

Dolly shrugged, watching two kids kick around a ball with a Pikachu.

"I dunno, I've been able to for as long as I can remember."

"Are there other odd things that happen with you and Pokémon?" Sonia asked.

A bell tinkled as they walked into the salon. Dolly shrugged again as the beautician took her bag and jacket. Why was everyone pushing this today? When Hop found out she could talk to Pokémon he just said 'wicked,' asked if his Wooloo thought he was cool, and they moved on with their lives.

Sonia squinted her eyes.

"Have you lived around Pokémon much?"

"Just as much as any other person."

The beautician guided the pair further into the building.

"Are you good at learning new languages?"

"Not really, sometimes I feel barely fluent in the one I do know."

"What about social cues, body language, things like that?"

"Hardly."

"You wouldn't happen to have the Nuzlocke Curse, would you?"

Dolly's jaw dropped and her eyes went wide.

"How did you..?"

Sonia nodded, a slight smile appearing on her face.

"Lucky guess. I read about it in a book recently. It was about communicating well with Pokémon, and it listed that as an exceedingly rare condition - so rare that it's only been speculated about in theory. I've never heard about a real human being able to speak to Pokémon, so I've been dying to ask you ever since Leon told me. Can you tell me about it?"

Sonia seemed pretty normal, pretty nice, and genuinely interested in Dolly. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to let her know a little bit…Just the basics.

"I've never met anyone to know about it besides me and my mum... But I've known I've had it for a couple years, now. Not sure if I was born with it or if it came along later," Dolly said as the beautician leaned her back in the basin.

"Girl, I've never seen so many sticks in a client's hair," the beautician grimaced to herself as she picked out remnants of the Wild Area.

"When did you start noticing signs?"

"I think I was about seven or eight," Dolly continued as Sonia looked on inquisitively, a hand on her chin.

"That same book guessed Trainers could only catch a limited amount of Pokémon, is that true too?" Sonia asked as she spun in the chair beside her. "The authors predicted it's something about the blood of the Trainer, counteracts something in the technology of the Poké Ball, interacts with the language part of the brain or something. But again, it's all just speculation."

Dolly pursed her lips at the concept. After she caught her first Pokémon, she tried a billion times to catch others around her house, only for the Poké Balls to break.

"That might explain why I always feel so tingly, too," Dolly whispered, looking at her hands.

"Tingly?" Sonia repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"You know how you feel when a body part falls asleep, and just starts to wake up? It's like a bunch of Beedrill stinging at numb skin. It doesn't hurt, it's just really uncomfortable, so I don't try too many extra times anymore," Dolly said, her voice tapering off as the beautician shampooed through her hair. "It does really hurt, sometimes, but that's just when...um…never mind…"

When what? They died? Sonia was nice enough, but Dolly didn't really want to delve into that bit or her backstory with a woman she met a week ago. Sonia seemed to know at least two things about the Curse, but Dolly was hoping that was the limit. She couldn't decide if she wanted those authors to have written more information for her own sake, or less so she'd get fewer questions from Sonia.

After the beautician brought her to the chair and Dolly picked out a new hairstyle, she explained to Sonia a bit more.

"I've never met anyone else with something like this, so it's kind of hard to measure," she said with a shrug.

"It sounds interesting," Sonia said, twirling her hair. "Gran's got me on this historical project right now, and that's all the book mentioned anyway. I haven't been able to find any other reliable sources, but if I find out anything else about the Nuzlocke Curse, I'll let you know."

"Alright, honey, take a look."

Dolly grinned at her fresh, new appearance, thanked the beautician, tipped her significantly, and she and Sonia stepped back out into the setting sun of Motostoke. As they walked down the brick streets, Dolly tugged at her new hairstyle. She had never gotten her hair longer before, so she wasn't quite used to how it sat. She fiddled with it and the shopping bags she was holding when then they spotted Hop and Wooloo walking down the main street.

"Hey girls, finally done with all your doll houses and pillow figh-" Hop stopped mid-sentence, his jaw still hanging open.

"What?" Dolly asked, looking behind her.

His eyebrows pulled together and he blinked a few times.

"You look...different."

Dolly raised an eyebrow.

"Astute observation. Apparently Fairy-type Pokémon can make your hair longer in minutes. It felt pretty weird. My mum's always cut my hair and I've never had it done before, much less gotten it so much longer in one sitting. Keeps getting caught in my bag straps, though," Dolly added with a grumble, hiking her backpack up again.

She picked at the ends of a few platinum strands that laid over her shoulders. Hop's gaze flitted to her face and lingered just another second. She noticed his jaw clench as he swallowed.

"Huh."

She wasn't quite sure why, but Dolly was also glad the beautician persuaded her into letting her test some new mascara on her. After another beat Hop flung his arms behind his head.

"Pokémon are ace, don't you think Dolls? 'Cept giving a Feebas long hair still makes it a Feebas," he ended with a grin.

"I oughta smack that stupid smirk right off your face," Dolly growled. "I'm sure this Wishing Star can add some extra damage."

"Sorry Dolls, as much as I'd love to stay around for that, I've got a date with a Gym Challenge registration sheet! I'll save you a spot!"

And with that he was off, sprinting through the streets of downtown Motostoke.

"...Twit."

"Happy to see you two embrace a healthy rivalry," Sonia sighed from beside her. "To be fair though, I've never heard Hop pay attention to anything that wasn't a Pokémon or his famous brother. Pretty impressive he noticed a change in you,"

"Come off it, Sonia," Dolly grumbled. "The bloke called me an ugly fish."

"Can't deny that one, mate," Sonia chuckled. "Anyway, you ready for the opening ceremony? How is your Pokédex coming along?"

"I've caught a couple Pokémon...they're a pretty lively bunch." She flinched at the memory of her mangled tent and their weird game of seeing who can headbutt Jackson the farthest.

"Now that you've freshened up a bit, why don't you head up to check in at Motostoke Stadium? It's right up the road," Sonia said, motioning to the monumental stadium at the end of the path. "Just follow the purple head sprinting down the road and you'll get there in a flash."

Dolly left Sonia with a wave and a thanks, then set off for the stadium. She was surprised to run into Leon, who directed her up the lift and to the front doors. Although he was eloquent and charming as always, she successfully managed out a grunt of gratitude like the Conkledurr she was.

"Took you long enough," Hop grinned. "Coulda got a manicure myself with how long I had to wait here,"

"You could have gone in, you know," Dolly said, rolling her eyes.

"I couldn't have you miss this part of my legend! What kind of mate would I be?"

Dolly rolled her eyes again as the pair pushed through the grand glass doors to Motostoke Stadium. Their jaws dropped in unison.

"Would you look at this," Hop breathed. "This place is packed with Gym Challengers! Every one of these folks is another rival!"

The brick walls arched to the ceiling, which to Dolly, seemed like a thousand stories high. The grand entryway was draped with bold banners advertising the Challenge and Dolly couldn't help but breathe out in wonder. Bold colors and banners and smiling faces adorned the atrium, and Dolly arched her neck to see through the domed-glass ceiling.

She looked around her in awe as she and Hop made their way through the crowd. The magnificent atrium was filled with Gym Challengers of every shape and size. There were all types of people surrounding them; some their age, some older adults, and even some who could have been old enough to be her grandparents. There were Pokémon fluttering around as well, weaving in between the legs of the hopeful Trainers. A Blipbug here, a Butterfree there, and Dolly almost lost her footing when a Morpeko scampered between her legs.

A girl about her age grabbed him up off the ground. She dusted off her dress and tossed one of her dark pigtails out of her face as she stood up, the Morpeko secure in her arms.

"Sorry 'bout that," the girl said. "He gets real excited 'round so many people, but you're looking a bit gobsmacked by all this. You must be from some small country town, is that it?"

She nodded. This girl had a soft and unassuming smile - Dolly liked this fellow Gym Challenger already.

"Yeah, from Postwick."

"I'm quite the same myself, I'm from a small town off Route 9. What's your name?" the girl asked, patting her Morpeko.

"Dolls, come on, we still need to register!" Hop called from the desk.

"Dolls, huh? That's an odd name," the girl said with a smile. She held out her hand. "I'm Marnie."

"It's Dolly, actually, short for Dolores. He just calls me that, but his name is Hop, so mine's not so bad in comparison," Dolly said, shaking her hand.

"I look forward to battling you, Dolly. And beating you," she added with a soft grin.

She could feel the buzz of friendly competition in the air between them. She couldn't help but grin as well.

"We'll see about that, Marnie,"

Dolly jogged up to the front desk where Hop was waiting in line to register.

The boy in front of Hop turned after finishing his registration, looked him up and down, then shoved past his shoulder. Hop let out a grunt and Dolly scoffed as he sauntered out into the crowd.

"Seriously? What a piece of work…" Hop grumbled, rubbing his shoulder.

The League staff at the counter called for the next in line, and Dolly handed over her endorsement from Leon. She could see the staff member's eyes grow wide through his sunglasses.

"Fancy that," he whispered. "This is the first time we've had a Challenger endorsed by the Champion!"

Hop grinned in return, slapping his endorsement on the counter next to Dolly's.

"Well, now you've had two, because I am as well!"

"The two of you must be something special," the staff member said with a nod to the both of them. He flipped through the pages on the clipboard in front of him. "Alright, you've both been successfully registered as Gym Challengers. You can request a number, otherwise we can assign one to you. What'll it be?"

Dolly scratched her chin. When she was younger, she and her first Pokémon had a competition of who could shove the most jellybeans in their mouth. Dolly won with a high score of fifty-two, and from then on that had always been her favorite number.

"I'll take number fifty-two, if it's available."

The League staff flipped through his papers again.

"It is! It'll be 052," he said, scribbling down on his paper. Then, he looked to Hop. "And for you?"

"Eh, number one is already taken, just give me whatever," he said, folding his hands behind his head.

"How does 189 sound?"

"Sounds like the number of the next Champion," he grinned. "I'll take it!"

The League staff raised his eyebrows, and she could see the faint outline of his rolling eyes from behind his sunglasses. She wondered how many times he had heard that line before.

"You can pick up your uniforms to the left," he said, gesturing. "The opening ceremony starts tomorrow at 09:00 sharp, don't be late."

Sure, Dolly's main goal of all this nonsense wasn't necessarily to be the Champion, but now, after looking around at all of the other dewy-eyed Gym Challengers, a fire of competition rose within her. She used to be good at Pokémon battles, and directing her team through the Wild Area came as second nature as riding a bike. Suddenly, the risk of it all started to finally be outweighed by the reward of victory. The thrill of competition, of the lights and the cheers, all of it made her think that maybe this whole ordeal wouldn't be so bad after all. It could maybe be fun, even.

Hop and Dolly made their way to the Budew Drop Inn, where apparently Chairman Rose had reserved rooms for all the Gym Challengers. They found Sonia in the lobby, stating that she was researching the mysterious Pokémon that were said to be in the Slumbering Weald. She dove into Galar's history and the tale of a great hero who saved the country. Dolly zoned out as she talked, looking around the hotel lobby. A group of people all with pink hair were standing at the registration table. They were all wearing matching outfits, too, maybe they were a band or something? Did the opening ceremony have a half-time show?

She focused again as Hop elbowed her in the ribs and she let out a grunt.

"Did you hear that, Dolls? Apparently, this hero guy had a sword and a shield. I wonder if it has anything to do with what you heard in the Slumbering Weald?"

"Oh, yeah, maybe," Dolly said, wondering if Sonia noticed her not paying attention. "Wait, actually, yeah maybe!" she almost shouted, focusing in again. "Have you found anything about a shield, Sonia? Or about, you know…the other thing?"

Sonia scratched her chin and shook her head.

"Not particularly, no. About either topic," she added with a shrug. "Once I find out anything more specific, you'll be the first to know."

If that thing in the Slumbering Weald really had some connection to Galar's history, then maybe she could even learn more about her Curse as well. It did tell her to 'break the Curse,' after all. Dolly shoved the hope of breaking the Curse pretty deep down a long time ago, though.

Tagging along with Hop for this Gym Challenge was turning out to be pretty lucrative. Hopefully Sonia would run across some new information for her soon. Assuming her lesson was over, they waved goodbye to Sonia and headed up to the registration counter, only to be blocked by the weird band-looking group. After a couple threats were thrown at them, they learned they were called 'Team Yell,' then Dolly and Hop defeated them all within a five-minute span. Dolly was surprised to see Marnie walking up the steps as soon as they had finished. Marnie smiled at the two of them again as they got back into the line to check in. The three of them chatted a bit, learning she was from a town called Spikemuth. It certainly sounded more interesting than Postwick.

The night came and went and before she knew it, and it was time to line up for the opening ceremony. Her nerves tingled as she and Hop grinned at one another, the anticipation palpable in the air. Dolly could feel a lump of nervousness in her throat. One by one they lined up, all waiting to enter what they thought would be their pitch one day.

As she and the rest of the Challengers waited, they heard Rose address the crowd, welcoming them to the Gym Challenge. His powerful voice echoed throughout the stadium.

"It is my pleasure to announce that finally," he paused. "The Galar region Gym Challenge is about to begin!"

The stadium erupted into cheers as he smiled around the stadium. She had to admit, even though her heart was beating in her throat, Rose had quite the aptitude for commanding a room - stadium, even. As she and the other Gym Challengers waited in the tunnel, his voice continued.

"Participants must defeat the eight Gym Leaders and gather the eight Gym Badges to prove their skill as a Trainer! Only the most worthy will have the honor of challenging the greatest Champion in history!"

Again, the crowd went wild at the mention of their Champion.

"Now," Rose called, gesturing grandly. "I would like to invite the Gym Leaders to show themselves!"

As he introduced each Gym Leader, Dolly's heart pounded in her chest. It had been a long time since she had felt like this, such a rush, such a thrill, and to think it was only a week ago she had sat on her couch for three days straight.

It was time to introduce the Gym Challengers. Each name was called, and one by one the other Gym Challengers moved forward, walking onto the pitch. A couple A's, one B, two C's…

And she was next. Her heart was beating in her throat as she waited for the announcer to call her name. A League staff ushered her forward.

"Number 052, Challenger Dolly!" the announcer's voice boomed over the arena.

It was like she was waiting her entire life to hear it. It was like she was waiting her entire life to feel the vibration in her veins as the crowd roared for this new Challenger, for her future matches, for her. She stepped out of the tunnel, into the light, as the waves and power erupted from the stands. Even if she was only going to battle through one Gym, she would remember this moment for the rest of her life.