May and Brendan had reached Rustburo City the night before, after going through Petalburg Forest.

"So this is the Rustburo Gym, huh?" May said. Sure enough, it said RUSTBURO GYM on the top left hand corner atop the door. Brendan said nothing and opened the door. "Hello? Anybody here?" Brendan called. A moment later, a light turned on, illuminating the leader, who was standing on a pedastal. "Who goes there?" the leader, Roxanne, called. "I'm May from Littleroot Town and I came here for a gym battle!" May replied.

"A gym battle is no ordinary battle. Is this your first gym battle?" asked Roxanne. "Well, yeah, but.." May said.

"As a leader, I will accept every challenge. Let's get this over with. I'll start. We will use one Pokemon. Go, Nosepass!"

shouted Roxanne. "Go, Marshtomp!" shouted May, releasing the Pokemon that evolved the previous day.

May used the first move. "Marshtomp, Water Gun!" "Marsh..TOMP!" cried Marshtomp, using the attack on the last syllable. The water splashed over the Rock Pokemon. When it cleared, there Nosepass stood, chipped away at all over his body. "Nosepass, Bide!" shouted Roxanne. Marshtomp performed a Water Gun again, and the water splashed over the Nosepass while it was using Bide. It was already getting exhausted. Marshtomp flopped onto it's belly, unable to perform the attack any longer. "Quick tip. Never attack a Pokemon while it's using Bide," Roxanne said. "Why is that?" asked May.

Nosepass unleashed the attack. It had somehow taken some of the damage from Water Gun and converted it into attack power. It brought it's body on top of Marshtomp. The Marshtomp didn't even have time to say, "Marsh!"

"You've lost, May. Come back when your Pokemon is well trained," Roxanne said. "Come on, Marshtomp! You can beat 'em!" encouraged May. "Take your Pokemon and get out of here!" Roxanne cried. May extended her Pokeball. "Marshtomp, return.." she murmured.

It was nighttime. After May had gotten a pizza (which she ate by herself to get over her loss), she had been training her Pokemon like there was no tomorrow. Tomorrow, I'm going to get that Stone Badge, even if it's the last thing I do! thought May.