~{Author's Pre-Notes}~
Guess who's back? Back again? Not many comments last chapter, so not much to write about up here, so...
Have another chapter :D
Trebor.E: No, the leader isn't his dad.
~{Route 3- 9:43 AM}~
The interior of Victor's tent had a shade of red as the boy let out a long yawn, also slipping on his favorite gray beanie given to him from Hop so long ago.
"Ugh... I'm never going to get used to waking up..." He muttered as he slipped on new socks.
Ace stretched his arms and legs out while Twilight was already heading outside of the red tent. Midori, on the other hand, was already gone. He had woken up much earlier than the group and was already going outside.
Victor slipped on his shoes and let out another yawn, "I'd better clean up those dishes from yesterday..."
He folded up his sleeping bag and proceeded to pull himself out of his tent.
He got out and rubbed his eyes, then stretching his arms up.
"Goooooood morning wooooooooorld!"
He shouted that proudly into what he expected to be an empty area, only for him to fully open his eyes and be shocked by what he saw in front of him.
All the dishes from yesterday were stacked neatly on top of each other, with nearly all the pokemon Victor had served right beside them.
Zigzagoons, Machamps, Growlithes, and more add sat happily as if having waited for the boy to wake up and come out. Midori was beside some of these pokemon smiling as he stared at his trainer.
Victor had to do a double-take and rub his eyes to see if what he saw was actually real.
"Eh? You... You guys cleaned up for me?"
The crowd of pokemon let out a mixture of nods and happy cries.
Ace looked shocked by the politeness of these random pokemon, half-expecting them all to run away by the time they had woken up. There were indeed signs of many pokemon leaving, but it was still surprising to see how many of them stayed.
"Scor, scor?" He turned his head up to Victor, only to be shocked by his trainer's face, "Scor!?"
Victor had bubbly eyes and was comedically crying rivers of tears.
"Awwwww! You guys are so sweet!" He dived at the pokemon, hugging group by group of them with small noises of happiness.
Ace, Twilight, and Midori sweatdropped.
Victor kept hugging the groups until he saw the five Rolycolys from yesterday hanging out beside the two Panchams and Growlithe, all of which, looking cheerful and healthy.
He smiled, "So you guys are friends now?"
"Pan! Pancham!" One of the playful pokemon cheered.
"Good! I'm so happy!" Victor clapped his hands together. "Thank goodness I was able to help you guys!"
His eyes then widened as he recalled something important.
"Oh, that's right!"
He got up and looked around to make sure all the pokemon were paying attention to him.
"I want a favor from all of you!"
He raised a finger up.
"For any of you traveling around, I just want you to spread the word to pokemon all over the Galar Region! Tell them this-!"
He paused to make sure no humans were around, then turning back to the pokemon.
"Tell them that the boy who can understand pokemon won't refuse to help anyone! The boy with the gray-beanie named Victor will be traveling all over Galar to become the World Champion and help out all pokemon! If they have something they need help with, then I'll be sure to help them!"
All the pokemon stared at him in awe, most not knowing that he could understand them.
Victor then pointed a finger at the group, "You got all that? I'll be relying on you! So, go on, get out there!"
The pokemon all nodded, then all of them scattered in different directions, leaving just Victor and his three pokemon alone.
"Now then..." Victor adjusted his beanie and turned to his three companions with a grin. "You guys ready to continue with our adventure?"
"Scorbunny!"
"Rookidee!"
"Ralts!"
"Good! Then let's pack up and go!"
After a few minutes of putting away the tent and other camping gear, Victor hoisted up his backpack, although still looking unsure about it.
"I still don't get how all this stuff fits in here..."
Their group could see the Galar mines just up ahead, not too far as they had slept in the campsite near it only the night before.
Victor kept walking until he came upon the entrance of the mines, stopping and glancing up at the brick archway that made it look like it was some sort of entry for a train tunnel.
He grinned, adjusted his beanie, and walked inside with Ralts and Ace beside him while having Twilight perched on his rectangular backpack.
When Victor went in the mine, he saw several colors reflecting back at him. With the additions of lanterns on the wall, so many crystals reflected light, making his eyes sparkle in awe at the beautiful stones in the wall.
"Oooooooo! So shiny!" He stopped from one crystal to the next, "Green, red, blue, so amazing! Are these actually worth something?!"
His eyes caught sight of a red sparkle hidden behind a minecart full of other stones.
He went over and picked it up, examining the red item in his hands.
"Oh! This is a star piece!" He grinned. "I wonder if it fell out of a cart?"
He got up and put it in his pocket, then continuing to follow the path through the mines.
Ace continuously practiced kicking a small crystal up like a soccer ball as he walked, focusing on keeping balance, keeping the crystal in the air, and moving at the same time. A rather tricky task, but one he kept trying so that he could improve his leg strength like Victor need him to do.
Ralts just curiously gazed at the crystals quietly, appreciating their beauty while keeping close to Victor.
As for Twilight, he actually kept flying fast forward and back in the mine, practicing maneuvering around in the tight spaces.
They passed by boxes, barrels, digging equipment, Rolycolys, Woobats, and several other things as they went through the beautiful mines of Galar.
Soon he came upon a bridge that led across a large area of the mine below.
"Wow, I wonder how big these mines are? Could they possibly reach an area underground where Dynamax pokemon are?" Victor wondered as he walked across the wooden bridge, hating every single creak he heard from it.
As they got across and back to the dirt ground, Victor saw a few Timburr carrying items such as boxes or barrels while walking past them.
"They must be working here."
He followed a track for the carts, being careful to avoid a sudden flying cart-looking pokemon as it blazed passed him. Despite the mines looking big, Victor felt as if the path he took made his time there short, as he could already see the light ahead of the tracks.
"I wonder if this is just the main path for trainers, but there are other hidden ones for workers?"
He walked ahead as he made out the light to be of outside, smiling as he made his over.
"You again? I thought you'd learn from last time not to bother taking the challenge?."
Hearing this voice, Victor froze and realized that he had overlooked entirely someone else ahead.
Standing in the middle of an open area right before the exit, there was the same boy with the platinum hair and pink sweater that he had talked to before the opening ceremony.
Recognizing him, Victor put his hand into his palm with an innocent smile.
"Oh! Mr. Happy Face!"
Cross-veins popped out of the boy's head.
"What in the-!? I have a name! Bede! It's Bede!" He shouted, annoyed.
"Oh, then I hope we get along, Bede!" Victor brightly shined.
Bede covered his eyes so he wouldn't be blinded by this bright aura, but it also made him even angrier.
"Ugh! You've just been annoying me ever since I met you!"
Victor's smile faded, and so did his bright aura. "I think that's more of a you problem. I mean, hasn't it been more of your attitude what's causing you to dislike me?"
"Tsk!" Bede brushed his hair with his hand, calming himself down. "Anyway... I see you didn't listen to my advice to just step out of the gym challenge, you're just wasting your time."
Ace tapped his foot on the ground with his arms crossed, looking annoyed, Twilight had flown to the ground, glaring at Bede, and Ralts seemed to be puffing his chest to look tough.
"Well, then it's my time I'm wasting. You shouldn't worry about me too much." Victor answered him, not looking too fazed by his claims.
Hearing this, Bede narrowed his eyes and pulled out a pokeball, repeatedly tossing it up and catching it in his hand with a grin.
"Well, the last time we talked, you made me rather annoyed with your poor choice of words. So if you're thinking of going this way, then I'd advise against it. You should just drop out of the challenge before I end up exposing how pathetic a trainer endorsed by the champion really is."
Seeing him take out his pokeball, Victor knew that if he got close, then Bede would fight him to show his place. He glanced down at his three pokemon, who all had stern expressions.
Victor smiled and started approaching Bede.
Bede formed a smug smile and stuck his hands out.
"Oh? You're approaching me? Instead of running away, you're heading right to me?"
Victor's pokemon followed behind their trainer.
"I can't beat the crap out of your pokemon without getting closer."
Bede formed an evil grin.
"Oh ho! Then come as close as you like!"
Both teens proceeded to walk closer with exaggerated detailed faces of determination.
~{Turffield- 10:05AM}~
Hop stepped out of the pokemon center with some bandages on his head, yet looking his usual cheerful self as he took a good look at the fields around the town of Turffield.
"Finally! After fighting off a hoard of pokemon, using the night to regain my strength, and getting my pokemon healed up, I'm ready to take on Turffield gym!" he declared with a hand in the air.
A few of the surrounding people walking by started clapping.
"Good luck!"
"Do your best!"
"Thank you! Thank you!" Hop happily waved to them. "And now I'm off!"
He took off running for Turffield Gym, ready to overcome his first challenge.
Only to see a rather large crowd of other trainers in front of the gym.
"Huh!? What's with all these people!?" He screeched to a halt and frantically turned his head to dozens of trainers, waiting with pokeballs in hand.
Hop turned and saw one of the Pokemon League staff standing around.
"Excuse me!" He rushed over to him. "What's going on?"
The staff member turned to him, "The gym leader of Turffield, Milo, is currently out solving some problems in the fields with some Wooloo. So the gym is currently closed for trainers."
"Eh!?" Hop started using both hands to scratch his hair, "But he's the first gym leader! And the opening ceremony was just yesterday! How could he be out!?"
"I do apologize, but he should be back in about half an hour." The League Staff bowed.
"Half an hour!?" Hop turned to the line of trainers waiting to challenge the gym leader.
"..." He let out a sigh of disappointment and walked away, "Thank you..."
He kept walking until he got back to the Turffield Pokemon Center, approaching a soft looking patch of grass.
And then falling face-first into it.
"I guess I'll just wait here for Victor or Gloria..."
He took a deep breath of the grass.
"I even got here early... Pooey..."
"Oh? Hop, is that you?" A woman called out to him.
Hop turned his head while still on the ground, looking up to see Sonia grinning down at him.
"What are you doing? Aren't you going to go win your very first badge?"
Hop pouted, "Milo isn't there right now... And there's a huge line anyway..."
Sonia turned her head to the gym and looked surprised by the number of people there.
"Oh, wow, yesterday there wasn't even anywhere close to this number of people."
Hop suddenly got up to his feet with comedic fumes coming out, "I know, right!? Yesterday when I got here, no one was here, so I thought I could get some sleep and fight him now, but then all these guys came in!"
Sonia chuckled at his fuming.
"Hey, Sonia! Hop!"
The two turned and saw Gloria waving to them while Luna peeked at them from her backpack.
Hop smiled when he saw her. "Hey, Gloria! Good to see you made it here in one piece! When did you get here?"
"I got here yesterday." Gloria answered as she approached the two. "I ended up running into Marnie along the way, and we both arrived here together."
"You did!? But I didn't even see you guys when I was here!"
Gloria rolled her eyes, "Hop, when Marnie and I got here, we found you camping right beside the pokemon center, already dead asleep."
"Huh!? How'd you know it was me?!"
Gloria only had to saw two words.
"Your snoring..."
Hop flinched and let out an awkward laugh, rubbing the back of his head.
"Whoops."
"Where did Marnie go, though?" Sonia asked as she looked around for any sign of the girl.
Gloria pointed her thumb at the gym, "She went to wait for the gym leader to return. She got passed everyone because they actually got scared of her stare."
"Ouch." Hop and Sonia both thought.
Sonia clapped her hands together to get Hop and Gloria's attention.
"Well, while we wait for Milo to get back, can you both help me with something?"
"Hm? With what?" Hop asked.
Sonia turned her head and pointed in the direction of large hills.
"I want to ask you what you think about some certain markings."
~{Meanwhile: Galar Mines}~
Bede tossed his pokeball as Victor pointed a finger at the same time.
"Solosis, Confusion!"
"Ace, Ember!"
Bede's pokeball released a round, green pokemon that was surrounded by a darker green, gel-like substance, while Ace jumped forward while grinning.
"Solo!" Solosis fired a ball of purple light towards Ace as the rabbit pokemon jumped and kicked a small ball of fire.
Both their attacks collided and created a small explosion, but that didn't let either trainer stop them from continuing.
"Ace! Use Ember again!"
Ace kicked another ball of fire through the small cloud of smoke, and it directly hit Solosis, knocking him back a few feet.
"Get up and use Endeavor!" Bede shouted.
Solosis suddenly got up and seemed to puff up, then released a blast of white that impacted Ace in one second, returning the same amount of pain he had just received.
"Scor!" Ace tumbled on the ground before coming to a stop, then getting up and rubbing his head, irritated.
"Ace! Use-!"
Before he could answer, Ace started glowing blue and change shape.
"Scooooooorrr-booooooot!"
Ace was changing, getting slightly bigger with his appearances to become similar to an edgy teen.
"Raboot!" The nearly evolved Raboot cried.
"..." Victor blinked.
"..." Bede raised an eyebrow.
Victor had sparkles in his eyes with comedic tears, "Ace! You evolved just for me!?"
Ace rolled his eyes and looked away from Victor uncaringly.
"I'm so proud of you!" Victor leaped forward and wrapped his pokemon in his arms. "Who's a good rabbit!?"
Ace's eyes widened in Victor's hug, and he visibly struggled.
"R-Raboot! Raboot! Boot! Boot!"
Victor nuzzled his cheek against Ace's.
"Awwww! Did you become a tsundere!? Don't worry Ace, I'll make sure to treat you the same even if you changed!"
Ace averted his eyes despite the small blush of embarrassment.
Bede facepalmed. "They're idiots..."
He sighed, "Solosis, Confusion."
"Sol!" Solosis fire another ball of purple energy.
Ace's eyes turned serious as he saw the attack heading towards him and his trainer, making him do push Victor off and jump in the air.
"Raboot!" He formed a ball of fire on his feet, one that seemed more significant than any of the previous ones he's created, and kicked the ball right through the ball of purple energy.
It pierced right through Solosis' attack and continued on into it crashed into the Psychic pokemon and exploded.
"Sol!"
When the smoke cleared, Solosis was on the ground, unconscious.
"You got so much stronger too!" Victor smiled with his hands together over his heart.
Ace turned back to Victor and narrowed his eyes, then turning away his head uncaringly.
"Tsk!" Bede returned his Solosis and pulled out another pokeball. "Come out, Gothita!"
Out of the pokeball came out a small pokemon of black and purple colors with a goth-like appearance.
"Gothita!" The pokemon shouted.
"Use Psybeam!" Bede shouted.
"Goth!" The fixation pokemon shouted as a purple and pink beam of energy blasted from its mouth.
"Dodge i-!" Victor didn't finish as the Psybeam came so fast that it had already hit Ace.
"Ra!" Ace tumbled back in obvious pain, clutching his chest where he had just been struck.
Ace then got up with a glare.
"Ra-boot!" He suddenly burst into flames, getting into a running stance before suddenly blasting forward.
"Wha-!?" Victor was surprised by the sudden movements as Ace crashed right into Gothita.
The Psychic pokemon flew back and bumped right into the walls of the cave, then falling to the ground.
"Oooo! You learned Flame Charge too!? Nice!"
Raboot got on one knee, looking somewhat tired.
"Gothita! Get up and use Psybeam again!" Bede shouted.
"Goth!" The psychic pokemon unleased and another wave of telekinetic energy.
"Use the walls to jump!"
Ace suddenly leaped to the cave walls faster than before, avoiding the beam and using the walls to jump off, heading towards Gothita again.
"Now, use Tackle!"
Ace aimed an elbow down as he flew right at his opponent.
That's when Bede narrowed his eyes.
"Duck and use Pound."
Gothita ran at Ace as he got near, ducking while it's tiny hand glowed white.
"Goth!" It timed it so as Ace was going right over her, then jumping with her glowing hand up to pound him right in the stomach.
"Ra!" Ace's eyes widened as he felt his stomach hurt before then getting launched back.
"Ace!" Victor dove with his hands out and caught his pokemon before he could hit the ground. "You alright!?"
He glanced down at his now unconscious pokemon, then pouting. "He got you..."
He carried Raboot like a baby in one arm, and his other hand pointed a finger out.
"Midori! Your turn!"
Midori nodded as he stepped forward.
Bede didn't even wait. "Gothita, Psybeam again!"
"Goth!" Another beam of energy came.
"Midori, use Double Team!"
Midori jumped and flashed white, to which over a dozen clones of him came and jumped all over the place.
"Tsk! Use Psybeam and drag it around!"
Gothita fired a beam of energy while moving her head to slice across the wall, hitting multiple Ralts and making the copies poof away.
"Now, Midori, use Disarming Voice!"
The real Midori had jumped over the beam and opened its mouth.
"Raaaaaaa!" He realized a wave of pink hearts that hit Gothita from above.
"Goth!" Gothia flew back and rolled to Bede's feet.
Midori landed as the rest of the clones disappeared.
"Good job Midori!" Victor shouted with a fist up.
Midori formed a small smile.
Bede returned Gothita and pulled out his last pokemon.
"Go, Hatenna." He said without too much thought.
Out came a small pokemon with a pink round body, little pink feet, and a blue hair with what looked like to be a design of a pink hat on top.
"Hatenna!" The pokemon cried out as it jumped.
"Oo! I've noticed this, but you seem to be a fan of psychic types?" Victor pointed out with a smile.
"Shut up and fight! Hatenna, Disarming Voice!" Bede pointed.
"Haaaaaaaaa!" Hatenna fired her heart-shaped voice.
"Return it with your own!"
"Raaaaaaaaaa!" Ralts fired his own voice.
Both attacks collided, but Hatenna's Disarming Voice seemed to have caused a bigger blast.
"Hm, Hatenna has a stronger special attack... Better watch out."
"Midori, run forward, and use Double Team!"
Midori sprinted up as multiple clones of him appeared by his side, running with him.
"Hatenna, use Disarming Voice on the ground.
"Haaaaa!" Hatenna jumped and blasted the ground, which caused a wave of dust to be kicked up. Every one of the clones disappeared upon contact with it, leaving Midori the only one still running.
"Damn, these clones disappear with any form of physical contact, even the small specs of dust!"
"Now, use Confusion!" Bede shouted.
Hatenna landed and blasted a ball of telekinetic energy.
"Jump over it!"
Instead of jumping, Ralts suddenly glowed purple, then vanishing on the spot.
"What in the world!?" Bede was shocked.
Victor's eyes widened as he recognized the move, then getting excited as he shouted, "When you reappear, use Disarming Voice!"
Hatenna heard a woosh behind her and turned around only to see Midori with his mouth open.
"Raaaaaaaaa!" Hatenna took the attack head-on and exploded back into the air.
"Hattena, don't-!"
"Don't give it a chance, finish it with Confusion!" Victor shouted.
Midori aimed at the flying Hatenna before firing a ball of energy that connected to it.
"Hatte-!?" The ball exploded into dust, to which Hatenna fell out and plopped onto the ground unconscious.
Bede stared in shock, "How did-?"
"He learned Teleport!" Victor grinned as his Ralts stood up, looking tired.
Bede's hands clenched into fists. "What kind of stupidity is this? For your pokemon to evolve, and your pokemon learning multiple new moves in just this one battle!?"
"I mean, I had them training for a while before heading here, so it was bound to happen! But I guess the excitement and stakes of proving ourselves to you just pushed them!" Victor said with a laugh.
"Tsk!" Bede returned Hatenna back into a pokeball. "No matter, it's not like I was trying like it was the end of the Earth. You just got very lucky."
"Thank you! I try my best!" Victor smiled, still holding an unconscious Ace in his arms. "And so do my friends, they're the strong ones."
"Hmph. Next time we meet, it won't be so simple. You won't have the same luck to help you out again."
"Was it really luck, though? I knew they should've been on the brink of learning new moves... But Ace evolving did surprise me."
"And I already got what I came for. There shouldn't any more Wishing Stars in this area..." Bede mumbled as he glanced around.
"Wishing Stars?" Victor repeated in his head.
Bede turned around and proceeded to walk to the exit.
"If we battle at an official event, then you'll lose."
Victor stared at Bede as he started walking away, feeling like he was beginning to understand the boy a little bit better.
"Hey! I wanna ask you something!" He carried Ace as he ran ahead with Midori and Twilight following behind.
Bede stopped just as he got outside and turned around, bothered. "Would you quit bothering me!?" He hissed.
"You're looking for Wishing Stars, right? Can I ask why?" Victor asked as he went up to him.
Bede scoffed, "Why should I tell someone as unimportant as you?"
"I don't know. I'm just curious." Victor innocently smiled at him.
The arrogant boy narrowed his eyes. "Hmph, how stupid... But I'll be kind enough to amuse you. I'm searching for them under Chairman Rose's orders. So if you find any, I suggest you give them to me."
"Will do!" Victor smiled.
Victor watched as Bede turned around and started walking ahead onto Route 4, where the grass began to turn gold and brick walls started appearing.
"Hey!"
"WHAT IS IT NOW!?" Bede turned around.
"I wanna get to know you better!" Victor said as he caught up.
Twilight shook his head rather disappointed while Midori didn't look so sure if Victor was thinking okay.
"Huh?! Are you an idiot!?" Bede shouted in his face.
Victor just shrugged.
"I mean from your view, apparently."
"This guy!" Bede pointed his finger at Victor's face. "I don't want to constantly see you! I don't want to be friends with you! I just want to beat you, and that's it!"
"But... You don't look like you have any friends." Victor answered on a more serious note.
"I don't need them!" Bede turned around with his hands clenched into fists. "All that matters is to be better than everyone else... That's how it was then, and that's how it is now..."
Victor's eyes widened as he picked up on that. "Wait..."
"So leave me alone!" Bede shouted to end their interaction, marching off rather quickly.
"..." Victor stared at Bede as he marched down the path.
He cupped his hand and shouted, "If you need help with anything, you can always come to me!"
He heard the boy shout in a loud, angry groan.
"Rooki! Rooki!" Twilight chirped at Victor.
"Hm?" Victor glanced down at him. "You really think I should stop getting involved with him?"
"Rookidee!"
"I mean, I can see what you mean, but... I just get the feeling that there's more to him. What do you think, Midori?"
Midori gazed up at him, "Ralts, Ralts."
"Yeah, he is lonely, I can tell. But he seems to prefer it. I wonder if something happened to make him that way...?"
He replayed Bede's words.
"All that matters is to be better than everyone else... That's how it was then, and that's how it is now..."
"Hm... I wonder if I'll ever find out."
"Boot..." Ace mumbled in Victor's arms.
"Ah! Ace, you're awake!" He smiled down at him.
"Raboot... Ra?" Ace winced.
"We beat him, your strength really helped us a lot! And don't worry, I'll get you to a pokemon center to get all better!"
Ace let out a breath of relief, but then flinched as he realized that he did so, prompting him to turn his head away with a 'hmph' to make it seem like he didn't care.
"Good to see you're still cute even when you evolved." Victor thought with a close-eyed smile of bliss.
He then pulled out his pokeball, "I'll return you for the rest of the way so you can get some rest."
Ace just nodded as he got absorbed back into his pokeball, to which Victor then put it back and adjusted his beanie.
"Now then... To Turrfield!"
~{Turffield-11:05PM}
Victor traveled for nearly an hour on Route 4, making his way past the golden grass and mossy brick walls.
"I wonder how everyone else is doing?" He mumbled as he walked passed some Pumkaboos and Digletts. He thought about Hop and Gloria, wondered about Marnie, and even had questions on how Sonia was doing on her research.
He turned his head and glanced at both Twilight and Ralts, fending off some Meowths and Electrike.
"You guys need any help?"
"Rooki!" Twilight refused as he flew down and knocked two Meowths away.
"Ralts!" Midori also said he didn't need help as he teleported to several spots, unleashing blasts of psychic energy at Electrikes each time he did so.
"Man, Meowths and Electrieks are super aggressive... It's like they don't even care how strong someone is, they'll just come after you even if you don't want to fight..."
Victor watched as his pokemon fought the wild pokemon off.
"Good job, guys!"
Midori clutched his neck, his throat hurting from using Disarming Voice so many times.
Twilight used his feet to walk, his wings visibly dirty and shaking.
"Oh, wow, you guys really are tired. I did say to let me help." Victor sighed, pulling out two pokeballs. "I'm gonna return you guys because I know you'll just keep on fighting until you pass out."
Twilight and Midori both hung their heads in sighs, letting Victor put them back into their pokeballs.
He turned his head and saw Turffield in the distance, making him grin.
"Yes! Nearly there!"
He took a few steps forward, then hearing the grass rustle.
He sighed, turning to the patch as he saw another group of Meowths come out while grinning, seeing him without any pokemon.
Victor just returned their grins with one of his own.
The Meowths shivered as they detected danger from him, suddenly making them retreat back into the grass.
"Odd? I'm not that scary, am I? Could it be that the aura I give off when getting ready to fight is sensed by pokemon?"
Victor looked to have had a realization.
"Oh yeah, pokemon due tend to run away from those that they can tell are clearly stronger than them out of fear! So since I have some properties of pokemon, it could also apply to me!"
Victor stopped as something else came to mind.
"Wait... But Meowths don't even care how strong someone is... They always end up rushing forward. So... Why were they scared of me? I don't even think I look scary..."
Victor shrugged, then speeding up his pace into a jog to get closer to the small town up ahead. He didn't know it himself, but whenever he got into a battle, he would always give off a dangerous aura that even he didn't realize he emitted.
And as he was getting stronger, the aura seemed to grow.
"Wooloo! Where do you think you're going!?"
"Beeeeeehh!"
"Hm?" Victor turned his head.
Only for something round to smash right into his face.
"ACK!" Despite the fluff he felt, the impact of the fast-rolling object had somehow devastatingly smashed right into his face.
Victor was sent back with his eyes completely white and his mouth agape, face even red from the impact. He fell to the ground, different parts of his body twitching.
"What... What is it with Wooloos and me?"
"Wooloo!? Look what ya did! How did you even jump up that high while rolling!?" Someone rushed over. "Oi! You alright there?!"
Victor twitchingly turned his head and looked up. He saw a tall, muscular man with a gentle face. He had emerald green eyes and was crouched down beside him in worry.
His eyes lit up as he recognized him and his straw hat, ignoring whatever pain from before and shooting up to his feet.
"Oh! You're Milo! The Turffield Gym Leader!" Victor exclaimed.
Milo was surprised by how quickly the boy shrugged that impact off, especially since the effects were visible in the form of a red circle on his face.
"My, my, yes, I am. But more importantly, are you alright? You took a rather dangerous Tackle head-on... Literally. Does it hurt?" Milo asked, still concerned with the trainer in front of him.
"It does! But that doesn't matter!" Victor immediately answered with a confident smile waving off any worries, "You're the first Gym Leader I've ever met! I can't wait to fight you later!"
"Oh?" Milo grinned, first picking up the Wooloo that had slammed into Victor. "I knew you looked familiar! You're one of the Gym Challengers from the ceremony. One of the ones endorsed by the champion!"
Victor looked surprised, "Wait, how did you know I was endorsed by the champion?"
"Well, news spread of you guys once other challenges heard it for themselves in the Motostoke Gym Lobby! So now all the other Gym Leaders, including myself, are really excited to fight you guys!"
"I'm excited too! But... Why aren't you in your gym right now?"
Milo's face lit up in worry, "Oh dear, thanks for reminding me! I was off helping find some missing Wooloos for quite a while, there must be quite a line of people waiting!"
"Oh, no..." Victor sighed, wondering how long he'd have to wait.
Milo saw his face and chuckled, "Don't worry, it doesn't take long to beat most of the bunch. You'll be able to fight me in no time!"
Victor smiled again, "You'll definitely see me there!"
"I look forward to it!" Milo waved at Victor as he ran off, holding the Wooloo in one arm.
The boy did some stretches to hype himself up.
"Just a little more ahead, and then off to our first challenge!"
*Bzzzzzzzt! Bzzzzzt!*
"Eh?" Victor reached into his pockets as he felt his phone vibrating, pulling it out and checking who was calling him. He looked astonished by who it was but welcomed the call as he answered and started walking again.
"Hey, Sonia! What's up?"
*Hey, Victor! How's Galar treating you so far?*
"It's great! My pokemon and I are getting stronger by the second! Any aggressive wild pokemon aren't too much trouble for us!" Victor proudly stated.
*That's great to hear! Are you getting close to Turffield? Hop and Gloria already passed by and are waiting in line with Marnie to face Milo.*
"I'm actually just arriving!" Victor stated as he finally took a step in the small, rural town. He saw the stadium in the distance, many fields of wheat and fields of lush grass, and saw the extensive line of trainers waiting ahead.
He smiled at the sight, enjoying every minute of what he could see.
*Oh! If you're there, then Yamper should be waiting for you in front of the pokemon center!*
"Huh?" As if on cue, the small pup came running over to Victor.
"Yamp! Yamp!" He jumped up and down to get his attention.
*Oh, that's must be him! He's going to lead you over to me, I have something to talk to you about. See ya soon!*
She then hung up right there.
Victor pouted, "She didn't even let me say anything..."
He put his phone away and then crouched down to pet Yamper, the pokemon snuggling against him.
"I'll come with you in a moment, just let me heal my pokemon really quick."
Yamper nodded as backed up.
Victor went into the Pokemon Center and got his pokemon healed up. He also stopped by the Pokemart to pick up more potions and some revives along with them.
"Alright, let's go!"
He went outside and saw Yamper rolling along the ground.
"So cute..." Victor smiled in bliss.
Yamper saw him come out and hopped back to his feet, "Yamp! Yamp!" He turned around and proceeded to lead Victor along a path. The boy glanced around at tall stones that had markings carved into them, stones that several tourists were examining closely in interest.
Victor then saw familiar ginger hair up ahead, which made him smile as Yamper went right behind his trainer. But his eyes caught sight at what Sonia was currently staring at.
A hill, but not just any hill, this was a hill with strange patterns that Victor remembered reading about in Galar. Yet his memory seemed fuzzy when he tried to remember them.
"Oh come on, Victor, you've looked at these before. Why can't you remember?" He thought.
"Yamp! Yamp!" Yamper barked at Sonia, letting her know that Victor was present.
Sonia turned around and saw Victor there, immediately smiling. She crouched down to her pokemon and rubbed his head, "Thanks, Yamper!"
"Yamp!" He jumped in happiness and then started to run around.
Hearing Sonia call him 'Yamper,' a sudden thought came up for Victor.
"Hey Sonia, do you actually nickname your pokemon?"
"Oh, I did have nicknames for them. But Yamper didn't really want one. Every time I tried to give him a name, he would always growl until I call him Yamper again." Sonia answered.
"Really?" Victor curiously gazed down at Yamper, who was just rolling on the ground. "I wonder why?"
He was going to whisper the question to the pokemon directly, but Sonia got Victor's attention again.
"Anyway! I called you here cause I wanted to hear your thoughts on something!" Sonia ushered him over to the fence, where she pointed at the hill with the unusual designs.
"What do you think of that geoglyph?"
"Oh, god, weird words!"
"The design on the hill." Sonia said instead.
"Oh."
Victor turned to where Sonia meant and put his hands on the fence, gazing at the markings. "Well, those little shapes look like people, but then there is that big figure... So could it be a pokemon Dynamaxing?"
"Yup! Good to see we're on the same page!" Sonia removed Victor's beanie and started rubbing his head once again while the boy enjoyed the feeling but continued staring at the carvings on the hill.
"So there was Dynamaxing even long ago? But the circle right there with the bolts of lightning coming off... What could that be?"
Sonia turned back to the hill too. "This theory is a long shot, but... I think it might be a representation of the Darkest Day."
She removed her hand from Victor's head and put his beanie back on.
"Thanks for that."
Sonia just smiled before continuing on about the Darkest Day.
"A long time ago... a great, black storm covered the Galar Region. Giant pokemon ran rampant, and Galar was in chaos. But what exactly was the black storm they called the 'Darkest Day?' What connections does it have for dynamaxing?"
"The black storm could've been something that provided the pokemon with Dynamax energy, something with enough energy to cause so many pokemon to Dynamax and rampage." Victor theorized.
He then pointed at a circle design with what looked to be lightning coming off of it. "That right there, whatever it is. That seems to be emitting those bolts, which could represent the energy."
"Ah! I see what you mean!" Sonia had sparkles in her eyes as she excitingly shook Victor back and forth, "So I just have to look into the sights of the legends to figure what 'that' really is! It could be the source where Dynamax energy came from!"
"Looks like you got a better idea of what you're looking for." Victor chuckled as he managed to grab Sonia's arms to keep her from shaking him.
"Yup! Thanks for your thoughts, Victor!" Sonia patted his head before reaching into her pocket, "As thanks, I'll give ya a league card!"
"League card? Oh, I forgot about those." Victor chuckled as he received a card from Sonia.
He saw that it was Milo's league card, with the number 831 and his signature on it.
Victor blinked, then glancing back up at Sonia. "Wait a moment... I never did ask, but will we trainers have our own league cards?"
Sonia looked shocked, "Ah! I was supposed to tell you about that at the Motostoke Pokemon Center! But with the addition of Gloria, we just passed by!"
"Eh?" Victor was confused by what she meant by that.
"Ahem... Oh well, I'll just tell you what it is! Of course, you know the pokemon PC box, correct?"
"Well, of course. I haven't used it to switch out any pokemon, nor do I think I'll even be capturing that many pokemon." Victor answered.
Sonia raised a finger up, "Well, trainers can also make League Cards on them!"
"Oooooooh! So that's how!" Victor said with a punch to his palm from realizing it. "I'll try that out in the future!"
"Good! For the record, since Milo's signature is on that League Card, it'll actually be worth a lot more online."
"Oh, really? Why are you giving it to me?" Victor asked her curiously.
"I just see you more of a person that would take the time to do a pointless task like collecting all the rest of the important League Cards with signatures!" Sonia answered with an innocent smile.
"Hold on, what's that supposed to mean?" Victor stared at her with a blank expression.
"But anyway, you'll be facing off against Milo, aren't you? I'll be rooting for you!"
"Aren't you gonna watch me?" Victor asked her.
Sonia bowed apologetically, "Sorry, I'm gonna get a move on to Hulbury, but I'll definitely watch you there!"
"Oh, alrighty then!" Victor adjusted his beanie and waved Sonia goodbye, taking off for Turffield stadium.
"When you make your League Card, you can make as many copies as you want in exchange for some change! Be sure to get me one!" Sonia called to him.
"Okey, dokey!" Victor shouted.
He kept running down the path, staring at Milo's League Card and making his way right to the stadium.
"I've got a Fire and a Flying type, so I should have a huge advantage against Milo."
"Victor!"
The boy glanced ahead and saw Hop jumping while waving his arms and Gloria standing beside him, with Luna peeking out from her backpack. There was no longer a large number of people gathered around the entrance of the stadium, making Victor believe that they were inside waiting.
"Oh, hey guys! Did you take the challenge already?"
As an answer, Hop grinned and suddenly threw something in the air, the item flipping many times before Hop caught it and presented it forward.
"Yup! I got the Grass-Gym badge on the first try! Praise me!" Hop grinned.
"Wow! You didn't fail!"
"NOT LIKE THAT!"
"Hehe, sorry, I couldn't resist." Victor laughed.
"I got it too, Victor!" Gloria smiled as she pulled out the same badge.
"Nice job, I knew you guys would be able to do it!"
Hop wagged his finger, "Tsk, tsk! Victor, Victor, this the part where you reward Gloria for doing such a good job! For fighting for her very best in her first challenge just so she could impress-!"
Gloria's eyes flashed red as she suddenly jumped forward while spinning a leg in the air.
"TATSUMAKI SENPUKYAKU!" Her spinning leg kicked Hop three times before sending him flying.
"ACK!" Landed right on his head, turning black and white before falling to his back.
Victor stared at Gloria with a blank face. "Well, that's a new one..."
The girl angrily panted at Hop before turning back to Victor with an innocent smile.
"S-So, what were we talking about?"
"Hop suggested that I should give you a reward before you probably made him lose a few brain cells."
Gloria turned back to Hop, then back to Victor with a question mark on her head, "What brain cells?"
"Ouch."
"But anyway, just ignore him, you don't have to give me a reward, just get in there and win that badge! Hop and I will watch from our phones!" She cheered for him.
"G-Good... luck... Victor..." Hop groaned from the ground as he raised a shaky hand up and gave him a thumbs up.
"Thanks, guys! I'll do you proud!" Victor marched to the door but stopped one last time.
"Oh, right! What about Marnie? How did she do?"
Hop sat up with a grin, "Oh, she was actually the first to fight Milo! She's pretty good! Afterward, we congratulated her, and she decided to wait for us at Hulbury!"
"Hmm, Hulbury... The next town? I thought she'd want to go with us...?"
"Get in there, Victor! Don't embarrass yourself!" Gloria playfully pushed him in, cutting off any thoughts of Marnie.
The next thing Victor knew, he was standing in a lobby that looked somewhat identical to the Motostoke Gym lobby, only the theme was green and there was no receptions desk but rather a door that led to the stadium.
There were other people in the stadium, from other trainers competing to those just curious to watch what kinds of people are around. He stepped along the green carpet before his eyes caught sight of a familiar tall man with a pokeball head.
"Oh, hey, Ball Guy!" Victor cheerfully walked up to the man.
A few people gave him weird looks for willingly going to talk to that man.
The living pokeball started to tap dance.
"Hey there! Thanks for rolling by to have a chat with your mate- Ball Guy!"
"It's good to see you too. You really did manage to get over to the first gym already. How did you get here so fast?"
Ball Guy spun in place, "Easy! I used the Flying Taxi Service!"
"Oh yeah, I forgot about those." Victor mumbled.
"You're off to take on your very first gym leader, aren't you? As a form of luck and as a sign of our friendship, I'll give you a wonderful pokeball!"
"Ooooo!" Victor's eyes sparkled as he watched Ball Guy pull out a half light-green, half white pokeball with four orange spots and one yellow spots on the front.
"Here ya go! This here is a Friend Ball! It's a pokeball that acts as a physical symbol of friendship between pokemon and humans! If you catch a pokemon in it, sometimes they'll realize that they'll be treated more special than other pokemon and will want to become your friend easier!"
"Ooo! I like the green! It's pretty!" Victor tossed the pokeball up and down with a smile.
"I know, right? I hope you continue making fast friends with pokemon like how fast we became friends!" Ball Guy tapped dance and struck a pose with some jazz hands. "I'll be watching your battle from here, do your best!"
"Thanks, Ball Guy! But one last question." Victor said as he put away the Friend Ball. "Did you get the umbrella, like I told you?"
Ball Guy pointed finger guns at him, "I realized later why you wanted me to get one, but don't worry! As long as I'm in a gym, no one would dare mess up the Pokemon League Mascot! So I'll be fine!"
"At least he's aware of the risk of being bullied..."
Victor formed a reassuring smile.
"Alright, but if there's any trouble you're having, then be sure to tell me when we meet again in another gym!"
"I'll be fine, but I appreciate your concern! Good luck!"
Victor bowed politely and made it to the entrance door for the challenge, where a female staff member in green-themed clothes smiled at him.
He grinned.
"Let's get this started."
~{Author's Post-Notes}~
Ball guy best girl? Lol, but anyway, another chapter here. I hope you guys liked the interactions between Bede and Victor, the arrogant and serious boy against the purest child, I found writing them together to be hilarious! Next time, Victor finally faces his first gym battle to take home a badge! Look forward to it, that's all folks!
