~{Author's Pre-Notes}~

Wow, got some nice comments last chapter, really appreciate it! It's apparent that many of you love references, lol. Bizarre references. But anyway, thank you all for commenting and I hope you continued leaving valuable feedback! Enjoy this next chapter!

Comment Answers:

Ignis18, acpeters, Wolfy, Captain Cranch: Thank you for the praise!

A Random Earthian, Blasted Banana in a Black Hole: Victor acts childlike because of the circumstances he's had growing up. Being alone without too much human interaction, besides Hop and Gloria, for 11 years can change a person in many ways, even if he had plenty of pokemon to talk to. He's had pokemon all around him and has always acted carefree with them, so I think it makes sense for him to act the same way around people. Not to mention he's never really had many moments where his mother was like, "Oh, don't act that way with a person" or "Don't do that with people" because he hasn't interacted with enough people for a situation like that to rise up. I'm not the best at explaining things, but this is how I see it. So yeah, he's childish for a reason, but now that he's seeing the world of Galar, he might see a few things that could mess him up, you never know.

Link2015: If Victor were to use a healing move, then he would be able to heal wounds and cuts of the sort, but they would take away a lot of his stamina, so if he doesn't have enough/ is too tired, then he won't be able to heal. And as for transform, he wouldn't be able to perform the move since it would cause him to physically change/deform his entire body, which a human won't be able to do even if he has the DNA of pokemon. He's only the first result of successful human experimentation, so he can't really do everything.


Victor tugged at his white challenger uniform as he walked on a long green rug down the hall.

"You guys ready?" He asked his three pokemon walking beside him.

"Rookidee." Twilight nodded.

"Raboot." Ace sighed with his paws in his pouch as if it was a sweater pocket.

"Ralts." Midori nodded confidently.

The four of them came upon a circular door with a leaf symbol on it, to which Victor grinned.

"I'll be counting on you guys!"

The door automatically opened as they got near, and the first thing Victor saw was a world of green. The room's dome was all green, the floor was covered in green grass, and many green trees were spread out and growing in the area.

But the trainer's eyes mainly caught sight of rolls of straw stacked on top of each other to make blockades. In addition to this, right at the starting area there were several Wooloo all happily rolling around with their bodies.

Victor carefully walked down the stairs with his pokemon hopping down with him, then walking over to a blonde man in a black and white referee uniform.

The man straightened his back and raised a hand proudly, "Hello Gym Challenger, and welcome to Turffield's Gym Challenge! The task for this challenge before you can reach the Gym Leader in the stadium is... this!"

He pointed his hand to the hay and the bunch of Wooloo.

"To chase our unruly Wooloo!"

Victor had a blank expression on his face.

"Eh?"

The man continued, "You must lead these Wooloo to the blockades we've made from our toughest bales of straw!"

Victor saw the big arrow with 0/20 on it and a blue area on the floor with Wooloo drawings on it, everything in front of the straw blockades.

"Once you lead the Wooloo to the designated area, they'll take it upon themselves to clear the blockade for you!"

The man then put a hand on his chest.

"I serve here as the referee of the challenge and it's also my job to report the results to the League HQ! I should mention that once you start this challenge, you are only allowed to have one pokemon out at a time unless stated otherwise! Once you return two of your other pokemon, then we'll begin!"

"Eh? Pooey..." Victor grumbled. He turned back to his three pokemon, kneeling down to them. "Twilight and Ace both have advantages against grass-types, so I'll wait until facing Milo to bring you two out."

He returned both mentioned pokemon, leaving Midori behind and looking nervous.

"You're up, Midori!" Victor grinned.

The pokemon nodded in understanding.

The referee of the challenge raised his hand once more.

"Then let the Turffield Gym Challenge begin!"

Victor and Midori bolted forward to the scattered flock of Wooloo.

"Come on, you Wooloo! Get over there!"

"Ralts! Ralts!" Midori joined him in shouted the flock to move.

Victor and Midori took opposite sides of the area, chasing Wooloo and making them roll along the ground towards the intended blue area. With each Wooloo placed onto the blue, the numbers on the arrow went up.

"Baaaaa!"

Once all twenty Wooloo were on the blue area, they all huddled up together before launching forward, slamming into the blockade of straw together and sending it flying to clear the path.

"Nice! The next one!" Victor shouted as he chased after the Wooloo once more.

He thought that since the Wooloo were bunched up, it would be easy to take them to the next blockade.

"Baaaa! Baaaa!"

But then they flock suddenly dispersed.

"Eh!? Where are you guys going!?"

"Yamp! Yamp!"

Victor heard and then saw a Yamper running around, barking at the Wooloo to scare them into different directions.

"Oh, it's to mess us up!"

"Midori, Confusion!"

"Ralts!" Midori jumped and put both hands on his head, to which he sent a ball of telekinetic energy at the Yamper.

"Yamp!?"

It hit the pokemon directly, sending him tumbling along the ground with a whine.

Victor stopped just for a moment and bowed politely.

"Sorry!"

He then moved on.

"Now Midori, help me round up these Wooloo again!"

Midori listened and ran around to gather the Wooloo with Victor, jumping and shouting to keep them rolling.

After a few minutes, he managed to get them all to the second blockade, to which the Wooloo all bashed it away once more.

"I don't see the point of this!" Victor thought as he kept running forward.

"Halt!" A trainer wearing a green-themed staff uniform tossed his pokeball. "If you want to continue, you'll have to get through me!"

Out of the pokeball came a Gossifleur.

"Goss!" The pokemon cried.

"Gossifleur, use Leafage!"

"Goss!" The flower-like pokemon blast a collected ball of leaves at Ralts.

"Jump and use Confusion!"

Ralts jumped over the ball of green and fired a sphere of psychic energy.

It directly hit the Gossifleur on its face, sending it crashing back into its trainer and causing them both to fall to the ground.

"Gah!"

"Whoops! Sorry!" Victor stopped and bowed again, apologizing before running past the trainer and continuing to chase the bunch of Wooloo.

He then came upon an area where a small maze of hedges set up.

He frowned. "It'd be a pain if they got separate in the maze... Maybe I should have them follow me instead?"

Victor then had a funny idea, to which he grinned and jumped high in the air, flying over all the rolling Wooloo.

He landed in front of the group and stuck his arms out to signal them to stop, shocking the rolling sheep.

"Baaa!?"

The Wooloo all stumbled and bumped into each other as they suddenly stopped rolling, their confused eyes staring up at Victor.

"This time, I want all you to follow my lead!"

He stuck his hands up.

Before starting to cartwheel around.

"Onward!"

The group of Wooloo were shocked to see the boy roll pretty fast via cartwheeling, but seeing him brightly roll made all of them put on adorably happy faces like children watching Santa Claus arrive.

"Baaaa! Baaa!" They all ended up rolling after Victor, a surprising matter considering that the Wooloo were typically supposed to be the ones getting chased by a trainer.

"Make sure no one diverts from the pack!" Victor shouted to Midori behind all the Wooloo.

"Ralts!" Midori jumped behind all the Wooloo to let him know he had this.

Victor cartwheeled through the simple maze, his instincts and gymnastic abilities allowing him to roll through while keeping his momentum. It didn't take long before he came out of the exit and arrived at yet another blockade. This was when he then jumped back to his feet, although stumbling a bit out of dizziness.

"Ugh, I feel a little wobbly..." He thought to himself before shaking his head to snap out of it. He then focused on the blockade as the Wooloo rolled passed him to the designated area.

"Oh! I'll help you guys clear the blockade this time!"

"Baaaa!" The Wooloo all happily went to the blue area and paused, ready to jump in sync.

"One, two, THREE!" Victor jumped with the Wooloos and used his arm to help bust the blockade away, feeling satisfied as he watched the rolls of hay fly in several directions.

"Nice!" He ran with the group of rolling Wooloo as they continued onward through the field. He glanced back to see if any of the sheep were left behind but was surprised to see Midori on top of the one in the very back, rolling on top of the white ball of fluff like a circus ball as they rolled forward.

"Pfft!" Victor covered his mouth as he turned forward to focus back on the path.

The group then came upon the end of the course, where two wooden gates opened up on the left and right that allowed the several Wooloo to split up and exit the area.

Midori hopped off the last Wooloo he was rolling on and waved goodbye as the League Staff closed both gates.

"Thanks for your cooperation!" Victor waved to the Wooloo as well.

"Good job, Gym Challenger! I've never seen anything like that before!" One of the staff laughed.

"You'd blend in with a flock of these guys just fine!" The other staff member smiled, being the one with a front-row seat that had watched Victor roll with the Wooloo.

"Thank you!" Victor didn't waste any time running up the stairs at the end of the room with Midori jumping and holding his leg to get carried up.

"Good luck against Milo!" The staff waved.

Victor and Midori made it to the top of the stairs, where another big circular green door with the grass-gym badge symbol of a leaf was.

"Thanks for helping me gather those Wooloo up Midori!" Victor praised him as he got to the door.

"Ralts! Ralts!" Midori answered, letting go of Victor's leg and happily stating that he had a lot of fun.

"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself!"

Blasts of steam and confetti suddenly shot up near them.

"Gym Mission cleared!" The referee shouted over an intercom.

Victor turned back and saw the flock of Wooloo staring at him from their pens, all of them happily cheering and even trying to stand on their two bottom feet to peek through the wooden fence. Victor laughed and waved at them as the green door opened behind him.

"Goodbye!" He and Midori waved as they went inside.

"Baaaaaa!"

Victor walked into a barely lit up rectangular hall, the area dark no doubt for dramatic effect.

After noticing that their destination was just up ahead, both males stopped walking and turned to each other.

"Midori, since Milo is a grass type leader, I think I'm going to bring out Twilight to start. He was pretty left out in that battle against Bede, after all."

Midori nodded happily that he understood.

"Thanks, buddy, I'll see you soon!" Victor returned Midori into his pokeball while tossing out another, to which Twilight came out.

"Rooki." The proud bird stared up as Victor stuck his arm out, offering it to him.

"I'll be relying on you, Twilight."

Twilight flew up and landed on his trainer's arm, firmly planting himself and looking ready.

Victor then proceeded to walk deeper into the hall where he already heard the cheering of the crowd just up ahead. The cheers got louder and louder as he got closer to the bright light of the battle stadium. He didn't feel nervous at all. He felt confident, proud, and especially excited, ready to take on his very first Gym Leader ever.

"They'll be watching... Mom, Sensei, my friends, and..." He frowned. "No doubt Rainbow Rocket..."

However, he couldn't help but grin again.

"But they'll all see that my pokemon are growing stronger."

"And now, here is our beloved Grass-type Gym Leader himself once again, Milo!" The commentator echoed in the stadium.

"Whoops! We better get going!" Victor started running and Twilight jumped off his arm, taking flight just beside his trainer.

Both of them came into a brightly lit stadium where they saw thousands of people in the audience, making Victor stop and stare up in awe as he remembered just how many people come to these things, even if it was only for a new challenger like him.

"And here is the challenger! Another young trainer endorsed by the champion himself! Here is Victor from the small town of Postwick!"

"Oh great, in the end, it's just common knowledge that Leon endorsed me? I'd rather not be that famous just for that..."

"The other two trainers endorsed by the champion beat Milo with ease, you almost couldn't tell that he's a Gym Leader!"

"That's kinda mean..." Milo awkwardly chuckled as he walked towards the middle of the stadium to meet up with his opponent.

Victor waved at the crowd as Twilight circled around him, both of them meeting Milo in the middle of the stadium to reunite.

"Hello Victor, I knew it wouldn't be long before ya came in." The farmer chuckled.

"I guess that's a compliment." Victor said as he placed both hands proudly on his hips.

Twilight landed on Victor's head, gazing around at the large crowd.

"Oh, a Rookidee? Is that your first pokemon? Shouldn't you be keeping him hidden until the battle starts?" Milo curiously asked.

"Meh, that doesn't really matter to me, because I know I'll win regardless!" Victor confidently responded.

"Is that so? We'll see about that." Milo chuckled.

"Would our fighters please step into the outer circle?" The announcer told them.

Victor and Milo turned their backs to each other, then taking several steps away to get to the area they were told to go.

Both then stopped, turned back around, and grinned.

There was a momentary pause as the crowd energetically cheered to see what the last of the champion endorsed trio had to offer.

"Let the Turffield Gym Leader Battle... begin!"

Twilight flapped his wings to soar above Victor while Milo tossed out a pokeball that released a Gossifleur.

"Twilight, use Hone Claws first!"

Twilight's talons flash in white light as if suddenly sharpened, boosting up his attack and accuracy.

"Gossifleur, use Magical Leaf!" Milo pointed.

"Goss!" The flowering pokemon jumped into the air and fired a few leaves that spun violently towards Twilight.

"Cut right through them with Fury Attack!"

Twilight nose-dived down and used his beak to pierce through the flying leaves, charging through or just avoiding the pieces of green.

"Gossifleur, use Rapid Spin to drag him out of the air!"

"Goss!" The flower suddenly started rapidly spinning in place, surrounding herself in a small twister that started trying to pulling in Twilight.

Twilight started rapidly flapping his wings to push himself back, trying not to get sucked in.

Victor grinned, "Head straight in and pierce through! I know you're strong enough to fly right through it!"

"Rooki!" Twilight's beak suddenly started glowing and he dove straight into the small twister. As Victor knew, even though the change of winds did mess with Twilight's trajectory in the air, his pokemon was still able to go at such a speed and power that he pierced through the twister and slammed his beak into Gossifleur.

"Goss!?" The flower pokemon was sent flying from the direct hit, the supereffective attack knocking it out in one blow as her twister dispersed.

"Nani!? Nani!? Milo's first pokemon is already down!?"

Milo returned his Gossifleur back into its pokeball.

"Well now, that Rookidee of yours is actually scary strong for its first form."

"I know, right!? He's a fighter!" Victor agreed as he waved up at Rookidee flying proudly.

"But we're not gonna be done in without a fight! We're tough as weeds!"

"But I pulled them out easily in my mom's garden all the time!" Victor answered with a laugh.

"Oh, you're asking for it!" Milo laughed back as he pulled out his second pokeball. "It's Dynamax time! You're about to be uprooted!"

"Eh?"

Milo's Dynamax band suddenly sparkled in different shades of pink color, then his pokeball grew over three times its size with the same sparkling pink colors around it.

He patted his large pokeball with a grin, before then throwing it forward and opening up to release a pokemon.

"Go, Eldegoss!"

It was a pokemon of green and white colors. The white of its body was a large clump of cotton on the pokemon's head while the lower part of it resembled a green cloak of leaves. It even had a scarf of what appeared to be yellow leaves. However, since it was Dynamaxed, the pokemon grew big enough to cover nearly half the field, a tremendous sight to behold.

"Eldegoss!" Its voice echoed throughout the stadium, overpowering the many cheers of excitement from the crowd.

Victor stared at the large pokemon in awe, putting both of his hands over his cheeks.

"OH, MY, GOOOOOOOOD!" He shouted in a sudden change over dramatic and manly voice.

Twilight sweatdropped, not knowing whether to feel nervous by this giant pokemon or disappointed by how his trainer reacted.

Victor then saw his own Dynamax band glowing pink, the boy raising his wrist close to his eyes as they widened in realization.

"That's right... I can Dynamax!"

Outside, Gloria and Hop noticed the look on their friend's face and comedically fell to the ground.

"HE FORGOT!?"

"I haven't even gone to any Raid Dens yet!" Victor also realized.

Milo chuckled, "What's wrong? Aren't you gonna Dynamax? If not, then we're coming right for ya! Eldegoss, use Max Strike!"

"Goss!" The giant Eldegoss jumped in place and slammed the ground, to which sparks of energy went across the battlefield. Then the ground in the area under Twilight suddenly erupted in energy, bursting upward into the sky and enveloping the flying pokemon into a giant pillar of light.

"Ah! Twilight!" Victor shouted in worry.

The boy was stunned, as it was the first time he experienced the power of Dynamax right in front of him. Seeing the bright colors up close, feeling the ground shake, and feeling the powerful winds produced by just the Dynamax pokemon's presence had him realize how destructive such power can be.

When the pillar of light cleared, Twilight fell from the sky and crashed all the way to the ground.

Milo grinned, "That's the way, Eldegross!"

"You alright, Twilight!?" Victor called to his pokemon over the crowd cheering.

Twilight panted on the ground but managed to force himself to move. He slowly raised himself up, the flying type in evident pain as his body shivered while moving.

"Not many pokemon can get directly hit by a Dynamax attack and get up, that Rookidee's tough." Milo thought.

Victor smiled as he saw his Rookidee get on its feet, shakily open its wings, and let out caws to show that he wasn't down yet.

"Rooki! Rooki!"

Victor felt proud of him, but he knew that it will really hurt Twilight if he kept fighting despite being already terribly injured.

"Thanks, Twilight, but... I'ma switch you out."

"Rookie!?" Twilight turned back to his trainer in shock.

"Sorry! I know you mustered all your strength to keep going, but you won't be able to fly well and you'll be in constant pain! I can't do that to you!"

"Rooki-!" He was cut off as Victor returned him, the boy then bringing out his other pokeball.

"I'll apologize later! Now then..."

Victor glanced down at his glowing Dynamax Band.

"Time to bring out my Ace!"

His Dynamax Band coursed power into his pokeball, which grew three times its normal size in his hand.

"It's Dynamax time!"

The large pokeball's colors brightly sparkled in pink.

Milo's eyes widened as he noticed something different about Victor from usual trainers Dynamaxing their pokemon. There was the typical pokeball growing, the bright colors it forms, the feeling of power and energy all around, but...

He had never seen anyone's eyes change to pink.

He saw this only for a split-second as Victor spun to throw his pokeball, his eyes pink before suddenly changing back to brown as he threw the large sphere into the air, which released a rabbit pokemon that grew to tremendous size.

Ace's feet smashed onto the ground as he landed, the pokemon growing just as large as Eldegoss.

"Raboot!"

"Was I just seeing things?" Milo wondered as he then focused up at the giant rabbit.

"Ace! You good!? Remember, you won't be able to move around as fast or jump as high because of your size!" Victor shouted up to him.

"Boot! Raboot!" Ace called, looking down at himself to notice how big he's gotten.

"While Dynamaxing does increase a pokemon's power and stamina, it does restrict mobility due to the large size... But I'll win regardless!"

"Alright, Ace! Let's finish this with one attack!" Victor shouted.

"Raboot!" Ace squatted as flames started to pick up around his body.

Milo raised an arm.

"Let's unleash our final attack too, Eldegoss! Use Max Strike once again!"

"Eldegoss!" The pokemon once again jumped, sending energy through the ground and under Ace.

"Use Max Flare!" Victor shouted as he made a fist.

Ace pulled back his giant foot, a barrage of flames surrounding it.

"Ra-BOOT!" He swung his leg forward as if kicking, to which a giant beam of flames blasted ahead.

The ground under Ace erupted from Eldegoss's attack, while the barrage of flames he created rushed forward and connected to his grass type opponent.

The audience covered their eyes as the bright light from the flames of Max Flare and the additional light from the energy of Max Strike brightened the stadium much more than expected.

Everything then turned to silence, as it was moments like these where everyone would anxiously wonder what happened to either pokemon through the giant clouds of dust and smoke.

When the dust settled, Eldegoss was on the floor back into his standard size. He had swirls on his eyes and was laying on his back as Ace remained large and held his own arm in some pain from taking a direct Dynamax Attack.

Milo chuckled as he rubbed some sweat off his face, "I see... The power of grass has wilted."

"Both of Milo's pokemon are down! The challenger wins!"

The crowd roared at the results, and Ace suddenly shrunk back down to normal while Victor looked somewhat confused.

"Wait, you only used two pokemon!?"

Milo walked over to him with a smile, "Well, this is the first gym, after all, so it makes sense for it to be simpler. I guess I should've told you that before we started."

"Oooooh." Victor nodded, understanding what he meant.

Victor met him in the middle of the field with Ace uncaringly walking beside him.

"This must've been a fulfilling pokemon battle for you. It seemed to be the first time you ever Dynamaxed." Milo deduced.

"Yea, I honestly forgot that was a thing, hehe." Victor admitted as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.

"Raboot..." Ace sighed.

Victor deadpanned, "My own pokemon just called me an idiot."

Milo curiously tilted his head. "So about Dynamaxing, how did it feel?"

Victor turned back to Milo with an immediate answer. "It was amazing! I felt my excitement grow more than ever before! It was like something was coursing through my veins!"

"Oh, really? Never heard a description like that before." Milo laughed. "But anyway, time for your reward! As proof that you've defeated me, a Gym Leader, allow me to present you with your first badge! Turffield Gym's Grass Badge!"

Milo pulled out a badge with a leaf design on it, captivating Victor's eyes as he accepted the proof of his first gym victory.

"Thank you very much!" He glanced down at his Raboot. "Look Ace! We did it! We got our first badge!"

Ace just rolled his eyes and looked away.

"Aaaaaaww! You're so cute when you act like you don't care!" Victor quickly reached down and snatched up Ace, hugging him tightly and nuzzling his cheek against his.

"Raboot!?" Ace kept trying to push Victor back as he turned red in a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance, even kicking his trainer on the chest repeatedly to try and make him let go.

Victor just laughed it off as he kept hugging him.

Milo chuckled at the sight and happily offered a handshake to him.

"Congratulations, Victor."

Victor held Ace in his left arm as he took Milo's hand with his right hand.

"Thank you for the battle!"

Milo curiously stared at Victor as they shook hands for quite a while.

"This boy really does seem to be something special. I've never heard anyone say that they felt something go through their veins when Dynamaxing. Was that just to express how pumped up he felt?"


~{Turffield Gym Lobby-12:17PM}~

"I already have your league card from a friend! It's even signed. Thank you though!" Victor said to Milo back in the lobby after the Gym Leader offered one of his trainer cards to him.

"Oh? I see. It's just customary for Gym Leaders to hand challengers their league cards upon being beaten."

"I'll keep that in mind!" Victor smiled.

"Victor!" Two voices called behind him.

Victor and Milo turned to see Gloria and Hop rushing to the boy, excited.

"Nice! You got through that easily! Milo was nothing!" Hop laughed.

"Why do I feel hurt by that?" Milo awkwardly chuckled.

"Great job!" Gloria smiled brightly.

"Thanks, guys!" Victor smiled back. "But shouldn't you've already gone to Hulbury? You really didn't have to wait for me."

"Yeah, I probably should've just gone, it would have been better for me to go ahead and finish the Hulbury gym." Hop admitted.

"How blunt..." Victor and Gloria sweatdropped.

"But then again, of course I wanted to see how strong my rivals were! And the first gym is special, so I wanted to stay here to make sure you wouldn't disappoint me and lose it!"

Victor smiled, "But, I guess now we go at it alone. Sorry that I didn't watch your first Gym Leader fights, but I was, er... busy." He chuckled, remembering the encounter with Rainbow Rocket.

"Don't worry, you can always rewatch them online at the official Gym Challenge website!" Hop pointed out.

"Sure, maybe I'll do that later."

Milo chuckled, "So this is the group endorsed by the champion all together? You're all pretty strong and interesting. But if you want to make it to Hulbury by today, then I suggest you all get a move on before it gets too dark."

"Good idea! I'll see you guys over there with my second badge by the time you arrive! Good luck!" Hop suddenly bolted out of the lobby, leaving the others behind.

"Wha- This isn't a race!" Gloria shouted angrily, then chasing after him to knock some sense into his habit of dashing away.

Victor chuckled and turned back to the grass type Gym Leader. "I guess I should be heading out too. See you later, Milo! I'll come back and visit."

"Now aren't ya a thoughtful one? I'll look forward to it." Milo grinned.

Victor made his way out of the lobby, waving at people in there clapping at him for his victory.

"I should be able to get to Hulbury in no time!"


~{Route 5-2:25PM}~

"Ooooooooor not!"

"Ace! Flame Charge into Maractus!"

"Raboot!" Ace burst into flames and rammed his elbow right into a Maractus, a cactus-like pokemon with two large earlike extensions with pink flows on both.

"Twilight, use Pluck on that Fearow!"

Twilight shot straight up and jabbed his bright beak right into a flying Fearow's stomach, making its eyes bulge before it was sent spinning back.

Victor ran on Route 5, rolling on the ground to duck under a Sludge Bomb that came at him and then using his hands to push himself off the ground to barely dodge a Mandibuzz trying to catch him in its beak.

"Midori! Get these dark types off me!" Victor shouted as he landed on the ground and turned his back to an incoming Scrafty, throwing him over his shoulder as he got near and sending it crashing into a tree.

"RAAAAAA!" Midori used Disarming Voice to blast away a Thievul and Mandibuzz pressuring Victor, the super effective attack being enough to send them flying.

"Thanks!" Victor then jumped right to a Pangoro, "High Jump Kick!"

His legs shined white and he connected his knee right into the Pangoro's stomach, the pokemon looking sick as it was sent flying back.

"Pang!" The panda-like pokemon grunted as he crashed into a tree.

When Victor landed, he turned to the group that had brought these pokemon that weren't from this region, more Rainbow Rocket Grunts.

"Are you guys crazy!? We're on a Route path! Trying to get me here is risky, what if someone sees us!?"

One of the Grunts smirked.

"Don't worry, we made sure to have some guys hold off the area. Ain't nobody coming unless you knock us out here."

"That's still risky!" Victor snarled as he jumped, spun in the air, and swung the heel of his foot upon the side of a Kanto Persian's head.

"P-PER-!" With a push, Victor swung the Persian off and into one of the Grunts.

"And really annoying!" Victor finished with a growl.

Twilight did some loop de loops and corkscrews in the air to avoid several projectiles, feeling pressured to avoid attacks from several flying pokemon.

"Crobat, use Air Cutter!"

"Pelipper, Water Gun!"

"Xatu, Psychic!"

The flying types all blasted their attacks at Twilight, the tiny bird pokemon desperately maneuvering around to avoid them. But at one point, the blades of the wind attacks struck Twilight from the sky, making him spiral downward towards the ground.

"Twilight!" Victor dashed forward to catch him, but a Bisharp landed in his path and attempted to slash at him with Metal Claw.

"Bish!"

Victor glared at him and screeched to a halt while forming purple aura-like claws on both hands.

"Dragon Claw!" He shouted as he raised both arms and blocked the attempted slash from the pokemon. Sparks flew as their attacks collided, with the Bisharp trying to push down while Victor tried to push him back, feeling his irritation grow.

"Get... Off!" He forcefully used his claws to moved Bisharp's arms out of the way, then jumping and kneeing him under his chin.

"Bi-sharp!" It cried in pain as it was uppercut up into the sky and out of Victor's way.

At the same time, Twilight neared the ground as the enemy flying pokemon came at him.

"Rooki..." It grumbled, feeling angry that these pokemon were getting the best of him. "Rooki!"

His eyes became fully open.

"ROOKIIIIII-!"

He suddenly started shining blue, and his body started changing shape. Bigger wings, larger talons, and his body getting longer to become about two feet.

Victor glanced up at him in awe.

"He's evolving!"

Twilight then flapped its wings and flew up, the glowing blue colors disappearing to reveal his new look.

"Corvisquire!" He cawed.

Everyone was still for a moment as they stared at the newly evolved pokemon, a spectacle always amazing to see.

"Why didn't you evolve during our battle with Milo!?" Victor suddenly shouted as he used the chance of distraction to grab the Kantonian Persian by the tail and start spinning him around.

"Cor!" Twilight shouted back.

"Huh!? You were about to before I returned you!? You can tell when you're gonna evolve!?" He shouted as he mustered his strength to fling the Persian right into a Scrafty that was just recovering. "Well SORRY! I won't do it again! But for now, use that strength to keep the air for yourself!"

Twilight suddenly flew faster than before, beak glowing bright white from Pluck as he rammed into a Crobat, sending it falling down.

"Cor! Cor! Squire!" He cawed.

Midori suddenly used Teleport to appear right on top of Twilight, landing on the pokemon's back and riding him with a smile.

"Ralts! Ralts!"

Twilight's eyes peaked back as he seemed to smile at Midori.

"Cor! Cor!"

He then flew around with Midori on his back, the Fairy-Psychic type unleashing balls of psychic energy or projecting Disarming Voice at the pokemon around like a gunner.

In the meantime, Ace was blazing all over the place from the additional speed he gained from spamming Flame Charge. He jumped around using Double Kick and Ember to strike pokemon down, managing to keep up against them. He jumped, kicked a Raticate right on his head, charged right into a Beedrill with his elbow, and then did flips to avoid blasts of Water Guns directed at him.

It didn't take long before nearly all of the Grunts were taken down.

"And... There!" Victor slammed his foot on the side of a Grunt's face.

"ACK!" The grunt was sent flying onto a pile of other Grunts that had tried to run away, only to have been knocked out by Victor.

Victor turned to the last conscious Grunt, who had fallen on his behind and looked somewhat scared of him.

"I-I surrender!" He said with his arms raised.

Victor stared at him as the newly evolved Twilight landed beside him with Midori and Ace regrouping.

"Good call." Victor told him.

He then glanced around at the unconscious pokemon.

"Whoops, maybe I should've kept those Grunt's conscious to have them return their pokemon..."

He turned back to the Grunt, "Do me a favor and round up all your friends' pokemon."

"A-Alright!" The Grunt rushed over and grabbed the other Grunt's pokeballs, returning the fainted pokemon back into their pokeballs.

At the same time, Victor praised his own pokemon.

"Good job, guys! Wow, are we so much stronger than before! We didn't have as much trouble against such a large group of these guys as last time!"

Midori cheerfully smiled as he jumped off of Twilight's back. "Ralts! Ralts!"

Victor then rustled through Twilight's feathers, "Amazing job Twilight! You evolved too, just like I knew you would! You're amazing!"

Instead of looking happy or proud, Twilight jumped up flapping his wings and repeatedly pecked Victor on the head in anger.

Cor! Cor! Cor!"

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Victor winced from each peck, soon getting forced to the ground. "You're still angry about returning you during that battle with Milo!?"

"Cor! Cor!" Twilight stopped pecking him and turned his head away with a 'hmph.'

"I'm sorry... I... won't do it again..." Victor groaned as he weakly raised a hand.

Ace rolled his eyes while Midori somewhat shivered from his companion's sudden violence.

Victor then stood back up and pulled out his phone with a sigh, "Guess I'm calling the Pokemon Staff hotline... I hope nothing will distract us again when we start heading to Hulbury..."


~{Route 5 Bridge-4:56PM}~

"I should stop saying those things..."

Victor weakly grunted as he walked up to Route Five's brick bridge that marked a checkpoint that he was getting close to Hulbury. He had dirt marks all over him with his pokemon returned into their pokeballs because of how tired they were. For several hours, the group either had to go help pokemon in trouble, or had to fight off against more Team Rainbow Rocket Grunts that were sent after him on the surprisingly long path of Route 5.

Victor rested on the side of the long bridge, where he turned his gaze at the landscape and appreciated the view.

He saw the rest of the Wild Area spreading farther than the eye could see.

"Such an amazing view..." Victor sighed in bliss, feeling less tired. He saw a desert area, small lakes, trees, rocky structures, and so much more over the vast Wild Area's horizon, making him excited to visit those parts in the future.

He was snapped out of his thoughts from a sudden voice, "There you are, Victor!"

Victor turned ahead of the bridge to the source of the voice, where he saw Hop standing there with a big grin on his face.

"What took you so long?" the champion's younger brother asked of him.

"Should I even mention Rainbow Rocket? Have they made a name for themselves here yet?" Victor wondered.

"Er, I got busy helping out some pokemon." He awkwardly laughed.

"Oh, that's right, you can understand them. Forgot about that." Hop nodded.

"Heh heh, yeah... Anyway, what are you still doing here? Shouldn't you be in Hulbury taking on the Gym Leader?"

Hop just grinned and pulled out the Water Badge, "Already done!"

"Did I take that long getting here!?" Victor shouted with bulging eyes.

"You sure did! I'm sure even Gloria is already fighting Nessa as we speak!" Hop laughed.

"Man, I guess I should get over there before the sky turns too dark..." Victor said as he started taking steps forward.

But as he got closer to Hop, the boy raised a hand forward in a halting way.

"Hold it, Victor! I should warn you now! If you get any closer..." He pulled out a pokeball. "Then, we're going to have a pokemon battle!"

"..."

Victor turned right on his heels.

"Have a nice day then."

"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO AGREE!" Hop shouted with an angry pout, even stomping his foot repeatedly.

"Pfft!" Victor muffled a laugh, turning his head back to Hop. "Sorry, I had to."

"Geez! Stop messin' with me!" Hop comedically waved his arms up and down like a toddler in a tantrum.

"Alright, fine. I see you wanna fight. May I ask why though?" Victor asked.

Hop stopped moving his arms, grinning again.

"We're both Gym Challengers who've earned ourselves a Grass Badge! And now I even got the water badge, so I wanna see if I can beat you! You and I actually haven't even fought in a one on one battle yet, so this will be perfect training for us!"

"Alright. But give me a minute!" Victor took off his big backpack and placed onto the ground, rummaging through it.

"I have to heal my pokemon first..."


~{Hulbury Stadium- Gym Challenge}~

Gloria was in her gym uniform and stood in the rectangular hallway that would lead to the Hulbury stadium, where she would soon fight Nessa. She stared down at one of her pokemon, the female alternate colored Ralts that she had named Luna, the one that she had received since Victor had already chosen to go with the other Ralts.

"You didn't fight at all during our first gym battle against Milo... You haven't even fought against any of the wild pokemon we faced..."

Luna averted her trainer's gaze.

Gloria looked sad, "Are... Are you scared of battling?"

Luna just kept her gaze to the ground, so her trainer got on one knee as she concluded that to be the case.

"Hey, look at me."

The pokemon slowly looked up, afraid of what kind of angry look Gloria would have.

Instead, she found a gentle smile from her trainer.

"Everything is going to be alright. I'm scared too..."

Luna looked confused.

"I'm scared of losing... Ever since I decided that I wanted to take the Gym Challenge, I've been afraid of losing one specific battle. If I lose right now, then it'll be fine because it means that I can keep getting stronger and try again anytime. But the battle I'm the most scared to lose... Is against Victor. And I don't mean just any battle I'll have against him, I mean an important battle in the future... I want to be able to beat other gym challengers, I want to be able to beat Hop, but I want to be able to beat Victor the most. Only then can I tell him... something important."

She reached her hand to Luna, who flinched, but let her trainer gently pat her head.

"Even if you're scared of something, there are times where you'll have to face it if you really want something. Like me, I know that I'm going to fight Victor or Hop again... And not just a friendly battle, but in the league... I just have a feeling that we're all going to make it there together. I'll be scared of losing to either of them at that point, but I know I'll have to face those battles if I want to become champion. I know I'll have to face Victor... if I want to tell him how important he is to me. That's why I'm getting stronger now, to make sure I won't lose on that day. No matter how scared I am of the time coming, I'm going to face it so that I can reach my goal."

Luna looked to be entranced by Gloria.

"So Luna, what's your goal? Is it something that you're willing to face your fear of fighting for? Something that you want to be stronger for? It doesn't have to be for me just because I'm your trainer, I just care about what you want as my pokemon. I care about what you want to fight for. Whatever you're fighting for, I'll help you fight for it too. That's what trainers and pokemon do."

Luna stared down into her small hands, thinking about what she did want to fight for.

"Ralts..." She thought about getting saved by Midori, who didn't hesitate to risk his life to help her, a random pokemon, despite having the chance of being killed with her. She thought about how ashamed she was as she had just been wanting to avoid fighting in general, ending up in others protecting her.

"Look... I'll return you into your pokeball for now, but... I'm hoping that you can fight not for me, but for yourself later." Gloria kindly smiled.

Luna nodded, wanting some time to think.


~{5:04 PM}~

Hop sat on the ground patiently as he waited for Victor to finish healing up his pokemon.

Victor sprayed the last bit of a potion on Twilight and rustled his feathers with a smile. "And... There we go! How do you guys feel?"

"Corvisquire!"

"Raboot..."

"Ralts!"

Hop grinned across from Victor. "So now your Rookidee is evolved like your Raboot?"

"Yup! Midori might be a ways off from evolving, but I know he's getting there too!" Victor grinned as he patted his Ralts on the head.

"Well, let's help him reach that point with a battle!" Hop shot back up to his feet. "Conga and Sky evolved too, so this is gonna be great!"

"You guys up for it?" Victor asked his three pokemon, who all nodded, despite still looking somewhat tired from all the early battling.

"Great, let's show Hop how much we've grown."

He stood up straight and turned to Hop, who already had his pokeball in hand with an excited smile.

"Let's have a taste of what a Gym Badge Holder can do!"

Hop tossed his pokeball and Victor pointed forward.

"Ace, you're up!"

"Wooloo, I choose you!"

Ace jumped forward as Hop's Wooloo came out of his pokeball.

"Raboot!"

"Baaaa!"

Upon both pokemon landing, Hop took the initiative to make the first move.

"Wooloo, use Tackle!"

Wooloo didn't hesitate to roll at Ace with his body.

Victor narrowed his eyes, "Use Ember and Double Kick!"

Ace formed a ball of fire on his foot and kicked it straight at Wooloo coming towards him.

It directly hit the sheep pokemon with a small explosion of flames, causing him to cry in pain and tumble out of his rolling.

Ace then dashed forward and swing his foot upward, booting Wooloo up into the air, then jumping up above and spinning before kicking him down at the ground like a soccer ball.

Hop was stunned as his Wooloo crashed into the ground at his foot, already unconscious.

"B-Baaa..." It faintly moaned.

"W-Wooloo!? Already!?"

Hop returned Wooloo and stared ahead at Victor and Ace. He saw the look in both their eyes, looks of experience, looks of power, looks that gave off a sense of pressure that showed them that this wasn't anything new to them. Midori and Twilight had the same menacing looks as Victor and Ace, giving off as much pressure as the front rabbit pokemon currently was.

"They... They got strong that fast?" Hop gulped.

Hop looked more serious as he pulled out another pokeball, "Sky, I'll be relying on you."

Hop tossed his Pokeball as his evolved Rookidee came out and flew in the air, revealing to have become a Corviquire like Twilight has become.

"Cor! Cor!"

Hop pointed ahead, "Get close and use Pluck!"

"Cor!" Sky dived straight down towards Ace, who just narrowed his eyes at the flying pokemon coming recklessly straight at him.

"Ace, you know what to do." Victor said calmly.

They had seen this scenario several times against the flying pokemon from the Rainbow Rocket Grunts they faced, they remembered the pattern of pokemon diving in just one path towards their target, so of course... Ace knew what to do.

Ace nodded before he burst into flames using Flame Charge, then actually blasting into the air at quick speeds right up at the Corvisquire flying straight down.

"He went straight for him!?" Hop didn't expect.

"Sky, do-!"

Hop didn't finish as Ace had already used his elbow to ram into Sky's stomach, the bird being caught off guard by the speed. But Ace didn't let him get launched and rather, kept a tight hold on Sky as he flipped the two of them so Ace was on top. He then let go of Sky before the rabbit kicked him straight down to the ground.

"What kind of synchronization does he have with his pokemon!?"

Sky crashed into the ground with a bounce, but didn't spring too high before Ace came falling down with his feet landing on him to nail him down.

Hop didn't know what just happened. Just one of Victor's pokemon had already taken down two of his. During his first battle with him and Gloria, they seemed nearly equal, but now, it was as if Victor had skyrocketed passed him.

Victor noticed his own strength too, avoiding his friend's gaze as he thought about just how much of a gap there already was between them.

"In addition to the training I've have my pokemon do in the Wild Area, fighting against all those Grunts really put us through a lot... It's no wonder that this is the result..."

Hop took a deep breath, then grinning despite the situation.

"So it's like that then...? Well, I'm not done yet! This is no problem at all!"

He pulled out his last pokemon, "Go, Conga!"

Out came an evolved Grookey, having turned into Thwackey as you could tell by the two bigger sticks and its longer body.

"Thwackey! Thwack!" The grass type starter cried out.

"Conga, use Razor Leaf!"

"Thwackey!" Conga's dark green bands around his wrists started glowing, to which he swiped his arms down and sent a barrage of sharp leaves heading towards Ace.

"Dodge and get close with Quick Attack!" Victor shouted.

Ace glowed a white aura as he used Quick Attack to dash forward as a white blur, maneuvering around the leaves and getting closer to Conga.

"Use Double Kick!" Victor then shouted.

"Block it with Double Hit!" Hop managed to react.

"Raboot!" Ace shouted.

"Thwakey!" Conga returned.

Conga swung a stick overhead as Ace jumped and swung his leg, both attacks colliding and bouncing off each other. Upon landing, Ace jumped forward again and spun in the air before swinging his other leg, to which Conga also blocked by swinging his other stick.

"Oh? His Conga seems to be stronger than the others, don't tell me that Hop's been bringing him out the most?"

Ace and Conga jumped away to make space between the two, where Hop instructed his pokemon once again.

"Conga, use Screech!"

Conga took a deep breath before letting loose, "REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

His ear-piercing shriek had Ace cover his ears in pain, feeling his defense lowering.

"Now go charge forward and use Double Hit again!"

Conga dashed towards Ace with his grip tightened on both of his sticks.

"Use Quick Attack to circle around him!" Victor shouted louder to make sure Ace heard him despite the scream having hurt his ears.

Ace was surrounded in white as he dashed forward as a blur, then passing Conga and running around him in a circle.

"Thwack!? Thwack!?" Conga stopped, his head glancing in all directions to try keeping up with where Ace was.

"Conga, um..." Hop didn't know how to handle that.

"Flame Charge!"

The circle around Conga suddenly blazed in flames, startling the pokemon as he felt the heat.

At one point, Conga was rammed right into his back, taking a direct Flame Charge from Ace that sent him flying back to Hop.

"Thwack!" Conga fell to the ground, completely knocked out.

"No way..." Hop mumbled, staring down at his starter given by Leon.

Ace skid to a stop and the flames dispersed around him, then standing up straight and putting his paws into his pouch pocket.

"Raboot... Raboot..."

"Good job, Ace." Victor walked over to him and patted him on the head, even though the rabbit tried avoiding it.

Hop returned his last pokemon into his pokeball, staring down at the white and red sphere in his hands with a blank look.

"How...?"

"..." Victor turned to his pokemon, with Midori looking surprised while Twilight looked disappointed as neither expected only Ace to be needed in this... massacre.

He returned all of his pokemon into their pokeballs, then turning back to Hop with a rather sympathetic look as his friend tighten his grip on his pokeball with a confused look.

Hop glanced up at Victor. "We both got ourselves the same Grass Badge, and I even got the Water Badge, so how come you're so much stronger?"

Victor sighed, losing the cheerfulness he usually had as he knew that he had to be honest.

"Sorry... I know that we're only around the beginning of the challenge, but I've just been training." He answered.

"You mean... grinding in the Wild Area?"

Victor nodded. "Something like that. I've actually been fighting a lot of wild pokemon and people." He, of course, left out that those people were part of an evil organization.

Hop just looked even more confused. "So... Training? That's the answer? I thought I was training enough... Fighting every pokemon I came across on the way to the gyms... And yet, you team wiped me with just one pokemon."

Victor saw how discouraged Hop looked, but he shook his head.

"You may have fought a lot of pokemon on your way to the gyms, but from our 'battle' just now, it's clear that you've only been facing pokemon already weaker than your own. No matter how many pokemon you've faced, they won't help you get stronger fast as facing a more powerful pokemon would do."

"So..." Hop lowered his head. "We're still just weak then?"

"No, I'm just pretty strong." Victor honestly answered as he awkwardly scratched the back of his head while averting his eyes from Hop. "Or... I think so at least."

He sighed again and looked down.

"That's why I said that we should be going off on our own... If you and Gloria just spend time waiting for me to arrive rather than going to other places and facing stronger pokemon, then you're just hindering yourselves."

Hop stared down into his pokeball again, eyes hidden as he remained silent for a few seconds.

Victor tilted his head rather worried. "Er-"

"Then it seems I've got to train even harder from now on!" Hop bounced back to his feet as his head revealed a brightening expression of determination with sparkles all around him.

"Eh?"

"Kabu of Motostoke Stadium is said to be a roadblock for over half the trainers that take the Gym Challenge! If I can't even give you a challenge, then there's no way I'll beat him!" Hop declared with a grin.

He tightly held a fist up to his chest.

"So right now I'm heading straight to the Wild Area! I'll get so strong that I can beat Kabu and even you!"

Victor was going to ask Hop if he was really okay, but the brightness of his friend was already enough to convince him that he was probably fine.

In fact, he even decided to help him. "Great! Let me give you something then!" He smiled as he dug through his backpack for a few seconds, then taking out a container of cookies.

"OOOO! I love the way you make these!" Hop gleamed excitedly.

"Don't eat them all!" Victor warned him. "Give these to that Onix we first encountered in the Rolling Fields and tell him that you're my friend. He should believe you since he should've seen you with us. Have your pokemon train with him!"

"Eh?" Hop blinked in confusion as he took the container of sweets. "Wait, the same Onix that tried to kill us!? You actually made friends with it!?" He then realized another thing. "And was he one of the 'stronger' pokemon you used to train!?"

"You betcha! If you want to get along with him, be sure to praise him and show respect!" Victor advised.

"Wow, to befriend such dangerous pokemon... Victor really is amazing..."

Hop glanced down at the container of cookies.

"I wonder if that's something that helped him get stronger?"

Hop happily grinned, looking back up at his childhood friend. "Thanks Victor! I'll be sure to get stronger by the time you get back to Motostoke! Good luck on your gym battle against Nessa and say hi to Gloria for me!"

The boy then turned around and dashed back along Route 5 to make his way back to Hulbury, pulling out his phone to call a Flying Taxi to pick him up at the pokemon center in the seaport town.

Victor remained still for a few minutes after Hop left, then reaching his hand up and removing the gray beanie off his head. He held it in his hands and stared down at it, remembering when Hop decided to let him keep it despite having been a gift from Leon.

"Hope you get stronger, Hop... I'll be really shocked if you don't make it with me to the league..."

He then placed his beanie back on and proceeded onward once again, watching the sun already starting to go down and create shadows all over the landscape.

"I might fight Nessa tomorrow. I think we've battled way too much for a day..."


~{Meanwhile- Hulbury Stadium}~

"So... Who's going to be your third pokemon?" The water type Gym Leader, Nessa, asked Gloria from afar. In front of her was her strongest pokemon, Drednaw, a large pokemon resembling a blue and yellow turtle with a brown shell and a hostile look on its face.

"I..." Gloria had no pokemon in front of her. She had just returned her Yamper, Bolt, back into his pokeball after he had been knocked out by the Drednaw just ahead of the girl.

Gloria reached behind her and thought about her options. She had first used Ziggy, who had recently evolved into a Galarian Linoone, then she had used Bolt, expecting the electric type to take care of the rest of the battles for her, only for Nessa's Drednaw to have unexpectedly taken him down. Now all she could use left was one more pokemon according to the water gym's rules, leaving her to choose either Plush, Bubbles, or Luna.

Bubbles is a water type and would be on neutral ground theoretically, but from what Gloria knows, Bubbles wouldn't match up well with her current moves against an evolved pokemon, so that left Plush or Luna. Gloria knew that Luna was afraid, so she didn't want to forcefully bring her out.

"So all that's left is..." Gloria took a deep breath as she reached back and grabbed a pokeball. "I guess Plush will have to handle this..."

She got ready to throw her pokeball, "Go Plu-!"

She was interrupted as one of her pokemon forcefully came out of another pokeball right in front of her.

"EH!?"

Gloria glanced down as shiny sparkles came from Luna standing right in front of her, the psychic-fairy trembling as she saw the dangerous Drednaw ahead, yet keeping her eyes on it.

"Oh? And alternate colored Ralts?" Nessa said, looking rather surprised to see such a rare pokemon. "So that's the third pokemon you're choosing?"

"U-Um-! I-I mean-!?" Gloria was just confused as she stared down at Luna.

"Did... Did she really come out to fight!?"

Nessa grinned across from her, "Your pokemon is beautiful, but I'm afraid it won't save you. You have your back against the door."

"Oi! You're on ya last pokemon too!" Gloria snapped back.

"That I am, Gloria." Nessa giggled. "But I'm not planning to lose right here. I've already lost to Leon's little brother right before you came, I can't lose again so fast."

She then returned her Drednaw into its pokeball, which grew larger with colors sparkling around.

"Prepare to face the might of the waves! Go Gigantamax!"

She then heaved the large ball forward and released her pokemon, watching it grow to ginormous size.

But it didn't just grow, it had even changed in appearance, as it was now standing on just its two hind legs and looked even more armored as if becoming as tough as a tank.

"Drednaaaaaaaaaaw!" Its cry echoed in the blue stadium.

Its large, angry pink eyes glared down at the tiny Ralts underneath, making Luna shake in fear of the frightening monster. She saw the Liepards from before, she saw their dangerous look, their hostility, it was the same kind of pressure that this Drednaw gave off.

Gloria noticed this look from her pokemon, making her worry that although she bravely came out herself, the fear and pressure might be too much for her small pokemon.

"Don't worry Luna, I know you can do it! That's why you came out, right!? Because you know you can do this!?"

Luna glanced back, watching her trainer pull out the pokeball she had just escaped from herself.

"I know you're scared, but you have the power to win! I'll show you that you do!" Gloria reassured her, smiling to add to show that she was confident in her.

Her Dynamax Band sparkled in pink colors with her pokeball also sparkling with pink.

Luna stopped shaking and saw the pink colors coming from Gloria's Dynamax band. She glanced back at the giant Gigantamax Drednaw that was roaring into the sky, understanding immediately what Gloria had in mind.

So she nodded in agreement.

Gloria's eyes brightened, "Then, let's do this!"

Gloria returned Luna into her pokeball before it increased in size in her hands. With one mighty throw, Gloria sent her large pokeball spinning in the air before it opened up, sending out a Ralts nearly as gigantic as the Dredmaw she was facing.

Luna landed on the ground with a slam, then taking a deep breath before crying out, "Raaaaaaaaalts!"

Luna emitted a shiny sparkle as she let out a roar, entrancing the audience to appreciate an alternate colored pokemon's appearance in such a large form.

Nessa confidently grinned, "Don't think that just Dynamaxing alone will give you the power to win! Drednaw, show them the power of our waves with Max Geyser!"

The Drednaw stomped its feet and opened its mouth, where he fired a giant, violent stream of water at Luna.

"DREDNAAAAAAAAAAAAWW!"

"Luna! Show them how strong you really are! Return the attack with Max Mindstorm!"

Luna started glowing pink in psychic energy, as she took a deep breath...

And let loose.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Giant rings of psychic energy repeatedly echoed at the large stream of water incoming.

The repeated rings of psychic energy collided with the geyser, causing water to splash in all directions as both pokemon were suddenly kept at a standstill. Luna's psychic power was keeping Drednaws water from coming right at her, but it wasn't long before she was suddenly starting to get overwhelmed.

Luna looked stressed as the Max Geyser was getting close to breaking through her Max Mindstorm. She struggled to keep in place, she struggled to keep up her power, she struggled to just stand right there.

However, while standing with such power and willpower to stay up...

She no longer felt afraid.

"You can do it, Luna! Don't stop! Prove to everyone just what it means to be strong!" Gloria shouted, hoping to give her one last push.

Hearing her, Luna's head started glowing blue. But not just her head, her entire body suddenly started glowing blue and the psychic rings of the Max Mindstorm suddenly started getting stronger.

Nessa's eyes widened, "Wh-What, it's... it's-!?"

Luna started changing shape. Growing taller, legs extended, additional features growing on her head.

"RAAAAAA-KIRLIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Her psychic energy exploded, the psychic rings growing larger and suddenly penetrating through the giant stream of water right to Drednaw.

The bite pokemon's eyes enlarged before the psychic barrage connected, resulting in a massive explosion that created intense winds throughout the arena.

When the winds died down, everyone looked shocked to see two things. One, the previous Dynamaxed Ralts had now become a Dynamaxed Kirlia, and two, Nessa's Drednaw had shrunken down and was now on his side, completely unconscious.

Gloria was stunned.

"Y-Y-You evolved while Dynamaxed!?"

The giant Kirlia turned back to her trainer, a satisfied expression shown in her finally visible eyes.

Then she gave her trainer a close eyed smile.

"Kirlia!"

The giant pokemon suddenly shrunk back down to normal size and fell on her back, panting while keeping her happy expression.

Gloria dived forward with happy tears in her eyes, picking up her pokemon and hugging her tightly.

"Lunaaaa! You did it!"

"Kirlia! Kirlia!" Luna cheered, no longer fazed by contact with her trainer.

The announcer that had gotten stunned by the spectacle finally regained his composure and spoke.

"I-It's over! Nessa has no pokemon left standing! So the challenger, Gloria of Postwick, wins!"

The crowd went ballistic.

"An evolution in the middle of a Dynamax form!? Well, ain't that something!" A man laughed.

"And she managed to overpower right through Nessa's Max Geyser!? What incredible power!" Another commented.

Nessa just stood in place with a frozen expression, the Gym Leader's eyes glued to her Drednaw on the floor.

"No way... I..."

She recalled losing to Hop in literally her previous battle, remembered the same frustrating sight of her Drednaw on the floor.

"Not... again..."

"Unbelievable! Another devastating loss for Nessa! Her record is diminishing from a streak of defeats! Has our beloved Gym Leader lost her touch!?"

Nessa returned her Drednaw back into her pokeball, lowering her head to hide her eyes as she absorbed the realization. She hadn't just lost this battle, but she had been losing more battles in such a short period of time. She remembered facing Piers' little sister, remembered fighting a platinum-haired boy, remembered fighting Leon's little brother, and now... She had lost once more in a row.

As she recalled all these losses for just the beginning of the gym challenge, the sounds of the crowd seemed to die around her.


~(Author's Post-Notes}~

Phew... So a lot of stuff happened in this chapter, but I feel like I did okay. Sure, Twilight and Luna evolving in the same chapter may seem rushed but hey, each evolution for a pokemon isn't just gonna have a long series of moments setting up for it. Anyway, next time on small boy that talks to pokemon, what's this? An issue in Galar? Eh? Doubts in our favorite model? Huh!? A new pokemon for our dear friend!? Who will it be!? That and more in the best pokemon fic ever! (Probably not, but it makes me feel better thinking like that, lol) Anyway, until next chapter! Ya-hoo! (Mario jumps out of existence)