~Author's Pre-Notes}~

(A Mimikyu steps out of an animal crossing house)

Heyo! Pikaboo here! Just wanted to say something before you start reading! I wanted to have this whole chapter for Nessa and then wanted the next chapter to move on to the gym battle, but there was a lot more written than I had expected to write, so this chapter and the next will be like a part one and part two thing. Then the chapter after will probably move on to her gym battle.

But there is something even more important that I have to say, and that is...

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! (House blows up with confetti and streamers)

WOOHOO! 19 years old! One more year closer to death! So I wanted to take this day to thank all of you readers once again for choosing to read this fic and comment on it, it means so much to me. And not just that, but to celebrate with you guys, I released a chapter of this AND of my other fanfiction, To Be A Hero! Check it out if you're a fan of My Hero Academia! But this birthday is already great so far! Not only do I get oreo cookies and cream cake, but I got an episode of pokemon Twilight Wings released with it!? And this is episode is about Allister, the precious boy who I relate to WAY more than you know!? He even uses my favorite typing of ghosts!

But anyway, once again thanks to everyone who takes time out of their day to read my fic, love you guys.

Now back to the chapter! Well, after the comments!

(Turns back to blown up house)

Hm, guess I should fix that first.

~{Pikaboo73- July 3, 2020}~

Answered Comments:

A Random Earthian: Good to hear from you again in yet another comment, love the questions. :D But anyway, yeah! I am letting myself get inspired by Twilight Wings, it's so amazing. As for the discussion between Victor and Marnie, that won't be in the next chapter or the one after, I think it'll be in a few more before when he meets up with her again in Motostoke. They're gonna have some time for themselves, (Just hope Gloria doesn't find them.)

Wolfy: Lol, I just pictured Charjabug wiggling around for food to be the cutest thing ever, and then I just wrote it down. And I've always loved him and Vikavolt a lot. And Chairman Rose is actually a really nice person that thinks about what he believes is best for the people he loves, although... I guess sometimes what a person loves can end up having them do something bad because they feel like there isn't any other choice. And this is what happens in the original sword and shield story, although not handled really well in my opinion. But hey, let's see if I can add on to it!

TonyMon318: Ah yes, Victor's charm. One of the deadliest charms someone can have... The charm of innocence! The pure, innocent boy that only wants to help people! Of course he can attract all the ladies! But I wouldn't say it's by not even doing anything, he still shows so much consideration and positivity and expresses his innocent aura to all around him! None shall not be swayed by the boy! Bwahahaha!


~{Hulbury-9:16AM}~

Victor had been disappointed that he wasn't able to face Nessa since she wasn't at her gym, but the moment he saw the Gym Leader herself right beside him at the Hulbury Lighthouse, he immediately cheered up with a bright smile.

"Hi, Nessa!"

Nessa stared at the boy that her bestie had told her about, looking rather puzzled as she examined him.

"Wow, I was bummed when I heard that you might be gone for a while, but I didn't expect to meet you so soon!" Victor smiled.

Nessa felt her previous worries get placed on hold as her curiosity replaced it, the young adult grinning as she removed herself from the railing she had been sulking on.

"Oh? So this is the famous Victor of Postwick I've heard so much about?" She giggled.

"Eh? I'm not that famous to have so much information spread about me, am I?" Victor awkwardly chuckled, not really excited thinking about that.

Nessa circled around the boy with a slight, close-lipped smile. "Well, I don't know how much everyone else knows about you, besides the fact you've been endorsed by Leon, but what I know I've heard from Sonia."

"Oh god, don't tell me Sonia told Nessa weird things like what my mom told her?" Victor deadpanned.

He decided to find out, "Erm... What did she-?"

Nessa put a sudden finger to his lips while forming a mischievous smile.

"Shhh... Se-cret~" she giggled, knowing that she probably shouldn't share the information Sonia said about Victor's mother and her 'encouragement.'

She pulled her finger back while Victor stared somewhat confused at what was said.

"O...kay?" He wondered if Nessa might've been told what his mother told Sonia anyway, which in that case, wouldn't be new. So maybe he didn't have to worry too much.

"Wait a second-!" He realized, "You're friends with Sonia?"

Nessa froze and stared with wide-eyes and raised eyebrows. "Huh!? She never told you about me!?"

"Well, not really." Victor admitted awkwardly.

Nessa facepalmed with a sigh, "I thought that was why you were so familiar with me... You didn't even introduce yourself."

"Oh. I mean, you already knew who I was. And people have told me that I'm rather carefree." Victor chuckled. "But anyway, so you and Sonia are friends?"

Nessa cheered up as she raised two fingers in a peace sign while winking at Victor with a smile. "More than that, we're besties!"

"Oh yeah, I can already tell." Victor found amusement by how Nessa mimicked Sonia's actions. "How long have you known her?"

Nessa lowered her arm, "I met her about ten years ago. We both took the Gym Challenge at the same time."

"Oh? Were you both the same age when you took it together?" Victor asked out of curiosity.

Nessa shook her head, "Nope, I'm one year older than her, but I guess it's actually just by a few months."

Victor's smile slightly dropped as he asked another question, "Er... Can I ask how was Sonia in the Gym Challenge?"

Nessa looked down. "Heh... Amazing. She and Leon took on anyone and everyone. Or so, that's how it was at first..."

"But... then she dropped out?" Victor deduced.

Nessa nodded, "So she told you that?"

"Yeah..." Victor admitted.

Nessa sighed, "Well, that's what happened. I really thought Sonia would be with Leon the whole way. But then one day, she just thought the Gym Challenge wasn't for her. It really confused me because she had just beaten Kabu, who was still the Gym Leader for Motostoke back then and is still considered to be a blockade for most challengers. I wonder what made her suddenly quit..."

"She never gave you a reason?" Victor raised an eyebrow.

Nessa shook her head, "Never a straight answer."

"Sonia said she lost a few times, especially to Leon... But was that really it?" Victor wondered.

He noticed the disappointed look in Nessa's eyes, deciding to change the subject. And it was apparent that the Gym Leader herself didn't know why her bestie had quit, so it was pointless to keep asking.

"Ahem... So how did you do on the challenge?"

Nessa perked up as she remembered her journey, casually leaning on the railing as if to look cooler. "I beat the challenge and made it all the way to the Pokemon League!"

Victor's eyes sparkled. "You did!? How was it like!? How far did you get!? How many people did you face!?"

"Um..." Nessa's expression suddenly changed after those questions, the young adult averting Victor's gaze with hints of embarrassment. "I... actually didn't get too far in the league itself... I lost in the second round..."

"Ouch." Victor thought with a blank look now, thinking about just how many people must've been in the world league.

"B-But I was still pretty proud of getting that far!" Nessa recovered. "And not just that, since I had all the gym badges, I went back to the league every year and managed to move to the higher rounds at least. Then, because of my above-average ranking in the league and my team of water types, I was offered to become the Gym Leader for Hulbury when the previous one retired."

"Wait, that's how recruitment works? Based on the results of the league and if a trainer uses a preferred typing?" Victor asked, rather intrigued.

"Heh, not really. There isn't really a process for recruiting Gym Leaders. It's usually just the chairman choosing someone he's got a good feeling about. But I guess having a lot of water types is a factor that convinced him to choose me to be the water Gym Leader.

Victor raised an eyebrow. "So, it's just kinda biased then?"

Nessa laughed and pat his shoulder, "Pretty much! And no one usually rejects the offer to become a Gym Leader, there's a lot of benefits with it, including battling a lot of people as the job!"

Victor caught that last line, "Since you're saying battling itself is a benefit, I'm assuming you love to do it?"

"Heh, sure do! Every Gym Leader loves to battle, myself included!" Nessa declared as she pointed her thumb at herself with a smirk.

"Oh, okay then. Then there must be a reason why you left your gym today, right?" Victor innocently asked with a closed-eye smile.

Nessa flinched as she was reminded of her recent losses in a row, making her turn away from Victor while awkwardly sweating.

"Well, I um... kind of needed a break."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense. I'm sure fighting hundreds of trainers must make you tired throughout the day." Victor nodded in understanding before asking another question. "So when are you gonna come back?"

"Oh right... You want to get your water badge, don't you?" Nessa realized with a quiet sigh.

She turned back and stared at how excited and confident Victor looked, the boy already seeming ready to face her. She remembered already losing to Hop and Gloria in addition to two previous trainers, remembering the announcer pointing out that this had rarely happened to her. She wondered if going back to her gym now and facing Victor right then and there would give her another humiliating defeat, which would make it her fifth in a row.

She remembered the question she had asked Sonia when they had met up in the cake shop in Turffield.

"So, you think he can get through me?"

"Definitely!"

Remembering that immediate claim and her losses, Nessa's eye twitched. She turned away from Victor yet again, not wanting to have another battle that might just end her spirit this time.

"Um, maybe not today..."

"Oh, okay then..." Victor said, sounding somewhat disappointed. "So, what are you gonna do now?"

"Well..." Nessa scratched her cheek, realizing that she hadn't thought too far ahead on what she would do with the free time she suddenly got.

Or so she thought she had free time.

"Miss Nessa! There you are!"

"Eh?" Victor and Nessa looked back to see a crew of people wearing red life-vests and holding up cameras running towards them.

"You guys!?" Nessa exclaimed in shock.

"Fans?" Victor chuckled as he watched the group get closer.

"Er, sort of. They're the camera crew I work with for my modeling job." Nessa explained.

Victor's eyes widened into a look of realization. "Oh yeah, I forgot! You are a model!"

"Why do I feel hurt by that?" Nessa deadpanned.

A middle-aged man wearing brown glasses, a green cap, and a mustache and beard connecting together led the crew to Nessa.

"We're supposed to have your photoshoot and film session today at the Lake of Outrage, remember!?" He called to her.

Nessa's eyes grew with shock.

"Huh!? That's today!?"

The crew stopped in front of Nessa and a confused Victor.

"Yes! We arrived at your gym fifteen minutes ago but were informed that you weren't there!" The man told her, annoyed.

Nessa groaned and rubbed her eyes, "To think I forgot... I really am out of it..."

The man then noticed Victor standing beside their model, making his eyes light up with a bright smile.

"Oh? Aren't you Victor, one of the three challengers endorsed by Champion Leon!?" He excitedly stammered.

"Er, yeah, that's me." Victor awkwardly chuckled, still feeling awkward about being well known to everyone just for being endorsed.

The man's eyes became stars.

"Ooo! This is a big opportunity then! I'm the director of the Dynamax Snap Studio! I'm sure you've heard of us! We've been looking for you! Everyone is dying to know why the world champion took an interest in you and your other two fellow trainers! Where's Hop and Gloria!? Can you spare some time so we can have an interview with you!? Can we take a few pictures of you to go with it!?"

"Erm..." Victor sweatdropped, wondering how to answer all of this.

The director didn't even wait for an answer, he just turned to Nessa with brimming excitement. "Let's bring him with us for our session! It'd be another thing to catch the eyes of Galar besides just your pictures Miss Nessa!"

Nessa frowned, "Hold on a minute, don't just go dragging people with us. I'll come with you guys, so just leave the kid alone."

"It's okay Nessa, I kind of want to go." Victor said with a reassuring smile.

The Gym Leader turned to him in surprise, "Huh? Are you sure? These things can take a long time and get rather boring if you're just sitting around watching."

"I mean, I don't have anything better to do since I can't battle you right now. And he mentioned the Lake of Outrage, didn't he? I kind of want to see a part of the Northern Wild Area for the first time!" Victor responded in excitement.

The director grinned, "Excellent! Then would you please follow us to the Hulbury Pokemon Center? Our rides will pick us up and take us to the lake!"

The group proceeded to walk away from the lighthouse, with the crew rushing ahead while Nessa and Victor took their time walking behind.

Nessa glanced down at Victor with an eyebrow raised. "Are you really okay with this?"

Victor nodded, "Yeah, I don't see why I should refuse." He said as he reached an arm back into his backpack to push Tesla back in, who had sleep squirmed a bit out of his bag.

"Or is it that you just can't refuse requests?" Nessa giggled.

Victor awkwardly laughed, "I can't really deny that. But I do have a legit reason to go."

He turned to Nessa with a reassuring smile.

"It might give me the chance to figure out what's bothering you."

"Wha-?" Nessa stopped walking and just stared at him in shocked silence.

Victor just chuckled as he walked a few steps ahead, "I know we met just a few moments ago, but I can already tell something's troubling you. It was pretty obvious when you flinched after asking why you left your gym."

Nessa didn't refute his claim, nor did she agree with it, she only just stared at him with a curious gaze.

"He... saw right through me?"

Victor stopped walking and turned his head back to her with confident eyes.

"I hope we get along Nessa, I'd love to get to know you."

Nessa's hair blew with the wind as she formed a puzzled look, the beauty remembering the last thing her bestie had said about the boy.

"You'll really like him, he's a very charming boy."

Nessa formed a smirk.

"What an odd kid."


~{Rolling Fields-9:34 AM}~

"Heh... Heh... You've gotta be kidding me..."

Hop nervously grinned as his beaten up pokemon struggled to stand on their legs, dirt and bruises all over their bodies.

"Victor fought this... monster?" He chuckled, the boy trembling in both fear and excitement as he stared at the large figure shadowing over him and his pokemon.

Conga was kneeling and using his sticks to hold himself up as he trembled, Sky had his wings open on the ground but felt pain go through them, and Wooloo's little legs shook as he comedically cried in fear.

Meanwhile, in front of them, a large Onix stared down at the group with menacing eyes. It growled as it gave off such murderous aura that Hop and his pokemon instinctively backed up.

"I... I knew Victor trained and all... But to think it was against someone so... God, how do I even describe him? We barely even lasted a few minutes!"

Onix seemed to be enjoying these newcomers shaking in his presence, the pokemon himself letting out some small growling that Hop could swear was actually chuckling.

He raised his tail up and it started glowing white, waiting for Hop to make the next move.

Hop closed his eyes and sighed.

"Well... We know what we want, right guys?"

His pokemon glanced back at him, rather unsure of what he was going for.

"To get stronger... And if fighting this Onix helps us do that..."

He opened his eyes and gave his companions a reassuring smile.

"Then don't we want to do it?"

His pokemon then sighed in the reality that they were probably going to continue foolishly fighting against such a force.

But in the end, they nodded in agreement that this was the way, even if poor little Wooloo still had water in his eyes with trembling legs.

Seeing their fighting spirit lifted up, Hop raised a fist and shouted.

"Then let's get back to it!"

"Corisquire!" Sky cawed.

"Thwackey!" Conga shouted.

"B-Baaaaa..." Wooloo whimpered.

Sky took flight, Conga stopped kneeling and jumped up and down, while Wooloo nervously rolled around hoping he wouldn't get crushed.

"ONIX!"

The giant rock pokemon swung his tail.


~{Flying Taxi-9:58 AM}~

"Whoa!" Victor had his face right next to the window as he stared out at the broad landscape of the Northern Wild Area below. He was in a left seat beside Nessa in one flying taxi while her camera crew members were in separate rides flying around them. After all, a Corviknight could only carry so many people and their luggage at a time.

Nessa tilted her head curiously as she saw Victor's reaction. "Is this your first time in a flying taxi?"

Victor glanced back at her with a sparkling aura. "Yup! I've only traveled Galar on foot for the experience and pokemon encounters, but now that I'm looking at the region from up here, it's such a cool view!"

He reached down into his backpack on the floor and pulled out Tesla, the Charjabug still sleeping as seen by the sleep bubble he had.

"Hey Tesla, look at the view!"

The pokemon just grumbled as Victor tried to convince him to gaze out.

"Heh, he still acts just a child." Nessa giggled to herself as she watched his excitement.

However, by thinking about this, she suddenly had a few thoughts come to mind that had her stare rather confusingly at the boy. Thoughts of something Sonia had told her about Victor.

"He's someone that's been in Postwick ever since we were taking the Gym Challenge ourselves. But he's never actually been out of his house. At least, not until recently when he decided to take the challenge himself."

Nessa put a hand on her chin in thought, remembering that Sonia had 'known' about Victor for ten years, but had never actually 'met' him until recently.

"But... why didn't he ever go out of his house? And did he choose to leave just as the Gym Challenge started this year?"

With the boy in front of her, maybe she could get an answer.

"Hey, Victor?"

Victor had Tesla on his lap as he fed him a berry, then cheerfully turning his head to Nessa.

"Yeah?"

Nessa put her hands on her lap, "Something I talked to Sonia about was how you were always held up in your house, is that true?"

Victor sighed, "So she did tell you about that?"

Nessa nodded, "Yeah, she mentioned it... So why didn't you ever go outside?"

The boy leaned back in his seat and he gently caressed a sleepy Tesla's head.

"Well, I was allowed to go outside, but only in the forest behind my house, it was basically my backyard. Although, I did spend time in Hop's house since it was really close by, but that was about it for the most part... I guess you could say that my mom was just being overprotective. For most of my life, I was cooped in my house with no one else to talk to besides Hop and Gloria and some of their folks. Mom spent most of our time together just teaching me to ready myself for the outside world one day. You know, teaching me things like how to cook, set up camp, and finding my way in the wild, that kind of stuff."

"Really? That sounds pretty lonely though." Nessa remarked rather sadly.

Victor shrugged, "Well, my place did have a lot of pokemon that hung around. And as I mentioned before, I talked to Hop and Gloria a lot, but I always found myself wanting to explore Galar to meet new people and pokemon alike."

"Charja... Charja..." Tesla flipped upside-down on Victor's lap, his trainer then caressing his battery pokemon's stomach as he continued to talk.

"When I was at home, I met a lot of pokemon that needed help, and I always helped them. By now, I'm sure I made the forest near my house into a safe and friendly place for the pokemon there, so I don't have to worry too much about them. So then... I found myself wondering about the pokemon in the rest of Galar. I asked myself, 'how many more pokemon out there need help, but can't get it?'"

He glanced up at the ceiling of the cab.

"When I was in the forest... a lot of pokemon got really hurt, some of them almost died. So I know there are pokemon in Galar that must be in similar situations or live in environments of constant danger... So I made a choice to explore Galar to help any pokemon that needs it. However, I couldn't just leave my house, especially at such a young age. But now that I'm fifteen and have a lot the skills that most normal kids don't have, Mom decided that I was ready to leave."

Nessa leaned back with her head still fixated on Victor, "But... if you just wanted to help pokemon, then why did you decide to take the Gym Challenge?"

Victor stopped gazing up and turned to her. "I mean, I'm mostly taking the challenge to help pokemon. I want to help them while I'm traveling to each gym, it's a reason why I prefer to go to travel by foot. And I think that becoming the champion will give me the strength and influence to fix a few key problems that I've noticed pokemon are facing in the Wild Area. A lot of them get hungry because there aren't enough berry trees planted around, and that results in violence among them... It's terrible to think about."

"Wow..." Nessa muttered in astonishment. "I didn't think you'd have such a... mature thought into becoming the champion. Nearly everyone starts the Gym Challange just because they think becoming the champion would be cool."

Victor grinned, "Hey, I think it'd be cool. But I like helping people rather than just being able to beat them."

Nessa rested her elbow on the door and placed her head in her hand, her eyes still fixed on Victor. "But doesn't going around helping every single pokemon you see get kind of hard when you're trying to train and battle for the Gym Challenge?"

"Well..." Victor remembered the previous day when he had to deal with Rainbow Rocket Grunts and had gone around helping several pokemon to the point where he had to return his three tired pokemon so he could deal with the rest of the trip himself. "Sometimes it does get annoying..."

But then he smiled as he stopped caressing Tesla, the pokemon flipping back onto his stomach.

"But I love doing both. Whether it's going around helping pokemon or taking part in pokemon battles, I don't favor one over the other, so why can't I continue like that?"

"..."

Nessa turned her head away from Victor and gazed outside at the beautiful landscape with a depressed look.

"Doing both... huh?" She thought, comparing them to her current problematic thoughts.

Nessa and Victor suddenly felt both of their phones vibrate at the same time, making both of them flinch.

"Huh?"

The vibrating lasted for several seconds as the two of them both pulled out their devices, finding a video on them that had been sent throughout all of Galar.

"Huh? From the chairman?" Nessa muttered, raising an eyebrow.

The first thing that popped into Victor's head was his previous conversation with Chairman Rose about Galar's energy crisis.

"Is he...?"

Victor turned to Nessa, "I'll play it."

He tapped his phone and brought it between him and Nessa, the beauty leaning closer and finding the chairman appear on the screen in an office of the sort.

Nessa couldn't help but frown as she remembered her encounter with him after her loss against Gloria. However, if he was on the screen right now after sending alerts to everyone in Galar, then no doubt he had something severe to bring up.

Chairman Rose had his eyes closed with his usual smile as he spoke.

*Are we rolling? Yes, no, maybe so? Ah, we are? Okay then, *ahem* Now, I'm sure all of you must be rather surprised as to why I'm broadcasting a message like this. After all, it's been quite a while since I've sent out something of this manner.*

He folded his hands together on the table, slightly opening his eyes as a part of his smile fell.

*So you should know that this is serious. It isn't an 'emergency' but it's still something that you shouldn't take lightly.*

Nessa and Victor turned to each other, wondering what he was gonna say.

Chairman Rose cleared his throat before speaking about the issue.

*Many of you may know this, but there have been recent sightings of a notorious organization within Galar... I'm sure you have heard of them, the ones known as 'Team Rocket.'*

Victor's eyes widened in shock while Nessa just looked curious.

*For those of you who don't know, Team Rocket is a villainous organization that wishes to exploit pokemon for their own personal gain... They steal and capture pokemon, whether from the wild or from trainers themselves, using them to sell for funding or...*

Rose's usually cheerful manner dropped completely to show a rare glare to the camera.

*Using them to conduct cruel experiments... to the point where the pokemon can't handle it...*

Nessa noticed the phone shake in Victor's hand, the boy trying not to look angry, but was clearly shaken up by the thought of these pokemon subjected to such a fate.

Rose let out a sigh, *Team Rocket is meant to be taken seriously... Before, they were only involved in the Kanto and Johto regions. However...*

He closed his eyes.

*It appears their organization has grown to the point where they've been having more influence in other regions, especially here in Galar. They've grown larger and have even renamed themselves, from Team Rocket, to the new 'Rainbow Rocket.' It's clear that they've become more dangerous in recent years... Which is why I'm broadcasting this message. If any of you catch sight of these people, please stay away and call the authorities. These villains are dangerous and operate in large numbers, so I advise everyone not to confront them. Please let our police force, my league staff, and the Gym Leaders handle them.*

Victor looked down and narrowed his eyes.

"So... Now that they're publicly known... Rainbow Rocket will either attempt to lay low, or they might start accelerating their operations and not even make the effort to keep hidden..."

Rose continued, *We will do whatever we can to keep all of you safe, so I encourage everyone to stay close to the cities or make sure you have quick contact with someone at all times if you choose to be out at the Wild Area. And as for all of you Gym Challengers out there... please be careful. I can't bear to think of what would happen to any of you who try to fight these villains on your own. I encourage you to take the Flying Taxi services to travel between gyms, but I know most of you will choose to travel by foot regardless... therefore, I can only wish you safe travels.*

He formed a close-eyed smile.

*I hope all of you can become strong, for the sake of Galar's future.*

The message then abruptly ended, leaving Victor and Nessa both still staring at the screen with different expressions of worry.

Victor lowered his phone and leaned back in his seat, resting his hands on top of Tesla as he sighed.

Nessa saw the worry in Victor's eyes and patted his shoulder with a small, reassuring smile.

"Hey, you don't have to worry about them, Rose didn't mention this, but there are league staff scattered around the Wild Area in certain posts to watch over people there, so you'll be fine if you just stay near them."

Victor turned his head to face her, "I'm not really worried about facing those guys... I'm worried about others running into them..."

"Oh? Shouldn't you also be worrying about yourself?"

He shrugged, "I mean, running into them didn't really seem so bad for me. My pokemon were able to fight them."

"Huh!? You've already fought them?" Nessa was pretty shocked.

"Irk!" Victor realized that he probably still shouldn't have said that. He had instinctively spoken because of Rose bringing up Rainbow Rocket, making his mind assume that it was okay to talk about them.

He scratched the back of his head with an awkward chuckle, thinking of how to just play it off as nothing so Nessa wouldn't worry. "I was training in the Wild Area when I ran into them, but my pokemon were able to fight them off pretty easily."

Nessa stared with a small look of awe at the thought of such a boy already strong enough to fight a group of members from a dangerous organization. Like Rose had said, there would always be a group of these members together, which meant fighting a lot of pokemon.

"He must be pretty strong then..."

She grinned as she suddenly leaned against Victor's shoulder, "Well aren't you both cute and strong? If any of those bad men show up, will you protect me?" She asked, using her hand to easily brush some of his hair while using her other hand to twirl her own.

Victor just raised an eyebrow, "But... Aren't you a Gym Leader? You don't really need me to protect you."

Nessa pouted and leaned back with her arms crossed. "Eh? You're no fun..."

Victor laughed, "I'm kidding, of course I'd protect you. If I don't, then all of your fans would probably come for my hide."

"Oh?" Nessa smirked, "Aren't you one of those fans?"

"Heh, well I guess I am." Victor admitted as he scratched the back of his head. "I always found you really amazing when I watched your battles. The light reflecting off the water from your pokemon always brought out the ocean blue in your eyes, it made you look even more pretty to see."

Nessa was somewhat taken aback by his straight forward and detailed answer, feeling her cheeks warm-up.

But she didn't let herself get flustered over who she considered a kid, so she grinned and just giggled again. "Aw, you're so sweet and honest. I guess everything Sonia said about you was right."

"Erm... Again, what did she say about me?"

Nessa crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat with a satisfied smirk.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"It was worth a shot..." Victor sighed.

Tesla, still on Victor's lap, had an eye open in thought after listening in on the emergency call from Rose. When 'Rainbow Rocket' was mentioned, he instantly remembered the previous night when Victor told him about his adventure to become the pokemon champion. But more importantly, the boy had also briefly mentioned the evil organization to him, but Tesla hadn't even listened too much on that part because he had been entranced the moment Victor had mentioned food.

"Charja..." He closed his open eye and snuggled on his spot, wondering if he should ask more about the group.


~{The Lake of Outrage-10:23 AM: Sunny Weather}~

"We're here!" The middle-aged director said as everyone got off their flying taxis.

Victor had a large grin with an unblinking look at where he was. The Lake of Outrage was as beautiful as it was ginormous, with sky-blue water spreading out far and wide with so many pokemon swimming within it.

"Whoa..." He glanced back at the land beside the lake, where there was flourishing green grass with many tall, dark green pine trees providing plenty of shade on the ground.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Nessa asked with a smirk as she appeared beside Victor.

The boy frantically nodded up and down.

"It sure is!" He put a hand over the top of his eyes to shadow them from the sun as he squinted over at the land. He could see several pokemon in this part of the wild area already in their second or final evolution, clearly showing this was an area completely different from the southern part. "Looks like it's got a bunch of strong pokemon too."

"Yup, so be sure to just stay close to the group, we're going to be setting up repels around the area so pokemon won't come over here. Well, pokemon not from the lake that is." She said as she rustled Victor's head.

Victor readjusted his beanie and fixed his hair with a chuckle, "I won't go too far, I'd rather explore this area when I actually pass Motostoke Gym anyway."

"Miss Nessa!" The director called with a wave, "We have your swimsuit for the photoshoot! It's on the yacht!"

Victor perked at the last part. "Wait a second, yacht?"

He looked behind him and looked more to the side of the lake where, sure enough, there was a big white boat where some of the crew was already loading up some of their equipment.

"WOW! A boat!" Victor suddenly blasted towards it in startling speeds.

"He's fast!" Nessa thought.

"Charja!?" Tesla was still in Victor's backpack when he had run, getting scared awake by the sudden fast movements that had him instinctively send electricity all around.

"GYAAYAYAYAYA!" Victor was stopped in place as he was electrocuted for several seconds, turning to a comedic black crisp before then falling face-first to the ground with smoke coming off him.

Nessa was dumbfounded by what just happened, walking over to the fallen boy.

Tesla let out a small yawn as he crawled out of the backpack to see what had happened, then noticing Victor twitching underneath him.

"..."

He just seemed to shrug as he crawled back in and snuggled.

"He just left him there?" Nessa sweatdropped.

Victor twitched some more before shakily raising himself off the ground, "I-I'm... Okay..."

Nessa approached him and squatted down to the boy with an awkward laugh.

"Quite the Charjabug you got there."

Victor formed a strained smile, "Th-Thanks... His name is Tesla. I j-just meet him last night. He likes food... and sleeping... A lot."

Nessa reached forward into Victor's backpack and gently rubbed Tesla's head, the pokemon releasing small accordion sounds of enjoyment.

"He's pretty adorable."

"Yeah, I know... But I haven't really talked to him that much. I'm still trying to come to an understanding with him. H-He only seems to be with me for food and a place to sleep, heh heh..."

Nessa noticed his strain. "Er... Are you alright?"

Victor groaned as he got up from the ground and shook his body to get the char off him.

"I'm good... Phew, that really stings..." He dusted himself off. "Anyway... Let's check this boat out! It'll be my first time being on one!" He shouted with both hands excitedly in the air.

"Then let's get going!" Nessa happily led him.


~{A Few Minutes Later}~

Victor basically bounced all over the yacht as he explored each area he was allowed to go in.

"Wow, a living room, a kitchen, and even a bedroom!? This place has it all!"

He ran to the front area of the yacht and put his backpack down, then going to the very front peak and leaning over to gaze at the large lake. The boat cruised atop of the water and passed many pokemon, with Victor feeling the wind blow against his face as the boat moved out rather fast.

"There are so many things to do in Galar besides the Gym Challenge... A sky diving camp where Leon 'somehow' ended up, maybe cruise around Galar's oceans or lakes, or checking out the power spots scattered around the Wild Area... I should try them."

He glanced down at the water and saw several pokemon swimming by the side of the yacht, including some Lanturns, Qwilfish, and even Mantykes just enjoying themselves.

Victor waved at them as he passed, with some of the pokemon looking up with happy smiles as he did.

Soon the yacht slowly came to a stop, leaving it at the middle of the beautiful lake that Victor was excited to go in.

"Thank god I packed some swim trunks before I left home, maybe I could get a good swim in here!"

"Miss Nessa, you look fabulous!" Victor heard the director behind him.

Victor glanced back and saw the Hulbury Gym Leader come out from inside wearing an alluring swimsuit, showing off her sheer beauty.

Nessa wore a two-piece red swimsuit with a black semi-sheer sarong tied around her waist. The young adult grinned as she walked with new white sandals with black straps around her feet, approaching Victor before striking a pose to show off.

"What do you think?" She struck another pose with both hands on her head, giving him a vivid and arresting presentation.

Victor instantly gave a thumbs up with a big, innocent smile.

"Beautiful!"

Nessa giggled by how immediate the boy complimented her and how calm he was about it.

"He really isn't afraid to speak what's on his mind, is he?"

She put her hands on her hips, "Do you have a swimsuit on you, Victor?"

He nodded excitedly, "Yes, I do!"

"Then you should get changed and take a swim with me. Maybe you can even have a few photos with this beautiful young lady?" She winked at him.

"Sure thing!" Victor instantly ran indoors after swiping his swim trunks from his backpack, leaving the model behind with a puzzled look on her face.

"Not even a reaction from a wink? Hm... Does he even get flustered?"

"Charja..."

"Hm?" Nessa turned to the ground and saw Tesla wiggle out of Victor's backpack, the pokemon yawning and squirming around the ground while making accordion sounds.

"Oh!? Is this the boy's pokemon!?" The camera crew all gathered around and started taking pictures. "So this is a pokemon from one endorsed by the champion!?"

Charjabug seemed to finally be completely awake for once, but was now confusingly glancing around at the random people around him, wondering what was even happening.

"Charja?" A question mark appeared over his head.

"Now, now, don't make the little guy feel uncomfortable." Nessa told them.

"We'll back up!" The crew said after taking some more pictures.

She then glanced out at the lake water, admiring the beautiful color of the sky reflecting on it. She remembered coming here before, and the pokemon that saw her on the boat almost seemed to cheer at her, to which Nessa waved back with a large smile.

"This place hasn't changed since-"

She froze as she remembered something else about the Lake of Outrage, making her smile fall as she released a wistful sigh.

"That's right. This is where I met... 'her.'"

Nessa gazed down at the water, her face turning into a somber look.

"Sonia... You were so happy when she let you take her... So why did you release her? Why did you release all of them?"

Her reflection gloomed back at her as she thought back.

"I wonder how you're doing... Ariel."

"Nom, nom, nom!"

Nessa glanced back and saw the camera crew feeding Tesla with happy expressions, the pokemon seeming to sparkle as he ate anything offered to him.

"Dear lord, this one eats as much as a Snorlax!" The director chuckled.

Nessa's saddened thoughts warmed up a bit as she saw Tesla roll on the ground as if to beg for food like a Growlithe, making the crew chuckle.

"I'm back!"

Victor came out shirtless and barefoot, wearing black swim shorts with a red waistband. His normal clothes were balled up in his hands as he grinned with excitement.

Nessa's eyes widened in wonder.

"Huh, you can tell he works out." She couldn't help but notice.

The director clapped his hands, "Perfect timing, Mr. Victor! We were just getting acquainted with your Charjabug!"

"Just Victor is fine." He approached them and crouched down to his Charjabug. "About time you stopped sleeping, Tesla!"

Tesla squirmed towards Victor and looked up at him, opening and closing his mouth.

"Charja, Charja!"

"Don't tell me you're still hungry?" Victor deadpanned.

"Well we have a chef on board who will be preparing lunch in about an hour, so I hope he can wait until then. But in the meantime, let's get some work done!" The director clapped once again.

"Miss Nessa, we would like to get a few shots of you with some of the pokemon here, and Mister- *Ahem* I mean, Victor, we would also like an interview with you just to answer some curious questions many pokemon fans have had about you and your other two friends."

"Sound good to me! Can I get in the water after?"

"But of course! Oh, and do bring your pokemon with you, we may want a picture of you with them!"

"He's really gonna milk this out as much as he can." Nessa deadpanned. She saw Victor hold Tesla in his arms and follow the director, leaving her with a few men with cameras with the addition of a woman supervising them.

"Alrighty Miss Nessa, we're ready to start!"

Nessa brushed some of her hair back before doing some light stretches.

"Good, then let's get swimming." She said, putting on a smile.


~{Meanwhile-Motostoke}~

"You really are a strong lassie, I wish you good luck on your travels."

This what the Motostoke Stadium Gym Leader and fire type user, Kabu, said to Marnie as he walked her out of his gym. He had a towel around his neck as he smiled at the young girl who had just win the fire badge from his gym.

Marnie hugged her Morpecko in her arms, feeling tired after an intense battle with Kabu where she managed to prevail.

"Thank you, I'll do my best..." She shyly responded.

Kabu saluted her before turning around and heading back into his gym, leaving the girl outside.

Marnie looked down at her Morpeko, her usual intense gaze looking slightly warmer as she recalled what she had accomplished.

"We did Morpeko... We got our third badge."

"Mor! Mor!" Her two-sided pokemon joyfully shouted.

"Kabu was really tough, but ya managed to beat him in the end... Thank ya." Marnie squeezed her pokemon tighter.

Morpeko cheerfully chirped as she snuggled in her trainer's arms. Both were in high spirits now that they had already beaten Galar's southern gyms. Now they were going to head to the Wild Area to train even more so that she could prepare herself for the even more dangerous paths of the Northern part of Galar.

She took the odd mechanical elevator down to the first level of the city, where she made her way down the street.

But... as she started walking, the people passing by eyed her suspiciously.

"Wait, ain't she the one on those banners Team Yell carry around?"

"I think she is, so she's the reason they're always making trouble?"

"She looks kind of scary... Don't look at her."

Marnie quickened her pace.

"Isn't she from Spikemuth?"

"It'd be bad to get involved with her..."

"Wait, that's Piers' little sister, isn't she?"

"Oh dear, no wonder all of Team Yell is causing havoc for her then...

"Mor!" Morpeko hissed at passing people while Marnie kept her head down as she made her way out of the city.

It wasn't until she made it just outside to the stairs when she stopped, her eyes hidden in shadows.

"They always think we're bad... It's always the same..."

Marnie never spoke out against these people, her timid nature always held her back. All she did each time was just escape and find somewhere to be alone.

"Team Yell may be... loud and sometimes cause trouble, but they're not bad folks... And Piers ain't a bad person, he's one of the nicest people in the world... And yet... yet..."

She took deep breaths as she tried to calm herself.

"Everyone thinks he's evil... They think WE'RE evil. They're always looking at us bad. And because of that... I-I was never able to make any friends..."

She let out a sniffle.

Morpeko heard her and glanced up at her trainer in worry.

"Mor? Morpeko?"

"I-I'm fine. I just..." She held Morpeko with one arm and wiped her eyes with the other, finding herself thinking of the odd group of people she had recently became friends with. "I kind of... just wanna see 'them' again right now..."

"Mor..." Her Morpeko whimpered with a sad look.

Marnie slowly stepped down the stairs.

"I have to keep winnin'... I have to become the champion... I have to show everyone that they're wrong about me, wrong about Spikemuth... Wrong about Team Yell and Piers... If I become champion, then I can help bring life back to my home... I can change what everyone thinks."

Through the water in her eyes, she formed an unwavering glare that made the league staff at the bottom of the stairs wince.

"I'm gonna make ya proud, Piers..."

~{Back to Lake Of Outrage- 12:05 PM}~

"Thank you for the interview Victor, it was nice getting to understand you better." The director smiled as he closed his notepad.

"No problem!" Victor was sitting on the couch with his shirt back on, deciding it'd be better than to remain in his swim trunks.

On the couch beside him were all his pokemon, with Ace laying at one end with his arms crossed, Twilight perched on the back, Midori sitting beside Victor, and Tesla just sleeping once again on Victor's lap.

"I'm sure the public would be interested to see the team of one endorsed by the champion. Would a few more pictures be alright?"

"Sure thing!"

Meanwhile, outside in the water, Nessa floated while holding a Chinchou in her arms, keeping a bright smile on her face.

*Click!* *Click!*

A few pictures were taken at a downward view from a cameraman still on the boat, while others were taken from a small inflatable raft.

They then took pictures of her holding a Qwilfish, the balloon pokemon surprisingly looking calm as the beauty held him.

"You're in perfect sync with even the wild pokemon out here! Just what you'd expect from the Water Gym Leader!" The female supervising from the yacht smiled.

Nessa smiled as she released the Qwilfish back into the water, "No, the pokemon are just too kind. By the way, is Victor still getting held up?"

"Ah, he should be-"

"CANNONBALL!" "Raaaaaalts!" Two voices shouted.

The next thing everyone knew, they saw the mentioned boy and Midori both leap off the edge of the yacht together, both of them hugging their legs before bombing right into the water with a large splash together.

Ace and Twilight sweatdropped from the boat while Tesla sleepily squirmed across the floor back towards Victor's backpack.

Nessa stared in surprise and didn't mind some of the water splashing her, the young adult feeling amused by just how eccentric the boy was.

Victor and Midori submerged with large grins on their faces as they started swimming around.

"Man, I've never gone swimming like this before! The forest river was always too cold to get!"

"My, my, quite a wild one, isn't he?" The director chuckled from above as he came out.

Nessa watched as the joy shined off Victor as he and Midori both swam around the area. She saw the smile on his face, the energetic spirit he had as he pierced through the water, showing no sign of any conflict or worries whatsoever.

She suddenly recalled a sense of familiarity by watching him. An image of herself as a child replacing Victor, remembering the feeling of leaving behind every sense of worry or responsibility and just... letting loose.

This made her look down at her reflection in the water.

"When was the last time I've went swimming... for no other reason but just to swim?"

She remembered always going to lakes and the coast, but it was always for work. Remaining still with pokemon for pictures, swimming to record a commercial of the sort, or even having some pokemon battles. For relaxing in the water, no... for relaxing in general, she couldn't even remember.

"Hey Nessa!"

"Hm?" Nessa raised her chin as she was snapped out of her thoughts.

Just as she took a stream of water to the face.

"Pssh!" She sprayed out some that gotten in her mouth and wiped her eyes before noticing Victor grinning at her with Midori smiling on top of his head.

"Did you just-!?" She didn't finish as Victor swiped his hands to send another splash of water into the model's face.

Nessa quickly shook her head before smirking at the boy, "Hehehe... So that's how you wanna play it!?"

Victor simply laughed as he paddled back in the water, "You were the one spacing out!"

"Ralts!" Midori chuckled.

Nessa brought her fingers to her mouth and let out a high-pitched whistle.

On cue, there was movement under the water that circled around Nessa, the woman grinning mischievously as she stared straight at her target.

All around her, several Mantykes, small manta ray-like pokemon, emerged from the water with the same evil look the water Gym Leader had on her.

"Eh?" Victor maintained a blank, comedically black and white expression.

Nessa pointed directly at him.

"Fire!"

"Mantyke!" The group of kite pokemon cried before sending combined blasts of water at Victor.

"GYAH!" "RALTS!?" Both Victor and Midori screamed as a torrent of water engulfed the two of them into oblivion.

Midori was sent flying through the air before landing on top of a Lanturn that was casually swimming by. The light pokemon felt the small pokemon land on his back and turned his head with a question mark over him.

Nessa then pulled herself onto a friendly Lapris that came to her, smiling with satisfaction as she placed herself onto its back.

Victor surfaced from the water and stared rather dumbfoundedly at Nessa.

"Wha-!?"

"That's payback!" The model declared as the Mantykes around her let out happy noises.

"Hah!? No fair! Why are those guys helping you!?" Victor pointed.

"Well, I've been here before." Nessa grinned. "I'm a friend of every water pokemon around! You've just messed with someone who has the force of the waves on her side, and now, you'll feel our wrath!"

"Hold on-!"

"Fire!" Nessa interrupted with a point.

"Actually, it's water- WAIT, WHAT AM I SAYING!? I GOTTA MOVE!"

Victor turned around and moved his arms so fast that they seemed to resemble propellers, letting him swim away in blazing speeds as the group of Mantykes and even the Lapris chased after him while firing streams of water.

Midori dizzily sat up on the Lanturn he had landed on, the pokemon underneath not even seeming to mind him as he gently paddled on the surface to relax.

The feeling pokemon then caught witness to his trainer desperately swimming away from consecutive blasts of water from a merciless Nessa and her sudden army of pokemon.

"..." Midori just simply tapped the Lanturn he was on to warn him, and both slowly backed away from the area.

"Oh god! Oh god! Oh god! What's a guy to do!?" Victor panicked as he just kept swimming, but even he couldn't easily outswim pokemon meant for the water.

As a last resort, he dove under the water to avoid a concentrated blast of water. He quickly looked around under before seeing a Mantine starting to swim upward, clearly about to jump out.

He reacted fast and managed to grab hold of the Mantine and was pulled out with him. Victor held on to the pokemon as they both flew out of the water and into the air.

"Mantine!?" The pokemon cried in shock.

"I'llgiveyousomecookiesifyouhelpme!" Victor shouted in one fast breath, then taking another one as he and the Mantine fell back into the water.

Mantine's eyes sparkled with stars at the promise of food before he emerged out of the water once more but made sure to swim quickly along the surface, avoiding multiple beams of water aimed for them.

"Haha! There we go!" Victor shouted as he raised himself while still holding on.

"Made an ally already? That won't save you!" Nessa laughed rather evilly as she stood on top of Lapris' back and pointed to have the pokemon fire once more.

Ace sat on the edge of the boat railing as he stared at his trainer getting chased, narrowing his eyes at the sight and stuffing his paws into his pouch.

Twilight was perched right next to him, also staring down at how happy his trainer and his lady friend were.

The raven pokemon nudged Ace, "Cor, Cor."

Ace just rolled his eyes at his companion's suggestion. "Raboot... Boot."

"..."

Twilight casually looked away as he slowly scooted closer to Ace, the rabbit pokemon too absorbed on his trainer to bother noticing.

Then the bird used his body to push the rabbit off the edge.

"RABOOT!?" Ace actually seemed to defy gravity for a second, frantically flapping his arms in the air in a desperate attempt to somehow fly.

But of course, his efforts were in vain and he fell straight down into the water.

"Cor! Cor! Cor!" Twilight laughed from the railing.

Ace emerged from the water with his fur looking flattened due to how soaked he was.

He fumed as he glared up at Twilight.

"RABOOT! RABOOT!" He shouted as he shook a threatening paw at him.

"Ace! Grab on!"

Ace turned around and his eyes widened to see Victor and the Mantine heading right towards him with what was basically a Hydropump of water following him from behind.

Victor stuck his arm out as he passed Ace and scooped him up.

"Nice of you to join us!" He laughed as he placed Ace onto his shoulders in a piggyback fashion.

Ace was caught off guard and had to hold onto his trainer's head as the Mantine took off faster with both of them, with Victor crouched down and keeping a grip on the pokemon as they avoided several streams of water.

"Raboot! Raboot!" Ace repeatedly punched Victor's head with his paws while lightly blushing from embarrassment.

Victor just laughed it off, "Come on Ace, isn't this fun!?"

Ace didn't like being on his trainer in such a childish manner, not one bit. But... seeing Victor smile up at him, feeling the air against his face, and the sudden exhilaration of how fast they moved...

He turned his head away with a grumble, not refuting what his trainer had said.

But of course, he wasn't going to admit anything either.

Meanwhile, the director adjusted his glasses as stared at Nessa's laughing expression, a genuine look of enjoyable exhilaration on the famous model had that was rarely seen. Of course, he had seen Nessa smile from enjoying the modeling and connecting with the pokemon, but she had rarely ever just... laughed. She had always been working, and even when offered breaks, Nessa had just continued on acting as if she was fine.

The director chuckled, "That boy really is special, making it look so easy to bring Miss Nessa out like this."

One of the camera crew came behind him, "Director, sir, shouldn't we start filming-?"

The director waved him off, "Oh just let Miss Nessa enjoy this."

"Huh? Are you sure?"

He nodded. "I've never seen her let go and have fun like this."

The cameraman took a look as Victor, Ace, and the Mantine had gotten hit by a Hydro Pump, sending all of them comedically ragdolling in the air.

Once seeing them get hit, Nessa grinned rather smugly with a hint of evil.

"Dear lord, don't tell me she's taking out her stress on the poor boy?" The man beside the director sweatdropped.

"Er... Shouldn't we be worried about the kid?"

"Meh, he'll live." The director chuckled.

"Oh boy..."


~{Thirty Minutes Later}~

Victor dried Ace off with a towel while sitting on a patio chair on the outdoor area of the yacht, letting the warmth of the sun help dry them off. In the seat beside him was Nessa with her own towel around her head, the girl smiling with a small hum as she got the water off of her.

"Lunch should be done in a bit, so just dry yourselves off and continue to relax." The director told them as he went to the inside.

Victor chuckled as he took the towel of Ace and saw him with a pout.

"Today was rather fun, wasn't it?"

Ace let out a 'hmph!' and glared over at Twilight, who casually looked away pretending he did nothing wrong.

Nessa let out a happy breath of relief as she dried her hair off, feeling much less tense than she had been previously feeling.

"It was pretty fun..." She turned her head to Victor, "Are you always like that?"

"Hm?" Victor turned to her with a puzzled look, "What do you mean?"

"Well... You just seem so carefree, so... positive. Don't you ever worry about anything?"

"Of course I do." Victor got up from his chair and went over to his backpack, pulling out a container of cookies. "You saw me worrying in the Flying Taxi."

He walked over to the edge of the boat and dropped down some cookies to the Mantine that he had ridden, the pokemon happily catching them in his mouth.

"I worry about the people, I worry about the pokemon, I worry about the Gym Challenge, and now I'm worrying about Rainbow Rocket."

He turned back to Nessa with a small smile, "But that doesn't mean I let those worries get in my head, I know I can handle all of them. But... I do know that sometimes a person won't know what to do and their worries can get the best of them, that's when they should just... talk to someone, I guess."

Nessa pouted at that last line, "He's implying that to me, isn't he? Acting like he already knows me to that extent..."

She turned her head away and put her hands on her head to start fixing her hair.

"I guess so..." Was all she grumbled.

"Acting like a child, only to then act as if he was more mature than me..."

*Slip*

"Ah!" Nessa felt one of her hair clips slip off and tumble along the ground, causing her hair to become undone, "Oh come on..."

She reached down and picked it up as Victor saw her and smiled.

"Oh! I can fix it!" He declared rather excitedly as he put the cookies down.

"Huh?" Nessa turned to him rather surprised after picking up her clip. "Er... I appreciate the thought, but I keep my hair up in a unique style, and-"

"Oh don't worry, I got a good look at it, so I'm sure I can mimic it. And I know how to treat a girl's hair. I'm sure me fixing now would be better than you walking all the way to the bathroom to do it yourself in the mirror." Victor said as he got up and approached the girl rather cheerfully.

Nessa didn't look too sure but handed him the clip as he got behind her chair, "But... How do you even know how to do hair?"

Victor chuckled as he got to work, gently brushing the girl's hair with his fingers. "My mom always had me practice doing hairstyles on her, telling me that I should be ready to do them for my kids when I get married."

"PFFT!" Nessa covered her mouth so she wouldn't burst out laughing, as she had remembered once more what Sonia had said about Victor's mother and her motives.

Victor was surprised by Nessa suddenly moving, being careful not to suddenly pull her hair, "Er... Hold still please, and what was with that laugh?"

"Nothing, it's nothing... I just remembered something a while back." She muffled, wiping water from the corners of her eyes.

Victor chuckled before continuing to work with a hum, gently handing Nessa's hair and twirling it.

There were a few seconds of silence, in which Victor wondered if it was finally time to ask something.

"..."

He shrugged, deciding might as well.

"So..." He started, getting her attention. "You ready to tell me what's wrong now?"

He didn't see the girl's face, but he can already assume that she was frowning.

"What do you mean? What makes you think somethings wrong?" He heard her ask.

"Well..." Victor started as he set a hair clip on. "I didn't realize it for a moment, but when we met, we were both sulking. I was sulking because I wasn't able to battle you, but I never knew what was your reason. And then there's the fact that you left your gym which, when I asked why, you flinched. So... I guess those are just like signs to me."

"..." Nessa lowered her head in silence as Victor continued doing her hair.

"I knew that you were in a bad mood, or at least stressed out in some way, so I came here with you just to see if I could help ease it." He smiled, tugging her hair a little. "And I'm sure I've done so, even if just a little bit."

Nessa felt her eye twitch, "Is he acting like he planned this?"

"Aaaaaand there we go!"

After one last tug, Victor let go of Nessa's hair while backing up with some satisfaction.

"It's the first time I've done hair for someone other than mom, but I'm sure I did great!"

Nessa didn't look back at Victor, she reached to the side of her chair where a bag was and pulled out a small mirror. She opened it and took a good look at her hair from different angles.

Victor had a proud, sparkling aura with stars in his eyes and his hands on his hips, waiting for Nessa to tell him what she thought.

Nessa closed her mirror, still keeping her back to him.

"Well... You really did better than I thought you would."

Victor nodded happily.

Nessa stood up from her chair and walked over to the edge of the boat, propping her elbow on the railing and resting her head in her hand as a vast silence crept through the area.

"..." Victor stopped smiling as he saw her deep in thought, then slowly side-stepping his way over to her.

"Um..."

"Growing up... I had always wanted to be a model."

Victor's eyes widened to finally hear a start, stopping any movement and just peering at Nessa in silence.

"But it's not easy to become a model in Galar... We hardly even had any of them years ago. If someone wanted to be anything like a model, if they wanted to be scouted, then they had to find a way to catch the attention of everyone."

She gazed down into her reflection in the water.

"So... knowing this, I took the Gym Challenge to get the attention on me. I did my best to stand out from the rest of the challengers. And for the most part, I did, even getting to the league. But... as I mentioned before, when the time came... I lost in the second round. Of course, it just had to be to Leon..." She rolled her eyes.

She then twirled some of her hair. "In the end, I didn't get scouted... But I understand why. I mean, I was ten at the time, so of course it makes sense that I wasn't gonna be scouted immediately. But still... as a ten-year-old, I became down in the dumps about it."

"But I'm assuming you found a way?"

Nessa nodded, gaze still focused on the sparkling water of the lake.

"Since I finished the Gym Challenge and had all the badges, I've constantly been getting back into the league to try and make it to the top, thinking that would guarantee me to get enough attention to become a model. But, as I'm sure you know, no one was ever able to beat Leon."

"How does the world league even work for those from different regions?" Victor wondered.

"However, at one point, I finally had a shot to make eyes turn to me. When I was sixteen, Chairman Rose offered me the spot to become Hulbury's Gym Leader, since the one at the time had just retired..."

Victor nodded, "Oh yeah, I remember that. I was ten at the time. Mom and I were both pretty surprised when it was announced someone so young became a Gym Leader."

Nessa chuckled, finally turning back to Victor to reveal a small smile. "If you think that's young for a Gym Leader, then you clearly haven't met Allister."

"Eh, Allister?" Victor browsed through his memories but couldn't find a moment where he had once heard that name. "I haven't heard of a Gym Leader like that."

"He's a young child, even younger than you. He's not a Gym Leader yet, but Chairman Rose is considering to turn one in the future. You'll most likely see him if you go to face Bea, he views her like an older sister."

"Huh, good to know. But anyway, back to what you were saying, Rose offered you the role of a Gym Leader?"

Nessa sighed and turned back to the landscape.

"Yeah... since Gym Leaders, in general, were popular, I knew that becoming one would help give me the highest chances of being scouted if I put everything into it. So when Rose offered me a spot, I took it. And sure enough, it only took about a year before I ended up pretty high on the popularity chart for Galar. So by the time I was 17, I was finally scouted by the director with us right now and offered the job I've always dreamed about."

Victor kept nodding as he listened, "Since she told me all of this about her past, then she must be leading up to her problem."

"I had originally planned to retire from being a Gym Leader if I ever got my role as a model. But by the time I was offered the job, something... changed. Battle after battle, against hundreds upon thousands of different trainers, fighting together with my pokemon for gym battles and with my personal team for the league..."

"Oh, Gym Leaders have separate teams for gym battles and any other battle? I've seen her use her Drednaw for both."

"I ended up... actually loving battles."

"Eh?" Victor blinked several times at that confusing claim. "Didn't you like pokemon battles before?"

"Well, I didn't hate them. But I kinda only saw them as just steps to get me to my goal of becoming a model. But after feeling the exhilaration of so many battles, feeling the bond grow between me and my pokemon... I ended up enjoying every minute of it."

"Ah, so then you ended up being a Gym Leader and a model! The two things you love to do!" Victor concluded with a smile.

Before immediately putting on a puzzled expression.

"Wait, so then what's the problem?"

"..." Nessa turned her front to Victor and leaned back with her arms resting on the railing. She didn't stare at him directly, instead, staring at the ground rather peeved.

"In my five years of being a Gym Leader and four years of being a model, I've always pushed for the best. I've always given my opponents the best of my abilities, never losing too many battles in a row, and I always gave the fans the best I could give them. There was only one time when things seemed to be going bad for me. At the beginning of a Gym Challenge just two years ago, I ended up losing to more opponents than I won, losing to a few of them in a row at different moments of the day. At the same time, it seemed that the stress was affecting my work as a model, the pictures taken of me at the time were supposedly not as 'high quality' the director needed them to be. Everything seemed to be going downhill for me, so... I guess out of panic, I closed off my gym and canceled some photoshoot appointments just to halt everything."

"Oh, so that's the one week of absence that league staff told me about..." Victor realized.

"I just stopped and spent a lot of time alone. Then, when I returned, I started winning a lot more and my photos ended up returning in quality. It was as if my crisis had never happened. But... I knew it happened, I kept on thinking about it with each passing day. So... from then on, I did whatever I could to make sure I didn't end up going through that again. I never lost a few battles in a row, heck, I never even lost two battles in a row. And I always remained cheerful and stopped any bad thoughts so it wouldn't reflect in my pictures. I kept this up all the way until..."

Victor finally narrowed down on the problem.

"Oh... Then since you closed your gym again, that means-?"

"Yup." Nessa raised her head with a look of frustration. "It happened again. I lost. Not once, not twice, but four times in a row."

"..." Victor stared at her with a neutral expression as she continued.

"After that last loss, Chairman Rose approached me. He told me that maybe..." Her hands balled into fists. "I'm not able to handle what I'm doing, so I should quit one of my jobs..."

"Eh? He said that?" Victor inquired, astonished to hear that the chairman would say such a thing.

"He didn't say those words exactly, but believe me, he implied it. But the worst part is... I thought about it myself for a moment..."

Nessa looked bleak now.

"To handle being a Gym Leader and a model... I know I get stressed out for several days of the week, I start to feel less confident when things look bad during a battle, and when bad things do actually happen, I end up panicking over it... So I... I can't- Um..."

She sighed and rubbed her eyes, stopping herself. "Geez... What am I doing, complaining to a kid? I really am just a mess..."

Victor had a fixed expression on Nessa, getting a good idea of how she was feeling and how deep the problem was. From his understanding, the model and Gym Leader was doing more than fine, but she didn't believe it. For all the work she did in several years, it could be that messing up once was what had her to have doubts for herself even though it was clear that she was amazing. The one discouraging instance in her past and the near-flawless image she tries to keep up has made her, and most likely others, make a huge deal out of something if she did mess up.

It wasn't a healthy lifestyle, Victor knew that. Especially with additional problems for Nessa, such as rarely taking breaks for herself or believing that losing gym battles, even if several in a row, means that there was a problem with her personally.

He took a deep breath, then smiling at the discouraged girl.

"Nessa, I think-"

"Director! There's no pokemon anywhere!" A man suddenly from the boat suddenly shouted.

Victor turned black and white, "Oh come on! But I was about to- why at the most important moment!?"

He and Nessa turned to the director, who had come from inside and glanced over the edge and down at the water.

"No pokemon!? But then how are we going to film!?" The director exclaimed in disbelief.

Nessa glanced at the lake with Victor, and sure enough, there wasn't a single pokemon visible in the water.

"That's... weird." Victor muttered as he and Nessa grabbed the railing and looked around. "Did something scare them away?"

Nessa's eyes scanned the area of blue, watching closely for any sign of movement.

And she did see movement in the formed of a large shadow that appeared in the water, seeming to approach the boat.

Victor saw it too, narrowing his eyes as he waved a hand behind him to signal Midori to get ready.

They watched as the water started bubbling and moving as the shadow got near, the pokemon underneath starting to reach the surface.

Then it did.

Something large emerged from the water in one large leap, sending water splashing upward and shining brightly in the sun.

Everyone's eyes anchored their attention in awe to the majestic creature spiraling in the air. But it was both Victor and Nessa who were not only amazed, but completely slack-jawed as they instantly felt some sort of odd feeling of familiarity to what was in front of them.

The majestic serpentine-like shape, the outstanding cream body, the shining colors of the blue and pink scales of its tail. This was a pokemon instantly recognizable for its beauty, always attracting the eyes of all who are near.

Milotic.

Victor and Nessa had a side view of the pokemon as it flew upward. Its red eye seen from the side had been looking up, but as it passed the two on the railing, for a moment it looked as if it had slowly moved its black pupil to gaze at both of them.

The world seemed to move in slow motion as Victor and Nessa stared directly into the sparkling red eyes. Victor found visions of his life flash before him, showing him a particular conversation with a certain ginger-haired beauty.

"She was the most beautiful pokemon I've ever seen... The way she majestically jumped out of the water, the way she sparkled in the sun as she twirled... She never ceased to amaze me."

Victor realized just what she had meant.

This could've been another Milotic, but he knew the chances of that were too low. They weren't common, and if anything, they were one of the rarest pokemon to ever find in the wild. And the way this Milotic just presented herself... He had no doubt in his heart.

At the same time, when Nessa's eyes gazed into the crimson eye of Milotic, she just knew. The memories all came flooding back, introducing her bestie to a lone Feebass in a lake, battling together and against her in the water, and watching as the pokemon changed shaped and evolved into Sonia's strongest and most beautiful pokemon they've ever seen. She was there right in front of her, after nearly ten years of nothing, she was just here.

Victor and Nessa both couldn't contain their enthusiasm.

"ARIEL!?"

"SONIA'S MILOTIC!?"

Both heard the other's claim, making Victor turn to Nessa in wonder at the name the pokemon had while Nessa turned to the boy, surprised that he somehow knew who the pokemon was.

"Eh?"


~{Author's Post Notes}~

(Stands in front of house under construction)

So you're finally here, finished with reading my art. If you had to ask me, I'm actually pretty proud of this chapter. So much wholesomeness I felt when I typed things down and I feel like I set up the conclusion for Nessa in the next chapter pretty well. And... POOR MARNIE (Cries waterfalls) Why must the world be so cruel!? *Ahem* But on another note, a lot of things have happened recently in my life, especially with the pandemic going on, and I feel like my writing has gotten to the point where I'm gonna need more time to write chapters, so there may be more time in between posted chapters, sadly. Not just that, but I might want to use some time to watch some things that I've been curious to take a look at. One such thing is Star VS the forces of Evil. I have heard positive things about it and have even heard jokes where a 'Marco' has basically a harem of girls. New possible fic? Lol, who knows? But anyway, hope you guys understand if I take more time. But for now, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

(Puts on hard hat) Now if you'll excuse me, I fix this house. Until next time, leaving a comment or suggestions for future events! And make sure to wash your hands and keep six feet apart!