~{Author's Pre-Notes}~

(Walks around in a mansion with a vacuum on.)

Aha! You'd thought I die from that explosion, but ghost types are immune to that! So now we're back! After several chapters, we're finally going to get into the second gym battle for our hero! But before that... I wanna take a moment to talk about Pokemon Twilight Wings. I just saw the latest and last episode today relating to Leon, and I have to say (SPOILERS)... It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I had an emotional rollercoaster and actually freaking cried. From seeing the beautiful views the episode provided, to the absolutely amazing animation for that last battle with Leon and Raihan... It honestly makes me so happy to see something like that, but also makes me kinda sad in that I wish more of this kind of anime would be made rather than an anime about a child that doesn't age or evolve his pokemon. And then when I saw both Gloria and Victor at the end, I freaking squealed man. I loved how they both sounded even if they both only had one line, lol.

But yeah, this makes me more pumped up than ever to try and create something that can be just as amazing as the anime. I could only hope to write out events so well that you, the audience, can picture them, which I know will be a challenge for me and my limited vocabulary. Writing out future battles to be detailed and amazing (Although I guess the early battles aren't meant to be that detailed or super outstanding), writing down character development and relationship building, and hoping to add on to the original pokemon game's story the best way I can. I could only hope I accomplish that in the long run.

So I wanted to say that, and thanks to everyone who has continued to join me on this journey of writing. I will continue writing to make this fic as amazing as it can be. And I hope of all you guys show your support and leave longish comments that really show me what I'm doing right and what I should work on. Thank you everyone for reading.

But now it's time to get back to the story! How will Victor fare against Nessa and the flow of her water type pokemon?

(Opens room and shines flashlight in it)

And how will things end between the two? Will Victor get his second gym badge?

(Hears laughing and flashes light, stunning two ghosts before activating vacuum.)

Let's find out now!

(Pulls ghosts and slams them on the ground.)

YA-HOO!

Answered Comments:

Gremiz: Thank you for reading!

Mike3000jr: I mean, Nessa hasn't kept her promise... yet. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Jak: You're welcome for updating. And Bea is actually the character that I'm the most excited to write when she meets Victor!

Anonymous28: I appreciate your detailed feedback, and I do understand what your saying. I guess it is pretty weird that Victor's mom ain't got a name, but I guess I was doing that just to match the games always giving no official names for the protagonists' mothers. I might change that, I might not, (especially if her name might be important later) And as for your issue with the romance... I never did view myself the best at writing romance, and since Victor has to travel through Galar, there isn't really too much time for him to spend around the girls. But I do really believe that I'm doing decent in just setting up things. Like Sonia, you think his encouragement doesn't have weight, and you're right. Clearly (or at least I think I made it apparent) Sonia doesn't really seem to take Victor that seriously when he talks to her, both because they just met and that she views him as a kid. She just kinda tells him that she appreciates what he says and that he should just focus on his challenge. This will come into play later because after she gets to know him a lot more and he helps her, she'll take what he says meaningful to heart. And is there really wrong with Victor seeing every girl as attractive? He's not really wrong, is he? Unless if someone dislikes a character because of their preferred taste, I don't see it wrong that he appreciates the beauty of everyone he meets or likes. Hell, even I appreciate when a girl or guy looks good, because it's just something you think for a moment. And Sonia doesn't like Victor yet, she just thinks he's sweet as a kid.

As for Gloria, you're right in that I didn't give an apparent reason why she likes him. And there's a reason for that. I didn't want to write out the events that led her liking him early on because I was flashing forward with Victor's life through his training with Greninja in order to get to the more important parts of the story. I felt like writing scenes with Gloria and Victor would've slowed down the pace of the story if I tried to fit in Victor's training and his development with Gloria too. So you don't know why she likes him, YET. But I'm sure we'll get to moments where she expresses why.

And for Victor, of course he has the intelligence when his mom, a pokemon scientist, taught him about pokemon and the world from such a young age. And as for his natural charisma, okay, it's cliche harem personality, but I don't really view that as too much of a bad thing. (Hey, it could be just me. I always liked innocent and pure people. Don't take that out of context.)

And you maybe right, it may be the correct choice to move away from the romance entirely if I don't have the experience. But I think I'd be making a lot of people more sad than happy if I did that, and its something that I as the writer want to do, that I want to try and improve. That's why I appreciate any feedback from people. If people don't like the romance or development I try, then I guess I'll have to deal with it and learn from it. Thank you so much for your feedback though, it really has made me think a lot of what I want to turn this story into, but I'm going to try and keep it the way it's going to the best of my abilities. I hope that doesn't upset you too much and you continue to read and enjoy the parts that you do like about it. I hope to hear from you again!

Wolfy: Aw, you flatter me. And I guess it would've made sense to give Ariel more screentime, but she was the calmest and most mature of Sonia's pokemon, and she completely understood why Sonia released her. So I found that it would make sense that she'd agree to come back easier, but not until her other friends come back as well. However, for a proud Ninetails and childish Meowstic who'd get hurt easily, those are a different story. Hope you can navigate through this mansion without getting trapped in a painting. Until next time!

Lelouch of Zero: Ah yes, one princess down and another already loved the boy in the first place. Can't wait until he meets the fighting princess who'd kick ass and has great abs. And its time to see how the water princess' battle plays out!

FanfictionReaderIne: Glad you appreciate all the wholesomeness! Sadly, Nessa can't go with our precious boy on his journey... It's still only the start of the gym challenge, so Nessa needs to be at her gym to take on the SEVERAL challengers that will want to move on. But that doesn't mean we won't see her again! She'll appear another time, whether or in her own scenes or with Victor. For now, I hope this conclusion is satisfying.

Madko Ota Sanchez V2: MMMM yes, Scottish, yandere, tomboy, Gloria is best Gloria.

~{Pikaboo- August 9, 2020}~


~{Postwick- 3:34 PM}~

"Thank you for getting these for me. I don't think we'll have to go out for a while now." Victor's mother said as Greninja placed two bags of groceries and ingredients on the table.

"Gre, Ninja." The pokemon said, going to the window and carefully peaking outside, taking a look if anyone was watching.

Rookidees, Skwovets, and many other pokemon were in the house, happily enjoying each other's company. Many of them came to wait for Victor's battle to come up, wishing to watch and cheer on the boy who had always helped them in the forest.

Victor's mother walked over to three more serious-looking Rookidees standing proudly on the table.

"So did you guys see anyone suspicious-looking around the area?"

All three shook their heads, indicating they saw no one.

She then turned back to Greninja, "And you took everything without anyone following you?"

"Ninja." The pokemon nodded, obviously knowing how to sneak his way around.

"Phew..." The woman sat on a seat and wiped her head. "Can never be too careful... Ever since the announcers said Victor was from Postwick, I knew 'they' would be looking here..."

She glanced at Greninja with a worried look, "We have to make sure they don't pinpoint our exact location... Otherwise, we'll be in so much danger. Did you find any more Team Rocket members looking in the forest?"

Greninja seemed to sigh as he nodded.

"And you took them to the authorities?"

He nodded once again, reaching for a cup of coffee on the table and taking a sip.

Victor's mother raised an eyebrow, "Should you really be drinking coffee?"

Greninja paused for a moment, looking down from his drink then to the woman.

"..." He then just shrugged before continuing to drink.

The woman sweatdropped. "Okay then..."

She then turned to the refrigerator she had, which contained a picture of her and Victor smiling together in their small garden.

"My precious baby... I hope you stay safe..."


~{Meanwhile- Flying Taxi}~

"I'm so excited!" Victor said, being rather bouncy in his seat.

"Wow, you really are looking forward to battling me, aren't you?" Nessa giggled right beside him. The Gym Leader and Gym Challenger were already flying back to the Hulbury Stadium, the afternoon sun still blazing a good height above the horizon.

"Of course I am! I'm always fired up for a pokemon battle! But I've always wanted to battle you and the other Gym Leaders!"

"Heh, well I hope you're ready for a tough battle! If you aren't careful, then you'll be swept away by the waves of my pokemon." Nessa grinned as she casually rested her elbow on Victor's shoulder.

"Don't worry, I know I'll beat you!"

Nessa just laughed and took off her shades, "Cocky, aren't ya?"

"I prefer the term... 'confident.'" Victor responded cheerfully.

"Heh, well I can't say that's a bad thing, I just hope you can back it up. I've been really worried about taking you on, you know? I'll feel pretty stupid if you get easily washed away."

"Heh, on the contrary, I think you'll be a bit overwhelmed." Victor retorted.

"We'll see about that, because we're already back!" Nessa stated.

Victor turned to the window and saw the giant Stadium of Hulbury in view. He smiled as he thought about finally continuing on with his Gym Challenge, but was more excited about going up against the water type user to battle her firsthand.

But he immediately saw something that would slow him down.

In front of Hulbury Stadium was a line of people that were waiting for the Gym Leader to come back. Despite having been told that the Gym Leader closed down the gym for who knows how long, many challengers had still decided to wait. After all, Nessa's gym was only the second gym of the challenge, so she really couldn't be out too long without too many complaints coming in.

"Whelp, guess I'm waiting a bit longer." Victor sighed as he stared at the large amount of trainers waiting in front of the stadium.

Nessa raised an eyebrow before taking a look at where Victor was staring at, making her narrow her eyes. "Oh... I forgot about all the others."

"Ain't that a bad thing?" Victor wondered with a blank look.

"Oh god, and some of them are the creepy ones..." Nessa's eye twitched.

Victor looked closer to what she meant, and saw several male trainers in the line wearing all sorts of Nessa merchandise and... more. One of them even had his shirt off with Nessa's face painted on his belly.

Victor and Nessa both felt shivers in their spine as they stared with blank expressions.

"Oh... I didn't think there were people like that here..." Victor mumbled.

"There are always people like that." Nessa told him.

"Good to know."

After a brief pause, Nessa smirked and nudged Victor, "You know? I could just ease you into the front of the line."

"Thanks but... I'll wait. I'd feel bad if I cut in front of everyone."

"Wha- You know how long battling all those people will take!?" Nessa pointed in disbelief.

"Heh, you're strong! If your gym mission isn't that hard and people get to you quickly, then I'm sure you'll make waiting feel like a breeze!"

"In that case-" Nessa cracked her knuckles as she formed an evil grin, "It's time for me to wash away all these stains!"

"Stains?" Victor deadpanned.


~{Front of Hulbury Stadium- 4:56 PM}~

"Th-The victor is Gym Leader Nessa once again! With a winning streak of... t-twenty-five now!?"

"Oooooooooh boy." Victor stared blankly down into his phone, watching several of Nessa's battles in a row. The moment the Gym Leader had returned to her stadium and commenced her first match back, everyone could clearly see that there was something different about her.

Then for over an hour, Nessa fought challenger after challenger with a new glow to her. Throughout every battle, the water user maintained a smile on her face even when the situation looked grim, ending up coming out as the victor each time. Everyone could just tell that she was different from before, but they didn't know why.

Not to mention, she did look somewhat scary just mowing down waves upon waves of challengers.

"Shouldn't she take a break?" Victor wondered as he stepped forward in the line.

He put his phone away and slipped off his backpack, reaching in and pulling out a sleeping Telsa.

"Zzz... Charja, Charja, Charja..." The pokemon cooed.

Victor held him with one arm and used his free hand to gently rub the top of his head, easing him slowly into waking up.

"Char..." Soon, Tesla's sleep bubble popped and he let out a small yawn while stretching his body, making musical sounds as he did so. He then blinked several times and glanced up at Victor.

"Charja?"

"Heya buddy!" His trainer said, "Are you ready to take on your first gym?"

Tesla blinked confusingly before Victor held him up with both hands and showed him the Hulbury Stadium in front of them.

"It's time for you to finally shine!"

"..."

Tesla let out a sigh. "Char..."

"Oh come on now, I've fed you pretty good and I was even considerate to let you sleep as much as you wanted. Not to mention..."

Cross-veins emerged on his head, "You still have to pay me back for all those berries you ate without my permission."

Tesla made a small whine as if asking if he had to.

"Do you want to stay? Because sorry, but I'm not gonna keep you around just to feed you while you do nothing at all..." Victor pouted.

Tesla sighed in defeat, "Charja..."

"Great! You'll be amazing! I know it!" Victor hugged him in his arms.

His other three pokemon were standing beside him, staring at Tesla while looking rather unsure about the pokemon Victor had chosen to work with them. They then looked around at the other trainers that were staring at them and their trainer. After all, they were the pokemon team for one of the challengers endorsed by the champion.

Ace glanced up at Victor while nudging his leg, "Raboot, Raboot?"

Victor came to a realization from Ace, "Oh yeah... I could only keep one of you out at a time for the challenge." He glanced at Tesla, who tilted his head. "Ah, I haven't even caught you in a pokeball yet!"

Ace crossed his arms and rolled his eyes that his trainer forgot something so simple.

Victor put Tesla down and dug into his backpack, "I've put my pokeballs in the back since I don't really use them, so give me a second."

He dug through it for a few seconds before halting as he came upon a familiar special pokeball, the green and white one with dark orange spots and one yellow spot.

"The Friend Ball I got from Ball Guy?"

Victor recalled the mascot's words about this special pokeball as he pulled it out and examined it.

"This here is a Friend Ball! It's a pokeball that acts as a physical symbol of friendship between pokemon and humans! If you catch a pokemon in it, sometimes they'll realize that they'll be treated more special than other pokemon and will want to become your friend easier!"

He smiled as he gripped onto the ball and turned back to Tesla, who noticed the different colors than a usual pokeball.

"Charja?"

"This here isn't just any pokeball, Tesla. This is a Friend Ball that I got from a friend of mine." Victor moved it closer to the bug pokemon so he could take a better look at it. "It's like a symbol of friendship between trainers and their pokemon. If a trainer wants to use it, then it shows that they really want to be really close friends with a pokemon."

Hearing that, Tesla glanced up at Victor with a new curiosity.

"Bug? Charja?"

Victor chuckled, "I don't want this relationship to just be a deal or some sort of mutual exchange. I want us to be really good friends that can take on anyone who challenges us."

He reached his free hand to Tesla and pat him on the head.

"Don't you want that too?"

Tesla stared at the ball within the trainer's hand, thinking about the word 'friend' and wondering how that would be like. He only really wanted to do two things in life; eat and sleep. Digging into the ground had helped him satisfy both of these things because he could sleep in a hidden area and use the same area to eat food in the form of the humus of the soil or certain leaves from trees. He had never interacted with other pokemon before because all he's ever thought about was surviving on his own. But now he had the potential to get all kinds of new experiences, from food, traveling, and people/pokemon.

He did a simple shrug as if saying, 'screw it' and stretched his accordion-like body forward so his forehead touched the switch if the Friend Ball, then immediately getting absorbed into it.

The corners of Victor's mouth went up all the as he watched the ball shake three times before clicking close.

He quickly reached down and released Tesla back onto the ground.

"Charja." The pokemon nodded up to him.

"Thank you Tesla! We'll be the best of friends!" Victor shouted as he scooped the battery pokemon off the ground and hugged him.

Tesla just let out a tired yawn and snuggled in Victor's arms.

"Next please!"

Victor looked ahead and saw that he was in front of the stadium doors now with a league staff member waiting by the door.

"Oh! Come on, guys!" Victor said in excitement.

His pokemon nodded as they walked with him, well in Twilight's case, flew with him inside the stadium while Tesla started sleeping once more in his trainer's arms.

Victor walked into the stadium lobby that looked nearly identical as the last one he had been in, but with a blue theme this time, of course. He saw a few other challengers in their white uniforms already and were waiting to be called next to take on the Hulbury Gym Challenge.

"We have a lot of people waiting, so for now, please return your pokemon into their pokeballs and head into the locker rooms to change into your uniform. We'll fill in your Gym Challenger information before you start the challenge." The league staff told him.

"Alrighty." Victor looked down at his pokemon with a small nod, to which they nodded back in understanding before he returned each of them back into their pokeballs.

The challengers in the room recognized Victor already as one endorsed by Leon, having them curiously stare at him as he adjusted the straps of his backpack.

But Victor didn't acknowledge the stares and instead focused on the uplifting mascot that caught sight of him as well.

"Oh! Ball Guy!"

The cheerful being jumped side to side with jazz hands.

"Good to see you once again my friend! How did that Friend Ball work out for you?" He asked, reminding Victor of their previous meeting.

"I actually just used it!" The trainer pulled out his Friend Ball and released a sleeping Charjabug onto the floor, "This little fella is Tesla! I showed him that I really wanted to be friends with him, you're pokeball helped with that!"

That made Ball Guy seem delighted, "Ooo! Amazing use of it! I knew you'd put that pokeball to good use!" He clapped his hands to congratulate the boy.

He then started tap dancing, "Thanks for using it well and for rolling by, to have a chat with your mate- the Ball Guy!"

He then spun in place clockwise and then spun counter-clockwise before stopping, "Tell me, do you have a fishing rod?"

"Yeah, I do. It's... pretty strong." Victor answered with a blank stare, remembering the rod having enough strength to keep itself intact even when yanking out a Gyarados from the water.

Ball Guy then reached behind into his pocket, "In that case, I've got the perfect pokeball for you!" He pulled out a pokeball with a blue top but with a red area going up the middle along with three vertical lines within the red.

"Ooo! Pretty!" Victor smiled as he returned Tesla back into his Friend Ball and examined the new kind of pokeball the mysterious person presented him.

"This here is a Lure Ball! It's the absolute best for people that like pokemon that live underwater!"

Victor felt his smile go all the way up as he thought about a certain Tender pokemon he promised to come back for once he found her other two friends.

"Might as well give Sonia a pretty pokeball to go with it."

He glanced back up at Ball Guy as he received the special pokeball into his hand.

"Thanks Ball Guy! I know exactly who to use this for!"

"Good to hear it! Good luck with your battle against Nessa! She's been crazy strong right now compared to yesterday. I wonder what happened? Either way, do your best!" He said as he tap-danced before striking a pose that gave Victor jazz hands.

"Thanks, Ball Guy!" Victor laughed as he hurried passed by the pokeball-headed man and went towards the locker room.

"He really knows him?" Wondered nearly all the contestants that had watched the exchange between Victor and the man they considered to be 'weird.'

After a few minutes, our hero came out of the room wearing his white gym uniform with the proud number 658 on his back.

"Looking good!" Ball Guy gave him a thumbs up.

Victor smiled and waved to him before going into the small line in front of the doors leading into the challenge.


~{A Few Minutes Later}~

"Good luck Gym Challenger." The female, water-themed staff wearing a similar outfit as Nessa bowed to Victor, then walking aside to let the boy through.

"Thank you!" Victor confidently walked up to the two automatic doors and they slid open for him, revealing a small hallway. He walked down the hall until he came upon a circular door with the water badge design on it, the door opening up to present a tremendous sight to the trainer's eyes.

He saw an entirely blue room the same size as the green room from the Turffield challenge. Platforms were raised above a large pool of water that covered the entire floor below, and there were pipes that went all across the ceiling and pointed down in different areas. The pipes had red, yellow, or blue openings over certain sections of the platforms, there were switches of these same colors scattered around the area, and there were a few trainers waiting in certain parts of the room.

"Ooo! It's like a water park! So cool!" Victor exclaimed with beaming eyes.

He came upon the black and white wearing referee waiting for him. When Victor got close, the blonde man pointed a hand at the area of pipes.

"The Hulbury Pokemon Gym's mission is this! A challenging maze! And you must reach the goal to clear the mission! However, some paths in the maze are blocked by pouring water! What should you do then?"

"Press buttons!" Victor bounced as he pointed at the different colored switches in the distance.

"Smart boy!" The referee jokingly laughed. "Yes, press the buttons and see what happens! Make a path for yourself to get through the room! Remember that you can only have out one pokemon out at a time, good luck!" He stepped back and gave a salute to Victor.

"Thank you!" Victor pulled out a pokeball and clicked it open, sending out his first pokemon to accompany him.

"You ready, Midori? Let's see if we can get you to evolve!"

The psychic and fairy typed looked pumped up as he tried flexing both of his tiny arms while puffing up his mouth, trying to looking tougher.

"He's so precious." Victor comedically cried with tears of joy.

He then turned to the challenge in front of him with a grin.

"Letsa go!"


~{Meanwhile-Motostoke}~

Gloria's eye twitched as she came back into the industrial city of Motostoke via the east entrance, coming out of the Galar Mines No.2.

Luna gently rubbed the girl's head from her backpack nervously, attempting to calm her trainer's bad thoughts over a certain boy.

Gloria marched down the street with her hands tightened into fists, a scowl on her face as she growled out words. Many passersby shivered from the menacing black aura the girl had around her, quickly creating distance between them and her.

"Th' moment he gets 'ere, th' moment ah see him, a'm gonnae fin' oot whit hackit he's bin hingin aroond..."

Luna sweatdropped as she heard her trainer's accent slip out, indicating just how pissed off she was. But despite this, she still continued rubbing Gloria's head in an attempt to calm her.

The female trainer found herself in front of the Motostoke Stadium now, gazing up at the large, brick building.

She frowned, thinking about taking on the Fire-Type Gym Leader.

"Not right now... Otherwise, I might end up fighting him with more than just my pokemon..."

Luna had a blank expression as she processed what the girl just said.

"I'm gonna head to the Wild Area and blow off some steam..." The girl grumbled as she started marching off.

It didn't take long for her to make it just to the entrance of the industrial town, going down the stairs and gazing at the sight of the wild ahead.

And the sight of a boy running towards her.

"HEY GLORIAAAAAAAAA!"

Gloria stopped and focused her eyes, noticing the familiar over-energetic boy running with a laugh. Luna peaked out more from her backpack and smiled happily when she saw one of Gloria's friends coming to them.

But Gloria's anger and Luna's happiness turned into pure shock as they saw Hop running towards them looking more beat up than they've ever seen him before. He had dirt stains all over his clothes, some of his clothes were torn, and he had some visible bruises on some parts of his body.

Despite this, the boy just continued laughing as he ran towards his friend while waving his hand.

"Hop!? What the bloody hell happened to ya!?" Gloria rushed down the steps and met up with the boy.

"It was great! I lost to Victor in a pokemon battle while you were getting your water badge, then he suggested I train my pokemon with a friend of his! That Onix we ran into in the Rolling Fields, remember?" The boy grinned.

"WHAT!? THAT THING!? ARE YA CRAZY!?" Gloria shouted as she grabbed him by the collar.

"Heh, apparently! I even tried to see if I could join my pokemon in fighting, but... it didn't go well." Hop awkwardly laughed.

Gloria had a deadpanned expression.

"You're a complete idiot."

"I prefer the term, 'special.'" Hop grinned in return.

Gloria let go of him and rubbed her eyes in frustration.

"You and Victor drive me SO crazy..."

"Hey, I mat drive you crazy, but Victor drives your heart even crazier~" Hop teased with a smug grin.

Gloria's eyes flashed red and she cocked her fist back with flames igniting around it.

"FALCON-!"

She swung it forward as the flames turned into the shape of a certain large bird.

"-PUNCH!"

Her blow connected right in Hop's face, sending him flying back in a spiral until he crashed into a tree.

"GAK!" His back bounced against the trunk and he landed face-first onto the ground, his body twitching in comedic pain.

At the same time, Gloria stood ahead of him with a pout on her now completely red, embarrassed face.

"D-Don't say stuff like that, ya moron! I-I know that already, alright!?"

Luna shivered at her trainer's power and ducked a little into her backpack.

"H-Heh, yeah... E-Especially, ow... Since, ow... H-He's the only one... ow, you've never hit..." Hop groaned on the ground with a weak chuckle.

Gloria walked over to him and helped pull the boy back on his feet, some guilt showing on her face.

"Sorry... I shouldn't have hit ya when you're already so beat up..."

"Heh, it's alright. That Onix has nothing compared to you, so I'm used to much scarier things!"

"Ya want me to punch ya again?" Gloria said with cross-veins popping out on her head.

"Please don't."

Hop then felt his phone vibrate, making him quickly pull it out to check.

Another bright smile formed on his face as he turned the screen to Gloria.

"Look Gloria! Victor's gonna fight Nessa now!"

"Huh!?" The girl snatched his phone and stared at it closely, watching the stadium field with text going by reading that Victor was indeed going to fight thee water type Gym Leader next.

Luna peaked out once more with a radiant expression, wishing to see one of Victor's specific pokemon fight.

"Wanna sit down and watch it together?" Hop suggested.

Gloria happily nodded up and down in excitement, the two of them then taking seats under the comfort of a tree that had an imprint of Hop's body on the trunk.


~{Hulburry Gym Mission- Five Minutes Ago}~

"Psybeam!" Victor shouted with a point of his finger.

Midori front flipped over a Water Gun from a Chewtle, a blue turtle-like pokemon, before then putting both hands on his head and puffing his cheeks out.

"Raaaaaaa!" His head glowed purple and he fired a beam of psychic energy right at the Chewtle's forehead, sending him tumbling off the edge of the platforms they were on.

"Chewie!" It's trainer, a girl wearing the gym's water-themed uniform, dived down after her pokemon all the way into the water below.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" Victor shouted from above, looking down and watching the trainer emerge from the water while holding her now unconscious pokemon.

"Don't worry about it, just keep going! Good luck!" The girl laughed it off while floating in the water, using her free hand to wave up at Victor.

Midori awkwardly backed up in embarrassment, not really meaning to have knocked the water type off.

"Alright, thank you!" Victor politely bowed from above before continuing on with the room.

He ran up the few stairs to another platform that had a blue pokeball-designed button. He quickly pressed it and the blue pipes of the room stopped flowing out water. Victor then turned his head and focused on the center of the room, seeing that there was now a clear path straight down the middle to get to the other end of the room.

"Perfect! Come on Midori!" Victor crouched down to his pokemon and let him hop onto his shoulder, then rising up and making his way towards the exit.

Midori held on to some of Victor's hair to keep himself balanced, but he stared off into his other hand while looking... frustrated.

Victor was too excited to notice as he ran to the end of the room while the gym's water trainers he had beaten waved to him. He soon made it to the water-symboled door, where steam and confetti blew up around him.

"Gym Mission cleared!" The referee shouted on the loudspeaker.

Victor grinned as Midori looked at the trainers whose pokemon he's beaten, counting the several pokemon he managed to fight by himself.

The big, blue door opened up, allowing Victor to walk into the familiar hall that would lead to the stadium.

"Alright, here we go." Victor pulled out his pokeball as he crouched down and placed Midori onto the ground. "Thanks for your hard work Midori, you can rest-"

"Ralts!" Midori cut him off, furiously shaking his head side to side.

"Huh?" Victor tilted his head from the unusual behavior. Midori was usually quiet or cheerful when fighting, but something seemed to be bothering him right now. "What's wrong?"

"Ralts! Ralts!" Midori whined to him.

"You want to keep fighting?"

The pokemon nodded.

"But why would you... Oh!" Victor's had a realization. "Are you still feeling bad about not evolving?"

Midori looked down to the ground, "Ralts..."

Victor sighed before reaching his hand out and rubbing his pokemon's head. "You don't have to feel like you're forced to keep fighting to evolve. I guess we just have had that 'moment' for it to happen yet. But it'll happen soon."

Midori was momentarily quiet before looking up more determined, "Ralts, Ralts! Ralts!"

"You really still want to fight?"

Midori nodded confidently.

Victor examined his pokemon's current state, which was that he actually didn't look to beat up, but still looked somewhat tired, indicated by his breathing.

But Victor still smiled at him, "Alright. Hop on!"

Midori smiled happily as he jumped onto his partner's head, holding onto his hair as the boy rose back to his feet.

"Just let me know if you're feeling too tired, alright?" Victor asked of him last.

"Ralts."

"Good, now then..." Victor confidently started walking down the hall again, "Time to show Nessa what we've got!"

As he walked, he heard the announcer getting everyone hyped up.

"Here it is citizens! The match that you've been waiting for! After Miss Nessa's frightening winning streak today, will Victor of Postwick, one of the three endorsed by the champion, be the one to end it!? Will he take his second gym badge from the beauty of the waves!?"

Victor grinned.

"You know it."


~{Meanwhile-Hulbury}~

Sonia smiled as she watched the Hulbury Stadium's live feed from her phone. She was currently sitting on the wooden benches down the stairs near the Hulbury pokemon center. Her phone was propped up using her bag while she had an open notebook right in front of her.

"Oh? So they're finally gonna battle?" She placed her pen down and closed her notebook. Even while doing research on Galar's legends, the smart beauty had been keeping tabs on her bestie's gym, waiting for Victor to take on the battle so she could watch him as she had promised.

She rested her head on her hand while using her other hand to twirl her hair. "I actually haven't seen any more additions to Victor's team, have I? I wonder if he ended up basing his team off mine after all?" She chuckled.

"Oh? If it isn't Professor Magnolia's granddaughter?"

The ginger turned her head and saw Oleana and Chairman Rose himself walking over to her, only...

"What the hell is he wearing?" Sonia sweatdropped.

The chairman had on a rather bizarre set of clothes consisting of a black hat, sunglasses, a white long-sleeved sweater, and green shorts with white polka dots on them.

"Ah, you may not recognize me because of my disguise!" He took off his sunglasses and put on a sparkling smile. "It's me, Chairman Rose!"

"That was supposed to be a disguise!?" The woman looked baffled.

"I could tell by the look on your face that you're completely stunned. It's rather effective at hiding me, isn't it?" Rose chuckled.

"It's the exact opposite!" Sonia screamed in her mind.

"Erm, that wasn't... You know what? Sure, let's go with that. But what are you doing here anyways, Chairman?" The professor's assistant asked curiously.

Rose put his sunglasses back on, "Well, I made sure to keep my schedule open today besides that emergency warning I gave to Galar in the morning. I was waiting for young Gym Challenger Victor to face off against Nessa, I promised to meet with him in Hulbury's Captain's Table after he obtained his water badge."

He scratched his beard.

"What about you, Sonia? It's been quite a while since we've met face to face like this. Ever since your Gym challenge if I recall?"

Sonia's eye twitched when she heard that, reminded of her dropout.

"It doesn't seem like he says bad things on purpose... I guess he's just a bit of an airhead? This must be what Nessa experienced yesterday..."

She maintained a smile as she lifted her pink notebook, "I'm working on a personal project. I'm going through all of Galar's legends to see if I can discover something about the Slumbering Weald."

Rose smiled proudly, "As expected from Professor Magnolia's granddaughter, but what about the Slumbering Weald do you wish to discover?"

Sonia put up her signature peace sign and wink, "That's a secret for now!"

"Chairman, we should be going before someone sees you." Oleana advised her boss.

"Huh? What do you mean, Oleana? Isn't this disguise perfect though?"

"I hate to say it, but your disguise isn't that effective, especially with me standing right beside you." The straight-faced woman pointed out.

Rose stared at his secretary for a moment with a line across his mouth, not agreeing or refuting the claim.

Instead, he turned back to Sonia with another smile. "Well, I would actually like to catch up a bit Sonia, so may I invite you to come with us to the Captain's Table? Their seafood is exquisite!"

She tapped her pen on her chin in thought, "Hm, I don't know... Did you say that Victor is gonna be there?"

"Why yes, I did. Could it be that you have some sort of interest in the boy?" Rose chuckled.

"Please keep in mind that as the older one, you have to be more responsible. Not to mention there will be plenty of struggles in maintaining that kind of relationship." Oleana said with no change in her cold expression.

"What in the world are you both implying!?" Sonia shouted, not even embarrassed, but worried about what was going on through their heads.

Rose nervously laughed, "Er... That wasn't what I meant at all..."

"My mistake." Oleana said when she heard the chairman, yet her expression didn't change one bit as she just flipped through the pages of her clipboard.

"I do apologize for that, I understand how awkward that must feel. But anyway, would you still like to come with us and meet up with Gym Challenger Victor over dinner?"

Sonia then put on another smile as she picked up her phone from the table and saw Victor and her bestie walking towards the middle of the stadium's court.

She grinned, "Alright, but let's go quick! I don't wanna miss this battle!"

Rose smiled, "Neither do I."


~{Hulbury Stadium}~

"And here he is! Give a round of applause for the challenger once again, Victor of Postwick!"

Victor came into view of the audience with Midori on top of his head, both of them waving in sync at everyone cheering for them.

He then gazed ahead at Nessa walking out of the opposite entrance to the stadium, the model showing no sign of stress or fatigue despite facing so many other challengers for one day. If anything, she looked pumped up than ever as her aqua eyes honed in on Victor.

The two kept walking until the met in the center of the arena, where the model put her hands to her hips and grinned.

"About time you showed up! For a second I thought you skedaddled!" She joked.

"Sorry, the line was really long." Victor awkwardly chuckled with Midori nodding.

"Yeah, but now you're finally here! I've been looking forward to this. Just because we're friends doesn't mean I'll go easy on you like Milo did! No matter what kind of plan you have, my pokemon will be sure to sink it!"

Despite the model's claim, Victor was visibly confused by another matter.

"Wait, where do you even keep your pokemon?" He asked, reminding himself of her... limited clothing.

Nessa stared blankly at him for a second before getting into some laugher. "Seriously? You're asking that right now!?"

"Well I mean, I'm curious." Victor couldn't help but admit.

"Well..." Nessa held up her hand and then covered it with the other, and the next thing Victor knew, there was a Dive Ball in her palm.

"Wha-!? But there wasn't- How'd you do that!?" He asked as both he and Midori had stars in their eyes.

"Magic." Nessa giggled as she tossed the ball up and caught it, "It's actually one of Galar's greatest mysteries."

"Seriously?"

"But let's not waste any more time, my fans are cheering for me to win this!" Nessa shouted.

Victor's challenging grin returned as Midori looked pumped on top of him.

"And I'm sure my friends are counting on me to win this! I've had quite the winning streak, and I'm confident to say I don't lose!"

"Time to break it then, it's showtime!" Nessa firmly held her pokeball as she turned her back to Victor and started walking.

Victor turned around and did the same, the two of them creating an appropriate amount of space for their battle ahead.

When both turned around to face each other in the distance, a voice echoed in the stadium.

"Let the battle... BEGIN!"

Nessa stood on one leg while raising the other all the way up with ease, then pitching her Dive Ball across the field.

"Damn." Victor couldn't help but stare in admiration, recalling just how flexible the model was.

Out of the Dive Ball came a Goldeen, a white, fish-like pokemon with orange markings and a white horn on its forehead. It floated above the ground and-

"Wait a second, I still never understood how they can do that!" Victor pointed out, wondering how this, and so many other fish pokemon could not just breath out of the water, but even float just a little above the ground in such a way that it looked like it was swimming.

Nessa seemed to know what he meant and just laughed, "Maybe it's magic too? You're focusing on too many of the wrong things right now!"

Midori jumped off Victor's head and landed in front of him in a crouch, then standing up and looking ready.

"Ralts, Ralts!"

Victor smiled, "Alright, Midori! Use Psybeam!"

"Raaa!" Midori jumped forward and fired a telekinetic beam at the fish.

"Agility!" Nessa shouted immediately.

"Gol!" The Goldfish pokemon suddenly vanished from the spot, the psychic attack missing completely.

"Ralts!?" Midori was shocked.

"Now use Horn Attack!" Nessa pointed.

"Teleport out of the way!"

Midori listened and glowed pink before vanishing just as the Goldeen appeared, trying to ram its horn into him.

"Disarming Voice!"

Midori appeared in the air and took a deep breath, "RAAAAAA!" Heart-shaped projectiles fired off at the water type below.

"Whirlpool!"

The Goldeen suddenly spun in a circle where water came up, then forming a cyclone that not only dispersed Midori's oncoming attack, but tried to pull him in from the air.

"Whirlpool!? Isn't that more of a tornado since it's on land!?" Victor thought in shock.

He shook his head.

"Too many questions! Just focus!"

"Midori! Teleport away!"

The panicking pokemon focused himself to vanish before he could get sucked into the vortex.

The tornado of water then dispersed as Midori appeared a good distance away, revealing the Goldeen now glaring at him.

"Use Agility to get close!" Nessa shouted with a point of her finger. "Then use Horn Attack!"

"Wait for it Midori!" Victor said confidently.

"Gol! Gol!" The Goldeen vanished from how fast it went, intending to have its horn strike.

Midori stood still as he listened around him, drowning out the shouts of the people in the stadium.

Victor also paid attention to where the Goldeen was, his senses sharpened especially after the training from Sensei.

Midori heard a woosh the same time Victor's eyes picked up a moving blur, making both of them smile.

"Draining Kiss!"

Midori leaned his body to the side as Goldeen came by with his horn forward, barely missing by the perfect timing. At the same time, Midori kept his face close as he performed the attack Victor told him to perform.

*Chu!*

He managed to place a glowing pink kiss on the side of the Goldeen just as it passed by, suddenly causing it to tumble out of the air.

"This will be really awkward if that Goldeen's a male, but whatever, the attack worked!"

"Goldeen, get up and used Water Pulse!" Nessa shouted across, smiling despite her pokemon getting knocked down.

The tumbling Goldeen suddenly bounced off the ground with a spin and pointed its face in Midori's direction.

"GOOOOOOO!" It opened its mouth and a pulsing blast of water towards its opponent.

"Power through with Psybeam!" Victor shouted, knowing that Midori's move and Special Attack were both stronger than Goldeen's.

"MMmmm!" Midori focused again as he blasted his purple beam right into Goldeen's water move, piercing through it and continuing all the way to the fish pokemon itself.

"Gol-!?" He was struck right on his face, resulting in him flying through the air once again before plopping onto the ground, unconscious.

"Great job, Midori!" Victor jumped with a cheer.

"Miss Nessa's first pokemon is down, but she's not out of it just yet!"

Nessa returned her Goldeen back into its pokeball, slightly sweating but grinning excitedly.

"For such a small guy, your Ralts is quite the fighter. Probably more than Gloria's own before it evolved."

She pulled out a second Dive Ball, "But how fast is he?"

As she was about to throw her second pokemon out, Victor interrupted.

"Meh, he's kinda fast, but more of just on a human speed level." He said with a give or take hand motion.

"..."

Nessa covered her mouth, "Pfft! That was a rhetorical question! But I still love your honesty!"

She then tossed out her second Dive Ball, releasing a brown and tan fish pokemon with two big black eyes and two small teeth pointed upward.

"Arrokuda!" The pokemon shouted with a derpy expression.

Nessa didn't waste any time. "Aqua Jet!"

"Arro!" The Rush Pokemon was surrounded in water and blasted as a blue blur.

"Ra-AAH!" Midori was caught off guard by speeds even faster than the previous Goldeen, getting directly rammed into his stomach.

"Midori!" Victor shouted as he saw his pokemon tumble on the ground.

"Don't let him get up! Use Bite!" Nessa mercilessly shouted.

The Arrokuda burst out of his water and opened his large jaw, diving at the stumbling Midori.

"Teleport away!"

Midori vanished from the spot just the Arrokuda's jaws clamped closed.

"Aqua Jet behind you!"

Nessa's pokemon listened upon landing and turned around, suddenly blasting himself while being surrounded in water.

Midori appeared right in the direction Arrokuda was heading towards, shocking both him and Victor.

He was rammed into once more and his feet dragged along the ground, the Feeling Pokemon pushing back and trying not to get blown away.

"Push him back and use Psybeam!"

Midori felt his feet getting forcefully getting pushed back by the Arrokuda trying to push forward. For once, he felt really stressed out and in trouble. In every battle before, he hadn't really been in such a position, and this time this predicament was escalating his thoughts.

"You can do it Midori! We both know you can!" Victor encouraged.

"Push right through!" Nessa shouted to her own pokemon.

"Arro!" Arrokuda tried to push even harder, the intense watery aura around him bursting up and pushing Midori back more.

"Raa... Raaa..." Midori gnarred as his feet were sliding back on the ground once more.

He took deep breaths as he just focused on pushing back, feeling his power pushing him.

"Raaa! RAAAAA-!"

He suddenly started glowing blue, making everyone's eyes widen.

"What!? Is this what I think it is!?" The commentator shouted.

"NOT AGAIN!" Nessa found herself shouting with a comedic look of trauma, recalling the last time a Ralts evolved right in front of her.

"-KIRLIAAAA!" Midori exploded in blue and send the Arrokuda flying back, revealing his new evolution in all his glory.

"Arro!?" Arrokuda flopped on the ground in shock, then bouncing up to float just above it.

"You've gotta be kidding me!? Why again!?" Nessa grabbed her own head and shook it in frustration.

"Ayyyy! Way to go Midori! I told you you'd evolve sooner or later!" Victor shouted in glee.

Midori caught his breath as he looked down at his taller body for a second, processing his new appearance.

Then his eyes flared up as he shouted "KIRLIAAAA!" with all his might.

Victor awkwardly sweatdropped at what his pokemon said.

"Language, Midori..."

Nessa pouted before pointing ahead, "I am NOT losing to another Ralts! Er- Kirila, again! Arrokuda, Aqua Jet!"

"Arro!" Her pokemon listened and blasted forward while engulfed in water.

"Watch out!" Victor warned him.

Midori jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding getting hit once again.

"Psybeam!"

"Kiiiiiiir!" Midori fire another pink beam.

"Outrun it with Aqua Jet!"

Arrokuda circled around in a blur, avoiding getting hit while getting closer to Midori.

"Double Team!"

Midori ran forward while several clones of himself appeared beside him.

"Kuda!?" The Arrokuda was confused as to which one to go for.

"Stop and use Whirlpool to make them all disappear!" Nessa shouted as some sweat flew off her.

"Teleport on it to stop it!" Victor immediately shouted with a smile.

"Kirlia!" The real Midori vanished just as the Arrokuda started to circle around in an attempt to make a cyclone.

Midori then appeared right over the Arrokuda and landed right on top of him, holding on tightly as his clones disappeared by his will.

"Arro!?"

"Shake him off with Aqua Jet!"

Midori held on tight as Arrokuda blasted around, whipping his body to shake him off.

"Draining Kiss to finish it!"

Midori forced his mouth over the Arrokuda's forehead.

*Chuuuu!*

Arrokuda suddenly stopped in the air, his energy drained causing him to pass out with Midori still on him.

"Kir-Kirl-! Ah!" Victor's pokemon tumbled on the ground with Arrokuda until both came to a stop.

"You got him!" Victor cheered.

"Nessa's second pokemon is already down!? But what's this? It looks like challenger Victor's newly evolved Kirlia is down as well!"

"Huh?" Victor focused on ahead and saw Midori with his back on the ground, panting heavily now with his eyes closed.

"He's tired out even after draining its energy? Is the relief of evolving getting to him?"

Victor smiled as he still saw Midori trying to raise himself off the ground.

"It's alright Midori! You've done more than enough! I'm proud of you!"

His pokemon glanced back and gave Victor a weak smile, then letting himself fall to the ground and sleeping.

"Kirl..."

Victor returned his new Kirlia back into his pokeball, then glancing ahead as Nessa had already pulled out her third Dive Ball.

"What do you think of me so far? Feeling overwhelmed like I thought you'd be?" Victor teased.

"Ha! As if! Even though I'm down to my last pokemon, I've been saving the best for last!"

"Oh, your Drednaw, right!?" Victor asked excitedly.

"Oh come on! You could've at least waited for me to bring it out!" Nessa complained.

"Sorry, he's my favorite of yours!" Victor smiled.

But then his smile changed into a blank expression as he realized something. "Ah, now that I think about it... the rest of my team are all at a disadvantage against Rock Types..."

That made Nessa grin, "I knew that from the start! Come on out Drednaw, show them your stuff!"

She flung her Dive Ball and out came her signature pokemon landing on the ground on all fours.

"Naaaaaw!" Drednaw, the Bite Pokemon, roared.

Victor pulled out his Friend Ball, feeling excited.

"Alrighty, its time to show us what you've got! Go, Tesla!"

He tossed the ball up and out came his new Charjabug, ready to prove his worth and fight the best he-

Oh wait, he's sleeping.

"Zzzzz... Charja... Charja..." Tesla snored with his sleep bubble growing and shrinking.

Victor sweatdropped with an awkward chuckle while Nessa burst out in laugher across him.

"Hahahaha! Why am I not surprised?!" The model shouted in amusement, recalling the amusing behavior of the bug and electric pokemon.

"It appears that Challenger Victor has a new pokemon, a Charjabug! But he's... sleeping?"

Victor returned Tesla into his ball and then released him at his feet this time, then crouching down with a small smile.

"Hey, Tesla. Little buddy, time to wake up." He used his finger to gently poke the living battery's forehead.

"Mm... Charja..." Tesla turned his body away and mumbled.

"Squish." Victor said as he poked him again.

"Nn..." Tesla stirred.

"Poke." This time, Victor poked the sleep bubble, popping it.

"CHARJA!?" Tesla woke up with a start and his cheeks immediately sparked with power.

Nessa deadpanned, "Oh no-"

"KYAAAAH!" Victor's screams echoed.

"Yup, thought so."

The model watched as Victor got electrocuted once again by his own startled pokemon.

There were many gasped in the audience, but Victor stood up straight and shook the char off his body.

"I-I'm okay! Th-This isn't the first time this happened!" He laughed it off despite twitching.

The audience all stared straight-faced as they heard that.

Tesla turned to Victor and glanced up at him rather annoyed. "Charja-bug!"

"Hey! You probably shouldn't have gone to sleep when you knew I'd bring you out for this battle! Get out there buddy!" Victor pointed in confidence.

Tesla turned around and saw Nessa's Drednaw growling at him ahead, just making him sigh.

"Bug, bug..." He wiggled his body across the floor, getting away from Victor and moving closer to the center of the battlefield to meet his opponent.

"Awwwww." The audience couldn't help but adore the pokemon squirming across the field.

When Tesla got far enough, he seemed to do some light stretches with his body while grumbling.

He then took a deep breath. "Char..."

Before his eyes flashed yellow and his entire body burst in an aura of energy.

"-JAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Wow!" Victor shouted, caught off guard by this sudden demonstration of power that illuminated the area in yellow. "Awesome! Let's show them your strength!"

"Oh? Then I guess I'll have to bring everything out at once! Drednaw, flood the stadium and make it our ocean! It's time to Gigantamax!"

Nessa returned her Drednaw into its Dive Ball, then letting it turn pink and grow several times its size. She then grinned as she used both of her arms to toss the ball up into the air and release her pokemon in a new form. It changed into its Gigantamax appearance, standing on its two back legs, and growing humungous in the stadium.

It opened its mouth to let out a roar.

"Dredna-!"

"CHARJAAAAAAA!" Tesla actually interrupted with a shriek, jumping up and down and actually startling Nessa's last pokemon.

"N-Naw?"

"Well then." Nessa said with a straight face, not expecting Victor's funny Charjabug to start acting so... feisty.

"Alright, Tesla! That's more like it! Let's not power behind either!"

Victor grabbed his Friend Ball once more, his Dynamax Band glowing pink.

"Dynamax time!"

Once more his Dynamax Band coursed power into his own pokeball as he returned Tesla back into it, then making it grow and glow pink.

But this time, Victor felt a shock go through his arm, making him somewhat wince as he held the large pokeball in his arms.

Nessa noticed the boy flinch in pain.

"Hey, what's wrong-?" She cut herself off as she noticed a pink glow suddenly spark in his eyes, but was gone the moment he blinked again.

"Huh? Did they just... Did I see-?"

Victor seemed to have already gotten over that shock he felt, instead letting his excitement guide him as he grinned.

"C'mon Tesla! Charge this Drednaw up like the Battery Pokemon you are!"

Victor raised the large pokeball over his head and flung it up, releasing a pokemon that was shorter, but still nearly as big as Nessa's Drednaw.

Tesla's body flopped onto the ground in a large crash, his eyes glowing menacingly yellow as he gave off a pink aura from Dynamaxing.

He took a deep breath.

"REEEEEEEEEEE!" Many of the audience had to cover their ears.

Nessa focused back on the battle with a grin, her excitement growing to its peak, feeling her blood pumping as she felt the dangerous aura coming off of Victor's Charjabug.

"This is a little gift from us! I hope you can take it!" She pointed her hand forward. "Use Max Rockfall!"

"Drednaaaaw!" Her pokemon stomped its foot onto the ground, suddenly sending up a giant, rectangular-shaped mound of rock that miraculously didn't even look like it came out of the ground itself. He then pushed the giant slab of rock forward to send it down onto Tesla.

"Max Guard!" Victor shouted, no one noticing that the veins around his right arm flash pink for a split second, the same arm that held his Dynamax Band.

"Charja!" Tesla closed his mouth and eyes, suddenly forming a giant barrier in front of him. The giant rock fell right onto it, shattering apart and protecting Tesla from any damage.

"No sandstorm for her!" Victor thought as he pointed his finger forward.

"Now counter-attack with Max Lightning!"

"Charja!"

Rather than black clouds appearing from above, high amounts of electricity seemed to charge into the spiked, yellow tips on Tesla's face, making them even brighter than his shining yellow eyes.

"Don't let them, Drednaw! Use your signature power of water! Unleash a G-Max Stonesurge!"

The giant Gigatamax Drednaw opened its mouth and formed a swirling ball of water in it, letting it grow intensely as his eyes narrowed in on Tesla.

"Dred... NAAAWWW!" He blasted an intense and giant beam of water ahead.

"Char... JAAAAAAAA!" Tesla's eyes shined even more intensely yellow as the two spikes on his face blasted all his charged electricity forward.

Their attacks collided in the center, sending sparks and water all over the place. Both pokemon firmly held their ground as they tried to push their attacks through.

"Power through, Drednaw!" Nessa shouted with a large smile.

Victor on the other hand, grinned as used both his hands to cup over his mouth, intending to shout.

"TESLA!"

The pokemon kept focused on his power but heard Victor's voice.

"USE THE ENERGY IN YOUR SAC!"

"Huh!?" Nessa heard him all the way from the other side, wondering what he meant by that.

She then recalled one small fact about Charjabugs that she had read before on her pokedex. It had a digestive process that would convert food, especially leaves, that it eats into energy. Then this energy is stored in an electric sac in its belly so that it can be used for later use.

"Wait a second, if that Charjabug has been eating as much as much as I think it does, then that means..."

Her pupils shrunk and she actually felt a chill in her spine, resulting in her letting out an awkward laugh.

"Ah... Shi-"

"CHAAAAAAAAAAR!"

Tesla's pink dynamax aura suddenly flared up in an electrical yellow, his spikes blasting twice as much electricity than before.

"DRE-!?" Drednaw's eyes widened as this wave of electricity pierced right through his beam of water, then reaching all the way and shaking the entire stadium as its connection resulted in a giant explosion.

Nessa covered her eyes from the bright light from the discharge, keeping her feet planted as she felt the intense winds trying to blow her back.

This lasted for a few seconds, then the light, as well as the winds, died down.

Nessa immediately glanced ahead and saw her Drednaw laying on its side, swirls in its eyes and clearly unconscious with it and even the ground under him comedically charred.

She then looked ahead as Tesla shrunk back down to normal, but still had a burning intensity in his still furiously glowing yellow eyes.

"CHARJAAAAAAAAA!" His shriek echoed in the now completely silent stadium.

Then he just plopped onto his side and closed his eyes.

"Zzzzz..."

Nessa and the audience were black and white with agape mouths, completely baffled.

Even Victor had a blank face from the sudden changes of behavior.

"Tesla's scary..."

"E-Er... N-Nessa's last pokemon is unable to fight! So the ch-challenger wins!"

The stadium instantly recovered all of their previous excitement, unleashing roars and cheers for Victor.

Victor snapped out of his awkward state and smiled excitedly.

"We did it!" He ran ahead to his sleeping Tesla and scooped him up, tightly hugging him. "You were amazing, Tesla!"

"Charja... Zzz..." His pokemon just snuggled in his arms.

Nessa was still in her stunned state after what she had just seen, but her expression slowly turned into a smile that had the corners of her mouth go all the way up.

Then that smile turned into a laugh, "Wow! I may be the strongest member of this gym, but I was totally washed away!"

Victor raised his head and started walking towards the Gym Leader, shining proudly in front of everyone.

"Hah! I knew I'd win! I don't lose!"

That made Nessa laugh again as she started walking to meet Victor in the middle, returning her Drednaw back into its ball.

"You're starting to sound like Leon! Maybe you'll be our next champion after all?"

"I sure hope so!" Victor thought confidently.

The two of them walked until they met at the center of the arena, where Victor then wrapped Tesla in just one arm.

Nessa pulled out the water badge from her pocket.

"You truly are deserving of this badge. Not just for proving your strength in this battle, but also for proving the kindness and understanding you have for not just pokemon..." She sweetly smiled at him. "But towards people as well. Thank you, Victor..."

"Heh, heh." Victor couldn't help but feel flattered, extending his free arm and taking Nessa by the hand to not just receive his second badge, but to shake the model's hand. "And thank you Nessa for being as amazing as I knew you'd be!"

They shook hands for a few seconds before they heard the commentator start speaking.

"Miss Nessa lost five times in a row, then went on a massive winning streak, but then lost to the final one endorsed by the champion himself! What does this mean!?"

Nessa saw the flying, green camera Rotom coming down for close-ups of the two, almost as if expecting an answer.

She grinned mischievously, "It means..."

Still holding his hand, Nessa suddenly pulled Victor close.

"Wah!?" The boy was caught off guard as he was pulled in but then felt Nessa let go of his hand, only for her to then wrapped an arm around his shoulder once again, keeping his head close to hers.

The model then held up her other hand with a peace sign and winked at the camera, keeping a large grin with it.

"Some of this year's challengers are more amazing than ever!"

Victor lightly blushed as he picked off a womanly scent from Nessa, but after hearing what she said, he laughed happily before doing his own wink and peace sign.

"OOOOOOOH!" Many of the audience had their eyes engrossed on the sight, whether from jealously, or just pure shock.


~{Meanwhile- The Captain's Table, Seafood Restuarant}~

"Well now, isn't that something?" Rose stared at how happy Nessa and Victor looked together in the stadium, comparing how the model looked now to how different she looked the last time he saw her.

Sonia had a surprised look on her face as she saw her bestie and Victor on her phone, watching the two of them doing winks and peace signs that she remembered doing with Nessa.

"Since when did they get so close?"

She tilted her head curiously and stared at how happy her bestie was, forming her own smile when she didn't see any sign of the previous worry or stress on her friend like what she had heard in the morning from her.

"Victor... What did you do?" She knew he did something, from how close they seemed in just this one moment, it was obvious something was up.

"It seems our favorite model has gotten rather close to our very interesting challenger." Rose chuckled.

"Hopefully they don't cause some sort of scandal." Oleana replied without much care, still writing down things in her clipboard.

Sonia and even Rose both awkwardly sweatdropped.

"You don't ever hold back your thoughts, do you?" Rose asked his secretary with an awkward chuckle.

"What's the point?" Oleana replied as she continued scribbling.

"Oh boy..." Sonia couldn't help but think.

The stern woman then stood up from her seat and bowed politely to both Rose and Sonia.

"I'll go fetch Gym Challenger Victor, now that he's earned his badge."

"Er, do you really have to do that? I'm sure he'll remember such an important meeting and come here." Sonia asked.

Oleana turned to the young adult with her emotionless gaze, "While a part of me wants to make sure that Gym Challenger Victor comes, the other part of me will be with him to provide some protection."

Sonia raised an eyebow, "Protection, from what?"

"Nessa's fans."

The professor's assistant immediately knew what she meant by that.

"Uh oh."


~{At The Same Time-East Lake Axewell}

"Wow, that was some battle! Victor's Charjabug kinda scares me, but man does he look strong!" Hop grinned excitedly. "What about you Gloria? What did you thin-GAH!"

Hop suddenly backed away from his friend in fear.

"Kirl?" Luna turned to him curiously before glancing down at her trainer, feeling fear go all the way up her spine. "K-KIRL!?" She even jumped out of Gloria's backpack and landed on top of Hop while shivering with him.

Both of them stared at an intense, black aura that was all around Gloria.

The girl had a completely dead look in her eyes, all color gone from them as she stared at how close Victor was next to Nessa. Hop's phone shook in her hands as the boy slowly but cautiously inched his way closer to her.

"E-Erm... G-Gloria?"

"K-Kirl? Kirl?"

"Heh... Heh..."

Both of them froze when they heard an empty laugh from the girl.

The Scottish girl slowly turned her head in a twitching manner, revealing to them a scary grin full of malicious intent.

"Hop? Dae ye think a'd git awa' wi-?"

"YOU'RE DIALECT IS SLIPPING AND IT'S SCARY!"


~{Hulbury Gym Locker Room- Ten Minutes Later}~

"There we... go!" Victor adjusted his beanie in front of the mirror in the gym's public locker room, a place usually for challengers to quickly change alone and leave their things in lockers.

He took a look at himself, once again dress back in his usual attire. He then turned his back to the mirror, showing his backpack that was slightly open to reveal Tesla sleeping once more.

"Perfect." He smiled.

He then heard a knock on one of the entrances to the room, making him curiously turn his head.

"Victor? You still in there? Can I come in?"

The boy recognized Nessa's voice and was surprised, "Um, yeah. You can come in, but aren't you supposed to be fighting more challengers?"

The door opened up and the Gym Leader peaked her head in with a smile.

"Nope! Decided to stop for today. My pokemon and I pretty much went all out just so we could go up against you. Now that we're done, we kinda just wanted to end the day on a good note. Fighting you was really fun." She stepped in with her hands behind her back, happily walking up to the boy.

"Heh, fighting you was amazing too! Especially since I saw that glow return to your eyes."

"Oh you." Nessa giggled, reaching down to his head and patting it playfully. "So, you'll be heading off for Kabu then? He'll definitely want to fight you as you are now."

"I'm looking forward to it." Victor said confidently.

"I'm sure you are, but can I ask you something?" Nessa tilted her head. "I noticed you had your pokemon, 'Midori' use the same moves a lot. Don't you think about using any TMs or TRs for him or your other pokemon?"

Victor paused for a moment, blankly staring as he was reminded of such important items. TMs, Technical Machines, items of the sort that allowed pokemon to learn a new move and can be used indefinitely. Then there were TRs, Technical Records, items that did teach a move, but would break upon being used. These items were indeed useful for him.

"Ah, the thought never came to mind. I forgot those existed." Victor admitted with an awkward chuckle. "So... Shops and Raid Dens, right?"

Nessa nodded, "Yup, that's where you get them. I hope you find moves that can really help you."

She then started twirling her hair with a finger, "So... Anyway, you're leaving now, right?" There was a sign of disappointment in both her voice and eyes, knowing that the boy indeed would have to move on.

"Yeah, and you'll be back to fighting challengers and modeling again, right? We probably won't see each other for a while." Victor said in a low tone.

Nessa frowned, "I might be really busy since it's still the beginning of the Gym Challenge, so I'm sure a lot more challengers will face me, especially those I've fought just earlier..."

But the model then put on a smile, "But don't think it means that you're getting away from me so easily! Remember what you promised? Any time I call you for a date, you're coming with me!"

Victor just chuckled, "I remember, there's no way I'd turn it down!"

"Oh, but make sure you don't tell anyone we went on a 'date.' I mean, just don't call it that." Nessa suddenly said, looking oddly worried.

"Eh? Why?" Victor tilted his head.

"Well, it can lead to... misunderstandings." The model lightly blushed while turning her head away.

Victor blinked in some confusion before just shrugging, "Okay."

"Thank you." Nessa said, then clearing her throat and stopping what she was thinking.

She then put on another big smile, reaching her hand out to him.

"On another note, lend me your phone real quick."

"Alrighty!" Victor said, not even asking why as he handed her his Rotom Phone.

Nessa then took a moment to tap a few things on the boy's phone, then pulling out her own phone to see it ringing.

"There we go." She handed his phone back with a satisfied smile, to which Victor glanced down at it and saw a new contact by the name of Water Beauty. "I plan to be taking a lot more breaks, so I'll be calling you when I do."

Victor stared down at the new number he obtained on his phone, a squeal going in his head at the thought of getting closer with someone so amazing.

"And one last thing before you go~"

Victor detected some sort of teasing in her voice, then feeling Nessa's hand on his chin.

"Eh?" He felt his head raised and felt something soft press on his forehead.

*Chu~*

It took him a moment to realize that Nessa mouth was on his forehead, giving him a gentle kiss. It felt soft and warm, but didn't even last for a second, as the model already pulled her head back and let go of him.

"How was that?" She giggled with a satisfied grin.

Victor was actually baffled, feeling that the action from the Nessa was just out of nowhere.

"Huh? Bu-Wha-?" Victor found himself unable to say words, completely bewildered and even backing up with a light blush.

"Oh? So I've finally found something that can catch you off guard?" Nessa smirked with her hands on her hips.

"W-Wait a second! Why'd you do that!? Only mom's ever done that to me! Oh, and Gloria a few times when she thinks I'm sleeping."

"Hold on, what was that second part?" Nessa deadpanned.

"So... Why?" Victor asked again, tilting his head while his hand felt the warm spot on his forehead.

Nessa just gave him a lovely smile as she raised a finger and booped Victor on the nose.

"You don't remember? I did say I'd kiss you if you pulled out something I didn't catch before."

Victor immediately recalled pulling up the Gyarados behind the stadium, then also recalling the claim Nessa had made in her confidence that he wouldn't reel in anything she hadn't caught before.

"Ooooooooh." Victor's formed an awkward smile as he came to the realization, "You.. didn't really have to do that."

"Why not? You didn't like it?" Nessa leaned her head closer with a teasing smile.

"I mean, I did like it... It was warm." Victor pleasantly smiled. "It's just that... You didn't have to feel obligated to do it. I'm pretty sure you only do that with people you know really well... The people you're the closest with."

Nessa could practically see Victor's innocence brightly illuminate the entire room. She suddenly felt something stop in her body for a split second, which then followed by intense thumping coming from it.

She turned around and clutched her heart, realizing that both the pause and fast thumping came from it.

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA! What was that!?" She moved a hand to her face and felt how warm it was, realizing that she must be blushing. "D-Did my heart just-!?"

"Um, what's wrong?" Victor asked, getting closer to her out of concern.

"Nothing, just..." Nessa remained in motionless silence for a couple of seconds, making Victor tilt his head.

The water user then took a deep breath and turned around, avoiding the boy's eyes as she twirled her hair with an unsure look.

"*Ahem...* Well, I'm gonna head out to my studio to check out all the photos and footage we got today, so I'm gonna say one last thing... For real this time."

She walked to the boy, opening her arms and wrapping them around him.

"Eh?" Victor was surprised that he was getting tightly held by the model once again, a question mark forming above him.

"Thanks... For everything." He heard her mumble.

Victor then smiled as he patted her back.

"I didn't do too much-"

"Don't say something obviously not true." Nessa cut him off.

"Oh, okay... Um... Then you're welcome?" Victor chuckled.

Nessa held him for a few more seconds before letting go, then letting out a happy breath of relief.

"Well, I wish you good luck on your challenge, Victor! Until next time, whether it's hanging out or having a friendly battle." Nessa rustled his hair through his beanie with another sweet smile before turning around and exiting the room.

Victor had a heartfelt smile as he adjusted his special beanie back on his head.

"I can't wait for it."

As Nessa walked up the stairs to go to the other rooms in the stadium, humming happily while thinking about the day she's had.

She thought about Victor's company and his battle, understanding just how amazing and one of a kind the boy is.

"He really is a refined trainer. Our entire battle he seemed ahead of me, especially when he brought out his Charjabug."

She then found herself pausing as she remembered something about their battle.

"Ah, I forgot to ask about his eyes... Did they really turn pink? Or was it just the energy from his Dynamax Band reflecting off his eyes?"

She started walking again, a look of curiosity on her face

"Well... I guess it's too late now."

She looked up with a finger on her chin.

"Maybe I'll find out later."


~{Author's Post Notes}~

Ghosts: No,no,no,no,no,no!

*Pop!*(Sucks them into the red vacuum)

Phew, that's another room cleared... But more importantly, *gasp* Victor got a smooch! Hurray! It was a sweet, playful, and innocent smooch, but still a smooch! Oh, and he got his second badge and all, but that's not important! Sadly, things must come to an end, so Victor must leave the beautiful model behind and continue on with his journey... *Sniff* But not without one final moment together! I really did enjoy writing this part, and hoped all of you enjoyed reading it. Next time, Victor finally meets up with Rose and even Sonia! Then he heads off into the second Galar Mines! Huh? But who is he going to meet there? I can't wait!

(Hears laughter behind him)

...

(Turns around to see a large Boo with purple eyes and a crown, surrounded by dozens of other Boos all staring.)

Heh, well then.

(Tosses vacuum to the side and grabs the rag making up his own body.)

Lets do this, ghost to ghost.

(Rips rag and eyes flash red, then screeching as the area is developed in darkness.)