Ϗai, Emma, and Arcanine walked across the dirty road through the small town of Nioupl. At the center, they came across the gym, it was a huge stadium, bigger and nicer than anything else in the surrounding town.

"The gym is the last thing being kept up, it's the shining center of Nioupl, a symbol that our town isn't gone yet," Emma said, marvelling at the stadium.

"Let's go! I'm eager to fight Eri!"

"Woah, woah, slow down, first we'll have to get past the gym challenge,"

"What's that?"

"It's a challenge set up by the gym leader, it's still the same as it was before the old gym leader left,"

"What's the challenge, then?"

"It's a puzzle of types, you'll see," They walked into the gym, and came to a room. It had three doors, each with a colored symbol on it, and there was a colored symbol on the floor, too.

"Are you two gym challengers?" A man standing in front of the symbol asked.

"Yes we are, sir, we've been sent by Professor Cypress,"

"Ah, the old chap, head onto the challenge. Ah, but the pokemon will have to go in the pokeball," Arcanine growled,

"Sorry, buddy, rules are rules," Arcanine protested, but he went back into the pokeball. Ϗai and Emma advanced onto the symbol,

"The symbol is a pokemon type, this one here is electric, and the symbols on the doors are all types as well," Emma explained, "And you have to choose the door that the type is super effective against,"

"You seem to know a lot about the challenge,"

"Well I should hope so, I was the one that designed it!"

"I see. Now, the symbols are water, fire, and grass, so the correct door must be water,"

They walked through, and onto the next room. "Question, where do the other doors lead to?"

"They lead to warps that lead back to the start,"

"Alright, then, no failing!" Ϗai looked at the symbols. "This one on the ground is Fairy, and the three doors are Rock, Flying, and Fighting. Then it must be Fighting!" They walked through the door, and onto another room.

"This is the last one, Ϗai, you ready?"

"As I'll ever be! The symbol here is Water, and the three doors are Electric, Grass, and Ground. Since Electric and Grass beat Water, Ground is the only option left!"

"Great job, Ϗai! Where'd you learn all this?"

"I've done lots of studying for my journey!" They walked through the door, and out into the large arena. Standing in the middle was a tall, silver haired girl.

"Finally, some challengers! It gets boring here, since nobody comes here often. Oh! Emma, it's you!"

"Hey Eri, I've finally come to battle you and start my adventure!"

"Who's your boyfriend here," Emma blushed,

"H-his name is Ϗai,"

"So he is your boyfriend?"

"No!" Emma yelled, a bit too loud,

"Alright then, who's gonna battle me first?"

"Me!" Emma yelled,

"Alright, then, Mr Ϗai, head over to the stands, there's plenty of seats," There were, in fact, lots of seats, all of them empty. It looked like the stadium had been built to be filled to the brim with people, but it was all barren.

"Go! Thievul!"

"Go! Bunnelby!" Their battle started, as the two pokemon fought it out, the Bunnelby fainted. "Ah, you've taken out my first! Alright then, Trapinch! Take it out!" At that moment, Emma brought back Thievul, and sent out her Slowpoke,

"Use Water Pulse!" Water shot out of the pokemon's body, knocking the Trapinch back. After a bit more battling, the Trapinch fainted.

"Darn! You won! Here, take the Sparse Badge, I've got my own badges now!" Ϗai walked down to the arena as Eri healed her pokemon,

"Great job, Emma!" Emma blushed, but smiled.

"Alright, then, Ϗai, you're next then!" Ϗai got into position, and threw his pokeball,

"Go! Bunnelby!"

"Go! Arcanine! Use Extreme Speed!" Arcanine slammed into the little bunny pokemon, knocking it out,

"Darn, my poor Bunnelby is so weak! That doesn't matter, Go! Trapinch!"

"Arcanine, Return! Go! Slowpoke!"

"You have one too? Darn!"

"But this one's different, it's a water type! The galarian form isn't!"

"Uh oh! Trapinch, Use Bite!" The trapinch launched at the Slowpoke, but the Slowpoke whipped its tail around, which the trapinch bit.

"Slowpoke don't feel pain in their tails! You've given away one of your weaknesses before I even entered the gym! The last room showed that Water was good against Ground! Slowpoke! Use Water Gun!" With the pokemon's dopey smile, it launched a blast of water that sent the trapinch flying. It landed at Eri's feet.

"Darn, sorry Trapinch, another loss, two in one day," The trapinch returned to its pokeball, and Eri and Ϗai walked towards each other on the battlefield. Eri handed Ϗai the badge. It was a four sided star, and was completely light brown.

"It's just like my father's, just less, diverse," She said with a smirk, "Anyways, if you're looking to battle the next gym leader, he's in Aeyssol, the other big city near here,"

"Perfect, that's where I'm heading, too!" Ϗai said,

"Where do you plan on going, Ϗai?" Emma asked, walking up behind him,

"Aboasia, I'm gonna join the expedition team!"

"Well, that's a long ways away, but the next gym leaders are all leading up to there,"

"Then we can go together again!"

They left the gym, with their new badges in their hands.

"So! Onto Aeyssol!" Ϗai said,

"Well, we'll have to travel down routes 2 and 3 first,"

"Then we better get going now!"

"No, Ϗai, it's almost dark out, let's go. Where are you staying?"

"I don't have anywhere to stay,"

"Alright, you can come back to my place, but be warned, my mom will tease you,"

"I'm used to it, my mom is like that, too," They walked through the town, the sun setting in the distance. They made it to a small house, and went inside,

"Who's this?" A woman said with a grin,

"He's a trainer, mom, he doesn't have anywhere to stay, so I brought him with me. We're both going in the same direction for our journeys, so we've decided to travel together,"

"Alright then," Her mom said, smiling even bigger, "Would you like some dinner?"

"I think we're good, mom," Emma said, grabbing Ϗai's hand and dragging him deeper into the house. They came to a room, and Emma brought Ϗai inside. It had a nice looking bed, a couch, a window, and some pokemon toys scattered around,

"Sorry for the mess, these old things get everywhere,"

"It's ok," Ϗai said, sitting down on the couch. They talked, and talked, but soon, they both fell asleep, Emma on the bed and Ϗai on the couch.