Me: Ah wow, that gym battle with Melony was exhausting to write, as fun as it was I'm glad that it's over and I can move on with the story!

Also me: Hey so this chapter we need to do not one, but two gym battles with Melony, neither of which include your protagonist. Have fun!

So this was a beast to write. Hope it all makes sense. Enjoy the chapter!


The next morning, I awoke to a phone call from Victor.

"Vic? Wha's happening?" I asked groggily.

"I'm on my way to Circhester now," he said with too much enthusiasm for such an early morning. "Should be there for tea this afternoon!"

"Couldn't this have been a text?"

"Gloria, if I'm not annoying you, what's the point of being your brother? Anyway, congrats on the big win. Crazy how you, me, and Marnie are the only ones who won gym battles this week – they're really starting to bring their A game. Do you think Melony's taking challengers today? I know that Hop had—"

"I 'unno, maybe," I groaned, and hung up before he could continue. I switched my phone to silent and rolled back into bed and saw Hop staring directly at me. I yelped in surprise. "HOP, can you please not do that? There is a reason I got a room with two beds!"

"Sorry, mate, long day ahead of me," he said, not breaking his stare. "I was talkin' to the staff at the gym last night and they're gonna try and fit Vic and me in tonight for a double-header with Melony."

"And you had to stare at me like that because…?" I sighed.

"I'm nervous about it, okay?" he replied sheepishly.

"See, this is why I date girls," I grumbled, twisting away from him and forcing my eyes shut, but there was no way I was going back to sleep at this rate, so after a couple seconds in denial, I threw the blankets off me dramatically and hopped out of bed. "Alright, Hop, you wanna talk shop or what? Might as well get some breakfast or somethin' now."

"Wicked!" Hop cried, jumping from the bed and pumping his fist. As he did, I heard a knock on the door.

"Oh, Arceus, I am up already!" I roared as I stomped to the door and flung it open to see Marnie on the other side, hand raised and making a slightly bemused smile.

"Thought I'd come congratulate ya. Hop told me you'd probably be grumpy if I came early but damn," she said, lowering her arm slowly. Morpeko popped out from behind her neck and squeaked happily at the sight of me. "Should I give you another mo to try that again or—WHOA!"

She unfortunately did not get a chance to finish whatever comment she had planned to make as I pulled her firmly into my arms and kissed her. She stiffened with surprise but quickly relaxed and brought her arms around me as she returned my kiss, and I felt sharp needles going down my back as Morpeko skittered down and zipped into the room to greet Hop.

"Tell you what," Hop snickered. "I'll just see you down there in a bit. C'mon, Morpeko! I've seen you get hangry, it's not pretty." And he scooted past us with Morpeko in tow and the two wandered down the hall as Marnie, still kissing me, led me back through the doorway and into the room. Once we shut the door, I finally convinced myself to pull away from her and we grinned goofily at each other and slowly inched to the bed, where we sat down on opposite sides.

"Oh, right, good job against Melony. She's harder than she looks," Marnie said, running her hand through her black hair just over her ear.

"Same to you," I replied. "Wish I could've seen that 'secret weapon' you were talkin' about, but I got mobbed the second I got out of the locker room."

Marnie shrugged. "You'll see it when I win the Pokémon League."

"You mean when I beat you in the Pokémon League."

"That's tough talk," Marnie said shrewdly, kicking her black boots off and crawling next to me in the bed. She gave me a quick but tender kiss, which I hungrily accepted. I grabbed her arm and held her close to me.

"You've never beaten me before, and I don't think that's going to change any time soon," I teased. "Besides, I have a new secret weapon of my own." I gave her a playful kiss in return and inhaled her wonderful autumn scent.

"But you forget," Marnie whispered, bringing her lips to the side of my face and letting them brush ever so lightly across the folds of my ears. "I know how to get you distracted." And as I leaned in for another kiss, she pulled herself off me triumphantly, holding my belt of Pokéballs as a trophy while I blinked over and over again, trying to let my brain put its pieces back together. "So, what's this you say about a secret weapon? Looks like you've got a full team now. Who'd you catch?"

"That is…wow, that was uncalled for," I said, taking deep breaths. Marnie smirked and pulled me by the chin for another deep kiss, so that we were both standing between the beds now. "Okay, better, but you're still on thin ice. Yeah, got a full team now. Probably. This is her," I tapped the button on the Pokéball closest to Marnie's hand and it opened with a flash of white light. Sneasel dropped onto the bed, blinked to get her surroundings, and then looked at Marnie and took a step back warily. "She's a little hesitant, so I haven't had a chance to get any training in, but I think she's going to be the missing link I needed."

Marnie nodded and smiled. "Not bad, Gloria. You know I like my dark types."

"I was actually hoping you'd give me some pointers and help me train her up before I try her out in any battles. I don't know much about Dark Types at all."

"I suppose I could be convinced," Marnie shrugged. "But honestly I just came here to get some snogging done before breakfast so if you don't mind returning her."

I clawed at the ball, returning Sneasel as quickly as I could, while Marnie just rolled her eyes, gave a breathy laugh, and sat back down on the bed.


"Okay," Marnie instructed as we squared off in a small square near the hotel a couple hours later, "let's see what Sneasel is made of." She nodded her head at Morpeko, who scrambled to the center of the square.

I nodded and tossed out Sneasel's ball. When she appeared, she looked at me, then Morpeko, and then Marnie and winced. "It's okay girl," I encouraged. "We're just sparring a bit. Let's show these two what's what!" Sneasel nodded and braced herself, eyeing Morpeko with uncertainty.

"Hey, is that Gloria? And Marnie?" I heard a voice say.

"Are they finally battling?"

"Hey, everyone, come take a look at this!"

Before either Marnie or I took a single move, a small crowd had already started to form. I waved weakly at our collective fans, but Marnie ignored them entirely, and instead pointed directly at Sneasel and gave her first order. "Morpeko, Quick Attack!"

"Do the same!" I cried, and without hesitation, Sneasel obeyed, catching me and Morpeko off guard with incredible speed and slashing one of her claws at the little mouse. Morpeko barely managed to roll out of the way, and in doing so lost her balance and skidded to the ground, unable to complete an attack either. As she picked herself up off the ground, Morpeko's fur began to bristle and change color again.

"Alright, Ice shard!" I cried.

"Ice Shard?" Marnie repeated, blinking in surprise. As she did, Sneasel sent a flurry of icy spikes directly at Morpeko, who nimbly dodged most but was struck by the last one. Marnie shook the surprise away and looked at her partner. "Spark!" she called out.

Morpeko lit up as small bolts of static electricity circled her, and she sped over to Sneasel, who wasn't able to dodge this time. The two collided in a burst of yellow energy and Sneasel staggered back towards me. She quickly turned her head and looked at me with concern, or was it fear, and I tilted my head to the side. "You're doing great, keep it up!" I said. "Try another attack. Fury swipes!"

"Quick attack again," Marnie ordered, and as Sneasel was just about to open her arms to strike, Morpeko crashed into her stomach, sending the two sprawling back into the center of the square. Morpeko bounced off quickly, just in time to miss one of Sneasel's sharp claws swinging wildly. "One last one," Marnie said, and as Sneasel pulled herself to her feet again, Morpeko crashed into her, sending her to the ground again. This time she did not get up.

I rushed over to Sneasel's aide while Marnie fended off the small crowd that had gathered as they tried to rush us for questions or autographs. Just in the nick of time, I saw the familiar pink and black hairstyles of Mohawk Man and Pink Pyroar, who were just as effective at scaring off the trainers. Soon it was just the four of us in the square, alongside Sneasel and Morpeko.

"Thanks, everyone," I said. I knelt at Sneasel's feet just as she pulled herself back up to a standing position. Seeing I was close, she backed away, letting out a hiss. "Whoa, easy there!" I said, reaching out an open hand. "I just want to make sure you're alright!"

"Gloria, where did you catch this Sneasel?" Marnie asked.

"Route 9," I explained. "She was sneaking around, stealing our food."

"That scans," Marnie huffed. "But you caught a wild Sneasel that knows the move Ice Shard?"

Finally, I felt Sneasel weakly give in, but instead of reaching out to my hand, she ducked under and tapped her Pokéball, effectively returning her. "Oh," I said, before standing and turning back to Marnie. "Yeah, I think Hop mentioned that. Said they don't learn that move naturally or something?"

"It takes a really talented trainer to teach moves to Pokémon they don't usually learn," Marnie explained. "Even TMs can't teach Pokémon certain moves."

"So, you're saying that Sneasel is someone else's Pokémon?" I asked.

"Maybe at some point," Marnie said with a shrug. "I don't know them too well, but they ain't that timid, that's for sure. Seems like that Sneasel you found has really gone through it."

"What, someone went through all the trouble of teaching her a move she can't learn and just, got rid of her?" I asked, feeling a growing pit in my stomach.

Marnie shrugged again and held a hand out to help me up. "Might explain why she doesn't trust you all that much."

"But why would someone do that?"

"Whole mess of reasons," Marnie said matter-of-factly. "Trainer couldn't handle training them or got injured, Pokémon decided to run away from a bad trainer, or maybe the trainer just didn't think they were good enough."

"That's…that's awful!" I said, aghast.

"Welcome to the big leagues of Pokémon battles," Marnie said coolly. "Happens more often than you'd think. Most people at least find a way to rehome their, er, 'weaker' ones, but as you can see, not all of them get rehomed."

I looked down at Sneasel's Pokéball. "Well, I'll give you a home," I said, hoping Sneasel could hear me inside.

"I don't doubt it," Marnie said with surprising earnestness.

"Yeah," Mohawk Man piped up. "You wouldn't believe all the things Marnie's been sayin' about you when she was trainin' for her battle with Raihan!"

"Shut it," Marnie said, turning beet red.

"Oh, yeah, kid, she's nuts about y—oof" Pink Pyroar tried to say before taking one of Marnie's elbows to the gut. "R-right, we'll be on our way then."

"Thanks," Marnie said shortly, but as she looked back at me, I saw the corner of her lips twitch upwards. "C'mon, Gloria, we should head to Melony's gym. Got a couple battles to watch. You lot can figure out your own seats." And she turned to walk off with Morpeko bouncing along behind her.

"Okay, but actually, feel free to tell me any of those things she said whenever you want," I whispered to Mohawk Man and Pink Pyroar, who I left snickering with glee.


"It really is loads warmer up here than on the pitch," I commented, as I sidled into the benches of the trainers' box next to Marnie that evening. Even though there were about an eighth total of the gym challengers still competing in the gym challenge this year, all were still allowed to sit in the designated seating area for gym challengers, so it was positively packed with trainers.

"Speak for yourself, it's bloody freezing!" Sonia barked. Nessa had managed to use some influence as a gym leader to let her join us, and the two were huddled up together in thick down jackets next to us, trying their best to stay warm. Morpeko popped out of the neck of Sonia's jacket with a squeak of agreement.

"Three babies, the pack of you," Marnie sighed. She turned back to the pitch and not so subtly placed her hand down on top of mine. The pitch had been frozen up again after my match with Melony the night before, and the ice was so thick that even from above, I could barely see the murky waters below. I bit my lip and felt a gurgling in my stomach, as if I were the one going out to fight Melony again. Marnie glanced over and tilted her head. "Don't tell me you're nervous," she said.

"A bit," I admitted. "Vic has been tearin' up his battles recently, but Melony is really good. And Hop…"

"I know Vic can take it," Marnie replied.

"And Hop?"

"Guess we'll find out," she said, careful not to look me in the eye when she said it. I felt her fingers slip between mine and squeeze, a preemptive apology perhaps?

"He's been doing better," I said. "I think he'll come out of it now for sure."

"Sure," she said quietly, but before I could press the matter the loudspeaker blazed to life as the announcer introduced Melony and her first opponent: Victor. I glanced up at a jumbo screen that hung over the stadium ceiling. Melony was jubilantly waving to everyone she made eye contact with, while Victor was stone-faced; either from nerves, determination, or who knows what else. Sonia, Nessa, and I screamed at the top of our lungs, while Marnie applauded politely, careful not to look too enthused. He allowed himself a smile and waved to a few people after his name was called but quickly reformed his steely determined face.

"Suppose he's got any funny tricks this time around?" Marnie asked as the two squared off. "I'd love to see if that Nuzleaf can take out ice types as well." As she spoke, both battlers sent out their first Pokémon; Melony her Frosmoth, and Victor his Arcanine.

"That thing is huge! And so soft!" Sonia squealed with excitement filling her eyes.

"It's a dog; it's no big deal," Nessa grumbled.

The battle started straightforward enough. Melony started by ordering her Frosmoth to do another Feather Dance, but before it could get any momentum, Arcanine belched a brilliant ray of fire and knocked it out in a single hit, sending the entire stadium into a frenzy. Melony pouted for just a moment before sending out her next Pokémon.

"Lapras?" I gasped. "Already?!" Sure enough, Lapras crashed onto the battlefield, making the icy floor crack but not break just yet.

"Arcanine must just be that strong," Marnie pondered aloud. On the jumbo screen, we saw Victor's eye twitch in annoyance, and he held out a second Pokéball, meaning to switch just as Lapras leaned backwards, ready to send some attack his way. A bolt of icy white shot from Lapras' mouth. Arcanine definitely would be able to melt any ice shot its way, but Victor's arm was already in motion, and taking Arcanine's place was Shiftry, just in time to be hit with the attack.

The crowd gasped. "Tough switch," Marnie muttered. "Must've thought she was gonna spit some water at 'im."

"Brilliant read by Melony, though," I said. Despite everything, Shiftry was still standing, and Victor quickly ordered a Leaf Blade, but the damage was done; after exchanging a couple blows, Lapras knocked Shiftry off to the side with one of its powerful flippers and shot another Ice Beam at him, knocking Shiftry out fully and setting the match at 1 to 1.

Victor grimaced again but called out his third Pokémon, and much to more or less everyone in the stadium's surprise; Slowpoke appeared on the ice in front of Lapras. Murmurs rushed through the crowd, and even I was surprised to see it; even when I watched Victor train or battle other challengers on the road, he rarely brought it out.

Melony quickly recalled Lapras and sent out her Darmanitan, who appeared just in time to watch Slowpoke open its mouth and send an eerie aura of powerful psychic energy right towards it. Despite its Speed, Darmanitan was not quick enough to dodge the incoming attack, and it stumbled back in surprise. Slowpoke waddled over to a chunk of partial ice that had formed when Lapras crashed onto the floor to get partial cover before sending out another psychic blast. This one also hit dead-on, and with it, I saw Darmanitan's outer layer melt away to its sinister looking second form. This seemed to be the moment Melony was waiting for, and Darmanitan launched itself at Slowpoke. The two traded blows, and Slowpoke was quickly knocked out. 2-1 Melony now.

"Really dunno what he was thinkin' there," Marnie said. "Everyone knows a Slowpoke can't fight for nothin' until it evolves." I clenched my fists as Victor brought Arcanine back out onto the field. Melony raised her hand to order an attack, but before she even could get the words out, Arcanine had crashed into Darmanitan with blistering speed, knocking it into the sky. Arcanine then followed up with another Flamethrower so that Darmanitan was out for the count before it even hit the ground. The crowd erupted with cheers again – had Kabu helped Victor teach his Arcanine Extreme Speed? I let out a heavy exhale – maybe I should have tried to catch an Arcanine.

Melony smiled sweetly again and brought Lapras out into the field again, crashing into the ice and this time finally breaking the field this time so that cold water splashed across the surface. Victor grinned at the opportunity and then ordered Arcanine to attack again, and after an intimidating howl, Arcanine charged at Lapras, and as he did, he lit up with static electricity that swirled about him and exploded into a bright flash as he barreled wildly into her, sending her reeling.

"Wild Charge?" Sonia asked, dumbfounded. "Bet no one saw that one coming!"

"Electric moves are overrated," Nessa grumbled, but I could tell she was surprised by the resourcefulness of my brother. Melony was as well; I could see it hidden in the frustration of her brilliant blue eyes as they lit up the jumbo screen. Lapras was still standing though, and as Arcanine shook his head, a little bent out of shape from the power needed to make the attack, she conjured a massive wave of icy water that washed over him entirely. The powerful water move combined with the exhaustion from battling so hard had finally caught up to Arcanine, and he fell to his belly, no longer able to keep going. Victor was down to his last Pokémon, but he didn't look even remotely worried yet.

As he called out his final Pokémon, Melony pulled Lapras out of the battle for a second time, and now the matchup was between Kubfu and Eiscue. Kubfu raced towards Eiscue as Eiscue brought its flippers to the sky, hoping to make another hailstorm in case Lapras had to return, but before it could finish its move, Kubfu dived with a Low Sweep, knocking the small bird off its feet and causing it to land on its icy helmet, which promptly shattered. Clouds formed, and a couple pieces of snow fell, but otherwise Eiscue's attack failed. Melony ordered another attack, but Kubfu was too fast. Victor managed to order a series of quick blows and send Eiscue skidding back to Melony unconscious. It was down to the final match.

Melony and Victor both wasted no time, activating the Dynamax energy that had been swirling around them the whole time. Kubfu appeared on the field first, still on the small side for a Pokémon that should have been massive. I heard some screams of excitement from some other trainers in our section; Kubfu had apparently his own small fanbase. Soon however, he was overshadowed by Lapras' titanic Gigantamax form, though he didn't look to pressed. They launched into their Max Moves immediately; Lapras sent out powerful waves and bursts of icy energy that Kubfu simply punched through as it rushed to Lapras' spot on the water, and then with a fist that glowed with the intensity and vibrancy of a Hyper Beam, let loose a terrific uppercut that completely knocked Lapras out of her Dynamax form and caused her to sink into the murky depths. She floated back up to the surface and cooed meekly; she could battle no more.

Sonia and I, as well as most of the trainer section, screamed. Nessa clapped her hands together as hard as she could, and even Marnie allowed herself to jump up and down a few times with me in excitement. A bunch of trainers rushed out of the section entirely, hoping to get a chance to talk to Victor once he left the locker room, but I elected to stay back and talk to him later, which was all for the best. After leaving the center of the pitch with Melony, he walked over to the tunnel he entered from, where Hop was standing and waiting. The two friends gave each other a big hug and leaned against the wall, watching as a couple trainers from Melony's gym brought their Ice types to clear over the icy pitch with a fresh coat of ice. After a short break, the announcer called out Hop and Melony's name, and when Hop left Victor, Victor leaned up against the wall of the tunnel, fully content with watching the battle from there.

As Hop walked forward, I noticed that the crowd was starting to thin a bit; Victor had seemingly overtaken Hop in popularity, though their rankings in the league were still rather close together. Most of the trainers who had not gone fruitlessly to meet Victor also weighed their options of if they should stay or not, and while many who had left their seats slowly filled back into the section, many never came back at all. Hop didn't notice, and as I saw his face on the jumbo screen, I could see he had a bit of that old determination and fire in his eyes. Hopefully that spark would light enough of a fire to get him his first true victory in a while. I watched on the jumbo screen as he took his place across from Melony. He brought his hands up to his face and tapped his cheekbones, honing his focus on his opponent before grabbing a Pokéball. I could feel the tension rising throughout the entire stadium; almost as if they knew Hop may not be battling in the league anymore if this went South. Then the referee yelled, and the two combatants tossed their Pokéballs into the ring.

Melony's Frosmoth once again took the stage, freshly rejuvenated between battles, while Hop's Pokémon of choice was Corvisquire. "He's got one of those?" Marnie asked, and I grinned. Looked like he was bringing back his old teammates for this one. Melony ordered Frosmoth to attack, and the bug sent waves of ice and its feathers toward Corvisquire, but it stayed far enough back that it could dodge each attack with ease. Finally, Melony grew frustrated and ordered Frosmoth to move in closer, and that's when Hop took the offensive.

With a single shout, Corvisquire turned on an instant and sped toward Frosmoth, reaching out with his sharp talons, hoping to grab anything. It was surprisingly fast for such a big bird, and Frosmoth couldn't seem to hit it square on. By the time it was able to compose itself, Corvisquire had swung wide again. Melony took the bait and sent Frosmoth after Corvisquire again, but with one swift Pluck, Corviknight grabbed onto his opponent and threw it to the ground, where it stayed. Hop was ahead, 1-0.

"Not bad," Marnie said. "He's got 'im moving around the field, testing their endurance. Good fit for a bird like that."

"Yeah," I agreed, as I watched Hop slowly start to realize he had some momentum going. He allowed himself a smile and a fist pump, but quickly focused again, waiting for Melony's next Pokémon.

It was Darmanitan again. I grimaced. Not great. Hop didn't have a lot of protection against fire, and no matter how fast he was, if his strategy was to chip away at his opponents, none of his Pokémon would be fast enough to deal with that form change. But still, Hop looked focused, and ordered Corvisquire to circle again, as fast as he could. Melony was having none of this evasive strategy and ordered Darmanitan to use the move Icicle Crash. Sharp, thick icicles seemed to appear from Darmanitan's fingers, and it lobbed them recklessly like javelins at Corvisquire. The bird managed to dodge most, and soon the field was covered in chunks of ice. Finally, Darmanitan scored a direct hit and Corviknight came tumbling to the ground. Tied at 1.

Hop didn't seem too pressed just yet though. Instead, he went on to his second Pokémon, Snorlax, who landed on a surprisingly untouched part of the field with a grunt. The ice shook and cracked, much like it did every time Melony pulled Lapras out, but it held firm under Snorlax's weight. Darmanitan stopped throwing icicles and rushed at Snorlax, but instead of trying to move out of the way like Corvisquire, Snorlax turned and faced his attacker head on. Just as Darmanitan was about to make contact, Snorlax simply fell forward with incredible force – a successful body slam attack. The audience and trainers around us slowly started to grow more excited. Snorlax rolled off of Darmanitan, and while we could all once again see that it was melting away into its Zen Mode form, something was off in its movements. It was jerky, unable to fully extend itself.

"Lucky paralysis," Marnie said, but I could hear in her voice that she was impressed with Hop's gambit. Sonia let out a whoop and even Nessa was starting to get into it now.

Darmanitan weakly brought itself up to its feet, ready to strike again, but due to its paralysis, even Snorlax was moving much faster. Hop cried out his order and Snorlax raised his arm up high and with a Hammer Arm, brought it down on top of Darmanitan's head, knocking it out completely.

At this point, I hopped up on my feet and bellowed with excitement. The other trainers, as well as pockets of the crowd in general admission, started to do the same. The only person who wasn't getting pumped at this point was Melony herself, but as the cameras zoomed in on her, she simply smiled and tossed out her third Pokéball. There was a flash of light and out popped her third Pokémon.

I gasped. In the spot where I was expecting her Eiscue to stand stood an entirely new Pokémon, one that I did not know Melony had up her sleeve. It was a Mr. Rime, at home on the slippery surface and tap dancing in gigantic shoes between the ice shards scattered around the pitch as if they weren't even there to begin with. He twirled an icy baton jubilantly in his mittens. Hop grimaced and called for another Hammer Arm attack, but Mr. Rime was much faster than Snorlax at this point and quickly fired off a burst of powerful psychic energy. Snorlax managed to get an attack off, but this paired with Darmanitan's strong headbutt from earlier was enough to make it look very ragged. Mr. Rime managed to finish it off with another Psychic beam, tying the battle yet again. Hop grimaced and sent out his third Pokémon, the Heatmor I had the pleasure of meeting and trouncing in battle.

Despite being a fire-type, Heatmor was clearly out of its element here as well, barely able to make any use of its fiery tongue, which lashed out wildly and uselessly as Mr. Rime danced like he was the lead in one of Opal's musicals. Each time he got close enough, he would take his ice baton and knock another chunk of ice at Heatmor, constantly pelting it with more and more shards of ice. Finally, Heatmor finally got a good fire lash attack, slashing across Mr. Rime's body and instantly melting his baton, but Mr. Rime responded with yet another powerful psychic blast and Heatmor also fell unconscious. Hop was down to his last Pokémon.

"He was really doin' well, too," Marnie said, sitting back down.

"He's still got Dubwool," I argued, pumping my fists even harder. "COME ON, HOP!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. A few of the other trainers cheered along with me, but most, like Marnie, had either sat back down or were starting to pack up their belongings and head home. I stared at the jumbo screen and saw Hop's face. He was clearly on the verge of panicking now that he was down to Dubwool, but I saw him shake the nerves out and throw the Pokéball anyway.

Dubwool bleated bravely and stood at the edge of the battlefield. Melony jerked back in forth as she laughed in surprise; Dubwool was not a Pokémon well-regarded for its strength but Hop ignored her and laid his hand on Dubwool's head. He spoke some words that were completely drowned out by the noise of the stadium, and as soon as he let go of his partner, Dubwool curled up into a ball and rolled like it was his last day on earth.

Mr. Rime quickly dodged out of the way and instead of shooting a psychic blast, shot out blasts of cold ice instead with a powerful Freeze-Dry attack. Each time it just barely missed Dubwool but built a pillar of ice in its wake. Soon, there was barely any space available for Dubwool to pick up speed and it seemed like he was totally backed into a corner. The cameras cut to Hop, and on the jumbo screen, the entire audience watched as despair creeped over his face again, agonizing at the prospect of one final loss…

And then something clicked. Hop blinked, and then his mouth started to widen to a full grin, and he shouted an order. Melony ordered another Psychic attack from Mr. Rime, and this one hit, but Dubwool was done running (or in this case, rolling) away from the fight. It took the psychic hit and crashed into one small ice pillar, and then shot directly at Mr. Rime, colliding with him and sending him crashing into another pillar, while Dubwool slid safely on the ice to a standstill, bleating valiantly. Mr. Rime struggled to his feet, but Hop took the opportunity to use another Take Down attack, and Dubwool rolled towards Mr. Rime again, and even with less speed than before, did an incredible amount of damage, knocking Mr. Rime out in the process.

The audience roared in surprise – somehow, and against all odds, Hop had pulled himself back up and out of the deficit. But there was one more challenge to face, and as Dubwool kept his momentum up, zipping between ice pillars like a pinball, Melony decided to not even focus on theatrics, calling the Dynamax Energy to her and Lapras and letting it fuse with her Pokéball. Hop saw this and did the same, and in two massive bursts of Dynamax energy, Dubwool and Lapras squared off, gigantic face to gigantic face.

Lapras sent out attack after attack; a wave of water followed by a wave of ice, and still Dubwool remained strong, crashing into it with horns and hoof kicks empowered with the Dynamax energy in the same way that Victor's Kubfu was. Each connection between the two was a small explosion and a blast of air swept through the audience time and time again until finally, as Lapras reared back with preparations for a final Max move, Dubwool lurched forward with his horns and caught her just under the chin. There was a huge burst of energy that covered the entire pitch, and when the light, dust, and ice cleared, Dubwool stood alone on an iceberg in the water, fifteen feet from a second, where Lapras lay completely unconscious. Seconds ticked by as we all registered what had happened, and then the referee raised his arm and called the match.

As loud as that final explosion of Dynamax energy was, it was nothing compared to the roar of the crowd as Hop, with a Dubwool of all Pokémon, took down Melony's Lapras entirely by itself. Sonia and I jumped for joy, screaming, and even Marnie and Nessa were cheering along with us. On the jumbo screen, Hop looked dumbfounded but slowly, a giddy smile overtook his face. Down at the edge of the tunnel, Victor was beside himself, and he rushed towards Hop, tackling him and knocking him to the snowy ground before Melony could even stroll up with Ice Badge in hand. She finally managed to pry the two apart and shake Hop's hand. Hop then turned around and looked at the crowd, somehow finding me in the trainer box a hundred yards away and beaming, and I knew he wasn't planning on giving up; he wouldn't have given up if he had lost. That wasn't him. He'd always find a way to persevere, just as he did tonight. He pumped his arm in the crowd, which let out another wave of applause, before jogging out through the tunnel with Victor. Marnie, Sonia, Nessa, and I barreled through all the trainers in the section, eager to be the first to see them when they left the locker room.


Hop's BACK, baby! And oh wow, is it hard to find a way to do three gym battles against the same gym leader, glad I don't have to do that agai-you mean none of my four trainers have faced Piers yet and they'll all have to fight him in a couple chapters oh god what have I DONE to myself

But for real, hope you enjoyed! These past two chapters were exhausting but I hope the constant battles were a nice change in pace from the less actiony chapters I've been dropping since the Hammerlocke Storm. I also don't know how in-depth I'm going to go with it yet, but Sneasel was a partially trained Pokemon that was abandoned by her past trainer, so she's got some trust issues to work out, but if Gloria can get Marnie to trust her, Sneasel should be no problem, right? Right? Anyway, hope you enjoyed and see you next week!

NEXT WEEK: CELEBRATIONS AND REVELATIONS