Back at home in Spikemuth, Marnie watched the streetlight flicker through her the darkness of her bedroom through her somewhat-broken blinds, laying in her bed with Morpeko laying on her chest. The punk couldn't sleep, tossing her partner Pokemon's Dusk Ball up in the air, catching it with one hand while her other arm laid behind her head.
"I can't stop thinkin' 'bout that Ellie gal, Morpeko…" She grumbled, hating that some stranger had flooded her thoughts for the past three days. Morpeko looked up at her trainer, letting out a squeak of acknowledgement as he burrowed against her pajama shirt.
"You saw it too, huh? Her and that Eevee are a lot like you and me, huh?" She asked, earning another squeak from her Pokemon. "She doesn't even know I exist, but I'm here actin' like some lovesick Yamper…" Marnie sighed, groaning as she draped an arm over her face.
"I dunno what to do. Probably would just scare her off if I did meet her." The punk grunted in agitation. Morpeko moved to lay on the bed next to her, allowing Marnie to lay on her side. "Wish I had a Pokemon that could hit me with a Sleep Powder right now." She yawned softly, taking only a few minutes before she finally dozed off.
The next morning, Ellie and Eevee were sitting at the island in Ellie's Postwick home, Eevee digging into a bowl of his food as Ellie looked at the Galar Gym Challenge website on her laptop, reading articles until a notification for a new article popped up. Clicking it, Ellie saw that she had been named as a participant in the Gym Challenge. Her eyes widening, she gasped.
"Holy Miltank...I'm in the Gym Challenge…" She mumbled, almost not believing her eyes until she saw her and Hop's pictures. "And Hop is as well...that's brilliant for him." She smiled softly, gazing at the rest of the participant profiles.
"Hop and Ellie...sponsored by Champion Leon. Bede...sponsored by Macro Cosmos, sheesh. Marnie...sponsored by the City of Spikemuth. Never even heard of Spikemuth, but she must be a good trainer if an entire city is sponsoring her..." She mumbled, watching her mom walk into the room.
"Mom, you ever heard of Spikemuth?" She asked, her mom instantly paling slightly.
"W-Why?" She heard her mom hesitate to respond.
"Well, I uh...first off...I'm part of the gym challenge. Go me. But, there's this girl in it from Spikemuth...sponsored by the city..."
"Spikemuth is not anywhere you need to be going anytime soon, Ellie." Her mother responded sternly. "Spikemuth is an awful, dangerous place, and anyone from there is more than likely bad news." She quickly added, gazing at the laptop.
"She looks like she'd have a criminal record." Her mother quipped unconsciously at the photo of Marnie, Ellie arching an eyebrow.
"Don't judge a book by its cover, Mom. You thought Eevee was going to wreck the house when I first brought him home." Ellie reminded her mother, her mother quickly turning her gaze to the couch.
"Do you not remember him tearing up all the pillows on the couch within a week?" Her mother responded with an arched eyebrow of her own, earning a low grumble from her daughter.
"Well...he doesn't do it anymore..." She trailed off, reaching up to rub Eevee's head as Eevee finished his food. "Eevee...take a look at this girl." She murmured, Eevee moving onto Ellie's shoulder, seeing the photo of a stoic Marnie with Morpeko grinning on her shoulder.
"Her Pokemon looks so happy to be with her. And apparently, she keeps it out of a Pokeball, just like I do with you, buddy." She grinned, her mother's eyes widening.
"Don't compare yourself to some Spikemuth hooligan, Eleanor." Her mom muttered, letting the eye-roll from her daughter go while quickly trotting to the sink to wash Eevee's food bowl as Ellie looked over the webpage, muttering to herself.
"The opening ceremonies for this season's gym challenge are in Motostoke in three days...should I ask Leon to get me there? Actually..." Ellie mumbled, finally turning her head towards her mother.
"Mom...how much is a Corviknight Taxi from Postwick to Motostoke?" She hollered, causing her mother to shush her.
"Not so loud, Eleanor, goodness! Corviknight Taxis are free for all Gym Challenge participants. You should know that going forward." That caused a smile to appear on Ellie's face.
"Can I take one to Motostoke tomorrow? I wanna get some new clothes and explore...maybe find some new friends in the Wild Area around the city." She asked her mom, applying her infamous Growlithe eyes to try and get her mother to cave.
"You don't have to make that face, my little Pokemon trainer. Of course you can! Just remember to stay safe, and don't spend all your money." That caused Ellie to grin. She was sure that this Marnie girl wasn't as bad as her mother was making her out to be.