A/N: Hey everyone, it's time for Route 3 and the first mine! These passages are pretty short in-game, so they made for a pretty short chapter. But there is still one very important battle that happens. Time to see what Bede's up to...

Our streak of great weather continued as we left Motostoke with most of the gym challengers, this time all wearing casual traveling clothes. While there was not a strict order in how to face the gym leaders, most challengers tended to challenge the lower seeds first. Since this year's lower seeds were all in a short radius, almost everyone doing the challenge would be heading to either Milo, Nessa, or Kabu first. Victor and I looked at our fledgling teams and decided that our best bet would be Milo. He was a grass-type leader, and with my Scorbunny, his Butterfree, and Hop's Rookidee each having strong moves against grass types, it only made sense.

"I'm telling you, though," Hop warned for about the twentieth time, "type advantages only really mean anything on paper. Lee's Charizard should fall down dead if you spilled a glass of water on him, but Charizard has not once been knocked out by a water-type Pokémon."

"So, you would toss Grookey out to fight Charizard? Since types don't matter?" I grinned. Victor laughed and took a quick scan of a Gossifleur who was watching us from a patch of tall grass curiously. The bright red petals on its head flowed lazily in the breeze.

"Fair point," Hop laughed. "But I'm sure we can work out the kinks before I do that, right buddy?" His Grookey chittered happily from behind us, where he and Victor's Sobble were perched atop Wooloo. "That's the spirit! Hey, Victor! How about we have a quick spar? I can swing some grass attacks your way so you can find a workaround for Sobble!"

"Nah," he said lazily. "I promised Sonia before we left that I'd focus on training my Butterfree. She said that Gigantamax Pokémon are harder to control so we should work on building our bond. Besides, I've got a plan that has nothing to do with type advantages."

"Oh? And what is that?"

"You'll see when you see," he retorted, smirking. "Sonia told me lots of things about Butterfree's abilities. Milo isn't going to be an issue."

"Well, if that's the case, I won't let you be privy to my secret strategy either! Grookey, return! Wooloo, come on!" And in just a matter of minutes he was gone, his Wooloo rolling haphazardly behind him.

"Didn't think it would be that easy to rile him up, to be honest," Victor said.

"Should we wait for him?"

"Let's keep walking. I'll shoot him a text. He'll find us as long as we stay on the path."

The two of us walked in silence for a bit, letting the breeze flow through our hair. The route was filled with all sorts of Pokémon; mostly Gossifleur and Zigzagoon, but we even saw the telltale red tails of a Vulpix, who scrambled away as soon as Victor readied a Pokéball to fight it.

"I thought you had a strategy with Butterfree."

"I do!" he shot back. "Hey, look over there!"

He pointed and I turned to see a small red dog with black stripes finish relieving itself at the foot of a tree. "No way, Victor, is that a real life Growlithe?"

"Hey, I saw it first, let me have the first chance at catching it!"

"I've got Scorbunny, he's all yours. Let's see that strategy of yours."

"With pleasure," Victor said. The Pokéball was still in his hands, so he tossed it up and Butterfree flew out. It was my first time really seeing it since its capture and it was looking much more energetic. Its purple body and bright red eyes glinted in the sun as it buzzed toward the Growlithe.

Growlithe gave a quick growl but when Butterfree did not back down, it spat a fireball directly at it. "A bug against a fire-breathing dog? Your strategy better be good," I teased, but Victor was too concentrated on the battle in front of him.

"To the left!" Victor cried, but it was too late, and Butterfree took the brunt of the Ember attack, knocking it back a few feet. The bug recovered surprisingly well, however, and soon enough floated on top of the Growlithe, who circled underneath uneasily.

"Sleep Powder!" Butterfree clicked its jaws and flapped its wings fast enough that they turned into a silver blur as it released a silvery powder from them. Almost immediately, the Growlithe stumbled and after only a second of being covered in the powder, it fell over, fast asleep. Victor tossed an empty Pokéball, and after a couple feeble shakes, Growlithe was his.

"Can't hit us with a move if it's not awake," he grinned.

"Victor!" I cried. "Way to go! You got a really strong Pokémon!"

His cool veneer shattered almost immediately, and he jumped up and down with me. "I know, I know! I've always wanted a Growlithe, this is so cool!"

"Hop and I better watch out," I said. "You're gonna blow right past us if we aren't careful."

"That'd certainly be the upset of the century. I'm still much lower on the rankings than you two are," he said.

"Rankings? None of us have had any battles yet!"

"They gotta put us somewhere to start. You and Hop were endorsed by the champion so that put you in a high place to start. Check the rankings yourself, you're in the top 50 challengers."

I whipped out my phone and checked the trainer app, and sure enough, there I was right underneath Hop, sitting comfortably at number 39.

"How do they measure these rankings?" I asked, eyes wide.

"No one knows the exact algorithm, but I think it has something to do with how you fare in gym battles and logged trainer battles, initial endorsements, plus a big component of it is fan votes. Your girlfriend is like, number two."

"Marnie is…she is not—"

"How does it feel, Gloria?"

"…shut up." I checked the top ranks and there she was, number two behind…

"Bede is number one? How?"

Victor shrugged. "He was endorsed by the league chairman himself. Plus, he's already had a couple trainer battles logged. Won pretty handily by the looks of things. Oh, Hop got back to me. He said he's found another route to Turffield, and that he'll wait to, and I quote 'beat your dumb butts (butts spelled wrong) when you finally get there.'"

"Can't wait to see the look on his face when you fry his Grookey up with Growlithe."

"Gotta get my rank up somehow," He said with a laugh. He grabbed Growlithe's Pokéball and returned butterfly to his as well. "C'mon! We're almost to the mines!"

"The mines?"

"Yeah, there's a big mine just North of here. One of the main sources for all the energy in Galar! They dig up wishing stars and pieces from long ago to synthesize and replicate Dynamax energy for battles and for regular electricity, plus it just looks cool. C'mon!" And with that, he jogged up the hill ahead of us, where a large rocky outcropping stood tall. I followed, and soon enough I saw a large opening in the rock as well as a sign indicating that the path we were about to take would lead us to Route 4, the path directly South of Turffield.

"Nice! We should get to Turffield by day's end!" I said, looking off the edge. And sure enough, there it was. It may have been much smaller than Motostoke, but it was still substantially larger than either Postwick or Wedgehurst. There were lots of smaller shops and I could just make out a Pokémon Center on the edge of town. Further on into the city I could see what looked like a main street, but smack dab in the center was a large green building that looked like it didn't belong; as if it had just been dropped in the center erroneously, like a package at the wrong address.

"Can you tell which of those buildings the gym is?" Victor asked dryly. "Milo must be a hell of a gym leader or a hell of a persuasive personality to get something like that built for a gym that is not really a strong gym, all things considered."

"Maybe the old gym was in disrepair?" I shrugged.

"Dunno, but the mine's right here, so let's check it out!" I nodded at my brother and the two of us walked into the cave opening.

It took a moment for our eyes to adjust, and a minute and a half to find the means to walk again, as we stood rooted to the rocky path and gazed at the sight that awaited us indoors. Nearly the entire outcropping was excavated, with long wooden and steel bridges connecting to naturally forming plinths and ledges. Below the thin path of rock we were set to walk on was a steep drop of two hundred feet. At various ledges that appeared on the edges of the walls were workers in brown jumpsuits and blue hard hats, digging away alongside all sorts of ground, rock, and fighting type Pokémon. I could see natural diggers like the charcoal-black Rolycoly, the steel-clawed Drilbur, and the round and elusive Diglett, popping in and out of the rocks, occasionally supplying their trainers with a shiny gem or two. Not that they seemed to have any trouble digging for gems; they were positively all over, some not even buried in the rocks but simply embedded in the stone walls. They each glittered in the moving lights from the workers and lamps that lit the passageways, making it look like we were walking through a field of stars.

"I can't believe Hop is missing all of this," I said excitedly as we finally started to pass through the paths. Victor was silently taking pictures and videos of the colorful gems we walked past.

The colorful gems made for a gorgeous backdrop for Pokémon battles as well. Victor and I each engaged in a couple pickup battles with trainers, and they showed us the ropes for logging battles for our league rankings. Victor and I did fairly well for ourselves. All the trainers we battled were polite and excitable, and completely preferred the battle style to be a one-on-one matchup, as few had fully formed team strategies so far. I fought in two battles with Scorbunny and a third with Stufful, winning all three and excitedly watching my rank shoot up from 39 to 13. Victor won two and lost one, and his rank hopped from 433 to 215, then from there to 381. "It always fluctuates like that at first," one of the trainers told us. "Don't take the rankings too seriously until everyone's a couple gym badges in."

After about an hour's worth of hiking, we finally found ourselves at the end of the tunnel. Here the ground was far more stable and surrounded in those same gem-encrusted walls, making it look somewhat like a naturally forming battle arena. There were a couple out-of-use minecarts and mining tools scattered to the side, as well as a pile of large rocks scattered around the opening. At the far end we could see the sun's light, just starting to dip lower in the sky and casting what looked to be miles of yellow wheat into an even more yellow glow. At the entrance was a familiar looking trainer with a silvery white mop of hair. His violet trench coat had been removed and was slung over his shoulder to reveal some expensive looking black trekking gear. He leaned casually on the cave entrance and chatted amicably on his Rotom-phone. His partner, the small Hatenna, sat at the other end of the entryway, humming to itself.

"Yes, the workers are still finding fewer and fewer…I really think we should expand to the other mineshaft, sir…yeah, I found a few, but they're small. I have a few other places to look…oh! Hold on, sir, something's just come up." He tapped his phone screen and turned to us. "Nice to see you again," he said in a voice that told us that it was in fact, not nice to see us again.

"Bede, right?" Victor asked.

"What's it to you, 433?"

"433?"

"Your rank, you fool. What's it to you?"

"Oh, I actually ranked up a bit—"

"Doesn't matter," he cut off Victor with a wave of his hand. "You. The champion-endorsed trainer. Where's the other one? Don't you travel together?"

"Uh, yeah," I said. "What's your problem, mate, why are so angry at me?"

"This isn't anger," he said bluntly. "I don't get angry. I get results. That's why Chairman Rose endorsed me personally for this challenge."

"It's just an endorsement," I sneered. "And if that's your game, wouldn't I be just as good as you anyway? Leon actually fights in the league instead."

"Tell that to the rankings," Bede sneered back with equal intensity. "Look, I'll admit that Leon's a good trainer, but he doesn't have the right mindset to win for much longer. He's getting lazy. He's not ready for someone with my kind of drive."

"You really think you're that much better than us?" Victor asked.

"I am ranked—"

"Yeah, well screw the rankings," I spat. "They don't mean anything. I can take you down easily."

"Is that a challenge?" Bede asked, grinning maliciously.

"Sure, why not," I said, loosing my pack and reaching for Scorbunny's Pokéball.

"I doubt you two would be a challenge even if I took you both on myself."

"Why don't we give that a shot?" I growled. Victor gulped.

"Set the challenge on your app then, my Trainer ID is 908" he said. Flustered, I opened my app and set up the challenge. I typed in the three of our numbers, selected "double battle" as a battle setting, and slid Victor's number next to mine, signifying it would be a 2-on-1 battle. I tapped a button with the word submit at the bottom of the screen and watched as Bede lazily opened the app on his phone to confirm the battle. Once the battle was confirmed, all three of our phones vibrated violently and took to the sky, as the Rotoms inside zipped out and around the battlefield, setting up the parameters and getting specific footage to serve as uncontestable proof of the outcome of the battle.

"Why don't you sit this one out, Hatenna," Bede said. "I don't want to waste your time on them." Hatenna continued humming off near the exit. Bede picked two Pokéballs out from his pocket and tossed them. Two quick flashes of light exploded, and when they faded out, a Solosis and a Gothorita were standing at the ready.

"Psy—psychic types?" Victor asked. "We've never fought any of those before."

"We'll be fine. I'll focus on the Solosis, you take out the Gothorita. Pretend it's those Team Yell idiots from the train."

"R-right." He tossed out Butterfree and I tossed out Yamper.

"Quick Attack!" I commanded as Victor called for a Sleep powder. Butterfree shot up to the roof of the ceiling.

"Psybeam and Confusion. On the Butterfree," Bede commanded. Butterfree had only just started to flap its wings when it was hit by the full force of two psychic attacks, disorienting it and causing it to fly into a low-hanging rock, effectively stopping it from attacking. Yamper, who was still so slow, finally connected with the Solosis, but it bounced directly off, hardly harming it at all.

"Butterfree!" Victor called, but it was confused and could not understand its trainer. Instead, it flapped low to the ground, trying to get its bearings.

"Crush the bug with Pound, Gothorita. Solosis, use confusion again, this time on the mutt."

"Yamper, knock that Gothorita out of the—no!" I cried in shock as a wave of psychic energy flew across her face and sending her skidding back, leaving Gothorita to land a direct hit on the Butterfree, who shuddered and started to fly about faster, still utterly confused.

"Finish it with another pound," Bede droned.

"Butterfree!" Victor cried, but it was too late. Butterfree fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Yamper, use bite!" I yelled.

"Finally trying some strategy?" Bede taunted. "Too late. Confusion!" Yamper was pushed all the way back to my feet, where she did not rise.

I growled and returned Yamper to her ball, kissing the red shell of it afterwards. "You did your best." Victor returned his Butterfree and muttered some similar sentiments to it in its ball.

"Will you surrender? Or are you actually trying to get a hit in?" Bede jeered again.

"Go! Scorbunny!"

"Growlithe!"

"Fire types, huh? Pitiful. I bet even their fire can't even make me sweat."

"Ember!" we both yelled in unison, and Scorbunny and Growlithe both let a burst of fire fly straight at the Solosis, who moved in front of the Gothorita. Even with both fire attacks, it still floated steadily in front of us, although it finally was starting to look worse for wear.

"Gothorita, pound the rabbit. Solosis, endeavor! Same target!"

"Dodge, Scorbunny!" I yelled and it hopped to the side quickly to avoid the first and second attacks before it and Bede's Solosis started to glow a faint blue. As he glowed, Scorbunny started to move slower, as if his very life force was escaping him. Too tired to hop away anymore, Scorbunny couldn't dodge the third attack from Gothorita. As she readied a fourth and Solosis closed in as well, I was running out of options.

"Victor!" I yelled to my brother. "DO SOMETHING!"

"Right! Growlithe! Ember again!"

"Play the shield again, Solosis!" Bede ordered. Another burst of fire shot out of Growlithe's mouth, but as it had been so close, Solosis easily floated in front of Gothorita and took the hit. Completely out of danger now, Gothorita smacked Scorbunny across his face and the rabbit crumpled, overcome.

"SCORBUNNY!" I screamed, sticking out his Pokéball and recalling him. "I'm so sorry, buddy. I let you down; please forgive me."

"Endeavor on the mutt, now." Bede said coolly as I reached for my final Pokéball. "Gothorita, use Psybeam on whatever pathetic Pokémon she sends out."

I tossed out Stufful but could not even get a command in when it was blasted by the beam of psychic energy. Stufful didn't stand a chance. It was all up to Victor now, but Growlithe, victim to that powerful Endeavor attack, was not in great shape. Bede ordered a Confusion/Psybeam combination again, and the dog skidded to a halt at his feet, also knocked out.

"I—I surrender," Victor said, scooping up Growlithe in his arms. I was about to say something, but he was clearly in no mental shape to continue the battle. Even if he did, what would his only remaining Pokémon be able to do to two psychic Pokémon that barely even took a scratch against five other Pokémon?

"Surrender…announced…" whirred the robotic voice of the two Rotom phones. "Confirm surrender?"

"…confirmed," I said, looking down. The phones slowly vibrated back to our hands and stopped vibrating.

"League Rankings recalculating." the voice said. After a second, I watched the rank drop from 13 to 62. Victor didn't even glance to see where his rank now was.

"Enjoy your drop in the ranks. Embarrassing that you couldn't beat a single trainer, the two of you together. By the way, they drop even further if the odds are stacked in your favor, and you still fail miserably. Seems the great champion Leon has made an error of judgement. Same to whoever it was that thought you stood a chance in this league. Come along you three," he said, returning all three of his Pokémon to their respective Pokéballs and exiting the tunnel, leaving the two of us tending to our Pokémon's wounds.

"You alright?" I asked. "Here, I think I have a couple spare potions in my bag."

"I was really hoping he wouldn't actually be good," Victor said, laughing weakly.

"Don't worry. We'll see him again, and we'll be ready."

"Maybe I'll just hit him myself."

"We can do that, too." I tossed a couple bottled potions his way, and he sprayed the elixir on Growlithe, the pup's eyes opened, looking a bit revitalized. I sent out my three Pokémon and got to work treating their wounds and giving them a couple spare poffins for good measure. Fortunately, none of them had any visual lasting damage, but psychic types could do some nasty lasting damage to another Pokémon's mind. My small team didn't seem to be any more than very fatigued. Guess we wouldn't be training until they were fully rested at a Pokémon Center.

"C'mon, we should get into town," Victor said, reading my mind.

A/N: Well, that could have gone better. I decided to make Bede a much more challenging foe than anything Gloria has faced so far. Poor girl should've caught a Galarian Zigzagoon. Now, I'm not quite going into anime logic with the battles, but I am going to be a little lax with how some of the moves work, but I am also going to (mostly) stick to the movesets each rival/gym leader has in the game for each battle, so it's made for a really fun little writing challenge. Anyway, next up we get to meet the Goodest Boy, Milo, as well as get a Very Important Lore Dump, so please come back for more!

NEXT: GIANT GYM LEADER, GIANT POKEMON