A/N: Welcome back! Nothing really to report, except that I've been excited for this chapter for some time now. Hope you like it!

The dust has settled. The Black Hand has fallen, and we are surrounded by the rubble of what was once a great city. Stones that were already black are seared darker by the firestorm that had ensued. My companion and I are wounded, but alive. And Galar will now continue to flourish. We look around the battlefield. A large black mass, what is left of the Black Hand, lies in front of us. Our masters are nowhere to be seen. My companion moves forward to sniff at the corpse, and I follow suit. I bring my nose down to the beast and suddenly my world is black.

Lights flash randomly, speeding past my body. It feels as if I am being transported somewhere, but I cannot tell where. When my vision finally fully returns, I am in a small, dark cavern. There are rocks underneath me, forming a strangely familiar skeletal pattern, though due to the low light, I cannot begin to imagine what form they take. In front of me is a wall of smooth stone. There is a brief flash of light, and my companion appears next to me. I attempt to turn my head to speak with him, but I cannot move. Am I frozen? I attempt to move my legs, my tail, anything, but I am stuck in place. I feel a howl building up in my throat, but it has nowhere to go. I cannot do a thing.

The two of us stand in darkness for what feels like an eternity. My eyes adjust to the low light, and I can see that the cavern is not small, but instead I am large, nearly four times my size. Have I grown the same way the Pokémon of Galar have during this Darkest Day?

I sense movement outside the cavern. One, maybe two beings? They walk with purpose and are moving closer. I do not know why I feel their presence so clearly. They stop just outside the wall and turn around, glancing at something off in the distance, before turning back to the wall and walking forward. The wall is nothing to them; they pass through like apparitions, and I can finally see them.

It is us.

But it cannot be us. They are so much smaller than us, and we are watching them! I try to rear back and attack, but still I am unable to move, as if I am made of stone. The imposter me looks up, curiously, and then vanishes. My companion's imposter also vanishes, leaving the two of us alone again.

Suddenly, there is a loud crash against the wall. Rocks fall from the ceiling of the cave. They crumble on my head and on my snout. Before I can react, another crash against the wall. The noise is deafening and ongoing. As if someone is trying to tear the wall down. After yet another crash, a crack appears in the wall, with a bright white light peeking through. Another crash, and the crack grows. Rocks begin to tumble from the ceiling at a greater pace, and some are quite large. With a final crash, the crack splits up the wall and fractures like branches in a tree. The wall falls, and my companion and I are bathed in the white light.

The light is so intense that I cannot see anything else, but it does eventually fade. I can feel my paws on cobblestone, and I can move them with my own will again. Soon after, my vision returns. I am no longer in the cavern, but back in the great black city where our battle with the Black Hand was just won.

Or was it? Though I sense I have returned to the great city, it looks nothing like it used to. The buildings have been rebuilt and stand closer together. All is in the shadow of a giant tower. I find myself in a narrow alleyway, and below me lies a single glowing stone. It radiates the same aura as the Black Hand. I must escape it.

I burst forward with great speed and run to the mouth of the alley and am stopped in my tracks as I look out into the plaza. It is entirely unfamiliar to me. Buildings and machines I do not recognize are everywhere. Humans wander, observing wares that I have never seen before. As I look from left to right, I realize there is only one thing I do recognize.

The girl.

I do not know the girl, yet I know I am bound to her somehow. Is she related to my master? Is she able to even see me? I feel a sense of comfort knowing she is here. I take one step forward, into the light of the plaza. No other human sees me; they do not even glance my way. I stare at the girl. Surely, she can help. Perhaps I can lead her to the stone. Something tells me I must bring her there.

She turns. We lock eyes. I see the fear in them in full display. I howl.

I jumped up and out of the bed, gasping, and whipping my head around left and right. The room was dark. In the next bunk over, I saw Victor sleeping peacefully. Marnie, lying in the bunk on top of him, was flicking through her phone. She looked over to me with a single eyebrow raised.

"Bad dream?" she asked.

"Yeah…no…maybe?" I sputtered. "I don't know if bad is the right word, exactly."

"Your friend had one, too," Marnie said, turning her eyes back to her phone.

I blinked. So, Hop was still having those dreams. I hopped up a couple rungs of the ladder at the foot of my bunk to see if he was still awake in the bed above mine, but it was empty.

"You two really have a lot in common. You always wake up in such a panic?" Marnie asked.

"A bit more often than usual, recently," I said. Marnie looked back over with narrowed eyes.

"He went down to the lobby," she replied curtly before I even asked where he went, and then turned over so she was facing away from me.

"Thanks," I said, grabbing my phone from the nightstand between the two bunks and rushing to the door.

The Pokémon Center at Stow-on-Side was, much like the rest of the town, a lot more rustic than most other places in Galar I had gone to. The lobby had brown leather couches and chairs and its walls were covered with patterned artwork that was reminiscent of the same ancient artwork Victor and I had seen in the Galar Vault. Victor had made a point of mentioning that Stow-on-Side was one of the oldest cities in the entire region when we walked into town late last night. The sun had already set, so we hadn't had a chance to explore yet, nor did we get an opportunity to sign up for a slot to fight at the Gym. Instead, we chose to head directly into the Pokémon Center and go straight to sleep.

I checked the time on my phone. It was only 4:30. Why was Hop out of bed? Had he also had a similar dream to me? I looked around the room but save from a young woman with bright pink hair and a white apron at the front desk, I was the only person in the lobby.

"Are you looking for your friend?" the front desk attendant asked.

"Yeah, actually."

"He stepped outside," she said with a smile. I thanked her and walked quickly out the door.

Outside, the sky was still dark and the air still cold. I found Hop pretty easily, sitting on a bench under a streetlight near the edge of the Pokémon Center grounds.

"Alright, Hop?" I asked, walking up to him.

"Couldn't sleep either?" He replied with a soft smile. I hopped over the back of the bench and sat down next to him.

"Nah, weird dream woke me up," I said.

"Ah," he replied, looking away from me and back toward the rocky valleys of Route 6. We sat for a couple minutes. I felt awkward, like there was an invisible wall built up between us.

"It was about those wolves," I said, staring at his face and trying to gauge his reaction. "Like the one we both had a few weeks ago."

"Right." His face was stone.

"I…I've had a few dreams about them," I admitted. Still no response, but I pushed on. "Have you been having them still, too?"

Hop shrugged. "One or two, I think. I can't really remember them."

"I wish that were my problem," I said with a laugh. "They're so vivid; I dunno if I'll ever be able to forget any of them."

"Hmm."

I frowned. "Do you think they mean anything? I mean we both saw them yesterday. I think they're trying to talk to us or something."

"Why would they want to talk to me, though?" Hop asked sadly. Finally, he looked back over to me. I couldn't tell what his expression meant. He looked frustrated and a little confused, and a lot like he wasn't enjoying the conversation we were having.

"No idea," I said, shrinking back a little bit. "But I feel like it's important if they keep appearing like this."

"They're probably just here for you," Hop sighed, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. "At any rate, I've got my own things to worry about. I've been reworking my strategy for Bea's gym. I think it'll be solid enough to get me the win, but the way my battling's been recently…"

"Hop, don't talk like that," I said, giving him a tender push. "You're one of the best battlers in the league. Maybe even the best. You're just going through a funk, and—"

"I'm well aware I'm going through a funk, Gloria," Hop spat. "The problem is that I don't seem to be getting out of the funk, wouldn't you say?"

I leaned back, dropping my hand to my side and stared at him. He sat still, staring silently at a dark building in front of us. He balled his hands up into fists and squeezed them in brief pulses as he tried to think of something to say.

"Sorry," he said with a dark laugh. "This…all this is mad. I'm way too into my own head, and I gotta find my way out."

"It sucks," I agreed. "I get it. If there's anything I can do…"

"If there was, I'd let you know," he said with another sad smile. "You know those videos of Bede beating me are still viral as hell, right? I made the mistake of reading the comments again. Someone said I can't even throw a Pokéball right. That's mental, right?"

"Right…"

He gestured to his phone wildly. "And now I don't even know if I'm doing that right. I've been looking up throwing techniques! I know it's stupid, and yet…" he stopped laughing and leaned back next to me, unable to finish the thought. His eyes were glassy.

"You'll prove 'em all wrong, though," I said quickly. "Bea's what, a fighting type leader? They're pretty tough to deal with, but they're not if you have a plan, right?"

"Right! Then they'll all see that I'm like—that I'm the real deal. I'll be back in the top twenty again, just you wait."

"That's the spirit," I said, clapping him on the back. "Now what say we head back in for a couple extra hours of sleep?"

"Yeah!" he said excitedly and hopped up from the bench. He didn't even wait for me to follow suit, electing to head straight toward the doors. I took a deep breath and leaned back against the bench. That didn't…quite go the way I wanted it to. But at least once we made it through the gym battle, we could maybe talk about these dreams finally.

We didn't end up leaving the Pokémon Center until nearly noon. The dwindling number of challengers, paired with our own sluggishness about taking on Bea's fighting types had us all dragging our feet a little bit. With all the excitement and confusion about the beasts and dreams I hadn't even considered how I was going to deal with fighting types. I spent most of the morning running through scenarios in my head. Raboot and Boltund were quick on their feet, but if they got caught off-guard, I knew their defenses wouldn't hold on too long. Vibrava was an unproven entity, but speed and air would likely be on its side as well. I figured Bewear wouldn't go down without at least taking out one of Bea's Pokémon as well. Of course, I knew nothing of Bea's strategy or her Pokémon, or anything about her, really. According to the trainers I had chatted with along the journey, she was a relatively new leader and kept to herself. She didn't have the notoriety of gym leaders like Kabu or Raihan, but being the fifth-seeded Gym Leader in the challenge meant she wouldn't be any slouch.

Victor spent most of the morning with Kubfu and Butterfree, doing all sorts of training exercises he learned in the Isle of Armour. His strategy was similar to the one that won him the grass badge: slow down Bea's Pokémon with Butterfree's powder moves. He had added one additional step as well; switch out to Kubfu to deal maximum damage while the Pokémon was down. It was a slower strategy, and one that required caution, but Victor was confident.

Hop spent the entire morning alone on the couches, writing furiously in a notebook and looking stressed. Any time any of us came near him, he would give us a fierce glare that would make us retreat as quickly as we came up.

Marnie, meanwhile, didn't seem pressed about the gym battle at all. She lounged on a couch on the other side of the room, tossing a ball back and forth with Morpeko, who was more than happy for all the exercise. Eventually, she must have gotten fed up with our Slowpoking around, because she got up, grabbed at my and then Victor's arm, walked us over to Hop, and cleared her throat loudly. Hop looked up with another mean look, but even his most shrewd gaze couldn't compete with Marnie's cutting glare.

"If you're going to battle a gym leader today, you shoulda left an hour ago," she said in a slightly more agitated voice than usual.

"R-right," Hop said with a gulp, finally pulling himself up and grabbing at his backpack. He rushed out the door, with Victor shaking free of Marnie's grasp and ducking out after him, leaving the two of us together at the couch. I made to follow the boys, but she squeezed my arm ever so slightly.

"Y-yeah?" I asked, turning back around.

"I got something for you," she replied, and fished a small lavender disc out of her bag.

"What is that?"

"It's a technical record," she said. "You ever seen one?"

I whistled. "Yeah, a couple. Aren't these really hard to come by?"

Marnie shrugged. "My bro has a big record collection. I've swiped a couple here and there to help me out on the challenge. Was going to use this for my fight with Bea, but…"

"You don't seem like the gift-giving type," I said, smirking.

She quickly looked down and scratched the back of her neck. "Don't look into it, it ain't that deep."

"Should I look into you still holding my arm?" I said, grin growing.

She dropped my arm immediately and her face turned pink. "Nope. Don't do that, neither."

I giggled, and Marnie nervously laughed too. I took the TR from her hand and looked at it. The disc was small, with the words ZEN HEADBUTT in a simple font written across the top. On one end, it had a small wire protruding from the end. At the end of the wire was a little nub that I recognized was the same size and shape as the button on every Pokéball.

"You just plug it into your Pokeball's button and hit this switch here," said Marnie, taking a step in and pointing at the plug. "Sort of a way to quickly train them to use a move they don't usually have the means to learn. Figured it might help you deal with Bea's fighting types."

"That's…that's really sweet of you," I said, looking back up at her and surprised that our faces were only a few inches apart. She looked back up at me and blinked, as if she had not realized she had taken the step in towards me. The corners of her mouth twitched, and I felt my stomach drop into my lower intestine.

Her face smoothed over again, and she defaulted to her bored-looking expression. "I told you, don't look into it," she said. She tilted her head ever so slightly and turned away from me. "Now come on, you three have battles to win."

I followed her out the door. I think I was walking, but I couldn't feel the floor under my feet.

The sun was beating down oppressively by the time we made our way through the City and up the hill towards the Gym. The town was relatively small, nestled into one of the large rock faces that were all too familiar sights for us ("One could even say, stowed on the side," Victor had said before I gave him a groan and a light shove). The only thing of note that I could see were a large amount of street vendors hocking wares and antiquities I had never seen before. Victor and I both made attempts to drag Hop and Marnie toward some of the various stalls, but to no avail. Hop had his gym battle and credibility as a trainer on the line, and Marnie simply had no interest in knick-knacks.

Soon enough, we found ourselves at the foot of a long, winding stairway that led to the gym. Much like the Gym in Turffield, it looked wildly out of place – a hulking metal behemoth amongst humble clay and stone-patterned houses. As we climbed the steps, we could see that there was a big commotion going on near the top. Victor and I looked at each other curiously. Even Hop and Marnie were interested in what seemed to be going on up there. Soon enough, we reached the top and got to see what the fuss was all about.

"I told you it would be no problem at all, Bea may look threatening, but she's just as week as the rest of them," said a platinum-haired boy with a familiar sneer to a crowd of eager fans. He looked over as us as we approached, and his sneer slowly slid into a smirk. "And speaking of weak, it looks like the B-List has finally come to Stow-on-Side."

"Who's this clown?" Marnie asked to me, loud enough so Bede could hear. His smirk evaporated instantly, replaced by a cold glare that even the hot summer sun couldn't seem to melt. The fans and trainers gasped at us as they realized who we were. A murmur of tension started to grow.

"Who's this—I know you know who I am, even if my supporters aren't nearly as virulent as your disgusting 'Team Yell,'" Bede spat.

"You seem a bit more virulent yourself, today," I said from behind her, but Marnie held an arm up to silence me. She was matching Bede's glare, and where his eyes were cold and calculated, hers were hot and seething.

"Tough words," Marnie said, barely containing her rage. "Take 'em back."

Bede scoffed. "Take what back, the truth?"

"Marnie, he's really not worth it," Hop muttered.

"Oh, you're still here? Bold of you to show your face, I suppose, but then again, this gym battle was so easy even you could pull ahead."

"I've had just about enough of you!" I roared, which only made Bede laugh.

"As much as I'd love to keep pulverizing you three, I really should keep my focus on the things that matter."

"How about me?" Marnie said.

"Now look who's tough," Bede jeered. "These lot your replacement fans? They're easier on the eyes than your usual lot."

Marnie's outstretched hands balled into fists. "Don't talk about my town like that," she said slowly, voice shaking with rage.

"Marnie," Bede replied calmly. "You and I are more alike than you think. You're the only good thing that ever came out of that glorified sewer."

"You don't know ANYTHING!" Marnie roared, her bored façade finally shattering. She pulled a ball out of her belt and held it up. Bede hesitated for a brief second, and then smirked again.

"Fair enough. I suppose now's a good time to take the rug out from under you. I'll show you what happens when you stay with your trash instead of pulling yourself out of it." He pulled out his Rotom Phone and began to type.

"Marnie," I whispered. "He's trying to psych you out; you have to stay calm—"

"Gloria, you're sweet, but I can handle this," she said, pulling out her phone to accept the challenge. As the two Rotom phones zipped out to set a battle perimeter she whipped her head at me. Her eyes were a little glossy, but determined and focused. In the brief second our eyes met, she seemed almost an entire foot taller than me. "After all, I'm number one in the league for a reason. Watch Morpeko for me. I won't need her," And with a wink and just the slightest grin, she turned back and threw her Pokéball at Bede. Scraggy popped out and flexed his muscles dangerously. Morpeko hopped off her shoulder and scurried up my leg and torso, coming to a rest just under my left ear. Bede threw a Pokéball out as well – Duosion. Looks like his Solosis had evolved since we last saw him.

"Reflect!" Bede yelled.

Marnie rolled her eyes. "Brick Break!"

Scraggy lept into action, while Duosion began spinning in a circle quickly. As it spun, bits of the green goop its body was made of splintered off of it and formed a strange looking web that surrounded it like a protective barrier. But that didn't faze Scraggy, who brought both of its arms down and shattered the web into a dozen pieces that scattered all across the ground. The momentum carried into Duosion, but while its protective shell was gone, the Pokémon itself barely took any damage.

"What is she thinking?" Hop asked. "Using fighting techniques against a Psychic Type? Rookie mistake."

"I wouldn't be too sure," Victor replied. "Master Mustard knows the Fighting Type back and forth. The move Brick Break is more than just damaging an opponent. It can tear through any barrier that's set up against it. Brilliant call on Marnie's part, if you ask me."

"Yeah," I agreed, swooning.

"Alright, if that's how you'll play it, Psybeam!" Bede screamed. Duosion launched a powerful burst of psychic energy directly into Scraggy, who was only a couple feet away. The crowd gasped, but when the light faded, Scraggy looked like nothing had happened to him.

"W-what?" Bede cried.

"Crunch," Marnie said quickly. Scraggy hopped up to Duosion, who was now completely unprotected, and chomped down on the Pokémon. Duosion wailed in surprise and pain as Scraggy shook it from side to side in its surprisingly powerful jaws. After a brief second, Scraggy spun around and launched Solosis back towards Bede. It bounced once, twice, and then came to a halt at his feet.

The crowd was silent for a couple seconds as Bede hunched over, stunned. Then, from my left, Victor let out a big whoop, and Hop and I quickly followed suit. The crowd surrounding Bede was dead quiet and looked nervously at him.

"Lucky break," Bede grumbled, recalling Solosis and sending out his second Pokémon in a second. Gothorita appeared and looked upon Marnie's Scraggy with a malicious grin that Bede soon matched.

"Rock Tomb!" Bede screamed.

"Crunch away," Marnie yawned.

Rocks shot up from the ground, but Scraggy somehow seemed to know exactly where they would show up. Though a couple rocks here and there smacked into its body, it didn't seem to take too much damage, and when a final rock spike shot up directly underneath it, Scraggy used the sudden momentum to leap high in the air and come down directly on top of Gothorita. Scraggy bounced off and turned back towards her, teeth bared. Gothorita had just pulled herself to her feet when Scraggy pounced, and in a couple of seconds, Gothorita was launched back to Bede's feet, just like Duosion had only moments before. A few members of the crowd gasped – not only had Marnie taken care of Bede's two most powerful Pokémon, but she had also taken them out without even breaking a sweat. Morpeko chittered away excitedly in my ear.

Bede was now furious, and as he launched his third Pokéball into the air, I saw the fingers of Marnie's throwing arm twitch, as if she were debating swapping someone else out for Scraggy. As Ponyta materialized in front of her, she grabbed two Pokéballs. Her arm was a blur as Bede screeched out his command for Ponyta.

"Fairy Wind!" Bede roared triumphantly. Ponyta's mane blew as a powerful, warm wind kicked up from out of nowhere. As the gust passed Ponyta, a strange white mist poured from his mane and obscuring the entire field. Bede grinned, confident that he finally had landed a powerful attack against the Scraggy.

"Bad news for Scraggy," Victor said. "Being both a dark and fighting type is a rough matchup for a Pokémon that can use fairy-type moves."

"That doesn't look like Scraggy!" Hop cried, pointing in surprise. Sure enough, as the pink mist cleared, Scraggy had disappeared, and in its place, looking a little hurt from the hit but otherwise having sustained no serious damage, was Croagunk, who grinned knowingly. Morpeko squeaked with pleasure, spinning around on my shoulder.

"Brilliant move, Marnie!" I called. She looked back at me and winked, slipping Scraggy's Pokéball into her jacket pocket.

"What?!" Bede yelled in anger. "Psybeam!"

"Sucker punch," Marnie said coolly, bored of the battle already. As Ponyta reared his head back, his tiny black horn began to glow a bright white. However, before he could finish charging up the attack, Croagunk jumped forward. She reached Ponyta in the blink of an eye and brought a fist up to the Horse's jaw. The Psybeam shot up into the air harmlessly, and Ponyta fell in a single hit, just like the other two.

"This-this can't be happening!" Bede cried in disbelief. He recalled Ponyta and held his fourth poke ball up shakily. The audience was now positively buzzing. Bede had never lost a match, but he was down to his last Pokémon, and Marnie's Croagunk was hopping back and forth on its haunches, ready to pounce on his last Pokémon the minute he sent it out.

"And imagine, Bede trounced us," Victor said to Hop and me.

"Now I'm really gonna look bad," Hop whined.

"Hattrem!" Bede yelled. "Psybeam! Wipe that smirk off that ugly thing's face!"

"Sucker punch," Marnie said, folding her arms. The second Hattrem materialized, Croagunk was on her, and with a powerful strike, sent the Pokémon skidding the ground in front of Bede, unconscious. Bede fell to his knees as the crowd exploded in surprise and excitement for Marnie's victory. Marnie shrugged, and calmly returned Croagunk. She caught her phone as it zoomed back to her, and she stalked over to Bede and extended a hand. Surprisingly, he took her hand in his and she yanked him up violently. From thirty feet away, I could see her nails dug deeply into his hand. The crowd fell silent as she stared into his eyes.

"Don't you ever talk about my home like that," she spat, and threw him back to the ground. He quickly scrambled up, but before he could reply, she whipped her head around and stared at him, all but daring him to try. A tense two seconds passed, and Bede whirled around and stalked toward us.

"You tried," I teased as he walked past.

"Out of my way," he fumed. "Don't think that little Patrat will be here to protect you with her underhanded fighting style. She's weak, relying on tricks like that."

"Looked all above the board to me," Victor snickered.

"I said, out of my way," Bede snarled, shoving Victor into Hop. "I shouldn't have even given you my time. I've got important things that the chairman needs me to take care of. Something you would never have the hope to understand." And with that, he stalked off.

"Blimey, what a sore loser," Victor said, rubbing his shoulder as Hop propped him back up.

The crowd slowly dispersed, still buzzing. I checked the Gym challenge app as it recalibrated. Sure enough, Marnie was at number one, and Bede, who was a close second place, dropped down to fifth, right behind me. I grinned and looked back out to Marnie, who was trying to avoid any contact with the remaining fans and gym challengers. She looked at the ground and I could see her nose twitching. I rushed over to her letting Morpeko hop off my shoulder and lead the way.

"Hey, you alright?"

"'m fine," she said curtly. Morpeko hopped up into her arms and nuzzled up to her chest.

"Look, he's a total pisser," I said. "He's been antagonizing us since we met him, thanks for putting him in his place."

She looked up to me and wiped a couple angry tears from her eyes. "I know. He's a worthless bully. I shouldn'a let him get under my skin like that."

"You certainly didn't look like he was under your skin for that battle."

Marnie shook her head. "He's gonna drop off soon. He's all big attacks and bluff. You learn how to deal with bluff when you train dark types like my bro and I do."

"You might have to teach me a few of those tricks," I said sheepishly. "That was so cool."

She looked at me and smiled warmly. The first time I had ever seen her smile that big. "It's cool you think I'm cool," she said awkwardly. She balled her fist up and lightly punched my shoulder, letting her hand rest on it, before leaning all the way in and hugging me tightly. I hugged back.

"If you tell Victor or Hop that I cried I will hit you very hard," she whispered. Her breath was warm in my ear.

"I am absolutely going to tell them," I whispered back. She walloped me on the back but squeezed even tighter before letting go.

"Group hug?" Victor asked, walking up. Hop followed behind cautiously.

"No," Marnie said quickly, taking a couple steps away and sniffling. "Listen, you lot have a gym battle to win. Get in there and register for a time."

"Are you not also going to?" Hop asked.

"No, I got mine a few days ago," she said.

"So, why'd you come back out with us?" Victor asked, puzzled.

Marnie's eyes widened for the briefest second, and she quickly glanced at me, and then back to Victor. "Don't look into it," she replied forcefully, and stalked off. We watched her walk away for a few seconds. Morpeko turned around and waved at us.

"She's just as subtle as you are," Hop said, turning around and heading toward the gym entrance.

"What do you mean?" I asked. Victor just giggled and followed Hop. I looked back to Marnie's receding figure. She looked back at me and smiled. My heart fluttered for a second, and then I turned to follow the boys into Bea's gym.

A/N: Aw, Marnie's starting to open up a bit! And Bede got his long-overdue ego check. ...don't worry, the other one is still coming. But it's time to get these gym battles started. And there's a lot at stake for the second half of the gym battles...

NEXT WEEK: THE HOMETOWN HERO