A/N: Hi everyone! Time to see what Oleana wants! I'm sure it's not nefarious at all, what's sketchy about a high-ranking representative of an overbearing corporation meeting with two teenagers in a dark room? What's even her deal, anyway?

"Please, Gloria," Oleana continued. "Have a seat. I assure you, your standing in the league and with the chairman isn't in danger. If anything, your standing has only grown higher in his eyes. It's why I'm here, as a matter of fact."

I slowly approached the table and sat down across from her, still not saying anything. She reached in front of her, across two notebooks, placed precisely in line with the edge of the table, and held her hand out to shake. I hesitated, but after she gave me a brief nod of encouragement, I took her hand in mine. Her hand was warm, soft, and ever so slightly damp. My eyes flicked down to see a small tube of moisturizer next to the notebooks, cap open with just a tiny dollop of silvery cream poking out from the nozzle. Oleana seemed to be waiting for me to speak, so I took a deep breath.

"This all seems a little…"

"Yes, I understand the optics," Oleana replied, her voice cold and mechanical. "You'll have to forgive me. I would have waited outside for you, but too much sunlight is bad for the skin, and after the events of last night, I do have a faint migraine to deal with as well." As she spoke, her eye twitched. A flash of emotion or pain held back from the migraine, maybe? I couldn't tell. She folded her fingers together and placed them on the notebooks before continuing. "On behalf of Macro Cosmos, I would like to offer you our most humble thanks. Mister Legatum wishes he could be here to speak with you personally, but he is preoccupied with ensuring all those displaced will have a roof over their heads for the foreseeable future."

"Well, thank you."

"Of course," she continued, as if reading from a script. "How are you feeling? How is Hop, and Victor, how are you faring this morning?"

"I'm doing great, thanks," Victor said, sitting down suddenly next to us. His voice was much more assertive than I had ever heard it, but when I looked at him, his face was white as snow – even with his newfound bravery, he was putting up a bluff.

"Mister Legatum's thanks obviously extend to you, as well," Oleana said with a smile. "He has taken great interest in your slow climb back up the rankings as well. Seems that since your victory against Bea, you've been one of the fastest-rising trainers in League History. You two are arguably the most beloved challengers since Leon first did his challenge."

"We were only trying to keep the people of Hammerlocke safe," Victor said. His voice cracked ever so slightly.

"Kids, I assure you, you don't have to be so nervous!" Oleana said in a bemused tone. Her smile grew, and with it, two thin creases formed at the edge of each of her eyes. "I'm here to reward you."

"Like, with money?" I asked.

"Not quite," she responded. "All trainers will be receiving a small stipend to help pay any additional training, travel, and housing fees, same as every year, and Rose has decided to raise it due to...the unforeseen circumstances of this freak storm to encourage all challengers to fight through the struggle, as it were."

"Convenient," I muttered.

"I know what it sounds like, but I assure you, Gloria, it is not a bribe. All trainers are welcome to quit their gym challenge at any time for whatever reason. This is just to help dissuade trainers from making the wrong choice by ending their season early."

"So why did you want to talk to me?" I retorted, eyes narrowing.

Oleana stared at me, studying my facial expression, before smiling again. "Well, first of all, we would also like to offer you two free nights at the Hotel Diancie here in Hammerlocke, as a place to lie your heads while we assess the damage to the sleeping rooms of this Pokémon Center. And second? I'll be frank with you both. Macro Cosmos and the Pokémon League have always gotten their fair share of concerned Galarian citizens who seem to view Dynamax and Gigantamax as a dangerous extension of league battles, despite it being so highly regulated. In light of these Dynamax storms, those comments have been a bit more common than most other years. While any dangerous connections to the Pokémon League and the Dynamax Phenomenon have time and time have been proven false, it's easy for those who lack the expertise in the matter to take things out of context."

"Well, maybe it's more in context than you'd think," I said.

Oleana's eye twitched again but she took a deep breath and smiled softly at the two of us. "I understand it's been a rough couple of days for you both, but I assure you, everything is safe. The league is in good hands, and, as you and the gym leaders proved last night, even if a terrible catastrophe occurs, we are more than well-equipped to handle it. And if that's not good enough, Professor Magnolia has promised her entire lab to aid in our search to find the cause of these storms and how to best avoid them worsening as time progresses."

"You already had a Magnolia helping you," I shot back.

Oleana looked down with a surprisingly genuine sadness. "I am not happy with how her termination was handled," she sighed, "and if it were up to me, I would have never done it. I would have preferred her stay on but with a new focus in her research duties for us, but as Mister Legatum has told us, Macro Cosmos must put all projects related to Project Eternamax on hold as these storms and the safety of the region are now our top priority. The chairman may have money, but even he has to make decisions towards which venture is more important. He has chosen the safety of Galar, which I find to be very noble.

"Which brings us back to why I came to find you both. Obviously, we cannot let the Pokémon League lose momentum, especially now that the season is half over. The League is a source of pride, not just for you and me, but the entire Galar Region. Think of the loss of morale that would happen should the league not continue and think of how the sight of the League's best battlers in a series of high-stakes gym battles would bolster that morale."

"You're asking us to…keep doing our Gym Challenge?" Victor asked quizzically. "I mean, we were planning on it, right Gloria?"

"Not quite," Oleana said. "We're just asking that we get to pick your next Gym Battle."

"How do you mean?" I asked.

"As the Chairman explained in his press conference last night, the league will be on pause for the rest of the week, but we feel that in order to truly kick off the final stretch of the season, a series of matches between our top ranked trainers and each gym leader would be a good way to say that the Pokémon League isn't going anywhere, and prove once again that Dynamax battling is safe. So, Gloria, you would be battling Melony in Circhester, while Victor, you would be having your rematch with Kabu in Motostoke."

"I'm not one of the top trainers in the league, though," Victor said, cocking his head to the side.

"You're the highest-ranked trainer to not yet defeat Kabu," Oleana corrected. "On top of that, you've got a string of high-profile victories and word of mouth for being on the street saving the city last night. If anything, this is the chance you need to swing into the top 10 with your sister."

Victor sat back and looked at the table, pondering, while I leaned forward. "But what about Marnie and Hop?" I asked.

"Marnie is the top ranked trainer, and Raihan is the top ranked gym leader, so they'll be battling right here, hopefully in Raihan's gym if the damages aren't too severe," Oleana said. "Hop…well, he's rather low on the rankings, so he won't be part of the event, but of course he is still more than welcome to battle any gym leader at any time he wishes."

"So, you're splitting us all up," I said slowly.

"For a week, Gloria," Oleana said sternly. She reached into one of the notebooks and pulled out a stiff business card. "My office number. Please, think it over. Give me a call tonight, at any time, and if you accept, I will worry about all the details. TMs, lodging, whatever you need. Consider it another show of thanks for your deeds last night." She slid the card so that it was placed perfectly between Victor and me, then stood and gathered her things. "Have a wonderful day. Be sure to show your trainer ID to the reception at the Hotel Diancie to claim your room, though I'm sure they'll recognize you on the spot," she said in her flat affect and a curated smile, and marched out the door, with one of the Macro Cosmos employees trailing behind.

"Morpeko! Aura Wheel!"

"C'mon, Boltund, focus that electricity into your jaw and use Thunder Fang!"

Boltund and Morpeko rushed away from Marnie and me, each trying to outspeed the other as they barreled toward Vibrava, who buzzed confidently on the other side of a grassy patch outside the Hotel Diancie. With her long legs, Boltund quickly pulled ahead and with a giant leap forward, bared her jaws at Vibrava. Vibrava quickly moved to the side so that Boltund's jaws merely grazed his wings, and then shot straight up, dodging Morpeko's Aura Wheel entirely. As he did, there were some whoops and jeers coming from behind us as Mohawk Man and Pink Pyroar voiced their excitement and grievances at Morpeko's missed attack.

"Nice dodge, Vibrava!" I cried, pumping my hand in the air.

Marnie frowned. "That Vibrava is gonna be a right headache for me if I don't watch out," she grumbled. As she did, Vibrava zipped up to us and turned to face his two sparring partners again. With a quick order from Marnie and me, our two Pokémon sped at Vibrava again. "I gotta ask though," Marnie continued, looking over to me, "why the focus on trainin' him? He ain't going to be able to do much at all against Melony. Dragons don't do well in Ice, especially not ones like Vibrava."

"I…I'm still debating whether or not I want to take Oleana up on that offer," I admitted. "Something just doesn't sit right with me."

"Fair," Marnie said, inching to the side as Morpeko and Boltund made their attacks, both missing Vibrava this time. "I don't trust 'er either, for that matter, but I'll need to deal with Raihan anyway. Better late than never. Alrigh', Morpeko, that's enough for today, bring it back!"

"Marnie!" Mohawk Man yelled excitedly. "Do you need an actual battle to train up? Battle me! Get some real fire going!"

"If I wanted to light a candle, maybe," Marnie sighed, not even looking at him. "Gloria? Victor? They're all yours, if you want 'em."

Victor, who had been doing some training of his own with Intelleon and his newly evolved Shiftry, shook his head. "Unless they're being literal about that fire, I don't think they can help me much. Okay, Intelleon! Another round of Snipe Shots!" Intelleon nodded, and quicker than lightning, it raised its right hand, sticking a finger out and shooting a laser-thin beam of water at Shiftry, who just barely managed to dodge out of the way. The water bullet crashed into a tree and knocked some chunks of bark clean off. Intelleon quickly responded to the movement, aiming and firing two more bullets directly at Shiftry, but still, unbelievably, Shiftry managed to stay out of the way each time except for the last, but even then, it was only clipped on the shoulder.

"Damn, Victor," I said. "I had no idea Shiftry could move so fast!"

"Some Grass-type Pokémon can move faster in the heat from the sunlight," Victor explained, poking up to the sun baking down on all of us and grinning. "Not gonna be much help for Kabu, but it is helping boost Intelleon's accuracy right now, so I won't complain."

"So, you also think we should do this?" I asked.

"I mean, yeah," Victor said. "I dunno, Rose is sketchy but so is like, every billionaire. And I do have to catch up with all of you…well, maybe not Hop, but definitely you two. And if Rose and Oleanna are paying, I really don't see that much of an issue. I really don't see the hang-up here."

"I guess…" I said. "It'll just be weird not battling a gym with you lot around me this time around."

Mohawk man stepped in. "Speak for yourself, Marnie already got her ice badge. Even without the dumb promotion, she wouldn't need to go back."

"I'd find a reason to go back there," Marnie said, her eyes flicking toward me. I blushed.

"Are we battlin' anyone or not?" Pink Pyroar growled. "I've been waitin' all day for one of you blokes to fight me!"

"Alright, alright!" I jeered with confidence. "Boltund, how's that Thunder Fang coming? You want to try it out for real?"

Boltund barked excitedly and scampered over to Pink Pyroar, who sneered her best Team Yell sneer. "I ain't afraid of a dumb mutt like this one!" she taunted, hurling out a Pokéball. "Right, Linoone, give 'em hell!"

"You know what to do!" I shouted in response. "Thunder Fang!"

The battle was over about as quickly as it started. Boltund was faster and stronger by a wide margin, and with only two attacks and a Nuzzle, knocked the Linoone over and pinned it to the ground. Linoone gave a vicious growl, but Boltund wasn't bothered, and instead hopped off of the Pokémon and trotted back to me, proud of herself and her mastery of the new move.

"To think you guys gave us so much trouble on the train all those weeks ago," I laughed as I met the two in the center of the grass.

"When were you lot giving her trouble on a train?" Marnie said suddenly. Her eyes narrowed and both of the Team Yell grunts turned white and wilted away.

"We…we were just…" Mohawk Man stumbled.

"We…er…" Pink Pyroar stuttered, also unable to think of a convincing lie.

Marnie groaned. "How many times do I have to tell you arseholes to stop messin' with other trainers? I'm out here tryin' to wipe off some of the dirt on Spikemuth's name and you're just cakin' it back on!"

"T-to be fair, that was before the league even started," Mohawk Man replied feebly.

"Tell her, Gloria!" Pink Pyroar added, hiding behind her compatriot.

"They're not…technically wrong here," I said, stifling my laughter.

"I suppose not," Marnie said sourly, "but it doesn't change anythin'. You two. Scram. Get."

The two punks scrambled to get away, but Marnie showed no interest in watching them leave. Instead, she huffed, kicked a clod of dirt on the ground, and stomped over to a few trees. I exchanged a glance with Victor, and he gave me a look that implied he wanted nothing to do with the small fight, and then promptly went back to training his Intelleon. I took a deep breath, returned Boltund to her ball, and jogged after Marnie.

I caught up with her beneath a large spruce tree. My right foot landed on a dry twig, which snapped. Marnie turned around quickly at the noise, but when she saw it was only me, she relaxed and leaned up against a less sappy part of the trunk. "Sorry 'bout tha'," she muttered, eyes on the ground to her right. "Blew a fuse there."

I shrugged. "No need to apologise; those guys were right pricks when I met 'em."

"They've always been right pricks, though," she sighed. "They say they're doin' it so they can show their support, but it's a bit much, right?"

"I wouldn't know," I admitted, sidling up next to her on the tree trunk. "I didn't have any fans ever until a few weeks ago."

"Just wait 'til they start followin' you around incessantly," Marnie said with an airy laugh. "Gets real old real quick."

"I can imagine," I said. "How'd they even become such big fans of you in the first place?"

"Because I'm good," Marnie joked, knocking my arm with a balled fist.

"Okay, let me rephrase," I laughed, rubbing my elbow. "How'd they become such vocal fans? I couldn't even say a word to you at first."

"It was cute," Marnie said, opening her hand and letting it fall on mine. "Not them. You. You were the cute one. Not them." She blushed at her faux pas. "They've always been like that."

"Always?"

"Yeah, at least since I started trainin' at the gym in Spikemuth." She looked over to Victor, who had been briefly interrupted by a couple young trainers eager to meet some of his Pokémon. "At first, I think it was a joke, right? What with my bro bein' there an' all, they were doin' it just to make fun of 'im, and me, but then I kept kicking their arses in battle and I guess I gave 'em all a reason to really cheer for me."

"How come you never talk about your brother?" I asked.

Marnie looked at me and laughed with surprise. "You…you're really not much for pickin' up hints at all, are you?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. Marnie laughed and looked back at Victor. He had called out Kubfu and the small bear was rushing around, showing off for the trainers. One of them seemed to have challenged him to a battle, even though he wasn't one of the gym challengers. Victor still obliged and the two took their places on opposite sides of the patch of grass.

"Well, for starters, not every pair of siblings are as close as you and yours," Marnie said. Her smile faltered ever so slightly, and then she moved her hand from on top of mine to on top of her thigh, where she drummed her fingers slowly.

"I'm sorry," I said softly.

"Don't be," Marnie muttered. "He's actually my half-brother really. 'Bout fifteen years older. We're close, but nothin' like you and Vic."

"Really?"

"I'd…er, I'd rather not talk about it, actually," Marnie said darkly. "I'm tryin' to not scare you off just yet."

"Marnie, we literally just fought gigantic monsters that were terrorizing a city," I laughed. "I think I can handle a little family drama." Marnie shot a steely glance at me, so I course-corrected. "But I'm not going to make you tell me anything. Just know I'm not scared and I'm not going anywhere."

"Thanks," Marnie said quietly. Her hand stopped drumming her thigh.

"For what? I didn't do anything."

Marnie answered with just a curious glance. Across the patch of grass, Victor and Kubfu had easily won the pickup match, and he was now showing Butterfree off to the trainers, who oohed and ahhed as it fluttered about happily, just a few feet above their heads.

"You know what my favorite part about you and your brother is?" Marnie asked suddenly. I looked over to her. She looked a little tense, and her hands were balled up into fists, tugging at the hems of her black leather jacket.

"What?"

"You don't look at me like I'm from Spikemuth."

I laughed again. "How do you mean?"

"I just…I dunno, I always feel like I have to prove myself whenever I do anythin'. Battlin', this gym challenge, hell, just bein' around people. It's…it's nice that you and Vic never make me feel that way." Her voice sounded a little tense. She seemed to be forcing herself to get the words out, as if she were afraid of what my reaction would be.

"To be completely fair, you basically had to prove that you were even into me, but I think that you're probably talking about something else," I said softly, bringing my hand over and placing it on top of hers. It was quaking ever so slightly, but the moment our hands touched, she opened her fingers and clutched at mine. "I mean, hell, even now it doesn't feel real that you actually like me. Like you said, I'm not one for picking up—"

I hadn't finished the sentence when her free hand had cupped my chin, guiding me into a passionate kiss. I quickly wrapped my arms around her and pulled her in tightly. Our lips moved in tandem with shallow breaths. The smell of autumn leaves was almost overwhelming, and I felt myself leaning back against the hard bark of the tree as Marnie continued to press her lips onto mine. Time ground to a halt and the only thing I could hear was our breathing in and out in a steady rhythm, perfectly timed with the sudden pounding of my heart and a sudden and animalistic wrenching in my stomach.

Eventually our lips parted, and my eyes flickered open. Marnie's face was inches from mine, and she looked at me with those brilliant emerald eyes, as if I were the only thing she could ever bother to look at. "Sorry," she said airily. "I hope that proved some things."

I blinked and took a deep breath, riding the high of her perfume still. "It's…it's a compelling argument," I admitted. "Would…I would love to see some more evidence though."

Marnie smiled and rolled her eyes. "You're awful," but she kissed me again, just the same.

"Oi, get a room!" Victor called as he approached. Marnie and I finally wrenched ourselves off each other, each redder than beets. "Listen, I just got a text from Hop. Apparently, Leon's training made him, and I quote, hungrier than a Greedent at a Berry Farm. Dinner on Leon. You want to come, Marnie?"

"I…I actually have to check into the hotel," Marnie said, face almost purple from embarrassment. "I gotta go. Gloria, I'll text you my room number, I mean, if you want to come over of course. Not for like, the whole night, unless…er…I gotta go." And she sped off, not even bothering to check if Morpeko was following her.

"I'll think about it!" I said, trying to not sound too enthusiastic but knowing that my equally purple face was giving away the game. I shot a pair of finger guns her way to try to hide the embarrassment, but both of us only blushed further and I stuffed my hands back into my sweater pockets, wishing more than anything to melt into the ground below.

"She'll be there," Victor called after Marnie, before looking to me with a smirk. "C'mon, Gloria, let's get you cooled off before your body heat lights the grass on fire."

"Har har," I retorted, sticking my tongue, desperately hoping my heart would slow down and beat at a regular rate again.

"Those kids were pretty cool," Victor said, waving at the children as they rushed away. "They're more eager for my rematch with Kabu than I am."

"So, you're for sure doing this promo thing?" I asked.

"Yeah," Victor shrugged. "An' look, we won't even be apart as long as we were when I went to the Isle of Armour. No matter what, we can all meet up back in Circhester once you win your badge so Hop and I can have a go."

"Win? I dunno, I can't say I've battled many ice types," I said nervously. "That's Melony's thing, right? Ice? Cinderace can burn through just about anything, but I dunno about the rest of my team."

"Well, it's about three or four days' walk through Route 8," Victor noted, tapping his index finger on his lower lip, deep in thought. "And North of Hammerlocke is all mountains. I daresay if you walk there, you'll have plenty of practice with ice types along the way. Besides, you're the best trainer in the league, maybe even better than Marnie. Ice types aren't known for their heavy defenses. Just have Bewear punch a hole in 'em all."

I pulled the thick business card out of my bag pocket and the two of us made our way back into the heart of Hammerlocke to meet Hop and Leon. Its laminated edges gleamed in the harsh sun as I flipped it around in my hands. As I read Oleana's name on the back side of the card, I noticed a flash of red on the embossed letters – the spire of Hammerlocke was also shining brightly in the afternoon sun. I looked up to it. Its bright light seemed much more welcoming this time around, but even from further away, I could see a thick black crack sprouting up from the bottom of the gem and zigzagging up its side. From this distance, it looked no larger than an egg just about to hatch. I tilted my head, wondering what kind of Pokémon would burst from a shell that size, and then felt a cold breeze fly around my face.

"Gloria?" Victor was fifteen feet away. I didn't even realize I had stopped walking. I rushed over to him and dialed Oleana's number into my phone. I punched the call symbol and held the phone up to my ear.

I heard two rings and then a click. "Macro Cosmos, Oleana speaking," she said on the other end.

"Hi, Oleana, it's Gloria," I said. "I'll do the battle."

"Excellent," Oleana said in a voice that suggested she had already planned for this response. "I will have to finalize the details, but you will most likely be set for a battle in five days' time. I'll call you with more details once I have them." There was another click, and the phone went dead.

A/N: So yeah, these past three chapters were all supposed to be one in my original outline. But after spacing it out and adding a few things to let the moments breathe better, I think having more, shorter chapters was ultimately the right call. If it gives me more flustered Gloria+flustered Marnie scenes, I think we all win. But enough of all that nonsense. We have to get Gloria to Circhester for her next gym battle! And maybe if we're lucky, we might see her final team member make an appearance before she gets there...oooooooh, who could it beeeeeeeeee (not the Trubbish she got a couple chapters ago. I love me that cute lil garbage bag but there's another 'mon on my mind)

NEXT WEEK: ON THE ROUTE AGAIN