Percival heaved a sigh of relief as he approached a smull, rugged town at the edge of Galfenol Forest. It was Galfenol Town, where his first Gym Battle could be found, alongside time to rest, which he was certainly in desperate need of. As he entered the quaint town, a rustic breeze swept over him, as the scent of mist and aging wood struck him, interweaving to form a narrative of age, stuggle, and yet an underlying beauty in that struggle. As he, Charles, and the recovered Fluffles approached the town, they immediately spooted a PokeCenter in which to spend the night and heal up any lingering injuries.

As Percival headed inside, handing his Pokemon to Nurse Joy and her Chansey to have them healed, a slightly older trainer looked at him. "Are you a greenhorn trainer?" Percival, a bit startled, stumbled back slightly, before nodding his head in response. "Well, you probably got a tad of experience getting here, but I doubt you'll last long against the Gym Leader. He's a tough one, to say the least. Wiped the floor with me."

Percival slightly muttered out the response, "But Gym Leaders scale their Pokemon to the number of badges the challenger has, so I might be facing a weaker team. Although, they do scale, so I can't rely on that assumption. Any tips?" The other trainer snorted, shaking his head before collecting his Pokemon. "I would if I could, but the best I can say is to prepare for the unprepared."

Percival immediately shot that advice down mentally, and nodded to himself. He needed a strategy to defeat this gym, one so impecable the Gym Leader couldn't stomp him. Granted, due to using mostly Normal Types, Percival did have a slight edge when it came to planning, as he didn't have to work around any opposing types, but Fluffles's Fighting Type might bite him in a Bug Gym, as he had been told this Gym was.

Before that, however, he had plenty of time. Why take on the Gym instantly when he could instead spend at least a day relaxing in the town. He needed to get to know the place before he could simply fight his first Gym Battle. And thus, he waited for his Pokemon, calling them out of their Pokeballs before heading to enjoy the town.

He wandered the unpaved streets, allowing the thick grass blades to attempt a strike at his arms and legs, searching for a place to go. Almost immediately, he found a charming little coffee shop, and dipped inside, looking for the owner, and immediately bumping into her. The petite young woman ushered him out, before immediately slamming the door behind him and putting up a "CLOSED" sign. That didn't work out as he had expected it to.

It turned out that almost all the shops were closing at this time, much to Percival's surprise. As the shopkeepers began to walk out, forming a long line, Percival realized why: it was the Procession of Celebi, which he thought had happened a while back. Which meant...he had spent far too much time in the forest. At this rate, he was never going to hit every Gym. Did that make his journey pointless? Was he never going to make it? Quickly, he darted back into the Pokemon Center, taking out his map.

While the rest of the town walked through the forest, and strode towards the shrine for a spiritual moment of enlightenment, Percival was busy scribbling away on his map and recalculating everything. Recalibrating his whole journey in the span of eight hours, Percival felt re-invigorated, like he could still possibly do this if he lost no more time. And he couldn't. He had to touch down at every possible Gym location, even if that meant skipping more towns. It was important to get to the objective first and small stuff later. So much for spending the full day relaxing. He needed to find the library.

And thus, quickly, he darted back out, and dashed towards the large oak building planted firmly in the middle of the town square. The town library, a treasure of information about nearby Pokemon that was kept in surprisingly good condition and quality for such a small town. As Percival approached, he saw that it, too, was CLOSED. He panicked, not sure when the people would get back, and as he got ready to turn back to the Pokemon Center and skip this town for now, charting his journey yet again, he felt a hand tap him on the shoulder.

A tall, yet thin man had tapped him on the shoulder, wearing thick-rimmed glasses that accentuated his odd frame. Wearing green robes, the likes of which only a librarian would be ridiculous enough to wear in public, the man put down the hood on his cloak-like clothing, which was clearly some form of formal attire, as it hardly covered his dark hair at all. "You know, it doesn't do you any good to skip out on all the fun stuff in your journey. Are you here for researching the Gym Battle?"

Percival's eyes widened at this man's comment. How did he know. "A lot of the 'strategic' types do that. Myself, I love to study bugs. Although not Lepidopterae. Anyway, I'm sure that's enough that you can tell I'm the Gym Leader. Name's Millard. You?" After introducing himself, Percival, rather startled, went in, Millard following. "By the way, Percy, I'm going on a trip soon, so today's the last day my Gym will be open. Best get studying."

Pokemon So Far:

Fluffles (Stufful) - Moves: Tackle, Leer, Bide, Brutal Swing; Ability: Fluffy; Level: 19

Charles (Furfrou) - Moves: Headbutt, Growl, Sand Attack, Bady-Doll Eyes; Ability: Fur Coat; Level: 20

AUTHOR'S NOTE - So, when it comes to Gym Leaders, I want them to teach lessons to the trainers they battle, not just be a tough fight. Next chapter is the last one before the battle, and I really want to lock in that lesson. It's not just what's inside your brain that matters, but also what is inside your heart.