I'll give you guys a full gym battle this time. I don't think I've done that yet for this fanfic.

Polaris–Ponyta, Tsuki–Servine, Mamoru–Dewott, Tlaloc-Braviary, Carrara – Purrloin

Castelia

Volcarona used Fire Spin, and the whirling flames surrounded Polaris. She Galloped through the rings of fire, her mane and tail sparking from the blaze of heat. She sprang up into the air, coming free of the flame. She dropped down, driving her hooves into Volcarona, knocking her foe out of the air. And Volcarona was defeated.

Benga grinned and returned his Volcarona. "Hey, I knew you looked tough! That was an awesome battle!"

I nodded. "Yeah, you're great too! If I didn't have Polaris with me, I would have lost."

"Is Polaris your trump card?" Benga teased.

Ben laughed. "Yeah, that is her trump card. She's barely used Polaris in a battle since we arrived in Unova."

I laughed. "Most of my team is pretty new. Polaris was my first Pokémon. I usually keep her with me if I ever need someone to fall back on."

"I've never battled a Ponyta before," Benga admitted. You don't see many of them around here. Did you guys just arrive in Castelia?"

Hari nodded. "We just got here last night." Hari and Gro were playing with Benga's Gabite. Gabite seemed as enthusiastic as his trainer, and the three of them had been roughhousing during most of the battle.

I hesitated. Hey, Gabite? What do you think of Benga? I wanted to try to speak to the Pokémon Unova more. Carrara's words still bothered me. I wasn't sure if I was not noticing how unhappy Pokémon were in Unova. Or worse, maybe since I didn't want to hear it, I subconsciously ignored it?

Gabite looked up and Grinned. Benga's great! He raised us. We train together every day, and every day we get stronger together! We're aiming for the top, you know.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you planning to take on the gym here?" Benga asked, unaware that I'd just spoken to his Pokémon.

I nodded. "Yeah. We usually spend a few days training before we take on the gym. But we're definitely going to battle Burgh soon."

"So, you're on the path to the Pokémon League, huh? Then you'll probably run into my Grandpa, then."

"He's in the Pokémon League?" I asked, intrigued.

Benga's grin widened. "He's the champion!"

"That's great! If I run into him, I'll tell him that I know you. By the way, how long have you been in Castelia city?"

"About a week. We're trying some different training techniques before we head back to Floccessy."

"Then you're not heading north after this?"

Benga shook his head. "Floccessy is to the south. You have to take a boat from the harbor here. I can show you around the city though. Maybe we could train together? It's a lot more fun when you have someone new to test your skills against."

"It is. When we're traveling, we never really battle anyone new more than once. I think it would be a great way to train. Especially for my upcoming gym battle. And I have a new Venipede on my team too. I haven't gotten a chance to train him at all."

So far, I'd been training my team by pitting them against each other, with occasional battles against passersby. Benga was definitely strong enough to be a real help in training my new Pokémon. It would give them new opponents to try their hand against.

It's fun exploring a city, though admittedly the noise and traffic in a city would drive me crazy if I ever had to live in one. We checked out the boats in the harbor and got tickets for a quick ride to a nearby island. The line to get Castelia cones was long, but worth it. And Benga brought us to a battle center sort of place that was actually inside one of the huge office buildings. There were a ton of shops too, though most of them sold fancy clothes, which I would never buy while I'm traveling (if ever).

Except for Polaris and Tlaloc, none of my Pokémon had been in a big city before, so they were both fascinated and nervous. Especially my new Venipede, who I'd named Croatan. He'd lived his whole life in the forest, so the city was very new to him. But he just took everything in quietly. Which is what he seems to do about everything. Actually, he was a hard worker, and within a couple days of training, he evolved.

Although Carrara beat him to evolution by over a day.

It was about a week before I finally decided to do the gym challenge.

"Hey, this going to be an awesome match!" Benga announced as we headed to the gym the next morning.

"I sure hope so."

"Aw, come on. You're not nervous, are you?"

"Well, not actually," I admitted. "I mean, I've done so many gym challenges over the different regions."

"Think it will be a breeze, huh?" Benga asked.

I shook my head. "I didn't say that. I'm not too nervous though. How should I say this… gym fights are much more tame than a lot of the battles I've taken place in."

Ben and Hari laughed. I grinned.

"You'll have to tell me about some of those."

"Yeah, okay."

We arrived at the gym.

"Do you know who you're going to use?" Hari asked.

I nodded. It was a three on three match, and I had my team all ready to go.

We headed inside.

"Hi, Mr. Burgh!" Hari called, waving to the man who was obviously the gym leader.

I stared at Hari. "How on earth do you know the gym leader here?"

Hari grinned. "He owned the studio where I painted in Nacrene. He's the one who let me paint."

My mind jumped back to the image of Hari, his front covered in paint. I wasn't sure if that was something Burgh would remember fondly.

But Burgh came right up to greet us. "Ah, Hari, right! And Ben, too?"

"Hi," Ben said, raising a hand and looking very amused at my expression.

"I didn't expect to see either of you walk into my gym," Burgh continued, smiling. "Are you taking the gym challenge?"

"I am," I said, stepping forward.

"Ah," Burgh said, turning his attention towards me. "You're traveling together, huh? Your friend Hari is quite an artist. His technique is… unusual. But the great thing about art is that any technique is fine as long as the results are good."

I laughed. "If I'd known you had a studio in Nacrene, I would have dropped by too. I sketch some during our journeys, though I know I'm not that great. But it's nice to have a hobby for when you're traveling." Reading, singing, and drawing were the three hobbies that were easiest to do while on the road. I knew I was no master at either singing or drawing, but at least I didn't suck.

Burgh waved his hand dismissively. "I've never seen any art that wasn't great." He covered his mouth and whispered to us, "that's not entirely true, but anything you try your hardest at will help you get better."

Ben and I laughed.

"If you don't mind showing me some of your sketches after the gym match, I could give you some pointers."

"Yeah, that would be great, thanks."

"Well then," Burgh said, backing away. "Are you ready to go?"

I nodded. "I sure am."

Burgh grinned and flipped a Pokéball into his hand. "Excellent. Then let's begin!"

We both threw out our Pokéballs, and both of them opened to reveal Whirlipede.

I smirked. Okay, Croatan, start with Rollout!

Croatan took off across the gym, like a truck tire. A moment later, Burgh's Whirlipede accelerated in Rollout too.

The two of them started zooming around the gym. Benga had to leap backwards to avoid Croatan as he skidded too close to the wall. They gained speed, trying to chase each other down, but neither gained any ground.

Finally Burgh's Whirlipede turned sharply and angled towards Croatan. Croatan wheeled wildly away and the two of them started looping and darting wildly all over the place.

This was getting a bit ridiculous. No one had any control. It was more likely that one of us would get flattened than one of the Whirlipede.

Change of tactics, Croatan.

Croatan wheeled around and came to a stop, right in front of the wall. He revved up like some bizarre tractor, kicking up the dirt that coated the gym floor.

As Burgh's Whirlipede aimed and shot towards Croatan, Croatan hit reverse, shooting backwards towards the wall. The dirt he'd kicked up acted as a ramp, and Croatan shot straight up the wall. As The foe Whirlipede smashed straight into the wall, Croatan shoved off of the wall with his tails and came down behind his foe. He smashed the other Whirlipede into the wall again.

Whirlipede sagged, beaten. Burgh returned her and sent out a Dwebble.

Croatan took off once more with Rollout. Dwebble used Rock Blast. The aim was perfect, and despite Croatan's speed, the attack hit and knocked My Whirlipede onto his side. As Croatan tried to right himself, Dwebble's Stealth Rock and Fury Cutter finished him off.

I sent out Carrara next. As my Liepard appeared, Dwebble finished using Rock Polish and began skittering around the gym. He dashed up, using Fury Cutter on Carrara's back. She staggered forward and spun to face her opponent. She used Pursuit. Whirlipede flinched, but dashed in again. Cararra leapt out of the way, but Dwebble stalled, and once my Liepard landed, he used Fury Cutter again.

I cursed under my breath. That was three Fury Cutter's in a row. And they increased in power with each hit. One more hit would finish Carrara, and then one hit after that would be enough to take out my next Pokémon. We had to KO Dwebble right away.

Carrara dashed in and used Fury Swipes. She sprang backwards as Dwebble charged again. But she'd backed herself into a corner. And as she tried to leap over Dwebble, Dwebble hit her with a final Fury Cutter and Carrara collapsed.

I grit my teeth. For a moment, I considered sending Polaris out. I let out a breath and released Mamoru.

Don't' let Dwebble near you. If he hits you' you're done!

Mo nodded and pulled out his shells. As Dwebble charged, Mamoru used Razor Shell. Dwebble stalled and Mamoru dashed up and used Water Pulse at point blank. Dwebble rolled backwards and finally was down.

But then Burgh sent out Leavanny. I hissed a curse again. Mamoru had the type disadvantage.

Leavanny used Razor Leaf. Mamoru threw himself to the side and managed to avoid most of the leaves. He quickly dashed around and used Razor Shell.

Leavanny didn't even bother to dodge. Instead she snapped her arms out and knocked Mamoru's shells to the ground where he couldn't reach them. She used Strong Shot, and some of the sticky threads tangled around Mamoru's arms. He used Water Pulse, and quickly retreated, scraping the thread off against the ground.

We needed another plan.

And then I remembered one of Mo's new attacks. But he might not be fast enough to get in enough hits, and while also dodging most of her attacks.

Mamoru used Water Pulse again, to stall Leavanny. He followed up with several Water Guns until the ground was soaked and muddy.

Leavanny spun around to use Razor Leaf again, but Mamoru flung himself to the ground and skidded through the mud, dodging the attack and heading straight at Leavanny. He snatched up his shells and used Fury Cutter before pushing himself away through the mud. Leavanny made to chase him, but slipped on the slick floor with her long, spindly legs. As she tried to regain her balance, Mamoru slipped in and hit twice more with Fury Cutter. One more hit would finish our opponent!

But then Leavanny pushed herself forward and glided through the mud as if she were ice-skating.

Mamoru used Water Gun against the wall to propel himself away from her, but he wasn't fast enough to avoid Razor Leaf.

Wincing, he retreated across the slick mud and wheeled around to face Leavanny.

The two stared each other down. I didn't think Mamoru had enough energy left to withstand another Razor Leaf. If they charged at each other, he would probably take a direct hit.

Leavanny dashed forward. Mamoru threw himself onto his stomach and used Water Gun against the wall to gain momentum. As Leavanny used Razor Leaf, Mamoru aimed his Water Gun against a different wall, angling away from the attack.

Leavanny tried to stop, but started skidding across the mud, her arms flailing wildly. Mamoru sprang to his feet and dashed straight at her, using Fury Cutter for the final time.

And Leavanny went down.