Oof, this smaller chapter's got some pretty big shoes to fill after that last one, huh?

Ah well, enjoy!

Route 4

Stepping out into nature again, the duo see the wonderful golden fields of Route 4. Getting a quick party restoration from the sister of the woman on Route 3, Victor and Marnie ignore the nearby tent for now, since their team was just healed. After a few tougher battles, item collecting, and run in's with some hyper-aggressive Electrike's, it would be good to stop back at that tent, and rest up.

This time, things will be a bit different.

"I would like to help out." Marnie tells Victor.

"Really? Don't feel like you have to, I don't mind doing the cooking."

"No, I can help. Besides... maybe I might want to learn how to cook. You know, for the future."

Victor gives her an odd look. "J-just in case Morpeko wants somethin' to eat!" Marnie tries to quickly say.

"Okay..." Victor sweatdrops.

But having Marnie in the 'kitchen' was pretty interesting, she really seems to be enjoying herself. Sure, she makes mistakes, but she's just starting out. If you ask Victor, it makes her even more 'interesting'?

The smell of the Curry draws the attention of one of the local wildlife. Looking over, they see that a floating pile of cream has joined them.

*Ream ream!*

A wild Milcery was drawn by the scent of their meal.

"...is it all right?" Marnie asked.

Upon closer inspection, Victor can see what Marnie's talking about. This Milcery is paler than normal, with dark-shaded pupils for eyes. Reaching out for it, golden sparkles come off of it.

"That's a Shiny!" Victor yells.

Now it has to be caught.

He then does so, adding a new member to his team. "Give me a sec." Victor then says. Taking out the Heart Sweet that Dwight gave him back in Motostoke, Victor gives it to Milcery to hold, and then-

...he spins.

"Either this works, or I look pretty strange."

Marnie is baffled by Victor's apparent lack of embarrassment. But it works as Victor's now holding a cuter pile of cream Pokémon, and it's black and pink coloring makes it look like it would be a neat addition to Team Yell.

"It's so gooey." Marnie comments, poking Alcremie. The Pokémon giggles when she does. So now their meal is extra special, a chance to celebrate with a new party member!

Afterwards, it's back to a few more battles.

"There sure are a lot of kids wearing costumes..." Victor mumbles.

"They seem nice enough." Marnie replies, giving one of them a piece of candy after Victor defeats them in a battle.

"What?" Marnie asks, when Victor raises an eyebrow, "It's the least I could do, they're just children."

Soon though, they're standing near the entrance to Turffield.

"Wooloo! Where do you think you're going?!"

Someone yelling that out loud still doesn't give Marnie a chance to react fast enough.

*Beeeeeeh!*

*Crash!*

"Oof!"

A Wooloo crashes into Marnie. Laying on top the Pokémon, she comments, "Oh, fluffy." She could almost take a nap on top of it. They are then joined by a big guy, who's impressed that Marnie took that Tackle head on. He then recognized them from seeing them at the opening ceremony at Motostoke Stadium.

This is Milo. He'll be the Gym Leader in Turffield. Taking his leave, he looks forward to facing both of them soon.

"He's the first step..." Marnie says afterwards, softly.

"Huh?"

"Oh, nothing. Let's go."

Victor follows after her, the first badge is within sight!

Turffield

Not far into the rural town, the pair run into Hop. He's waiting his turn to compete for a badge, but there's an apparent line because of there being so many challengers. He intentionally has them go look for Sonia, so he can be next in line to compete.

*Bowow!*

Sonia's cute puppy, Yamper, runs up to them, crawling all over Marnie.

She doesn't look like she's a dog type.

But they play keep up with Yamper, soon running into Sonia.

*One geoglyph discussion later*

"More importantly," Sonia says afterwards, "...let me take your photo at that stand-in over there!" She practically squeals, taking out her phone.

"...wut?"

Is she havin' a laugh?

"Well," Victor sighs, seeing as Sonia doesn't seem to let them past her, "Do you want to?" He asks Marnie.

She gives him an almost horrified look. "No way!" She couldn't do something that embarrassing.

"I'll give you something cool!" Sonia tries to buy them going along with her scheme.

Eventually, Victor wears Marnie down into agreeing, although he's pretty sure he'll pay for this in one way or another, later on. Marnie very reluctantly gets behind the Greedent picture, while Victor stands on top of his bag so that his head can match up with the Stonjourner one.

Their reward? An Expert Belt that Sonia had Yamper dig up from nearby.

Having gotten what she wanted, Sonia leaves a nervous Victor, who gulps as a red-faced Marnie glares at him.

After that, they explore what little is in the town, finding a Brutal Swing TM, and a Max Revive. Insert joke here, about what Marnie would like to do given what Victor's put her though.

They soon come upon Hop, who just got his Grass Badge.

He won that quickly?

Maybe that's why he had them get distracted, to be first?

Either way, he takes off, letting them know that as his rivals, they can handle this challenge fine too. Victor and Marnie enter the stadium, knowing that if Hop can do it, then they can too!

Turffield Stadium

Inside, they get a Friend Ball from Ball Guy. Marnie narrows her eyes at Victor as she accepts hers, letting him know that he's still in trouble.

They then take their turns, going through the Gym Challenge. Victor passes through his fairly easily. "Wooloo wrangling's something Hop's better at..." Victor mumbles afterwards. He then beats Milo as well, earning the Grass Badge! Victor decides to wait inside, for Marnie to come through after beating her Gym Challenge.

"...I wonder what's taking so long." Victor says to himself, after some time passes, and he still hasn't seen her yet. But she does show up soon after that, looking a bit ragged. "Are you okay Marnie?"

"Y-yes, I'm fine." Marnie replies. She looks like she's been struggling, and Victor's about to see why.

As Marnie takes on Milo, Victor can tell she's spent even though their match has barely started. The reason is because Marnie is only using Morpeko, fighting in a Grass Gym, where she's got a disadvantage. While she manages to beat Milo's Gossifleur, his Dynamax Eldegoss is just too much for her to handle.

Reluctantly, an official has to make the call.

"And the winner is... Gym Leader Milo!"

Surprised? Poor Marnie...

The inspiration for this was a Youtuber named Vasko Games, who did a video where he did a run playing as Marnie. There he brought up the fact that Marnie would have really struggled with the beginning of her Gym Challenge, even possibly losing a couple times at the Grass Gym. So I adopted that into this story.

We'll be back to the results of this after the next chapter, so stayed tuned!