Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon

There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact- Arthur Conan Doyle

As I enter the gym, I double take. This is a restaurant! Only the official Gym sign on the roof keeps me from leaving outright. What is going on here? Why are there waiters?

After a couple of questions at the front desk, I find that the reason the gym looks like a restaurant is that it is one. Apparently the Gym leaders run it in their spare time. Its why there are three of them- one can battle while the others keep up with the demand. It seems very fancy. I wonder how they have time for training, seeing as they have two fulltime jobs.

The setup of the gym seems to be a simple puzzle. You have to walk on the tile that is super effective against the type on the screen. It is obvious if you know anyone about Pokémon. This is fitting, seeing as they are the first gym in the standard circuit, and thus the weakest. You can go out of order, but it's generally not a good idea.

After successfully completing the 3 "puzzles"- Fire, water, and grass- I enter the back room, where a battle is in progress. Cress has just defeated a challenger's Lillipup, bringing them down to their last Pokémon. Their Pidove doesn't last much longer, which gives the match to Cress' monkey, a Panpour.

There's a line here- 3 more people, then I can battle.

None of the other battlers do as well as the first. 2 of them are completely walled by Cilan, and the third only wins because of his Pidove, which is clearly exhausted. It is easy prey for Cress' Lillipup.

Now it's my turn.

I'll have to listen to their introductory speech- again. Apparently it is tradition, but I've already heard it 3 times today.

Chorusing: "Welcome to the Striaton City Pokémon Gym."

Chili: "I'm Chili! I light things up with Fire-type Pokémon!"

Cress: "I'm a Water-type specialist, and my name is Cress. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

Cilan: "And my name is Cilan. I like Grass-type Pokémon."

Cilan: "Following the rotation, first you will be up against me, then Cress, then Chili. If you defeat two of us, you get the badge, but please try for a complete victory. It's nothing personal... no hard feelings... Me and my Grass-type Pokémon will...um... We're gonna battle come what may. So, um, if you're OK with me, I'll, um, put everything I've got into being, er, you know, your opponent."

With that, the battle begins.

The first thing I notice about the Lillipup is that it is fast. Very fast- nearly as fast as my Kusanagi. This is definitely a cut above the other Lillipups I've faced. Still, I should be able to win.

My suspicions about its quality turn out to be justified when Cilan starts things off with a bite. None of the other Lillipups we faced knew that move. Kusanagi dodges, but it was still a close thing. The Lillipup is now way too close to dodge Kusanagi's counterattack, a scratch to the face. As it retreats up, it is frantically blinking. Apparently Kusanagi's scratch drew blood, so it is having a bit of trouble seeing. It doesn't look to deep, though. Attempting to keep pressing my advantage, I order Kusanagi to use razor leaf. While the fur blocks some of the damage, it is obvious that it hurts. Seemingly desperate, Cilan orders his Lillipup to use Fire fang. It is super effective, and if it hits it might burn. If Kusanagi gets burned, it's all over.

However, I know just the solution. One vine whip later, we have a captured Lillipup and a sad opponent. With a sigh, Cilan withdraws his Pokémon and sends out his Pansage. Pansage is a whole different kettle of fish. One of the elemental monkeys that Striaton is so famed for, Pansage is Cilan's strongest Pokémon. From the earlier battles I know that this will not be an easy match.

The battle begins at close range. Pansage uses fury swipes, and my Kusanagi counters with scratch. However, Kusanagi's attacks come from its claws, which are far sharper. It becomes quickly apparent that Pansage is at the disadvantage.

Cilan, not being a fool, orders Pansage to step back. Then, he retaliates with a bullet seed. Knowing Kusanagi has no defenses against that king of attack, I instead have it attack with its vines. If we can put it off balance, it won't matter how many seeds it shoots, they'll all miss.

Cilan's obviously encountered that strategy before. He orders his Pansage to grapple Kusanagi with its own vines. With both Pokémon immobile, Pansage can use bullet seed to its heart's content. However, I saw this coming. Kusanagi scratches the vines, causing Pansage to withdraw them in pain. Once the vines are gone, Kusanagi spins the monkey around, wasting its seeds. However, Cilan isn't out of tricks yet. Pansage used work up, powering up the monkey significantly. With this boost, it can easily cut Kusanagi's vines, inverting my trick back on me.

With a scream, Kusanagi withdraws the vines, allowing Pansage to get free. Pansage immediately charges, powering up a lick. This could be bad; lick, unlike most ghost moves, can paralyze. What's more, this lick has been powered by a work up. It will hurt even if it doesn't successfully paralyze.

Luckily, I have a plan. When using lick, the opposing Pokémon open's their mouth. That mouth is extremely sensitive to pain, especially the tongue. However, it is a very small target. Kusanagi probably won't hit it. This leaves me only one choice, and it's risky.

"Magical leaf", I yell. Kusanagi complies, and I get lucky. Magical leaf works, and it hits right where it needs to. Pansage collapses, in pain but not seriously injured, and I am the winner.

Next up is Cress. He specializes in water, apparently because of a natural love for them and some joke in the past. Their names almost make sense- Cilan is short for cilantro, a plant, Cress short for watercress, and Chili is a hot food. Still, I wonder why they decided to play that up.

"That is correct! It shall be I and my esteemed Water types that you must face in battle!"

Cress, like his Brother, leads with a Lillipup. It is slower than Cilan's, but seems more defensive. It will probably take a few more hits to take down.

Kusanagi circles around launching some razor leafs that make Lillipup yip loudly. Cress has Lillipup use growl, playing for the long game. The battle continues like that for a while, with Lillipup getting steadily weaker. However, apparently Kusanagi stepped too close, because next thing I know Lillipup has Kusanagi clamped with an Ice fang. I'm lucky it didn't freeze Kusanagi.

However, it is too late in the battle, and Lillipup is exhausted. It only takes two scratches to faint the Lillipup.

Cress then sends out his Panpour, seemingly confident in his victory. I momentarily wonder why, seeing as I have the type advantage, but then I remember the growls. That's right- he doesn't know Snivy is contrary, and so thinks he has the battle in the bag. I smirk- he's in for a rude awakening.

True to form, he has Panpour start up with a work up. He "knows" I can't hurt him, and he wants to finish this quickly. With a far too large grin, I order a Leaf tornado- it should be high enough level now. To my happiness, it works- it isn't as good as it could be, but the leaves do spin and the attack is successful. After being subjected to these spinning leaves for a couple of seconds, Panpour faints. Looks like it's on to Chili.

Cress looks shocked, but he doesn't seem too upset. Without a word, he passes the stage to Chili. OK, maybe he is mad. Then again, I just took out his strongest Pokémon in a single hit.

Meanwhile, Inside Chili's head:

Wow! He just took out Panpour in a single attack! That Pokémon is powerful. I should be fine with my type advantage, but still… I wonder what was up with that.

Despite rumors to the contrary, Chili was smart, although it wasn't really in the same way as his brothers. However, it would take an idiot not to realize something was up, and Chili wasn't that big of a fool. It was almost as though… no, that was ridiculous. But could it possibly be true anyway? Deep in thought, Chili almost wasn't paying any attention as he threw out his Lillipup.

As Chili tossed out his Lillipups Pokéball, I allow a frown to appear on my face. Just what is he thinking about?

As Lillipup came out, Chili decided to test his theory. As his opponent called for a razor leaf, He calmly ordered a sand attack. Just as he suspected, the Snivy hit through the attack with pinpoint accuracy. It would appear he was right, as ridiculous as it may seem. Any stat changes that hit the opponent were reversed. It was too early to tell if the same applied with positive effects, but it didn't seem to Farfetch'd. Chili knew one thing for certain, however; this thing would be a monster to fight once it learned leaf storm. Would paralysis slow it down? Chili resolved not to find out. He'd have to be careful about burning it for the same reason.

Something was up. After his initial, counterproductive sand attack (and believe me, I have no idea how being hit in the face with sand made you aim better), Chili had abandoned offensive status moves. He instead used the lulls in the battle to use Work up. He had even gone so far as to avoid using them altogether, even when they could have greatly improved his chances of victory. Could he possibly… I ruthlessly quashed down that tiny bit of self-doubt. The possibility of someone finding it out that quickly is ludicrous, too low to bear thinking about. Maybe he just disliked using that kind of attack?

Something was up, Cilan knew. Just what was Chili planning? He hadn't used a single growl or leer this whole battle. Was there something he was unaware of? Did it have anything to do with Cress' Panpour being defeated in a single attack? And how did the Lillipup use Work up? Muttering to himself quietly, Cilan returned to watching the battle unfold.

Chili could tell that it was too little, too late. The Snivy was too powered up, and it was making mincemeat out of his Pokémon. He also knew he was going to have some questioning later. In particular, why he had neglected to inform them of Lillipup's ability to learn work up. He grimaced; that was going to be fun. Still, that Snivy shouldn't be able to stand a chance against his Pansear.

I rubbed my hands together happily. This was perfect. My first gym battle, a stunning success.

Soon, I will have beaten all three of them, and on my first try, too!

I call for a leaf storm, and Kusanagi complies. It finally proved too much for the 'pup, causing it to collapse. With a grin, Chili tossed out his Pansear and ordered a work up.

Smiling, I call for a Leaf tornado. Sure, it might not be very affective, but it should drop the accuracy.

Unsurprisingly, Chili calls for an incinerate attack. What is surprising is how powerful it is. It burns through all the leaves and hits Snivy. Ouch, that looks like it hurt. It is so powerful, in fact, that my next attacks meet the same end. I surrender, saddened.

Apparently they have to make a ceremony about giving out the badge, too. At least I haven't heard this one before. Also, it seems to be partially improv.

Cilan: "Here is the trio badge! Gym Badges are a proof of a Trainer's abilities. If you have one Badge, Pokémon, including traded Pokémon up to about Level 20, will obey you without question. We also want you to have this. TM83 contains Work Up. If you use Work Up, the Pokémon's Attack and Special Attack go up! By the way, TMs can be used as many times as you want."

Chili: "If you wanted, you could use one to teach all your Pokémon the same move!"

Cress: "Here, we specialize in Pokémon typing. If there were 18 siblings in the Striaton City Gym... There could be a specialist for each type of Pokémon."

Cilan: "In the Unova region, we are still novice Gym Leaders. Which means the other Gym Leaders are much stronger than we are. We'll need to work hard and improve."

Cress: By the way, What is up with that Snivy of yours?

Chili: If I may- it seems as though stat changes were reversed

I nod. "Kusanagi has the ability contrary. This means that any stat changes are reversed, even if they are self-inflicted. It is a hidden ability."

Chili: "Then if leaf storm…"

My response is simple. "Yes", I say. "If he were to use leaf storm, his special attack would go up rather than down"

This time, it's Cilan who has a question. "Would, say, paralysis still slow it down?"

I nod, happy that they get it. "Paralysis slows down a Pokémon because it locks up their muscles, not because it lowers its stats. Attract, will o' wisp, and curse all work the same as normal."

Cress: "You've given me much to think about. Very well: we wish you the best of luck."

As I walk out, I can hear them talking. However, I can't tell who is speaking.

"Now, what was up with about not telling us Lillipup could learn work up?"

The rest of the conversation is cut off by the closing doors. I wonder what it was about.

A/N: I'm back! Sorry about the wait. As a reward, this chapter is the longest yet. I'm experimenting with the multiple points of view thing.