May

Losing doesn't really bother me. Can't win them all, right? It's clear I've still got a lot to learn. Those Trainers around Olddale were truly novices. It was silly of me to think I was good at this just because I beat them. But I won't make that mistake again.

In a weird way, I'm excited to have lost. It means I'll just have to get stronger. That's what I've been wanting to do all along. That's what being a Trainer is all about.

The nurse returns our Pokemon. Brendan and I walk out of the Pokemon Center and back into the big bright city. I suggest we do some sightseeing to get our minds off our loss, but Brendan is unusually adamant.

"Gym first," he says. "I don't want to wait."

"I love the enthusiasm," I say, and I really, really do. "But let's slow down a bit. We can go to the Gym, but just to watch, okay? That way, we can scout out the competition and maybe learn a thing or two."

Brendan grumbles a bit in his Brendan way, but eventually he agrees my idea is best. No surprise there, of course.

We meander through the bustling streets, and it is abundantly clear just from our walking speed how much we don't fit in here. People in Rustboro move quickly—it doesn't matter if they are on bikes or on foot, they blow past us like we are as stationary as the trees in Petalburg Woods. I can feel Brendan's urge to pick up the pace as well. Maybe that's just his pride coming out every time someone speeds around us like we're roadblocks, but his body language is telling me he wants to win that race. It doesn't bother me, though. I keep at a slow, steady, small-town pace. I'm pretty sure I've seen this in a movie before where the wise (and, in this case, super cute) sensei teaches patience in a hasty pupil. What does patience have to do with anything, you ask?

Well, I don't know exactly. But they say patience is a virtue.

Although, maybe I'm being silly again. And by silly, I mean arrogant. Brendan has already come a long way since he got his first Pokemon. It wasn't all that long ago, and obviously he has a lot to learn still, but I do too. He's learning much faster than I did. At this rate, I'll be hispupil.

The idea makes me laugh out loud. Brendan gives me a funny look, but luckily I don't have to explain anything to him. The Gym is just ahead. It towers over us like a monster standing over toddlers. To be honest, I feel something like a baby myself right now, because when those double glass doors slide open automatically as we step up to them, I'm regretting agreeing to this.

"Are you sure there's nothing else you want to do first?" I ask. Brendan shakes his head.

"We're going in," he says. And he passes through the doors. I stand outside a little longer, wondering if I'm ready for this. The glass doors don't sense me anymore and start to close, and that was the push I needed. I wasn't about to let the doors close on me, physically or metaphorically. This is what we were here for. And Brendan, of all people, is not about to get ahead of me. Not today.

I step in and find Brendan stopped by a man in a suit with spiky brown hair. He has a lot of enthusiasm to him—from his overly-animated movements to his big, cheesy grin to the way he practically shouts every word.

"Wellllllllllllllcome Trainerrrrrrrrrrrs!" the man says as if he were the world's loudest sport's announcer. "You must be here for the Gym Challenge! Don't try to deny it, I've seen your type many times before. Get it? Type? Go on, get in there! You guys will surely rock!"

Brendan looks at me, but all I can do is shrug. We pass the man in the suit and the stone pillars he stood in front of, etched with name after name. I had read about these pillars online—the names of all Trainers who secure victory against the Gym Leader are posted in the pillars as a testament to their skills. A rush of adrenaline coursed through me as I imagined, just for a moment, my name added to those pillars.

The inner arena of the Gym is built like a cave. Dark rocks cover the walls all the way up to the ceiling. There are loose piles of rocks here and there and then solid rock statues that probably looked like Pokemon at one point but were now smashed beyond recognition. It's dark as well. Besides a few mining lights nailed into the walls, there isn't much to guide us across the floor which is uneven from—you guessed it—more rocks.

There are a few Trainers having their Geodudes throw rocks at each other. It's pretty funny to watch them. A rock would slam into a Geodude's face, but do practically nothing to it. Then that Geodude picks up the closest rock and hurls it back. With infinite ammo lying about and a rock-solid will to continue to battle, they can probably go at it all day.

It strikes me that the environment of this Gym isn't just an aesthetic—it's an advantage. And if those twins on the bridge taught me anything, it's that using the environment around me is how the good Trainers become better.

All of a sudden, my worries are fading away, and the excitement is coming back.

"Where should we go to watch?" Brendan says. "I can't see any spectator stands or anything."

"Maybe the edges are considered sidelines around here," I say. "If we just stay out of the way—"

"Hey! You!"

A giant of a man, fully equipped in hiker gear, starts waddling my way. Our eyes meet, and we all know what's coming next.

"If you're looking to challenge Roxanne, you gotta get through me first!" he says with a voice as rough as the rocks surrounding us.

"Oh, no," Brendan starts, still not getting that rejecting a battle just isn't possible, "we're not here to battle."

"A battle? Count me in!" A second Trainer comes out of the darkness toward me. This one is just a child, younger than me by quite a bit. It seems like he should still be in school right now. He even has his school uniform on. I look from the man to the boy and back again. They are both locked onto me.

"Wait, you're both challenging me?" I say.

"That's right," the man says.

"We like to make things hard around here," the boy says.

"Please find another way to say that," Brendan mutters, but the Trainers don't hear him. The two Trainers each pull out a Pokeball, and suddenly this isn't a joke anymore. "Fine! Count me in too!"

"So much for just watching today," I tell Brendan under my breath.

"We can't be spectators forever, can we?" he says.

No, we sure can't.

I call out Fluffernugget, and Brendan brings out his Mudkip. Our opponents call out a Geodude each. They have some impressive muscles for Pokemon that are basically just rocks with arms. It makes me wonder if a female Geodude would be called a Geodudette.

Wake up, May. Don't let the intrusive thoughts take over.

I slap my own cheeks to snap myself out of it. I'm already at a disadvantage because of the terrain, but my Torchic isn't going to be much help here either. Brendan is going to need to take the lead here. I'll have to find another way to be useful.

The two Trainers start the battle with the same instructions.

"Geodude, Rock Throw!" they order, both pointing at Fluffernugget. But if there is one thing I know about Geodude, it is how slow that Pokemon is.

And it's true, their Pokemon seem to go in slow motion. I have plenty of time to react, and I know just what I'm going to do.

"Hide behind this statue, Fluffernugget!" I call out. My Torchic dutifully runs behind the half-smashed statue of something I can't recognize. The rocks come flying in as both Geodudes launch handfuls of the stuff at Fluffernugget. The statue blocks most of them, but in taking the brunt of the damage, the statue breaks apart and a piece of it falls on my Torchic's head. Still, it's much better than taking a barrage of rocks to the face.

Brendan is already on the attack, shouting "WATER GUN!" at the top of his lungs and making finger guns with his hands while he does so. A blast of water to the hiker's Geodude has it writhing on the rocky floor. That's when I make my move.

"Fluffernugget, finish that Geodude with Ember!"

My attack does the trick, and the hiker recalls his fainted Geodude. But he calls out another before I or Brendan have time to react.

"Tackle that chicken!" the hiker roars. "Lock it down!"

Torchic can't escape in time. The Geodude's rocky arm pins my Pokemon to the ground despite its struggles to escape.

"Rock Throw!" the hiker's partner orders. Rocks rain down on both my Pokemon and the hiker's, but mine is much worse off for it. Brendan calls for another Water Gun, and it's powerful enough to knock out the kid's Geodude straight away. If Brendan shoots another one of those at the hiker's Geodude, my Torchic is likely to go down too. My mind was racing for an answer. And then I had an idea.

"Fluffernugget, come back!" I hold out the Pokeball, and Torchic is whisked away inside to safety. While I bring out Silky as soon as I can, the battle happens without us.

The kid doesn't have another Pokemon, but the hiker doesn't need the help. The Geodude grabs a huge rock from the pile beside it at its Trainer's command, and hurls it at Kip, point blank. The strike hits Brendan's Pokemon hard, but the Geodude is helpless against the stream of Water Guns that comes out in retaliation. The hiker's last Pokemon falls, and the pair admit defeat, netting us some money in our pockets. But now a whole crowd of Rock Trainers who have been watching and are raring to go at us.

"I'm next!"

"No, me!"

"I saw them first."

Challenges rang out in every direction, but we were lucky to have won this battle. Any more would be playing with fire.

"Should we get out of here?" Brendan asks as Trainers circle us and start pressing closer. I nod, but before we can recall our Pokemon, we're stopped by a girl in a navy-blue school outfit.

"Wait just a moment," she says with a voice much more commanding than I would have expected. She adjusted the big red bow in her hair as she walked. The other Trainers fall silent and made space for her. "My name is Roxanne. I am the leader of this Gym. And I have a proposal for you. If both of you engage me in a double battle right now, you will both be eligible for a badge. If you back out now to visit a Pokemon Center, the offer is void."

It's a pretty good deal, if our Pokemon can handle it. Two on one is good odds. But our best Pokemon are both not at their best. Are we walking into a trap?

"What do you get out of this?" I ask.

"I'm the top student at the Rustboro school," she says. "That's why they made me Gym Leader. But they only teach us about single battles. I saw you two battle, and I'm confident I can beat you. But I only have three Pokemon, and it seems the two of you have four, no? So battling now makes it fair."

"She knows we're weak," I whisper to Brendan.

"This is one of the people we have to beat before we can go back to Petalburg?" he asks.

"Yes, but—"

"Then we accept your challenge."