Continuing one running joke and starting another.
Nessa wasn't at the Gym, of course. That would have been too easy.
Victor and Gloria found themselves wandering Hulbury, searching for the lighthouse and the Gym Leader they'd been told was a regular visitor. It was easy to find her, but the difficult part was preparation.
"I have two Pokémon I can't take to the Gym," Victor said for what was, sadly, the second time. "You have an evolved Pokémon. Would you mind if I borrowed Rogue again?"
"She might not be strong enough," Gloria said. "I don't have a badge."
"But I do," Victor reminded her. "I've read that traded Pokémon get stronger faster. I'll use that bonus to help her get strong enough to help you on your treasure hunting."
"I would have done it anyway. You didn't need to state your case like a business proposal." She was smiling, though, and handed him Rogue's ball, getting Dash's in return. Victor had to think about who he would trade Drilbur for, but eventually settled on Ace.
With the team decided and warned against potential rebellion, Victor started off to the secret area of the Gym, hoping that Nessa's challenge wasn't too difficult.
Gloria, meanwhile, climbed in through the window of the stadium. Seeing it empty of the crowd she knew had been here for Hop's challenge, she shrugged and took a seat.
Turffield hadn't been crowded enough for her to have to move. Hopefully, Hulbury would be the same.
Victor looked as far across the room as he could, which was a bit more difficult with the pool water in his eyes. The stinging was almost gone, but the blurriness remained.
He wondered for a moment if this was what it was like to be Gloria.
He didn't give it much thought, as he was more focused on trying to find the way through the maze of water jets that pumped out so much it was hard to walk through, and impossible without getting your socks soaked through - a fate Victor unfortunately learned from experience.
Deciding that the blue button was the best option, he pressed it. A second later, a stream of water poured over his head, and he frantically slammed his hand around until he pushed a different button.
He spit out a mouthful of water. "That was clearly the wrong choice," he said to no one. Seeing no way out, Victor decided to do something he had never heard of, and recruited a friend to help.
"You're my best bet, Corvisquire," Victor said calmly, watching as his bird flew around the streams of water, searching for the proper path to the Gym Leader. There wasn't anything specifically against having a Pokémon help out, after all.
"I know," said Corvisquire, before hopping between buttons to try to figure out how to get Victor past the obstacle. "Get me an extra helping of that dirt curry to pay me."
Victor had no clue what the words were, but he understood that they were some kind of agreement. Then he found himself facing another warm-up trainer.
"It's impressive," she said. "No one ever thinks to use their Pokémon to help with navigation. I'm not sure how Nessa will feel about it, but…"
"There's no need to tell her," Victor said quickly, before opening the battle with Chewtle.
By the time Victor reached Nessa's stadium, he could barely tolerate standing anymore. By the time the Gym Leader appeared, he was ready for the fight.
"Did you know wet socks are a form of torture in some countries?" he demanded before Nessa had even opened her mouth.
"I don't think that's true," Nessa objected, but the rest of her commentary was drowned out as Victor sent out Chewtle to deal with the problem. Shrugging it off, Nessa chose her Goldeen.
Chewtle lost the first round, his trainer too blinded by rage at his wet socks to give proper commands. Luckily, Corvisquire did better, taking down Goldeen and even Arrokuda. When the Drednaw Dynamaxed, Victor knew that his own captures had no chance.
So he Dynamaxed a Drizzile to fight back.
Ace wasn't as strong as Drednaw, so it took two hits to take it down. But he made it through the damage turn, and Victor was rewarded by Drednaw hitting the ground and both Pokémon shrinking.
"And the challenger is victorious!" the referee called, to the cheering of the stadium. Victor looked around at the fans this time. Even the people holding signs with Nessa's face and name were cheering for him.
I can get used to this, Victor thought, before he forced himself to focus on Nessa. It wasn't hard – he did like pretty girls – but the cheering could distract anyone from anything.
Nessa was holding a metal puzzle piece. "Your Water Badge," she said as she handed it to him. Once he'd taken it, she held out her hand again, this time for the traditional shake. "I'm sorry about your socks."
"If I can make a suggestion," said Victor, "give your challengers a change of shoes. Lend them out, give them a small uniform alteration, I don't care." He gestured to her own open-toed shoes. "Like those."
Nessa smiled a bit. "Only the Champion and the chairman can make official suggestions," she warned, "and the final decision is mine regardless. But I suppose I could file that suggestion away for next year's challenge."
It wasn't exactly a promise, but Victor was willing to take it. After all, when would he have to come here again?
When Victor and Gloria arrived at the Captain's Table, the chairman and the woman they assumed was his assistant were already there. What was surprising was that Sonia was also present, deep in conversation with Rose about something they didn't get to hear, because Rose was distracted the moment he saw Victor.
"Vincent!" he called, already forgetting that he'd been corrected on this before. He gestured to the television hanging in the corner. "They broadcast all of Nessa's matches. I saw your victory. Congratulations!"
"Thanks," said Victor, "and my name is Victor."
"Victor," Rose repeated to himself. "I'm sorry. I truly am terrible with names. It took me four years to learn my own niece's!" He shook his head in shame. "And your friend is...Genevieve?"
"Gloria," Gloria corrected him.
"Getting closer, though," Rose said happily, and he ignored the exasperated looks that everyone else, even his own assistant, gave him in response.
Sonia changed the subject. "You said you have important information," she reminded him. "I'm sure Victor and Gloria would love to hear it."
"Of course," said Rose. "Please be seated, everyone."
"We're eating here?" Victor asked, to the amusement of the adults. Not concerned, he turned to his friend quickly. "Gloria, can you -"
"I've got my share of battle prize money," she promised. "I can part with just enough to..."
She trailed off, staring into her wallet. Her completely empty wallet.
"You won battles," Victor said, just as confused as she was. "Where did it all go? You didn't leave it with your glasses, did you?"
"I don't even open this unless it's to put money in," Gloria protested. "I almost never take it out! Where did it go?"
The question was answered by a snickering sound from Victor's pocket. Victor reached in and removed the Rotom phone, which was now in a bright gold case that Victor definitely didn't buy for it.
"You stole my friend's hard earned money to buy yourself a fancy new case?" Victor took a closer look, then shook the ghost in anger. "And are those real gold flakes decorating it?"
Gloria held out her hand. Victor passed her the phone immediately. "Talk, you robot rubbish! Or I'll do something you'll regret."
Rotom talked, all right, but it was not what Gloria wanted to hear. "Bet you didn't see this coming!" Rotom cackled, grateful for the translator, before shooting back into Victor's pocket.
Victor caught Gloria's hand as she went to snatch it. "You can't kill a ghost," he warned her, and she slowly pulled her hand away from his pocket.
"But it stole my money!"
"We'll find another way to punish it."
Sonia wasn't surprised, it seemed. "I'll give you a refund at the end of your journey," she promised.
"And I will pay for the meal," said Rose. "For all of us. Now, Sarah -"
"Sonia."
"Sonia. I believe we were talking about your grandmother and her research?"
Rose sent Sonia to Hammerlocke, a city he said held a vault with history about the Dynamax phenomenon.
"It would be a shame," he said, "if we couldn't unlock all of its secrets. If you say the professor is worried, then we should do what we can to help ease those worries. I owe her for her discoveries."
"Of course," Sonia agreed. "But I don't see what a secret history has to do with Dynamax. Galar particles are a relatively recent discovery."
"It's just a theory," said Rose, "but a theory worth investigating. And since Professor Magnolia doesn't seem to want to navigate stairs at her age..."
"I understand," said Sonia, mildly annoyed but willing to help her grandmother.
The bored-looking assistant got to her feet, checking her watch. "We should be going, Chairman," she announced, and Rose frowned but followed suit.
"I suppose I do have a busy schedule," he admitted. "Thank you, Oleander."
"Oleana." She seemed resigned to her fate, but the fact that she still called him on it showed that she still had hope. "You're almost there, sir."
"And I'll take that final step one day," Rose promised. Turning back to Sonia and the kids, he smiled like he did for the cameras. "Good luck to you all. I expect great things from all of you. Even you, Flora."
"Gloria."
"Gloria," Rose said, and followed Oleana out of the building. When Victor and Gloria left, they were greeted by Hop, who pointed them back to the other Galar Mine, which he said would take them back to Motostoke and the next challenge, Kabu.
For three friends and their Pokémon, the journey was going well. For the Rotom inhabiting Victor's phone, it didn't know just what kind of enemy it had made out of a near-sighted teenager and her early-route monsters.
Victor: Dash (Raboot) Corvisquire, Chewtle, Drilbur
Gloria: Ace (Drizzile) Dishwasher (Galarian Zigzagoon) Rogue (Thievul)