The editor found THREE shiny Pokémon in Sword just by walking around training. The only shiny I ever found was the Gyarados in the Lake of Rage.
It was dark by the time they left the cave. Gloria was tempted to catch a Noctowl, but Victor reminded her that they were probably too strong to bother with trainers who didn't have badges.
"I don't see you waving your badges around," she objected, but obediently followed him back to Motostoke anyway. She might not have a place to sleep if she went chasing birds instead of following her friend.
However disappointed she was, she was much more amused when she and Victor entered, and she recognized the other challenger at once.
"Uh..." Victor said, sounding more than a little stupid. "Hello, Marnie."
Gloria grinned mischievously and leaned in to whisper, "Woman to woman talk is still available."
"Go away, Gloria," was the immediate reply, Victor back to his usual intelligence when speaking to a girl he'd known for years.
Marnie, not having heard the original joke and completely missing the intent of this one, decided not to comment. "Challenger Victor?" she asked, getting a weak nod of confirmation in response. "Still givin' it your all?"
"Of course," Victor said with a laugh, nudging Gloria to keep her silent. "Kabu told me to wait until tomorrow to challenge him, but I can wait."
"Good plan," said Marnie, and looked down at the small hamster at her feet. "Morpeko wants to battle you. I'm willing if you are."
"Of course," said Victor, forgetting for a moment that he'd just dealt with two Team Yell grunts and his team probably wasn't in the best condition.
But as soon as he accepted, two more grunts popped out of hiding, and he figured he might as well enjoy it.
Marnie, they learned, would have given Victor a hard fight even if he wasn't struck speechless.
He had Corvisquire to deal with Croagunk, and thought he had Drilbur to take care of Morpeko. But when Morpeko changed form, into something that looked less like a cross between Pichu and Dedenne and more like a baby-sized Gengar, both Victor and Drilbur stared at it in shock and horror.
Marnie smiled innocently, even as she ordered a Bite attack that took out quite a chunk of Drilbur's battle health. Victor could only order a Mud-Slap and hope for the best.
Luckily, the accuracy reduction side-effect worked in his favor, and Drilbur could take out Morpeko with her much stronger Metal Claw. That left Scraggy, and Victor decided to use Drilbur for a while more before swapping.
She was left barely standing after a Headbutt, so he swapped for Corvisquire again to type-advantage his way out. Defeating the girl he had a crush on was not something he intended to do so soon, but at least Marnie was a good sport about it.
"That was fun," she said, though there was a slight disappointment even Gloria could see. "I should get rested for the challenge tomorrow. You should too, Victor."
She turned and left, the severely disappointed Team Yell grunts following. Victor almost followed her, too, but Gloria held him back.
"Best to let her adjust to the loss," she said, as if she knew what she was talking about. "We'll do more training tomorrow while Hop has Ace. You'll see Marnie again."
So he booked them a room, and she slept on his floor. The next morning, they headed out to the entrance to Galar Mine No. 2, hoping that Gloria could trick a Noctowl into following her. They didn't expect that she would trick a different Pokémon into coming along.
A much different Pokémon.
"Gloria," said Victor, his voice cracking a bit, "what is that?"
Gloria looked down at the Pokémon she'd bribed with a share of their lunch. "A Hatenna," she announced, and the Hatenna chirped in agreement.
"I know that," Victor hissed. "I meant, are you aware that it's shiny?"
The shiny Hatenna shoved more curry into her mouth and ignored the human boy. Gloria just shrugged.
"'Course I knew," she said. "I'm not colorblind, Victor."
She held out a ball for Hatenna, who jumped in just like Dishwasher had. The ball clicked closed, and Gloria smiled brightly. "She's my first rare treasure. Her name is Hattie."
Of course it is, Victor thought. Gloria did love stupid jokes - Dishwasher being named for cleaning plates, Rogue being named for her species' reputation as thieves, the whole 'dirt curry' situation. So instead of commenting on her choice of name, he commented on her choice of action.
"And you're sure she won't be taken away?" he asked, to her amusement. "You don't have the proper badge number to catch her."
"I'd like to see them try," said Gloria.
So Victor shrugged it off and changed to challenging Sudowoodo and Noctowl for practice. Some things just weren't worth the effort.
Hop and Gloria switched back almost as soon as they'd returned from training, and Victor took the time to heal his team before heading to the Gym himself. Oddly, Gloria seemed to be plotting something.
"Everyone watches Kabu's matches," she told Victor. "And Motostoke is a big city. I have to think before I sneak in."
So Victor left it alone. They said goodbye at the door to the Gym, and he expected her to find a way in and congratulate him.
Imagine his surprise when he saw a brunette with red-framed glasses standing with him in the mission area, wearing a uniform for Kabu's Gym.
"What now, Gloria?" he complained, and Gloria smiled sheepishly.
"I overheard what the challenge was," she admitted. "And I heard that Kate wasn't feeling well. So I took her uniform and her place in the challenge."
"But you don't have a Fire-type!" Victor hissed, knowing very well that this was both illegal and more than likely Gloria's only chance at getting in. "How did you get to take her place in the first place?"
"I introduced myself as Monica," she admitted, "and that I heard there was an opening. It was so last minute that they just let me in."
Victor had already defeated two of the other Gym trainers, and knew that Gloria was asking for trouble with this. "And you think you can get away with this? With two Dark-types and a Psychic?"
Gloria shrugged again. Victor facepalmed.
A Litwick bounced into view and challenged them both to a battle.
Victor had forgotten that he'd lent his Raboot to his friend in exchange for her Drizzile. As Dash faced off against his own teammate and trainer, his face took on a remarkable resemblance to the poor bunny in the trailers for the second Wreck-It Ralph movie.
"You'll get me back later," Gloria promised, "and an extra helping of dirt curry."
Dash reluctantly listened, and opened the battle against both Litwick and Drednaw with a Flame Charge on Drednaw.
"Daddy's sorry," Victor mouthed, before turning back to Drednaw. "Water Gun."
It took more than one hit, but Dash fell and Gloria lost the battle, having no other Fire-types on her team. But at least she got a chance to watch the match for free.
And Kabu gave "her" Raboot a Revive, so that was a plus.
This time, Victor walked onto the field with the Gym Leader right beside him. A show of good sportsmanship, Kabu said, and Victor was still not used to public matches so he just kind of went with it. A group of people wearing the Gym uniforms were gathered in a crowd, and Victor couldn't see which one was Gloria. He decided it didn't matter.
Victor decided to use Drilbur against the Ninetales, which was a good idea in theory. Unfortunately, Ninetales was faster than Drilbur was, and hit her with a Will-O-Wisp. Victor had forgotten to pick up some Burn Heals in case this happened.
He switched her out eventually, sending Ace in. Ace managed to defeat the Ninetales that Drilbur had softened up for him, and even the Arcanine. But for the Centiskorch, that was all up to Drednaw.
Of course the fact that Kabu Gigantamaxed it while Victor was stuck with plain old Dynamax was a small problem, but since it was just a form change, it shouldn't matter much.
And so, with Drednaw's Rock typing and his Rock Tomb move becoming Max Rockfall, it didn't take long at all for Victor to win the Fire Badge without technically losing a single Pokémon.
"Well done," said Kabu, though his voice was nearly drowned out by the cheering of the crowd.
Victor wasn't paying attention. He'd seen Dash hop up in excitement from where he was standing next to Gloria, and the trainer knew he'd been forgiven.
Hop was there, too. He'd paid for the ticket, and had laughed when seeing Gloria in the uniform, and was now waiting for his friends to finish and change back to their regular clothes.
Gloria left first. She'd kept her glasses on this time, keeping up the 'Monica' image, and hugged Victor when he finally left.
"I'm sorry for pitting you against Dash," she said quietly, so only he could hear.
"It's fine," Victor promised. "Just let go, I don't want Marnie to see us like this."
"It's your fault for not asking her on a proper date," Gloria retorted, but followed the order, letting Victor know that Kabu was right behind him. And it was her that Kabu wanted to talk to.
"You aren't one of my usual trainers," he stated, and Gloria, embarrassed, shook her head. "I didn't think so. Your Raboot seemed conflicted in that match - I assume he belongs to your friend?"
"He does," Gloria admitted. "The Drizzile is mine."
"Then I would like to congratulate you for training him so well. I don't believe I saw you at the opening ceremony."
"I wasn't. I don't have an endorsement."
"I see. And your real name?"
"Gloria," she admitted, barely suppressing the urge to cringe.
"Then I will make a note. I expect great things from you, Gloria. Despite your lack of endorsement, you seem to be keeping up with your friends." He almost laughed. "Now, then. You boys have defeated the first three Gym Leaders of the Galar region. It's tradition for us to see you off."
So the trio of teenagers left, as the first three Gym Leaders waved. They were headed to the Wild Area, then to Hammerlocke, and then, to their ultimate destiny.
Victor: Dash (Raboot) Corvisquire, Drednaw, Drilbur
Gloria: Ace (Drizzile) Dishwasher (Galarian Zigzagoon) Rogue (Thievul) Hattie (Hatenna)