We decided to use all of the Gym Leaders from the main games, even if it's only for one scene.
Once they got past Team Yell, it got very boring. Victor and Gloria were used to making their own entertainment, however, and once they got lost for the third time they decided to do so.
Gloria climbed a ladder to escape a few wild Yamask, and finding but nothing but a friendly Maractus and Helioptile, she whistled to get the ghosts' attention and laughed when they realized that the stones they carried limited how high they could float. She then started cooking a larger than usual batch of apple dirt curry, planning to send Ace out to deliver it to the ghosts as an apology.
While his friend was making a fool of herself and random ghosts, Victor was bonding with a small Axew that had stolen his Rotom phone and was pressing all the buttons. He let her torture Rotom for a while, but when Rotom zapped her and she prepared to attack in revenge, Victor took the phone back.
"I know you don't understand how human money works," he said, as if explaining to a toddler, "but replacing this would take a lot of it, and I would prefer to keep my money to use for trainer items, like Full Restores and Revives."
Which is exactly why I steal Gloria's money instead, thought Rotom. But what it said was, "I'm fine, thanks."
Axew looked up at Victor, not understanding any of it. But she knew enough to understand that her toy had been taken away, so she wandered off, following the scent of the dirt curry.
Victor understood the action. "Do you want some of that, then?" Axew chirped, reaching for the ladder. Victor held out a Pokeball. "Then join my team. I promise, it's just as delicious as it smells."
Axew jumped right into the ball, just like Dishwasher had when Gloria offered it to him. Once the ball stopped shaking, Victor climbed up the ladder, taking a seat on a large boulder.
Gloria looked up from stirring her giant curry pot to glare. "I'm the one who catches Pokémon through bribery," she told him. "You should do it the normal way, you've got the badges."
Victor smiled, faking innocence. "And that's not my fault," he reminded her.
He got a smaller than usual helping of curry as her revenge.
They reached Stow-on-Side, and they were immediately impressed with the stalls selling things on the streets. Gloria even got to sell one of the treasures she'd found on her way to Hammerlocke, and her excited giggling when she put the money away made even Victor smile.
Still, they were here for a mission, and that mission was only mildly diverted by the sight of the crowd.
For a moment, he thought it was Allister getting swamped for autographs. Instead, it was a tall girl around Victor's age, with tan skin and short sand-colored hair.
"It's not even my year!" she complained, even as she signed yet another one of her trainer cards. "I share with Allister, and he won it..."
"Which is why you should also meet your fans," a girl declared, as if she knew what she was talking about. "We can't have one Gym Leader of the city left out while the other runs the stadium."
"I'm sure Allister would like to be left alone when I get to run the stadium," the blonde said, but she reluctantly agreed.
Victor approached her eventually, and finally got a good look. It was, as he'd suspected, Bea, the greatest Fighting-type specialist in all of Galar.
She recognized him at once, too. "Victor Bradley, was it?" she asked, and Victor nodded.
"Making a name for myself among the Gym Leaders, am I?" he laughed.
"Something like that," Bea agreed. She didn't mention that it was because the challenger number he'd chosen was funny to them. "I wanted to warn the challengers about Allister. He's..."
"Scary," Victor finished. "I get it, he uses Ghost-types."
"That wasn't what I was saying. He's...a bit awkward, really. Loves the job, hates the limelight, that sort of thing. We're friends, and I don't want him to be uncomfortable, so...if you can..."
"Go easy on him?"
"Absolutely not," Bea said quickly. "I want you to win. Just do it in one or two tries so he doesn't have to face the public more often than he has to."
That, Victor could agree to.
Victor and Gloria traded again, this time Corvisquire for Dishwasher. Not that Corvisquire was at a disadvantage, but it was so much fun to have something with a type advantage that was also immune thanks to a Normal typing. He didn't foresee Hop standing in front of the Gym, waiting to challenge him.
"Can it wait?" Victor asked uncertainly, watching as his friend shifted a ball between his hands. "I have Dishwasher, I don't think -"
"Brilliant!" Hop cheered. "That means you can test out how long he'll listen before he's had enough!"
"Does that happen?" Victor asked uncertainly, and Hop laughed.
"I've never heard of it," he admitted, "but then, most trades are permanent, aren't they?"
Victor admitted the point. "But why do you want to battle me before we get past Allister? It shouldn't really matter."
"It shouldn't," Hop agreed, "but this is a test for my new team."
"New team?" Gloria asked, not sure she wanted to know.
"Well, I have to find a way to beat Bede," Hop reminded her. "And a way to not drag Lee's name in the mud."
"We established that Bede was rubbish," Gloria reminded him.
Hop brushed it off. "Doesn't mean he can't have a point."
Without waiting for his friends to object, likely because they would just try to boost his confidence, he sent out the first Pokémon he chose. This was a ridiculous-looking blue creature, clearly a Flying-type. And when Victor sent out Axew, just to see what she could do, he proved that it was not just a Water-type, but a Water-type that could break reality even more than Pokémon were already known to do. It used Dive in the middle of a desert-looking town, and came up with a fish.
A fish it launched at Axew when her Dragon Claw hit, taking her out of the battle.
"How?" Victor asked. "I get using Dive, but the fish..."
"An Arrokuda," Hop said proudly. "And it's best not to ask questions."
So Victor dropped the subject, for now. He planned to go on YouTube later and see what the Alolan Champion was up to, and if she'd be willing to come to Galar to investigate a few scientific mysteries.
Fortunately, Hop kept Jojo on his team. The Thwackey was too important to put aside, it seemed, and Victor could understand. He may not have been his first Pokémon like Dash was Victor's, but it was a gift from his big brother.
Unfortunately, losing to Victor did nothing to help Hop's confidence. He put on a smile and walked away, and Jojo followed after giving the other teenagers an apologetic look.
He was gone when they went to look for him, so the only thing left to do was plan for how Gloria was going to sneak into Allister's Gym.
"You could just buy a ticket," Victor suggested.
"And let Rotom find where I'm hiding my wallet? Not a chance." She thought hard, her face twisting with the effort. "Allister uses Ghost-types, doesn't he?"
"What about it?"
The more Gloria spoke of her plan, the less convinced Victor was that it would work. The less convinced he was, the more he wanted to see it happen.
So that was why, when he was in the basement of Allister's Gym and spinning in a teacup across the floor, he knew to brace himself for when Gloria turned on the light, sneaking past the trainers as they scrambled for the switch.
She made it to the stadium before Victor did, mostly because he was enjoying himself too much. Allister was waiting, and the murmur of confusion when the half-filled stadium noticed that this child was not in a uniform at all, much less one with 123 written on the back, almost made her smile.
"Who are you?" Allister asked. His voice was soft, and partially muffled by the mask.
"Friend of the challenger," she answered honestly.
Large eyes stared at her from behind the mask, almost unblinking. "'S fine," Allister finally decided. "Kinda funny, if you think about it."
"Kabu said so, too."
"Don't make me regret this," Allister said as he allowed Gloria to sit beside the stadium, where she was just as likely as the trainers themselves to get hit with stray attacks.
Since all Pokémon used were professional battlers, Gloria trusted both boys enough to sit where she was told. Then the actual challenger entered, and did a double take when he saw her wave.
Victor: Dash (Raboot) Corvisquire, Drednaw, Excadrill, Axew
Gloria: Ace (Drizzile) Dishwasher (Galarian Linoone) Rogue (Thievul) Hattie (Hatenna)