The following week was midterms and that meant, lots of tests. For Chloe it was tests to make sure she was learning to survive outdoors… specifically they had to prepare an outdoor survival camp, demonstrate being able to set up a tent in less then an hour, show how to get firewood and start a fire, show how to cook on said fire, and finally she had to show she could read a compass.
For Ashley and Penny, their midterms involved programming 5 programs into a computer. One to identify the user. One to operate machinery, one to replace a damaged program, one to unlock computer based locks and one to change the homescreen at random intervals.
Finally was the midterm all three of them had in the contest course, where they first had a written test on different contest techniques, then had to put on a show for the school using appeals. Ashley used Meowscarada to create lots of leaves and Kirlia to use psychic to move it into pictures. Penny and Chloe did the same, but Penny using Vaporeon and Umbreon's psychic, while Chloe used Skeledirge and Kirlia for pictures made of fire. They had even gotten special permission to perform at the same time, combining their elemental pictures into a large story, about the Treasures of Ruin. This got them extra credit.
Next they waited for the weekend and headed to Levincia for the gym with Ashley and Chloe in Penny's bag.
Welcome to the Levincia Gym!" the staffer said. "Let me register you three as challengers. Your names are Chloe, Ashley, and Penny, right?"
"We are," Ashley agreed.
"Great!" he said, "now in order to face Gym Leader Iono, you'll first need to pass the gym test. Here at Levincia Gym that means starting in one of Iono's streams! Iono's a Streamer as well as a Gym Leader, so we want you to dazzle her audience with your skills and track up those subscriptions! Just head outside and you'll soon find out what you need to do. Now get out there and have fun!
-Meanwhile-
"Hey, a new stream is about to start!" Nemona cheered before groaning as that video popped up again. "Not again. I have to find out what is happening. This is the third phone and this still happens. And now I can't watch the stream. I'll just go battle random trainers around here."
With that she turned off the phone and headed out to battle more trainers around her current location in the wild outside Medali, upset she couldn't watch the stream again.
-Back in Levincia-
"Ladies aaand gentlemens! It's time for the Iono Zone!" a voice said a they left the building and heard Iono.
-Meanwhile-
A certain Zoroark was searching for where Chloe had taken her daughter when she passed by a store showing streams one of which had Chloe on it, causing her to smirk when she found out it was live from Levincia in the Paldea region. She then immediately stopped watching and headed to where she knew a psychic type that owed her a favor was, to get it to teleport her there.
-Back in Levincia-
"Hey, hey, heyyy!" Iono said, "your eyeballs are MINE-caught in my Electroweb! Whosawhatsit? Iono! I'm the Gym Leader here! 'Ello, 'ello, hola! Ciao and bonjour!"
"'Ello, 'ello, hola! Ciao and bonjour!" they replied realizing this was part of the stream.
"Oh snap! Look at you three-already masters of Iono-ese! Not your first rodeo, then, eh? And, uh...I hope this doesn't come as too much of a suprise, but your bein' broadcast live to the world right now! Smile!"
"Is that a problem?" Penny whispered from her place on Chloe's shoulder while Ashley was on the other shoulder, for a better view. "I remember what you said about your mom."
"Shouldn't be," Ashley whispered to Chloe's relief. "She doesn't watch streams and this is live, so unless she passes in front of a computer or phone shop airing it in public at this exact moment she won't know."
"Good," Chloe whispered in relief as Iono continued.
"Anywho challengers!" Iono cheered. "Thanks for coming out to the Levencia Gym to see me! Before the staff told me I didn't even know pokemon could be trainers too, yet those Zorua and Eevee proved me wrong! I'm super happy you three are here, but I'm also a bit of a celebrity, ya know? I'm all kiiinds of busy! So I can't collab with you unless I know you can bring some real passion to my stream! Nyohoho! And! So! If you wanna battle me, your gonna have to help me make this livestream a viral hit first! Got it?"
Doing that was actually pretty easy. They just had to find Director Clavell on the security cameras as he was hiding in a game of Where in Levincia is Mr. Walksabout! Chloe found him at a table. Ashley found him standing where Nurse Joy usually was, while Penny found him in a boat below the Battle Court. With Ashley using Meowscarada's Terablast, Mudslap and Flower Trick to take care of Wattrel, Bellibolt, Luxio and terastalized Mismagius, thankful that her pokemon were far stronger than Iono's due to all the training. Chloe used her Skeledirge, and his Torch Song that made it more powerful, while Penny used Jolteon and his ability to absorb electricity without being hurt to win, getting all three of them a gym Badge.
After they decided to do some shopping before heading back to the academy and all three walked around with Ashley and Penny on Chloe's shoulders, deciding not to use Miraidon since he wouldn't fit in the shops.
-Meanwhile-
Delia the Zoroark arrived via teleport (and Miracle Eye) and looked around before spotting the three of them and with a loud growl, she fired a powerful Night Daze at them.