All rights belong to Nickelodeon, Gamefreak, Nintendo, The Pokemon Company, and Satoshi Tajiri
[Galar Region: Galar Mine Number Two]
(Ten minutes earlier)
Lincoln was in the mines battling a trainer who was wearing what could be considered a Victorian gentleman's outfit, complete with bow tie and bowler hat, and for some reason he had a monocle. This young man was blowing bubbles through his as Lincoln's chewtle was facing his Wubat
"Chewtle bite!"ordered Lincoln as his Chewtle stuck his opponent's Wubat.
"Wubat!"exclaimed the trainer as Wubat fell to the floor and was revealed to have been knocked out.
"Thats it!"said Jaune as Chewtle returned to his trainer side.
"Man I really thought I had you with that air slash. Oh well at least I can chalk up this experience to my future exploits."said the optimistic young trainer.
"Just don't get ahead of yourself, the last gym leader I faced beat me the first time I faced her and taught me a very valuable lesson."said Lincoln, as Nessa brought him back down to Earth after beating him for the first time.
"Yeah getting a big ego can cloud your judgment and make you think you're invincible. Leon doesn't think that and that's one of the reasons why he's the champ."
"Yeah and that's why I plan to dethrown him."said Lincoln as he knew that he was still a long way from Leon, but with enough training he would surely get there one day.
"Yeah but don't count me out as I plan to finish the gym challenge to the end. Who knows we may meet again at the Rose Bowl."said the young trainer as he recalled his wubat.
"I'll remember you."said Lincoln has this trainer had him on the ropes only a few seconds ago.
"The names Alexander, but most people call me Alex, you better not forget it."said Alex says he and Lincoln let go of their hands.
"You we're a tough opponent Alex and I hope to see you again."said Lincoln as he saw Alex as a potential rival.
"Count on it."said Alex is he blew more bubbles out of his pipe as he walked away while twirling his cane in the air.
"Okay I'll just give my Pokemon a few potions and will be on our way back to Monostoke."said Lincoln before he had a very familiar voice calling out to him.
"Hop!"said Lincoln as he turned around to see his new friend running so fast that he thought he was going to tackle him to the ground.
"Lincoln!"said Hop with joy as he stopped just a few inches away from Lincoln's face.
"Hop I can't tell who's faster, you or a Rapidash."said Lincoln as he let out of breath of relief.
"Sorry sorry I just get so excited I can't control myself at times."said Hop as he bended his arms over the back of his head.
"Your in a good mood."noticed Lincoln, as he was sure that Hop was about to tell him why he was in such a good mood.
"I just earned my second gym badge from Nessa. She was tough but thanks to Thwackey I managed to come out on top."said Hop as he showed off his second gym badge.
"Thwackey?"asked Lincoln as Hop pulled out a pokeball and release the Pokemon that was inside.
Lincoln had a suspicion who the Pokemon was thanks to a strong resemblance to a Pokemon he knows Hop has, but he decided to pull out his Pokedex anyway so identify it just to be sure.
Pokedex: Thwackey, the beat Pokemon, and the evolved form of Grookey. The faster a Thwackey can beat out a rhythm with its two sticks, the more respect it wins from its peers.
"Wow Hop Grookey evolved. Congratulations man as I'm sure you two must have trained really hard for Grookey to evolve to Thwackey."said Lincoln a secret tell that Thwackey looked strong, and it was clear Hop put a lot of time and effort into training him.
"Yeah, my Rookidee also evolved into Corvisquire, Wooloo still hasn't evolved yet but he is working hard like the others and I'm sure with time he will evolve into Dubwool."said Hop as he was sure with enough time and effort his team would be really strong.
"I expect nothing less from the champions little brother."said Lincoln, as Hop had potential as he could see the same fire in his eyes that Leon has.
"Yeah but I still have a long way to go before I can even think of taking on Lee. He isn't the undefeatable champion for nothing as he always trains and observes every battle he participates in or witnesses. He is constantly learning and coming up with new strategies, that's one of the reasons why he has been undefeated up until now. But I will be the one to dethrone my brother, its I dream I've had since I first saw Lee take the championship title."said Hop, as he wanted to show the world how strong he was, especially Leon by beating him.
"Yeah I get what you're coming from buddy but don't count me out yet. I will admit it my goal to the feet Leon is not as old as yours but it's just as strong. I have a lot of people back home rooting for me and I want to prove myself. I know Leon is the summit, but I want to cross that summit. So Hop you better be ready to face me at the finals with everything you have."said Lincoln as Hop smiled at him.
"Belive me Lincoln I intend to, despite the fact we are friends you better not hold back."
"You neither."
Both Lincoln and Hop began laughing as despite the fact they knew they were rivals, they were also friends who knew good sportsmanship.
No hard feelings no matter who wins and loses to face Leon. It's all about fighting alongside your Pokemon with the best of your ability to bring out the best of their ability.
"What's this?!"asked a voice from the shadows
"Some punks who think they're going to get ahead of our Lady!"said another voice has two members of team Yell approached Lincoln and Hop.
"Oh not you guys again."said Hop has lasting he is expected was these superfans to get in his way
"We here to Yell as we take you down so you don't get in our lady's way!"said one of the grunts.
"Why are you guys doing this? Marnie doesn't like you guys doing this one bit."said Lincoln as he remembered Marnie stepping in to defuse the situation at the Bedew in.
"Our lady is going to be champ! As long as you don't find out what we, it's all good!"said one of the grunts threw a horn, making him sound even louder.
"Lincoln I think we should teach these two proper manners."said Hop had to cover his ears because the horn was so loud.
"Yeah! If they keep acting up it will affect Marnie in the long run."said Lincoln as he was sure Marnie could end up taking the blame if these guys kept going out of control.
She was a nice girl who didn't deserve to be disqualified just because her fans got out a little out of hand, or in this case very out of hand!
"Raboot I choose You!"said Lincoln as he called out his starter Pokemon
"Thwackey let's teach them a lesson."said Hop as Thwackey was already out of his pokeball, so it made sense to use him.
"We'll show you what happens when you mess with Team Yell and our lady!"said the grunts at the same time as they tossed pokeballs into the air and release the Pokemon inside.
[Present Time]
Lincoln didn't know the Pokemon in front of him so he pulled out his Pokedex to identify them.
Pokedex: Linoone, the rushing Pokemon, and the evolved the Zigzagoon. It uses its long tongue to taunt opponents. Once the opposition is enraged, this Pokemon hurls itself at its opponent, tackling them forcibly.
Pokemon: Thievul, the fox Pokemon. It secretly marks potential targets with a scent. By following the scent, it steals from them when they least expect it.
"They're both dark type Pokemon, good."said Lincoln as Raboot definitely had the advantage thanks to his fighting type moves.
"Linoone use night slash "ordered the grunt as Linoone's claws became covered with dark energy as it started charging towards Thwackey!
"Raboot use double kick!"ordered Lincoln as Raboot got in front of Thwackey as manage to strike Linoone with the super effective fighting type move once before the rushing Pokemon backed away at the last second to avoid the second kick!
"Thievul use snarl!"ordered the other grunt as the fox pokémon let out of yellow of dark, striking both Raboot and Thwackey at the same time, causing damage!
"Thwackey use bratch poke!"ordered Hop as Thwackey pulled out both sticks from its hair, before surrounding both sticks with green energy as it charged towards the fox pokémon and struck it with the grass type!
The fox pokémon was pushed back by the damage it took as Linoone jumped over it to attack Thwackey!
"Linoone slash."ordered the grunt as Linoone swung its claws across Thwackey as high speed, causing a lot of damage as the beat Pokemon was sent back.
"Raboot quick attack!"ordered Lincoln but instead of using quick attack Raboot covered its body with fire before charging at the rushing Pokemon at high speed, sending Linoone back as it fainted from the attack as Raboot's speed increased!
"What the?"was all Lincoln could say.
"That's impressive Lincoln! Raboot just learned flame charge!"said Hop as Lincoln realized that his starter Pokemon learned a new move.
"Raboot awesome!"said Lincoln who was so proud of Raboot!
"Rab rab."said the rabbit Pokemon trying to be modest, although Lincoln could tell that he appreciated the compliment.
"Dont I think we're out of this yet! Thievul use snarl."ordered the remaining Team Yell grunt as His companion recalled his Linoone.
Thievul meanwhile was about to use snarl when it noticed Thwackey charging!
"Thwackey use double hit!"ordered Hop as the beat Pokemon struck the fox Pokemon with both of it sticks at the same time, sending the fox Pokemon back to its trainer after revealing that had been knocked out.
"Thievul!"said the Team Yell grunt as he couldn't believe they lost.
"Let's get out of here as we have no more Pokemon to fight with."said the other grunt as his friend recalled Thievul back to its pokeball.
"Your right but don't think you've seen the last of Team Yell!"said the Team Yell grunt as both he and his compatriate ran away as fast as they could somewhere into the mines.
"I don't think those guys will ever learn..."said Hop as people like this were usually too stubborn to admit when they were wrong, even with all the evidence against them.
"I just hope Marnie isn't affected by their actions."said Lincoln with worry, as he hope the Pokemon League didn't punished Marnie for the actions of her out of control fans.
"Don't worry as I'm sure the Pokemon League won't do anything to your girlfriend."said Hop as Lincoln began blushing as he did a double take.
"She's not my girlfriend!"said Lincoln as he didn't know how Hop got that idea.
"Then you guys just need to get to know each other little better before you ask her out. I saw the way you were looking at her at the Bedew inn. She's cute so I can understand why you want to go out with her."said Hop as Lincoln was just blushing with embarrassment.
Was he really that obvious when he was looking at Marnie?!
"I'm just worried that her out of control fans are going to affect her!"said Lincoln, although Hop didn't appear convinced.
"Not to worry as the top brass of the Pokemon League are already aware that Marnie is not responsible for the actions of her fans. So don't worry as no matter what Team Yell does I'm sure the young lady will be just fine."said a male voice as Lincoln and Hop turned around.
There they saw a man with graying hair wearing a fire themed Pokemon League uniform with the number 187 on his shorts approach them. He had a red piece of cloth draped over his shoulders as Lincoln immediately recognized who he was.
He was the Monostoke City gym leader, Kabu, the ever burning Man of fire!
"You're the Monostoke City gym leader! What are you doing here?!"asked Hop as he couldn't believe a gym leader would be here of all places.
"These mines are filled with many different varieties of water type Pokemon. As as a Pokemon trainer who specializes with fire type Pokemon they are the perfect opponents for me to improve."said Kabu, who certainly lived up to his title.
"I see you're the trainers that are sponsored by the champion. I must say me and the other gym leaders have been speaking of you to lately and are hoping to see great things. Based on the direction you're moving I'm assuming you're heading to my gym next."theorized Kabu as he was wiping some sweat with his towel.
"Yes sir, you would be correct."said Lincoln, who could see why Kabu was the first real hurdle of the gym challenge.
This man in front of him screamed experience! No matter how many times he lost, he never stopped training to improve his mind and body. Lincoln could sense this feeling radiating off this man.
He didn't care how many times he lost, he didn't care how many times he won, he didn't care what people told him. He was a Pokemon training veteran who constantly trained to improve himself.
This man was the ideal Pokemon trainer!
"Well then I look forward to facing both of you at the gym challenge, but I warn you now you must bring it you're all as they don't call me the first real hurdle of the gym challenge for nothing."said Kabu as he walked away from both young aspiring trainers.
"Hop, could you feel it?"asked Lincoln as he felt more at ease Kabu no longer there.
"Yeah... I had to do my best to not shake. That man is strong as Lee himself told me how much respect he has for Kabu, anyone who has earned Lee's respect is a worthy opponent. I'm looking forward to facing him so much I'm going to make my way Monostoke as fast as I can!"said Hop as he immediately bolted in the direction Kabu went.
"Hop, you never cease to amaze me."said Lincoln as he to began walking the direction Hop and Kabu went.
He couldn't wait to face Kabu either! He could tell that Kabu was not only strong, but he was an experienced Pokemon trainer.
Lincoln almost couldn't wait to see Kabu had in store for him when he challenged the Monostoke City Gym!