Julianna stared at the television eyes darting between Nashi's gym battle and the math textbook in her lap.
Nashi's Yanma had just defeated Brassius's Appletun with Aerial Ace and Brassius was Terastallizing his Sudowoodo a brilliant bouquet of crystalline flowers appearing above the Imitation Pokémon.
Tomorrow was the math exam Julianna had been freaking out about. She had been so busy with the Treasure Hunt the Titan Pokémon and Team Star that she hadn't been keeping up with her math studies. She knew the formulas of the algebra questions she was supposed to but hadn't done any practice questions Ms. Tyme had given out. The thing was her mother had no idea about her not studying anytime her mother asked she replied "Yep been studying all week"
It made Julianna feel awful normally she would be studying weeks ahead of time getting all information in her head and she had promised herself she wouldn't let the Treasure Hunt derail her once the Tressure Hunt was over she would be back to her regular school life.
Of course, she came up with all this before she met Koraidon or got roped into fighting the titans or Team Star with everything going on she hadn't had the time to keep up with her studies.
But she also didn't want to fall behind the other gym trainers in the gym challenge and by now everyone had already given up or was onto the Cortondo gym.
"Yeesh that stuff looks super confusing" Cherry exclaimed as peered over at Juliana's math questions "The most I know how to do is something like 15+X=35"
"I know it can be confusing and I've barely had time to study with the treasure hunt"
"Why are you and Nashi still taking those math classes why not just wait until the treasure hunt is over?"
"My mom wants me to keep up with my studies when the Treasure hunt's over I'm sure Nashi's parents feel the same way"
Julianna looked up at the TV Nashi was down to his Dunsparce.
"Nokocchi Terastal!" Nashi threw his Tera Orb at Dunsparce a brilliant beige light burst around Dunsparce a giant normal gem appearing on his head.
"You worried about the gym battle?" Cherry asked.
"I'm more worried about this math test if I lose the gym battle I can just try again if I fail the math test I can't do that"
"Ya that's fair enough"
Julianna finished off the last of the practice questions. Putting down her math textbook to focus on the TV.
"Nokocchi Hyper Voice!" Dunsparce let out a horrible echoing cry small beige particles flying everywhere knocking out Brassius's Sudowoodo the bouquet on his head bursting into fine green dust.
"Sudowoodo is unable to battle Dunsparce is the winner the victory goes to Nashi"
"Dammit I missed it"
"Ya Nashi thought well he used Pounce and Glare to counter the speed boost from Sudowoodo's Trailblaze"
Nashi walked through the door proudly holding the Grass badge his mask pulled down to reveal a smile.
"I did it!"
"Yes you did it we saw the whole thing on the TV"
"Would Julianna Martinez please come forward?" the gym trainer announced.
"Yes Ma'am" Julianna put down her math textbook.
"Good luck" Cherry and Nashi wished simultaneously.
"You have 10 minutes to prepare for the battle understood"
"Understood" The gym trainer closed the door leaving Julianna with her thoughts.
Now Julianna was starting to panic she had been so focused on her math study's she hadn't been able to train her, Pokémon she had seen on other student's social media including Nemona's that their starters were evolving which Tulio hadn't shown any sign of and she had done nothing to address Rebelde's disobedience.
Julianna sat there for ten minutes trying to make a plan she knew and eventually settled with leading on leading with Salvador going for Toxic Spikes and then finishing that battle with Tulio and Rebelde.
Once the ten minutes were up Julianna walked out into the gym pitch.
"Greetings, challenger!"
"Hmph!" Brassius smirked.
"You did well to come this far!"
"I am Brassius—an artist specializing in Grass-type Pokémon. I am also the Gym Leader here at the Artazon Gym."
Julianna always found Brassius kind of weird he was the guy who made that weird sculpture of a sad-looking Sunflora in the center of town.
"I was observing you during your gym battle against Katy The perception you displayed in fighting was truly... Oh, how shall I describe it?"
Yes! It was truly avant-garde!"
"I only pray that you might also demonstrate that eye for beauty in our battle."
"Enough talk! We must begin creating our collaborative work of art!"
"I trust that you are ready? It is time for our masterpiece to take shape!"
"Avant-garde! Smoliv!" Brassius yelled as he sent out the Olive Pokémon.
"Wooper Vamos!" Salvador landed on the battlefield staring down Smoliv.
"Smoliv use Razor Leaf!" Smoliv fired a flurry of sharp leaves at Wooper.
"Take it then Toxic Spikes" Salvador toke the Razor Leaf stumbling backward. Recovering from the hit Wooper fired a poisonous orb from her mouth the orb split into many spikes which scattered into the ground.
"Smoliv use Trailblaze!" Smoliv nimbly danced toward Wooper leaping at Wooper.
"Poison Tail!" Wooper counter with Poison Tail easily overpowering Smoliv sending the olive flying back.
"Use Energy Ball!" Smoliv fired an orb of green energy at Wooper surprisingly fast Wooper couldn't dodge the Energy Ball in time hitting Wooper square in the face.
"Of course, Trailblaze raises the user's speed stat how could I forget that!" Julianna scolded herself she had read that in the book about the gym battles.
"Mud Shot!" Wooper fired a ball of mud at Smoliv "dodge it!" Smoliv leaped into the air dodging the Mud Shot.
"Use Energy Ball!" Smoliv fired another Energy Ball at Wooper.
"Send it back with Poison Tail!" Wooper smacked the Energy Ball back at Poison Tail sending the Energy Ball back at Smoliv causing a green and purple explosion.
"Smol!" Smoliv fell to the ground eyes swirled out and fainted.
"Smoliv is unable to battle Wooper is the winner!"
"Great job Salvador!"
"Whoops!" Salvador cheered back in response.
"Avant-garde! Appletun!" Appletun landed on the field with a great thump grimacing as the Toxic Spikes dug into her.
"Poison Tail!"
"Use Dragon Tail!" Appletun's tail became covered in a scaly green aura overpowering Wooper's Poison Tail. With a burst of light, Wooper was switched out and replaced with Charcadet.
"Use Dragon Tail again!" Charcadet leaped over the Dragon Tail his body became surrounded by orange energy Charcadet clapped his hands bright pink and purple flames launched at Appletun.
Of course, it did nothing since Charcadet was using Will-O-Wisp on Appletun who was already poisoned.
"Char!" Charcadet seemed to be in disbelief.
"Use Leech Seed!" Appletun fired a bunch of small seeds at Charcadet enveloping him and sapping his energy.
"Rebelde you can't use status moves on a Pokémon that already has one this is why you have to listen to me!"
"Char-char-char!" Rebelde gave her the talk to the hand before turning to face Appletun.
Charcadet went for Fire Spin engulfing Appletun in a ring of flames.
"Use Headbutt" Appletun swung her head into Charcadet knocking him backward. Appletun flinched from the combination of the Fire Spin and poison from Toxic Spikes well Charcadet fell to his knees from the Leech Seed.
"Use Bullet Seed!" Appletun fired a barrage of small seeds at Charcadet. Charcadet jumped into the air hitting Appletun with Clear Smog both taking damage from their status effects.
"Use Dragon Tail!" Charcadet went for Ember Appletun's Dragon Tail cut through the Ember knocking out Charcadet.
"Charcadet is unable to battle Appletun is the winner"
Juliette grimaced well there go's her entire battling strategy now she's down to just an already damaged Salvador and Tulio who was weak to grass.
"Quaxly Vamos!" Tulio stroked his hair before pulling a shocked face at seeing the Appletun he was battling.
"Use Headbutt!" Appletun launched her head forward.
"Dodge it!" Quaxly leaped into the air dodging the Headbutt.
"Wing Attack" Quaxly's wings glowed white smacking into Appletun.
"Use Bullet Seed!" Appletun fired a Bullet Seed hitting Quaxly for massive damage.
"Use Bullet Seed again!"
"Jump then Water Gun!" Quaxly jumped into the air dodging the Bullet Seed. Quaxly then went for Water Gun hitting Appletun on the back and launching him higher into the air.
"Dive then Wing Attack!"
"Dragon Tail!" Dragon Tail and Wing Attack collided in a white and green blast.
Tulio went flying back landing on the ground dizzy but still able to battle. Meanwhile, Appletun lay slumped on her side knocked out.
"Appletun is unable to battle Quaxly is the winner!"
"This has promise! Yes! Let us lead this artistic endeavor to its conclusion at once! Avant-garde Sudowoodo" Brassius shouted as he sent out Sudowoodo flinching as the Toxic Spikes dug into it.
"Allow me to touch this work up slightly! I will call it... "Truleewoodo"!" Brassius shouted pulling his tera orb out of his thorn belt and hurling it at Sudowoodo causing a bright burst of green light and a bouquet of crystal flowers to appear above its head.
"Now Sudowoodo use Trailblaze!" Sudowoodo hopped nimbly towards Quaxly.
"Dodge with Aqua Jet!" Quaxly shot past Sudowoodo dodging the Trailblaze.
"Use Copycat!" an aura of light appeared around Sudowoodo's body as he went for Aqua Jet slamming into Quaxly.
"Use Rock Throw"
"Jump then Water Gun!" Quaxly easily dodged the Rock Throw hitting Sudowoodo and launching himself forward.
"Dive then Wing Attack!"
"Use Copycat!" Quaxly and Sudowoodo slammed into each other with Wing Attack. When the dust cleared Sudowoodo was standing victorious over Tulio's fainted body flinching as the poison wore him down.
"Depende de ti ahora Wooper Vamos" Julianna shouted Salvador took the field still warn out from fighting Smoliv.
Julianna knew what she had to do she had to Terrastalize Wooper. Now was when the lack of preparation started to catch up to her she hadn't seen Salvador's Tera Type.
If it was Poison then she would have the type advantage.
If it was Ground type then she was screwed.
"Está bien Wooper time to Terrastalize!" Julianna pulled out her Tera Orb chucking it at Salvador who turned around to face it dinking her on the head.
A tremendous Mauve-colored light burst around Wooper a noxious-looking skull and crossbones appeared above Salvador's head.
Julianna sighed in relief thank god Salvador's Tera Type was Poison.
"Use Rock Throw!"
"Mud Shot" The two moves collided mid-air canceling each other out.
"Use Copycat!" Sudowoodo fired Mud Shot hitting Wooper slowing her down. Sudowoodo grimaced as another round of Poison ticked.
"Use Rock Throw!" Sudowoodo sent another Rock hurdling at Wooper. Julianna couldn't use Mud Shot since Sudowoodo would just use Copycat so she had to come up with a different strategy.
"Use Poison Tail on the Rock Throw!"
Wooper nodded hitting the Rock Throwback with Poison Tail, little purple sparkles flying everywhere the rock smacked into Sudowoodo causing another burst of purple sparkles.
"Use Copy Cat!" Sudowoodo went for Poison Tail sending Wooper flying backward.
"Now use Rock Throw!"
"Mud Shot" The Mud Shot and Rock Throw canceled each other out yet again.
"Use Copy Cat again!" Sudowoodo went for Mud Shot but this time Julianna was prepared.
"Poison Sting!" Wooper fired a flurry of extra bright Poison Stings sending the Mud Shot back into Sudowoodo's face.
"Now Poison Tail!" Wooper flew forward smacking Sudowoodo over the head with Poison Tail creating a burst of purple light.
With one final burst of green light, the bouquet on Sudowoodo's head exploded knocking him out.
"Sudowoodo is unable to battle Wooper is the winner the victory goes to Julianna"
"We did Salvador Julianna ran onto the field and picked up Wooper who hummed in response.
Oh! What artistic tactics you employ!"
"The patterns of your moves! The minute details of your Pokémon's performance! Everything you did was honed to perfection!"
"Our battle was, in a word, art! Indeed, if we could not call that a work of artistry, then nothing else in this world could be labeled as such!"
"If I were to judge your work, I would say it passes my inspection. Yes—a pass without exception!"
"As proof of your artistic prowess, you may have my Gym Badge! Shall we take a photo as well?"
After getting her photo and badge from Brassius Julianna stumbled her way out the doors barely thinking after that roller coaster of a gym battle.
"You did it!" Cherry and Nashi congratulated her.
"Ya barley"
"Would Cherry Sall please come forward?"
"Well that's my queue" Cherry sent out her Spritzee and walked into the gym
"Good luck!"
Julianna and Nashi sat down waiting for the battle to start.
"Why Will-o'-the-Wisp when already poisoned?" Nashi asked.
"Oh that's just my Charcadet not listening to me he has a habit of doing that"
"your Carbou is very disobedient," Nashi remarked it didn't take her long to figure out who Carbou was.
"Ya my mom got him to cope with my absence but he was too much for her to handle so she gave him to me"
Nashi's eyes lit up "Can I train him?"
Julianna was taken aback the shine in Nashi's eyes seemed so earnest she couldn't say no. Besides she did need help with training Rebelde if she wanted to get a hold of him.
"Sure when do you want to meet?"
"What about the sad Kimawari sculpture?" Julianna knew Nashi was talking about the sad-looking Sunflora sculpture that was in the center of town.
"Ya sure that sounds good when"
"After Friday's test, I need to study"
Julianna and Nashi sat down to watch Cherry's gym battle as the first match-up between Tandemaus and Smoliv began.
Julianna and Nashi sat like that too busy focusing on the battle to study their math up until Tandemaus knocked out Smoliv with Echoed Voice Brassius sending out his Appletun.
"Where are you from?" Nashi asked finally breaking the silence.
"Oh, um. I'm from Cabo Poco it's just down the road from the school"
"What about you?" Julianna asked back awkwardly.
"Kikyō City"
"Sorry but I don't speak Johtoan do you know what it's called in Paldean?"
"Um, it's V, Vi, V, Vi-o, V-io-let City!" Nashi pulled out his phone his home screen was a picture of him and his Dunsparce in front of the Sprout Tower.
"Oh, that's cool is it nice in Violet city?" Julianna glanced up at the TV Appletun defeated Tandemaus with Headbutt Spritzee taking their place.
"Very calm very boring don't do much but explore dark caves"
"Oh, is that where you meet your Dunsparce they live in caves right?"
"Yes, yes my father said like 1 p-per-percent chance to find one" Nashi let Dunsparce out of his Pokeball the land snake Pokémon curled up happily in his arm.
Julianna was enamored by how caring Nashi was to his Pokémon gently petting Dunsparce's scaly hide and gently whispering words in Johtoan to comfort him.
"Like I said very calm in Kikyō City very boring that's why I transfer here to Paldea"
"Understandable Cabo Poco is very boring at times too but I guess that I've always been fine with that"
"I see my parents think like that it's why they never left" Nashi smiled at Julianna. God, that smile seemed so infectious Julianna couldn't help but smile back.
"I'm I interrupting something?" someone sneered from behind them. Julianna turned around to see Nemona standing there as if she had just teleported behind her beside her Floragato stood with a confident stance.
"Oh no, Nemona me, and Nashi were just watching Cherry's Gym Battle Julianna pointed to the TV where it was a Tera Fighting Pancham against Sudowoodo.
"Muy chula! l I love watching Gym battles Nashi's Pounce and Glare strategy and your Toxic Spikes strategy were like so cool!" Nemona gushed Julianna and Nashi both looked at each other with concerned looks. How the hell did Nemona know how their gym battles went when they just happened like 10 minutes ago?
Julianna watched as Pancham took out Sudowoodo with a Tera-boosted Low Sweep giving Cherry the victory.
"Speaking of battles how about we see how much your guy's skills have improved let's battle!"
"No, no, no, no, no battle my team is still v-very tired from the gym battle" Nashi stuttered returning Dunsparce to his Pokeball eyes darting around terrified at the prospect of facing Nemona.
"What about you Julianna?"
"I would love to but my team and I are still worn out. But, me and Nashi are meeting by the Sunflora statue to train tomorrow after our test I would love to battle you there"
"Asombrosa! all be there I'm going to be looking forward to it all night!" Nemona squealed.
"Anyways I got to get going Kofu promised me a rematch and I'm going to make sure that he upholds his promise!" Nemona ran out of the Cortondo gym as quickly as she came she was gone her Floragato trailing her.
"Sheesh, that girl has a firecracker in her stomach" Cherry quipped as she walked out of the arena badge and photo in hand.
"She is very active she never stops moving" Nashi added "Don't know why J-Jul-Juliana wants to battle her"
"Good question Nashi why do you want to battle her?"
"Well I don't want to tell her no my mother always told me to be kind to people you know"
"Crash!" with a loud thud something slammed into the earth nearby.
"What the hell was that"
"Julianna, Nashi, Cherry" Florian suddenly burst through the gym doors clearly out of breath.
"Some giant Bombirdier is dropping rocks all around Cortondo I think it's the next Titan Pokémon!"
End Credit Song-Broken Ocean-Bronze Radio Return.
Bit of a shorter chapter focusing on Julianna I feel she's the character I've developed the least.
Will be seeing more of her in the upcoming sort of mini-arc with all the stuff that happens between gym two and three.
Also about the DLC since that was announced midway through writing this chapter the DLC story whatever they turn out to be won't be included I hope to be done with the story before they come out although knowing me unlikely perhaps all include them in a follow-up : 0
We will be seeing Walking Wake and Iron Leaves though I already had roles picked out for them before they were revealed so look forward to that :)