A/N: For today's chapter, we're gonna skip ahead a few generations and follow Gloria, as she and Marnie struggle in their own way to accept themselves when nude.

Enjoy!

Chapter 7: Gloria is a Nudist!

After the opening ceremonies, all of the gym leaders and trial captains, both nude and fully-clothed, were escorted to the hotel or resort of their choice.

For Marnie, the newly-instated gym leader of Spikemuth in the Galar region, and her plus one, Gloria, the current Galar Pokémon League Champion, they both decided to share a room at the tall, menacing Nuda Castle that overlooked almost the entirety of Nuda Island.

They were led to their room by Drasna, a member of the Kalos Elite Four. Like with most everyone else on the island, she was completely naked, wearing only her bracelets made from dragon tusks.

"Here we are!" she said, happily, leading the two into their room.

Gloria, wide-eyed with excitement, ran into the room and awed at the intricately detailed chamber. The walls were adorned with rich tapestries depicting legendary Pokémon, particularly Eternatus, Zacian, Zamazenta, and the legendary birds.

The two four-poster beds dominated the room, draped in luxurious crimson and gold fabrics and covered in lush bedsheets, again adorned with the legendary Pokémon of the Galar region. The wooden furniture, carved with delicate patterns of flora and fauna, added to the medieval ambiance.

"How do you like the room?" asked Drasna.

"Oh, it's brilliant!" exclaimed Gloria.

Gloria darted to the fireplace, where an ornate mantle held an array of antique vases and trinkets. "Look at this, Marnie!" she exclaimed, picking up a small, wooden figure of Morpeko. "Everything here is like something out of a fairy tale!"

Marnie, still red in the face from earlier, glanced around the room and gave a noncommittal grunt, her eyes looking off to the side, trying to avoid looking at the naked Drasna.

Gloria ran to the window and threw it open. The view was breathtaking, with the lush and varied landscape of Nuda Island stretching out before them. "Look, Marnie, you can see everything from up here!" Gloria said, excitedly. "Rivers and mountains and forests! This island has everything!"

"Mmm-hmm," Marnie replied.

"So I take it the room is to your liking?" Drasna asked.

"Oh, it's wonderful!" praised Gloria.

"I'm glad to hear it," replied Drasna. "I'm sure Cynthia and the others will be pleased to hear it too."

Drasna then turned her attention to the tomato-red Marnie, who had her eyes locked to the floor. "What about you, sweetie?" Drasna asked.

Drasna tried to look Marnie in the eye, but every time she peered into her eyes, Marnie simply looked away, too embarrassed to look at her. "Are you alright?" Drasna asked, somewhat teasing her. "Do you have a fever?"

"Could you just…leave?" Marnie asked as politely as she could.

"Marnie!" scolded Gloria.

"Oh, it's alright," Drasna said, smiling, "I understand. She's not the only one paralyzed with fear about getting nude in front of others."

Drasna approached Marnie gently. "You know, Marnie," she said, kindly, "you don't have to be so nervous. Nudism is really quite liberating. I feel so at peace and relaxed! You should really give it a try, at least for a little bit."

Marnie's eyes widened, and she shook her head vigorously, still avoiding direct eye contact with Drasna. "N-no thanks," she stammered, her cheeks flushing even deeper.

Gloria was stunned to see Marnie act so frazzled and nervous, a complete departure from her usual cool demeanor.

Drasna remained undeterred. "It's completely normal to feel a bit apprehensive at first," she said, "but trust me, everyone here is very accepting and non-judgmental. You might find it to be a freeing experience."

Marnie swallowed hard, her gaze fixed on the walls. "I…I d-doubt that very much," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Drasna nodded understandingly and backed away from her. "Okay, well, I won't force you to join in if you're not comfortable," she said. "If by tomorrow morning, you're still not okay with it, you can board the ferry boat back to the mainland."

"Can I not leave now?!" Marnie asked, frantically.

Drasna chuckled softly. "I'm afraid the next ferry won't arrive until tomorrow morning."

Marnie groaned internally, feeling trapped. She glanced over at Gloria, who looked back at her with concern in her eyes.

Drasna smiled warmly at the two girls. "Well, I'll leave you to get settled. If you need anything, just let someone know," she said, turning to leave.

As soon as the door closed, Marnie let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Blimey, that was far too much for me to handle," she sighed.

Marnie simply walked over to her bed and collapsed face-down on top.

Gloria watched Marnie with a mixture of sympathy and amusement. She had never seen her friend so flustered before. It was both concerning, but oddly endearing, to see another side of her friend.

Gloria sat down right beside her.

"Come on, Marnie," Gloria said, trying to lighten the mood. "It can't be that bad. We're here to have fun, remember?"

Marnie lifted her head from the pillow and shot Gloria a skeptical look. "Fun? This is your idea of fun? Did you not see everyone going starkers?! Just like that!"

Gloria thought back to the welcome ceremony back at the Haveno town square, where the Champions got on stage and disrobed in front of everyone. Then most everyone else got naked, practically throwing their clothes up into the air.

The sight of it surprised Gloria, but apparently not as much as it did for Marnie.

"It was quite the shock, wasn't it?" replied Gloria. "But I mean, it's only us girls here. We got the same parts and all. So, is it really that embarrassing?"

"It's not proper!" snapped Marnie. "It's madness is what it is."

"Or maybe," Gloria replied, nervously, "there is more to this nudie thing than we think."

Marnie raised an eyebrow at Gloria. "More to it? Like what?" she asked, skepticism dripping from her words.

Gloria hesitated, realizing she had struck a nerve with Marnie. "Well, I don't know," she admitted, feeling a bit uncertain herself. "But I don't think we should just shoot it down so quickly. There must be a reason why the other gym leaders enjoy it so much."

Marnie shook her head, still unconvinced. "Because they're all complete mental cases," she stated firmly.

Gloria sighed, as she was running out of things to say to Marnie to try and calm her down.

Gloria plopped down in the bed beside Marnie and stared up at the ceiling. Her mind began to wander, trying to come up with something to ease the tension between them.

Marnie, picking herself up from her pillow, turned to face Gloria. She looked forlorn and miserable. "You alright?" Marnie asked.

"Hmm? Sure, I'm fine," Gloria replied.

But Marnie could tell that Gloria wasn't fine. And she probably knew what it was.

"You want to go starkers too, don't you?" she asked, bluntly.

Gloria gulped, her face turning red. "Uh! N-no! What gave you that idea?!"

Marnie raised an eyebrow, unfazed by Gloria's denial. "Come on, Gloria," she said, her voice softening slightly. "I can see it in your eyes."

Gloria cleared her throat. She knew she couldn't hide her thoughts from Marnie. "Alright, maybe I'm…a little curious about it," she admitted, her cheeks still flushed.

Marnie frowned, still conflicted. "I don't get it!" she said, sternly. "What's so great about being naked in front of everyone?"

"Well, it's just…"

Gloria hesitated, trying to find the right words. She then thought back to a special moment she had during her Pokémon journey to become a Galar League Champion.

"One time," she began, cautiously, "when I was in Circhester, I battled against Melony's Ice-type Pokémon. Afterwards, she offered to go with me to the public bath they have there. But I didn't know it was the kind of place where everyone just walked around with their bits out."

Marnie's eyes widened in surprise at Gloria's confession. She hadn't expected her friend, the confident and composed Pokémon Champion, to have any interest in nudism, even if it was just a slight curiosity.

"So you're already a nudie," she said.

"N-No, not quite," Gloria continued, "perhaps it's not exactly the same as it is here, but it felt rather…nice."

"Nice?" questioned Marnie.

"It's just, everyone was very friendly. We all just enjoyed being nude in the hot water, relaxing, and not worrying about anything. It was quite liberating. And…I didn't hate it like I thought I would. So maybe it wouldn't be bad to try it out here with everyone else."

Marnie considered Gloria's words, her expression softening a bit. "I guess that would explain why Melony was so quick to undress," she said.

Gloria laughed. Out of all of the Galar region gym leaders, Melony was the only one who joined in the nudist fun right away.

Marnie hesitated, her brows furrowing as she mulled over Gloria's suggestion. "I don't know, Gloria," she said, worriedly, "it's just...such a weird thing to do."

"Come on, Marnie," Gloria said, gently encouraging her. "Let's give it a go, even for a little bit. We can do this together, step-by-step!"

Marnie looked Gloria in the eye and immediately fell for her puppy-dog eyes and kind smiling face. It was the kind of face she couldn't say "no" to.

"Oh alright," she sighed, "b-but just for a little bit. And if I don't like it, we both have to stop!"

"Fair enough," agreed Gloria. "I know! We can start small. Maybe we'll just try it in the room first. Then we can go outside if we're feeling confident about it!"

"Uh, sure, okay," agreed Marnie. She was starting to be a bit more open to the idea of nudism, but there was no way she was going to go outside.

Gloria and Marnie both stood up from their beds and faced each other. "Remember, baby steps," reminded Gloria. "We'll take turns taking something off until we're both completely naked."

"Okay," nodded Marnie.

They each waited for the other to start getting undressed. Gloria was hoping that Marnie would go first, but she was so nervous that she couldn't move a muscle.

"I'll go first!" Gloria volunteered, sparing her friend embarrassment.

Gloria took a deep breath…and took her tam-o-shanter hat off her head, flinging it onto her bed. "There we are," she said.

But Marnie just glared at her, unsatisfied with the cop-out.

"Hehe, I suppose that doesn't count, does it?" she laughed nervously. "Alright then."

Gloria reached down and undid the large brown buttons on her gray wool coat. She slid it off and tossed it on her bed on top of her hat. Now she was left in a dark pink dress. "Your turn now," she told Marnie.

"Very well," she replied.

Marnie took off her black leather jacket and, mirroring Gloria's moves, threw it on top of her bed. Like Gloria, Marnie also had on a pink dress, though hers was a lighter shade.

Gloria was so used to seeing her in her leather jacket that it was unusual seeing her in only a dress. "You should wear dresses more often," she said, happily. "They look cute on you."

Marnie gasped and her face turned red. She still wasn't used to being called cute. "T-thank you," she stammered. "Anyway, it's your turn now."

The two then continued going back-and-forth, taking off a single article of clothing until they left in their underwear.

"Look at that!" joked Gloria. "Look at us in our knickers!"

"Y-yeah, funny," murmured Marnie.

Gloria looked down at Marnie's body. Marnie had her arms crossed over her belly, her face flushed yet again at standing in only her underwear.

But while Gloria's bra and panties were rather plain, she was surprised to see Marnie's was bright and colorful. There were even frills all along the edges, and a tiny Morpeko at the helm of it.

"I never thought you'd be into such vibrant undergarments," she said, teasing her a bit.

Marnie, mortified, covered her underwear with her hands. "No, no! That's not a bad thing!" Gloria said, frantically. "It's just unexpected. It looks adorable on you."

For a moment, it was quiet between the two. They just stood there, red in face, standing in the room in their underwear. They both knew what was going to happen next.

"How are you feeling?" Gloria asked, kindly.

"…odd," Marnie replied, hesitating for a moment.

"Do you want to stop here?"

To Gloria's surprise, Marnie nodded her head. "We've gone this far, haven't we?" she asked. "Might as well finish the job."

Gloria smiled, feeling a mix of relief and pride at Marnie's determination. "Alright then," she said softly.

She then reached behind to the back of her bra. She took a deep breath and, in one swift motion, unhooked it, allowing it to fall to the floor.

Marnie gasped upon seeing Gloria's bare breasts now free from their undergarment prison.

Without a moment of hesitation, Gloria then slid her panties, letting them down to her ankles. She quickly kicked them off her bare feet, flinging it across the room.

Now completely naked, she looked at Marnie with an encouraging smile.

"Ta-da!" she cheered, spreading her arms to give Marnie a complete view of her body.

Marnie couldn't help looking at everything, admiring Gloria's petite body, from her small but perky breasts to her tight waist and nearly-groomed brown pubic hair.

Marnie gulped, her hands shaking slightly. "W-well, I guess it wouldn't be fair now for me to stop," she stammered.

Marnie then reached behind to unhook her own bra. It took several deep breaths, but eventually, Marnie snapped the hook, allowing her vibrant-colored bra to fall to the floor. Running on high adrenaline, Marnie then slipped off her Morpeko panties.

Finally, after much encouragement and hesitation, the two girls were nude, sans for the choker around Marnie's neck.

"There we go," Gloria said gently, giving her friend a reassuring smile. "Now we're both nudies!"

"We…we sure are," Marnie said, her voice trembling slightly. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to get used to the feeling of being completely naked.

The two stood there in silence, jumping between looking at each other's naked bodies and looking at the ceiling or the walls of the room.

Gloria was hypnotized by Marnie's body. The closest she ever got to seeing her true figure was when Marnie was wearing her skin-tight gym leader clothes. Without her clothes on, Gloria was surprised to see Marnie's hips were quite pronounced. Despite what Marnie thought of herself, her bust was fairly perky, giving them a nice cup size. She was even more surprised that Marnie had no hair in her nether regions.

"See? It's not so bad," Gloria said, her tone light and encouraging.

Marnie nodded, trying to believe it. But the arms around her chest suggested she was still unsure about how to feel about being nude in public. "It's…not as bad as I thought," she admitted, "it's just so...different."

"It is," Gloria agreed, "but we're doing this together, right?"

Marnie looked at Gloria, her expression softening. "I suppose so," she said, her voice more steady now.

She didn't want to admit it, but doing this with Gloria made her feel more at ease.

"I'm still not ready to go outside like this yet," she said.

"That's alright," Gloria said. "We'll stay here in the room until you're ready."

Marnie let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you," she murmured.

…

…

…

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Suddenly, a horrendously loud screeching noise filled the air. Gloria and Marnie covered their ears as things around their room shuffled in place, some even falling off the fireplace mantle.

"What the…bloody hell is this racket?!" exclaimed Gloria, nearly letting out her inner angry Scot.

"It sounds like it's coming from outside," Marnie said, running to the door.

She opened the door, careful to only stick her head out. At that moment, she saw a fully-dressed Fantina running down the hallway and down the stairs to the main foyer. She too was confused by the sudden noise.

Marnie only had their door opened a little bit so as to not expose her naked body to anyone outside.

"So, what is that noise?!" asked Gloria.

Gloria pushed past Marnie, knocking her down, and ran outside to see what was going on.

"Gloria! Get back in here!" scolded Marnie.

Gloria, having not heard Marnie, looked over the railing and peered down the staircase to see what was going. Marnie got up on her feet and grabbed Gloria by the hand. "Gloria! We're nude outside!" she said, worriedly.

Then, as soon as it appeared, the music suddenly died down. The castle hallways were quiet once more.

"Huh," said Gloria, "well that was rather odd, wasn't it? Even Piers' music isn't that ghastly."

"Yes, yes, whatever!" Marnie shouted, frantically. "Now let's get back in the room before someone sees us like this!"

Just then, the door to their room slammed shut. Marnie's mouth dropped upon hearing a loud KERCHUNK! She jumped to the door and tried to open the door to go back inside. She jiggled the knob and even tried slamming her shoulder into the door, but it wouldn't budge.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no," she panicked. "It's locked! We can't go back."

Gloria only stared as Marnie tried everything to unlock their door. "Oh dear," she murmured.

"Oh buggers! Now we're stuck outside! And in the nude!" Marnie said, her voice quivering.

Gloria gulped. "Well," she said, "I suppose we're gonna have to give outdoor nudism a chance now!"

Marnie's voice quivered as her face turned red and steam practically came out of her ears, horrified at the prospect of being naked around others.

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N: I'll be honest, I had Gloria and Marnie's story thought up for a good while now, so I'm happy to have finally finished it and presented to you fine lot.

Next time…I'm not sure. We could be finishing the story with Marnie and Gloria, or checking in on a Unova gym leader.

We'll just have to wait and see!