Because my match was directly after Mari's, I was not able to watch Mari's match. I was sitting in the preparation room with Lexy and Estelle out.

'Well, it's time. We've trained hard for this.' I told them, wishing I were better at speeches.

'Don't worry, Trainer. We are strong!' Lexy told me seriously.

'For once, the lizard is right. You are fretting over frivolous things before our match. We will win, I am confident.' Estelle ignore Lexy's glare at the word lizard.

I had to smile at such Lexy and Estelle interaction. 'Since when have you two become so wise.'

Then, it was our turn. I returned the both of them to their Pokeballs and walked the narrow hallway that leads to the battlefield in the middle of the stadium. I met Mari halfway, who had smile on her face that could only meant she won, though there were mixed emotions churning in her eyes. I didn't think much of that, I couldn't. She would be headed back to the preparation room now, to do paperwork (which meant she couldn't watch my match), while I'll be headed my very first gym battle. Stepping onto the battlefield, I realized that there were a quite few more trainers who had turned up. The seats were almost half filled. Looking up, I spotted Ronnie on the bleachers, seated next to a blonde hair girl. Catching my eye, she gave me a half smirk, and I looked away, to Finnick, who was waving at me.

'State your name, Challenger,' Denise, standing across the battlefield, said.

'I am Cara Young and I challenge the Petalburg gym.' I spoke into the mic that was connected to a stylish headphone. Every other headphones I wore before in my entire life seemed hellbent on sliding off right after I put it on. I'm glad this one was staying, for now.

'…Pokemon League?' Denise was saying.

'What?' I was distracted by the crowd, and the blonde girl putting her arm around Ronnie, who were part of the crowd really. So I was just distracted by the crowd. But I completely missed Denise's question. Then I realized she must be reciting the declaration. 'I mean, I do.' I stammered to the faint amusement from Denise and the crowd.

'Then, Cara, let's see your first Pokemon!' Denise commanded.

I released Estelle, who entered the battlefield in her own dignified sort of way. Denise checked her Pokedex, which must have contained the levels of my Pokemon. She then released a small dog with dark blue top coat and a brown undercoat. A Herdier. In the back of my mind, I dimly remembered that Herdier evolved from Lillipup at level 16. Wow, I didn't realized Estelle was so high leveled. Then I realized Kirlia evolved at level 20. I should check on my Pokemon's levels more often. I wondered if I was over training my Pokemon, because level 20 was high for a first gym battle. Shaking the thought out of my head (I will worry about that later), I focused on the battle.

'Estelle, double team.' Estelle immediately produce copies of herself on the battlefield.

'Herdier, you know what to do.' Denise said with a barely audible sigh, as if she was disappointed.

I realized the Herdier was sniffing the air. Could he actually tell the difference between the real and fake Estelles by scent alone? Not wanting to chance it, I order Estelle to fire a Confusion. The Herdier seemed to be able to sense the Confusion attack, much like Lexy did when I first met Estelle. It jumped sideways to dodge the attack, but the attack knocked into one of the back paw, sending it crashing.

'Crunch!' Denise ordered.

It scrambled onto its paws, crash through a few flickering fake copies and open its mouth to deliver an attack that would be devasting to Estelle. Thankfully, Estelle had Teleported away without prompt.

'Thunderbolt.' I had no choice but to use my trump card. I had to take it out before it got lucky and mange to land a Crunch attack.

The bolt of lightning illuminated Denise's face, which flickered with surprise for a second. The bolt hit the dog, only for it to shake it off, its dark blue fur crackling with electricity. Damn, the topcoat must be protecting the dog from attacks.

'Crunch, again.'

'Estelle, aim confusion for its side, then Thunderbolt at its belly.'

My idea was to knock it over and hit the dog at its unprotected underbelly. And it worked, beautifully, with Estelle's execution. The dog yelped and stayed down, indicating that the battle was over. I smiled, the heat of the battle getting to me now. I could actually win this!

I withdrew Estelle. While there were gym battle rules differ from gym to gym, most gym did not have a rule where we would need to use a new Pokemon after each round. Of course, defeated Pokemon could not be used again, like the Herdier. Substitution during the battle itself was not allowed unless state beforehand. Estelle could have stayed on to battle the next opponent, but I liked to give all my Pokemons a turn during the Gym battle.

'Not bad, newbie,' Denise admitted into my ear. Apparently, there was a private channel in which her words were not broadcasted to the audience. But I was given no instructions beyond 'put this one and press this button' and I had no idea how to reply to Denise. She gave me no chance, however. 'Let's see how you deal with this.'

She released a strange deer looking Pokemon as I released Lexy. The deer well-muscled and actually towered above Lexy, which was an accomplishment. It had the most magnificent antlers. The intricate detail of this particular Pokemon made it looked majestic, as if it was a king and all should bow down to it. The purple orbs at the center was – too late I realized that this Pokemon was a Stantler. It out a Stomp on Lexy who was entranced by its antlers and could not dodge. He let out a cry of pain that jarred me back to my senses. This must have been a particularly powerful Stantler, for I could hear many of the audience, who were so far away from the battlefield, oohing and ahhing at it.

'Lexy, I need you to trust me,' I told Lexy, who gave me a look that clearly states don't I always? 'Close your eyes and run towards the Stantler.'

'Zoe, get ready to Stomp.' Denise told the Stantler.

As Lexy neared, Zoe reared on her back leg, muscular front legs readying for a stomp.

'Headbutt, then Twister!' I ordered.

Lexy rolled underneath the airborne front legs and Headbutt Zoe, causing the deer to flail backwards. Lexy then let out a Twister from right under Zoe. The Stantler was caught in the resulting whirlwind of rocks and sand from the battlefield.

'Ember!'

Lexy blew a small stream of fire into the vortex, adding to the chaotic vortex, where Zoe's whinnies of pain could be heard. After the churning died down, the deer was toss violently onto the ground. Blood smeared across the battlefield and it was badly burn in patches. Denise returned Zoe, conceding the match to me. I heaved a sigh of relief. A dead Pokemon would not be able to return to the Pokeball. Zoe's injuries, however bad, could be treated at the nearby Pokemon Center. For a second, I thought I had gone too far.

'Very good, newbie. I'll be watching out for you and your gigantic Bagon now.' Denise said in the private channel. The look on her face says that she knew exactly how dangerously close I was to crossing a line. I winced. It was not a good idea to have a gym leader on your bad side. 'Congratulations, Cara Young. You have earned the Balance Badge!' Denise's voice boomed across the stadium.

Later, in the preparation room, Mari and I sat side by side, my thoughts in a chaotic whirl, not unlike the Twister that caused the mix of emotion. I spotted Denise. I was thinking about whether I should approach her when she walked towards me.

'I'm sorry!' I blurted out. It was worse, knowing the name of the Pokemon I almost obliterated on the battlefield. 'I almost, I shouldn't have, I almost killed –'

At the same time, Mari burst out. 'I'm sorry! I didn't know what came over me! I shouldn't have –'

Mari and I glanced at each other in surprise. Denise regarded the both of us solemnly for a moment.

'I was going to say something about that, but it seemed like you've already learnt your lesson.' She said at last. I open my mouth to say, what I did not know. But she held up her hand.

'Accidents happen all the time in gym battles, you wouldn't be the first, if you had, to kill another person's Pokemon in a gym battle. But I wouldn't wish the emotional burden on someone who just started their journey. I can see the potential in you both. And every great trainer has an arduous journey ahead; what life throws at you, and the decisions you have to make. I hope you know where to draw the line, and have better control of your Pokemons. I'll be watching the both of you now.' She said, not unkindly.

With those parting words, she left the room to us to stew. The moment did not last, for the gym leader had forgiven us. And we won a badge! It feels official, that we are Pokemon trainers now. Mari and I grinned at each other.