"Gurdurr, Brick Break!"

The Fighting-type lunged at Houndoom, and even though the move hadn't landed yet, Anya sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth. This was it and she knew it, at least for this battle. Brick Break made contact, Gurdurr's arm coming down hard on Houndoom's head. Houndoom fell to the ground, the battle lost, and Anya's shoulders relaxed.

"You did a great job," she said, plastering on a smile for the excited challenger and winner of the battle. "You're pretty strong. Here, this is for you." Anya took something out of her pocket, a shiny black badge, and handed it to the challenger. "This is the Shadow Badge. Hang onto it, okay? Maybe we'll see you at the League one day."

"Thank you!" the young challenger called, running off with their Gurdurr and their bag.

Anya sighed, her smile disappearing. It was never real, anyway, just a show for the challengers. The perks of having a public facing job, she guessed. Thankfully, that would be the last challenger for a while, if the last few days were anything to go by. Black City didn't get many challengers. Some would say it was just because the city was so far out of the way, but Anya knew the real reason.

"Think we're done for the day?" Lionel, her cousin and one of her very few Gym Trainers, asked as he went to reset the dance floor that served as the Gym's puzzle.

"I have a League meeting soon, yeah." Anya sighed, fixing one of her long white pigtails. She actually liked going to the Unova League meetings; it was a nice excuse to see some of the people she actually liked—she'd gotten friendly with some of the younger Gym Leaders— and it was a good distraction from everything going on in the city. "You think you and Tom can handle everything here?"

"You got it." Lionel frowned seeing Anya's expression. "No one gave you any trouble today, did they?"

"No, I haven't even left the Gym."

Lionel nodded, though his face said he was still worried. He had a habit of worrying too much about her, Anya thought. Yeah, maybe he had a right to be—the people of Black City weren't exactly shy about their feelings on the new Gym Leader—but still. Anya stepped off the short podium she stood on during battles, fixing her hair until it looked halfway decent again. "I'm serious, Lionel, I'll be fine."

"Okay. Just be safe. It's not exactly a secret, you know." Lionel glanced off to the side, out the front window of the Gym, and Anya nodded in agreement. While not too violent, thank Arceus, the people of Black City weren't shy about their dislike of her and her Dark-types. In the week she'd been leading this city's Gym, she'd heard it all: evil, a menace, from Giratina. It was a lot, even for her, but Anya tried not to take it too personally. It was just a cultural thing, she told herself; every region had a bad view of Dark-type Pokemon. Even Galar, the only region besides Unova with an official Dark-type Gym, was still coming around to the idea. Surely with a little bit of patience, things would be okay here.

Then again… less negative PR would be nice.

"I've got to go. You know what the press is gonna say if I'm late." Anya huffed, grabbing her helmet, backpack, and riding gloves. She left the Gym, relieved to find that her motorcycle had been left undamaged while it was parked outside. Swinging one leg over the side and getting settled on the bike, Anya flipped her visor over her face and got to riding. It was a long way to the Pokemon League building, after all.

The drive there was nicer than Anya had expected. The streets were somewhat quiet, leaving Anya free to think as the gentle roar of her motorcycle filled her ears. As she checked for other cars and sped through the streets, Anya's mind drifted to Black City again. She wanted to earn their trust. She wanted them to like her the way other cities liked their Gym Leaders. Anya understood that the city wasn't a monolith—there were some people who liked her, even if they were in the very small minority—but still. She'd seen the negative things the press managed to craft about her: a flippant teenager, a delinquent with no sense of what real responsibility was. It hurt. She'd worked hard to master her specialty, and Anya had no intention of backing off just because the city didn't think she was good enough.

But then… what if she could never prove herself? What if the people of Black City hated her forever just because she used Dark-types? The question left an empty feeling in Anya's chest. Dark-types weren't all bad. She'd spent years defending them to anyone who would listen. Sure, the many Dark-type specialists in different regions' Elite Four had improved the type's optics slightly, but people were still so determined to believe the worst. It broke Anya's heart a little bit, if she was being honest.

Her grip tightened on the bike's handlebars. She wouldn't back down. Anya would prove herself, come hell or high water, and she would be damned if she let anyone's perception of her throw her off. She just had to find a way to actually prove herself.

Anya finally pulled up to the building where the Unova League meetings were held, parking her bike nearby as she removed her helmet and gloves and stuffed them in her backpack. Thankfully the rest of her was dressed just fine for an event like this—a black leather jacket, white tank top, tight black jeans, and black boots. Some might call it inappropriate for a work meeting, but Anya didn't care. If Elesa could wear what she wore and not get in trouble, then Anya would be just fine.

As Anya found the three entrances at the front—the middle for the Elite Four challenge, the left for something Anya wasn't sure of, and the right for the League's meeting room—and walked off to the room she needed, she looked around. Most of the other Gym Leaders had already shown up; Anya could see Skyla and Elesa flirting (not very discreetly, but who was looking?), while Roxie and Chili were engaged in some kind of heated debate. Anya grinned; out of all the younger Gym Leaders, she'd clicked with Roxie the fastest. They had a lot in common, after all, and they were close to the same age.

Anya approached the small group, consisting of Roxie, Chili, and his brothers. Roxie noticed her first, going over to hug her and dragging her over to the others. Anya tried to pay attention to what they were talking about—Roxie and Chili were arguing about something, Cress was taking Roxie's side, and Cilan had apparently abstained from the argument entirely. Normally Anya would join in, but today she just didn't have it in her. She had other things on her mind, thoughts that just wouldn't leave her alone.

The Unova League meeting went by quickly. Anya stayed quiet, idly playing with her pigtails and braiding little strands of hair as she listened to Iris talking. Admittedly, Anya didn't know much about Iris; all she knew was that she had been the former Opelucid Gym Leader before challenging Alder for the title and winning. Still, for someone so young, maybe younger than Anya if she had to guess, Anya thought Iris was doing a great job. As the Champion kept talking, mostly just going over the numbers for certain Gyms and win/loss records—Anya grimaced seeing her own sparse numbers—it became clear that this was just a meeting to ensure all the Gyms were running as intended. There also seemed to be an element of making sure no one in the Gyms was involved in any shady business. (One could never be too sure, after all; no one wanted a Team Rocket situation.)

Anya spent most of the meeting lost in thought, trying to come up with some grand plan to prove herself to the people of Black City. Though she did try to pay attention to the goings on of the meeting and keep up with what was being said, she found herself quickly getting distracted. There had to be something she could do, something she could do or say to get the people of Black City to respect her the same way they would respect Clay or Drayden. Anya just had to find it, and once she found it, then maybe she would—

"Hey." Roxie poked her shoulder a few times in a clear attempt for her attention. "Earth to Anya, we're gonna get some food. You in?"

Anya looked up, noticing Roxie and Chili standing close to her. "Oh, uh, no thanks. I'll catch up with you guys later, maybe." She smiled as she got up from her chair. Chili looked like he wanted to argue, maybe convince her to come with them, but Roxie dragged him away before he could protest. Anya looked around the League room before something finally hit her.

Clay.

She could ask Clay, see what he thought about the whole Black City situation. There were rumors that he wasn't even from Unova, just like her. Granted, she was from Kalos and Clay was rumored to be from Hoenn, but still. Everyone, both in Driftveil City and the rest of Unova, respected him almost as much as they did Iris or even Drayden. Maybe Clay had some insight Anya was missing.

She stood up from her chair, approaching the Ground-type specialist slowly. Clay seemed to hear her before she got too close, turning around with the same flask he brought to most League meetings in his hand. "Hrmph! Whaddaya want?" His voice was gruff, but something about him told Anya he meant no real harm.

"Actually, I, uh…" Anya trailed off, trying to find the words. "I wanted to ask for your insight on something, if you don't mind. You're from Hoenn, right?"
Clay laughed, grinning at the younger Gym Leader. "Slateport City, born and raised. Lived there my whole life before coming here to Driftveil. What about it?"
"Well, I'm sure you've heard about the Black City situation." Anya sighed; even just talking about it hurt a little bit. "I just wanted to get your advice. I really want the people there to come around, and I want to earn their respect, but I just don't know how. Everyone there is so stubborn, and they don't—"

Clay cleared his throat loudly, stopping Anya before she could go on any further. His eyes were hard as he looked at her, seeming to see into her soul without even trying. Clay watched Anya for a bit longer, the gears in his head turning, before he clapped his free hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes with a hard glare.

"Yer not gonna get it if you don't start doing shit to earn it." Clay paused for a second. "I've been watching the situation, and I know yer tryin'—and that's damn good. Nobody ever got nowhere by sittin' around doin' nothin'," he added, pausing again to take a swig of his drink. "Words are damn cheap, y'understand? A man ain't nothing if not his actions. I've heard ya say you care about those people, but ya need to show 'em that if ya ever want to get anywhere with 'em. Understand? Make your mark on that city and don't let anyone take it away from ya."

Anya took in the words quietly, absorbing the meaning. Much as she hated to admit it, Clay was right. Maybe she did need to take action.

"Yes, sir." She smiled, nodding. "I understand."

"Attagirl." Clay removed his hand from her shoulder, taking another swig from his flask. "You stay out of trouble, now, you understand? Have a safe trip back."

"You too." Anya smiled as she walked out of the Unova League building, heading straight for her motorcycle. As she put her helmet and gloves back on, her mind was racing with ideas about what she could do to show the people she cared. Maybe she could run a community event, like a concert or something. She was a DJ at the club her Gym was in, maybe she could set up a concert or something and get a few people together. It would be fun, and maybe she could do something good for the community at the same time.

The drive back to Black City was as calm as the drive there, thankfully. Though it was getting dark outside, Anya was too busy thinking of possible events to care. She had a plan, and she was going to—

Anya's train of thought halted in its tracks as she noticed something in the sky. She pulled over to the side of the road, flipping her visor up to get a better view as her eyes widened.

The storm wasn't supposed to go anywhere important. She'd heard about the storm traveling through Unova, but the news had said it wasn't supposed to hit any major areas. It wasn't supposed to go anywhere important. And yet here it was, heading straight for Black City.

Anya jumped back on her bike, her heart pounding out of her chest. Fucking hell. She had to get back to the city, right now. She didn't care if the people wanted her there or not, she was going to help however she could. She was the Gym Leader, after all.

Show 'em you care, Clay had told her. Anya fully intended to do so.