Hurrah. This is more effort put into a work that nobody will read.

…

I had lost.

There was no denying it.

As Glalie lay amongst the rocks, his ice shell shattered, I sighed and took off my hood. Slowly, the hailstorm dissipated, and the Nosepass was shown wobbling slightly as it flew down.

Saving that observation for later, I got out my pokeball and pressed the button. The heavy weight of the pokeball, without the playful shakes and silent buzzing of energy that usually signified a conscious pokemon, quenched the last hopes that I had.

Slowly, I looked up across the field.

"Challenger, show your next pokemon." Roxanne said, pointing her fingers towards me from across the arena. "I admire your tenacity. If your next pokemon is of the same quality as the first, then perhaps you do have me on the ropes."

I looked at the rock type pokemon in front of me, and at the last pokeball in my pockets. I was, obviously, much too poor to afford a belt. Despite the shaking, and despite the irrational thoughts of the Wurmple within probably believing that they could take the rock type pokemon that didn't even need to evolve to destroy Glalie, I sighed.

I looked back up. The arena was cluttered with the signs of battle. Boulders, ice shards, and the snow still surrounded me. Instead of the fresh, victorious frost that I had felt back in the gym trainer's room, all that I experienced now was a cold weight of crushing defeat.

"...I surrender." I sighed, raising both hands in what was probably an unnecessary gesture. This wasn't war, after all.

"Alright, then." Roxanne said, the cameras shutting off. The cameraman, who had been sleeping but woke because of the commotion of the battle, also sighed in disappointment. He was probably actually excited about not catching a battle that consisted of a Mudkip or water type pokemon sweeping through the stone gym… not that Roxanne would make things that easy.

"As this is not your first gym challenge, you know the consequences of losing a gym battle." Roxanne said. "The savings on your tax-deductible trainer card will be halved, and sent back to the League. Your match will be broadcast if the television network finds it interesting enough, though, and you will receive royalties if there are sufficient playbacks of it on the official Rock Gym channel. Thank you for challenging me… and, trainer…"

"Winston." I replied.

"Trainer Winston. Your usage of ice types was masterful, and you are shaping up to be a great ice type pokemon master." Roxanne said, now ceasing her standardized league-mandated speech mode and returning to a more natural mode of communication. "However, I really do encourage you to diversify at least your moveset, and if you are to challenge me again, I hope that you will have managed substantial improvements. In fact, I believe that the technical machine for Hyper beam-"

"No, thank you, ma'am." I said. "I have no use for those things." I was too poor for those things. I really, really wanted a Hyper Beam technical machine. "I'll continue to explore my pokemon's strengths and the flaws in my own command style."

"...Very well, then." Roxanne nodded. "Good luck, trainer."

"Thanks for everything." I said, smiling sadly and slowly trudging out the exit. As various rock type pokemon swept in from the sidelines and began to consume all the boulders on the field… and the ice slowly melted… the doors behind me were closed.

For now.

As I walked through a dark hallway, the corners of my mouth twitched. I reached up with a hand to try and smooth over the creases, but it wouldn't work. Slowly, very slowly, a smile blossomed over my face, stretching from ear to ear. It was almost unnatural how happy I was.

Had I planned on winning this first attempt? Of course not! It was foolish to think that I could actually defeat a gym leader with my setup. More experience was required, and what better way to gain experience than failing?

Besides, it looked as if I had shown my whole hand. Part of the reason I was going to lose anyways was that I didn't pull out too many of my desperate tactics, and I needed to be absolutely sure that I could win with those tactics, since I could realistically only use each tactic once.

After all, as I could learn from the battle recording between me and Roxanne, if my tactics became infamous enough, the gym leaders might actually talk about it amongst each other.

But my plan was going well.I pushed open the door, and Holly quickly ran up to me.

"Winston!" she shouted. "It's okay! Don't worry about-"

"All according to plan." I said, trying to suppress the urge to burst into manic laughter. "It's all according to plan."

"But the money!" Holly said. "I know that you care about the money, right?"

"Well, half of zero is still zero." I said, showing her the glorious zero in my bank account balance. "Even though I can't put any more money back in, I've already sent it all back to my family. So, all I need to do is survive on zero dollars until I win my next gym challenge."

"That could be in two days… Or three!" Holly said, showing me the webpage. "If you don't want to accept my help, how are you going to survive?"

"All according to plan." I muttered, grinning. "All according to plan."

…

I was feeling hungry. It was beginning to set in. I had skipped lunch that day, and I couldn't exactly get anything from the vending machines, considering the fact that I didn't have any, well, money. The zero in my account was a statement of finality, but it was also an opportunity for new beginnings.

Hunger gave me drive. Hunger gave me focus.

To eat, I had to surpass this insurmountable obstacle in front of me. To eat, I had to defeat the Nosepass.

I had cut off all possible avenues of retreat for myself, and the only alternative to victory was never again doing pokemon things ever again.

But it was different this time. There were no more seven-year breaks for me to take. If I don't succeed, I don't get the sports participation points on my resume for my college application. My family probably won't be able to pay taxes and my sister's tuition, and everything would end… terribly.

I needed to succeed. I had to succeed.

Therefore, I needed to get to work.

…

"So, what exactly is your plan?" Holly asked.

"It's going to be difficult to perform the various cognitive processes in a simultaneous fashion." I said. "That being the case, I will need to either increase my mental capacity psychically or biologically. And given the fact that I lack funds or a psychic pokemon-what was that?"

A green blur shot back into the bushes.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Holly asked again, circling around me as I stood in a forested clearing at 8pm.

"I'm absolutely fine." I noted. "This was what the ancients did. Think about it. Us humans had to compete with pokemon to survive, even defeat them, and consume their flesh for sustenance. And I've done my research on this. For someone of my build, my body would trigger a norepinephrine release on the second day of food deprivation, which will increase awareness and arousal, as well as modify my response to stress. I won't be panicking over potential losses or stressful situations anymore, and I'll be hyper aware of movements."

"What about the downsides? Clearly, starving yourself isn't healthy."

"Not in the long term." I admitted. "If I let this go on for too long, I'll starve to death. My organs will start to shut down one by one, and my skeletal muscles will be consumed as fuel for my mental processes. But since in the short term, I can still somewhat rely on stored fuel, I can still survive…"

"This sounds crazy. You're starving yourself just for, what, a boost to your mental capabilities? What about the hunger?"

"Hunger ceases to be an issue after the first stages have passed." I shrugged. "My body will know that protesting for food isn't enough, and they'll shut off that sense completely. Instead, I'll be focused almost entirely on getting food… and therefore, winning the battle so that I can obtain currency and then buy the food to eat."

Suddenly, my device rang. Fumbling with it for a bit the pokenav, I managed to grab it and then answer the call.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Winston. We saw on the league channel that you-"

"Dad! I'm okay. I'm okay. Relax." I said, my stomach growling as I looked at a hot dog stand by the side of the road. I forced myself to look the other way. "The loss was planned. That was my first gym battle, you know? I had to analyze the tricks that the gym leader had."

"You were very impressive." my father said. "You even managed to take down that first Graveler! Torkoal could never- hey! Don't burn the couch! That thing's only second hand! We didn't just lift that out of a dumpster, you know!"

I heard Torkoal's deep grunt as the fire turtle probably complained about dad's rude remarks. There was more jostling about in the house, during which my sister probably had to lead Torkoal away with the promise of food.

Food… Hmm…

I shook my head, removing those thoughts from my mind.

"Anyways, dad, I have some preparations to work through." I said. "And I'll win two days later, okay?"

"...Son." my father said, "If it doesn't work out, you can always-"

"No. Trust me." I said firmly. "This time, I'll make it work."

I hung up the call, and began to run back to my run down apartment. Like I had just said, I had things to do.

…

Knowledge was food.

No, that was incorrect. We could turn knowledge into food. By encoding knowledge into the neural networks, then sending it through the necessary adjourning neural networks to create a schema, we can synthesize the actions that are necessary to produce actions that will earn food through a system that society has created over the years.

In other words, to learn is to eat.

I stared at the overhead view of the battle. Although it wasn't the greatest or most engaging of views, it was actually the most valuable perspective.

Because the Nosepass could fly, and the boulders were being created out of midair due to some mysterious usage of rock type energy, the boulders were in a set path due to the orientation of the Nosepass.

In other words, the Nosepass could not put a boulder over itself.

That was the path to victory.

Normally, this tactic wouldn't be feasible in the slightest. Going underneath a rock type pokemon was mostly just forfeiting with extra steps. However, with the snowy conditions that I would be creating, the Nosepass wouldn't be able to precisely aim rock tombs or approach the ground casually, since Glalie could freeze it to the ground if it touched the ground.

Rock tomb was different normally, as well. It was actually aimed at the target with a trajectory that resembled throwing a rock.

This variant of rock tomb that Nosepass was utilizing against Glalie, however, was a lot more random and did less damage. Since Glalie was an ice type, the attack would be enough to knock him out, especially considering the sheer amount of effort that beating the Graveler beforehand would also take.

But it was winnable.

Why?

Because I could locate the Nosepass that normally flew slightly above the clouds and communicate to Glalie where Nosepass is with semaphore. My flags still hadn't been touched in the last battle, and although I had at least planned on using them so Roxanne wouldn't know what was going on as Nosepass fought in the hailstorm, this was even better.

If I could communicate a region of the map to Glalie that was definitely free of rock tomb, the weakened state of the exhausted Nosepass was not insurmountable. Glalie could win.

And all of this relied on me finding the Nosepass and being able to communicate in semaphore simultaneously. Which required me to have more mental processing power…and hence, the strategy involving norepinephrine and tactical fasting.

Therefore, the hardest part was… actually doing it.

Closing the replay of my battle against Roxanne, I reached for the flags.

It was time to practice semaphore.

I summoned Glalie, who hovered over the floor on the small apartment flat slightly bashfully. Clearly, it was still slightly miffed about losing the battle against the Nosepass.

"Nevermind any of your emotional hang ups, Glalie." I said. "Next time, we're going to win. And it all starts by you sealing the door shut."

Glalie tilted its head, confused.

"I can't leave this room to get food, Glalie. I need you to freeze it." I said.

Looking at me as if I had gone crazy, Glalie shot a small ice beam at the door.

"Great." I said, smiling, before opening up my pokedex, which showed a random number generator that could generate from 1 to 60. On the floor were several quarters of printer paper, arranged in a 5 by 12 grid, each also numbered one to sixty.

"Now, when this pokenav randomly generates a number, I'll have to show it in semaphore, and then you'll hover over the corresponding sheet of paper, before dipping down to touch it once. Got it?"

Glalie just looked at me.

"This will help us win." I said. "We can avoid the rock tomb if we just get under it. And then, even if it doesn't work and they catch us unawares, we can use that strategy once. So, for you to be able to dodge the rock tomb, we're going to need to be able to communicate without words so that Roxanne won't know what we're up to."

Glalie closed his eyes, processing my words, before slowly opening his eyes and bobbing up and down once.

I took this as a sign to begin.

"Okay…" I muttered, looking at the number on the screen. It was 42. Quickly, my flags flashed through the air to communicate the number, and Glalie quickly zipped over to the corresponding area, before descending to touch the paper gently.

"Good!" I said, smiling. My stomach growled, but I ignored the pain.

There were 40 hours left before I had to take on Roxanne again.

And hopefully, just 40 hours left before I could eat.

…

There were 36 hours left.

I was too hungry to sleep. Glalie, after flying out of the window to consume the food that I had left out on the porch, returned to the pokeball to sleep.

Hunger was starting to set in now. It was a gnawing feeling, eternally struggling against the confines of my stomach. There was an itch at the back of my mind, telling me to go outside and find food. But I couldn't actually leave the room. The door was still solidly frozen, and the door to the porch was frozen shut, as well.

I was trapped, and the only thing that I could do was study.

…

There were 24 hours left.

I had not slept. The hunger pangs seemed endless. I felt like I was dying. My whole body hurt as I lay on the low quality bed cushion, mindlessly scrolling through previous rock gym battles. I noticed that the kid that I had met in that forest with the Pikachu had actually already gotten his stone badge rather quickly, and that he had fought what was probably a much tamer Nosepass.

Was it light outside or was it dark? I only saw the timer slowly tick down.

All of the drawers were thrown open. I was desperate for food, but at the same time, I knew that I couldn't have any, or else my efforts would go to waste.

Still, I looked anyways. I was at the stage where I was beginning to act irrational because of my desire for food, which wasn't great.

"I need to win to eat." I repeated to myself. "I need to win to eat. Did I say that to myself yet? Did I?"

A sudden movement outside of the door made me turn swiftly to look at the sudden noise. Was something after me? Was somebody after me?

Somebody knocked on the door. Who was it? Was it somebody delivering food? I looked down at the pokenav. There was no way that I ordered food, given the fact that I had zero dollars and zero cents in my account.

"Winston! We need to talk! You've been in there for basically a whole day already!"

Was that… Holly's voice?

I said nothing. Maybe she wanted to drag me out of this room… to foil my plans! I shuddered, before clambering noisy into a corner, stepping past the sheets of paper. I was still much too drowsy to think, but I could hear everything. Every little detail that resembled an animal crawling around, or a plant rustling. Anything that could possibly indicate sustenance.

"You're going to… you're going to seriously hurt yourself doing this." Holly muttered. "And it's not worth it! What in the world is worth starving yourself and going insane over? You're sealing yourself in the room with ice, for Arceus's sake!"

I still didn't respond.

"Rosie, break down the door." Holly said, determined.

"No, no, no!" I yelled. "I'll have to pay for the door!"

"I'll pay for it!" Holly yelled back. "Just get out of there!"

"You don't understand!" I said, slamming a weak fist against the ice and glass combination. The ice was perfectly fine. Only my fist hurt. "This is the strategy that I've made. This is the plan that I've set. This is the goal that I'll work towards. And I will never stop until I get there, or until it's truly impossible. And without any other way to up my perception of the Nosepass within Glalie's hailstorm, this is literally the only way!"

"Just… just train more or something." Holly screamed. "You should always put your own wellbeing first, you know?"

"This is my wellbeing!" I shouted. "Just… Not in the conventional sense! You don't know what it's like to think that living in these apartments is a luxury! You don't know what it's like to sink in crippling mediocrity for your entire life, do you? I'm not doing this to prove a point. I'm doing this to beat the gym! What's wrong about that?"

"Well, fine! If that's what you're settled on, you can do it alone, then." Holly said, turning on her heels and walking down the staircase.

I turned around myself too, returning to my PokeNav and previous stone gym battles.

"Stupid Holly…" I muttered. "I'll show her."

I gritted my teeth. The hunger pangs subsided. Perhaps I was just… getting used to them.

"I'll show her."

…

There were only five hours left.

I woke up… jumpy.

The light seemed brighter. The swaying of the leaves of the slightly wilting potted plants caught my eye.

I stood up. I felt… lighter. And more numb. Like there was absolutely nothing in my midsection other than my muscles. The feeling of hunger had disappeared… for now. It was still at the back of my mind, urging me to go outside and go get food.

Food. Yes, food. That word was… tantalizing.

I shook my head, before sighing. I had mistimed the fasting. If everything were to go my way, I would have woken up at two, just an hour before my reservation.

But the fact was, that my family had gone hungry so many times in the past that my body was used to it. The immediate period of pain and incessant hunger had passed faster because of it.

However, I still did feel slightly light on my feet. My sense of balance wasn't as it should be, and there was a bit of numbness as I lifted my arm to check my pokenav. Just as I thought, it was ten in the morning, about five hours away from my reservation at three o'clock.

Perhaps it was time to go spectate some matches.

Finally, I pushed open the door.

Glalie's ice was now nothing more than a puddle, considering the fact that he hadn't reinforced it in a while. That was fine. I had to-wait a minute.

I looked down again as my hand touched the doorknob. I had…

Nevermind, I had concrete floors in this particular apartment, which meant that water damages couldn't exist… since it was, well, concrete.

I'll take care of it later.

…

Glalie and the Wurmple were in my pocket as I stared up at a screen, fidgeting anxiously. I was trying not to look at a vending machine in the corner. Even though I knew that I didn't have any money, it still really hurt to look at food and not be able to buy it.

"When's your time slot?" somebody besides me asked.

"Three o'clock." I said absentmindedly, looking at Roxanne's Geodude getting pressure washed by a Mudkip. There were way too many of those things in the hands of rich kids that could actually afford the premium starters… or had nepotism carry them into position of fortune.

"Oh, shit!" the person besides me whispered. "That's the exhibition match!"

"Wait, what?" I said. "My match is going to be televised?"

"Yeah. Didn't you read the forms that you just signed?" the trainer said, pointing at the copy of the forms in my hands that I had just signed absentmindedly. "You must be a pro-level trainer! Which badge is this? The fourth? Fifth?"

"...It's my first." I said.

"What the hell?" the trainer muttered. "That doesn't make any sense! How do you just-"

"Maybe it's because I have evolved pokemon and I kind of had a close loss last time." I shrugged. "But maybe the media likes redemption stories."

"Eh, best of luck." the trainer shrugged. "My timeslot is at one, but I have to fight the gym trainers first."

"Thanks." I said, looking back at Roxanne's weaker Nosepass getting bogged down in leech seeds. It was so easy for the others…

But it didn't matter.

I'd make it this time.

…

"Ladies… and… gentlemen! Welcome to this Saturday's televised stone gym match… Sponsored by Soda Pop! Soda pop makes everything pop off, even your pokemon's' battle performance!"

Slowly, I walked onto the railed platform of the arena. It was just a flat dirt patch of land, with nothing particularly fancy. Ringouts weren't exactly a thing here, but one had to generally consider the bounds of the arena. Referees had the right to surrender pokemon if they left the arena for an extended period of time.

"Here, we have Winston Smith, with two pokemon. Since he failed one failed challenge two days ago, has he worked enough to finally obtain the stone badge?"

Some people cheered. The stands were, by no means, full. In fact, there were more empty seats than people. It made sense. After all, it was a Saturday afternoon and I was a trainer with zero badges. If somebody wanted to see a good match, they'd probably wait for somebody with almost eight badges to challenge the gym.

My heart lightened a bit when I realized that I would actually get a small cut of the royalties. Perhaps about five percent of ticket sales.

"Versus Roxanne, the Stone gym leader! She's quite young, but she's by no means a pushover!"

The crowd cheered louder. Clearly, Roxanne was a Rustboro favorite.

Holly was nowhere to be seen. She was probably still angry at me for following through with my strategies. But that didn't matter right now.

I was feeling weak at the knees, for some reason. Maybe it was the hunger. Maybe it was the knowledge that I couldn't repeat my strategies… ever… against the Gym Leader. After all, humans could learn. And while I theoretically only had to beat her once, that 'only' was a hard thing to get.

"Again, here are the rules. Challenges and Gym leaders will utilize the same amount of pokemon, with a minimum of two. Gym leaders cannot swap out their pokemon, but the challenger can."

I leaned towards the announcer's stage from my position leaning against the railing, just to hear any potential restrictions on switching rules.

"Items held by pokemon are allowed, but only if they are pre-approved by the league. Extensive tool usage, however, will be reviewed and disqualified. No performance enhancing drugs are allowed, on the trainers or on the pokemon."

Thankfully, the announcer just continued on. There weren't that many restrictions. Apparently, people still fought with honor in the league.

More power to me, then. I breathed a sigh of relief. So that strategy was still viable.

"You don't look so hot there, trainer! Sure you can handle it?"

"I'm just hungry." I said.

"Hungry for victory, then!" the announcer laughed. "That's the spirit! May the battles… begin!"

Roxanne sent out Graveler. The rock type pokemon roared as I fumbled with my coat zipper and pulled the hood over my head. My backpack was on the floor next to me, still completely zipped up.

"Roxanne sends in Graveler, a staple rock type. With its ferocious strength and incredible physical defense, it's a tough nut to crack! Or, well, boulder would be more accurate in this case."

I took a deep breath. In… and out.

Then, I sent out Glalie.

"And challenger Winston Snowberry sends out his first pokemon, a Glalie! This is the only pokemon that we've seen him use before he surrendered the last gym battle! What pokemon has he saved as a secret weapon? Well, let's see if he can work past the type disadvantage first!"

It was time to begin.

…(Ten minutes later)

"...And just like that, Graveler is down!" the announcer shouted.

The Graveler, trapped by ice stuck to both the floors and the arena walls, ceased its struggles as its arm crashed down on the ice, which surprisingly, did not crack after its many attempts to bust out.

"Frozen solid by the combination of a hailstorm and Trainer Snowberry's ferocious ice type attacks, Gym Leader Roxanne is down to her last pokemon!" the announcer said.

The crowd was actually paying attention, now that Glalie had proven his worth and defeated another pokemon at about the same power level… but with a type advantage.

"However, here comes the real challenge! The Stone Gym's famous problem pokemon, known to stump many, many trainers, with a variety of moves, impressive defense, and the power of levitation! Nosepass takes to the field!"

The pokemon appeared, bellowing a strange, scratchy war cry. I looked across at the dangerous pokemon that was probably going to crush my dreams just like Glalie was crushed the last time.

But it would be different this time. However, I was still missing some information on the Nosepass.

I needed to be able to gauge the coordinates the Nosepass is at when I can't see any reference points, which means that I needed to be able to gauge relative size.

"Glalie, fly up into the air and shoot off Ice beams." I ordered. "Fly around the arena."

Glalie complied, flying up into the air. At this point, dealing with Graveler wasn't that big of an issue, and although it was never easy to actually do damage, dodging really paid off, and most of Graveler's attacks couldn't hurt substantially. Therefore, Glalie was in a pretty good condition going into this fight.

"Taking a different tactic, are you?" Roxanne said. Her voice echoed throughout the arena, played on the microphone. "Nosepass. Use Body Press to get rid of him in the air."

"Body Press?" I muttered, looking at the Nosepass suddenly charging at Glalie. Strafing, Glalie was able to dodge out of the way and retaliate with an ice beam, but the sudden willingness to collide indicated that Glalie would take much more damage from that attack than Nosepass would from colliding.

Which was fitting, considering the fact that it was a fighting type move. Ice, after all, was weak to fighting. And rock. And fire. And steel.

Man, that's a lot.

As Glalie and Nosepass played cat and mouse in the air, hail still gently falling from the ceiling, I began to memorize the positions of the Nosepass. This was one place where having higher levels of norepinephrine due to the fasting of the past two days was useful: increased awareness. I was able to track the movements of the Nosepass as if it were a flying hotdog.

…Which it basically, indirectly, was, because if I managed to defeat it, I could get money to buy a lot of hot dogs.

Eventually, it was enough. Glalie and Nosepass had made several circles around the arena, and I had learned the patterns. Or at least, I hoped so.

But any longer and it may get suspicious, considering the fact that it wasn't actually getting me anywhere. Perhaps when I pulled out the second phase of the plan, Roxanne would be able to figure out what I was trying.

"Intensify the hailstorm and attack!" I ordered. Glalie disengaged from Nosepass after shooting off a last, insignificant ice beam, before the hail thickened and nobody could see anything inside the arena anymore.

"And just as the match heats up, we're deprived from the best of it." the announcer said loudly and obnoxiously. "However, for you viewers, we can deliver a reconstruction based on sonar data of what's actually going on."

"Wha-" I blurted out. Would my advantage be gone just like that?

"But for the trainers, this won't be a lucky break!" the announcer continued "We won't be showing this to you two."

I breathed a sigh of relief, and watched as Nosepass was eventually forced to go above the hailstorm, sending rocks down in the form of rocks slides and rock throws, which Glalie was able to swerve past.

"Enough." Roxanne declared. "You've put up a good fight once again, but this will end it."

Quickly, I pulled two flags out of my bag, and swung it in the air a couple of times in circles. Hopefully, Glalie would be able to see my signal.

"Nosepass, use Rock Tomb!"

My heart began to pound. This was it. This was everything that I had trained for.

Ba-dump. Ba-dump. My heart seemed louder than ever before, and the blood rushing to my head made me almost stumble and fall. I caught myself on the railings again and then stood up again, squinting to assess Nosepass's location.

Nosepass hovered slightly higher, before rocks began to materialize in the air. The fluorescent lights were nearly blocked out, but thanks to the circles that Nosepass and Glalie had been fighting in before the hail intensified, I was able to approximate their position.

The rock type pokemon was floating the 45th quadrant.

Quickly, my flags flashed through the air. A sudden wave of dizziness hit me as I went with the rapid motions, and I ? Seriously? Was my plan falling apart? Did my body run out of energy?

Now wasn't the time for those thoughts. We had to be able to exploit this advantage. And as the rocks descended, I bit my lip to get the pain to snap me out of the dizziness. I tasted a bit of blood, and the saltiness actually… tasted like food.

Food.

I needed to do this for food.

"Glalie, use crunch!" I shouted, just as the rocks began to descend.

"Do you think that your pokemon will really be able to mount an offe-what?"

I could see the Nosepass floating above the cloud of hail recoil in surprise as the dark-type energy coated attack snapped around the legs of the defensive behemoth. It didn't do too much damage, but it probably did something, considering the fact that dark type moves were neutral against rock type moves.

"Retreat!" I shouted. Glalie dove back into the clouds like a shark diving back into a dark ocean, as unseen

"And in a stunning reversal, it seems as if Trainer Snowberry has found a path around Rock Tomb, literally!" the announcer said. "And Nosepass isn't doing so hot! If Glalie can keep sneaking up on it and attacking, even the defense of rock types won't save it forever!"

"Nosepass, use rock tomb again!" Roxanne said. It sounded like she was slightly nervous.

The rocks appeared again, and this time, Nosepass had drifted just a bit off course, from the impact of Glalie's crunch and the resulting wary evasion attempts. This time, it was at 57, near a corner of the arena.

The rocks descended again, and Glalie, unprompted, attacked with an ice beam followed up by a crunch, causing Nosepass to fly away warily, right to another corner of the arena.

"We need to turn this around!" Roxanne said. "Whatever method you have of dodging with the hail doesn't matter anymore with this move! I didn't think I would have to use it against you."

"Glalie, prepare to dodge!" I yelled.

"Nosepass… Zap cannon." Roxanne said.

Around the Nosepass, electricity began to gather. It was glowing brighter and brighter. I could feel the static in the air permeate through the freezing cold air. Tufts of old down feathers that were leaking out of my coat puffed up and were dragged away by the wintry breeze.

Then, the attack came. A beam of electricity cut through the storm, carving a hole right through the middle of the clouds.

"Now, Nosepass! Use-"

Quickly, I grabbed my pokeball. Glalie wasn't going to be able to tank this. I had to switch. Now!

"Switch!" I yelled, before recalling Glalie and sending the Wurmple out with my other hand. I nearly fumbled Glalie's pokeball as my hands were suddenly exposed to the cold.

"-Rock Tomb!" Roxanne finished.

The rocks were pelted at where Glalie had been, and the rocks shattered upon impact, decimating the concrete and floor, before casting up a great plume of dust.

"What is this?" the announcer said. "It looks like Trainer Snowberry has sent in his second pokemon… before Roxanne started her next move! And that pokemon turns out to be… a Wurmple? What?"

As the announcer remained flabbergasted, I had to act quickly.

"I forfeit Wurmple!" I yelled, before throwing Glalie back into the ring. "Glalie, use Headbutt!"

Quickly, Glalie rushed across the arena after being sent back out, and rammed into the exhausted Nosepass. Clearly, casting Zap Cannon was taking a toll on the rock type that didn't specialize in elemental moves, and even though a couple of rocks were thrown in reaction to Glalie's reckless charge, Glalie tanked the blows and rammed into the Nosepass with his horns, before biting down with a crunch and then using Ice Beam on the stunned Nosepass.

"Just… Take it down!" I yelled, my heart pounding in my chest. I was starting to feel faint now. The adrenaline, in addition to the hunger, had drained too many of my body's resources.

But we were going to win now… Right?

Slowly, the Nosepass was encased in ice. Its formerly smooth body was peppered with small chips and cracks that were the remains of the crunch attacks, and Glalie's headbutt with his horns had gorged a small crater into the Nosepass's side.

Glalie floated away from the rock type warily, almost unsure of its status. It was hard to tell, with its stoic expression.

Then, the Nosepass fell over, and I jumped into the air, fist held high.

I had done it! I had won!

My plans had worked! My efforts weren't entirely for nothing! I had actually… gotten a badge!

Shaking her head and smiling, Roxanne recalled Nosepass.

"Congratulations, challenger. Despite your… unorthodox tactics, she said, noting the flags on the floor, "You were able to defeat me. The switching was borderline against the rules, but since you apparently gave the order to switch before I ordered my pokemon to perform Rock Tomb… I'll give you a pass, this time. The league will need to enforce stricter switching rules, now that we can see that it's somewhat exploitable."

I nodded. I would not deny that.

"However, challenger, you have done well… despite your type disadvantages." Roxanne said. "I would recommend diversifying your team's coverage, but at this rate, I think you're doing pretty alright. After all, you defeated me, didn't you?"

Glalie looked at me tearfully, as if he understood Roxanne's statements. The statement was recognition of us, and our efforts. It was recognition of my planning and suffering.

So, there was only one thing I could say to this.

"...Nah." I said, shrugging. "After this, I'm really going to need to work on diversifying my team."

Glalie crashed down onto the floor, his ice shell cracking in the process.

…

"Here you go. This is a certificate that you've defeated the Stone Gym, and your badge. Your three thousand dollars will be wired to your trainer account as well. Thank you for-"

I grabbed the certificate and badge case roughly, before shoving them in my backpack, and running out of the reception room.

"Thank you!" I shouted.

I had money. I had money. Now, I could do it. I could get it. I could get a hit. I could get a dose. It was here. It was time.

Quickly, I sprinted past various gym trainer rooms, my winter coat still flapping in the air. I felt sweat run down my back and black spots fly across my vision. I couldn't feel hunger anymore, but the anticipation that I felt gave me a hunger that was greater than any I had ever felt.

Taking out my trainer identification card, I opened the door to the entrance, before sprinting to the vending machine. Getting a random snack, not caring about the price tag for once in my life, and then paying with my card had never seemed so satisfying.

I was so happy! I could eat after 40 hours. That was the victory that I had won today!"

Oh, and I also had beaten the Stone Gym and finally, after seven years, made the first step on my journey. But mainly that first thing.

"Food. Food. Food." I chanted, looking at the metal slowly turn, the bar slowly getting released. I bounced up and down on my feet, probably looking like an eccentric toddler.

And then, I was on the floor. My vision went in and out, swimming from darkness to looking up at the furry parts of my coat. Concerned faces wobbled around in my vision as I desperately reached upwards.

"Oh my, what happened?"

"Somebody call an ambulance!"

Those last words resonated in my head.

"Don't!" I shouted. "It's too expensive!"

Then, everything went dark.

"So… do we call an ambulance or not?"Somebody said, as I finally succumbed to the hunger, combined with suddenly strenuous physical activity.

No, please don't.

I can't afford insurance.

…

This updated again. And Winston gets his first W.

Yay.

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-SpiritOfErebus