Our headcanon voice for Grusha is Prince Zuko. You can't stop us.
With her team prepared for Grusha, Juliana took a taxi back to Montenevera. There, she decided to study her next opponent, starting with his description from the Gym challenge.
"It says he was a pro snowboarder," her Rotom read, "second best, won six times in a row in major competitions. Then he was forced to retire early due to an injury."
Juliana wasn't listening. She was checking out the photo. "He's kind of cute," she said, though the word 'understatement' crossed her mind. She had a type, she realized, and Grusha fit it exactly. Pretty hair and blue eyes, just the photo of the Ice-type user made her melt. "How old is he?"
Rotom figured out where her thoughts were heading. "Older than you," she pointed out.
"How old was he when he was a snowboarder?"
Rotom checked Grusha's Wikipedia page again. "He officially went pro at sixteen," she read, "but he started when he was five."
Sixteen. Then however many years until he had his accident, and then now...well, Juliana's aunt and uncle had a seven-year age gap, and they seemed happy...
Still, she knew the social rules. Even if he was single and into girls, she couldn't ask him out. Not for another few years, at least.
A shame, she thought, but brushed it off. There were plenty of guys with pretty hair and blue eyes. Arven fit that description. Unfortunately, she was also very aware of the fact that Arven was either into Nemona or hated her guts, and neither would be good for Nemona's best friend to go for him.
It didn't take her long to reach the top of the mountain with Rotom leading the way. Juliana didn't hate the cold, but Koraidon wasn't fond of it - likely a Dragon-type thing. He stayed in his ball until her legs got tired, then carried her the rest of the way there.
As soon as she entered the Gym building, she found Nemona. She didn't expect otherwise. What was surprising was that Nemona wasn't there to challenge her to a battle.
"You're here for your last Gym battle?" she asked. Juliana nodded, and Nemona did her happy stim again. "I heard from Rika! You're so awesome, Juliana, I know you can do it!"
"So did you just beat him, then?" Juliana asked, and Nemona laughed.
"He's tough," she warned, "but I'm zero percent worried about you! You've even got Koraidon to help you with the Gym test!"
"What's the test?"
Nemona laughed again. "Just talk to the man behind the counter. He'll tell you everything."
And she left, leaving Juliana to simply follow her instructions.
The man behind the counter was just as helpful as Nemona instructed. "You take the Snow Slope Run," he explained to the confused challenger. "You ride a Pokémon down the mountain, crossing strips of tape along the way."
"I do take Koraidon cliff-jumping," she said, oblivious to the receptionist's concern. "Point me in the direction of the slope! I'm ready to go!"
The Snow Slope Run was harder than Juliana thought.
As soon as Koraidon stepped off of the safe snow pile, he lost his balance and fell, taking both of them to steer him down the slope. Still, they managed to knock over at least one of every pair of signs on the way down, before he crashed and knocked her into a snowbank.
"Good boy," said Juliana, and Koraidon chirped happily.
"That was barely passing."
The voice was new, and Juliana looked up to see the Gym Leader himself. He was even prettier in person, and she felt her face heat up.
"I'm so sorry!" she squeaked, trying very hard to sound mature and failing. 'So awkward! Not that...not that you're awkward...you're gorgeous...I mean..."
Grusha stared down at this child playing in the snow, then at the dragon who was watching her with clear amusement on his face. He'd never seen that Pokémon before, but his challenger was more important. "You talk too much," he said. "You should get inside before you catch frostbite."
Juliana looked down at herself, remembering that she was half-buried in snow and realizing what it must have looked like.
Her wail of despair echoed off the mountain. So much for first impressions.
"That's the last time I go to the Porto Marinada market."
Florian was lying in the grass, almost completely broke. He'd heard of a rare evolutionary item for Charcadet being sold there, and while he did get a set of Auspicious Armor out of it, he would have preferred to find it digging around.
Scarlet wasn't upset. She was watching him intently, just waiting for the chance to evolve.
Florian took notice. "You want to evolve now?"
"You have a Titan to face," Scarlet pointed out. "I need to be there to help!"
Almost like he understood, Florian smiled. "I did get it for you," he said, handing over the armor. "Just don't get too destructive with your new power."
When the freshly-evolved Armarouge struck a pose, Florian laughed. He laughed even harder at the large fireball behind her, finishing her Power Rangers look with a Power Rangers-style transformation effect.
Grusha had told the receptionist to give the challenger a hot cocoa. He hadn't stuck around, leaving Juliana to approach the battlefield alone.
The Cetoddle standing there seemed happy to see her.
"You're such a little cutie!" Juliana gushed, reaching out to pet the dancing Ice-type. Cetoddle made a happy noise and bopped her hand with its head.
"Cetoddle seems to like you."
She recognized Grusha's voice this time and blushed once again as she recalled their embarrassing first meeting. "Hi," she squeaked, before clearing her throat and dropping her voice a bit. "I mean, hi. Grusha, right?"
"Right. And you're Juliana." She nodded. Hopefully he didn't remember the... "Did you have fun in the snow?"
Yeah, he remembered. Juliana's face turned even redder. "That wasn't...Koraidon crashed..."
"I saw." So, the thing was called Koraidon. He took note of that. "The mountain isn't the best place to play, Juliana. It can turn your life around just like that."
"I wasn't playing!"
Grusha ignored her. "It's not a good time to face me, you know. Are you sure you're ready?"
"I wouldn't be here otherwise."
It was hard to tell his expression with his mouth hidden by his scarf. "Still trying to play it cool, huh? Well, then. Prepare to face the icy bite of reality."
Juliana was the first to lose a Pokémon. Pawmo hadn't reached his final stage yet, and Frosmoth's Blizzard was powerful. But she'd taught Dachsbun Fire Fang for the occasion, which took Frosmoth down in one hit and the Beartic down in two. She lost Dachsbun to Cetitan's Ice Spinner, and Camerupt to Liquidation, but Tinkaton saved the day with Gigaton Hammer.
"You're better than I thought," Grusha said as he reached for another Pokeball. "But don't think you've won. The situation can change in a heartbeat." He tossed the ball. "Go! Altaria!"
Altaria. Flying/Dragon, both weak to Ice-type attacks. This was his last one. "Use Slam, Tinkaton!"
As expected, Grusha used his Tera Orb next, turning Altaria to an Ice-type. Tinkaton's Slam barely did any damage, but neither did Altaria's Hurricane. Juliana's plan was coming together perfectly.
"You're not the only one with a Tera Orb!" She pulled hers out, to Tinkaton's delight. "Let's show him how hard we can hit, Tinkaton!"
She threw the Tera Orb. Tinkaton cackled madly as she accepted the crystal axe above her head, swinging her hammer.
"Now! Gigaton Hammer!"
Tinkaton took a moment to charge the attack. Grusha tried to call to Altaria to dodge, but the hammer connected, not only dealing super-effective damage but also landing a critical hit.
Grusha watched as the shards fell from both Pokémon, the battle ending with Juliana's victory. He remained silent as he approached Juliana, who was doing an elaborate handshake/victory dance with her Tinkaton. Cetoddle followed him, eager to join in.
"Your Gym badge," Grusha said once the handshake finished. Juliana looked up at him, wide-eyed and grinning, and took it. Grusha handed her a TM, too, giving her access to use (and purchase more of) Ice Spinner.
"Can I get a photo?" she blurted, and Grusha stepped back, alarmed. She immediately looked away. "I mean, I got one with all the other Gym Leaders. If you...you know, want to be left out..."
She heard him mutter something under his breath. It sounded like "uncool." Her face fell, and Grusha had his own moment of stumbling over his thoughts.
"I guess it won't hurt."
So that was how Juliana got to take a photo of herself with her celebrity crush, both of them red in the face as they held the Pokeball at the end of Grusha's scarf. It did not escape their attention that they were inadvertently making a heart shape with their hands.