Well, here it is, the forty-third part of the fifth and final installment in my 'Heart' series. Circhester and the Contest there are in the rear window and after a small adventure involving a stranded Sobble that Dawn still needs to figure out what to do with, Ash and Dawn have finally reached their latest destination, Spikemuth. The city with the only know dark type gym in the world has been a desired destination for Ash since arriving in Galar and with Dawn's business taken care of it's time for his own training. First, though, Ash and Dawn have to experience Spikemuth and why it's such a strange city. That is all the administrative stuff I have for this Part and while there are no questions to answer there is a guest review to briefly respond to which I will do now. Do please keep your reviews coming as I love hearing from y'all.

To Pearl shipper (guest), thank you for your review and support. There is a lot more to look forward to as there's still around 100 more Parts in Champions so plenty going on. Do keep reading and enjoying my work.

That is it for this pre-Part note which means that it is once again time to sit back which and enjoy the latest installment in Heart of Champions. Part CCXXXII: City of Darkness.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.

Part CCXXXII: City of Darkness

"It's, um…" Dawn began her voice quiet as she and Ash looked around at what they were seeing. "Well…"

"Yeah, I can see why it's got its reputation." Ash said. "It's, er, something else."

Dawn just nodded as they walked hand in hand through the city. They'd been to many cities in their journeys, some were covered in snow, some were by the sea, some just a sprawling mass, and in Ash's case he'd even been to cities that were mostly in the trees and even a town on the water, but Spikemuth was different from all of that.

They knew that some cities lived up to their gym's type, hell they'd just left a city that had two types in its gym and had lived up to both, but Spikemuth took it to a whole new level. Why? Simple, there was only really one word to describe the city, dark. Well, there were other words and Ash had a few but given its unique gym, dark was all that they could really think at the moment.

It wasn't hard to think that though as they walked down a street to the Pokémon Center where they would check in. That was because the only illumination in the city were neon lights on the dirty and mostly boarded up buildings on either side that ranged in color from pink to blue to green and lilac, a few dim street lamps on the street and the occasional ray of light that came through holes in the cover over that arched the street.

That last bit seemed to be part of the architectural style of Spikemuth as from the moment they'd reached the city, it was effectively covered by an arched ceiling of sorts between the buildings. However, like the rest of the city, it didn't seem well maintained and had several holes in it while a good portion of the buildings looked like they needed serious repairs with very few places actually open.

To top it off, they didn't really see many people and the few that they did see were all wearing distinctive black, white, and dark pink outfits that didn't look in keeping with the current fashion trends that the couple had seen in Wyndon or Circhester. That said, they couldn't get a good enough look at the outfits to assess them or really make out more than the colors and that they'd not seen anything like them elsewhere in Galar.

However, the outfits looked like some kind of rough uniform that Dawn didn't recognize but was oddly familiar to Ash. Not in the sense that he'd seen these exact outfits before because he hadn't, but that he'd seen the style before and combined with the city's appearance and the neon Ash knew where he'd seen it. That realization pushed a nagging thought from his chat with Leon down as part of his brain knew that there was something more to the outfits but hadn't pieced it together yet.

Regardless, to say that their current situation was a stark contrast to that morning was saying something and really reminded the couple just how quickly a region could change when you traveled through it. That morning, they'd woken on the cliff overlooking Circhester Bay to the north and the beach where Dawn had caught a Sobble that had washed up there the day before and proceeded to head straight to Spikemuth after a quick breakfast. It would take most of the day to reach the city so they had focused on that and headed for it as soon as possible.

After that, and other than a brief stop for lunch on the road, it had been an uneventful trip to Spikemuth. They'd not run into anyone on the route that connected Spikemuth to both Circhester Bay and Hammerlocke via a tunnel and the few wild Pokémon that they did see gave them space so they weren't interrupted at all as they walked.

That was fine with them though as it gave Ash plenty of time to mentally prepare for what was to come in Spikemuth and for Dawn to think over what to do about Sobble. She'd caught it but it had been more because it was clearly lost and confused and so she needed to calm it down. Now that it was hopefully calm she could recall it at the Pokémon Center and properly get to know Sobble so that it could decide what it wanted to do.

As such, and now that they were in Spikemuth, they were making their way straight to the Pokémon Center to check in. It was closer to dinner than lunch now and so they'd basically end the day there where Ash would have Nurse Joy send a message to the Spikemuth Gym Leader Piers that he was in town and then go to the battlefield for some training to end the day on while Dawn went to their room to recall Sobble and figure things out with it. That was their plan but they still had to comment on the latest city that they'd visited on their journey as they walked through it.

"Have you ever seen a city like it?" Dawn asked as they walked. "Because I haven't. I've never seen a place so, er, derelict. I dunno if that's the right word but I can't really think of what else to use to describe this place."

"Leon said that it was a generally poor city but this is not what I was expecting." Ash agreed recalling that part of his chat with Leon but for the moment nothing more. "But this is beyond what I imagined. I've never seen a city like this but I have seen a place kinda like this once before only it was much louder and more vibrant and I certainly call it derelict or run down."

"You have?" Dawn asked. "Where?"

"In Unova." Ash said smiling. "In the very city that I ran into Cynthia that led us to you in fact, Virbank."

"In Virbank?" Dawn asked surprised. "Cynthia spoke of that city, as did you, Iris, and Cilan, but nothing implied that it was like this."

"Because it's not, it's a pretty standard city really, but there is one exception that isn't like the rest of the city." Ash said. "Their gym."

"Come again?" Dawn asked. "The Virbank Gym is like this."

"It's got the same feel and the outfits we see are kinda like the people who patronized the Virbank Gym only a bit darker." Ash said looking around but for the moment he couldn't see anyone else walking around. "Unova always does their gyms different, there's a secondary purpose to pretty much all of them, and Virbank was no different. In that case the gym was accessed via an ally and was located underground were it was, well, a punk rock contest. Roxie, their gym leader, fronts the band there and is a strong poison type specialist. I was allowed to use a full team of 6 against her 3 and she healed one of my Pokémon's poisoning and even then it took all I had to beat her."

"Sorry, I'm struggling here." Dawn admitted as she'd not seen the Virbank Gym having not gone there with Cynthia so she really couldn't compare them and with her focus on that she'd forgotten about that weird Pikachu trainer who kinda looked like the people here minus the Pikachu themes that she'd pretended to be Ash to face. "It was dark like this?"

"No, even though it was underground it was vibrant and loud but the style was the same." Ash said thinking back on his battle with Roxie. "If I had to put a word to it, I'd say that it was grungy. Yeah that's it, grungy. Only, this feels a lot more extreme than what I saw in Virbank but it does make me wonder what the gym will be like here."

"Well you'll see that soon enough." Dawn said as they rounded a corner and saw the Pokémon Center ahead of them though they could only tell that it was the Pokémon Center by the neon symbol of one above the door as the building looked like the others though as they approached they could tell that while the façade was the same it was clearly better maintained compared to the ones around it. "Come on, let's check in. It's been a long day already and there is more to come. Plus this is you, who knows what surprises might still creep up on us today."

Ash nodded in agreement at that and they walked up to the Pokémon Center's doors and opened them. Almost as soon as they did they had to blink away tears as bright light filled their eyes and they quickly entered. The exterior may be the same as the city's style but the interior was a classic Pokémon Center one so it was bright, clean, and open which made them feel like they'd walked into a totally different world from the one they'd just been in.

In fact, as their vision returned, the Pokémon Center was almost standard which was a surprise to Ash. Most city Pokémon Centers had some elements to them that were different or unique to the city but this one was classic in that it had the desk with Nurse Joy and the Galar helper Pokémon, a pair of male and female Indeedees they'd learned, behind it with a communal area to one side complete with coaches and tables and on the other side a set of terminals to call people.

There were two doors on either side of the desk, one behind it that had to be where Nurse Joy and her Pokémon did their work, and two more on both sides going deeper into the center, likely for rooms and other facilities like a trade machine, but that was it. It was, frankly, completely unassuming.

The same couldn't be said for the few people present, all of whom instantly turned to stare at Ash and Dawn as they arrived. Now that there were several of the denizens of Spikemuth in one place the couple actually got a chance to take in their outfits and, well, they were certainly memorable to say the least.

All of them wore pretty much the same thing, a black tank top that didn't reach their navels with three dark pink spikes in coming from the hem at the center over their navels with a strange dark pink symbol that looked like a fanged mouth of sorts and boarded in white on the center of their tops. Over the tops they wore sleeveless dark gray vests with flared borders around the holes that were white and which showed off the black and pick bicep bands they wore as well as the fingerless black gloves that had spiked metal cuffs.

This was the same for the men and women present but they did change up their bottoms with the men wearing tight dark gray pants that matched their vests with a few tears in them that may or may not have been stylistic. Meanwhile the women wore a dark gray mini skirts and dark pink tights under them, both of which had tears in them.

Both genders wore ankle black boots with the same three dark pink spikes on the toes and spiked metal cuffs while holding up their pants or skirts with thick black belts that had gray metal studs on their hips. Finally they all wore collars around their necks in the same style as their belts only with three studs over their throats rather than two sets of three on each hip.

To top it all off, all of them had their faces painted with a thick black X over the bridge of their noses so that it bordered their eyes, the sides of their heads shaved down to stubble and the tops dyed dark pink. The differences were that some had a vertical dark pink stripe bisecting their faces, some had it horizontal over their eyes, and some had some strange diamond-like pattern while the hair styles ranged from spiked mohawks to spikey styles to long but still shaved at the sides.

Now that Ash and Dawn could see take in the outfits, they could tell that it was clearly a uniform of sorts and for the first time since his Sinnoh days Ash had a gut feeling that this was a team just like Rocket and Galactic though for some reason it didn't feel villainous, just rowdy. In fact he was certain he'd heard of a Galar team before that was just a group of mega fans but right now it was illuding him because he was taking in said team first hand.

The whole fan thing, though, was reinforced when he and Dawn noticed that one of them had a black banner with writing on it showing support for someone called 'Marnie' while others had strange bifurcated pink and black plastic horns that had the same metal cuff around the rim. Ash bet that the horns made an annoying noise when blown which only further added to the whole loud fan theory. However, the biggest thing was that one of the guys was carrying a large dark pink flag with black Xs on it and the face of a girl about Ash's age.

The girl on the flag had strange, bangs like style to her black hair that fell to her shoulders and had been styled up on either side in four horn-like cowlicks and tied with dark pink ribbons while half bangs fell to her right eyebrow and the other side was shaved up her scalp a fair bit though not all the way. She had teal eyes, thick black eyeliner highlighting them, and a single diamond shaped earring in her left ear. The person had to be the Marnie mentioned on the other banner and Ash knew that he'd heard the name before but with all that was going on he couldn't quite place it.

Ash and Dawn had been able to see all of this because almost as soon as they walked in and looked at the group, 5 in total at the sofas, the flag holder had stood up and began enthusiastically waving it though the two with horns didn't blow them. Two more of this ilk were on the other side by the computers and all 7, 5 men and 2 women, were staring at Ash and Dawn as they continued to the counter while Nurse Joy seemed completely unphased by them.

The couple took that in stride, and besides, it wasn't like neither weren't well known at this point, so they just ignored them as they made their way to Nurse Joy. They were glad that at least Ash wasn't getting mobbed this time, yet.

"Welcome to the Spikemuth Pokémon Center." Nurse Joy said with a smile and dip of her head as the Indeedees mimicked her. "How may I help you?"

"We'd like a room for a few nights." Ash said holding out his trainer card. "And for our Pokémon to be healed up."

"Of course, we currently have no guests so this should only take a few seconds." Nurse Joy said as she took Ash's card and looked at it which caused her eyes to widen. "Oh my, Mr. Ketchum, you actually came here? This is unexpected."

"Come again?" Ash asked as he felt the stares intensify and the Indeedees each produced a tray and Dawn placed 3 of her Poke Balls on one of the trays as she'd need to keep Piplup and Popplio to deal with Sobble as she'd learned the night before that Sobble was the Galar water starter so they'd be vital in helping figure things out while her 3rd Pokémon would be sent back to Pallet Town so that she could bring Sobble in. "You didn't think that I'd make it?"

"Spikemuth isn't exactly a destination for many unless they're here for the gym, and even then it's just for that and the trainers usually leave as soon as they can after they've beaten Piers." Nurse Joy admitted while Pikachu hopped into the other tray but that was it as Ash wanted to do some training first so only Pikachu was getting healed at the moment. "So when we were informed, and by Leon no less, that you'd be coming to face Piers, well we couldn't believe it."

"You couldn't?" Ash asked confused.

"Of course not what with it being over a decade since a regional Champion that isn't our own Monarch has come to Spikemuth so we didn't get our hopes up." Nurse Joy said. "It would appear that we were wrong and I for one am happy with that. Spikemuth will get a lot of attention from this battle so combined with Marnie's actions both last year and her current one, we may finally get more visitors here."

"Oh ok, yeah I was always coming here, I'm looking forward to finally facing a dark type gym leader." Ash said grinning as Nurse Joy entered his information into her system which sent it straight to the gym as it was set up to do so whenever a trainer who was here to challenge Piers checked in only this one had the added flag of Ash's Champion status. "We did have to focus on Dawn's Contest requirement but with that done we came here."

"We actually planned my Contest route so that we could be in the area during our time in Galar." Dawn said smiling. "This was always a prime destination for Ash and with all the Contests we could plan around it."

"Yeah, once I heard of the gym here I knew that I had to face it if I could." Ash said. "So here I am to do just that."

"That you are and perhaps, if there is time and Piers can calm the fan club a bit, you could actually give some Contest tips." Nurse Joy said looking at Dawn. "It would appear that our darling Marnie has befriended a coordinator on her travels in another region and is now actually traveling with her and another girl."

Dawn blinked at that as she was now utterly lost. However, clearly Nurse Joy mossed that and continued as the Indeedees took Pikachu and Dawn's Poke Balls into the back room to begin healing them.

"Marnie is of course a standard trainer but she's learned about Contests and apparently her friend is a great admirer of two Top Coordinators and what they can do in Contest battles." Nurse Joy said snapping Dawn back to what Nurse Joy was saying. "So Marnie's tried a few as well and while she still prefers normal battles she's enjoyed them. So much so that she has reached out to the Galar Contest Committee to have one in Spikemuth next year and as our current gym isn't a stadium we can just use that for a Contest so no need to build anything new here. We've not had one yet but it could be interesting to have one here."

"Oh, um, sure." Dawn said wondering who Marnie was and who she'd met as she'd not heard the name but with the flag, the banner, and calling her 'darling' Dawn had an idea of what this Marnie looked like. "I don't mind but I need to sort something out first anyway. I, er, caught a new Pokémon and need some time with it to figure things out as it was more a catch to help it out than for myself and so it has to make its own choice."

"Perfectly fine." Nurse Joy said with a nod as she handed Ash back his trainer card and a key that he passed to Dawn. "I get the feeling it might take a bit anyway given Ash's arrival will be the focus for the moment."

"Er ok." Dawn said not sure what to think of that as she took the key from Ash. "Where are the rooms?"

"Through the door on my left." Nurse Joy said as she indicated said door before doing the same for the other door. "The battlefield is in the basement which can be accessed by the door on my right in case you need it."

"Oh I do, I've got some training to do." Ash said with a nod. "So I'll just head straight there, we've not had a chance to do any today and I want to get some done before dinner."

"Right then I'll take your back." Dawn said as she let got of Ash's hand and he passed it over to her. "And sort the room out. See you in a bit."

"Thanks and yup see you later." Ash said as Dawn leaned up and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips before turning and heading to the door to the rooms.

Ash watched Dawn leave and then when she was gone he turned and was going to head to the battlefield his plan to send a message to Piers, via Nurse Joy, that he was in town momentarily forgotten due to the thoughts of training. After all, they'd been traveling all day so he'd not had time to work with his team for Piers and he wanted to get in some training before they got a nice healing from Nurse Joy and he enjoyed dinner with Dawn.

Well, that was his plan but as he turned he saw that all 7 of the punk gang people had moved and were now standing before him in an arc arms crossed or holding the flag up. Ash looked at all of them and blinked as he'd not expected the people to come up to him like this but apparently they wanted to confront him and had waited for Dawn to leave to do so.

"Do you really need to do this here?" Nurse Joy said with a sigh from behind Ash. "It's not really necessary at the moment."

"Yes we do." One of the grunts, a fat male in the center who was likely their leader or spokesman of the group, said. "We know who Ash Ketchum is and what he's here for so we thought we'd introduce ourselves to him."

"And let him know that he's got nothing on Marnie." One of the women, this one having not grown her hair out past the shaved sides, said. "She's going to be a regional Champion this year as well, albeit via beating the region she's in's Champion in the PWC, but she's going to win that League and qualify for the PWC that way."

"And then she's going to beat Ash in it as well and really help Spikemuth because he's got nothing on her." One of the guys, a scrawny man with hair directly spiked up in a series of sharp points, said. "We'll be there in Wyndon to see it when she reaches the final round and in whichever city she's in if it's one of the host cities. We're hoping she gets assigned to the second bracket as that's right here in Spikemuth so she's on home turf and the team will all be there for her."

"Right, all the gym cities in Galar are hosting the first stage of the PWC." Ash said recalling the format that Leon had told him about and as he did the part of that conversation that had covered Spikemuth began to come back to Ah. "How is that going?"

"It's being sorted out and should be ready in time but yes we will host city for the second bracket as Piers is the 7th Gym Leader in our specific order so the second strongest." Nurse Joy said. "We may not be a city many visit but we are passionate about our girl and the support will be there for her wherever she ends up. Regardless, though, hosting the second bracket will get a lot attention here."

"Yeah she's got Team Yell behind her!" The fat one yelled living up to the name and clearly ignoring the benefits of hosting the second bracket. "We're going to come out in force for her!"

"Team Yell?" Ash asked blinking as the name rang a bell with him from his conversation with Leon as the Galar Monarch had mentioned it to him but Ash was still confused now that he was meeting them in person. "That's the regional team here?"

"We're just super fans of our girl Marnie." The other woman who's hair fell back in a mullet behind the saved sides said and as she did it all came back to Ash and he recalled what Leon had said about Team Yell but the woman continued anyway. "Not like those other teams that actually commit crimes and want to rule regions or the world. We just go around and support Marnie."

"And we'll take down any who get in her way." One of the guy, this one with his long hair gelled back into a tail behind his head, added. "No matter what. Course, she's not in Galar at the moment but we've sent some of our diehards to support here to follow her on her travels as representatives of the whole team while we watch what we can here."

"It's that attitude that has led to some small issues and unfortunately petty crimes no matter how well intentioned you are." A new voice said causing all 7 to jump and turn to the door while Ash blinked as he'd not heard anyone else arrive. "Oh and I just got word from the head of the Unova Pokémon League, all of you who are there will be expelled from the region if you pull another stunt like you did in Nacrene City, Lenora was not happy with how you acted in the museum. I get the enthusiasm and it's making us known to other regions but tone it down and let my sister win on her own accord."

As soon as the newcomer had spoken, the grunts before Ash leapt up and to the sides. As they did they gave Ash a clear view of the speaker as he stood just past the doorway of the Pokémon Center with the door now closed behind him. Over the years, Ash had met many strange and interesting people in his travels but the newcomer was easily top 5 all time as Ash took him in.

Like the grunts before him, he wore the same tank top, or at least Ash presumed it was the same as he wore a long sleeved white jacket with spikes at the cuffs, a high collar, and dark pink bands from the chest to his shoulders that oddly only came down to his ribs. However, his tank top came down to his waist with the hem hidden by a thick gray, segmented, belt that was slung at an angle and had a corded loop with his Poke Balls on it resting against his ass. Below the belt he wore what looked like a pair of dark pink compression shorts that came to just above his knees and had black Xs on them with black diamonds between the four points.

To complete the look he wore calf high boots that were white to the ankle and them black on the legs with gray tips and heels and white bands at the mid-calf and the top each with a single spike from it. He also had on mismatching gloves with a white one on his left hand that ended in a metal band without spikes unlike the grunts and a strange black one on his right hand that left all his fingers but his index one free. Around his neck was a gray choker with a lighter gray pendant on it that looked like a ring with a spike at the base and three on the top.

To say that it was an eccentric look was an understatement but all that was nothing to the man's hair. He had a mane of black and light gray hair that was close cropped on the right side but with a massive cowlick that fell over the right side of his face hiding his right eye and curved around it with the black on the outside of it and gray on the inside. Then, from the back of his head, it was tied in what looked like a ponytail that forked at some point in his mid-back and ended in black tips with a black band and the rest gray. Oddly, all his hair had spikes gelled up in it.

Ash had been around the block several times and as the man walked forward towards him he didn't need to hear what the grunts said to confirm who it was. After all, it was a general rule of thumb when dealing with eccentrically dressed groups or in when you were in a city or town with a gym that the most elaborately dressed one was the leader and in this case he was a leader in both aspects.

"Piers!" The grunts cried confirming to Ash that the man was the Spikemuth Gym Leader. "You're here!"

"Of course, I was notified as soon as the Pokémon Center registered that a trainer was in town with the added alert that it was the Kalos Champion no less so I had to come over and meet him." Piers said. "If you could please allow me and Ash a moment to discuss privately that would be great. Marnie's entered a Contest in Unova today and it's going to be broadcast in the gym, go and show your support for her there."

"She is?" The fat grunt asked.

"Yes, she may not beat her friend Serena but the training facing her Kalos style Contest battles has been vital for her and she's been showing off the spirit of Spikemuth in them so Unova is starting to notice our city." Piers said. "Plus, I want you amped up for tomorrow as well. Ash's presence here will get out by the end of the day and draw people, especially when it's made known that I will be battling with him a few days and people will actually want to come to the gym. Our battle will also be broadcast internationally and so it will be a boon for our city which you all must be ready for."

"Yes sir!" The grunts said before they turned and hurried out with cheers for Marnie that made Piers smile.

"Sorry about that." Piers said as he came to a stop in front of Ash and Ash noted that he had light purple eye shadow over his visible left eye and all thing considered Ash could totally see that the man was a rocker. "I appreciate their support for Marnie even if they can be a bit overenthusiastic at times. Like the rest of us, the citizens here have great pride in our poor city and want to see it get more attention and my little sis is the best for that, it's one of the things that they love about her. She did wonders last year in the Galar Cup when she reached the finals and now she's trying to win the Unova League this year so they're really backing her."

"No, it's fine, I'm used to named teams being, er, criminal but you they're just devoted supporters it seems which is a nice change of pace." Ash said still processing things while all that Leon had told him about Spikemuth, Piers, and Marnie finally came back to him and he started to really put things together that he'd not thought about since that lunch given everything else that had been going on while he'd been in Galar. "So, you're Piers then."

"Yup, I'm the gym leader here and a real genius when it comes to dark types." Piers said getting serious as he gestured to his chest with his right thumb. "Mournful Piers is what the fans call me, especially when me and the band are rocking out in the gym."

"Well then good to meet you." Ash said holding out his hand and getting the feeling that if they'd met in the gym this would have been a bit more intense and that he'd probably have met the band though Ash was unaware that said band was Piers's Pokémon. "And just as I thought, you're a rocker which makes you like Roxie."

"I'm the original rocking gym leader but I've met my poisonous colleague in Unova when she came here to learn how to really rock out as a gym leader." Piers said as he took Ash's hand and shook it. "Marnie's looking forward to facing her in Virbank but she's saving Roxie for last given her strong reputation. I'm sure that their battle will shake the foundations of Virbank, I may even go there myself to see it if I have time."

"Yeah she was the last one that I faced when I was out there and it took all 6 of my Pokémon to beat just three of hers." Ash said before it hit him. "Wait, you mentioned that she's friends with a girl called Serena who uses Kalos style Contest battles?"

"Yes I did." Piers said with a smile. "They met in Striaton right after Marnie beat the gym there and Serena was getting a meal in the restaurant part of the gym. Marnie's Morpeko caught Serena's eye given how it's the electric rodent of Galar and from that they became friends. After a battle where Serena pushed Marnie more than expected with her Contest style, Marnie asked to travel Unova with here and that's what they're doing. They met a local girl called Hilda along the way and now all three are seeing the region together and supporting each other."

"Serena's a good friend of mine and Dawn's." Ash said. "That's a big coincidence."

"I'm aware, when I told Marnie that I'd be facing you in a televised battle right here in Spikemuth, unlike other I trusted Leon when he told me that you were coming, she got excited." Piers said. "It would seem that Serena has been singing your praises to her new friends, along with those of Dawn and a girl called May, and now Marnie's interested in battling you herself. Course the fact that you're a regional Champion doesn't hurt and she's actually a bit jealous that I get to face you first. I believe you're about the same age as her so I think she's upset that you won it all in Kalos before you could be a rival."

"Well I'll consider anyone a rival and if she makes it to the PWC then she'll be one there regardless." Ash said with a grin. "And Dawn and I have to go to Unova anyway for the Wallace Cup so perhaps we'll see her there when we meet up with Serena for that Contest."

"Oh you will, Marnie's been using Contests as added training opportunities so she's planning on entering that as well, especially given how big it is." Piers said. "That said, she has yet to win a ribbon as the time limit of Contest battles is something that she's not adapted to. Of course she doesn't need it and has won the Club Battle event in Nimbasa Town, she sent what she won home and the wings are proudly displayed in the gym now to show off the city's favorite daughter and future Gym Leader, but she wants a ribbon just to say that she won one."

"I know that feeling, I'm not a coordinator but I've competed in several Contests over the years as they are good training events, even reached the last Wallace Cup Final." Ash said. "But winning a ribbon in HopHopHop Town was big for me as I can now say that I've won a Contest and doing so over Dawn was pretty big as well. It's a different style and has a hard time limit so you've gotta adapt to it and because of that it can help in a normal battle. There's been several moves that May and Dawn have used in Contest battles that I've employed or given me inspiration for my normal battles."

"That's Marnie's view on it though it wasn't originally, Serena changed her mind there when she pointed out that she could use her tactics to beat standard trainers providing that it was in a Contest battle." Piers said. "That and any success that Marnie has in Unova, especially where her hometown is clearly announced to a crowd, will look good here. As you can tell, we need more visitors but the whole gym situation has been an issue."

"Leon mentioned." Ash said as he fully remembered what the Monarch of Galar had said. "You don't have a stadium like the others but one is being built, right?"

"Yes there is no Power Spot in the city limits of Spikemuth so it's being built outside of the city on top of the nearest Power Spot and will be used for the PWC and afterwards with it being completed in about 5 months' time." Piers said. "After that we're working on a system to get from here to the gym which will revitalize the hospitality industry in Spikemuth and from there other ones. As the second seed will be based here, which currently is likely to be Lance unless there are upsets in the seeding exhibition tournament, there will be a big boost so there's a lot of work to be done. You're presence here and our battle will increase that."

"Leon was hoping for that as well." Ash said with a nod. "And your sister will take over the new gym because she doesn't mind Dynamaxing."

"Correct." Piers said. "So all will be good and I can retire and rock out with the gang while Marnie takes over. The better Marnie she does before then, the more interest we will receive."

"I wish her luck then." Ash said and he meant it. "And I hope to meet her as well when I visit Unova later in the year."

"As I said, she's said she's entering the Wallace Cup so you will." Piers said. "And after we battle expect a fierce one from her as well. She's got a lot to prove and is motivated in part by her love for her hometown so she doesn't want to let us down."

"I look forward to all of it." Ash said. "Especially my battle with you as that's next and it's in a dark type gym."

"As do I." Piers said. "Everything is in place, Leon's contacted me and the media and reporters should get here tomorrow and set up so in 3 days' time, once everything is in place and both of us are ready, we will battle. I know that Leon gave you a special writ to allow you to receive the Dark Badge if you beat me, as well as a potential additional prize but you've gotta impress me to earn that, so you can present it to me at the gym right before the battle."

"I will." Ash said understanding the formality of it all as well as the necessary preparations. "And I really should focus on preparing for it now. That was my plan for the next few days anyway."

"That is for the best and I'm sure that my fans will challenge you to see how good you are, which will be good training for you regardless." Piers said. "I just wanted to confirm that you were really here and meet you before the battle but like you I've got to get prepare for it. I'm facing a Champion; I can't disappoint or make Spikemuth look bad on international TV. Bring everything Ash because I'm doing the same."

"Oh I will." Ash said grinning. "I've been waiting for this ever since I reached Galar, the chance to beat the one gym type that I've never beaten, or even faced, is one that I can't pass up."

"I like that, show that intensity in a few days because so will I." Piers said before he turned and started to walk to the door though he had a few parting words. "Until then, enjoy my city and get ready. This will be a boost for Spikemuth the likes of which we've been needing for a long time."

With that, and before Ash could reply, Piers reached the door and left, the dark city beyond briefly being shown before the door closed. A moment later there was the sound of a motorbike starting and driving away which surprised Ash but his grin never fell.

He'd met Piers and the man was certainly unique so he couldn't wait to battle him to see what he was like in that regard, and his sister for that matter if the chance came up, so he had to be ready. After all, this was going to be televised around the world, though how many outside of Galar and who didn't know Ash would tune in he didn't know, and help out Spikemuth so Ash couldn't let anyone down, especially himself as this was one of his two training battles in Galar as part of his preparations for the PWC.

So, with that in mind, Ash himself turned and headed to the door to Nurse Joy's right though she wasn't present having gone back to help her Indeedees with Pikachu and Dawn's Pokémon while Ash and Piers talked. That didn't bother Ash though as it was time for him to really train and train hard because the next challenge for Ash would be his first ever dark type gym battle and he couldn't wait. Spikemuth Gym was waiting for him and Ash was going to give it a battle that Galar wouldn't soon forget.

Well there it is, Ash and Dawn are in Spikemuth and have been properly greeted by Piers and a few members of Team Yell. Initially this was just going to be the gym battle with the Piers stuff occurring before it but I decided to break it up into a classic intro chapter and then the battle will be next chapter so a little hype as well. As for the Marnie stuff, if I ever do a Serena in Unova stand alone story, which I'm considering, she'll of course be a major character in it and comes from a suggestion that Serena meet and befriend Hilda there and while I liked that I wanted to bring in Marnie in this story in some way because she's a fun character and this worked best so the trio of girls are now friends in Unova. Marnie at least will debut in the Hearts series in the Unova arc so look out for that. Anyway there's nothing more that I need to say about this Part so I will leave it off here. As always if you like my work then please favorite (both this story and me in general to be notified of any new content I post), if possible leave a review as I really like hearing what you think of my work and your suggestions that help complete this story (and respond as best I can) and just in general keep enjoying my work. Until next time

Stringdog