Cassius sat there, frozen for a moment. Like the words that had come from Marnie's mouth were entirely foreign. "I... what?"

"Battle me," she repeated simply. "Right now."

This was really happening. Cassius had thought about random people coming up and asking for a battle before, and though it hadn't happened outside of that one instance with the Team Yell lackeys, he wasn't really sure how it was he would have responded. From what he understood, it was general courtesy to accept if both trainers were simply out and about with nothing better to do, but given their status, Cassius had been told that the rules were different for them. They were famous, and in the middle of the circuit. They had gym leaders to train for, and couldn't afford for any of their techniques, strategies, or even Pokémon to leak before a big fight.

Leon couldn't accept a random fight from any pedestrian that strolled up to him. In that same vein, Cassius didn't have to either. But this wasn't a random kid with a Pokémon or two—this was a fellow circuit trainer, and a very notable one at that. And she was currently being very, very pushy in requesting that he battle her.

"Can I ask why?" He ventured. "This feels a bit sudden."

"There a problem with it?" Marnie's hand fell on her hip. "Happened upon you 'ere, figure we should battle. You said you aren't busy, yeah? Why not battle?"

Happened upon him... Cassius had a hard time believing that, but then again, Marnie didn't seem like the stalker type. Maybe she really had just stumbled on him. And accusing her of anything without any proof of wrongdoing would only escalate the situation, which he definitely wanted to avoid doing.

As it was, there was one Marnie Rosemary looking for a battle, and only one Cassius Hargreaves there to provide her one. Maybe he could have come up with some lame excuse on the spot... but the more he thought about it, the less he wanted to. All that training he'd been doing had been for the sake of winning his next gym battle convincingly, and here was a trainer on par with a gym leader, if not potentially better, offering to battle him for free. If he measured up well against her, then that boded well for his chances against Nessa, didn't it?

Beyond even that, he wanted the challenge. If he was really going to take this challenge all the way to the Champion Cup, then he was going to have to fight Marnie eventually. Her, Bede, Hop, Gloria, not to mention any other trainers that potentially beat all eight gym leaders. In a fight with no real consequences, he could get a feel for Marnie's style of battle up close and personal.

Gloria and Hop had each other to help push and improve. He appreciated the help they both gave him, but there was that lingering feeling that he was a third wheel between the two of them, in more ways than one. Maybe Cassius was overdue for a rival—and maybe that rival had just crossed his path.

"Sure," Cassius said, returning to his feet alongside his Pokémon. "Why not? Got nothing better to do anyway."

His agreement didn't prompt any obvious change in expression for Marnie, her face still almost eerily deadpan. "Alright. Get yourself prepared, lemme know when you're ready." She walked down to the edge of the clearing, which would serve as her side of the battlefield. Despite the lack of notable expression in her demeanor, Cassius wouldn't let that lull him into a false sense of security. The first thing she'd done once she'd apparently found him was immediately challenge him to a battle. It was obvious she wanted to fight him badly, for whatever reason.

"Alright, huddle up," Cassius rallied his Pokémon around him, the egg included. His gaze fell upon Hyla and Korvis. "Well, hope you two still have energy. Remember when I talked about improving against elite competition? You both are gonna get another chance to do that right now."

He received varying looks from his Pokémon. One of slight anxiety from Hyla, and one of eager anticipation from Korvis. "This fight's a friendly exhibition, so it won't matter too much," Cassius tacked on, in an attempt to ease some of Hyla's apprehension. "Just think of it like training. Win or lose, take it as a learning experience and a chance to improve."

Korvis trilled with fervor. "Or a chance to kick ass, if you want," Cassius added. "Regardless, you're gonna have to wait. Hyla, you're up first. That alright?"

Nervous or not, Hyla seemed to take his words to heart, barking affirmatively. "That's my girl. We're gonna stay away from Dragon Breath for now, so we're just gonna roll with the moves you have down pat for now. I'd like to see you be able to use the move consistently before we have you use it in an actual fight." He didn't want a beam of energy blowing up in her mouth and potentially knocking her out, especially in front of someone else.

The third member of his team was clicking at him hopefully. "No, you're absolutely out for this," Cassius shot down immediately. Sizzlipede deflated, and Cassius might have felt a little bad if it wasn't for the sake of her own health. "That doesn't mean you shouldn't pay attention, though. Marnie's a Dark-type specialist, so you hold a type advantage over her. Study the fight, and be ready for next time." The mention of a next time seemed to perk her right back up, and she was evidently placated enough to plop herself and the egg a safe viewing distance away, eyeing both sides of the clearing excitedly.

Cassius and his two Pokémon made their way to their side of the clearing, taking up position at the end opposite of Marnie. "Alright, we're good. How do you wanna do this?"

"Singles," she replied instantly. "Two-v-two. Standard rules." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "You're familiar with standard rules, yeah?"

"For sure," Cassius nodded, doing his best to maintain a calm poker face. "Singles and standard rules, got it." Quickly moving on, Cassius nodded toward his partner. "You're up first, Hyla. Get ready."

Marnie was silent for a moment as Hyla trotted out, before eventually sending out her own partner. "Morpeko." Without another word, the mousey striped Pokémon leapt from her shoulder and onto the grass, stretching its hind legs and popping what looked like a seed from its bodily pouch into its mouth. A faint static spark flashed from its cheeks as it did so.

"Kick us off," Marnie prompted. Cassius obliged. "Alright. Charge, Hyla." With a rallying bark, Hyla took off toward Morpeko, their opponent digging in its heels for a fight.

Cassius had watched Marnie's fight against Milo, and had paid especially close attention to how she had utilized her Morpeko. That was her team's ace, her partner Pokémon. In terms of its battle capabilities, it shared a lot of similarities with Gloria's Yamper—speedy and physically stronger than it looked, despite its size. True to that, Marnie liked to utilize Morpeko in a way that made use of its speed and power, dashing into opponents, landing strong attacks, and backing out before sustaining any serious damage. Milo had been practically helpless against it, and as a result, it had essentially swept the gym leader by itself.

What really made Morpeko dangerous, however, was its apparent experience in tandem with how in-sync it was with Marnie. Morpeko looked to have the confidence of a Pokémon with years of training and battling under its metaphorical belt, and given Marnie's evident talent as a trainer, it was only natural that it would grow to be exceptionally fierce in combat. More than that, the two were always on the same page—in their fight against Milo, Cassius had noticed that Morpeko had moved in perfect step with Marnie, and in some cases even before she finished her instruction. If it weren't for the league's rules against silent commands, Cassius felt confident in saying that the two would have probably smoked Milo without her saying a single word. That was the level of experience and trust he was going up against.

Something like what he and Korvis had experienced, but for the duration of an entire fight... Cassius could only dream of being so locked in with his Pokémon. As it was, he had a long way to go until then, and he'd get firsthand experience in fighting against that kind of synergy.

Marnie waited for Hyla to get a little closer, before issuing her first order. "Make space." Morpeko was already off after the first word, sprinting on all fours to its right and Cassius' left. Its superior speed far outdid Hyla's, leaving the Dragon-type to course correct and continue pursuing.

Hyla was close to making up the space again, before Marnie repeated herself. "Again." Once more, Morpeko dashed away. Hyla stopped briefly to catch her breath, before glancing at Cassius for orders. Cassius himself was glancing at Marnie and Morpeko both, the former in turn staring at him closely. Intently.

His first thought was that she was screwing with him. He couldn't claim to know her battling style intimately well after watching one fight of hers, but this didn't seem like something she'd do as an actual tactic. Rather, this felt like something that went against battling etiquette as a whole—though, he couldn't claim to know a ton about that, either. That left him with a simple question of why she'd bother seeking him out for a battle if she was just going to run away from him the entire fight and waste both of their time.

"Change of plans," Cassius looked toward Hyla. "Still gotta hit 'em, even if we can't catch 'em. Down to try Dragon Breath?" Hyla barked, nodding. This was the exact kind of situation they were learning the move for, and Hyla would have to get used to trying the move out in a battle-like setting at some point. What better time than a fight that wouldn't mean his immediate disqualification from the circuit in the event he lost?

Cassius wasn't super sure about their chances of landing the attack even if she managed to get it off, given Morpeko's apparent evasiveness, but it was better than gassing Hyla in a hopeless attempt to catch their opponent. If they kept firing them off successfully, one of them might have managed to land, and the risk of that would be enough to draw Morpeko in for a closer fight, which would play into Hyla's stronger attributes. Morpeko's as well, but he'd take a fifty-fifty over a battle of stamina they wouldn't win.

Surprisingly, Morpeko wasn't moving. Marnie didn't look like she was going to order it to, either. At least it would be a straight shot for Hyla. "Dragon Breath!" Planting her feet, Hyla took in a deep breath, the draconic power coalescing in her maw. A faint blue glow began to emanate, a quiet sizzle growing into a pulsating hum. This looked better than her previous attempts—far, far better. Had she already mastered the move when he wasn't looking?

The air around them seemed to freeze, as if the clearing itself was waiting with bated breath—until it released and petered out, the Dragon Breath fizzling away into nothing. Hyla wheezed in exertion, catching her breath after the attempt. Cassius hummed, lips slightly pursed. She'd been really, really close that time, too. "Good try, Hyla! Won't be long now."

"Unbelievable," he heard from across the clearing. Marnie stood with her arms crossed, looking wholly unimpressed. Cassius wasn't sure where that came from, and was on the verge of saying as much when Marnie spoke again. "Get in there. Aura Wheel."

With a grunt, Morpeko began running on all fours toward its mark. Hyla looked to him, likely anticipating a dodge command, but Cassius had chosen to return her dissatisfied look with one of his own, staring critically at the incoming attack. "Tank it, Hyla. It won't be effective."

Something about this entire encounter stank. Cassius still thought it was weird for Marnie to go so far to seek him out for a fight, but if it was for an earnest battle in the sake of friendly competition, he wouldn't have thought too hard about it—all athletes were competitive, and that of course included trainers. But going so far as to find him, challenge him, and then treat the ensuing fight like a test he was failing didn't sit right with him. All she'd done was run away from him, and seemingly mock him for daring to try and experiment a little, in a fight that literally didn't count for anything.

If she wanted to show him up, he wasn't gonna have that, especially when that meant wasting precious time he could have spent training, studying, or doing literally anything else. Maybe he was reading her completely wrong (he thought their prior interactions before now had been cordial enough), but the feeling that she was trying to one-up him was getting stronger, and he didn't know her nearly well enough to give her the benefit of the doubt.

So, if she wasn't gonna take this seriously, he wouldn't either. Aura Wheel would be either Electric or Dark-type, depending on Morpeko's current mood—neither of which were effective against Hyla. The damage it would do would be negligible at best, and the message would be sent.

Morpeko's body began to physically change as it sprinted, its fur taking on a darker quality. The middle part on its body turned to a dark purple, and its outside edges a jet-black. That must have been Morpeko's Hunger Switch in action. A neat trick, but again, it wouldn't matter. Morpeko then folded in on itself and began to spin, not unlike how Sizzlipede operated with Flame Wheel. Only instead of Sizzlipede's wreath of fire, Morpeko's wheel generated inky-black tendrils of Dark-type energy as it spun toward Hyla.

The tendrils seemed to grow in intensity as Morpeko got closer, but Cassius still wasn't concerned. Hyla similarly chose to trust his judgment, digging in for the incoming hit. Marnie made no move to alter her command, awaiting the impact as he did. 'Good,' Cassius thought, a little derisively. 'She can embarrass herself all she wants. See if I—'

The impact came. Hyla, well-positioned as she was, took the full brunt of the attack—and barked in surprise and pain as she was slammed by Aura Wheel. The subsequent force launched her a few meters across the clearing. Not enough to knock her out, but the surprise actually having hurt and the subsequent strike had clearly done a substantial number on her.

Cassius' mind went blank. That hadn't been some little ineffective shove, that attack had done serious damage. But how? Was it somehow not ineffective? Was there a caveat to the move that he hadn't considered?

Morpeko had returned to its feet after the hit, still in its Hangry Mode. It spat something out of its mouth as it did so. Cassius initially thought it was a seed of a berry it had consumed, but a closer look revealed something shinier, harder—and disintegrating. A tiny black gem of some kind. But gems didn't disintegrate, did they? And since when did Pokémon eat rocks?

Marnie didn't look surprised in the least, quickly returning to the offensive. "Rush it down. Get it with spark."

Cassius was still reeling. Suddenly, he wasn't sure what to think anymore. On the surface, Spark shouldn't have been effective, but Aura Wheel wasn't supposed to be either. Did Marnie have even more tricks? Was there some kind of way she was going to make Electric-type moves hurt too? "Hyla! Back up!" He shouted defensively, scrambling for anything he could do to counteract Marnie's rush.

Morpeko reached Hyla far too quickly, its form shifting back into its Full Belly Mode, an electric current coursing through its fur. "Bite!" Cassius threw out. Maybe they could get lucky and nip Morpeko before the attack landed.

No such luck. "Sidestep." Morpeko easily slipped past Hyla's outstretched maw, as if it had seen it in slow-motion. Then, with an angry squeak, it tackled Hyla, sending them both to the ground this time. The damage from this attack looked lesser than Aura Wheel, but Cassius' relief was short-lived when Hyla remained sprawled on the dirt after Morpeko hopped back up. He initially feared the worst, but a closer look revealed that she wasn't unconscious, but frozen stiff, tiny jolts of electricity dancing across her fur. 'Shit!' He cursed mentally. Though not unconscious, paralysis wasn't much of a better alternative.

"Aura Wheel." Again, Morpeko returned to its Hangry Mode, and again, charged at Hyla with the Dark-type version of Aura Wheel. From that close a distance, and with Hyla paralyzed, it would be as quick and free a hit as any. There wasn't anything Cassius could do.

But there had to be something, right? She'd gotten him with a surprise, one he definitely hadn't anticipated, but the fight wasn't over yet. His mind was in overdrive, scanning over every piece of advice he'd ever been given for anything that would help him now. 'Environment, surprise, unpredictable...' so many words, coalescing into one vague blob that gave him no concrete way of turning this around. Like his head was spinning purely for the sake of spinning. Overwhelming him.

The Aura Wheel landed, another hit on his helpless Pokémon. Hyla looked pained and distressed, desperately looking at him for any direction or instruction. "I—" he started, but words failed him and nothing followed, his mouth dry. Another Spark landed, Cassius having tuned out anything from Marnie's side of the field. All he could focus on was his Pokémon getting beat up on, and the fact that he was currently standing around doing nothing.

Then, it stopped. Morpeko finally relented, returning to an upright position. Though, its expression was one of pure disappointment, aimed directly at him. That look was slightly overshadowed by its trainer, who had retrieved her Pokémon atop her shoulder and marched over to his side of the battlefield with that same outwardly straight-faced expression, but with an added aura of anger in the way she was looking at him. "Fuck was that?"

Cassius, for all that was happening, didn't appreciate being confronted like that. "What is your fucking problem?"

"What's my problem? After that pathetic nonsense you just showed me, you have the gall to ask what my problem is?" She gestured to the field behind them, where Hyla was shakily getting to her feet. "You lemme kick your arse for a whole minute, and did nothin' to stop it."

Cassius shrugged past the shorter girl, making his way to Hyla, already in the process of receiving potions and heals from his bag. "I don't have time for this."

"I knew there was somethin' off 'bout you," Marnie continued, even as he got to work on healing Hyla. "Too little information. Nothin' 'bout you 'fore you came to Galar made sense. A trainer with no film on 'em, but apparently good enough to get an endorsement from the champion? All 'coz of some little stampede you saved, and a Deino you just happened to catch? Rubbish."

Cassius still tried to ignore her, but she kept going. "I don't get it. You somehow beat Milo, but looked a step below even amateur-level here. The likes of Team Yell beat you, and they couldn't so much as sniff an endorsement."

That drew a wince, and a bit of apprehension from Cassius. "You saw that?"

"I orchestrated that," Marnie revealed. "If there was nothin' online 'bout you, I would've needed to see somethin' in-person, and I wasn't gonna wait for a sanctioned fight during the first leg of the circuit to see what your deal was." Her eyes narrowed. "Can tell a lot 'bout a trainer when they take on a challenger they haven't spent weeks preppin' for."

It was obvious what she was implying. It fell on Cassius not to rise to her provocation and remain calm. "You caught me by surprise, on an off day, right after my team and I had finished training. You thought we'd be at one-hundred percent?"

"Stark difference between bein' one-hundred percent and sittin' 'round watchin' my Pokémon beat up yours," Marnie shot back. "Amateurs in the junior circuit would've put up a better fight. All that, 'coz you were tired and had an off day? A supposedly professional trainer?"

It took immense restraint not to bite back at her. Hyla looked at him worryingly, likely sensing the tension in the air between the two trainers. "Don't worry, girl," he assured her, applying the finishing touches of a potion. "You're gonna be okay. I'm sorry."

"You owe it to that Pokémon to be better than that," Marnie continued. "That was beyond embarrassin'—it was pathetic. And it's always the Pokémon havin' to pay for a bad trainer's mistake and ego."

"What do you want from me?" Cassius shouted as he shot back to his feet, turning around and glaring down at Marnie. "Clearly, you wanted something out of all of this. You have me now, you kicked my ass, so go on. Say whatever it is you wanted to tell me so badly that you had to interrogate me for it."

Her Morpeko apparently didn't like his tone, a growl forming in its throat as faint bits of static built in its cheeks. No sooner than Cassius had registered that, Korvis entered his field of vision, hovering near him and giving Marnie's Pokémon a daring look. Sizzlipede followed not long after, skittering up his head and hissing. This entire thing had turned into a tense standoff—one that could ignite at seemingly any moment.

"The truth," Marnie eventually answered, eyes boring into him. "Why're you here? A foreigner with seemingly no prior experience, suddenly gifted the most prestigious endorsement in the entire country. None of it makes sense."

"I'm a trainer," Cassius retorted. "It makes perfect sense."

"Trainer," she scoffed, as if the idea amused her somehow. "Sure. A trainer who apparently balks at the usage of a simple Dark Gem in a battle. Experimentin' with moves his Pokémon haven't mastered mid-fight. Rendered helpless by bein' caught by surprise. Content to stand around wallowin' while his Pokémon gets annihilated in a battle. Be more inclined to believe you if you showed even a vague understandin' of the basic tenets of Pokémon battle—but you don't."

"Why do you even care?" The anger and frustration he'd been trying so hard to contain was beginning to spill out. His mouth was moving automatically. "Leon saw potential in me. Me. You can be mad about it all you want, but it was his decision. And I've already beaten one gym leader! Clearly, he knew what he was doing!"

"Because there're thousands of people that endorsement could've gone to," Marnie's voice, quiet and soft in their previous encounters, was tinged with anger for the first time he'd heard from her. "People who've trained their entire lives, for even the chance to take on the pro circuit. Some people with little to no resources, no security, no backup plan. People whose lives could change, and whose families' lives could change, if they received an endorsement from Leon. It's no exaggeration to say people would kill for that kind of break."

She took a breath. "But no. It went to you. Some bloke from Unova with no previous training, nothing at stake, no inkling of what it is he's doing, and no understanding of the gift he's received. Whose only merit is that he happened to perform a good deed in the champion's hometown, and from what I've seen, absolutely doesn't deserve it."

Her next words crossed the point of no return. "A fraud."

Something in him snapped. He had never liked being angry—it just wasn't him. Though he'd experienced plenty of anger and frustration recently since undertaking the challenge, it wasn't something he was proud of when reflecting back on it later. Even when he'd defended himself from Gloria back in the Wild Area, and acknowledged that she certainly hadn't helped diffuse their many arguments, he couldn't help but wonder if maybe there could have been a less explosive solution. All of that rationale had been thrown out of the window now—because of that one word.

This whole time, he'd been fighting. First he had to fight Gloria's prejudice and Hop's expectations. He had to actually learn the sport, dissect the basics, integrate them into how he went about fighting and learning, all in a record amount of time. Then he had to learn how to be a professional. Then learn how to conduct himself publicly. Then he had to actually train. Then train specifically for Milo. And after all of that, after everything he'd done to earn that victory against an opponent that had taken down scores of people who had been training ten or one hundred times longer than he had, apparently he hadn't won in a way that made the spectators happy. So he had to train harder, to earn their respect.

And now, all of that wasn't enough in the eyes of some girl who knew nothing about him. Yes, he'd known anger before. But this was something else. Pure, unbridled contempt for someone else. Rage.

"Fine!" He bellowed, throwing his hands up in the air. She wanted the truth? He'd give it to her. "You got me! I'm a fraud! Never battled a day in my entire life before setting foot in this fucking country! There, are you happy now?"

"So you admit it?"

"Yes, I fucking admit it! Arceus, are you even listening to me? I'm telling you everything you wanted to hear!" His arms gestured wildly. "I never battled before I moved here! I never wanted to battle before I moved here! Hyla definitely wasn't a wild Pokémon I caught in Postwick—I've had her since I was a kid! I thought battling was stupid, and dumb, and something only idiots with unrealistic dreams wasted their time on! Any other secrets you wanna grill me on? Do you want my fucking life story and deep-seated insecurities next?"

"Then give the endorsement back. If you hate this so much, then give it to someone who actually wants it."

"I tried!" Cassius answered angrily. "What do you think my first reaction was? But no, if I declined, I'd make Leon look bad, or the region look bad, or whatever stupid excuse Hop gave me. Either disgrace the poor, helpless champion of the country and his big-shot Pokémon League that no one outside of Galar respects, or turn Cassius Hargreaves into a liar to save Leon's sorry, stupid ass. Everyone seemed fine forcing option two on me, so here I am! Cassius Hargreaves, the greatest rookie trainer no one's ever heard of!"

"So that's all we are to you?" Marnie smoldered, voice a weighty monotone. "Some Pokémon League that no one respects?"

"I don't know, are you?" Cassius prodded. He was spiraling, saying things purely for the sake of getting back at Marnie. "Apparently your league is so worthless, so desperate for talent, that the fraud whose ass you just kicked went and got the most coveted endorsement you have, and beat your first gym leader. What does that say about the rest of you, if I was able to go and do that?"

Marnie's expression shifted, her usually soft features hardening. "Say that again, you worthless fuckin' hack."

"No, you fucking listen to me," he cut her off. "You know nothing about me. Nothing about what I've done, what I've gone through to make it here. Maybe I don't have some sad sob story, maybe I don't come from a broken home, maybe my life isn't over if I don't make it as a trainer. But I still fucking learned. I trained, and studied, and did everything I had to so I could catch up to people who have been doing this for years." He took a step forward. "My life isn't over if this doesn't work out, but I treat it like it will be, because that's how seriously I'm taking this. An endorsement would change those peoples' lives? Yeah, well guess what? It would fucking change mine too! It already has!"

It was his turn to bore into her. "Yeah, I didn't want to do this originally, that's true. But now, it's all I want to do. And I'm tired of people telling me, for whatever reason they think they're entitled to give me, that I don't deserve it, or that I'm not doing it right, or whatever other shitty excuse people have been coming up with. And I'm definitely not gonna let you tell me that I'm not qualified to take on the league based on some arbitrary criteria of worthiness you made up in your fucking head."

He spat the final part out at her, straight from the soul. "I'm the only one who decides whether or not I've earned this endorsement. I have the backing, I have the drive, and I'm gonna win the entire fucking thing. Even if it means I have to go through you to make it there."

He was breathless when he finished, and while it did feel a bit cathartic to say all that, Marnie didn't look any more convinced than before he'd started ranting. As it was, both of them were left nearly bursting with anger and tension, their Pokémon alongside them, seconds away from the simmer that had been building since their initial encounter boiling over into something worse. Something irreparable.

And then came someone else to cut through it all. "Oi, fuck's all this?"

Gloria strolled leisurely up to the pair of them, Scorbunny perched atop her shoulder, the latter sniffing the air as if he could smell the fight that had occurred—or the fight about to potentially break out. For her part, Gloria didn't look all that concerned, eyeing the two of them almost lazily. "Leave you alone for a wee quarter hour, 'nd this is what you get up to? Am I interruptin' anythin'?"

Cassius wasn't quite sure if he was relieved or worried to see Gloria come back now of all times. Why had she even come back? Wasn't she going to find Hop? "Gloria, I—"

"Does she know?" Marnie interrupted. Her gaze still hadn't left him.

"Do I know what?" Gloria circled around her, coming to a stop next to Cassius. "S'proper rude to speak on someone like they aren't there."

"Don't play dumb," Marnie pressed. "Do you know? About him?"

"Dinnae ken what ye mean," Gloria denied immediately. Cassius spared her the acting. "Don't bother. She already knows. I told her."

Part of him expected her to blow up immediately. Rage at him for willingly revealing the secret they'd been trying to keep since they'd originally set out, for fear of what would happen to Leon. Instead, Cassius was the one surprised by the lack of worry on her face. All he received was a soft hum. "Aye. Well, that's that then."

"So you did know." Marnie's hostility directed itself at the other girl. "You're in on this farce?"

"Mhm. So is Hop," Gloria added. "'Grats on bein' the fourth to know. I'd say dinnae get too excited, but considerin' all that edge and angst on ye, that's a given."

"You're okay with this? With letting this... this sham cheat his way into the circuit?"

"He takes a little gettin' used to, but he's not all bad." Gloria was almost shockingly casual. "Far be it for me to question Lee's judgement. Be better off tryin' to teach him directions for a change."

Marnie looked even more appalled than she did previously. "Unbelievable. What a joke. Givin' out endorsements like charity, and I'm the crazy one for not bein' okay with it."

"You wanna speak on charity?" Gloria shot back, incredulous. "You get an auto-endorsement 'coz your brother's a gym leader 'nd you beat up on talentless dopes in your little Spikemuth tourneys, 'nd he's the charity case? If you'd've participated in an actual amateur competition, you'd have maybe sniffed the quarterfinals—'nd that's only if Hop or I hadn't already trounced you before gettin' there."

Cassius noticed Marnie's fist clench. A sensitive topic for her, apparently. "Spikemuth trainers would wipe the fuckin' floor with you, and so would I."

"Go for it then, slag," Gloria offered. "Please, m'pure chuffed to get the chance to beat the brakes off a so-called top-tier trainer. Media always says you're on par with me. Curious to see just how wrong they are."

Marnie looked like she was genuinely considering it. Morpeko looked about ready to tear someone's head off, while Scorbunny was showing that feral smirk it always did when it sensed an opportunity to bash some heads in. After an uneasy few moments, Marnie took a breath, straightened up—and exhaled.

"Whatever," she said, voice returning to its normal, soft drawl. "I'm done with you lot. Wouldn't do me much good anyway, when you're all about to get popped for conspiracy an' fraud when I let the league know."

"Oh?" Gloria tensed angrily. "Little Tepig gonna squeal?"

"Why not? This affects the league as a whole—they deserve to know one of the trainers they've been advertisin' actually isn't much of a trainer at all. Can't imagine the league or sponsors will be happy to know they've been proppin' up a serial liar."

She'd likely been anticipating him to fight back against that threat, maybe even start begging and pleading for her not to. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction. "Go ahead," he nodded. "Do it."

Marnie's eyes turned to him, as did Gloria's. The former was wary. "What, change of heart? Way too late to apologize now."

"Who said I'm apologizing?" Cassius quickly denied. He felt a wave of calm wash over him as he spoke, one he hadn't felt since before this entire confrontation. "I'm saying that I won't try to stop you. Go ahead and tell the league. You can let the press know, too. Tell whoever you wanna tell. But, for your sake, you better hope they don't allow me to compete afterwards."

The shift in her expression was marginal, but it was there. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"What it sounds like. Say you let the league know, and they believe you. You inform the press, they publish a tell-all exposé, whatever. But the league decides to let me keep competing, and somehow, the know-nothing fraud from Unova beats Nessa. Then he beats the next gym leader. Then he keeps winning, making it all the way to the Champion Cup—and ends up beating you. He keeps winning until, Arceus forbid, he somehow beats the very same champion who endorsed him. What do you think happens then?"

"Be a pretty shite look for all of us," Gloria muttered, playing along. Though, she didn't look very pleased with the idea of her not becoming champion.

"Exactly," Cassius confirmed. "One of two things happen. One, it makes your entire league look bad for having lost to some chump who hadn't even considered Pokémon training until he got strong-armed into trying it. Or, the public thinks that someone good enough to beat the league couldn't have possibly been some nobody, and that you just made that rumor up for some unknown reason. Who would be the serial liar then?"

"None of that happens if I get you expelled immediately," Marnie countered. Morpeko huffed in agreement, an irate scowl on its chubby face.

"You can try. I've already beaten one gym leader, so clearly, I've got some talent. Would the league take the risk of disqualifying me when I've already shown I can hang with the rest of you oh-so-great trainers? Deserving or not, I'm sponsored by the champion, and I made it through the hardest first round in the league's history. I'm willing to bet, for whatever backlash they receive for keeping me in the circuit, that a storyline like mine would be too much of an attention-grabber to suddenly give up on, and that they give me at least a chance to keep going."

He threw his hands up. "But hey, it's your call. Maybe you're right, and they do kick me to the curb the first chance they get. Do whatever you like. Tell everyone, tell no one. But if you do decide to let the truth out, then for your sake, you better hope they disqualify me—and above all else, you better pray I don't keep winning."

Cassius didn't think of himself as a particularly spiteful person, but he couldn't deny that the brief flash of conflict that flashed over her face was incredibly satisfying to see. That might have been a testament to how good he was at making shit up. Still, for having come up with it on the spot, he didn't think his argument was that half-baked. He didn't notice Gloria immediately saying anything to disprove him. That might have been to avoid giving Marnie any ideas, but still, that had to count for something.

It didn't take Marnie long to return to her resentful expression. He loosely wondered if he was directing the same look back at her. What a mess this had become—he'd only been expecting a friendly fight from all of this. Here he was now, making a mortal enemy out of someone he'd actually kind of respected a little.

"People like you disgust me," Her voice was level, but there was no masking the venom in her words. "The only satisfaction I get from knowin' you exist is the fact that karma will eventually catch up to you."

"Sorry to hear that." Cassius oozed sincerity. "If it's any consolation, you disgust me too." That appeared to be the last straw for her, as she turned her heel and finally walked away, not sparing him so much as a parting glance.

But not before one last thing from him. "Remember, you better pray!" He shouted at her retreating form. "Pray they disqualify me, and if not that, pray that I lose! Because if you don't pray hard enough, I'm gonna keep winning—and I will beat you the next time we battle! I promise you that!" She vanished beyond the clearing, and it was finally over.

The weight of what had happened chose that moment to fully dawn on him, and it hit him like a truck. It was enough to topple him over, as he fell onto his backside with a sigh. Hyla was immediately on him, licking his face worriedly. "I'm okay," he managed, petting her. Sizzlipede followed not long after, glancing at him curiously. Even Korvis seemed the tiniest bit concerned, landing on the ground not far from his person.

Then, he was looking up at the face of Gloria Victoria. "Get up," she ordered, not particularly forcefully. "You can wallow later." Her words contradicted her outstretched hand, which coming from her, was about as nice of a gesture as he could reasonably expect. Accepting it, he returned to his feet, a little shaky, but upright.

He was then immediately slapped upside the head. "Ow!" He flinched, rubbing the spot gingerly. It was more shocking than painful, but it still kinda hurt. "What was that for?"

"I leave you alone for a second, 'nd you go 'nd pick a fight with someone who immediately finds you out." Gloria shook her head. "We'd been doin' good so far, 'nd now? Poof. All that hard work for nothin'."

"I had no choice," Cassius muttered. "We fought, and she destroyed me. She put two and two together pretty quickly."

"All it took was one random battle for you to get exposed. I'd hoped you'd be a little further along to avoid somethin' like that, but evidently, I was wrong."

Cassius sagged slightly. "Sorry," he settled for saying.

Gloria looked at him for a moment, before eventually sighing. "Well, what's done is done. Nothin' to do now but wait 'nd see what the bird does. Whenever that'll be."

"I would've thought you'd be a lot more upset with me."

"Bein' honest? I'd been plannin' for somethin' like this. Figured you'd slip up eventually, so I promised not to let myself get worked up over it when it did happen." She shrugged. "Good on you for at least makin' it past the first leg, at least. A month-plus seemed impossible when we first set out. That we've trained you up to the point that no one suspected you after your first gym fight is good on all of us."

He didn't have a response to that. Gloria allowed him the moment, before clearing her throat softly. "Dunno what happened, but I've never seen you that cross before. Didn't seem it was some slight tiff I stumbled on. Figured whatever it was she said warranted you gettin' so tilted."

Cassius' brow quirked. "You'd believe me? Just like that?"

"Only until you gimme a reason not to." She spat on the ground. "And after all that, I can safely say I like you plenty more than her. Fuckin' skank."

He wasn't quite sure what to say, but he absolutely appreciated the sentiment. Especially from her, after everything they'd gone through—when someone new had begun questioning his ability, Gloria had been there to choose his side and back him up. He wouldn't forget that. "Thanks. Seriously."

"Aye, don't get sappy on me," her expression hardened. "Evidently, I need to train you up so that you don't go gettin' spanked by the next person who jumps you for a battle. We should also let Hop know, so that we can prepare for what'll happen when she probably tattles to whatever publication she puts out for. And for the love of everythin', please stop losin' the plot around every woman you see. If you're not callin' em drunks or racists, you're spillin' your deepest secrets to 'em. Stop that."

"I don't do it on purpose!" He argued. Scorbunny didn't seem to buy that, snorting with a roll of its eyes.

"Sure," Gloria was similarly disbelieving. "C'mon, muppet. Back to camp with you." She made her way back in the direction of camp, Cassius falling in step beside her. He had no idea how he was going to explain all of this to Hop—or gauge how mad he'd potentially be.

"I will say," Gloria added before he could lose himself completely to thought. "Good on you for growin' a spine 'nd defending yourself. Was worried if that would ever happen, but you did a good job standin' up for yourself. Your little spiel wasn't so bad either. Atta boy."

She seemed more encouraged by it than he did. "I just yelled words at her for a few minutes." That really was the extent of it. He didn't feel bad for disputing her more personal claims about him, especially not for his passion regarding battling. That had been deserved, and to Gloria's point, she was right in that it was a good thing that he was growing a spine. But the action of actually yelling at her, trying to intimidate her... it was a weird feeling, entirely new to him. It felt like a step beyond simply standing up for himself.

And even more than that... pray that he got disqualified? What kind of threat was that? His face burned slightly. Sure, he'd been emotional, but he'd spewed that edgy crap completely unprompted. What had he been thinking?

"That's more than you could manage a few weeks ago, I'd say." She actually made a show of patting his back, gently this time. "Take this positively. In a roundabout way, you got somethin' pretty valuable outta this whole thing."

"A reality check?" Cassius ventured. Gloria shook her head. "Nah—a rivalry with stakes. Someone you absolutely have to beat, 'nd have to prove wrong. 'Coz losin' would just prove her right about you. She's the one you have to eventually work toward takin' down. The wall you have to climb. Whatever dumb analogy you fancy most. That'll serve as motivation for you to keep improvin' between gym fights."

Cassius' face scrunched in distaste. Her? A rival? He remembered thinking prior to their fight that he was overdue for a rival, but after what had happened, he wasn't very eager to run into her again. Or ever, if he had his way.

In his head, a rival was something with plenty of heat and animosity involved, but also a healthy amount of synergy. Someone you disliked, but still kind of respected. The Opelucid Dragons hated the Nimbasa Knicks, but there was a mutual understanding that both teams acknowledged the skill and talent on the opposing bench. They pushed each other to be better, because they knew the other would be waiting to take them down at the slightest slip-up or extended slump. Meanwhile, Marnie Rosemary had just wished for karmic retribution on him after learning about his actual experience, to which he had basically responded by saying he was gonna kick her ass next time he saw her. At this point, calling her a simple rival probably undersold the extent to which she seemed to hate him. Though the feeling was fresh, it was certainly very mutual.

"I don't know," he ended up saying. Gloria didn't seem to think it was so complicated. "It helps that you don't like her. Makes it so you won't feel any guilt whenever you do eventually win out, and crush her. Kick her arse, shut her up, 'nd she'll never bother you again. Problem solved. Simple."

Beat the person who had just annihilated him, and win the entire circuit. Something told him it wouldn't be so simple. Though, he'd been the one to tell Marnie as much.

Arceus, he'd gone and made an enemy out of the highest-profile trainer in the circuit, outside of their group of three. Who now had knowledge of his true experience as a trainer, ready to leak at any moment. Either now, or whenever he slipped up in the future.

"Yeah," he answered, his mind a million miles away. "Simple."

Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays! Your present? The follow-up to Cassius' initial encounter with Marnie. Filled with plenty of drama, reveals, and a fresh new rival(?) for Cassius to worry about. It goes without saying that Cassius still has plenty to learn in the world of battling—and that some people in and around the circuit might not be as tolerant with his inclusion in the competition as others.

As always, thanks for bearing with me. Had a lot to think about with this chapter, but also had plenty of fun writing it. Thanks again for reading, and I'll see you all again in 2025.