It was a short hallway to the arena that was thankfully much better lit than the tunnels in the Gym Trial. The hallway was reminiscent of the same hallway the player character emerged from to face the Gym Leader in the Galar games, but the room I emerged into was not some grand stadium.

It was a large field drawn onto a floor made out of compacted dirt, slightly larger than the training fields that Pokémon Centers had. There were elevated stands along its sides for people to sit and watch the battle, but they were currently empty.

On the opposite side of the battlefield, within the trainer box, was a heavyset old man with a white beard, dressed in an open lightning-themed Hawaiian (Alolan?) shirt and yellow jumpsuit. I immediately recognized him to be Wattson, the Mauville Gym Leader and Electric Type specialist. At his side on the ground was an old scarred Manectric, the blue dog not paying attention in favor of sleeping.

“WAHAHAHAH! You’re actually Alex this time, right?”

He spoke with a deep, booming, but also jovial voice that I could easily hear across the room. There were no microphones or speakers set up, he was just that loud.

“Yeah, I’m me. I don’t really know what that guy’s deal was.”

“WAHAHAHAH!” He laughed again. “Don’t worry about him. I sent him and his Zigzagoon away.”

“Wait, he only had a Zigzagoon? And he challenged you anyway? Honestly, I’m less upset and more impressed by how large his ego was.”

Wattson cleared his throat before changing the topic.

“So Alex, you’re here for your Gym Battle, correct? Normally I take on first-time trainers in a 2-on-2 battle, but in your case let’s make it 3-on-3.”

I slumped forward, already bothered by the difference from usual Gym Battles. I cursed myself for screwing up that deal with Steven so badly.

“Can you do that?” I asked him, hoping that I could somehow have a normal battle, “Isn’t there a mandate that Gym Leaders have to follow a set pattern for new trainers or anything like that?”

“Nope!” He shouted, “My Gym, my rules. There’s no referee present so listen carefully for when I tell you to return your Pokémon. Now, get ready to battle!”

Wattson tossed out a Pokéball at his side as another, larger Pokéball appeared on the battlefield. In actuality, the larger Pokéball was Voltorb. I went ahead and sent out Marill.

Flabébé was technically battle ready, but was unlikely to be able to contribute due to her lack of experience. I had prepared for the normal 2-on-2 battle first time challengers usually had, but with three opponents I had to get through all of them with only Marill and Vulpix if I wanted a chance to win.

I had sent out Marill first since I needed to get a fast knockout on Voltorb to have my best chance of winning. I gave my order as Wattson did the same.

“Marill, give ‘em the classic!”

“Voltorb, Charge and Thundershock!”

The classic was just Marill’s classic strategy: get in close and overwhelm them. It had its flaws, like I had exploited when I first caught her, but it was useful enough to use for a quick knockout, or at least a large amount of damage in a short amount of time.

Marill dashed forward with Aqua Jet and slammed into Voltorb. As she slammed into it, crackles of electricity appeared in the air and were sucked into Voltorb as it Charged up for its next attack. Marill picked up Voltorb with her tiny arms and Slammed it into the ground, her increased strength from Huge Power massively increasing her damage. Voltorb already looked like it was on the verge of fainting.

Unfortunately, as it impacted with the ground, Voltorb unleashed its stored electrical energy as a Thundershock coursed through Marill. Her anatomy as a Water Type meant the move was exceptionally damaging, but I was training Marill to be a bruiser so she took the massive amount of damage with only a small wince.

Wattson raised his eyebrow.

“Looks like your Marill sure is tough. You must be looking for a quick knockout. I can help you with that. Voltorb! Do it!”

I didn’t even need time to process what Wattson’s command meant. If there was one thing Voltorb was good at, it was exploding. I shouted a command at Marill, trying to get her to retreat from Voltorb.

“Aqua Jet backwards, get out of there!”

Aqua Jetting in a different direction other than forwards was something we had practiced once or twice, but not anything Marill had mastered. While she did immediately move back from Voltorb, the start of her move was just slow enough to cause Marill to be caught right on the edge of the blast from Voltorb’s Self Destruct.

As the now blackened ball that was Voltorb slowly became visible through the settling dust cloud, to my surprise, Marill was still standing. Dashing backwards saved her from the full force of the move, and she managed to stay conscious.

She wobbled on her feet but stood victorious, ready to fight and probably about to faint from even a small breeze.

That was only three moves from each side and we’re both almost down one Pokémon.

Wattson was shocked for a moment to see the little blue mouse still standing, but he smiled and let out that same booming laugh before sending out his second Pokémon.

This Pokémon was a metallic sphere with two horseshoe-shaped magnets on both sides of its body. As it floated there, the Magnemite stared out ahead, its massive metal eye not focusing on anything in particular.

“Shock Wave!”

Marill won’t be able to dodge that. She has to deal as much damage as she can before she faints.

“Continue with the classic! You’re going down soon, so stay strong!”

Marill let out a weak “Tch” at the futility of her situation before using Aqua Jet once again to jump into the air and slam into Magnemite. It would have been nice for Marill to have used another move afterwards, but the electricity of Shock Wave shot out of Magemite’s magnets and coursed through Marill, causing her to faint from that one move.

She fell off the floating form of Magnemite only to be caught in a red light as I returned her. Before I sent out my next Pokémon, Wattson asked me a question.

He didn’t speak in the same cheerful tone he had used so many times before. His voice had a serious inflection and he narrowed his eyes at me. The sudden change in demeanor from friendly to authoritative caught me off guard and I immediately started to feel nervous.

“Why did you not switch Marill out after seeing her so damaged?”

I took a moment to think of how to properly phrase my response.

“Momentum. Marill was already ‘in the zone’ and if I recalled her, she wouldn’t have performed as well the next time she would be in battle. Plus, she wouldn’t have been happy if I did. She’s very headstrong when it comes to battling.”

Wattson seemed to approve of my explanation. “You have a good grasp on your Pokémon’s personality. Go ahead and send out your next Pokémon.”

As I grabbed the Premier Ball that contained Vulpix, I whispered a message to her.

“There’s two opponents left and I need you to take out both of them. Magnemite already sustained a hit from Marill but it didn’t take much damage. Fight carefully, this battle’s relying on you.”

I tossed the ball forward, sending out Vulpix in a flash of white light and her Premier Ball automatically returned to my hand. Vulpix cried out her name and a few bits of snow manifested in the air around her before they fell to the ground.

Wattson called out once Vulpix readied herself.

“Begin!”

“Vulpix, slow it down with Icy Wind!”

“Magnemite, Shock Wave!”

The Icy Wind flew forward from Vulpix’s mouth as Magnemite sent out the same tracking electricity that had fainted Marill. The Icy Wind was mildly disrupted by the opposing move, but it hit Magnemite and frost started to form on its body.

“Quick Attack at the last moment!”

As the Shock Wave continued to move towards Vulpix, she waited in a ready stance and dashed right before the Shock Wave hit her position. The lightning burst against the ground and fizzled as it discharged its electricity where she just was, failing to hit her.

Magnemite spun its magnets to charge up for its next attack and I ordered Vulpix to start her next series of moves.

“Powder Snow, keep it up!”

As an Ice Type, Vulpix was at a disadvantage in this battle. While it didn’t look like Magnemite knew any super-effective Steel Type moves, her own Ice Type attacks would deal minimal damage to its metal body. Our only hope to win was to maintain Powder Snow on Magnemite to freeze it solid and prevent it from battling.

Magnemite continued to use Shock Wave a few more times but Vulpix had already figured out how to dodge the normally perfectly accurate attacks from my commands earlier. She tried to maintain a stream of Powder Snow, but it would stop each time she used Quick Attack. With our training over these past few months, she was easily able to quickly start up her attack again as snow continued to stick to and freeze Magnemite’s metal body.

“This isn’t working, Magnemite! Super Sonic!” Wattson called out.

An ear-piercing screech echoed throughout the room as Magnemite rubbed its magnets against its body. Vulpix’s assault stopped and her ears bent back as she leaned forward to cover them with her paws.

“There we go, Magnemite! Use Thunder Wave!”

As Vulpix was recovering from the deafening sound and stumbling around trying to regain her bearings, a weak pulse of static electricity shot forwards and hit her body. Her joints locked up as she suddenly found it difficult to stand. Vulpix was Paralyzed and would struggle to move from here on out. It wasn’t a permanent condition like in the games, but would take time to wear off. Time we didn’t have.

“Vulpix, I know you can do it! It’s almost frozen, just a few more Powder Snows!”

From her paralyzed position, Vulpix pushed to open her mouth and a weakened pulse of Powder Snow shot out. Magnemite was already slowed from both Icy Wind and Powder Snow due to the frost and ice stuck to its body, so its own move took longer to charge up when it spun its magnets.

While the Powder Snow hit and even more ice stuck to Magnemite, a Shock Wave was sent out from Magnemite and struck Vulpix, dealing a decent chunk of damage.

Vulpix was still standing, albeit heavily injured, while Magnemite was just barely able to stay afloat due to the increased weight from all the ice and snow stuck to its body.

Panting, Vulpix started another usage of Powder Snow. Magnemite tried to spin its magnets for its next attack, but found that its left side wouldn’t move. A chunk of ice had formed between the magnet and its body, locking that magnet in place.

Magnemite panicked and rapidly spun its right side to charge up electricity and to try to shatter the ice on its left half. Vulpix used this opportunity while it was distracted to charge her attack even further and unleash one final Powder Snow, coating the rest of the Magnemite in ice and causing it to fall to the ground, frozen solid.

Wattson immediately returned Magnemite as soon as it hit the ground.

“That’s it for Magnemite,” he said, “Your Vulpix isn’t looking great, and I still have this feisty little guy to fight with. I wonder if your team can handle him?”

In a flash of light, a green dog with a long extended head appeared on the battlefield. The second it came to, it locked eyes with Vulpix and began to growl.

“I caught this guy recently under the Seaside Cycling Road after reports of an unusually aggressive Electrike going after trainers. I wonder how you’ll handle him?”

I recognized the Electrike.

It was the same one we fought under the highway. Vulpix seemed to recognize it as well, and tensed up through her paralysis.

Without missing a beat, the Electrike used Howl to enhance its physical capabilities.

I started to rack my mind for strategies to use against the Electrike, knowing the only reason we beat it on the landbridge was Confuse Ray.

As I carefully thought of a workable plan Vulpix could perform in her paralyzed state, Wattson spoke up.

"Now, what was that strategy you were so fond of with your Marill, hm? Oh! Electrike, Quick Attack into Thunder Fang!"

Electrike blurred forward, leaving a trail of white light behind it. As it ran, I saw its mouth begin to spark with the tell-tale sign of Electric Type energy.

It's using two moves at once, even Vulpix can't do that yet!

I shouted an order at Vulpix, hoping the move would delay Electrike long enough to let me think of a way to win.

"Confuse Ray!"

Her eyes flashed and a purple ray of energy impacted Electrike's face. Its eyes glazed over in confusion and it stopped running and started looking around, panicked.

Wattson was about to yell out a new set of orders when I saw something that gave me hope. The Electrike, recognizing the effects of Confuse Ray, swung its head down and used Bite on its own leg to snap itself out of confusion.

It lifted its head up and restarted its combination attack, but I knew that action had just sealed its own fate.

"Vulpix, Confuse Ray again!"

Electrike tried to run forward but quickly swerved as it got lost in illusions that affected its senses. Once more it used Bite on itself to wake up from the effect.

If Pokémon can damage themselves in confusion, they can eventually faint themselves too. I didn't expect it to end the effect through Biting itself, but that just plays into our hands.

As the same process happened once more, Vulpix understood the strategy. Continuing the Confuse Ray loop and never taking her eyes off the enemy like I had drilled into her, she slowly flexed her body to try to minimize the effects of Paralysis.

While she could no longer move in peak condition, Vulpix was no longer stuck in place like when the status condition was first started.

Right as Vulpix was able to move, Electrike finally understood the orders Wattson was shouting at it through the confusion.

Electrike closed its eyes, and the next Confuse Ray failed to take effect.

However, it had used Bite on itself too many times. Its fate was sealed.

"Icy Wind!"

"Shock Wave!"

Despite not being able to see, Shock Wave automatically tracked Vulpix’s position and zoomed in towards her. With the damage she had sustained, it was unlikely she would stay up through the attack.

I held my breath as the two attacks hit the Pokémon. Vulpix was struck by the Shock Wave first, immediately collapsing on the ground unconscious as the damage was just too much. Electrike took the hit of Icy Wind, still standing despite the numerous self-inflicted Bites and the Ice Type damage.

It stood up straight, head pointed up in pride, before also collapsing on the ground, unconscious. It seemed that the hallucinations caused by confusion had tired it out in addition to the damage from its own Bites and Icy Wind.

I sighed. Since Vulpix fainted first, I was the first trainer to run out of Pokémon and therefore-

"WAHAHAHAH! You've beaten me fair and square. I didn't expect Electrike to be so stubborn and power through your Confuse Ray all on its own, but that just means we have more training to do. Congratulations, you've earned the Dynamo Badge."

It took me a moment to process that, but I realized that I had won. I was so focused on beating him with just Marill and Vulpix, I forgot I still had my third Pokémon, Flabébé. With the dual knockout between Vulpix and Electrike, Wattson was left with no Pokémon while I still had one.

I returned Vulpix to let her rest and Wattson did the same with Electrike. I walked over to the center of the battlefield and gratefully took the badge he held out. We shook hands in a sign of good sportsmanship. His grip was surprisingly firm for his age.

"That was a pleasant battle there! It's not often that people win with a Water Type in my Gym."

I smiled in response.

"Marill is exceptionally good at taking hits and I've been training her to take advantage of her physical strength. She's angry, but determined," I replied.

"WAHAHAHAH! Indeed she is! That reminds me,” Wattson paused for a moment and seemed to think, considering his next words carefully. His jovial tone faded and he returned to the serious old trainer that I had witnessed in the middle of our battle. “A little Pidgey told me you're in the know about Mega Stones."

I froze. The man in front of me still had his jovial smile, but my hand was locked in his iron grip.

I noticed that the old Manectric, who I had forgotten about after the battle had started, was still laying down but its eyes were open and staring at me intensely.

The stands were empty, and earlier I did think it was strange that this battle didn't have a referee. It was only me and Wattson in the entire room.

He continued to smile and stared at me intensely. I was frozen under the weight of possible implications.

It’s just us in this room. There are no witnesses.

I suddenly remembered what a Gym Trainer said to me yesterday. I clung to that hope like I would a rope hanging above a chasm.

"The recording. It's recording." My words were strained and it took effort to speak even those broken sentences. I didn’t know what his intentions were, but he was in a position of absolute power over me. Based on my experience with Steven, I doubted he would do anything bad, but I couldn’t help but to feel fear anyway.

He raised an eyebrow after I choked out those words. "The recording has already stopped. It ended when the battle did."

I instinctively tried to swallow but I found there was no saliva left in my mouth. I took a moment to clear my thoughts.

Steven was nice enough, why would friendly old Wattson do something here after so many people saw me enter, right?

"Look," I said tensely, "I just want to be a normal Pokémon trainer."

He stared at me for a few moments before bursting into laughter and the tension I felt faded.

"WAHAHAHAH! There's no need to be so worked up! It was just a simple inquiry!"

I glanced back at the old Manectric, whose eyes had closed to sleep once more.

"Yup. A simple inquiry." I said with the flattest tone I could muster.

Wattson slapped me on the shoulder and laughed once more. I flinched from the impact.

"If you ever come back to Mauville, feel free to stop by. I bet Electrike would love to face Vulpix again. Now go on, get moving! I have to let my Pokémon rest and prepare for the next challenger, y’know."

Wattson returned to the side of his Manectric, scratching its head, while I walked out. Internally I was cursing myself and Steven for making my knowledge a known fact between all the Gym Leaders. I had screwed up in that trade but I didn’t expect for that fact to come back and slap me in my face right after my very first Gym Battle. The world was deaf to my ears as I exited the Gym, fuming internally. I didn't even hear the receptionist call out to me in an attempt to give me my prize money.

I walked straight to the Pokémon Center to give Nurse Joy my team to heal them up. I sat down on a chair in the room and crossed my arms. Rather than happy, I was just annoyed. Nurse Joy quickly returned my Pokémon to me, her experience in treating injuries from Electric Types helpful to speed up their recovery process.

I walked out into the clean but busy floors of the massive mall within Mauville and headed out without a destination in mind. I needed to clear my head after dealing with whatever Wattson just tried to do after that battle, and then I needed to go buy treats as a reward for my Pokémon. I might not have been in the best of moods, but that didn’t mean my Pokémon didn’t deserve to celebrate.

I wandered around Mauville’s mall to see what its vendors had to offer. There was a wide variety of places to eat and shops selling junk food, as well as several different food courts. There were a lot of options for treats to buy for my Pokémon from Poké Puffs, to Poffins, and even Poké Beans, but I settled on purchasing Pokéblocks since they were easier to store and were a Hoenn specialty.

I was only able to buy a few of them since I didn’t have much cash on me. I forgot to pick up my winnings after the Gym due to my frustration, but they would be credited to my account later tonight. I bought the same number of treats for everyone, even though Flabébé didn’t eat as much as the other two.

I returned to my rented room at the Pokémon Center and released everyone from their balls. I gave them bowls containing Pokéblocks with the flavors they most liked: sour for Vulpix, a random assortment for Marill since she didn’t have a preference, and the sweetest I could find for Flabébé. They dug into their bowls as I calmly watched over them, but Vulpix kept glancing my way. She must have picked up on my negative mood.

Her actions caught the attention of Flabébé as well, and the tiny Fairy Type stopped eating and started to make worried squeaks.

“Don’t worry about me. Eat your food, it was a tough battle and you all deserve a reward.”

Vulpix furrowed her brow and looked at me, saying “Vulpix” in the same tone of voice a mother would use to scold a child.

Understanding they wouldn’t leave me alone unless I said something, I felt it would be best to explain.

“It’s nothing that bad. There was an uncomfortable situation after the Gym Battle that I wasn’t able to do anything about and it got to me.” My Pokémon looked at me silently, expecting me to continue, except for Marill, who continued to eat regardless, making her noisy chewing the only source of noise in the room outside of my voice.

I sighed and elaborated further. “I know things that other trainers shouldn’t know. Things that only high level and experienced trainers should know. There are powerful people out there who would very much appreciate knowing that information, but I just want a normal life as a Pokémon Trainer. Like, yeah, once we become a Fairy Type master I could probably reveal my knowledge, but it’s still a risk I don’t feel comfortable making right now. I doubt that anyone who’s aware would do anything to me, but it’s uncomfortable knowing that if they wanted to force the information out of me, I wouldn’t be able to do anything in response. I just-”

I was interrupted by a burst of water from a Water Gun splashing me in the face. Now soaked, I looked at the perpetrator, who had finally stopped eating her Pokéblocks. Rather than saying something, Marill glared at me in the eyes for a few moments before turning her head and making that classic noise of hers.

“Tch.”

Vulpix stood up and took a step towards me. She said her name confidently, and somehow I understood that she was stating that she would protect me.

Flabébé looked worried but nodded in agreement. She was the newest member of the team, and we didn’t know each other as well as I knew the others, but she was determined to get stronger to protect everyone as well.

I didn’t realize I was frowning, but it faded when I saw my Pokémon so motivated to cheer me up.

“Thank you. I needed a reminder that I’m not alone. If I want to protect my knowledge, then we just need to get stronger, huh?”

All three of them nodded, Marill smirking when I mentioned getting stronger.

Now that I felt better, my Pokémon went back to their Pokéblock piles. I grabbed a ration bar from my backpack to have something to eat. It didn’t have a pleasant flavor, but at least I could eat alongside them as we celebrated our win.