I approached Petalburg Gym with Vulpix at my side and Swablu sitting on my head. Floette chose to wait in her Heal Ball - she became nervous after seeing a picture of Norman.

To be fair, I was also nervous. Norman was known as one of the harder Gyms to beat within Hoenn, alongside Winona and Wallace. We had spent the last five days in the city training until Vulpix mastered Hail, and I hoped that the weather condition combined with Marill’s Rain Dance would let us manipulate the field to our advantage.

I had chatted with a few of the trainers within the Pokémon Center I stayed at, and the ones who took on Norman either lost, or only barely managed to win. I was worried about our chances, especially since we spent a month in Rustboro to prepare for our third Gym, but only a week to prepare for this one. The intention was that the month in Rustboro would have prepared us for both Gyms, but the rumors of Norman’s strength made me doubt our readiness.

Petalburg Gym was located on the edge of Petalburg City, nestled between the city itself and the nature that surrounded it. As I approached the main building, I could see a large clearing that was only slightly obscured by a row of sparse trees. I knew from research the entire clearing and part of the forest behind it was part of the Gym’s property. The main building itself looked similar to Lavaridge’s Gym in that it was a dojo, but Petalburg's design was less ostentatious and only a story tall. Unlike the other Gyms I had visited, there was no reception area just past an entrance. Rather, a Gym Trainer in casual clothes sat outside the building on the front steps, reading from a tablet.

He looked up at me from his seated position as I approached.

"You here for the noon battle?" The Gym Trainer asked me.

"No, sorry, I'm here to schedule a match. I don't have a slot reserved."

I handed over my Trainer ID as usual for him to check.

He hummed while he looked it over and entered my information onto his tablet. After a few moments he finished whatever it was he was filling out and his eyes darted back and forth to read off of the screen. "Let's see... there's an empty slot in three hours if you're interested?"

"That works for me. Is there a waiting room or...?"

The Gym Trainer shook his head. "We don't get the same first month rush like other Gyms so one was never built. You're welcome to sit nearby or head around back to watch the matches, just make sure to be here at the right time."

I thanked the man and went off to go grab lunch. I still had money to spare after Meteor Falls and my victory in Rustboro, so I felt my team and I could have a nice meal to relax before the battle.

I entered the battlefield at my scheduled time. Since I was an official challenger, I had to walk through the dojo and not around it. Walking inside of the building revealed it to be nothing more than an empty room with a large tatami floor. The back wall was a screen that could be pulled open to lead to the field proper.

The field itself looked more like the rough training fields behind Pokémon Centers rather than a Gym field. The grass that covered the landscape was removed and the dirt was padded down. It was less smooth and more rough than other fields I had seen, and the lines of the battlefield were faded in a few spots, so much so that the trainer box I entered had one corner completely worn off. Set up a bit further away and off to the side was a set of bleachers with few people sitting on it to watch.

Petalburg City had a fancy arena that was used for major battles, but it seemed like the Gym itself only had this outside field. It only took up a small portion of the clearing, but I couldn’t tell if the field was intentionally left in this state or if it was just poorly maintained.

Norman stood with his arms crossed and a serious expression on his face. His balding head was shaved into practically a buzz cut and he wore his classic red and black jacket and a pair of blue jeans. Once again, the Gym Leader's appearance matched what they looked like in the games.

The referee was already standing at the side of the field and this time the referee wore a light gray sweatshirt. They spoke up while Norman quietly maintained his imposing figure across from me.

"This will be a four-on-four trainer battle between Challenger Alex and Gym Leader Norman," the referee shouted. "Both trainers have three switches at their disposal. The battle will begin once both trainers send out their first Pokémon."

Norman grabbed a Great Ball at his side and sent out the striped ferret-like Pokémon, Linoone.

I didn't have to think long about who I wanted to send out, since I wanted to use weather to manipulate the terrain. The uneven dirt would help with my strategy. Grabbing the white Pokéball and throwing it forward, I sent out Vulpix as she appeared on my side of the field.

Both sides immediately jumped into action.

Vulpix’s eyes glowed and stared into the sky as gray clouds coalesced over the battlefield. Hail, the move, created a weather condition where chunks of ice and snow fell from the sky. However, it took a moment to use and Linoone took advantage of that to sharpen its claws with Hone Claws, then immediately dashed forward and jumped up to Slash Vulpix. Linoone moved much faster than Vulpix could and ran its claws across her side before she recovered from using Hail, which prevented her from reacting with Baby-Doll Eyes. However, Hail finalized and came into effect soon after, darkening the field with an overcast gloom and causing small chunks of ice to pelt Linoone from above. Vulpix retreated away from Linoone when it recoiled from the sudden icy temperature. I used this chance to shout my first command.

“Vulpix, Confuse Ray!”

Since Vulpix was slower than Linoone, Linoone would be able to close in on her even if she used Quick Attack. It was unlikely that Vulpix would be able to stay at range. Confuse Ray would cause Linoone to hallucinate, panic, and potentially hurt itself whenever it would try to attack. It would let Vulpix have some breathing room to use her moves without needing to worry about maintaining distance. Her eyes flashed and created a cone of ghostly light, and Linoone’s head started to move around erratically as it was suddenly subjected to Vulpix’s illusions.

Vulpix stepped a few feet back and unleashed an Aurora Beam at Linoone, dealing Ice Type damage and causing frost to form on its claws, reducing the effectiveness of Linoone’s attacks.

Linoone, panicking in confusion, darted around through the Hail to try to find Vulpix. The hallucinations from Confuse Ray caused it to lash out at targets that weren’t there and even clip itself with its claws.

“Stop,” Norman instructed calmly. Linoone, hearing Norman’s voice through the confusion, immediately ceased running around and held still. “Hone Claws again. Wait for my signal.”

Linoone, no longer chasing hallucinations, sat on its hind legs and rubbed its front claws together, sharpening them. Hone Claws would let Linoone deal increased damage to whoever it attacked using its claws. Even though Aurora Beam had already weakened its physical power, Linoone’s now second use of the move let it reapply the boost to its damage.

Vulpix fired another Aurora Beam at the now stationary target. Norman spoke up as soon as Linoone was damaged by the attack.

“Charge in the direction of the beam. Fury Swipes.”

Linoone turned and ran straight towards Vulpix, taking light steps to prepare to lift up its front claws to attack at any time. Vulpix tried to rotate around Linoone to avoid the charge, but Linoone could somehow see her through the illusions. I realized too late that it wasn’t necessarily seeing her through the illusions, but in fact had broken through the confusion when it followed Norman’s orders.

A series of swipes tore into Vulpix, who was able to slow the assault and only be hit by three of them through a reflexive use of Baby-Doll Eyes. Once free of the attack, Vulpix pushed back on the ground and used a layer of ice formed by the hail combined with her cryokinesis to slide away from Linoone. Linoone’s claws glowed white with Normal Type energy and it charged forward for a use of Slash.

“Icy Wind!” I called out. Vulpix already looked tired from all of the attacks she took and I knew that Slash was likely to knock her out. However, I decided to maximize her damage and slow down Linoone to weaken it for my next Pokémon.

Icy Wind caused a burst of freezing air to blow over Linoone, visibly slowing it down from the cold. Like expected, its claws lashed out and swung down at Vulpix in a Slash attack. She tried her best to reduce the damage with Baby-Doll Eyes, but the move hit a vulnerable point and dealt critical damage to cause her to faint.

I sighed and recalled her.

Just you wait, Vulpix. Once we have your abilities all trained up, your enemies will never find you on the battlefield.

I sent out my second Pokémon, Marill. The referee called to start as soon as she was out and we started to further develop the battlefield.

Both Linoone and Marill were suffering under the constant pelting of Hail, but the move had done its job and the field was now inundated with melting chunks of ice. Marill started with a Rain Dance and the cloudy skies darkened as water started to fall instead of hail. With the clouds already in position from the previous weather effect, changing them to rain was done in moments.

Linoone didn’t have time to use Hone Claws during Rain Dance like it did during Vulpix’s Hail, so it dashed toward Marill to Slash her instead. However, its reduced speed and its difficulty running on the slushy ground let Marill effortlessly dodge Linoone’s shoddy charge with an Aqua Jet. Marill zipped to the other side of the field, creating distance, and formed a layer of water around her body to start passively healing with Aqua Ring.

“Hone Swipes combo!”

“Aqua Jet! Get in close!”

Linoone, already tired from facing Vulpix, was interrupted in its claw sharpening combo by Marill’s body slamming into it with Aqua Jet. The ferret Pokémon held up its claws to retaliate with Fury Swipes, but Marill’s tail impacted its head and Linoone fell to the floor, fainted.

With Linoone down and Marill sent out, Vulpix’s efforts against the Normal Type let Marill set up without needing to take damage herself. Marill was benefiting both from the Water Type-boosting weather and from the healing effects of Aqua Ring. With the terrain slushy from the two previous weather conditions, Marill had the benefit of not needing to move through the mud herself. Aqua Jet moved her through momentum caused by bursts of water, so the state of the ground had no effect on her. Considering both Swablu and Floette could either float or fly, only Norman’s Pokémon would suffer the effects of the difficult terrain.

Norman and I both had three healthy Pokémon left, but with all the effects in play I had the distinct advantage.

Norman sent out a large tan cat with purple fur around its head, neck, and tail. The Pokémon, Delcatty, stood on his side of the battlefield and the referee shouted for us to start.

Delcatty moved to lift its paws to walk, but they sunk into the mud and it looked down at the dirt in disgust. Marill, not needing to hear any orders, used Aqua Jet to move towards Delcatty to take advantage of its delay.

Despite the supposed moment of distraction, Delcatty snapped its head up and lunged at the approaching Marill. Marill was knocked back and flinched from surprise. I recognized that trick as the move Fake Out, which only worked at the very start of the battle when its user’s opponent was caught unprepared.

Delcatty lunged forward again, but this time it swiped its claws repeatedly, using Fury Swipes like Linoone. Marill was hit by the first two claw strikes, but recovered from her flinch and leaned back, using her experience in melee combat to dodge the rest. As soon as Delcatty stopped its chained attacks to rest, Marill jumped up and smashed her tail down onto Delcatty’s body with a boosted Aqua Tail, then fell down to land on Delcatty’s back and used Play Rough.

Norman spoke up after watching the exchange.

“Thunder Wave. Normalize Payback.”

Delcatty’s fur sparked and due to Play Rough, Marill was too close to dodge. A burst of electricity sparked off its fur and Marill fell off of Delcatty, unable to move due to the Electric Type energy coursing through her body. Delcatty smirked and swung its claws for the move Payback, which doubled in power since the cat was motivated to “pay back” the damage Marill already dealt to it with Play Rough. The move was able to bypass Marill’s innate resistance to the Dark Type by using Delcatty’s ability Normalize, which let it convert the move’s Type into the Normal Type by using its own familiar form of energy.

Marill was slammed by the attack and was unable to retaliate due to her paralysis. She was still able to fight, but the paralysis meant her movement speed was reduced and the electricity could occasionally act up and interrupt an attack. Marill was now only barely hanging on, the serious power of the same-type-attack-boosted Payback almost fainting her in one go.

Aqua Ring was already working to heal Marill’s injuries and Marill’s exhaustion was slightly reduced. Despite the damage it just dealt to Marill, Delcatty was also looking almost just as bad. An Aqua Tail and Play Rough from Marill was not something a Pokémon could easily shrug off. With a solid attack, I knew Marill could take out Delcatty, but she was just too injured to be able to do so while also dealing with paralysis. I had to switch out now otherwise Marill would faint.

“Hey ref, I’m recalling Marill.”

Norman looked over at the referee as well.

“I am also switching out Delcatty.”

Shit, I forgot this battle lets the Gym Leader switch out as well. There goes any chance at regaining momentum. If Delcatty is getting switched out, Swablu might be the best choice to send out next. I need to save Floette to heal Marill later so that way my strongest Pokémon can be used against Norman’s toughest, which generally comes out last.

Our Pokémon disappeared and the new combatants appeared on the battlefield. On my side, a familiar blue bird appeared from out of his Love Ball, while on the other side a purple Pokémon with a massive yellow mouth and speaker-like ears appeared from out of a Great Ball.

I groaned.

Of course he had to send out Loudred, a Pokémon with the Soundproof ability. Swablu will be forced to get in close since his ranged move is sound-based and won’t be able to hurt it.

“Begin!”

With the referee starting the battle, we both gave out orders.

“Swablu, Take Down!”

“Mega Punch when it gets close.”

I grit my teeth and watched as the Swablu flew up then shot down towards Loudred in a Take Down attack. Loudred pulled back a fist infused with Normal Type energy, then punched Swablu when he got close, causing him to uncontrollably fly backwards in the air from the force of the impact. The recoil from Take Down combined with the damage from Mega Punch meant that Swablu was now seriously injured just from that one exchange.

I sighed and returned Swablu to his Love Ball, informing the referee that I was using my second switch. I thought he at least had a chance, but Loudred countered Swablu’s tactics almost perfectly. I didn’t want to have him faint that easily against a target he couldn’t handle.

This time, Floette appeared on the battlefield and the battle resumed. I wanted to save her so she could heal Marill later, but that strategy wouldn’t work if Loudred was still in the battle. Since I only had one switch left, I needed to time it correctly.

“Aromatherapy, then stay your distance and pelt it with Magical Leaf,” I told Floette.

Floette released a pink, sweet-smelling mist that coalesced around her and my Pokéballs. The move was strong enough to heal Marill of her paralysis even though she was not on the field. It might seem like cheating, but the status-healing effect was still legal since it was an innate benefit of the move. Once the restorative mist faded, Floette formed glowing leaves in the air around her that shot towards Loudred. The Normal Type was forced to try to move out of the way, but the homing nature of Magical Leaf meant that her attack hit anyway.

Norman gestured at the audience, and a Gym Train in the crowd jumped up and sent out a stocky dark purple Pokémon with a white stomach and curved horns. Its eyes glowed blue and a faint barrier appeared around the battlefield. I recognized the Pokémon as the Psychic and Normal Type Pokémon from Galar, Indeedee.

Once the barrier was in place, Norman spoke up.

“It’s time, Loudred. Uproar.”

Loudred turned around to look at Norman as if to make sure, and Norman nodded. Loudred’s thick yellow lips curved into a massive smile, not unlike a kid’s in a candy shop, and breathed in. I immediately became nervous of what Uproar could do, especially if Norman had to prepare defenses for us.

“Floette, maintain Wish and continue your assault! Cover your ears!”

I finished shouting my instructions just in time. Loudred screamed. Its Uproar attack was so loud the vibrations caused the air to visibly shake. The barrier maintained by Indeedee around the battle glowed in response, muffling the sound to not cause our own ear drums to burst.

Floette screamed in pain but the healing star of Wish was already floating above her. She hugged her flower and clutched her hands around the side of her head while a few shaky glowing leaves homed into Loudred from a weak Magical Leaf.

Loudred was too focused on maintaining Uproar to defend itself from Magical Leaf, but Floette’s pain from the deafening sounds meant her own moves were weakened. At this point, the rain ceased falling on the battlefield but the clouds would take longer to fade, causing the field to keep its gloomy state.

The sound stopped and Loudred breathed in, preparing for the second round of Uproar. Floette used the opportunity to send a Fairy Wind towards Loudred, but the move was disrupted when Loudred’s attack continued.

The glowing star from Wish landed in Floette’s body and the damage from the soundwaves was partially healed. The star allowed her to resist the Uproar a bit better during its healing effect, and she used the brief respite from pain to unleash a full-sized Magical Leaf swarm towards Loudred.

Loudred paused to breathe in for the third round, and Floette hurriedly prayed and set up a second Wish. It was good that she was still following the strategy I gave her, since the noise from Uproar would have prevented her from hearing anything I said.

The final burst of sound from Uproar lasted as long as the other two combined. It went so long, Wish actually triggered and healed Floette in the middle of the screaming. Floette focused on staying conscious rather than attacking, and after what felt like minutes, the multi-turn move finally ended. Alongside its conclusion, the barrier maintained by Indeedee disappeared as well.

Loudred, tired from the Uproar and injured from Floette’s attacks, looked pleased with itself despite its exhaustion.

Without the barrier, we could now properly speak to our Pokémon. Norman took this moment to speak up, but spoke to me rather than Loudred.

“It’s impressive to have a challenger whose Pokémon can withstand Loudred’s Uproar. You’ve trained her well.”

I smiled and inclined my head. “Thank you, we’ve specifically trained to resist special moves like that.”

Despite that pleasant exchange, internally I was screaming.

If ANY other of my Pokémon were out, they would have fainted. Switching out Swablu was a good choice. Floette was the only Pokémon that had a chance to last that long.

The battle resumed quickly after that.

Floette conjured glowing leaves to cut into Loudred, and Loudred charged at her with a glowing fist.

“Get up high!” I shouted.

“Mega Kick to get off the ground. Jump and punch.”

Floette used her natural ability to float to try to get out of Loudred’s melee range while Loudred ran through the Magical Leaf, not bothering to try to dodge since it would have been pointless anyway. Floette lifted herself far enough away to avoid being close to Loudred, but the purple Pokémon’s leg glowed white and it kicked off the ground, creating a small crater and launching it up into the air. Floette panicked when it reached the same height she floated at.

Loudred’s fist smashed into Floette’s tiny body and she plummeted towards the ground. She slammed into the mud with such a significant force that a small wave of mud was knocked back around her, which was impressive considering her tiny size. Loudred landed next to the pit the impact formed as Floette’s eyes spiraled in exhauston, signifying she was unable to battle.

I clicked my tongue to return her and thought about my options.

So much for healing Marill. At least she’s no longer paralyzed. Norman has three Pokémon left: two that are heavily injured and one that’s in perfect health. I only have two critically injured Pokémon, but Marill has the chance to heal with Aqua Ring. I need to take out Loudred and Delcatty and hope that Marill can beat his last Pokémon. I’m going to need Swablu to push through his injuries and beat Loudred just for us to have a chance.

Limited in my choices, I sent out Swablu. I made a mental note to teach him a way to heal during battle, but that was a problem for later.

Considering the efforts Norman went through to protect us from Uproar, I doubt Loudred will use it again. Swablu just needs to get close and avoid Mega Punch. Since Loudred is so tired, Swablu might be able to pull it off.

“Start!”

Swablu shot forward, following my orders from the last time I sent him out. I quickly yelled to correct his tactics.

“Focus on evasion rather than assault! Try to get in a Peck or Fury Attack only when it's completely safe!”

Swablu curved in the air to give himself a little more height and his beak glowed white. Loudred’s fist glowed in response and it aimed to hit Swablu out of the air the second he got close. When the moment arrived, Loudred drew back its arm and moved it forward to try to finish off my bird.

Swablu curved midair and sailed around the arm, Loudred’s fatigue allowing Swablu’s speed to just barely be faster than its. Rather than immediately attack, Swablu flew behind Loudred’s head where its amplifier ears and arms couldn’t reach and unleashed a barrage of attacks with Fury Attack.

Loudred tried to wave its arms around its head to hit Swablu out of the air. Swablu dodged the erratic slaps and continuously pecked Loudred’s head in a way only a furious bird could. Frustrated, Loudred tried a different strategy. It closed its mouth and its body almost inflated. It was too late for me to call Swablu back with my last switch before Loudred exploded in sound, amplifying its voice in a burst around it. The move, Echoed Voice, hit Swablu dead on and he fell to the ground, unconscious. The injuries he sustained from earlier were just too much to let him stay conscious through the move.

I frowned and returned Swablu.

I only have the critically injured Marill while Norman still has three Pokémon left. Both Delcatty and Loudred are on the verge of fainting, but we would still need to get through his last Pokémon with only Aqua Ring sustaining us. It’s not looking good.

I sent out Marill, my last Pokémon.

“Marill, you’re the last one left. Norman has two more after Loudred, but one of them is the injured Delcatty. Think you can do it?”

Rather than getting excited for a tough battle, Marill stiffened. She quickly shot a look at me over her shoulder before focusing back on the battle. Her look did not instill me with confidence, and I quickly became extremely worried when I saw Marill’s face. Her eyes were still angry, but I was able to see fear behind her normal mad gaze.

The referee started the match and I commanded her to set up, but I was lost in thought as I watched her use her initial moves. Something about seeing fear in the normally fearless Marill deeply bothered me. I know I made it clear that losing was okay, but there was something else going on. As much as I wanted to talk to her, we still needed to get through the rest of the battle. We had a faint hope of victory if Aqua Ring healed Marill enough to get her through the last three Pokémon. She would need to stall in her fights as long as possible to regain as much health as she could.

Marill started the battle with both Rain Dance and Aqua Ring. Rain Dance finished slightly more quickly than usual, but it was still slower than before since the clouds had almost faded. Loudred tried to jog over for a Mega Punch, but it was so tired and injured she easily outsped it. We were lucky that Loudred was so injured, otherwise it could have easily finished off Marill from range with its sound attacks if it still had the energy. Marill was able to keep her distance simply by running; no use of Aqua Jet was necessary.

After running around to stall and regain health from Aqua Ring, Marill finally moved in to attack. She used Aqua Jet to close the distance to Loudred and slammed into it with the full force of her boosted Water Type attack. The total damage was too much, and Loudred fainted from that single move.

“You got this!” I shouted at Marill. “That’s one down, only two more to go. I know you can do it!”

My shouting didn’t seem to help her mood as Marill became even more tense than usual. She had a lot riding on her, but I thought she would feel better now that there were only two Pokémon left. I hoped that she would soon start to enjoy the battle again, like usual.

Norman sent out a familiar Pokémon for his next choice: Delcatty. With both Marill and Delcatty on the battlefield, we were now essentially resuming the second match of this battle.

The moment the referee called to start, Marill closed in on Delcatty with Aqua Jet, causing Delcatty to rear back from the impact. The cat wasn’t able to use Fake Out since it was caught off guard by Marill’s immediate action.

Norman shouted for Delcatty to use Thunderwave, but Marill jumped back to dodge, having learned her lesson from her previous experience with it.

I shouted to Marill to try to reassure her. "Keep up your defense and let Aqua Ring heal you! Take it out quickly, I know you can do this!"

Marill didn’t react to my support as Delcatty flexed its front paws, revealing its claws in preparation for a round of Fury Swipes. Conscious of the threat the attack posed, Marill moved to try to take out Delcatty quickly with an Aqua Tail. Delcatty tried to jump to the side, but the muddy slush on the battlefield created by the weather slowed Delcatty's movement just enough to allow Marill to clip its flank.

Delcatty stumbled, the graze from Aqua Tail not dealing serious damage but throwing it off balance. However, it was able to use the hit to unleash a full-powered Normalized Payback. Marill saw the incoming move and swung her tail to block it with yet another use of Aqua Tail. The force of the two attacks knocked both Pokémon away from the other and they slid across the mud. Marill wobbled on her feet, but the continuous regeneration from Aqua Ring kept her in the battle. Delcatty tried to do the same, but it was already too injured to stand and fell to the ground. Without a passive healing effect like Aqua Ring, Delcatty wasn’t able to last.

With that, Marill managed to faint another Pokémon while healing from Aqua Ring. While she did take some damage from the reduced damage Payback she blocked with Aqua Tail, the overall healing allowed her to stay conscious. Even though she was seriously injured, Marill had knocked out two of Norman’s Pokémon and was about to face his last team member. We had a chance to win: a small chance, but still a chance nonetheless.

Delcatty was returned to her Great Ball and Norman prepared his last team member. The crowd and I watched silently as Norman unclipped an Ultra Ball on his waist and sent out his final Pokémon.

In a flash, a white sloth-like ape with long clawed arms and a toothy grin coalesced onto the battlefield. The tall Pokémon loomed over Marill’s diminutive form, causing Marill’s tail to droop imperceptibly in response. The Slaking line was Norman’s specialty, so it was no surprise he chose to send out a Vigoroth.

As soon as combat resumed, Marill used Aqua Jet once more and Vigoroth lunged forward, lifting a claw in the air that began to glow white in the same color of Normal Type energy that had been used so many times before.

Vigoroth’s claw struck Marill through the Aqua Jet and forced her back. She managed to land on her feet but slid on the mud away from Vigoroth. The Slash didn’t deal critical damage so Marill was just barely able to stay conscious. Right now, even the smallest breeze could take her out. Luckily, the force of the attack knocked her back far enough away that we could use the distance it created to our advantage.

If Marill got in close, she wouldn’t be able to survive any grazes, which she tended to rely on to last in melee. It was time for a risky change of plans and to use a strategy stolen from another team member. I doubted Vigoroth knew any attacks to use from range.

"Marill, use the same strategy as Vulpix! Focus it with Bubble Beam!

Marill had trained with Vulpix long enough to know that I meant to stay at range and pester it with special attacks. She immediately sent out a stream of bubbles towards Vigoroth, but Vigoroth was able to reduce the damage by slashing at the Bubble Beam with its claws. Some of them were destroyed, but the majority of the bubbles still damaged their target.

Realizing that not correcting his Pokémon’s strategy would be a mistake, Norman gave Vigoroth new orders.

"Full frontal assault. Maintain close proximity. Don't let it retreat."

Stopping its poor attempts at defense against Bubble Beam, Vigoroth charged towards Marill. Despite her efforts to maintain her distance, Marill was unable to outspeed an evolved and specially trained Pokémon like Vigoroth even with her Aqua Jet.

"You can do it Marill!" I yelled to encourage her as her opponent neared. "Try to knock it back with Aqua Tail!"

Marill's tail became coated in familiar blue water as soon as Vigoroth was next to her. She jumped up and swung her tail in an attempt to hit the sloth square in the chest.

Unfortunately, neither of us expected the outcome.

Vigoroth's arm shot out and grabbed Marill out of the air, holding her by the thin black length of her tail that connected her oil-filled ball to her body. She was just too tired to move quick enough to succeed in her attack.

It held her up like a freshly caught fish and widened its smile to show off its teeth. It brought up its other claw threateningly, but didn’t attack yet. I saw Norman frown on the other side of the field. Clearly he didn’t like Vigoroth treating my Pokémon like a piece of meat, and neither did I. Marill tried to hit her captor in the face with a Bubble Beam, but due to lack of practice the move took too long to charge up and Vigoroth easily moved out of the way, seeing it coming.

Bubble Beam was my only plan to help Marill escape and she had already attempted it on her own. My mind whirled as I considered options to get her out of there. Vigoroth just held her in place without attacking, taking cruel joy in knowing she couldn’t do anything due to her exhaustion. Marill, hanging by her tail, curled up into a ball, using Defense Curl to protect all of her vulnerable parts in preparation for whenever Vigoroth finally decided to attack. She was almost on the verge of tears.

After seeing Marill like that, I couldn’t find a solution and realized there was only one thing I could do to help.

Marill disappeared in a flash of red light.

"I forfeit."

The referee spoke up. “The winner of the battle is Gym Leader Norman.”

Hearing those words out loud hurt. They confirmed my first loss to a Gym Leader, but I tried to push down any negative thoughts out of my mind. We might have lost, but it was still a good experience that showed where we could improve.

Norman and I approached each other around the side of the field. It was still muddy from Rain Dance and Hail, and neither of us wanted to get covered in it.

Out of all of the Gym Leaders I'd faced so far, Norman's handshake was the most firm.

"That was an impressive battle. Your Pokémon are clearly well trained. I wouldn't be surprised to see a victory from you soon."

The genuine compliment soothed my negative feelings about the battle. I felt a bit better after hearing Norman’s vote of confidence for my team’s future.

"Thank you. Unfortunately, I won't be re-attempting your Gym any time soon. I'll be heading to Dewford next to train and take on Brawly, since I think that right now he’ll be a better match for my team. You were far stronger than I expected, but we’ll train hard and next time, we’ll definitely pull off a win.”

I was about to head off, but paused for a brief internal debate before I finally decided on a decision that I had delayed for far too long. Norman was here, right in front of me, and I knew from his relationships in the anime that he could be trusted. This was the perfect opportunity to finally put things in place.

“I’m going to return here before I leave for Dewford,” I said to him. “You’ll see me within the next few days. I have critical information that I need to talk to you about."

Norman raised an eyebrow in response but didn’t say anything. I didn’t elaborate on what I wanted to discuss since I could guess he knew. We said goodbye without needing to exchange any more words and I retreated back through the dojo to return to the Gym Trainer with the tablet.

"Welcome back! Sorry about the loss. You trying again anytime soon?" He said, not really looking at me, too distracted by the technology in his hands.

"No, my team needs more training. We’re probably going to go to Dewford instead."

He nodded absentmindedly before finally looking at me.

"So you paying with cash or credit?"

I sighed and reached into my pocket. "Cash."

This was something I had to deal with now that the battle was over and I had lost. Earning a Gym Badge gave a monetary reward to help trainers with funds, but when a trainer lost they had to pay a fee to cover both the cost of taking up the Gym Leader’s time as well as the cost of the healing items used after the battle. It was less of a punitive measure and more of a way to dissuade trainers from repeatedly taking on a Gym since the League didn’t want people to earn Gym Badges by “brute-forcing” it through many attempts.

For me, it just meant a tighter budget for a while. It was hard to be a trainer without a sponsor, especially since Gym victories were a big source of my income.

I handed over the chunk of my dwindling savings and went on my way back to the Pokémon Center. My Pokémon needed to be healed and rest, and I would need to cheer them up after the loss. It hurt to lose, but it wasn’t worth letting this set us back. I had more important things to worry about.

I needed to figure out what specifically to share with Norman, but more importantly, I needed to make sure that Marill would be okay.