An Ungodly Hour, Goldenrod City

The buzzing pink phone in the pink colored room awoke the pinkette in the pink bed under the pink sheets.

She was not blushing pink however, and color wise was probably giving off more of a 'murderous black'.

"Do you know...what time it is? I don't, but it's too early," she growled into the phone.

The phone was unfazed.

"There's a challenger at the gym Whitney, he won't leave."

Grumbling to herself Whitney rolled out of bed, revealing a Pokébacker nightshirt and pink short shorts.

"Ow...tell him to wait fifteen minutes and I'll be there. When he's dealt with...yawn...I'm going back to bed."

"It's been sixteen minutes." A darkly dressed teenager with bags under his eyes and pale skin complained. The dark haired and darkly dressed night shifter (Also known as the person the Gym Leader paid to watch the gym at night and hopefully repel off weirdo night challengers with their own skills. The bureaucrat who had ruled that gym leaders could not refuse challengers over the time of day was the most hated person in all of gym leaderdom, and the politically skilled gym leaders were currently moving to undo the damn thing), rolled her eyes.

"This is Goldenrod City: we have traffic."

"It's the wonderful night."

"Yes, there still is traffic though..."

The door to the gym was kicked open, revealing the pink-haired girl in white sports clothing, who was currently chugging a thermos of what was most likely coffee.

"You wanted to fight me? At 4 in the morning?! Bring it on!" Whitney declared as the darkly dressed man chuckled.

"No coffee can make you my equal at this hour! My night owlness will be your end! Go, Noctowl!"

"This is for a third badge." Rowena Nighthawk, self-prescribed 'Hex Maniac', informed her as she reached for a Pokéball reflexively.

"He got me up at 4 am. 4 am. Can't I please use Number 90?" Rowena wasn't budging on it, she was giving her a level stare, "Okay fine then, go Number 30!"

"Mil, mil!"

The night owl was surprised at the sight of a pink cow in a softball jersey with 30 on it.

"A cow? This'll be easy!"

…

A painful battle later, lying on his back and twitching, the challenger, his Noctowl, and his Houndour were utterly floored.

"*Yawn*...now that that's done with..." Whitney glowered as she returned Number 30 and turned around, "I am going back to bed..."

A better hour, the same day

"Good morning world!"

When she was not woken up at 4 in the morning, Whitney was a rather chipper person.

She had a nice, relaxed routine. She brushed her teeth, showered, ate cereal, did some morning stretches, and skipped to work: greeting people she vaguely knew along the way.

When she got to the gym...

…

"My Geodudes!"

"Language!" she admonished her challenger.

…

It was a typical morning. Challengers would come in...

…

"No more, no more!" a girl cowered, clutching her Furret protectively.

…

They'd fight her, usually rather confident for their first time.

…

"My prize winning Scyther was beaten so easily!?"

…

After that, they started to act strange...

…

After Number 50 had defeated him, a boy and his Hypno had returned a week later ready to challenge her again, this time with an Onix and a necklace of four-leaf clovers.

50 promptly ate them after he lost again.

…

It was actually rather odd...did people think she was scary. Like she was some sort of horrific nightmare monster?

…

"How is this possible?!" a nerdy boy cried out as Number 20 stomped on his Gastly.

…

Really, she was quite friendly and huggable. Seriously, had they ever tried to hug Clair? She had a nasty glare, and she really needed to use a breath mint.

Of course, sometimes she mixed it up a bit.

…

"Hahaha! After losing to you," a black belt shouted at the top of his lungs, "I dedicated myself to training myself to counter you! I worked hard with a retired sumo master, and now my Heracross can take any attack your Miltank can throw at me! Show me Number 60, I am ready for anything!"

"Oh okay, if you are ready for anything I should let you know Number 60's currently on break. So, hope you don't mind fighting my Girafarig instead?"

"What!?"

"Go!"

…

She always used her Miltank, sometimes you just had to do something else. Oddly enough, her challengers disagreed with her.

…

"What? My calculations said you would use a ground attacker? My third badge was assured... Why did you open on my Mankey with a Pidgeotto!?"

"I dunno, I just did."

…

Of course eventually she had to go for lunch. She rotated through a dozen restaurants based on what she was feeling: burgers, pizza, grinders, fish, vegan... all good stuff.

They knew her on sight, so she could just take a seat and half the time they already had her favorite dish on the grill.

...

Walking back to the gym after a good helping of the best food in Goldenrod, Whitney paused as she passed a city park, on which an argument was brewing.

"It's not fair: your team has eight softball players, ours has seven!"

"Well you have more boys, so it is totally fair!"

"What is that supposed to mean!"

As the argument brewed there was only one answer to this sports emergency.

"Hey, I'll fill in your last spot!" she shouted as she ran down towards the arguing children.

…

One sports game later and the child emergency was solved, with her leaving the park and 15 happy children behind her.

That was her good deed for the day done.

Also, a day without softball was a day wasted.

...

However there was a grave price she had to pay for her good deeds.

"Battle me!"

"No battle me!"

"REVENGE!"

She had a buildup...

…

"I thought they were exaggerating..." a challenger and his Pupitar whimpered, Number 70 hopping cheerfully before them in a victory dance.

…

Hopefully there wouldn't be any sore losers this time. She did not need to have to spend a week having a Pokémon League Inspector verify that her Miltank were in fact appropriate.

It was somewhat thought provoking the first time, by the fifth time she now had to put the local agents in her contacts list. After the fourteenth time she had to start sending them Christmas cards per her morals.

If it happened again she'd have to start getting them gifts during the holidays. She really didn't want to have to do that: Inspector Smart had a really specific taste in shoes.

…

"It was just a Rattata. A really big Rattata. How can it be so strong?!" 20 mooed in response to the mumblings of the Poliwag trainer who now lay in defeat. She did not like the comparison.

They just were that strong. She didn't know why, they just were. Maybe it was the genes, or perhaps it was something in their grass back on the family farm. Super-soil grass perhaps?

…

"A Muk? A Muk!? Ew, do you think I'd ever lose to a Muk!?" Whitney yelled as 40 Bulldozed a Muk into defeat.

And really, she wasn't invincible. She did in fact give out gym badges...at least once a month.

Surely giving out twelve badges a year was perfectly normal...

"Twelve badges? Twelve badges?! That is impossible! The average gym leader gives out thirty a year, thirty! You are an anomaly in the data, an outlier!" a white coat wearing fellow who needed to stop hunching over complained as he returned his Magnemite.

…

What data was he using?

…

"I've done it..." a repeat challenger who had once fought her for his third badge, now had come for his eighth, whispered in glee. Behind a pair of holes that had once held his Azumarill and Machamp, and in front of him a battered looking Skarmory.

…

She was returning Number 80, even as he was cackling like mad.

"I've defeated one. I've defeated the monster cow! Ha ha ha ha, now I can finally win. My Pokemon can easily defeat your Normal types from here. Bring them on...Lickilicky, Girafarig, Wigglytuff, I'm ready for all of them...REVENGE will be mine!"

"Alright then: if you are ready for anything perhaps you want to meet my next Pokemon! Go, Number 81!"

At the sight a second Miltank, this one with a jersey numbered 81, Mr. Revenge (despite not using the move) broke out into tears.

Well he was the last of them. Perhaps now she'd see how wrong the data Mr. 30 has really was.

...

"Hello Bugsy! I was wondering, just how many badges do you give out a month?"

"What? Really?! That many?"

Okay...well maybe Bug-types were a bit too easy.

"W'as up Morty? I was just wondering, how many badges do you give out a month? I'm curious."

"Oh..."

Twenty badges? Well, it wasn't thirty so the guy was still wrong, right?

"Oh hey Jasmine! Whitney here, how many badges do you give out each year on average..."

"It depends? On what?"

Apparently, it depended on a lot of things. Since when did Jasmine know so much of Krabby boon and bust cycles? Or peak Remoraid evolution periods? Or Onix migrations? Since when did Onix migrate?

Okay...so discounting the complicated math...

"Oh, hey Johto Grass-gym leader I don't know! It's Whitney, and I've heard you lose a lot! How often do you lose?"

He lost that much and still had his job?

Same with the Fire gym leader, the Poison gym leader, and the Electric gym leaders of Johto.

"Hey Pryce! It's Whi..."

*CLICK*

Rude.

Huh...well maybe she was an oddly strong battler. She wasn't sure how she should feel about it.

..

Leaving the gym for dinner and a nice date with her bed and no bizarre night people at 4 am, Whitney paused at a large billboard that stood up in the city.

It featured a slim, demure girl who looked like the type from old T.V shows from just after the war, surrounded by generic, muscular guys with hearts bubbling around their heads. Off to the side was a lonely girl who looked like she could smash a boulder with her bare hands.

REMEMBER GIRLS, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL IN COMPLIMENTING YOUR BOYFRIENDS, NOT OVERSHADOWING THEM.

Johto Values Alliance

Well, wasn't that just a kick to the gut.

She had dates recently. People loved her looks, she was a rather busty athletic girl with a lot of energy and charm!

That's why her last date was only 2 weeks ago...was that too long?

Did people see her as just some scary cow trainer? Did that scare people...would she have more boyfriends if she was wasn't a gym leader...or if she wasn't the top rated softball player in Goldenrod City and a major Pokéathlon participant?

She paused for a moment, thinking that through for a bit..., and promptly discarded it.

If some person was scared by the fact she had super-powerful Miltank and could beat them and their friends in sports, then they weren't worth her time.

Plenty of strong people woman were married to men who were weaker than them. Lenora for example. Goldenrod wasn't some backwards town in the middle of the boonies, it was a meeting place of millions!

She'd find someone, and she wasn't in any hurry. Life was still young, and she wasn't old like Clair yet.

But enough of the mopey stuff...she had a meeting with an Alolan Restaurant and her coupon book!