As I dashed towards Prince Charming’s fallen form, the Snorlax focused on me, eyes glaring and for a moment, I felt as if I was about to get crushed. My legs didn’t quite want to keep going, every instinct in my body screaming for me to run and hide, that there was a predator focused on me. But even as my body wanted to flee, my mind wanted to rise up, to strike that fat slob down for hurting my Prince.

Pushing forward, past the resistance of my body and the threat of sudden death by speeding meat-mountain, I reached Prince Charming, kneeling down next to his prone form and putting a hand on him. He had cooled, dangerously so, but appeared to be alright.

“You did well. Rest now, dear friend.” I quietly muttered, calling him back into his Pokéball.

Once he was gone, I rose, glaring at the Snorlax, daring it to attack. However, instead of attacking, it looked… I wasn’t sure why I felt that way, but I was almost certain that it looked embarrassed.

“Interesting instincts there. In the future, you might want to call your partner back from range, not dash in.” Bree admonished me, as the Snorlax in front of me disappeared in a flash of red light.

“I will take that under advisement.” I turned my glare on her, frustrated over the so-called battle and angry on behalf of my partners. They never had a chance and yet, I had been forced to make them fight.

“Is there anything else, or are we done here?” I asked, barely keeping my tone polite, even if my words skated the boundaries of decorum.

“Truly interesting.” she studied me for a moment, before nodding, as if confirming something for herself. I was just about to take her pensive nod as confirmation that we were done here and leave when she spoke up.

“Wait, please. I believe I should explain myself.” she spoke up, her voice now utterly serious. “The purpose of these battles is to drive a point home to new Trainers. That there is always a stronger foe out there. If not another trainer, then there are the Pokémon of myth and legend, far beyond anything a normal Pokémon can measure up to. A mere fragment of their power is enough to overwhelm almost any challenger.” she explained, and her words made me consider.

“A lot of new trainers merely see the visual, they see Snorlax and think it will be slow and ponderous, only to get surprised at its speed. I considered using another one of my partners, Nutts, my Parchirisu, but I prefer to use her against those who prefer to train their Pokémon for durability, thinking that they’ll be able to take any hit and strike back.” I had to nod at her words, it made sense. If one took Pokémon at face-value, one was in for a bad time. Cynthia had taught me that, hell, even the brief meeting with Giratina had taught me that. A mere look from that thing, had been enough to stop me in my tracks.

“I see.” I was still frowning, but my hostility towards Bree had dissipated somewhat.

“Regardless, please take my earlier warning seriously. It would be a shame if a trainer with your potential would fall due to recklessness.” she reminded me, before adding, “For what it’s worth, you have passed my test. Tomorrow, we’ll meet again and, assuming your companion passes her own test, you will be given your task, to be completed on the way to Floaroma City. That’s where you planned to head, yes?”

“That was our plan, yes.” I nodded, as I was walking towards the door.

“Excellent. Let’s see where my next victim is.” she gave me a mischievous grin, as I opened the door.

Outside, Cliff was standing right in front of me, his eyes widening a little as he looked at me.

“Dani.” he greeted me, his face turning into a frown, “I still want to challenge you.” he reminded me, and I heard an amused snort behind me.

“Curious.” Bree stepped past me, before I had a chance to reply. “You are Cliff, are you?” she asked, getting a nod from both of us.

“Dani, if you are willing, you can serve as his opponent. We can treat your Pokémon for forty-five minutes, no need to get to the gym, if you are interested. That way, you can take over the battle, with me as witness, referee and judge, all in one.” Bree suggested, making me wonder what she had in mind.

“Please, I truly want to face you.” Cliff pushed, sounding eager. For a moment, I considered rejecting him, but then, there was a part of me that wanted to relieve some frustration.

“I will return. Unless there is a serious issue with either of my partners, I will face you.” I promised, getting a pat on the back from Bree.

“Great. See you later.” she gave me a grin, before pushing me forward, out of the room.

Still a little confused at the whole exchange, I kept walking towards the lobby. Tara was back at work, manning a counter and currently not occupied, so I walked up.

“Excuse me, Gym-leader Bree suggested that my Pokémon can be treated here, as she wants me to fight in another battle later.” I told her, after a brief greeting. For a moment, her professional, polite smile cracked, replaced with a frown, but it disappeared instantly.

“I see. Please, hand over your Pokéballs. I’ll take care of them immediately.” she promised.

The exchange done, I moved to the reading-area, grabbing a beginner’s textbook regarding Pokémon and the common laws of the League, intent on removing some of the ignorance in that area.

When Tara called me over, some thirty minutes later, I had realized one thing. Those laws and regulations were incredibly dry, boring and sometimes utterly ridiculous. The regulation about Rattata-breeding was listed as an example for overly complex regulation but really, who had come up with that? Rules for the number, safeguards and a dozen other minutiae, all part of the law? Ridiculous.

“There you go, your partners are as good as new.” she gave me a smile, before quietly adding, “Good luck, with whatever Bree cooked up this time.”

Suppressing a shrug, I gave her a nod and headed back, towards the room where Cliff should be getting questioned. After a knock on the door, Bree peeked out.

“Dani, early again. We are about done, you can already come in.” she gestured, opening the door wide for me.

Cliff sat on the same chair I had earlier sat on, looking a lot less confident than before. For the next couple of minutes, I got to listen to a discussion on similar topics to those we had talked about before. It was interesting to hear his points and compare them to the ones made by myself earlier, and how Bree guided him.

Finally, the lesson was over and Bree spoke up.

“Now, why don’t you two take up positions. Both of you have two Pokémon, so a two on two, without switches should be a good challenge, right?” she asked, getting nods from both of us.

“Great. You will start as soon as your Pokémon are released.” she added, as we put the chairs behind the shields.

“Just fight like you did earlier.” Bree quietly told me, taking up position a little behind me.

Nodding, I took out Vio’s Pokéball, letting out a deep breath as I focused. If at all possible, I wanted to let Prince Charming rest some more, after he had been knocked out earlier.

“You’re up, Vio.” I quietly called, sending her out. On the other side, Cliff called out his partner, Buddy.

Before even knowing what I was facing, I ordered Vio to attack and muddle it’s mind. Whatever it was, it would be in trouble.

When I looked, I saw a tiny plant, a green bud with a yellow face in the middle, some leaves struggling upwards. It was even smaller than Twiggy, and very much lacked his bulk. Even in a physical confrontation, Vio would easily triumph, not that I planned on one.

“Stun it.” Cliff called out, and the small Budew shook its head, releasing a cloud of spores. Sadly, Vio’s powers had already taken hold and the attack almost missed entirely, allowing Vio to casually dodge away.

“Keep going.” I ordered and Vio did just that, slowly circling the Budew, constantly messing with its mind, while it tried to attack things that weren’t there. Before Vio had circled it fully, without ever getting touched, the Budew slumped, knocked out.

“That’s one down.” Bree quietly announced. “Do you want to switch your Pokémon?” she asked me, and I only shook my head.

“Mhm, I see.” she nodded.

“Send out your second Pokémon.” she called to Cliff, who had recalled his Budew.

“Your turn, Shelly.” he called and a small, blue tortoise appeared in the ring. It was a little smaller than Prince Charming had been before he evolved into Charmeleon, with a brown shell and large, green eyes.

“Again, muddle its mind.” I ordered Vio, who instantly obliged. Again, Cliff ordered his Squirtle to fight back, sending out blasts of water that Vio dodged with quick, practiced movements. Some of the spray hit, and she stumbled, lightly harmed, but far from defeated.

“Shelly, tackle. Get in there and stop it.” Cliff ordered, sounding a little desperate as Vio’s attacks started to take a toll on his Squirtle. Hearing his call, I only started to smile.

“Dodge and drain.” I ordered and, just as the Squirtle shot forward, covered in a white glow, Vio gracefully spun out of the way, kissing the tips of her finger as she did. Moments later, she touched the Squirtle as it tried to recover after the failed Tackle and the hot-pink glow jumped onto it. The Squirtle started to sway, and for a moment, the glow around Vio’s head intensified, sending the Squirtle down. While Vio slowly moved back, the Squirtle tried to get up, but it never managed to get its legs under it, scrabbling around until it slumped, unconscious.

“Well done, Dani.” Bree complimented me, as I walked towards Vio, giving her a gentle hug and petting her. When I rose, Cliff had recalled his Squirtle and was staring at me and Vio quickly hid behind me, until I called her back into her Pokéball, for a well-deserved rest. .

“Why don’t you go ahead, Dan? I’ll have a talk with him, until it’s time for the next challenger?” bree asked, and with a nod and greeting to both, I left the room.