12:34 p.m. August 7th, Friday, 106 PH (Post Hoopa Event). Day 58.

Events: It’s here! The Vermilion Gym battle and Rhea’s first Silver-tier Encrusted Badge are just up ahead. Our girl started her journey on the 9th of June, and the end of registration for the Winter Indigo Cup is December 5th (120 days away). Nova got her new evolution, and Gables and Amber evolved, too!

Mya kept her distance, waiting for her opportunity to strike. She kept her mouth open, releasing the sweet scent that hazed her opponent’s mind, delaying their actions. However, the Clefairy had his own plan as he took a deep breath before singing and hopping around the ring.

“In the pink glow of the stage, there is a lovely brute that falls asleep—”

“Misty Terrain!” Rhea hastily countered.

The sweet scent instantly changed to the shimmering cloud, guarding both of them against status conditions. Mya had grown fond of the Move since it countered Alice’s sleep on contact Ability. Unfortunately, the Clefairy’s Cute Charm Ability wasn’t affected by the mist, so she still had to be careful when making contact with him.

“I don’t think so, bud!” she laughed, jumping in the air and twirling; Fairy Wind dispersed the sparkly haze. She landed in the mist, obscuring her from view, yet she’d learned how to spot her opponent through the haze. “Got anything—ack. C’mon!”

She grunted as the Clefairy sent a pulse of sonic force at her, Disarming Voice honing in on her through the veil; it didn’t hurt that much, but the Move was so annoying.

“If he wants to infatuate you, counter it, Mya!”

Mya grinned as Nova and Alice agreed, building the Move; it was the first time she’d used it, and the Eevee told her what to do. Yet, in the next instant, all her sweet scent and Misty Terrain were blown into the corner of the massive stadium with a cutting wind that shoved her back.

“Copycat! He used your Fairy Wind against you, or wait—no, he has the Move, too. Agh,” Rhea growled. “Do your best to stay in the Terrain to counter the sing.”

Keeping focused, the second the prancing pink Pokemon touched down, she showed him a charming smile. “Nova tells me Mimicry is the best flattery. Thank you!”

“Huh?” The Clefairy’s eyes dilated as hearts shone around her, and he almost tripped. “Oh, you… pretty, clever girl… Why not a kiss?”

“Wait, what?” Mya’s confidence faltered as he skipped forward, lips glowing; a heart formed, rushing right for her. “Eek!”

Mya was shocked at her own high-pitched cry while diving to the side; she’d seen what this Move did on the Pokemon Rescue Squad show, and she was not going to become a mindless drone! Rolling away, Mya panicked as he neared, seeking to kiss her again.

Jaws closing around his body and energy flooding her mouth, Mya flung him across the stage. She didn’t want to touch him and get infatuated, but she didn’t have a choice; luckily, it didn’t trigger. A force sent him smashing into the stone, but he flipped into a spin, landing on the side of the barrier to launch back at her.

“Don’t be so shy! No, but I love it when you throw… How about an Encore?!”

“Ugh! Stop!” she cried.

Brown light collected around her to throw four stones at the Pokemon, battering him away just as he clapped his hands. Spotlights shone around her, confetti showering from the Move that locked her into her last Move. She barely managed to get the Ancient Power out, by pulling hard from Rhea’s Fortitude.

“Ack—ack… Why so—oh, you’re so lucky!” the Clefairy mused, somehow managing to spin away from the barrage of rocks she threw at him. “How about this?”

A surge from deep within her bolstered all of her Stats, yet a flash blinded her, and when Mya’s vision cleared, he was nowhere to be seen; luckily, her mist was starting to fill the area again.

Where’d he go?!

“Minimize!” Rhea explained. “He’s really small, Mya; prepare Metal Burst and wait for my call. His goal is to infatuate you so he can go to town on you with Double Slaps—wait, is that…”

Okay! What?!

Fist closing, she scanned the mist, licking her lips as a resounding drum beat from somewhere to her left. Even with the ominous noise, she couldn’t see him at all.

“I think that’s… Belly Drum! Increase Intimidate!”

Wha—

Doubling her dampening aura, it spread only moments before the attack came. Mya’s world spun, feet leaving earth as she was suddenly upside down, another blow smacking her face and sending her into the air. All the while, she had no idea where the Pokemon was.

He was as fast as Alice, and her mind hazed pink as the handsome squishy pastry appeared in front of her, making her drool.

“So… beautiful. Uck!”

“No, Mya, snap out of it!” Nova called.

Donut…

“Huh? What did she say?” Alice mumbled.

“Donut?”

The soft dessert smacked her across the cheek for a third time, doing significant damage to her energy matrix. Metal Burst collapsed as she lost focus, and suddenly the dreamy pastry turned into a Pokemon, igniting a fire in her belly.

“Y-You made me—I’m hungry!”

It was the Clefairy’s time to look confused. “Hungry?”

Bringing around her grinning mouth around, her sticky, black tongue slid out as she salivated; just in time, as the puffy pink blob turned into a sweet pastry again.

“So tasty! Get in my stomach!”

“Ahhh!”

Lovestruck, she ran after the crying pastry, attempting to escape her snapping, sparking jaws; she had to paralyze this escaping bundle of sweetness to savor her meal.

“Stop running!”

“Abort! Abort!”

A red beam connected to the pastry, pulling it away from her and making her snarl and fall to her knees. “Noooo! Wait… No-ho-ho.”

She hid her face in embarrassment with Alice and Nova rolling around their Poke Balls.

“You were i-in love with food!” Alice roared.

Nova was laughing her tail off. “Of course, it had to be sweets!”

S-Shut up! I need to focus…

Her large mouth twitching with agitation, she opened it to hiss at the Kirlia that replaced her previous pastry dream; even the Feeling Pokemon was snickering at her.

“Wow! You are in love with sweets, huh?”

He’s taunting me!

“I don’t think he has that Move,” Nova mused. “Misty—”

Already ahead of you, Sis!

The fog exploded from her jaws as a shimmer brought the Kirlia in front of her, eyes wide and releasing waves to put her into a trance; Amber’s favorite trick.

“Woah!”

Mya reached out and snatched him into a hug, holding him close to her body.

“Teleport now, bud!”

Leaping high into a front flip, she collected the energy around his tiny frame and flung him into the stone floor, making him wince. A kinetic force rushed into her feet, shooting her toward the ground to stomp the recovering Pokemon.

“Got yo—I hate Teleport!”

She passed right through his shining form to leave an imprint on the ground and spinning her head in the air, she used its weight and momentum to twirl away from the circular psychic waves he sent her way.

“That’s it, Mya!” Nova and Rhea cheered in unison.

Mya refused to back down. She would not make Rhea lose another Gym Battle.

Disable hit her, attempting to lock her in place, yet the dark light gathering in her hand broke her free, shadows carrying Mya high into the sky. The Fairy Pokemon’s panicked gaze searched for her in vain as she appeared in his blind spot after his teleport, making the crowd gasp.

“I’ve got my own teleport!”

“Well p—”

The Kirlia reflected a pulse of Attack dampening force that was torn to shreds by Hyper Cutter. Risk-Taker activated with her Sword Dance and Power-Up Punch enhanced Sucker Punch. Her knuckles collided with the side of the Kirlia’ face, shattering his defensive matrix, and potentially close to destroying his secondary shield.

He struck the barrier right in front of the Gym Leader, eyes rolled back and mind dead to the world. A beam connected to him, bringing the Feeling Pokemon back into his Poke Ball before he fell, and the Celfairy was back on the field the second Mya’s feet touched ground.

“You’re amazing, Mya! It’s Nova’s turn, now.”

Good luck, fluffy tail!

* * *

Nova giggled as Rhea returned Mya to her Poke Ball just as the Celfairy shot forward to try and break her teammate’s already heavily damaged energy matrix; her Trainer copied Saria’s earlier stall tactic, tossing her Poke Ball up and down several seconds with a smile.

“We gotta be careful, Nova. Mya took out the Trace Pokemon, but that Sing might be trouble.”

I’ll be ready for it! I know you’re running low on Fortitude, too. Good job on watching how much you used, Mya.

“Heh. Thanks for the pep talk. I needed a good tail slap.”

“Let’s go! Let’s go!” Alice groaned with Lulu, still cheering from atop their Trainer’s head and calling Nova’s name.

“Go, go, Big Sis Nova! Fluffy-fluff spinny attack!”

Hehehe. She’s so cute. Let’s do this!

Rhea threw her Poke Ball as another flash minimized the Celfairy; the battle was on.

Yet, when Nova materialized, she simply sat on her butt, inspecting her paw with a small, disinterested smirk that made the crowd ‘ooo.’ “Two can play the evasion game, bud.”

A rush of jade hues collected around her, increasing her Special Attack, and a twinkle in her left eye brought her attention to her left, spotting the tiny Fairy launching from the ground to strike her.

“Too easy.”

She hopped back, twisting to blow him away with a spray of sand.

“Oof! Ah-heh. You—ack—guys are way stronger than the normal entry-level opponents we’ve fought,” the Celfairy mumbled, squinting to find her, but it wasn’t hard when rainbow rays surrounded her.

Nova’s tail flattened, widening at the end, ears growing with two locks. Her sleek fur tightened against her frame, turning black as she shook out her body. The announcer and crowd went wild as she held her head high with a short chirp.

“Shall we really begin?”

“Nova evolves into a black and white furred Glaceon! I think our Gym Leader is in trouble now!”

The Clefairy sent a sound wave of Fairy energy at her that Nova blew away with a long stream of icy wind, crystalizing the ground.

Jumping forward, she glided across the thin sheet to the retreating Pokemon, speed accelerating with the Skater Ability. He leaped into the air to escape her, taking a deep breath to let loose a hypnotic song, but the hearts that formed around her frame made the male Pokemon hesitate; she could use their Captivate game against them.

“You wouldn’t hurt me, would you? Heh.”

“N-Not so fast… Oh, no.”

A barrier formed around him, blocking the debilitating Move, yet her follow-up blast of frigid air launched him further into the sky, leaving him utterly defenseless; the blue shell flickered and vanished.

She got confirmation from Rhea to end it. The crowd was on the edge of their seats as Nova drew carefully from her Trainer’s Fortitude, resonating with their bond while converting the remaining energy her Glaceon transformation had.

Reverting back to her Eevee stage, Nova’s claws dug into the ice to keep from slipping, the panicking Clefairy falling closer and closer to her illuminating base form. A golden radiance erupted around her, and Veevee Volley propelled Nova’s twinkling body to meet the Fairy Pokemon.

Carrying them both higher and higher to the stadium shield overhead, Nova sandwiched him between her volcanic burst of kinetic force and the wall, shattering his energy matrix and sending him rocketing back to the stone floor to tumble into an unmoving slump. It was over; they’d won.

“Clefary is unable to battle; Rhea Everhart takes the victory!”

The victory song exploded through the speakers as Nova did a few flips and landed on her feet, all lights on her.

“‘Cause it’s one, it’s one, one for the money.

“Two, it’s two, ‘cause two is for the show.

“Three, it’s three, three, get ready,

“Are you ready Cleffa-lovers? Are you ready? Let’s go!”

* * *

Rhea was partially in shock, breathing hard and legs feeling a little weak after Nova’s last push, but it had been worth it. We did it! We actually did it!

Saria wore a small smile, giving her a soft clap after returning her Pokemon to his Poke Ball. The announcer was still going crazy with the crowd.

“Rhea Everhart has become the first Trainer to not only receive the Silver-Encrusted Fairy Heart Badge, but the first Encrusted Badge, period! And what a show it was! It was like we were watching a Contest instead of a Gym Battle, and that last Move—dazzling! Ten! Ten across the board from the judges!”

Rhea’s throat went dry as the screen showed a pink, gem-like, five-pointed star inside of a sapphire Butterfree-shaped setting; the edges were encrusted with silver to illustrate her victory over the Gym’s leader.

Our first Encrusted Badge… We’re actually Silver-tier! she squealed to her Pokemon, somehow revitalized with the excitement that bubbled up within her fluttering stomach. We’re Silver-tier!

Lulu floated down to hug her neck and hopped on the console shortly after, cheering her big sister on. Nova, Mya, and Alice were all cheering and hugging her spirit. At last, she knew for a fact this was where she belonged. After their struggles in Bronze-tier, Rhea felt liberated.

Saria’s gentle voice brought her back to her senses as the music died down with the crowd. Nova’s tail couldn’t be stopped from its wags as she sat front and center, attention on the blonde Gym Leader.

“Well done, Rhea; you used Misty Terrain and Sweet Scent perfectly to counter the sleep tactics, while not being afraid to swap out your Pokemon. I’m impressed that your Pokemon could hold themselves back from physical contact for most of the fight and were able to zone mine, even with Teleport and Minimize at play. You earned your victory.”

“Eh-heh. The Trace really threw me for a loop at the start,” Rhea returned with a short laugh. “It totally made me panic there for a bit since Nova has so many Abilities it could copy, but I figured out that you wanted me to use Mya against the Kirlia since her Abilities wouldn’t help the Kirlia at all. You really gave me a puzzle to solve on the fly.”

“And you did it excellently.”

Rhea shook her head and wiped away some perspiration that was beginning to show on her forehead; her armpits were already wet, so she opted to keep her arms at her side.

“I can’t take all the credit. Amira, my teammate, has taught me so much about how to prepare for Gym Battles; she really is a genius. Lori let me in on some tricky combinations she thought up, too, and our Pokemon train together a lot. I think, heh, I’m probably the least person that contributed to this win, if I’m being honest!”

Saria’s gaze shifted to a particular part of the crowd. “Humble. I see… So, this was a team effort, then? And you’ve found a good group of friends?”

“The best!” Rhea beamed. “You’ve also inspired me with your Silver Conference battle. You have no idea how much Mya looks up to Zaneeta. She thinks your Mawile is the greatest warrior in the world.”

Mya groaned, nudging her spirit to stop; she was embarrassing her.

“Is that right? Well, then she’ll be happy to know that Zaneeta told me she’d like to watch Mya’s future battles. We’ll be subscribing to your Trainer tag.”

Her Mawile started freaking out, unsure if she should cry, scream for joy, or hide in embarrassment as Alice teased and poked her.

“Haha. We’ll do our best!”

“Good. Now, I’m sure you have some celebrating to do. You’ve earned it.”

Waving the Fairy Gym Leader off, Rhea was in such a daze that she had to double back to return Nova to her Poke Ball. Her Eevee was rolling with laughter at her pink cheeks as she hastily retreated back to the locker rooms to the crowds’ snickers.

Sabin, Kate, and her friends met them in the hallway, the Unovan girl a blubbering mess as she tackled her.

“The best friends?! Y-You’re too sweet, Blondie—way too sweet! You did it!”

“I know! Aah! We got our first Encrusted Badge!”

Amira moved in to give her a hug, calm as ever, and wearing an entertained grin. “Easier than you thought?”

“No! I swear, I thought we were Ghosts a few times there. Thanks for all the advice and help, Amira.”

The redhead rubbed her back before pulling away. “Of course. Should we grab lunch before Kate’s battle?”

“Yes! I’m starved,” Rhea groaned, swapping to her brother’s arms as Kate lingered nearby with a shining smile. “Did I do good, Sabin?”

“Pfft! You kidding me? You saw that crowd eating up Mya’s finisher, and that blitz combo that Nova did was heavy metal, Sis! I got lunch, okay? Let’s stop off and get your badge real quick, though! I wanna see this beauty, and you know Dad is going to frame that Muk after you reach Gold-tier.”

“He was watching—wait, when I reach Gold-tier?”

“Naturally,” he mused, messing up her hair a little and making her growl. Her friends laughed at the dirty glare she shot her big brother. “You’re hitting the top, Sis. Oh, and of course, Dad would be lurking. You don’t think he and Franky would miss this, do you? I’ll text him and get his butt out of hiding. Let’s get you some grub! Got a place, Kate?”

“Already booked, Bae! Let’s hit the beach sand bar to play some volleyball, too; we all got our swimsuits. Girls vs. boys!”

Her brother did a double take. “What? I get my Pokemon then!”

“Only if the girls are on our team, too! Luna and I need some bonding time, right?”

“C’mon, Kate,” her brother pleaded with a strained voice. “I have Felicity with me.”

“I know! She loves beating you into the sand. It’ll be great!”

Rhea giggled with her teammates. By her innocent, toothy grin, this was most definitely punishment for something her brother did. “Let’s have some fun!”

Lori’s eyes brightened. “Oh, I got new nicknames for us! Check it—Rhea is Honey since she’s just too sweet!”

“Aww.”

Her brother nodded in agreement. “She’s also got a Beedrill’s sting, too, if ya know what I mean.”

“Sabin!” she huffed, punching him in the arm.

“See!? Haha. What did I tell you?!”

They laughed, and Lori pointed to Amira. “Then we got our Strawberry surprise! I mean, she’s also got those plump red lips to go with the hair, so we could go Cherry, too—no, Raspberry since she can be spicy. Thoughts?”

“Mmh, raspberries spicy?” Amira pulled a loose strand behind her ear. “I don’t know about that.”

“Well, I’d say more tart, but, heh, I didn’t want to say it—oops! That won’t go down well for me in the future, right?” Lori laughed, “So, c’mon! What’s mine?”

Amira looked at Rhea with a small smirk, adding her circular, rose-tinted sunglasses as they stepped out into the warm sea breeze. “Velvet, short for velvet cake since you can leave a sharp edge on my tongue.”

“Ouch! Nice.”

Rhea laughed, “How many nicknames are you going to give us, Velv? Blondie, Sunshine, and now this?”

“As many as it takes! After all, we’re besties now, right!?”

Kate jumped in to inquire more about their travels and what fun they’d been having with Ash as she guided them to the sand bar she’d already called. Rhea felt like she was walking on clouds; the day had only just begun, beating her brother at volleyball, and now her dad was even going to show up. There was so much more fun ahead.