2:12 p.m. October 19th, Monday, 106 PH (Post Hoopa Event). Day 132.

Events: Rhea and the girls are on a Badge Hunt, trying to get all the Kanto Encrusted Badges before time runs out! Our girl started her journey on the 9th of June, and the end of registration for the Winter Indigo Cup is December 5th (46 days away).

The roar of the announcers and crowd as the pair went over her incredibly tough Silver 8+ battle left Rhea in somewhat of a daze as she sent Nova to the Gym’s Center to recover with Mya. It felt like a dream, Lulu and Alice jumping around her with excitement as the warm, loving flame of V simmered within her chest.

By all accounts, they should have been disqualified, yet Sabrina had given her another chance to overcome their inadequacies. A soft smile moved her eyes as she wiped away a thankful tear, knowing she’d treasure that short conversation she’d had with the Psychic behind closed doors.

Instead of being scolded and humiliated, she’d tutored and guided her, and now, she felt so silly, thinking that they’d get her Trainer License revoked and dooming her Pokemon to a life outside of the Battle Scene. Gym Leaders’ whole purpose was to be a wall and show challengers where they lacked, but also to cultivate their talent and help them grow.

Thank you, Sabrina…

Her wet, pearly eyes lifted to see Amira walking down the hallway, Mariah walking beside her, and a proud smile on her lips. “That was incredible, Rhea. I doubt they’ll want me to enter the stage for another minute or so to calm down and go over the match.”

“It was hard!” Rhea admitted, trying to hold back the emotion in her throat. “I… thought we’d be labeled too unstable for normal battles. I, hehe… I feel like I’m about to faint! Weak sauce, huh?”

“Not at all,” Amira soothed, bending down and holding back her thick braid while giving Alice and Lulu some attention, scratching behind the bunny’s big ears.

“Mel! Mel!”

“Nee! Ne-ne. Ne. Nee!”

“Lopunny! Lop-Lop!”

Glancing between the three Pokemon, she watched them greet each other for a second, whispered, “Tell me how you’re doing after that accidental surge of V’s power… Don’t try to sweet talk or lie to me,” she said with a slight frown as her concerned ruby irises lifted to study her from her crouched position.

Arms folding and trying not to let the internal jitters that passed through her entire frame get the better of her, pushing her to move, Rhea strained a grin. “Uh… I’m going to crash hard later, but right now, I’m ready to climb a mountain!”

“Good. We’ll plan for dinner early then before letting you collapse in bed for a well-earned 16-hour beauty sleep; you’ll be Lori’s best friend!”

“Hehehe. True,” Rhea giggled, knowing the Unovan girl would love nothing more than to just drool into her pillow to enter sweet dreams on a beach, dancing with her Alolan sorta-boyfriend.

“Good luck, Amira; you’ll kill it!” Jumping forward to hug the redhead as she straightened, Rhea got a much stronger return embrace than she anticipated. “You okay?”

Amira’s hot breath passed by her ear in a long stream before laughing and pulling away, showing a bit more worry than she had before. “Honestly, I am really nervous. I’m kind of in a cyclone right now! Who wouldn’t after a show like yours? It was crazy, which makes me excited and anxious.”

“I think I can relate,” Rhea sighed, scratching her temple and looking away. “It feels like I fell from clouds and landed in the desert… thunder inside my chest, looking to be set free.”

The redhead giggled and hugged herself, shivering a little. “Like a Rapidash, racing the rain with the finish line in sight past the veil. Thanks for making me want to push myself to be the best I can be, Rhea.”

Rhea felt a warm swarm of Butterfree take flight, making her feel weightless as her friend opened her arms for one more supportive hug. Skipping forward, she was once again reminded of how good it felt to have girlfriends her age to share experiences with—something she’d longed for in her mostly isolated village life.

It wasn’t until her journey that she realized how much she’d missed these kinds of interactions with other girls. Yes, Jason was her best friend, but she didn’t know how different it was to have female friends from male.

“Thanks for always keeping me grounded, Amira… Thanks for being my friend.”

“Of course! And thank you for seeing past the ivory tower princess with an attitude that the rest of the world sees and treating me like a normal girl. It’s been a dream come true to travel with Lori and you.”

“Same! Although Lori can be a bit much at times, I know she has our best interest at heart.” Rhea laughed, Amira joining in.

Drawing away, Amira wiped away a tear that fell from her own eye as the announcers started the introduction for the last Silver-tier battle of the day. “Say what you want about Lori, she’s the first one to throw a punch and stand up for her friends; even if she struggles with herself for that Plasma incident, we all know she’s got a tender heart of gold.”

“She really does… Okay!” Showing a dazzling grin, she spun away to allow her teammate to go show her stuff. “I’m going to head to the Gym Center and cheer you on! Go show Sabrina that sweet Rocket determination your mom radiates!”

Amira snorted, doubling over and holding her stomach. “That makes me think of all the times my dad teases her… Sweet like Combee honey, smothering like Vespiquen Pressure, and sharp like swarming Beedrill; a fluffy paradise in the eye of a Hurricane. In fact… maybe I can do something to follow up your battle.”

“Oooh?” Rhea gave her a curious half-smile as she flipped around to walk backward, winking at her. “Mysterious! What are you planning?”

“You know I do most of my songwriting in the mornings when you two are asleep, and I have had a song about my dad and mom on my mind for a while now. So, hurry up to the Center to hear it; I know my parents love it when I write how I see them, and singing actually helps me calm down.”

“Mel! Meloetta,” the Songstress Pokemon chirped, doing a few skips and twirls after her Trainer with a melodic hum.

“We better hurry, then; make sure Sabrina records it! I want all of your songs, and I know your parents will want them, too.”

“Haha. I’m sure! Hurry up.”

“Going!”

“Nee-nee!” her cosmic cloud shouted, jumping onto Alice’s head and pointing them onward like a commander, sending her troops to battle. “Neee!”

Jogging after them, she did a quick spin to wave at her nervous teammate, trying to hype herself up and exercising her voice a little before entering the stage.

Bursting into the locker room, she almost tripped as she realized she’d taken the wrong doors and stumbled into the men’s area; the Gold-tier men gave her lifted eyebrows as she jogged through, face turning scarlet. Luckily, the showers were separated in another area, and the most she saw was a few shirtless dudes.

“Sorry! Sorry!”

“Lop! Lop-Lop!”

“Neee!”

Bursting through the other side, punching herself for not just backtracking to the girls’ section, she ran to the Center area, being more self-conscious about her skirt after the embarrassing accident; she’d seen it happen in shows but never thought it would happen to her.

I really hope Lori and Amira don’t hear about that… It was only, like, several seconds, right?! No one probably even knew who I was… except they were watching my match. Muk! Chill! Chill! It’s no big deal! I hope… I am never talking about this!

Throwing open the Center door and making Nurse Joy jump behind the counter as she ran in, Rhea huffed and puffed while dropping into a chair.

“Eek! Uh, are you okay, sweetie… Your face is flushed, and… Is there a problem?”

“No! No,” she hastily returned. “I just didn’t want to miss my teammate’s battle! Oh, I think she’s on…”

Nurse Joy used a remote behind the desk to increase the volume, a small smile brightening her face. “Maya should be ready to join you shortly, Ms. Everhart; Nova will still take a bit of time.”

“Thank you!” Turning her gaze to the TV, she listened carefully, calming her thumping heart, only for her concentration to shatter when rainbow lights brought an unexpected guest. “Mom?! Dad?!”

“Hey, Sweetie!” Her mother wrapped her into a hug, now looking totally healthy and without injury. “We were in the stands, and it was sooo hard to not—”

“Shhh. Christie, Amira is about to start her battle.”

Her dad’s Butterfree flapped her wings rapidly a few feet away as Nurse Joy sighed, seemingly used to people teleporting in since Sabrina probably did it all the time. Typically, it was illegal, but Sabrina was so powerful that she could enforce who could teleport and who couldn’t since she could sense it across her entire City-State.

“Preee!” the Pokemon chirped, hovering forward to get a hug from her.

“Hehe. Thanks, Vilora. Mom, sit on the other side! Amira’s going to sing a song about her mom and dad.”

“How sweet!” Her mother’s eyes shone with life Rhea hadn’t seen for years; it appeared some one-on-one time with her dad was precisely what the doctor prescribed. “She has such a nice voice. I loved her last song.”

“She has really strong morals, as well,” her dad whispered, taking Rhea’s hand as her mother took her other. “I’ve been spotting Jason’s posts, as well. What’s going on there?”

“Shhh!” her mother chided, making him chuckle as they settled in.

Silence fell over the stadium as Amira took the stage and looked up at Sabrina, still dressed like a villain and leering down at her final Silver-tier opponent. Mariah stood gracefully on the platform, a rare sight of determination and boldness on the shy Pokemon’s face.

“Thank you for accepting my challenge, Gym Leader Sabrina. I was inspired by your battle against my teammate. I understand you are running behind. However, if you’d permit it, I’d like to dedicate a song from my father to my mother; Gym Leader Elesa gave me permission to use one of her unused beats.”

Sabrina leaned against the side of her throne as the crowd seemed to stir into a buzz about yet another surprise to tonight’s Gym entertainment. “Hmm. Only if you provide a little more context to this song… Sell it to the audience, and I will accept their decision. So… make your case.”

Rhea’s gut tightened as a light pink outline overtook Amira and Mariah, making the two lock up for a second before loosening up. From the outside, it looked pretty tense with the Gym Leader putting them in the spotlight, but Rhea knew better now; she didn’t doubt that the Psychic was inside Amira’s head, supporting her, which was almost proven when Amira started walking across the backside of the teleport pads that gathered under her to provide a stage.

Amira stepped onto her floating arena, the Psychic outline fading and a microphone flying to the Rocket girl. She took a deep breath and smiled at the crowd, the spotlights shining down on her flaming red locks as she walked in a circle to address the crowd.

“My mother is in the crowd… She denies it every time I ask, but, hehe, she’s the worst liar, as I’m sure many of you have seen during her media interviews.”

Laughter came from the throng as Amira pulled them in, making Rhea giggle at how good she was at public speaking. The redhead’s buttery voice and charm were projected like a weapon.

“If you’re wondering how I know you’re there, Mom, it’s because Dad was the Rattata in my ear, but!” She paused, holding up a hand in the air, quieting the Pokemon and people. “Before you go hunting for his cinnamon head, I wanted to remind you of all the things he’s said about you… the things that have stuck with me through the years from all your stories. I wanted to dedicate this song from my father to my mother… because these are his words.”

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She showed a devious smirk while looking high to the dark upper stands. “You tell me, Saffron, do you want to hear a romantic song written through a lifetime of ups and downs from a young Rocket Mafia Admin to a Pokemon Daycare, country-raised crazy girl who couldn’t take a hint?”

Rhea giggled as cheers and excitement raged from the throng, but the air in her lungs froze when the screens shifted to a scene that melted her heart. Lyra looked like a Meowth caught in the act of stealing something, sitting in the upper stands, Silver behind her like Officer Jenny catching a crook; the roles were reversed! He showed a handsome smile down at her daughter before his Magnezone teleported them away to a place undisclosed to listen as a couple.

“This is for you, Mom,” Amira said, standing in the middle of the stage. “Thank you for allowing me to calm down and give this to my parents, Gym Leader Sabrina.”

She used her phone to send the track to what Rhea assumed was the stage crew; Rhea could see Sabrina was eating up the interruption to her schedule. Honestly, she’d probably already seen that this would happen.

Sabrina’s illuminated eyes softened, totally not feeding into her villain vibe. “Boldness like this should be encouraged amidst the rising generation. You’ve proven yourself a world sensation with your vocal prowess, and one’s talents should be shared; it is impressive that you have demonstrated this from a young age, going so far as to donate all of your proceeds to charities. It is something to make note of. Begin when you are ready.”

The lights faded over the crowd, centering in on the floating platforms Amira stood on, silence overtaking them as Mariah hummed a soft tune in the background. Rhea caught a look between her parents as they leaned closer, arms looping around her back before Rhea brought their hands together on her lap with a smile.

Amira took a deep breath and looked into the darkness, all eyes on her and not showing a hint of the nervous chills she’d shown beforehand. “I think it might be appropriate to call this song ‘Rocket Money,’ because Rocket and that green money was what brought you two together… I love you, Mom and Dad.”

Opening her mouth, she brought them into a dream of a man trapped in the hypnotic and magnetic pull of the captivating, sweet, and intense love of a country girl. Rhea was drawn into a waking vision of scenes from her own life, watching the give and take from her parents, her father always bringing her mother back home to be welcomed in with gentle, loving arms.

She could also see the Rocket couple throughout their ups and downs from what she’d heard from Amira and Gossip articles. How Lyra—his bundle of sunshine—had pulled Silver away from the life of crime and into another dimension of Pokéathlons, picnics, and beach games with the Kanto and Johto Legends. Somewhere along the line, Silver’s romantic side bled through, sweeping Lyra off her feet and into a whole new world as he fought for his parents to accept her.

Feeling warm and gooey with positive energy between her parents as Amira finished her song, Rhea leaned over to kiss them on the cheeks and hug them.

“I love you, Mom, Dad! Thanks… for everything you went through for Sabin and me.”

Her dad swept back his blond hair with a short chuckle while shifting closer to kiss her mother, making her cheeks color a little; yeah, her dad was totally the romantic in their relationship. “I think you have it backward, Honey; we’re the ones who are lucky to have you and your brother.”

“So true,” her mother whispered, throat thick and making googly eyes at her dad that made Rhea giggle; yeah, forcing her mom on house arrest was the right call. This song could be about you, heh, ‘Sweet like Combee honey.’ ”

“What was that, Mom?”

“Huh? Oh, nothing! Hehe.”

“Hmm?” She looked between her parents with a sly smirk. “I know Dad has blond hair, but ‘Sweet like Combee honey,’ Mom? You’re so sappy!”

Her dad showed a half-smile, nudging heads with her. “I mean, when it’s true, it’s true. I can melt like honey in your arms, my little storm cloud of butter.”

“Awww…”

“Mom! Dad! Okay, not when I’m between you!” Rhea laughed, stomach hurting as she shot up to let them come closer together; she spotted Nurse Joy peeking out at her parents with a smile from the back window. “I’m going to grab Mya real fast. Try not to actually become puddles of butter and honey while I’m gone!”

Her own body was all warm and fuzzy while looking up at her incredible teammate, soaking in the standing ovation from the crowd, the announcers playing back the recording they’d made that was bound to cause a buzz on social media; once again, their team was set to trend and make people hate them, but that came with the territory at this point.

Way to go, Amira. Now, kill it and take home the March Badge.

Getting Mya out of her capsule to join Alice and Lulu, she was pleasantly surprised when Istar came prancing from the back to join them, having finished her treatment. Rhea settled down with everyone to watch Amira return to the challenger platform, the hype building with the announcers introducing the redhead with her previous match history.

You can do it!

Rhea was on the edge of her seat as Amira opened up with Holly, the Comfey, meeting Vincent, the Solosis. The Posy Picker Pokemon spun into action immediately, using Leaf Tornado as a launching device to rocket high into the air, the haze of generated leaves obscuring the field; her Moves had become so much more powerful compared to the last time Rhea had seen her use the attack.

The Cell Pokemon remained still, multiple screens forming to defend itself from the radial chip-damage. Seeds spread out from the swirl of leaves, peppering the Solosis, yet they didn’t sprout. Instead, a shimmering sparkle surrounded Vincent—it had Magic Guard, preventing damage from anything but attack Moves.

A pink aura encased the Solosis before a jagged ray of Psychic energy cut through the veil to strike Holly; a red beam connected to her just before it struck, yet the blast wasn’t aiming for the Comfey. Rhea cursed inside as the Psyshock disrupted the return and shifted in a sweeping line to glaze her.

Holly twisted in a long backbend, circling it, but she couldn’t get her tail out of the way, taking a slight hit to her energy matrix. They endured an exchange of Moves, the Psychic Pokemon pursuing the Comfey through the air as she tried to use Leaf Tornados to veil the field and use the teleportation panels to escape.

Rhea hissed as Vincent predicted the teleportation’s location and spun in a sharp ball, rapidly increasing its speed and striking Holly while encased in Steel force. She winced but managed to get a kiss on the attacking Pokemon while taking heavy damage and being thrown across the field.

Vincent spun out of control, hitting teleport panels and coming to a dizzying stop on the ground as Holly tried to recover; she was on Sabrina’s side of the field and too far to recall, yet Amira maintained her cool under the scrutiny of the tense onlookers.

Holly pushed herself up and spun to propel herself to the middle of the field, spreading more slow-falling leaves throughout the air as the Solosis snapped out of his confusion. A yellow outline sparkled around Holly, but a flash from Vincent’s eye made the Comfey lock-up, and Holly canceled the Move at the last second, making the Snatch fail.

A red beam connected to Holly, carrying her to the safety of her Poke Ball, and Amira didn’t waste a second, hurling her second partner near the Psychic Pokemon, Mariah cheering her teammates on.

Sabrina’s smiling eyes narrowed as the Poke Ball near her shot a beam to return Vincent, only for a barrage of fireballs to shoot out of Amber’s materializing wand, one interrupting the red light; the five other spheres curved to pepper the Cell Pokemon, his screens softening the blow and putting him in a backward roll.

Amber’s ears and tail ignited and flared as she launched after the Psychic Pokemon, wand twirling in her hand. Jumping over the Pokemon, Vincent spun into a sharp circle to tackle the fire fox, yet Amber’s lips curved into a smile, her puffy tail illuminating white and smacking the Pokemon into a flying comet toward Amira’s side of the field.

Yeah! Rhea internally shouted. They can play the no-return game, too, Sabrina!

Sprinting at her opponent, Amber twirled her wand, creating a flaming vortex that landed over the stunned Solosis and trapping him in a Fire Spin, blocking his escape while carrying him up the inner cyclone. Stopping a short distance away, a sharp red outline came over Amber as she pointed her wand into the sky; bright rays of sunlight illuminated the field and stands, radiating heat and making the announcers go crazy.

And when the Solosis exited the increasing inferno in a ball of steel, Amber batted him into the corner with another Tail Whip before peppering him with more Embers. A Psybeam ripped out of the smoke, and Amber met it with her own Psychic force, the damage equaling out and causing an explosion that the fox ran toward.

Just as the haze cleared, Amber’s illuminated eyes met Vincent’s, putting him in a trance, and, as if timed perfectly, Light Screen faded. Amber showily spun her wand into the air, gathering a huge amount of Amira’s Fortitude, jumped into the air, caught it, and swirled it in a circle. A supercharged wave of heat focused onto the Solosis in the corner, leaving a trail of cracked earth and shattering its energy matrix.

Before Amber could carry him over to be returned, Sabrina psychically sent the Poke Ball over to continue the match, and Amira swiftly recalled the fire fox. Holly came out just as a Spoink materialized to bounce onto the arena.

Yes! Nice Amira! You predicted the Thick Fat strategy you thought Sabrina would use against Amber. It’s Holly’s turn, and Sunny Day is still up! Nice! Nice! You’re doing so good!

The sunlight condensed around Holly, restoring her health as the Solosis coiled up and started ping-ponging around teleport panels. Rhea stood up, unable to sit upon seeing Amira lightly bite her lower lip: they hadn’t planned on it being able to use the transport blocks to get around.

C’mon, Holly! You can do this!

Her father and mother chuckled from behind her, her mom now sharing a chair with him.

“Are you worried about Amira?” her mom asked. “She’s doing really well.”

“Surprisingly well,” her dad commented. “Holly should have been knocked out by now if she hadn’t done those fancy maneuvers with Leaf Tornado, blocking Vincent’s view.”

“No, I trust Amira will win. 100%! She’s got this!”

“Pwe-pwe!”

She smiled as Nova jumped onto the counter, Nurse Joy bringing her into the waiting area.

“Espeon!”

“Pwe!”

“Ne-ne!”

Rhea was pulled in two directions as her Pokemon greeted their recovered teammate. “Nova! Come here!”

“Pweee!”

“Mawile!”

“Uh-huh! We’ve got four Encrusted Gym Badges! We’re guaranteed Gold and a spot in the tournament!”

“Lopunny!”

She danced around for a second with her excited team, Mya crying a little with Nova at the road they’d gone down to make it to this point; sure, they were going for the other four badges, but they’d overcome the biggest hurdle and made it into Gold-tier. All of their future battles would probably be Silver 8+, yet they were ready for it!

“Oh, let’s watch Amber and Holly win—huh?! Dad, what happened?!”

She panicked upon seeing Holly wrapped in vines and the Spoink going crazy on the teleport platforms, shooting Psybeams and Confuse Rays at the Comfey.

“Hmm. The trouble came from a last-second Magic Coat prediction on the Spoink’s part that reflected Holly’s Leech Seed. He’s wearing her down and not letting her get it off; she’s hit him with a few good blows, Lucky Chant is keeping her from being crit, and Synthesis is keeping her up, but she isn’t going to last long. Sabrina really punished Amira’s use of Leech Seed in this battle; I’d say she’s telling her to throw strategy out and brute force it.”

“Mmmgm! C’mon! Nice Magic Leaf! And now the Vine Whip to carry her to a platform—no! Mmm.” Rhea glanced at her dad as the Spoink hit Holly’s back with a Future Sight, the blast catching the Posy Pokemon off-guard. “Can Amber win if he has Thick Fat?”

Her mother giggled. “Even I can tell you she can.”

“Well, you are a Master, honey,” her dad snickered. “Don’t sell yourself short just because you put most of your effort into research. Just watch and believe, Rhea; Amira is a smart cookie, and I’m guessing she’s realized what Sabrina wants from her by now.”

“Yeah, Amira’s awesome! Holly wore him down enough; they’ve got this.”

The Braixen returned, ready for action as she used Fire Spin to gather the teleportation panels and spit them out all across the stage—the Bouncy Pokemon was no longer able to do acrobatics with the tiles on the ground to catch weird angles. Flame Charge carried her into a speedy blitz to the bouncy Pokemon, dancing around his beams, a confident grin on her face, no doubt thinking of the frog watching her.

It nearly took the full ten minutes, but when the time ended, a huffing and puffing Amber stood victorious over the Psychic pig. Rhea glared at Sabrina as she explained exactly what her dad had: sometimes you just needed to brute force your way through a challenge and not give up heart. Thick Fat on a Psychic Pokemon against a Braixen was mean, and Magic Coat didn’t help, but Amira had won.

Her teammates were three out of four Encrusted Badges down; if they won their next Gym, all of them would be semi-officially Gold-tier. The only difference was where they placed amongst the upcoming Gold-tier competitors in the Silver Division’s final lineup from the best Silver had to offer in the Kanto and Johto Cup.

Now, it was time to celebrate hard and crash hard for the day!

“Mom, Dad, want to join us?”

Her mother answered with a beaming smile, getting a giggle from Rhea, now wondering if Jason had seen her match and heard Amira’s song. “Absolutely! Lyra’s treat! I need that on my phone, by the way. Do you think Amira would give me an autograph?”

“Maybe if you ask nicely, but you did give her Mariah, so I’d say yes! Let’s meet up with everyone and get something to eat; I’m starving!”