Inyssa had trouble believing it, but there actually was a small café nearby where they could sit down for a bit and have a talk. She was pretty sure it was the only non-mining related business around, only open because it was close to the Gym. Sarah cordially invited her for a cup of coffee and to give her what she described as a small gift for her first official battle.

"There's no need to spoil me like this all the time," she said, raising an eyebrow at Sarah. "You already have a son, y'know."

The woman shone her a simple smile. "Oh, Barry's already been spoiled rotten, don't you worry about that," she said. "Besides... I feel like I owe this to you."

"...What do you mean?"

"Nothing, nothing. I just think of you as half my daughter too, after all these years," she said. "How could I not?"

Inyssa leaned back against her chair, which felt stiff and wet with the morning dew, and looked away, a blush on her cheeks. Why was Sarah always like this? She decided to change the subject.

"Anyway... to think I'm going to do my debut in a dump like this..." She sighed exaggeratedly. "What a joke."

Sarah raised her cup and took a sip of her Earl Grovyle tea, which smelled like toasted mint. She was sitting with her back completely straight, looking like she was enjoying the wind on her face.

"You shouldn't be so judgmental, Inyssa," she advised. "This city is full of hard working and passionate people."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm sure everyone here is nice." She shrugged, taking a tentative sip. "But why would the Association turn this place into a Gym city? Aren't they supposed to be touristic places for trainers to enjoy? Isn't that how they make their money?"

"Well, this place does make them money. All kinds of fossils, evolution stones and precious gems are harvested in the mines every day."

She snorted, shaking her head lightly. "So they just wanted a piece of that cash for themselves. Figures, bunch of greedy farts. No offense."

"Oh, none taken, don't worry about that." Sarah's lips curled into a plain smile. "I may be directly under Lucian's command, but the two of us do not agree on everything."

I wouldn't expect anything else from one of the Association's puppets!

The words of that weird Team Galactic girl rang through her mind, and Inyssa couldn't help but frown. Was stuff like this what she'd meant? That was absurd. She was just a trainer and Sarah was just a normal Association worker; it's not like they had the power to change anything.

Inyssa was about to ask Sarah her opinion on that when she noticed a couple people at the other side of the street, walking toward them. The dust clouds obscured them until they were almost at the doors of the Gym. Palmer and Barry stood around with giant smiles on their faces, and next to them was a rather short man wearing a mining hat, under which she spied a mess of dark, red hair.

They left the money on the table and crossed the street. When they approached Barry immediately turned toward Inyssa and placed both hands on her shoulders, shaking her so strongly that she feared he might liquify her brain.

"Niss, Niss, Niss! You won't believe what happened, we found this guy and he said he didn't want to but I said I wanted to and then he told me he would but I told him you were here too and...!"

Barry's words came out of his mouth like water from a hose, so quickly and garbled that he was out of breath the moment he finished his first sentence. Palmer stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder and making a sign to let him speak.

"What my incredibly talented son is trying to say is that he just beat the Gym leader." The older man gave Barry a look so full of pride Inyssa felt somewhat inadequate, "Roark wanted to make it quick and have the battle in the mines. I tried to tell him that there was another contender in the city but Barry already had a Pokeball in his hands so..."

Inyssa shot her friend a scowl full of anger. "What!? You doof, I wanted to see you battle!" She bopped him on the forehead strongly enough to push him away.

"Ouch! I'm sorry Niss, it's just... I couldn't help myself." He formed his best Poochyena face in an attempt to calm her anger, but to no avail. "Besides, we convinced him to come here anyway, so you'll have your battle too!"

Both kids heard Roark clear his throat behind them, and when they turned they found him looking at them with a shadowed expression, no sign of a smile on his face.

His arms were crossed and he tapped the floor with one foot impatiently. He looked... younger than Inyssa would've expected. Had to be somewhere in his mid-twenties, with that baby face, even if the grime and dust from the caves did its best to hide it. He still wore his brightly-red hard hat, same color as his messy hair.

"Yes, my associate Palmer persuaded me to come back here. I'm guessing you're the other challenger?" He studied Inyssa with a disinterested look. "First that hyperactive mess of a kid and now you. Great." He closed his eyes and sighed. "Let's go inside, we'll finish this quickly and I'll go back to my work."

"Your work is the gym," Inyssa spat back, tone full of disbelief. "If you want to spend all your time messing around with rocks then maybe you should leave the job to someone who actually knows what they're doing."

Roark's ears turned as red as his hair, and Inyssa noted that Barry and Palmer were looking at the girl nervously, while Sarah shot her a look to warn her to watch her words.

"What do you know about my work?" His voice flared up, and Inyssa felt a shiver down her spine at the sound of it. "Ugh, I don't have time to be listening to an entitled brat and her Frontier Brain father. Let's just get this over with."

"Palmer's not my f...!" Roark entered the Gym and closed the door behind him before she could finish. "Agh! What the hell is wrong with that guy!?"

Palmer fixed his collar and tried to avoid the girl's gaze. "It's... a long story. I apologize on his behalf, but please try not to provoke him." He gave her a thumbs up. "Just head in there and show us what you've got, okay? We'll be watching from the stands."

----------------------------------------

An electric buzz echoed throughout the arena as the lights came to life, momentarily blinding Inyssa. The inside of the Gym was quite small, sporting only a regulation-size arena and a couple stands at the sides, from where Barry and his parents would be spectating. At the other extreme of the field stood Roark, arms crossed and posture firm as steel. Alongside him stood a dusty table with a few small boxes on top of it, each containing between three and six Pokeballs.

"I'm guessing this is your first Gym battle, just like with that brat." His booming voice reached her, as he grabbed a Pokeball from the first, smallest box. "Good, we can get this over quick. We will each use three Pokemon. The first one to run out loses."

"I know how battles work," Inyssa spat back. "I won't need more than this."

They both opened their Pokeballs in unison. The two blinding lights flooded the arena; the Gym leader's Pokemon materialized into a small boulder with two muscular arms, and Inyssa's Budew appeared in response, happily shifting his body back and forth in a strange dance, a sly smile on his face.

"A grass Pokemon, what stunning originality," Roark whispered under his breath. "Sorry Geodude, I'll make it up to you with food later. Rock Throw!"

"Don't let him zone you out, get close and use Mega Drain!" Inyssa shouted, closed fist forward.

Geodude's arms burrowed into the floor, and with a much higher speed than she thought possible he grabbed head-sized pieces of rock and threw them at Bret with the hope of squishing him. The small sprout jumped to dodge the first boulder, which went past him and crashed a few feet ahead of Inyssa. Two others immediately followed. and the Budew dived left for the first one and jumped on top of the second one, using the momentum to plunge himself toward his opponent.

Roark's eyes opened slightly, surprise clear across his face. "Geodude, Tackle him before he reaches you!"

Geodude used her arms to launch herself toward Bret, who simply smiled and used the closed petals on his head to do a little flop and position himself perfectly above his opponent. With a green flash of light he absorbed the Geodude's energy, leaving her to smash into the ground, unconscious.

"Shit, that was fast." Roark cringed, and with a movement of his hand returned the Geodude to her Pokeball. He grabbed another one randomly from the box.

"Great job Bret, keep it up!" Inyssa felt heat rushing through her body as she yelled. "So Roark, when does the actual Gym battle start? This warm-up is fun but I think I'm ready now." She formed her best crap-eating grin and crossed her arms at the Gym leader, taking satisfaction in his frustrated expression.

"You shouldn't be so cocky after winning a battle with type advantage." He clenched the Pokeball in his hand and threw it in the air. "A trainer's first Gym battle is always easy; the Association doesn't want kids to get discouraged too early."

The light which emerged from the Pokeball expanded immensely, coiling around itself to form what appeared to be a giant snake made of rocks. The Onix opened his enormous maw and roared at Bret, who didn't even notice his presence.

"He might look scary, but Onix's defenses are very weak so we still have the advantage." She advised her Pokemon, who wasn't planning on worrying about anything in the near future. "Mega Drain again!"

"Use Rock Throw, don't let him come near you!"

The Onix slithered forward, his weight enough to make the ground beneath his tail crumble, and with a sudden movement he used it to throw an avalanche of boulders towards Bret. The small bud Pokemon moved as fast as his small, dangly legs would allow, running left and right towards the Onix while trying to avoid the hail of rocks falling around him. He was almost at the tip of his opponent's tail when one of the smaller ones hit him from the left, throwing him into the ground where he bounced.

"Shake it off!"

Without too much difficulty the Budew got to his feet again, his body flexible enough that a small rock wouldn't be able to harm him much. Jumping forward he started running along the Onix's body, trying to reach his head.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Roark grit his teeth, a drop of sweat falling down his forehead. "Onix, at least try to hit him! Use Tackle!"

Onix's head moved slowly towards Bret, trying to slap him away, but the small grass Pokemon was too flexible. Once again he vaulted over his opponent, and once on top of the giant rock Pokemon's head he planted his bulb on his skin. Another, even more powerful green light flooded the room as Onix screeched in pain, strongly enough that Inyssa had to cover her ears. A moment after, Onix collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"Wh-what...?" Roark stood still as he tried to process the image in front of him. "How the hell...?"

"Woohoo! That's what I'm talking about!" Inyssa jumped high in the air, fist raised towards the ceiling. "Bret you're the best grass Pokemon ever! Those Galactic idiots don't know what they missed by dumping you!"

The Gym Leader shot her a venomous look as he returned his Onix to his Pokeball. He spent a few seconds deliberating before speaking again.

"Well, since this went from bad to worse..." He let his shoulders drop. "Look kid, I have another Geodude in this box and you still have all your Pokemon left. I wouldn't be above ending this without harming anymore of my friends."

Inyssa's smile froze, slowly shifting into a look of confusion. She hadn't heard right, had she? Was he proposing...?

"I give up." Roark threw his hands in the air. "You can have your badge if you want."

Inyssa's body flared up, and she felt her hands curling into fists. A part of her -the logical one, most likely- told her that Roark was right, that it would be pointless to keep going, after all a trainer's first Gym battle was designed to be easy enough for anyone with a half decent team to be able to win. However, such thoughts were quickly deafened by the intense, venomous heat growing from her stomach outward.

"What!?" The scream came out without her realizing, her voice echoing through the room. "Are you serious!? You're a Gym leader and you haven't acted like it in this entire battle, and now you're just going to give up!?" She started walking towards him, feet stomping the ground. "Fuck that! I came here to prove myself, not to be given the badge like it's a cheap gift!"

Roark pointed at her, nose flaring. "Prove yourself? Oh spare me your excuses, the only reason you're taking on the Gyms is to appease your ego. That's all you damn trainers ever do, you just want to waste your parents' money on a Pokemon journey to get recognition because you don't have anything actually important to do! You think having an easy battle is bad? Try having your entire city turned into a tourist trap for spoiled brats just because the Association wants all the money our mines produce!"

Inyssa wanted to grab him by the collar and slap him around; what the hell did he know about her? He had no idea what she'd been through, to have the nerve to accuse her of something like that...

"Roark, behave yourself!" Palmer walked from the stands towards both of them, arms crossed and stern gaze set on the young man. "You're a Gym leader, you have to act like it no matter what trainer you're facing."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Inyssa asked, voice full of poison.

"And you Inyssa, I told you not to provoke him." Palmer stared her down. "You need to control your temper or it will get the better of you before you know it."

Both trainers stared daggers at Palmer, unable to find any appropriate response to his statements. Roark's hands were still curled into fists, but he gave a long sigh and side-eyed his opponent.

"Fine, do you want a real challenge?" he asked.

"It'd be a nice change of pace," she replied.

"Great. Go back to your spot and let's continue."

Both contenders returned to their respective rings, while Palmer sighed in relief as he walked towards the stands. Roark deposited the Pokeball which contained his second Geodude into the box where it belonged, and grabbed another one from the box next to it. He turned to face Inyssa and with a simple movement he freed his Pokemon into the field. The light from it formed into a bipedal creature, half of his trainer's height and with a spiky-blue head. She had to squint for a couple seconds to recognize it; it was Rampardos' pre-evolution: Cranidos.

"I'll end it with one move." Roark smiled for the first time during the battle. Cranidos lowered his head, eyes set on Bret. "I hope you like what you reap; Gundyr, use Headbutt!"

The Cranidos moved so fast she barely had time to react. He ran like a bullet toward Bret, head pointed directly at his round chest.

"S-shit!" Inyssa yelped. "Use Stun Spore, now!"

Bret opened his bulb-like head and released a yellow dust which surrounded him, but the Cranidos simply dispelled it with the speed of his advance. Before the Budew had time to dodge he felt something dive into his stomach, sending him like lightning towards the Gym's wall right behind Inyssa. She watched horrified as her Pokemon crashed into the floor with enough force to break the ground beneath him.

"Bret!" She ran towards him, kneeling at his side. "Are you okay?"

The Budew was still conscious, but barely. Sighing with relief that he wasn't dead Inyssa grabbed his Pokeball and sent him to rest; he'd done enough for the day.

"Alright, you caught me off guard. It will not happen again," she told Roark, voice fierce.

From her belt she grabbed her first Pokeball, the one containing her starter. She threw it into the air and from it came the silhouette of his Chimchar. Enma fell into the arena, a savage smile pasted on his face.

"You seem to be pretty confident on your legs Enma, so I'd recommend you dodge this guy," she told his Pokemon, and since she knew he wouldn't listen to her unless she gave him an incentive... "Though maybe he's too strong for you; maybe you're not up to the task."

Enma's flame flared red, turning into a blinding light, and the small Pokemon set his eyes on the Cranidos. His abilities would not be underestimated.

She smiled proudly. "Use Ember!"

"Headbutt again!"

The Chimchar exhaled air, and while the Cranidos ran at him he spat a small torrent of fire towards him; quite bigger than a normal Ember but not as big as a Flamethrower attack. The fire engulfed the rock Pokemon, and when he emerged his body was covered in small burns. Seconds before his attack reached him, Enma propelled himself over his opponent's head by releasing an explosion of fire from his palms. He landed on Roark's side of the field, while Cranidos used his momentum to turn around and ran at him once more.

"That's it, you can keep dodging her and using Ember!" Inyssa said, happy that she'd figured out a strategy. "It'll be easy, come on!"

But those were not the words that Enma wanted to hear. He desired nothing more than a fair fight, and escaping from a foe over and over was unacceptable. Stance wide, he grounded himself, arms in front of him and ready to receive his opponent's attack head on.

"What are you doing!?" Inyssa protested, panic washing over her. "You can't stop her you dumbass, you'll just...!"

The impact from his attack shook the ground and raised a cloud of dust around them, obscuring their view. When it finally settled both figures could be seen together, completely still. Cranidos' head was being held by Enma with both hands, although he'd been unable to fully stop the attack. His legs were shaking, eyes hidden by shadows.

Inyssa's eyes went wide. "Enma..."

The Chimchar smiled. He would not be defeated so easily.

His body began to glow. It changed and shifted to almost twice his size, and his tail grew a few inches in length, its flame burning even stronger than before. The Monferno was now taller than Cranidos, and his unhinged smile was as present as ever. He raised one of his hands towards the sky, which started glowing with a white light.

"Wait, I know that attack..." Inyssa barely managed to shook free from her surprise. "Enma, use Mach Punch!"

Enma drove his fist directly into the Cranidos' face, slamming his body onto the ground and breaking one of the spikes around his head. The dinosaur Pokemon screeched in pain, trying to keep himself in the fight.

"Yeah, that's it!" She pointed towards Roark's Pokemon and yelled. "Once more, Mach Punch! End this now!"

Enma jumped towards the Cranidos, fist extended backwards. However before he could land the hit his body failed him; his arms felt heavy and his eyes started to close up. He slumped next to Cranidos, immobile. It seemed that Headbutt had been a lot stronger than he'd anticipated.

Inyssa gulped, somewhat disappointed, and returned him back to his Pokeball. "It's okay, you did your best. Even if you're a little shit, you deserve some rest."

She deliberated for a second, not sure of what Pokemon to choose. She knew Cranidos couldn't have much energy left; a single attack could end the battle, but unless it was something strong...

She narrowed her eyes, and nodded to no one. She grabbed another Pokeball from her belt and threw it into the field. From it came the silhouette of one of her latest acquisitions; her Kricketune. Shadi looked around confused, and set her eyes on the wounded Cranidos who looked at her with fierce red eyes, ready to attack.

"Shadi, listen to me." Inyssa went to her Pokemon and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know you're probably scared, but I need you for this battle. Just follow my lead and I'm sure you'll be able to defeat that thing." She wasn't sure what words were coming out of her mouth, but it didn't matter, she had to make Shadi trust herself if this was going to work. "Just like we practiced with that new attack, okay?"

Shadi nodded slowly, eyes burning with determination, and turned to her opponent. Both Pokemon got ready, and at their trainer's orders they ran towards each other, ready for the final impact.

"Kricketune? What are you going to do, Bide my Cranidos?" She could hear the Gym leader snickering. "Come on Gundyr, one more attack and we'll win!"

"Hit him first Shadi, use Rock Smash!"

She smiled at the look of panic that appeared on the Gym leader's face. Sarah had given her that TM right after meeting her in front of the gym, probably knowing she'd need an aid like that.

Shadi's scythes glowed with black energy, while Cranidos ran like a bullet towards her. Both Pokemon collided in a violent impact which cracked the rock beneath their feet. Time slowed to a crawl, she saw the huge X-shaped scar on Cranidos' side; Shadi had managed to break his armor. The Kricketune was standing beside him, her body shaking but still standing.

Cranidos groaned and fell to the floor. There was a brief moment of silence, where Inyssa felt like the entire world had shut down. But soon something inside her exploded and she started jumping in place, a huge grin pasted on her face. She could feel her heartbeat booming in her ears. Everything was bright around her; she wasn't used to this kind of feeling, it was sharp, overwhelming, but she held on to it as tightly as she could. The manic happiness inside her kept bouncing all throughout the insides of her chest.

"Yes! Yes! I did it!" She could see Barry running towards her, with a similar expression to hers. The boy tackled her and they both started laughing while hugging each other. "I told you all I could do it! I'm going to be the future Champion!"

Palmer and Sarah approached from the stands, sporting similar smile. When they reached her Palmer have her a pat on the head while Sarah hugged her strongly enough to squish the air out of her.

"I'm very proud of you," she whispered in her ear so no one could hear it.

"That was amazing!" Barry yelled while still grabbing her hand. "First that Budew with those two wins and then Enma evolving and then Shadi and then...!"

"We don't need a recap son, I think we all saw what happened." Palmer said, barely containing his laughter. "That was very impressive though, good job kid."

She didn't have words to reciprocate with, so she simply smiled and tried not to think about the warm feeling inside her. Shadi finally reached her, slightly limping and with a huge bruise on her chest. Inyssa hugged her and told her she'd definitely earned her place on her team. And with a flick of her Pokeball she returned her to it, so she could recover from that battle.

"Well, that was pretty embarrassing for me..."

Inyssa turned to see Roark beside her with something on his hand, expression unreadable. An uncomfortable silence filled the room, as both trainers were thinking about what to say.

"That was a good battle," he admitted, sighing. "Good enough to clear my head. I'm... sorry for what I said, I guess. Palmer was right; it was unprofessional of me."

Inyssa wanted to reply with a witty remark, but what came from her mouth was something she wasn't expecting at all.

"I'm sorry too." She attempted to form a smile. "I was too demanding, and I probably sounded like a bratty kid when I started yelling. It was... unbecoming of the future Champion." She chose her words carefully, she didn't want to insult herself too much. "And you did give me a good challenge at the end."

"Let's both say we acted like children, and I will accept that I had less excuse than you." Roark smiled back. "It's just... I never asked to be a Gym leader, I just offered myself to keep my city from being overrun by the Association."

Inyssa's lips pursed, and once again she remembered the words of that girl. Still... she understood what Roark meant in a way, the feeling of trying to protect something you loved. She swallowed and thought about the problem for a couple seconds, and what came out of her mouth surprised even her.

"Once I become the Champion, I'll change that." She assured him. "I'll let you have your city and your mines, and you'll be able to work in peace."

He studied her for a few moments, brow furrowed, "That sounds like a very farfetched dream. Almost unachievable I'd say. But I'll take your word for it." He put his hand over hers and left something in it. "For now though, you've earned this."

She looked down to a small metal pin shaped like a Pokeball and a boulder; the Coal Badge.

"My first badge..."

Inyssa felt her eyes sting at the sight of it, right up until Barry gave her a slap on the back hard enough to make her flinch.

"And definitely not the last!" He smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Aren't you glad I let you go last?"

"Agh! Barry!" She turned to him and punched him on the arm, her expression a mix between a smile and a frown. "I'm still mad about that; next time we both take the challenge at the same time, got it?"

Palmer and Sarah exchanged an amused look.

"Ah, the wonders of being a young trainer." He sighed dreamily.

"It takes one back, don't you think?" Sarah whispered, holding his arm. "I just hope things won't go... like last time."

Palmer's eyes lost part of their color for a moment, and his smile wavered.

"It's different now." He sounded like he was trying to convince himself. "They'll be fine... as long as they have each other."