After being shown the way by the boy who revealed he was a Gym trainer here in Rustboro, I entered the Trainer School. It was just like any regular school really, only that it included teaching about how to be a Pokemon Trainer on top of the regular stuff. Roxanne was Rustboro’s Gym Leader and probably the youngest one active right now. She’d inherited the position from the last Rusboro gym Leader and taken it upon herself to teach the basics of battling to all her challengers.

“Hi,” I said to a receptionist at a desk near the front door. “My name’s Harry Hemming, I’m supposed to be meeting Roxanne, right now actually,” I finished apologetically.

“Yeah we were wondering where you were, the receptionist replied. “Head through those doors and her classroom’s the third on the right. She should be there.”

I nodded in thanks and then, quickly head off in the way they’d shown me.

Heading through the building I found Roxanne sat behind a teacher’s desk. She was hunched over some papers with a red pen and she was undoubtedly doing some grading.

I sympathised. I’d almost wanted to become a teacher once and quickly been disabused of the idea after some shadowing.

“Hello?” I said, knocking on the open door frame. I must’ve been walking quietly because Roxanne jumped in surprise.

She was dressed in a grey dress that fit over a white shirt and she had startlingly bright red tights on and a big red bow holding her hair together in a pair of buns and pigtails.

“Oh, you surprised me!” she said, putting her hand to her chest as if to calm her beating heart. “Are you Mr Hemming?”

“I am,” I replied, stepping forward and offering her my hand to shake.

“You kept me waiting,” Roxanne said, sounding very much like the teacher she was. Despite being only seventeen she definitely had that air about her.

“I got lost and then had to scare off a hooligan bullying some kids,” I replied by way of explanation. “It was lucky really, one of your students was there and he brought me here, Tommy.”

“Oh, you met Tommy,” Roxanne said. “Well seeing as you helped my students then I’ll forgive you for being late,” Roxanne said after a moment, frowning for a different reason as she now had to think about how to respond to whatever had happened. “Please, have a seat,” she said, gesturing to the desks in front of her.

They were a bit too small for me, sized for children rather than adults like us. I decided to sit on one of the little tables and Roxanne grimaced, perhaps realising the mistake.

“Anyway, so,” she said, going to sit back down at her desk. “You want to become a Gym Leader. I have to say I’d not expected we’d ever have to go through this process.”

“The League person I spoke to told me it wasn’t something they were allowed to do,” I said. “Apparently it’s down to all the other Gyms whether I can start one.”

“That’s right. The position of Gym Leader wasn’t always called that,” Roxanne revealed. “Years ago the Gym Leaders were regional leaders and protectors of their territory as the strongest battlers. This was before they even called it Pokemon training, you should understand.”

“Fascinating,” I said. “I’ve never heard of any of this before.”

“That’s not a surprise,” Roxanne said. “Most people aren’t really interested in ancient history like that. Anyway, what matters is that the Gym Leaders still maintain their old authority in lots of ways, including on how new members are accepted. So as you were told by the League it’s our permission you need to ask for if you want to become a Gym Leader. The only other way is to inherit the position from the previous Gym Leader like I did.”

I nodded, offering the Rustboro Gym Leader a smile.

“So I need all your permissions then,” I stated. I’d suspected there would be some sort of vote but it seemed this process was going to be a bit more in depth. “How do I go about doing that?”

“You will need six out of eight of us to agree. Otherwise there aren’t any real rules about what we need to do,” Roxanne replied. “In theory we could all just say yes and then that would be it but obviously that isn’t what’s going to happen because we all understand how important our roles are. You’ll be tested by all of us, in one way or another,” the fairly stern looking girl said as she eyed me.

I was getting the sense that I was about to find out what Roxanne wanted from me.

“So what can I do for you, Roxanne?” I asked, leaning forward and looking into her eyes so she knew I was being serious about this. “I’ve set myself on becoming a Gym Leader and I’m determined to do whatever it takes.”

Roxanne averted her eyes from mine, looking slightly embarrassed and I couldn’t help but worry I’d come across as a bit too serious about it. I wasn’t great with people so I knew I sometimes came across as a bit awkward. Hopefully I wasn’t leaving a bad impression on her.

“W-well this is a very serious matter, becoming a Gym Leader,” she told me. “There’s lots of responsibilities and things you’ll need to be able to do like battle trainers at different badge levels and train new trainers. There’s lots of things a modern Gym Leader has to do and you’ll need to convince me you know everything you need to do to properly manage a Gym before you’ll have my agreement.”

“I see. Well there can’t be too much I’ll need to learn, can there?” I asked, slightly nervously and bracing myself for…

Roxanne reached under her desk and pulled out a thick binder of documents that made her desk shake as she dropped it onto the surface in front of her.

Yeah, there it was, I thought as my shoulders slumped.

“I prepared this in advance,” she told me. “First are copies of all the regulations a Gym building needs to meet both for battling, storage of Pokemon, their upkeep and welfare and consideration for Gym trainers. There’s also copies of the certificates for fire safety, electricity, drainage and environmental friendliness an-”

Maybe it wasn’t too late to change my mind about this… I thought as Roxane started to list everything I was going to have to put together at some point and explained there would be a test I would need to pass on it all.

But what else was I expecting from a schoolteacher? I thought despondently. I’d definitely had enough of exams and essays across two lives already but it seemed I’d never escape them no matter how old I got.

A faint resonating sound of a Teleport rang out somewhere next to me and a moment later a familiar pair of arms circled around me while Roxanne gasped in surprise at the intruder.

“Gaaard,” Leah greeted me, having arrived at the perfect moment to distract me from the daunting task the first of eight Gym Leaders was putting in front of me.

“Hey Leah,” I said back, looping an arm around her waist.

“You have a Gardevoir?” Roxanne asked, surprised and maybe just a tiny bit critically for some reason.

“Yeah, she was my first Pokemon,” I said as my best friend leaned against me comfortably, squeezing me affectionately. Leah was pretty touchy feely and had been ever since she was a Ralts.

“Well that might make things… awkward,” Roxanne told me.

“Why’s that?” I asked with interest. Roxanne looked at me with mild bemusement while Leah waved at her cheerfully in greeting. I couldn’t help but get the impression I was missing something.

“Err, you do know we already have a Psychic Gym don’t you? We can’t have two of the same type,” she told me awkwardly.

“Ohhh,” I said nodding in understanding, feeling a bit silly for not having explained it before. Having a Pokemon out that was usually thought of a Psychic type would definitely give the wrong impression. I wasn’t here to try and take over the Mossdeep Gym or something like that.

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“I’m not a Psychic trainer,” I told her. “I’ll be starting a Fairy type Gym, Gardevoir’s other type.”

That definitely caught the schoolteacher by surprise, then her eyes widened in realisation.

“Oh of course, I remember now. The Gardevoir line is one of the species that are being classed as dual-typed now. But Fairy types have only just been discovered haven’t they? You’ll need at least a main team of six if you want to be taken seriously as a type specialist.”

That was a fair statement. I wasn’t about to tell anyone about my status as a reincarnator from another universe entirely. That would only lead to trouble of one form or another and I’d kept that very close to my chest.

“While the Pokemon Professors were hemming and hawing over whether Moonblast was Psychic or Fairy typed I went out and found Fairy types,” I told her wryly. “There’s not many out there, but there’s a bit of variety if you know where to look and I have a full team of six.”

Not many of them were native to Hoenn, unfortunately. In an ideal world I’d have been reborn in Galar or Alola where you could find more of them but Hoenn was where I’d wound up. Only two species originated in Hoenn with a few others like Jigglypuff also being found around the region in out of the way places that didn’t see a lot of visitors. Being a Hoenn national I’d had to come home to settle down if I wanted to be a Gym leader so the decision had been out of my hands.

Fairy types were in keeping with their otherworldly counterparts in that they were hard to locate, spread out among different environments and regions and quite a mixed bag of personalities and attitudes on top of that. It was probably part of the reason it had taken so long for people to identify them as a unique type, especially when the typing was particularly subtle like with many members of my team. Usually the other typing was what stood out most and that had led to those Pokemon getting mono-type categorisations until more recently.

“Well I’m hardly an expert on Fairy types obviously, but I look forward to finding out what your team is like,” Roxanne stated. “Some of the other Gym Leaders will probably challenge you about your battling skills so be prepared to throw down with one or two them.”

“Don’t worry I was already expecting that,” I told her. “To tell the truth I was thinking I’d probably have to battle each of you first if I wanted to become a Gym Leader.”

“Well this isn’t all just about being able to battle, as you can see,” Roxanne gestured to the binder. “But plenty of the other Leaders will want to battle you and they won’t be holding back either. You’ll need to be strong enough to hold your own and help keep peace both with the people and the local Pokemon if you want to be a Gym Leader.”

I nodded at her serious tone.

“I appreciate the advice,” I said sincerely. I’d need to find a way to pay her back for all this help once I had my own Gym. “If there’s nothing else I’m sure you’re busy so I’ll take this and start studying.”

“Send me an email and we’ll arrange for you to come sit the test,” she said brightly. “I’ll speak to the other Gym Leaders too so they all know you’ll be coming to see them at some point in the future.”

“That’d be very kind of you,” I said, offering the first of the Hoenn Gym Leaders a polite smile. “I suppose the next one I’ll visit is Dewford if you want to let Brawly know.”

“I will,” Roxanne said, standing up to shake my hand goodbye.

I stood up and shook her hand firmly before picking up the folder.

It was kind of heavy and I forced back the depressed expression that was trying to force itself onto my face at the prospect of all this work reading I’d be having to do. It was definitely going to cut into the recreational reading I’d usually spend my evenings doing. It’d probably interrupt my writing too. I’d done a bit of writing and published a couple of books that’d just about paid for my travels around the world. Nothing exciting but it was easy to fall out of the habit and I didn’t want to do that.

Actually it’d be pretty important too. I knew money was going to be a problem at some point soon so I’d probably have to start a new project and get it out soon.

Leah tugged on my arm gently, reminding me where I was. I smiled bashfully, realising I’d gotten lost in my head again. I said goodbye to the Gym leader before quickly leaving her to her actual work grading papers.

I hefted the binder in my arms. It was too big to fit in my satchel so I’d have to carry it back to the hotel.

I could only hope the other Gym Leaders would ask easier tasks of me.

***

After Mr Hemming had left Roxanne quickly finished off the last of her marking before heading home to the Rustboro Gym. It was past eight already but she was sure a few of the other Gym Leaders would be online.

“Roxy, hey what’s up?!” Flannery said as the videoscreen turned on.

“Hi Flannery,” Roxanne said as the screen split to show Wattson and then a tired looking Norman. “Is your grandfather there?”

“I’ll go find him,” Flannery said. “Gimme five minutes.”

She walked off the screen, leaving it turned on and Wattson chuckled good naturedly.

“It’ll probably take longer than five minutes,” he chortled. The tired Norman chuckled softly in tired agreement. “So while we’re waiting, what’s all this about, Roxanne? Any trouble?”

“No,” Roxanne said, shaking her head. “I just wanted to give everyone a heads up. I didn’t get any warning from the League so I was surprised when I got a message from someone asking to meet me about becoming a new Gym Leader.”

That caught the two men by surprise and it was then that Winona spoke up.

“What’s this about a new Gym Leader?” She asked. “Don’t tell me you’re giving up already?” The flying type trainer asked.

“No,” Norman said. “She means a new Gym Leader as in another one.”

“He just messaged me out of the blue,” Roxanne stated. “Wanting to know what he needed to do about applying and the League only told him it was our responsibility and nothing else.”

“So you told him he needs us to agree to let him start a gym then?” Winona asked and Roxanne nodded, quickly explaining that she’d told Harry he’d only have her agreement once he showed he knew how to handle the management side of things.

Winona sighed, nodding. “I’m not sure I’ll be willing to accept a ninth Gym leader. I don’t think we need one, do we?” She asked.

“No, we don’t have to even give him a chance if we don’t want to,” Wattson said firmly. “But that’s no reason we can’t give this lad a chance to impress us anyway. What did you think of him, Roxanne?”

Brawly chose that moment to arrive in the call.

“Heya all. What’s happening?” he said brightly, wiping his forehead that was covered in sweat. It looked like he’d just finished a workout.

“A new prospective Gym trainer, a ninth one,” Winona said to the fighting specialist. “What did you say his name was?”

“Harry Hemming,” Roxanne reported.

“Oh cool. Can’t wait to meet him then,” Brawly said cheerfully. “Hope he’s up to snuff.”

“He was… a bit odd, but polite,” Roxanne said in response to Wattson’s question, thinking back to their conversation. “He helped stop someone bullying some children on his way to meet me so it seems like he has the right attitude for a Gym Leader.

“Hmm, that’s a good start,” Wattson mused, stroking his chin. “Hopefully this one isn’t another attempt at installing a League plant like last time, but we can leave that for the kids to find out for us,” he said, referring to Tate and Liza and their prodigious Psychic talent. “In the meantime the next thing to make sure of is that he’s a good enough battler and that’ll be easy enough. What type is he planning on using?”

“Fairy,” Roxanne reported, to everyone’s surprise.

“I don’t think I’ve encountered a Fairy type specialist before,” Norman mused. “How about any of you?”

There were shaking heads from those around the call with a few mutters about Ghost and Dark types, but nobody had ever encountered a proper Fairy type trainer before. Obviously it was hard to pin one down, given that the type itself hadn’t been acknowledged until recently.

“Well now we’ll get the chance,” Brawly said confidently. “We’ve got the occasional Mawile in the caves around here in Dewford, but they’re usually pretty weak to my team on account of their Steel type. I’ll be interested to see how a Fairy type trainer battles,” he said eagerly.

“You’ll get your chance,” Roxanne said. “He should be coming to see you next. I told him I’d let you know. I don’t know when though.”

“Awesome,” Brawly declared. “We’ll be ready. Hopefully he’ll give me and Hariyama a good challenge.”

“Yes, let us know how it goes,” Norman said with interest. “I’ve got a couple of Jigglypuff that are apparently Fairy type now so hopefully this Mr Hemming will be able to help me with that. I’ll be able to see how much of an expert he is with his chosen type.”

“Good idea!” Wattson said grandly. “So Roxanne’ll make sure he knows all the ins and outs of the regs, Brawly’ll check out his battling skills and Norman can make sure he’s actually an expert and not just another run of the mill type specialist. I’ll send him on a few errands around the city, see how he works with people. How about you, Winona? Any ideas?”

“I’m not really sure,” the Flying type trainer mused. “The last few times I wanted to make sure they were in tune with their type, but obviously I don’t know much of anything about Fairy types…”

“Maybe you could just battle him and find out about his connection with his Pokemon that way,” Norman suggested.

“I suppose I’ll have to,” Winona agreed. “But Moore will definitely be planning on battling him. You know what he’s like.”

Roxanne nodded along with the other Gym Leaders. Moore was definitely the type to challenge the new trainer to a battle instead of anything else. Roxanne didn’t really see how that should be a problem for Winona though.

“Where’s Wallace anyway?” Brawly asked. “Would’ve thought he’d be here by now.”

“He’s hosting a Pokemon Contest tonight in Slateport,” Norman said. “My wife likes watching them,” he quickly explained with a faint blush.

The conversation continued from there, deviating into other less important things and Roxanne quickly excused herself, leaving it to the other Gym Leaders to update those who hadn’t been able to join the conversation. It was already getting late and she needed to get up early tomorrow for Gym duties.

Hopefully Harry Hemming knew what he was getting into because running a Gym was definitely no walk in the park.