“Now I should warn you,” Brawly said. “Nobody else knows about you trying for Gym Leader so if anyone shows up then you’re just someone I met over in Johto when I learnt under Chuck.”

“Alright,” I nodded slowly. “I went to Johto briefly, it’s where I met Happy. Why the secrecy though?”

“It was Wattson and Winona’s idea,” Brawly said. “They don’t want anyone making a fuss over things.”

That caught me by surprise. “What do you mean by fuss?” I asked. It wasn’t like I was bothering anyone or anything. With the exception of the Gym Leaders, I supposed. Was there more political stuff at play I didn’t know about?

“They think if people find out someone’s trying to become a Gym Leader then Slateport and Lilycove will start bothering you and us about it. Plus there’ll be a media circus with reporters bothering all of us and trying to get a piece of you too and none of us really want that.”

“Fair enough,” I said, realising now what he meant and putting the mention of Lilycove and Slateport to the side to think about later. I knew it was probably going to be a big deal once it was announced there was a ninth Gym, but that was no reason to draw attention to it early and I completely understood Brawly’s desire to avoid being hounded by the press. “I haven’t spoken to anyone else about it except one of Roxanne’s Gym trainers, and I suppose the person I spoke to at the League when I started things.”

“Great, shouldn't be a problem then,” Brawly said cheerfully as we passed through some automatic doors to the healing room, which was empty at this time of evening.

There were four rows of six ball slots for quick and easy Pokemon healing and some benches next to them, plus a couple of vending machines too for people who were waiting. Anything truly serious would require a Nurse Joy but for standard battle related damage this was far faster and cheaper for people coming to the Dewford Gym. Brawly slotted his Pokemon in a couple of the spots and I put mine in beside his.

“Gotta say though we were all a bit surprised,” Brawly said as he turned the machine on. “I didn’t even know that was a thing we could do, make a new Gym.”

“They have more than eight in Kanto,” I pointed out.

Kanto had more Gyms than the normal eight that most people would have heard of. I’d done some checking and some of the gyms I vaguely remembered from the anime existed in this timeline I’d found myself in. Brawly grimaced.

“Yeah but those other Gyms aren’t worth talking about,” Brawly said dismissively. “I guess it makes sense why it’s us Gym Leaders that get to decide instead of the League.”

The machine lit up, little symbols for our Pokemon appearing on the screen above.

“Give it five minutes,” Brawly gestured at the healing station. He went and sat down on one of the benches. I went to sit opposite him.

“So you know I’ve gotta ask,” he said. “Why’d you decide to become a Gym Leader. I mean you’re strong, don’t get me wrong, but you don’t have any badges. At least no Hoenn ones.”

He’d probably checked, I thought.

“I guess it was just something I felt I had to do,” I replied. “I did a bit of travelling overseas and I did battle a couple of Gyms in some of the other regions, but I knew one day I’d have to settle down and I didn’t want to give up my team or stop battling. Being a Gym Leader just seemed like the natural continuation of things.”

It’d always been something on the back of my mind, I thought. The idea of having a Gym, staking a claim like that just appealed to me ever since I’d been little.

“How about you?” I asked. “Why’d you decide to be a Gym Leader?”

Brawly shrugged.

“I just sort of fell into it. Chuck and my dad went back a bit and dad used to be a Gym trainer here, so he got me a place there training instead of being cooped up in Dewford. Then I met Bruno and he bullied Chuck into letting him take me out to train for a few months. Apparently he liked me enough to put in a word with Fang, the last Gym Leader here and after a battle together Fang decided I was gonna be the one after him. Can’t say I’m disappointed.”

“I bet not,” I said, looking around the room and thinking about the rest of the building. “Did it cost a lot to get this place like this?”

“A lot of it was already here,” Brawly admitted. “I got a big loan and spruced things up when I took over, but the regular Gym membership stuff pretty much pays for all that on its own.”

“Something I’ll need to think about,” I mused. I had a decent income and my team weren’t exactly expensive to keep happy and healthy but building work was very expensive. A lot of Gyms doubled up as something else, providing some kind of service whether it was exercise here, offering schooling like Rustboro, Saffron and Mossdeep or something like running public shows like in Cerulean.

Writing wasn’t exactly something I could provide as a service, maybe teaching writing? But I wasn’t that good a writer, more of an amateur that stumbled on something that worked enough to make money.

Leah patted my knee affectionately, reminding me that I wouldn’t be going through all this alone and I offered her a smile in gratitude.

“Anyway I guess you’re gonna visit Wattson next? Doing the normal Gym route?” Brawly asked, glancing between myself and the Gardevoir beside me. I nodded.

“It seemed appropriate to travel and meet everyone. I suppose I could’ve just tried speaking to you all over videocalls, but that’d have been a bit rude I think.”

“Yeah Moore and Winona definitely wouldn’t have liked that,” Brawly said humorously. “Word to the wise, Winona is probably gonna be your toughest sell, she’s kind of… rigid I guess. Doesn’t change her mind easily once it’s made up.”

The healing station beeped several times, indicating our Pokemon were healed.

“Hopefully she has the time to warm up to the idea,” I said as I retrieved my two Pokemon and returned their balls to their place on the side of my belt, out of sight underneath my jacket.

“Well there’s a first time for everything,” Brawly joked. “Anyway enough about that, you got any other plans while you’re here? Maybe check out the caves. You probably know we have some Mawile running about in there. Your Mawile could go say hello.”

“She’s not from around here but I’ll see if she’d like to,” I replied. Mawile were fairly solitary creatures and they didn’t generally get on with the rest of their own kind. Ielle was pretty social with my team and other Pokemon we encountered, but I didn’t expect her to want to check out Dewford’s caves.

Brawly showed me around a bit more before I managed to say my goodbyes with a promise to come see him again for another battle at some point. The Gym Leaders met up a couple of times a year, at both the end and beginning of the yearly circuit so with only a month or so before the end of the current circuit I would hopefully be meeting him again sooner rather than later.

Now we’d visited Dewford Leah would also be able to teleport us here too as long as we were in the region. If I wasn’t travelling as much I’d probably need to start thinking about my fitness as well. Maybe I’d get a gym membership. I could do far worse than coming here once or twice a week.

***

We returned to the hotel to spend the night before heading off towards our next destination. The hotel room was cool and quiet and large enough to bring out a few of my Pokemon. The hotel had specified a three Pokemon limit depending on size and so I decided to bring out the members of my team who’d performed today.

Happy and Ielle materialised before me as I sat on the edge of the bed.

Ielle was looking pretty smug after her victory. Happy despite not winning his battle hadn’t lost his usual cheerfulness.

“Brawly says we have his vote,” I told them both. “Good job both of you, you were brilliant.”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Ielle cheered alongside Happy who didn’t look much happier, but that was because his usual state of being was like that.

“Marill!” Happy said. He turned towards Ielle and began speaking to her.

I ignored the byplay and reached for Happy, the small blue mouse didn’t resist as I pulled him into my lap and began feeling around for injuries. A healing station was good, but I would be a poor trainer if I let myself rely on it after Happy’s battle. Brawly would undoubtedly be giving his Pokemon a look over too.

“Mar marrrill,” Marill said, ignoring what I was doing and gesticulating towards Ielle as the other Pokemon listened. I only paid half attention. I could generally understand the tone of what my team were saying which was generally enough when I had context too.

Happy was clearly talking about the battle and how much he had enjoyed it. My little water mouse was a bit of a battle junky, it had to be said. Win or lose he came away with a jolly disposition and I wouldn’t change him for the world.

Running my fingers through his fur showed no signs of injury. That was good, he’d taken a good beating from that Medicham which if they had access to their ability could be amongst the strongest of physical attackers. If it had used something like a Thunder Punch or a harder hitting Fighting type move, then Happy would probably have lost more convincingly. They could learn High Jump Kick, but Brawly hadn’t used it which was interesting. I might ask him eventually why he hadn’t used that specific attack against my Marill.

All finished I taped him on his back and Happy clambered out of my lap to sit on the bed next to me, still babbling in Leah’s direction who listened politely to his recounting of the battle but was rummaging through my bag for the compression capsule that contained some of my things.

“Mawile!”

Looking down I saw Ielle. The yellow Pokemon held her arms out, eyes wide and trembling as she begged for attention like a little kid.

“You know that doesn’t work on me,” I said dryly but I acquiesced to her request and reached down to pick her up anyway.

Ielle was a lot more durable than Happy was and she’d taken far less of a beating too. But a bit of pampering wouldn’t go amiss. It’d been mostly due to being a lucky matchup on our part but she’d done splendidly in her battle against that Hitmonchan.

I set her in my lap and did some brief checks for any lingering signs of injury. She hadn’t taken many hits so I really wasn’t expecting anything and like Happy she was perfectly fine.

I moved my fingers to the juncture between her jaws and head. The thinner part was sensitive and Mawile relaxed almost immediately as I rubbed the base where it met her skull. Ielle’s large black jaws lifted up almost immediately to rub my cheek. It was like the reaction you got when you tried rubbing the base of a cat’s tail and Ielle slumped contentedly in my lap. If she could purr then I was sure she’d have started doing so.

I had two hands though and I reached to the side to rub behind Happy’s ears, which I knew the Mouse Pokemon enjoyed. It interrupted whatever he was saying to Leah as he cuddled my side. Leah meanwhile had been going through my travel stuff, helpfully pulling out clothes for me to wear in the morning that she set to the side neatly. Finished, she came and sat on the other side of Happy, hugging my side and the four of us just sat like that comfortably for a bit.

“There’s caves around here and Brawly suggested you might want to go explore them and maybe meet some other Mawile. Do you?” I asked my Mawile.

Ielle looked up at me and looked for a moment like she was considering it, but then she shook her head and leaned back against me comfortably. She was happy here.

I nodded. That had been the reaction I’d expected. I squeezed her to show I understood.

“Gaaardevoir,” my starter suddenly said, gesturing to the clock. It really was getting late and realising the time was enough to make me suddenly yawn.

“Time for bed,” I agreed. “Busy day tomorrow.”

“Aaawiiile,” Ielle complained, pressing her face into my belly and shaking it as if to say she didn’t want to move. Then she gave off a little yelp as she was suddenly lifted in the air. She pouted across at my Gardevoir as she was set down on the bed next to Happy.

I chuckled as I headed into the bathroom to get changed and brush my teeth.

That was one Gym I’d got to agree to make this thing happen. Roxanne’s test was still looming on the horizon and I was kind of dreading it, but that was in the future. Next up was Wattson and I couldn’t help but wonder what he’d want from me.

***

He grabbed a beer from the fridge and then headed over to his den for his call with Moore. You didn’t get a body like this without putting in the work. Wattson patted his belly and chuckled to himself.

This time the other man had had enough notice to be ready for the call so when Wattson activated the call Moore was already waiting for him.

“Wattson,” he greeted. “How are you doing?”

“Good enough,” the Electric type expert replied. “And you?”

Moore sighed. “I’m worried about Flannery,” he admitted. “Do you think I should try hanging on for another year or two, make sure she’s ready to take over from me?”

Wattson honestly didn’t know.

“I’m sure whatever you decide will be the right thing,” he said. “She’s a good girl and a good battler but whatever happens as long as you support her she’ll manage in the end.” She took too much after her own grandfather to not cause problems for herself, but Wattson knew she’d pull through with the same fire that had seen Moore join the ranks of the Elite Four.

“I suppose,” Moore said. “I think I might hang on for one more year, then let her take over properly then.”

Wattson shrugged. Moore was going to do whatever he had been thinking of doing anyway. This was just him trying to get Wattson to validate his own opinion.

“Anyway,” the Electric type trainer said, getting to business. “Now it’s just the two of us, any thoughts about this new fellow?”

“Harry Hemming,” Moore nodded, understanding what he was meaning. “I have to say it’s well timed, don’t you think?”

“Yes,” Wattson agreed. “They certainly wouldn’t have risked a repeat of last time.”

He took a sip of his drink. It was less than six months after the previous Mossdeep Gym Leader had passed away, comfortably in her sleep. Liza, the older Liza, for whom her granddaughter had been named, had unofficially been the strongest amongst the Gym Leaders before her retirement and subsequent death and Hoenn was worse off for her loss.

Shortly after she’d sent that girl packing there had been a number of scandals that came to light and a number of other supposed accidents in the League and some linked organisation, all around the same time. There hadn’t been anything to connect the events together of course, but it was known amongst the right circles who had been responsible.

The older Liza had indeed been a stunning, terrifying woman and Wattson wouldn’t lie and say he hadn’t once carried a bit of a spark for her, even though he’d been still a kid really.

So had Moore and Fang for that matter, but unfortunately for all of them Liza had been a Psychic and those types were very particular about who they let marry into their family lines. Actually being psychic was the first requirement. Moore, who’d been a bit of a hothead back then, hadn’t taken that lying down. There had been a few comic moments over the years as Liza shut him down in increasingly dramatic ways during their occasional meetings.

Of course Moore had grown up and moved on eventually, they all had. It’d taken a few tries and two failed marriages but Wattson had found his own partner in the end. Elaine was everything he’d ever wanted in a woman. She was smart, confident, a good battler and best of all liked traps just as much as he did! The fact she was almost twenty years younger than him and an absolute stunner only made it better as Wattson got to watch other men seethe in jealousy.

“The twins will be able to figure out whether this Hemming boy’s just got good timing or if he’s another stooge,” Wattson continued, repeating his comment to the other Gym Leaders the other day. “Between us both we can almost veto him on our own but the twins would potentially make three and Wallace will side with us too. Juan is old enough to remember last time and Wallace listens to him. So our positions are safe, if it comes to that.”

They had enough to shut it down, even if Hemming did inexplicably make good friends with most of the other Gym Leaders. Six of eight was required between them for a new Gym Leader to be agreed so three would block it. That might need changing if they indeed added a ninth, or maybe not. They would all have to sit down and discuss things whether or not Hemming got the spot.

There ought to be a way to formally start the process, Wattson thought idly. Perhaps have it by invitation or a specific recommendation. More things to think about on another day.

Moore sighed and nodded tiredly.

“I’ll miss battling like I used to but I certainly won’t miss all the worrying over this sort of thing,” he said wistfully. “With many youngsters coming in. I’m glad they’ve got you to keep an eye on things if something unexpected happens,” he said, although it was more like a question really.

“Don’t worry I certainly won’t be going anywhere for a while yet,” Wattson confirmed jovially. “But you’re right we’ve got quite a few younger Gym Leaders now. I’ll make sure they’re looked after, but I’ll leave Flannery for you to handle of course.”

“Thank you,” Moore said graciously but his expression betrayed relief.

He chatted with Moore for a bit about some of the older days before they both said goodbye. Moore was an old man, older than Wattson by ten years and those extra years hadn’t exactly been kind to him. Wattson ended the call and then relaxed into his chair.

It was funny, he used to be the youngest of the Gym Leaders. The new kid pushing for progress and innovation, whether it was the smart thing to do or not… But once Moore was gone, Wattson was going to be the old man of the group. At least he’d look the part! He thought humorously as he brought his drink up to take another sip.

Then Wattson was suddenly startled as Plusle jumped onto his lap.

“Well hello there,” he said, spotting Minun coming in through the now partially open door after her partner. “Does Elaine want me?”

The Plusle nodded, looking cheerful rather than worried.

So he wasn’t in trouble then, that was good.

“Alright then,” Wattson grunted, pushing himself up off his chair to follow after the two Pokemon.

Harry Hemming should be on his way to meet him soon, which would be interesting. Wattson wondered if he liked traps.