Each Hoenn gym leader valued something different, some particular quality that they built their style around and tried to draw out in their challengers. For Roxanne, it was knowledge. She knew the ins and outs of every Pokémon species known to mankind, with an entire mental encyclopedia of what each one's strengths were, where their weak points lay, what moves they probably knew, what far-fetched moves each one might know… On, and on, and on. It was next to impossible to surprise her. Against low-tier challengers, her strategies were literally textbook—not predictable, necessarily, but clear-cut and straightforward, with counters that would be obvious to anyone who'd studied beforehand. The higher your badge level got, though, the more tactics she would pull out to counter your counters, then counter your counters to her counters to your counters, until you were facing a dozen different attack patterns working in perfect concert—and Arceus help you if you lost track of even one of them, because the moment you slipped, she would strike. Roxanne at the one-badge level was intimidating. Roxanne at the eight-badge level was a monster.

Brawly, on the other hand, was all about creativity and improvisation. Any strategy he thought up, any tactics he employed, would change from moment to moment. Setups were made and discarded, attacks ordered and aborted, sometimes even before his opponents had even had time to react. And like most fighting-type specialists, he drew from a collection of martial arts styles to supplement his Pokémon's League-registered techniques—plus, he was constantly inventing his own new moves, and new names for existing moves. Even if you were a martial arts guru yourself, even if you found the time to study every one of his recorded matches, you were bound to wind up facing a command that sounded like total gibberish. It was possible to prepare to fight Brawly. But it was impossible to plan to fight him.

Hayley considered all of these things as she surveyed her opponent in front of her. She was going to have to improvise hard. The Pokémon standing on the sandy battlefield was a Mienfoo, which was a species she'd never seen before in her life. They were good at… punching, mostly, right? Had she heard that before? Or was she just making it up?

"Hey!" The gym trainer, Drew, clapped her hands, and Hayley snapped out of her thoughts. "Pay attention, will you? I'm trying to explain the gym challenge."

"Sorry," Hayley said. Barrett snorted, and Drew sighed.

"Let's try this again. You see that thing on the floor in front of you?"

"Yeah." It was a blue, oval-shaped foam board, sort of like a kickboard, but bigger.

"All right. You're going to stay on top of it while we battle. But—" Her voice grew pointed, and Hayley guiltily put down the foot she'd raised to step onto the board. "Here's the trick. It's all about balance. You can only have one foot on the board at a time. If you put both feet on the board, you lose. If you put one on the floor outside the board, you lose. If you fall down, you lose. Got it?"

Hayley grimaced. "Got it."

"Good. Now you can get on the board. Tell us when you're ready, and Jude will signal the start of the battle. Challenge begins as soon as he brings down his arm."

Hayley put one cautious foot onto the board, then another. It was flat, but the sand underneath it was uneven, and she felt it try to flip straight up when she stepped too close to the edge. She moved her weight to the center and raised one knee. When she was satisfied she wouldn't tip off, she tucked her leg behind her, grabbed her ankle with one hand, and nodded towards the referee, who raised one hand.

"This is a second-tier qualifying match between Hayley Summers and Gym Trainer Drew. The format will be a one on one single battle. Standard League rules are in place. Gym Trainer Drew, send out your Pokémon."

"Go ahead, Hilda," Drew said. The Mienfoo bounded from the sidelines onto the battlefield, moving over the sand as easily as if it were flat dirt.

"Challenger, send out your Pokémon!"

"Barrett." Barrett sauntered forward, moving smugly on two legs as Hayley wobbled on one. Years of hamstring stretches before soccer practices were coming in handy here, but her muscles were already starting to shake. Going to the beach three days in a row might not have been the best idea. Maybe she ought to change legs before—

Jude brought his hand down. "Begin!"

"Smog!" Hayley shouted, at the same time Drew shouted, "Box and flurry!" Barrett inhaled, but as he did, the Mienfoo blurred forward. Before Hayley could blink, it was right in front of Barrett, slapping its paws simultaneously on either side of Barrett's head. Barrett flinched, choking on his own smoke, and Hayley flinched, resulting in her leg bucking dangerously underneath her. Without giving either of them time to recover, the Mienfoo unsheathed its claws and began raking them across Barrett's scales.

"Feint ember!" Barrett had improved enough by now that he no longer had to charge up his ember attack—he always had a mouthful of hot ash ready and waiting. He vanished out from under the Mienfoo and reappeared several feet behind it, then launched a volley of embers that struck it on its back. "Now smog!"

"Sweep and chop!"

Hayley knew enough about martial arts to know that sweeps were blows to the legs. "It's going to try to trip you!" Sure enough, the Mienfoo rushed across the field and swung one leg in a low arc. Barrett's movement on sand was still clumsy, but with the advance warning, he was able to lurch out of the way. He countered with a thick plume of smog that enveloped the Mienfoo completely. The Mienfoo staggered back, making tiny, high-pitched coughs.

Now they had the advantage. For their next move, Barrett could run in to hit it, or he could fire a long-range attack. But engaging a fighting-type in melee was a dumb idea, and the Mienfoo would jump right out of something like fire spin. So instead, Hayley decided it was time for their trap. "Fire shield!" As the Mienfoo caught its breath, Barrett walked into the center of his own smog cloud and shot a ribbon of flame at the ground. It crashed against the sand and grew up into thin sheets that covered Barrett's body completely. Hayley grinned, even as her leg gave another warning twinge. If the Mienfoo didn't have any long-range moves—and Hayley was willing to bet it didn't—it would have to charge right into the smog and flames to land another hit on Barrett.

Hayley chanced a look at Drew, wobbling as her center of balance shifted. But Drew—Drew was smiling just like she was.

"Meditate," Drew said. Right there, in the middle of the battlefield, the Mienfoo sat down, crossed its legs, and closed its eyes. Hayley's brain scrambled to recalibrate. It wasn't attacking—it didn't need to attack, she realized, as her calf twitched and cramped. This battle was on a timer. They just had to wait for her to fall.

Barrett, too, was confounded by this turn of events. Through the smoke and fire, she saw him actually glance at her for direction—something he'd never done before. Hayley cursed. "Dammit. Barrett, use… Use…" He couldn't move while he was holding this technique; flame wheel was still some ways off in their future. He couldn't move the existing flames fast enough to hit the Mienfoo, either. If he… Another spasm twitched up her leg, sending her body bowing in and out. It was so hard to think when she was seconds from tipping over. "Drop—drop fire shield and—hang on." She had to switch legs. She didn't know if she could switch legs; everything below her hips was going prickly and numb. But she had to try. She grit her teeth. Switch in three, two, one—

The moment she bent her knee to jump, her leg buckled underneath her, sending her crashing down into the sand. She reflexively groaned, then screwed up her face and spat out the grains that made their way into her open mouth.

"The challenger is disqualified! The winner by default is Gym Trainer Drew!"

Well. At least Miriam had probably failed too.

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It turned out that Miriam had passed. All things considered, Hayley thought she reacted to the news very maturely. She only yelled a little bit. "How did you get past the physical challenge? There's no way you have better balance than me!"

"I didn't balance," Miriam said. At Hayley's dumbfounded expression, she shrugged and elaborated: "I did this." She sat on the ground, rolled onto her back, and folded her legs above her.

"That's cheating!" Hayley spluttered.

"No it's not. They didn't say you had to stand on the board, just that you couldn't put both feet on it." She rolled upright again, flipped her disheveled hair back over her shoulders, and adjusted her glasses. "I looked it up before I went in. Everyone on the internet said that this was the way to do it."

It probably was the way she was supposed to do it. Ugh. Creativity. Even so, she muttered, "I still think it's cheating if you look up all the answers."

"If type advantages aren't cheating, then this isn't cheating either."

Hayley sighed and scratched her head. A few more grains of sand fell from her scalp. "Whatever. So when's your battle against Brawly?"

"Five days."

"Are you…" She paused and chewed on her lip as she formulated her next question. "Are you going to catch another Pokémon before you fight him? Or will it just be Xena again?"

It was something that had been nagging at her ever since they'd set foot on Dewford. Miriam was clearly beginning to take more of an interest in the whole Pokémon training thing, though Hayley suspected she'd deny it if asked outright. Probably she'd say "I'm just trying to show all these jocks how dumb they are," or something else along those lines—the word "jock" would definitely be in there somewhere. Whatever her motivations really were, though, nobody could be a great competitive battler with only a single Pokémon. Miriam had finally come around to Xena, but did that mean she was ready for a second teammate?

Miriam didn't answer right away, and when she did, she was surprisingly subdued. "I mean, it's not like I have to. People beat Brawly with just one Pokémon all the time, right?"

"Sometimes, but not usually for a second badge. Xena would have to do a lot of training to pull it off; five days wouldn't be enough. And if you decide to get a third badge after Brawly, they'll be using three Pokémon, not just two."

Miriam frowned and glanced at the floor. Aimlessly, she grabbed a lock of her long hair and began twisting it around her fingers. When the silence between them grew long enough to become awkward, Hayley continued: "If you want to try it with just Xena, you can always cancel your match and reschedule for later."

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"No. I don't want all the jocks in that gym to think I'm afraid of them." There it was. Miriam's eyes focused, and she fixed her gaze on Hayley. "What kind of Pokémon live on this stupid island, anyway? Anything good?"

Pokémon that Miriam would like? Well… "There's Abra," Hayley began. Miriam's expression went slack-jawed and hungry, and Hayley quickly added, "They're really hard to find, though. There's also Nosepass, Aron, Mawile, and Sableye."

"Those are all Hoenn Pokémon," Miriam grumbled. Still, it didn't seem like she was dismissing the idea out of hand. "I don't have to go to the beach or anything, do I? If I want to find something?"

"Not unless you want a water-type. Pretty much everything that isn't a water-type lives in Granite Cave."

Miriam returned to glassy-eyed contemplation. Her jaw swept back and forth a few times as she muttered dimly under her breath. Finally, she said, "Are you going to Granite Cave?"

"Yeah," Hayley said.

"Then I guess I have to go anyway. Because we're partners."

"I guess," Hayley said, trying not to let on that she'd been thinking about that exact problem herself. "I was thinking about going tomorrow, if that's okay?"

Miriam exhaled dramatically and crossed her arms. "Fine. Sure. I guess I have to go, whether I want to or not."

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Hayley wanted a fighting-type. And Granite Cave was the perfect place to find one.

The destruction of the Calamity, and the subsequent installation of mining tunnels, had wreaked havoc on the ecosystem of Dewford's cave system. Hayley knew that both from her environmental science class, and from studying for her exams. Pre-Calamity, the caves had been home to mostly Zubat, Makuhita, and Geodude, with small colonies of Sableye, Mawile, and Aron on the lower levels. But the delicate balance of thousands of years had been upended when entire segments of the cave system had collapsed in the earthquakes, sending the surviving Pokémon to hunt for territory in areas they'd never inhabited before. Mawile and Aron in particular had seen an explosive growth, literally chewing through Geodude and their former territory as easily as they chewed through inert rock. Then the miners had come in with their working Pokémon, and some of those Pokémon got on a little too well with the local population, and suddenly there were wild Machop, Timburr, Rhyhorn, and Nosepass trying to carve out footholds of their own among the warring tribes. There were even some Meditite that had shown up somehow, despite them not commonly being used in construction. And then, there were Riolu.

Hayley couldn't fool herself into thinking she would even see a Riolu, much less befriend and catch one. And honestly, Meditite were pretty freaky, so she'd be glad to leave them alone. But a Makuhita, Timburr, or Machop would fit her team perfectly.

The first step to catching a Pokémon in Granite Cave would be actually getting to Granite Cave. Miriam had agreed to go, so that problem was solved. The next step would be convincing Barrett to accept another teammate. She didn't want to go behind his back again, the way she had with Ceres. She wanted to do things right. And so, when she got Barrett back from his checkup—a very quick checkup, since he'd barely been hurt at all—she took the temperature of his mood.

"You did a great job in that battle," she said as soon as he materialized. "It's totally my fault we got disqualified, and I know you would have won if I hadn't fallen down. It won't happen again, I promise."

Barrett huffed, but it was an annoyed huff, not an angry one. All right, that was a good start. She supposed it helped that it hadn't been a bad call on her part that had made them lose—in fact, Barrett hadn't lost at all. His pride was intact. On to the hard part, then.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," she began. "Dewford Island is pretty special. Do you know why?" Barrett shrugged one shoulder. Hayley took in a deep, steadying breath. "It's the best place in Hoenn to find wild fighting-type Pokémon. Hear me out," she interjected as Barrett's posture went stiff. "I'm not going to catch any new Pokémon if you don't want me to. But I think having a fighting-type on the team would be just as good for you as it would be for me. It'd mean you'd always have someone to spar against, first of all. You liked sparring against those Pokémon in the Rustboro dojo, right? And you were having fun fighting that Mienfoo today, too." Barrett's expression was stormy, but he still inclined his head in a half-nod. "Right. I know Ceres and Xena don't really spar with you the way you want." Xena liked darting around and firing off long-distance thundershocks, and Ceres was… Ceres. Neither could give Barrett the close-range slugfest he enjoyed. "And having a fighting-type around would make it easier for you to learn some new fighting-type moves, too. Maybe some kicks or throws to go along with your cross chop. Would you like that?"

Of course he would. Hayley caught the way his eyes pinned in excitement. She pressed on. "So here's what I'm thinking. We'll go out to Granite Cave and see what kind of Pokémon are there. A lot of them will want to fight you, so it'll be good training and lots of fun for you even if you decide you don't want any of them as teammates. And… we'll see what happens from there. But like I said, I'm not going to catch anything unless you say it's okay, all right? I promise."

Another promise for her to keep. Barrett examined her, eyes fixed like he was trying to stare into her very soul. Finally, begrudgingly, he nodded.

"Is that a 'yes'?" Hayley asked. "I want to make sure you're telling me 'yes.'"

Barrett scoffed, rolled his eyes, and lifted one arm. His claws were pinched together in something resembling an 'O'. Okay. Hayley let out the breath she was holding and smiled.

"Okay, then. We'll go to Granite Cave tomorrow."

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

It was just Hayley's stupid luck that there was a protest in front of the Granite Cave National Park. Not a big one—just a dozen or so people standing around, stubbornly holding signs in the blistering heat. "Our island is not for sale!" "Send Devon home!" One poster, bigger than the rest, had a huge, blown-up photo of a Machop with one arm gruesomely cut off at the shoulder, stamped with the text "Mining hurts everyone."

Memories of Rustboro flitting through her head, Hayley cast a nervous glance at Howie. He cleared his throat. "They've been here for a while," he said, pushing his glasses up his sweaty nose. "Some of them are environmentalists, and some of them are Pokémon rights activists. There's this law they're trying to get passed that would give Pokémon workers the same rights as human workers, and it would basically shut everything here down."

Hayley looked again at the photograph of the maimed Machop, then at Barrett by her side, and swallowed. Whatever train of thought was building, though, was derailed by Miriam saying, "Can we please go inside?"

"Yeah. Let's go." Howie walked forward a few steps, and Miriam and Barrett followed, but Hayley didn't. All three of them turned back to look at her. "Hayley?"

"It's just…" The words flitted away from her. Hayley shook her head. Howie glanced over his shoulders at the protesters, then looked at her again.

"They're not—they're not going to rough you up or anything, if you're worried about that. They only really cause trouble when Amaya's here. Without her, all they do is yell."

"Amaya?"

"Yeah. You'll know her when you see her, she's got this… long, sort of blue-green hair? I think the police have tried to arrest her five times by now, but somehow she keeps coming back."

That did not make Hayley feel better. Still, they were all watching her expectantly, and she didn't want to look like a coward. She mustered up her courage and walked up to rejoin them. If anything happened, Barrett would protect… well. Howie would protect her, at least.

True to what Howie had said, the protesters stayed in place as they passed by. One by one, though, they each lifted their signs higher and shouted.

"Are you trainers? Did you know that Brawly is refusing to remove invasive fighting-types from the mines?"

"Every Pokéball and potion you buy is another dollar in Devon's pocket! You're paying for them to destroy the environment!"

"How would you feel if someone walked into your home and kidnapped you? Pokémon habitats aren't tourist attractions! They have a right to live in peace!"

Miriam and Barrett stared bug-eyed at each of the protesters. Hayley kept her eyes fixed on the ground. One person called out to Barrett directly, asking him how many limbs he would be willing to lose to increase Devon's quarterly profits. Howie hustled them along before anyone could say a word back, as though, despite his bold words, he wasn't a hundred percent sure that a fight wasn't going to break out. Finally, they made it through the doors of the visitor's center, and the shouting was muffled by the walls and the hum of air conditioning.

The visitor's center was a museum that, once again, reminded Hayley of the gym in Rustboro. This museum was far less glamorous, though. There were no glittering crystals, and only a few cracked fossils. The displays were mostly papier-mâché models of the local Pokémon, cross-sections of rock, and photographs of formations inside the cave. Informational placards explained the mechanics of erosion, the difference between stalactites and stalagmites, and the fact that the caves were actually limestone and sandstone, not granite. There was one sign with samples of both rocks helpfully mounted side-by-side to explain the difference. They both looked basically the same to Hayley. She didn't know how anyone could care this much about rocks.

"Howie! Are these your friends?" A man at the counter beckoned them over. Howie beamed and rushed up to him. The man was tall, dark-haired, and lean, with tanned skin and a wiry, muscular frame that spoke of a lifetime spent outdoors. At his waist was a belt with six Pokéballs, each stamped with the Ranger insignia.

"Hi, Leigh," Howie said. "This is Hayley and Miriam—Hayley, Miriam, this is Leigh. He's one of the rangers I've been working under."

"Pleased to meet you." Leigh stuck out his hand for a shake. Miriam eyed it suspiciously, so Hayley took it instead. His grip was firm, but gentle, as though he was trying not to crush her. A sudden sense of inadequacy rippled through Hayley as she saw how smooth, soft, and small her hand looked in his scarred palm. "Any friend of Howie's is a friend of mine. It's your first time in Granite Cave, right? Have you explored any of Hoenn's other cave systems before?"

Hayley thought she heard Miriam mutter something about not being Howie's friend. She shot her a look, and Miriam shut up. To Leigh, she said, "No, we haven't."

"All right, well, here's how it works. Hand me your dexes, will you?" Hayley and Miriam obeyed. Leigh slotted each one into openings on the computer, then tapped a few buttons and turned the screen to face them. "Is this information all up to date? No unregistered Pokémon you might be carrying, no moves you forgot to register?"

"It looks right," Hayley began, then stopped. "Miriam, why isn't swift showing up for Xena? And charge."

"Charge isn't a move," Miriam retorted. "It's literally just getting ready for a move."

"The way you used it against Roxanne counts as a move. Actually, you should probably put spark on there, too."

"Why?"

Miriam sounded so indignant that for a moment, Hayley fumbled for an answer. Finally, she settled on, "Because it's the rules."

"So, what, anyone who sees my Pokédex gets to know every single move I have?" As she spoke, Leigh unslotted her Pokédex and handed it back to her.

"League handbook one-fifteen point four. All trainers must maintain an up-to-date record of all League-registered techniques known by their Pokémon." It sounded like he had to recite that rule a lot. "Add in those missing moves, and I'll scan you again."

Miriam grumbled, but did as she was told. When her updated profile was loaded, Leigh nodded. "All right. Neither of you are packing any Pokémon or moves that would be dangerous to use inside a cave, so you're good there. Since you're one-badge trainers, you'll be restricted to zones one and two unless you bring a ranger or higher-tier trainer with you. Are you interested in purchasing a guided tour?"

"No thank you," Hayley said. Meeting a potential new Pokémon was something that felt too personal to have a random stranger tagging along.

"In that case, make sure you pay attention to the signs. All zones are clearly marked, and zones one and two will both be lit by either white or red light. All tunnels have paths marked to the exit. If you wind up in zone three or deeper, follow the arrows and get back to a safer zone immediately. Do you understand?"

Hayley nodded. Leigh reached under the desk and pulled out what looked like a trio of bulky black radios. "Your phones and dexes won't work underground, so if you find yourself in distress—which you shouldn't, if you're careful—you can flip the switch on this transponder. The lighted zones, and only the lighted zones, have relays that will send your location over to the rangers. If there's no light, there's no relay, and we won't be able to find you."

"Is this even safe?" Miriam blurted out. Leigh looked down at her.

"It's as safe as we can make it. But there's always a risk, which is why we'll need you to sign waivers affirming that you've had these things explained to you and you agree to follow all the park rules." He produced two sheafs of paper, and Hayley's eyes bulged at the rows of tiny text. "Don't sign yet, because there's still more to go over. Now, Granite Cave is an active mine, and it goes without saying that if you happen across any mining tunnels or equipment, you'll need to steer clear…"

Hayley flashed back to the promise she'd made her mother. A promise to stay safe. Did this go against that? Technically, when she'd made that promise, she'd only agreed not to do anything dangerous around Rustboro. And if anything, Granite Cave was probably safer than Petalburg Woods, since it had such a heavy Ranger presence—right? There wouldn't be any wildly powerful Pokémon in places they didn't belong. In any case, it wasn't like she could stay fenced into towns and cities and hiking trails forever. Going into the wild was just what trainers did. And she needed a fighting-type.

It wouldn't be breaking her promise, she decided. Not if she stayed safe. Besides, what were the odds of a freak accident happening to her twice?