B1 — 15. Team Bonding Pt. 1

PoV:  Rhea Hart (Our main girl with the unique Mawile and Eevee … and a fortitude issue)

Pokemon Map: 

Recap:  

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5:58 A.M. June 12, Saturday, 106 PH (Post Hoopa Event)

Events:  The second to last day of battles for the First Preliminary Match Week in preparation for the Kanto & Johto Summer Indigo Cup.  Many tourists are traveling through Pallet and Viridian to arrive at Silver City for the big tournament while also supporting the Summer Bronze League kick-off.

Rhea yawned, hearing the soft sounds of Flying-type Pokemon chirping around her.  Releasing a low moan with a stretch, she rubbed her eyes, forcing herself up.  She’d spent the night on top of her sleeping pad and bag; the warm late spring night was more than comfortable enough with the light breeze that flowed through Pallet Forest.

They’d moved off the easily traversable Route 1 shortly after leaving the city to escape the high traffic of Trainers hiking with the early League rush to Viridian.  There were many options for Pokemon flying taxis, and the tour-guide agencies were overloaded with customers with the influx of tourists to Kanto.

It was a customary expectation that Bronze-tier Trainers would trek their way across the region to each city and Gym, experiencing how difficult life can be while learning to handle those challenges, but it wasn’t a rule anyone enforced.  Still, others would think less of your journey if you didn’t.

The right of passage was a marker in your life that would decide a lot about your future, tracing back as far as anyone could remember.  Of course, the age had been much younger in generations past, yet the concept was the same.

Adjusting her bound blonde hair, Rhea breathed out a soft grunt, greeting Mya as she wished her good morning.  Nova was still asleep inside her pokeball; it seemed her two Pokemon were sleeping much longer than Gables and Amber, and she just chalked it up to them attempting to conserve as much energy as possible to draw as little from her as tolerable.

Snatching her phone, she activated the dully lit hologram, dimmed by the automatic sensor that recognized she was in a dark environment for an extended period without use.

Rhea still squinted, slowly adapting to the brightness; it would increase, using the settings she’d set on her previous device that transferred over.

The news was as to be expected; since she’d been out of the public eye for a bit, others were taking the front stage.  Amy, Olivia, and Isabella’s group were competing with Kevin’s team of speedrunners.  They’d only spent a few hours in Viridian for supplies before rushing to Dark City along route 2, split by the Viridian Forest on the left and the Shadow Woods to the right.

A frown touched her lips while swapping to the Trainer App, glancing at the current rankings.  Her team was nowhere near the first page.

Two types of rating systems were commonly used across the Trainer Leagues throughout the world, the Tier System and the Battle Ranking System.  Neither one contradicted the other as both were built for different purposes.

The Tier System identified where a Trainer and their Pokemon landed in a bracket or league, acting as a more general distinguisher of where you lined up and was commonly shared across the world.

There were degrees within the Tier System, such as Bronze 1, where Rhea stood, and that would likely change once she entered her first Gym Challenge; the levels of a Tier went up to 8, symbolizing the League appropriate challenge rating the Gym was able to utilize against you with their approved Pokemon.

The Tier System was an official League issued classification that the public easily recognized; however, the Battle Ranking System was a regional prestige marker for Match Rating.  It was not transferable beyond a region and acted as a regional indicator for the most powerful active competitive Trainers.

The Tier System was League issued; the Battle Ranking System was a regional community committee-driven classification that the League occasionally referenced if further clarification or categorization was needed.  A Silver-tier Trainer could be ranked higher than a Gold, depending on their match history, yet that didn’t make the Silver-tier Gold-tier.

Naturally, Gym Leaders and notable Master-tier Gym Aides usually stood at the top of the yearly listing since Trainers sought them out, and it had gotten so bad that most regional Battle Commissions moved Gym Leaders to their own bracket, allowing non-Gym reps to make it to the top of a category.

Rhea giggled internally upon seeing the current top ranks this year.  Amira’s grandfather was sitting in 1st place, having just overtaken Sabrina with over a staggering fifty-two wins, zero losses against Bronze-tier non-Kanto challengers that arrived the previous day.

It was questionable how some of those Trainers might have gotten to Viridian so quickly by Kanto standards, and one team was disqualified from the speedrunning boards by illegally using Gold-tier Trainers’ Pokemon as mounts, but it didn’t matter in the end since everyone in Kanto was laughing at their attempts.

Everyone in Kanto knew the one cardinal rule of beginning the Bronze-tier journey, avoid Viridian and Saffron Gyms as long as possible, and that included the time Blue ran the outfit.  Dozens of years of trial and error from past generations had proven that the longer you waited, the more battle experience a Trainer and their Pokemon obtained, the easier those rookie crushing Gyms would be.

Only the current Champion, Chase, had been able to earn the Encrusted Earth Badge from Giovanni before the International Police stormed the Gym for a second time, the first being during Red’s legendary journey.

However, this time, Giovanni didn’t go on the run but took the battle to court, and the prosecution was incapable of convicting the Mob Boss.  Other methods had been in the process of catching the infamous man, seeking appropriate witnesses and information, but then the long years of the Ultra War started.

She’d been a child when all of that was happening and only remembered having Jason and her brother to really depend on to spend time with her.  It had been rough as a kid, but she understood after a while, and seeing the exhausted, despairing, and injured  Master Trainers and Pokemon at the worst parts of the war really stuck in her mind.

The details of the Ultra War was mostly shrouded in government secrecy, under top security clearance with only updates on which areas Ultra Wormholes had opened and news on the current status of the fight in those areas with refugee movements and support efforts.

Kanto and Sinnoh had been in a tense position when a massive wormhole attack happened in the Sinjoh region, now restricted under Master-tier danger levels.  The whole area had been decimated by whatever happened there with the Ultra Beasts and the resistance; now, it was known as the Sinjoh Desolation, restricted to even Master-tier.  The New Badlands surrounding the distortion area, accessible to Master-tier, not that anyone could even get close with the power of the Pokemon nearby that even outclassed Mt. Silver.

Giovanni had been conscripted into the war, but little was known about most of the details or enemies; the scary part was that another universe was attacking theirs.  Rhea tapped on Giovanni’s profile to look at the official matches’ public information, and the time between battles was insane.

The Viridian Gym was known to specialize in Ground-type Pokemon, which meant all of his usable Pokemon had to meet the first or secondary typing for Master-tier and below opponents.  Logically, a Trainer would think this gym should be easy, considering Ground-types were known to have many common weaknesses.

However, Giovanni had dispatched all fifty-two international upstart Trainers within two hours.  It was as if he’d lined up the bunch with a demand that they immediately start the next match after each victory, and even more shocking was that the first 11 knockouts were with the same Pokemon before being forced to swap out because the referee said the Diglett had out leveled its current usability by the Gym Leader.

The second was another Diglett that had to be swapped out after the 19th match for much the same reason; although, he’d been poisoned because he’d been running out of personal energy to keep up the battle.  It said something when a Pokemon had to be recalled because it ran out of its own power.

Every encounter had been televised, the international Trainers probably looking for the prestige of being the first to beat a Kanto Gym.  Rhea clicked on the 6th; she couldn’t help a small grin upon seeing the legendary Viridian Underground Stadium that could fit eighty-thousand people.

Viridian’s Platinum and Master-tier challengers brought massive turnouts, but little could be seen of the outer seating with the focus on the colossal earth-themed field, and sure enough, all 52 Trainers were lined up around the challenger’s side of the arena, waiting their turn.

Giovanni seemed to have his own hidden personal booth extended from the back wall that could be retracted.  He sat in an elegant, sumptuous black and gold armchair, encrusted with various shades of emeralds to give it that Viridian flair.

Stunningly large Viridian flags could be seen around the lavish Gym architecture, and from the cheers of the crowd off-screen, it was clearly packed.

The infamous, well-groomed Gym Leader sat comfortably in his chair, displaying the class he was known for in a slim-fit fancy white jacket with black trim, showing his muscular frame.  A slim white tie bound in an intrinity-knot brought the eye to the Encrusted Grandmaster-tier Earth Badge he wore on his suit collar, above his heart.  The white was contrasted by a black dress shirt and black tangent-style pocket square with white trim.

He occasionally leered down at the Trainers with a bored expression, but for the most part, didn’t pay the throng of energetic teens more than a glance; the sixth match was Giovanni’s insane Diglett that lasted 11 rounds. It popped up and down around the field from multiple holes it had carved throughout the battles with the Gym Leader’s private instruction.

The tiny Ground Pokemon made use of its Sand Attacks to swiftly knock its Pidgey opponent out of the air when it flew too close before utilizing Scratches to finish it off, rubbing its rough, white glowing body against his fallen foe.

Rhea flipped through a few battles, noticing the Diglett used Growls against Pokemon that were fast, lowering their attacks while keeping its distance on the off-chance they landed a Move.

His challengers were confused and overwhelmed by the hit and run tactics the Diglett performed; however, as the matches continued, it became more apparent that the Diglett was becoming tired.  The 19th match was a rough one for the weary Ground Pokemon and against his most formidable opponent yet, an Alolan Sandshrew that could follow it underground.

Diglett took a Scratch and Poison Sting, poisoning the little guy, likely because of its combined damage throughout the battles and lost internal strength, but managed to edge out a narrow victory by outmaneuvering the inexperienced Pokemon in the complicated tunnel system underneath the ring.

Motion sensors and miniature cameras that were nowhere on the market with their insanely small size followed the action underground, projecting it to the holographic screens.  It was the hardest battle yet, but a win in the end.

The Sandshrew fainted underground to the Alolan girl’s distress, but Giovanni’s Diglett carefully brought him to the surface to be recalled and taken to the Gym’s personal care center.

Almost as if to mock the last Trainer, Giovanni’s next powerhouse that would eat through seven of the next challengers before growing too strong for his competition was a Sandshrew, utilizing the tunnels his Diglett and the Alolan Sandshrew had crafted.

She pursed her lips; Mya was watching the matches intently through their link, and Rhea started to wonder how they’d handle such a strategy.  Giovanni could only use one Pokemon since all the Trainers he faced only chose one, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t use the previous matches to his advantage, as could the incoming Trainers, yet the Gym Leader’s experience was dominating.

Again, Rhea had to remind herself that Amira’s grandfather wasn’t even paying the battle much attention, seemingly handling other business on the tablet while talking to his assistant close by.  The blatant disregard for his challengers had more than a few parts of the stadium, filled with foreigners, booing at the showmanship, but Giovanni didn’t seem to care.

She backed out of the match, studying the full Regional Rank List.  Seven months into the year and Giovanni’s win to loss ratio was a staggering undefeated, 867 to 0; most of the regional Silver, Gold, and Platinum Gym challenges naturally went to the Master-tier Gym Aides.

You could go back and attempt an Encrusted Badge if you managed to register for the Indigo League in time, but if you got stuck, pounding your head against the wall that was Giovanni, then you’d miss the deadline and be forced to sign-up for the next one.

Most Trainers simply wish to make it to the Indigo League qualification matches, not get embarrassed by the Gym Leaders.  However, after they’d earned an Earth Badge, many did spend the rest of the time challenging Giovanni or one of the other Gym Leaders, hoping for the perks of getting the Encrusted Badges.  The first goal was qualifying for the Indigo League, though.

Gym Leaders had a reputation to protect, but the Viridian Gym held the same infamous status as its Leader.  If a Gym wanted to stay official, it needed to show it had the merit of remaining in good standing with the region’s Indigo League.

Pewter and Cerulean had been in threat of losing that status in the past but had returned with a vengeance, yet if there was any Gym that took its fame too far, it was Viridian.  All of a region’s Encrusted Badges held a high level of prestige; having four automatically allowed you to skip the preliminary rounds.

Rhea was nervous about The Winter Indigo League, beginning in late fall.  Kanto’s Indigo League happened twice a year; December 7th was the first preliminary rounds’ official start, leading up to the conference.

Anyone that wished to participate had to have the 8 needed badges before the 5th, at least two participating Pokemon inspected for legality, and be registered by that date or be forced to wait for the next season.

Each Tier required a set number of Pokemon per battle; Bronze required two, Silver needed four, Gold, five, and Platinum-tier League matches consisted of a full party.  Master-tier took place in a special arena where it would be an entire team vs. team showdown and was the whole tournament’s main attraction.

Some years went without a Master-tier battle altogether, which was why this Winter was so special; five Masters were competing to be ranked as High Masters for an amazing prize.

This was the year the famed Lieutenant General, Lt. Surge, would be retiring from his position.  The Electric-type Gym Leader had been through a few wars in his lifetime, but the last had taken a lot out of him.  He was a world hero, a huge part of some critical operations in the Ultra War that killed three of his Pokemon and took his right arm.

However, that didn’t stop him from completing his duties to Vermilion City.  Eight years after the end of the conflict, he was finally ready to step down with five young Masters springing to take Vermilion Gym’s High Master’s position.

Lt. Surge’s youngest daughter, Saria Surge, and her rival, Visquez, Lt. Surge’s Vice-Captain, would be in competition for the right to take the war hero’s seat as Vermilion Gym’s Leader.  Both were favored to win out of the five participants, and the News only spoke about the two because of their deep resentment toward each other.

Saria wanted to rebrand the Vermilion Gym as a Fairy-type Gym, which infuriated Visquez, who looked up to the Lieutenant-General as an idol, and taking away the long history of being an Electric Specialist Gym was disgraceful in her eyes.

Rhea had met both, and it wasn’t like Saria wanted to disrespect her father; in fact, she had the utmost respect for his legacy but wanted to cement her own, and she was most comfortable with Fairy Pokemon, growing an attachment to the Type as a young girl, which Rhea totally agreed with.

Visquez was adamant about honoring her mentor and idol, wanting nothing to do with Saria’s own dream.  She would continue Lt. Surge’s traditions and style to the end.

From what she understood, the Lieutenant General was happy either way.  It could stay in the family or continue the legacy.  There wasn’t much loss, either way; he’d laughed about it when talking to her father.

In any case, this year’s Winter Cup was something Rhea was looking forward to and dreading at the same time.

The two preliminary tournaments would group Trainer Teams in their combined elo tiers within the various Match Ranking brackets to narrow down the competition in 3 on 3 matches, both taking place a week apart from each other, and highlighted the need to learn how to function as a unit.

The 7th, Monday, and the 8th, Tuesday, were listed as days of rest, including minor celebration events while the tourists gathered for the big matches.  The 9th to the 13th would be filled with battles that teams had to be prepared for and take particular care with how they utilized their Pokemon.

The 14th and 15th would be for rest with more celebration, and the 16th to 20th would be the final preliminary matches for the prior winners with a double-elimination tournament; the Loser’s Bracket allowed a team to redeem themselves.

December 21st was the big day, the start of Winter and the Winter Grand Introduction Ceremony that lasted an entire week, celebrating the winning teams while hyping up the next week’s showdown.  The 28th to the 31st would mark the year’s end showdown in a Round-Robin style contest to discover the single most outstanding Trainer of the year for each Tier.

After the preliminaries, it was every Trainer for themselves; they’d all passed into the next Tier, whether it be Silver, Gold, or any of the other categories.  The losers would need to apply to the Summer League; badges were still valid for more attempts.

Summer League was coming to a close with the preliminary matches, leading to the big celebration that would mark the 20th of June, the beginning of the Summer Grand Introduction Ceremony at the Indigo Plateau.

She hadn’t been too interested in the matches since there were so many people each year that just didn’t live up to the hype of seeing Franky battling or any of the dozens of Master to Grandmaster matches she could see at home from time to time, but that was beginning to change after seeing Amira’s match.

Rhea swapped to the Kanto and Johto Indigo Plateau App, tapping on this week’s matches; the 12th was the final day of the 548 Bronze-tier teams that had entered.  With each team battling twice in that week, it would drop the number to 137 trios.

Next week would begin the Loser’s Bracket and the Second Cup Qualifiers, and the number of contestants would be reduced again by two victories, and if there was an uneven number of teams, then one group would be randomly selected to only participate in one match.

That would leave 138 contestants with the Loser’s Bracket concluding on the 17th so the winner could participate in the two necessary matches on the 18th and 19th.  It was the underdog favorites match that many flocked to see, and at the end would leave 105 Trainers that advanced to the next Tier and compete in the Summer League Round Robin Cup.

They would be divided into 7 Round Robin group match-ups, leading to the best of each to contend in the final Round Robin bracket for the Cup.  The battles began on the 27th, ending with the Grand Finals on the 30th.

The big kickoff started in eight days, which was another reason Viridian was packed at the moment since both the start and end of the two Leagues slightly overlapped.  The path from Viridian to the Indigo Plateau was comfortable and safe with the Magnet Train network; traveling at 340 MPH, it was the fastest train in the world.

The multi-railed system was the easiest form of travel between the major cities of Kanto and Johto, operating from Lavender City, through Gringey City, Saffron City, Sable National Park, Sable City, Celadon City, Neon City, Viridian City, Victory Road, and Indigo Plateau as the bridge between the two regions.

It then dropped down to Cremini Town, running through the Tohjo Mountains to reach New Bark City, Catallia City, Cherrygrove City, across Cherry Bay to Florando, Greenfield, Goldenrod City, over Olivine Bay to Ogi Island and its City before ending at Olivine City.

The expansion to Ogi was an expensive one, but the islanders hoped it would help their economy, which seemed to have picked up with the ease of access, but the ferry industry took a minor hit.

There had been plans to branch out even further, going north and south of Johto and Kanto, but Magnet Company stocks were currently being fought over by Rocket and Silph.  It was a big deal on the Gossip App to see which conglomerate would take the company; both had very different plans for where it should expand.

It would be somewhat simple to get to the league with the available transport methods, but Rhea intended to save that first experience after her Bronze-tier journey.

Sabin had won the last Gold-tier Winter Indigo League, which sent him to the Platinum-tier Badge race, but he’d missed the Summer League because of training and his Mt. Silver expedition; she partially wondered if he’d postponed it on purpose with Katlin so they could take place in the Winter Cup to be with Jason and her.  In any case, she’d be able to go see her brother live for the first time if they managed to get there in time.

Gold to Masters Divisions were the highlights of the Indigo League, and her brother would draw a huge crowd, but the first International Semiannual Bronze Division was getting a lot of love this year because of the international collaboration, and depending on how it turned out, the other regions would open up for the rest of the tiers.

The issue for Bronze-tier was definitely distance and time; trekking across an entire region took a lot of effort, and she had 147 days to get it done.  She’d need to plan it out with Amira and Lori, but it roughly translated to about 18 days per badge, which was doable, but hard in some areas.

Distance between Gym locations became a much smaller issue once a Trainer had a flying Pokemon, and even if they didn’t, many transportation options could be purchased.

Bronze-tiers using such methods might have been frowned upon, but that didn’t mean many didn’t do it, and many of the low physical fortitude Trainers tended to do what they could while keeping track of the dreaded December 5th deadline.

Rhea hummed, mind working between the complicated mess they had to discuss on the hike today, but her thoughts turned back to Amira’s grandfather.  It was hard not to after watching him dominate the competition.

Her brother and Katelin were currently trying their hardest to get four Encrusted Badges for the Winter League and seemed to be making progress.  The Kanto and Johto League was somewhat unique because of its massive landmass, having sixteen possible Gym Leaders to pick from, and only needing four to skip the preliminaries.

The Trainer might be forced to participate in the battles if their team members hadn’t gotten the required badges, but that was only to help their friends; the four Encrusted Badges guaranteed them a place in the second match-up.

Rhea studied the badge shown on Giovanni’s jacket, shifting to her side.  The Encrusted Earth Badge was seen as the highest honor, and Giovanni boasted that if anyone beat him, he’d sponsor the victor with five purchasable Moves of any price, including one that was not on the market that Rocket developed, granting them a huge advantage in the primary Indigo Round-Robin.  He would also triple the two preliminary prize pools of 10,000 Credits to a staggering 60,000 Credits.

The prize was huge with the addition of three weeks of free time to prepare for the big matches, practicing the top-tier Moves their Pokemon learned.  TMs were expensive, especially the powerful ones, breaking into the tens of millions of credits, and with the promise of a unique TM that could be sold off as an added cherry.

Although, you could argue that it was a fantastic promotion gimmick since he made money on every Trainer that failed to achieve the victory.

Releasing a soft hum after watching the 35th match with Giovanni’s Sandshrew standing over a poisoned and battered Kricketot.  What do you think?  He’s pretty strong … that’s why we’ll save him for last.

Mya seemed impressed by the Pokemon’’s movements but thought she could handle it without much difficulty.

“Mmh…”  … I don’t know … yeah, we’re strong, but the machine will measure that strength when we go in, and it’ll give him a list of Pokemon that would be a match for us.

The prospect only excited Mya more; she wanted a challenge, but Rhea knew that could spell disaster for them.  Her Mawile severely outclassed Jason, Len, and Lucian’s Pokemon, but if the chips were stacked even a decent degree lower with a Gym Leader’s experience attached, she worried they’d get creamed.

Mya couldn’t believe she’d lose, though, which added to Rhea’s anxiety, but she didn’t pursue the topic with her Pokemon.  All they could do was attempt it, and if her fears were right, they’d go from there.

Releasing a soft groan, Rhea turned her head to the side, hearing Amira returning from the river where she’d probably just finished wiping down her body with cold water.

Rhea wasn’t that bothered by the chill; she’d gone out on hikes and journey preparedness training with Julia as a part of her schooling, and her dad spent one-on-one time with her hiking with his Pokemon.  It didn’t seem like that was the norm everywhere with Lori’s reaction, though.

Stretching one more time, Rhea tossed her phone to the side of her two-person tent, unzipped the fly, and went outside.  The sun was beginning to brighten the sky, but the forest was shadowed in darkness; she’d spent more time than usual in bed, watching Giovanni’s fights and worrying about scheduling, yet the others weren’t up.

She could see the flames rising off Amber’s tail and flowing out of her ears by the stream, acting as Amira’s light.  The redhead had her hair tied back into a ponytail to keep dry while whipping off the sweat and dead skin with a towel.

Glancing around, she didn’t see Sam, Hannah, and Jade’s Pokemon, but it wasn’t like she could see much, to begin with.  Ducking back inside to snatch her phone, she kept it active to give some visibility while grabbing her own items; sunscreen, lotion, both towels, body wash, and deodorant.

Rhea went to the brook, smiling at Amira as she neared.  “Morning!”

“Morning,” Amira returned the smile.  “Sleep well?”

“Pretty well,” Rhea mumbled, bending down to test the water.  “Brr … hehe, Lori’s gonna hate this.”

Amira was drying off with a second towel, using a self-made hanger out of branches she’d prepared the night before using three sticks.  Rhea was a bit impressed, watching Amber go underneath to blow a soft stream of hot air at it to help speed up the drying process.

“I figured she’d just use the fire to warm up some water to use,” she shrugged.  “Umm … do you think we should start it?  I wasn’t sure since the light might wake everyone up.”

Rhea did her best not to shiver while scrubbing her skin down with the body wash and cold water; Amira made it look easy, but even if she’d practiced for years, she still preferred it be warm.  “… Hmm … I mean, it’s like 6:10, at the moment.  We probably should start getting our food going and stuff.  Oh, by the way, what do you think about bringing group food that we can all eat?”  She asked, smile brightening.

“Not the freeze-dried stuff?”  Amira questioned, applying her daily products like sunscreen, lotion, and deodorant.

“No, like real food that we can cut up and put in bags.  We can split them up between our bags, too.  Don’t you think it’ll be nice having good meals?”

Amira’s tone lightened considerably.  “Yeah … I’d really like that.  I’m not the greatest cook, though…”

She jumped on the offer.  “Oh, I’ll do it!  I’ve been learning how to cook a lot of dishes with my cousin for a while now.”  Vision darting to Amber, still happily acting as Amira’s blow dryer, Rhea hummed.  “Uh … did you sleep well?  I mean, you normally get up at 5:30, right?”

Packing up her supplies, Amira sighed, twisting her hips to stretch a little more after finishing applying her creams.  “No, I slept fine … I was just watching some matches and lost track of time.”

“Oh, your grandpa?”  Rhea asked, pulling down her top to clean her chest before drying off and resituating it.  “Yeah … I was, umm, watching some of those matches, too.  Hehe, that burrow with the hit and run tactic was pretty toxic.  I’d be frustrated, too, but that’s the kind of thing Gyms are known for … they make you work for the badge.”

Amira swallowed.  “My grandpa … yeah, yeah, I’m sure his matches were great.  It was something like fifty-two challenges in two hours.”

Rhea paused, scrubbing her sides and giving the redhead a quizzical look.  “Wait … did you watch your grandpa’s battles or someone else?”

“… No, it’s nothing,” Amira mumbled, cheeks darkening for some reason.  “Umm, I watched two matches of my grandfather’s.  The burrow strategy isn’t all that rare for him,” she mumbled, playing with her hair.  “He was probably just testing to see how much the out of region Trainers had prepared for him … not much from the little I saw.”

A little curious why she was acting a bit more flustered than usual, but not wanting to press her new friend, Rhea let her curiosity die with a shrug.  “To be honest … I’m a little worried.”

“About?”  Amira asked, checking her towels.  She seemed satisfied with the condition because Amber pranced off toward the fire pit they’d prepared the previous night.  “… Umm, there should be enough room for your towel, too,” she mumbled.

“Thanks!  Uh … I don’t know,” Rhea grumbled, thinking back on the matches, “the Gym rules are there to push Trainers, but also to be beatable at a certain point from what I’ve heard…”