She would never understand why a gym was an army base. Yes, she had gotten some public information about what had happened. Heck, she’d done that out of spite. These people had wanted quite a lot of information up front while offering little in return. That kind of stuff reminded her a bit too much of corporate structures, so she’d taken to an internet café and gotten herself all the intel she could easily get.



Nothing much on the gym leader himself though. Of course not. They probably had some NDAs in place so no one gave them a bad review anyway. Which she was totally going to do, if she found a way to.

Arcanine bumped into her side, clearly noticing her internal fuming. She shot him a gaze. He looked back, sternly. And in the end, she gave in, sighing. He was probably right. Positive attitude! There was a trainer here that she had to beat! And she would! Because she didn’t really know what to do if she didn’t.



Wait, that was kind of negative too. Megan stopped briefly, on the first few steps before the entrance. Then, she took a few deep breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth, just like mom had taught her. Then, she lightly slapped her own cheeks. “you can do this. You are prepared. Just do your best. It will work out somehow.” Her voice was quiet, but steady, for she simply tried to psych herself up. She did have to do that.

And she had to remind herself. “This is supposed to be a passable test. It has to be.” Meg was still rather uneasy about having to register her ‘Mons ahead of time – while her opponent had done nothing like that.



Ugh. She couldn’t get away from negativity, now could she? Well, didn’t matter. She was here now, all shorts, shirt and cap on her head.



…



But where was the entrance?

She looked about. So far, she’d just assumed that someone would be waiting near the entrance to take her credentials and stuff. However, no one came up to her. There was one guy though, but he seemed asleep. So, she had not planned on bugging him. Probably had to, though. “Um, excuse me sir? Is this the way to the gym?”

For a moment, the young man's breathing stilled as Megan spoke, before the hat atop his head shifted upwards, his gaze meeting her own.

"Hm? Good afternoon, miss!" He said, before yawning, stretching his arms above his head as he leaned far back on his swivel chair, before letting them drop back to his stomach, gesturing with a thumb over to the chain fence gate besides the booth. "Sure is. Right past 'em gates, and y'all be on yer way in no time."

Immediately after saying this, the youth swung his legs off the table, planting them firmly on the ground before standing, his hands coming to rest at the small of his back and pushing firmly as he stretched his spine, several pops going off soundly before he looked at her.

"Yer the challenger, right?" He said simply. Why else would a civilian approach a military base, after all? He pulled a walkie-talkie hanging from his belt, speaking a few words into it before turning his attention back to Megan as the gates opened automatically behind him.

"Want me to guide ya to the battlefield, miss? The base's larger than the other gyms."

---

TAG: Megan Whitmore

Ah, good, he was both useful and polite. Both things she wouldn’t have assumed from the get-go. Well, more like, she didn’t take those sorts of things as granted. Megan knew retail. She knew the depths of human depravity better than anyone else.

But this was good! She already felt a bit better. Plus, he was offering to guide her and even called her in. Nice. On second thought, that was probably his job to begin with. That made her relate with the man almost immediately. He probably had to usher in just about any challenger. Meant he, too, had likely seen into abyss.
Meg immediately straightened up a bit more, resolving to not be a complicated customer. “Thank you. And yes, that would be great,” she replied. It wasn’t overly friendly and overjoyed, but it was genuine nonetheless. That was how she’d want to be treated too. Fake politeness and cheer were some of the things she was never ever going to employ again.

“I figured it was probably more on the bigger side. Though, to be honest, I haven’t really been to any other gyms proper so far. I saw a few in passing, but this is kind of my first time. Having a guide is much appreciated in that regard.” If he started to walk, she would fall in. Megan was going to let him lead, not waltz in like she owned the place.

The youth nodded, before gesturing with his left arm towards the open gate, grinning.

"After ya then, Ms. Whitmore." He said cheerfully, walking alongside her as they went deeper into the installations.

"Ah, a first timer? Good choice for a gym, then. We ain't super experienced here either." 5 challenges total lined up to date. Nothing in the grand scheme of things, when one considered FERNANDO SILPH's or noah faber's gyms. He cupped his chin, brows in thought. "Specialty's bugs, by the way. Think they forgot to add that bit of info. We haven't gotten 'round to fixing that yet."

The sound of synchronized boots hitting the ground filled the air as a platoon of jogging soldiers was seen making rounds around the base in the distance. Greenery surrounded the base both from in and outside, and true to the youth's words, plethoras of bug type pokemon could be seen out in the open.

Some hung onto the walls, others perched themselves on the trees and rooftops; a few simply flew about freely. One pair in particular, made up of a Volbeat and a rare, blonde Illumise, latched onto the pair with open curiosity, fleeting around Megan whilst making playful coos.

"Hoh. They like ya." He said with a chuckle.

Soon enough, they could see what appeared to be a battlefield in the distance- a war-like battlefield, not the rectangular ring usually employed for official pokemon battles.

A figure awaited there, her arms folded behind her back, a cape draped over her shoulders flapping dramatically in the wind.






















"Any particular reason ya chose this gym to start off, Ms. Whitmore?" The youth asked her as they approached the battlefield, tilting his head.

Had she simply seen it as less daunting to challenge a new gym, as he had suggested earlier?

---

TAG: Megan Whitmore

Oh my. Ms. Whitmore. That sounded kind of regal, even in a tone like this. Probably especially in one like this. Hearing it in a stiff and prim tone of voice made it sound stilted. Like this, it was kind of nice. A lot better than those who’d said it to reprimand, or those who just called her variations of ‘you there’. Plus, she’d never allowed to have her last name on her tag in the Mart. There she had only been Megan. Now she could be Ms. Whitmore. Maybe even one day Boss Whitmore or something like that!

But enough daydreaming for now. Focus, Meg! There was still a conversation ongoing. “Oh, is that so? Haha. It might sound a bit silly but honestly, it’s just geographical convenience. I was in the area and decided to finally make my first proper step towards my goal.” Megan added a nod to these words, though that was meant mostly for herself. At the end of the day, she had to convince herself of all this, most of all.
Though, admittedly, his words did help. All these soldiers doing proper…soldier things around her? That put her slightly on edge, really. They clearly had their act together for real. She was just pretending to. At the very least until she got herself a badge.

Her focus was good enough for now, at least. When that bug type streaked by, she didn’t flinch too much, but instead tried to relax at least a little bit. While she hadn’t known about bugs, she figured it was fine anyway. Her strategy was ultimately going to stay the same – she had specifically chosen it for dealing with an unknown type anyway. The only thing she had known was that she was supposed to fight like this was a one-life scenario. Which was fine enough.
She was going to make the most of that, after all.

They got closer to a person who looked kind of imposing. But also kind of neat. That was exactly how she’d imagined a gym leader. “A cape? That is awesome! I mean, I have seen them in comics but never in real life,” she started to exclaim, though she did suppress the urge to rush towards the lady. This was an army base. She would behave herself. “Ahh, that is a welcome sight indeed. I did hear that those in gyms were allowed to dress eccentrically, and that’s at least part of what I want to begin with!”

The youth tilted his head slightly, a grin stretching over his lips. She liked the cape, which was always a plus, but more importantly...

That was part of what 'she wanted'?

"Are ya interested in bein' a Gym Leader, miss?" He asked. Across the field, the blonde woman tilted her head as well, watching the two interact in silence. The Volbeat and Illumise joined in, cooing at Megan while also tilting their heads.

Despite how coveted the position of Gym Leader presumably was, Doug rarely ever heard anyone openly admit any interest towards it.

After all, while it sounded cool on paper, you were essentially signing yourself up to be a teacher, not to mention to almost always hold back no matter how much pride you held in your previous winning streak.

"Interesting... Oh, this is yer spot." Doug said as he rubbed at his chin, coming to a stop at the foot of the battlefield alongside her.

Dug up Trenches. Stacks of Sandbags as cover. Even dug low stone cabins, often featured in old wars. The whole thing had the air of a century old battlefield, which naturally was because it was. Camp Winstrate was that old. As a gym arena however, the antiquated battlefield could serve a worthwhile purpose.

"So what's the verdict?" Said the woman across the field, taking off the cap atop her head as Doug suddenly began walking towards her with Volbeat and Illumise following behind, rolling his shoulders before he reached up to take off his straw hat.

"She's interesting. Mind if I-?" "Not at all. Go right ahead." She said as she reached up for the lapel of the 'cape' -which as it turned out, was actually just a really long jacket- and swung it off her shoulders- and around Doug's. "It is your job after all, Captain."

Doug smiled, trading his straw hat with the Cap she had taken off.

"Right. Thank you, Sergeant." He said, looking sharply over his shoulder, staring at Megan. "Challenger Megan Whitmore! I never introduced myself before, so allow me to correct that!"

"I am Captain Douglas, Commander of this base- and Gym Leader of Mauville City!" He said, Volbeat and Illumise turning to face Megan sharply, crossing their tiny arms over their chests dramatically.

With a flick of his wrist, the youth produced a gleaming, colorful badge, holding it up between index and middle finger for her to see. Her trophy- if she earned it.

"The challenger has the first move. Now let us begin!"

---

TAG: Megan Whitmore

“I…” she started, but didn’t finish. There was slight hesitation in her voice, certainly, but that was only the initial delay. Instead, she remained quiet as she watched what unfolded next. Honestly, it was surprising. But just because something was surprising did not make it shocking. Instead, things fell into place, even before the swap of apparels was completed. It certainly was an unusual act. And from the look on the girl’s face, this had not been a foregone conclusion.

Things changed. They were always in flux. Some things came more naturally, more predictably than others, yes. But that didn’t make one thing bad, nor another boring. Most things just were. And nothing would change that, ironically.
Megan briefly raised her left hand. It always had her stick out a little, to have strength in it. But it had gained another meaning on that night, 2:47 AM. And then, she had given it yet another meaning later. Things changed. But some things only changed once and if you had the will to accept their change.

Hence, she briefly made a fist and raised it towards the strange man. It wasn’t a threat. More of a challenge really. Or maybe it was really more her kind of salute. Whatever it was, it was hers. “Well, that’s just fair. I never introduced myself properly either, right? Just assumed everyone knows me.” From a lifetime of wearing a name tag when no one cared about who she was anyway, it was a habit that was hard to shake off.
“You called me Ms. Whitmore, but I am really just Megan. I’ve got nothing but a lot of years of nothing to my name. But that is going to change. That’s why I’m here.” She didn’t elaborate much more on her motives regarding becoming a gym leader. For one, it was obvious enough in her eyes. And for the other, a true gym battle should reveal these sorts of things to begin with.

Megan reached to her belt, pulling up the two Pokeballs she had prepared. One in each hand, she took another deep breath, closed her eyes. When she spoke, it was almost more to herself, though she did so loud and clear anyway. It just felt more…right that way. “Someone once asked me, which is the most important step? Is it the first? Is it the last?” Another brief pause. Then, she opened her eyes again, intently focused. “The most important step is always the next one.” And with that, she took said step, throwing her balls in criss-cross, managing to not have them bounce into one another. One of the stupid things she’d trained to do.
Both her Graveler and Lucario sprung forth, Graveler on her left, Lucario on her right. Megan would wait until there was an official go if there was one, or it seemed like everyone was ready from the atmosphere. Her mind a bit cleared, she would stick to the plan. “Like we trained! Aura Stone!” A simple, but hopefully effective combination. Graveler would heave a huge, solid rock from the ground and throw it at the target to her left, while Lucario shot an Aura Sphere the same way, while both kept their distance. Graveler did step a little bit closer though, subtly, though that could have also been the natural effect of throwing such a big boulder.

Cpt. Douglas nodded as Megan held out her fist towards him.

"The next one..." Cpt. Douglas said, smiling as she criss-cross threw her pokeballs out. He knew she was an interesting one. "I must agree. Very well, Challenger Megan! Show me the next step on this journey you've set for yourself!"

With a swipe of his arm, it seemed as though the entire world grasped his command, a strong gale blowing past as he shouted, jacket flapping in the wind.

"Let the Gym Challenge, Commence!"

The first attack came hard and fast, massive boulder from one side, focused aura from the other.

"Helping hand, protect." He ordered quickly, the Volbeat and Illumise duo moving as one, left and right hands coming together like the wonder twins while their free arms were held out towards Megan.

A barrier of green materialized between them and the attacks, the stone smashing against it with a sonorous crash, the Aura sphere with a booming echo. As the boulder shattered on impact and its massive shards fell to the ground, a dust cloud was whipped up in the air.

"Tail Glow, Charm." With those words, the Dust cloud suddenly became a performance's smoke machine, light illuminating it in a plethora of colours. A silhouette was slowly revealed. Posing like a young idol, Illumise winked at the duo of enemy pokemon before playfully pointing finger guns at each, symbolic hearts of light materializing before her before she shot them down playfully.

Behind her, Volbeat grumbled as his flicked between the many colours of his tail, emphasizing the Illumise's charms.

---

TL;DR:
-Blocked Aura Stone with Helping Hand empowered Protect.
-Utilizing Tail Glow + Charm.

TAG: Megan Whitmore

Heh. Would have been too easy if that went through, wouldn’t it? Still worth a try. Too many people just assumed that something wouldn’t work and never gave it a shot. But not Megan. She wasn’t going to give up on a perfectly good chance just because it seemed unlikely.
Still didn’t help much, now did it? Fortunately, they had already assumed that this opening gambit would fail. The leaders here offered doubles, so she’d figured that they would come prepared with synergistic teams. In fact, she had been tempted to go for the single battle instead, simply because she did not have the kinds of options this man had, Pokemon that already seemed like a team just from their looks. Lucario and Graveler were misfits in comparison, through and through. But that wasn’t exactly a death sentence, either. Now was it?

Heck, Megan and Lucario smirked, even though Graveler grunted, displeased. Couldn’t be helped. She was new. Luca though, he’d been with her forever. He knew how this was going to go. Only this time, they wouldn’t just take everything lying down. “Lucario, shelter, Graveler, do what you do best.”
…
What did a big rock do best? Well, just standing around, really. While Lucario dashed to the side, seeking to dodge those little hearts, Graveler didn’t even try. She just sat there and took it, like a champ. Which, in this case, meant that it became transfixed on the display in front of it. Fair enough. Megan didn’t really saw what she might see in a dancing bug, but she wasn’t a Pokemon. At least the charm didn’t affect her. “Don’t look at it, but I guess it’s time for you to dance too, isn’t it?” she further added to Lucario, who was hiding behind the Graveler, decidedly not getting into the show. Instead, it began its own Sword Dance to prepare itself for the next step of their battle plan.

"A step too slow." Captain Douglas said simply raising his arm skyward sharply. Megan had the right idea, but Volbeat had a leg up on Lucario.

Tail Glow made for a nice stage light... but an even better power booster.

Smirking cheshirously at her enraptured audience, the Illumise hovered into the luminous dust cloud, her hand reaching back to grasp Volbeat before suddenly spinning herself about with him, switching their places.

The Volbeat was swung to face the graveler, a deep, furious scowl on his face as he pointed his shining behind at the rock.

Stop looking at his girl, pervert! Feel the fury a Volbeat scorned!

"Brace yourself."

A booming thunder rocked the battlefield as the Volbeat braced himself against the Illumise and released a large beam of multicolored light towards the Graveler, a shockwave spreading outwards as he was nearly launched back, Illumise being the only thing preventing him from flying off into the distance from his own blast.

---

TL;DR:
-Illumise used Helping hand! The power of Volbeat's move was bolstered!
-Tail Glow raised Volbeat's power drastically! Volbeat channeled it into a Signal Beam!

TAG: Megan Whitmore

Brace himself she did. The charm limited what it could do offensively, but it was still a big, reliable rock. And it didn’t have to do much more than sit there and take it, really. A myriad of factors would naturally go into a situation like this, from boosted power to strongly resisting types. But at the end of the day, it was simply a strongly empowered beam going for a big rock. It did quite a bit of damage, yes, but it lacked one important thing that allowed Megan’s idea to still somewhat work.
It had no weight. In the light of that Signal Beam hitting her Graveler, illuminated from behind, Lucario finished. And unlike his theatrics, Megan’s voice was much quieter, smaller in comparison. “Go,” she simply told the fighter.

He wasted no time, outright jumping over its compatriot and rushing the opponent with Extreme Speed. Graveler created an opening, hopefully, and Lucario was set to exploit it. Quite a bit of their strategy hinged on this, but she felt rather confident in the speed and strength of the attack to at least put a dent into one of the bugs. Lucario’s focus was the Volbeat, which had just hurt its buddy, so it went after that one with priority.
Graveler, in the meantime, was barely holding on, having slumped to what amounted to a knee. That had hurt, even for a bug move, but she had at least survived it for now. Megan didn’t give it much of an order though, focusing instead on the other three, hoping to intervene with orders in case Lucario got entangled in some kind of quasi-electric web from the two that she could barely remember were not of that type.

---

Kucario Extreme Speeds at Volbeat
Graveler hurt badly

The Lucario zoomed through whatever distance there was between it and the bugs in the blink of an eye, delivering a powerful blow to the Volbeat's torso that sent it flying back spinning through the air, his hold on Illumise's hand broken.

Illumise gaped as her mate was sent packing-

"Play Rough." Before turning a furious sneer onto the Lucario and swinging her arm out, intent on backhanding the dog across the snout with the firm, glimmering neon pink back of her shining palm.

Somewhere around the ballpark of the Gym Leader, a face down Volbeat was curled up onto his stomach, holding it tightly in pain. It was a good thing he hadn't eaten lunch yet, otherwise he might have been forced to return it.

---

TL;DR:
-Volbeat got bitch smacked by Lucario's Extreme Speed.
-Illumise is attempting to return the favour, with a bitch slap Play Rough!

TAG: Megan Whitmore

Megan smirked. The only reason as to why she did not exclaim a ‘yay’ or so was because she did not want to jynx this. Lucario had sent one of the two flying, and it looked like it was in pain. Part of her wanted to just order him to ignore the other and finish that bug off but….no. She had meant what she’d said. The next step was always the most important. And it mattered how one took it. Just hurting someone solved little at the end of the day. She’d learned that during a certain night. It felt good in the moment, but the next time, your hand just hurts.

Megan made a fist again. She’d take this step correctly. Lucario clearly approved, for he had already turned away from the momentarily downed enemy and instead focused on the one attacking him now. “Answer with Close Combat,” she ordered him and he did – both Pokemon trading blows in the process. She could tell that this wasn’t greatly hurting her Pokemon, so she decided to deal as much damage as she could for now. Just not on the one that currently was down. Luca wouldn’t stand for that, either.
However, Megan would keep an eye on the Volbeat, trusting her Pokemon to handle the melee for the moment. That way, she could warn him in case the other bug tried a cheap shot. Her, Luca and Arcanine had sworn that day to not be jerks about it, but also not to be taken advantage of.