When Nessa triggered the Dynamax phenomenon I immediately recalled Chesnaught so that I could do the same. Before I could toss the now beachball-sized pokeball in my arms though, Nessa's gigantic Drednaw materialized and landed on the battlefield. His landing sent tremors through the whole stadium and I gracelessly fell onto my bottom from the shock of it. Letting out an annoyed grunt, I pushed myself back to my feet and threw Chesnaught's super-sized pokeball as hard as I could.

To my delight, when Chesnaught materialized he was even taller than the gigantic Water/Rock type across from him and I rounded my attention back to my opponent. The battle that ensued was quick and terrifying. This was my second experience battling with dynamaxed pokemon and I didn't know how someone hadn't been killed just from being collateral damage. My body had absolutely frozen when Nessa had ordered her pokemon to do a Max Rockfall and a column of rock that reached almost to the ceiling of the stadium had appeared. It tilted forward and I could see my life pass before my eyes as it began to careen down towards me. But luckily Chesnaught's huge legs came on either side of me and he caught the rock column before it could flatten me.

It only took one super-charged grass type move to take out Nessa's pokemon and I gratefully watched as both our pokemon shrank back to their normal sizes. Nessa seemed annoyed at her overwhelming defeat, but she gave me a handshake with a smile when she handed me her gym badge. I thanked her, clicking the badge into place on my badge holder before leaving the pokemon stadium behind me and heading for the changing room.

I reflected on the battle I had just fought, feeling just a little bad that I had only used one pokemon to take out all three of hers. It was obvious that Nessa was an awesome trainer, but I couldn't imagine how frustrating it must be only being able to use one main typing and keeping your pokemon at a lower level since she was the second gym that trainers faced.

I doubt I'd beat her so easily if she wasn't limited by the gym rules, I thought to myself as I buttoned up my purple jacket.

So far, things had gone really well for my Galar journey. I had gotten an incredibly unexpected endorsement from the Dark Type gym leader, Piers when he had been visiting Turffield and found his fans harassing me. They had gotten the idea that I was bothering the Wooloos in the fields outside Turffield, but really they had been chasing me around like a herd of crazed Tauros.

Piers had intervened after the Team Yell members had been thoroughly thrashed by my Chesnaught. He had both apologized for them attacking me and also endorsed me. To my surprise, he had said he looked forward to seeing me in battle and I was excited to make my way to his dark type gym.

I really need to catch some new pokemon, I thought to myself with chagrin. There were SO many cute pokemon that I had been dying to catch, but they were all pure grass or water types and I had had to force myself to leave them behind. But if I was going to make good on my goal to train a pokemon from every typing, I needed to get into gear.

The dull sound of rain dripping against the metal ceiling high above caused me to look up with a small groan. I didn't even bother to pretend to look in my bag for an umbrella I knew wouldn't be there. Instead, I walked slowly over to the large sliding doors of the pokemon gym and watched the rain pour down in incessant sheets.

Just perfect, I thought to myself as I sighed heavily. Glaring outside at the downpour, I slowly reached up and loosened my curly hair from its high ponytail. Continuing to glare balefully out the glass doors, I attempted to smooth my hair before dividing it into three chunks and swiftly braiding it.

"The PokeCenter is only a five-minute walk from here," I said to myself softly as I tried to pump myself up. "I can take a bath as soon as I get there to warm up. Yah, I can totally do this. It's just a little water."

Letting out my breath in a sharp exhale, my whole body tensed as I sprang forward towards the door. My forward trajectory was suddenly halted though when a firm hand grasped my shoulder

"Woah there, Kamikaze. No need to sacrifice yourself," a male voice said with gentle amusement. I glanced over my shoulder in utter confusion but my eyes widened when I saw familiar spiky hair.

"Gary?" I asked in disbelief and then felt my cheeks heat up. "How long...?" I trailed off before finishing the embarrassing question and Gary chuckled but gave me a soothing smile.

"I'd give myself a pep talk too if I was about to run into that mess," Gary said with a calm smile. I swallowed past the lump of mortification at the thought of Gary hearing me talk to myself, but then I glanced down to see he was holding onto a furled umbrella.

"Looks like you came prepared," I said with a hint of envy. Gary looked down at the umbrella in his hand and shrugged.

"I've got important research with me, so I make sure I'm prepared no matter what the weather is," Gary explained. I couldn't help but admire him a bit. He exuded a quiet confidence and an obvious independence that gave him a mature and reliable aura.

Nothing like my ex, I couldn't help but think derisively. The only thing he had cared about was training and looking cool. I hadn't realized it in the fog of "love" that I had been in, but looking back he more often acted like a spoiled child than a mature man when we had been alone. And he had always made me do everything for him.

I could feel my spine prickling when the anger that was almost always smoldering somewhere deep inside me flared for a moment. Mentally kicking myself though, I forced those thoughts away and tamped down my rage and bitterness. When I looked over at Gary I flinched when I saw that he was regarding me silently with a piercing expression as if he were trying to read my mind.

"Did you say something?" I asked awkwardly, wondering if he was waiting for me to respond. He shook his head though and gave a half-smile that made my heart pump a little faster.

"Not yet," he said easily.

"Ahh...." I trailed off awkwardly, unsure of what to say next. This was a new experience for me. Typically I wanted nothing to do with men since I often was reminded of my ex. But just like when he had sat with me on the train a few weeks ago, I felt weirdly comfortable around Gary and didn't want our time to end as quickly as it had then.

Of course, coming up with something intelligent to SAY is a lot easier said than done, I thought ruefully to myself as I struggled to come up with a point of topic.

"Your battle was pretty impressive." I blinked up in shock at this unexpected compliment and found that Gary was looking at me without any hint of teasing or mirth in his expression. "I assume Chesnaught is your starter, but if so that means you're from the Kalos region, right?"

"Oh, that's right," I said, trying to keep my strange excitement that Gary had continued the conversation hidden.

"I thought you were a Sinnoh native, so I was a little surprised," Gary said with a small shrug. I remembered how we had met at a Sinnoh fossil restoration facility back when I was attempting to become a pokemon breeder.

"Not hardly," I said with a small chuckle. "I've lived all over the place though. It's been forever since I've been back to Kalos."

"Your parents must miss you," Gary commented and I frowned slightly before shrugging.

"My dad is kind of a hands-off parent. He's got his hands full with his job as a hedge fund manager, so we hardly spent time together even when I was at home," I said, glancing out at the rain that was STILL coming down without any sign of easing up. Realizing how depressing that probably sounded, I glanced over at Gary with a smile. "But I'm really grateful. He's supported me even through all of my career pivots so I couldn't ask for anything more."

Gary regarded me quietly for a moment before giving me a smile and nodding. "That's nice to have someone supporting you. I doubt I would be where I am now without my grandpa's support," he said as he looked out the glass doors as well.

"What are you doing here? If you don't mind me asking," I quickly added as Gary looked over with one eyebrow raised with amusement

"I was taking some readings for Professor Magnolia's research on the energy that comes from the power spots that the gyms are built on," Gary explained while shifting his backpack. "While I was around the gym I heard someone was challenging it. I wasn't about to miss seeing dynamaxing when I was so close, so I stuck around to watch the battle."

I felt my heart skip a beat when Gary gave his little half-smile and cocked his head at me.

"Imagine my surprise when I saw you going up against Nessa?"

I licked my lips nervously, somewhat surprised at how much even a small gesture that Gary made could affect me. Sheesh, you should know better than to let your guard down this much, Sayuri. Just because he's more mature than Jaxon doesn't mean I have the time to be falling for him, I thought firmly to myself.

"Have you learned anything new about dynamaxing?" I asked, trying to make my heart stop skipping.

"I've learned enough to know I'll never have the big picture until I experience it for myself," Gary said with a determined look. I blinked in shock at this turn of events and cocked my head at him out of curiosity.

"You're going to join the gym challenge?" I asked in surprise and Gary flashed me a confident smile.

"I've been thinking about it," he said before glancing out the doors again. "Doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon. Wanna share my umbrella?"

I felt my mouth drop open before I could even fully grasp what he had said. I quickly shut my mouth when he began to chuckle though and I cleared my throat awkwardly.

Choice A: Hesitate

Choice B: Politely decline

A/N It's been a while since I worked on this side project and it is surprisingly fun :D Just as a reminder. This is the grown-up version of the Sinnoh Gary. He is no longer a womanizer and is actually a very serious researcher, so I am sorry if he is not the same as he is portrayed in many fanfics. Also, the fanart I will be using is technically of Green (mostly) since they look older. Sorry if it causes any confusion :P