The moment I stepped onto the field, I felt my breath being stripped away. This was the first time I'd been in a gym challenge that presented their participants publicly, especially being on live TV as we were. Meowsie had returned to her luxury ball, and I could feel her rattling around in my pocket as I hung behind with a few other gym challengers about 20 years of age or so.

"Glad to see the ankle's feeling better," Milo's cheery voice came out of the blue. Jumping slightly, I turned and smiled back. "I heal quickly," I smiled. "It's really incredible, being up on stage in front of the whole region...maybe even the world! It kind of blows your mind, when you think about it."

"I wouldn't dwell too much upon it," Nessa chimed in, walking over to us. "Overthinking things can make you nervous. And if you're nervous, how will you be able to think straight during our gym battles?"
"I think I'll manage," I chuckled, looking up to the huge crowd. "I've got a long way to go before I can battle here."

"And it'll take even longer to reach me," a cocky and velvety voice laughed from behind me. Turning on my heels, I almost spun nose-first into Raihan's hoodie pocket. "S-sorry," I mumbled, standing back to take in the gargantuan size of the Dragon-type gym leader.

He was 6'8", incredibly confident with his head held high, and totally shredded. Even with his baggy hoodie on, I could see the outline of his abs. And, unfortunately, I was comically short, topping out at barely 5 feet tall, so the fact of the rather embarrassing matter was that I had to take a few steps back and look straight up just to make eye contact with his cyan irises.

Honestly, the thought had crossed my mind multiple times about how my future operatives would ever respect me when they could literally pick me up, shove me in a sack and drop me off the nearest cliff, but most of them would never dream of it while my father controlled them. Except maybe X, but he was a total bootlicker.

"Well, then, I guess I'd better hurry and get started," I smiled, taking a slightly flirtatious tone. From what I'd heard from loose strings of gossip and poking around on social media, Raihan was a total player. So, I figured, to get what I wanted I'd just have to start talking a little less and tease a little more.

"Say, Raihan, you're one of Leon's best friends, right?" I asked slowly, turning on the charm.
"Eh. We're more rivals than anything," he smirked.
"But you know each other well."
"You could say that," he smiled, leaning down closer to me.
"And he knows the Chairman well, correct?"

"All this talk of the Chairman and Leon," a high-pitched male voice groaned. "Do you really think this is an appropriate time to fantasize about them?"
"Whoever said I was fantasizing?" I asked, turning to the person who spoke. It was the Fairy-type gym leader from Ballonlea, Bede, crossing his arms and frowning at me.

"I was simply asking if he knew the Chairman. How does that read as 'fantasizing'?" I asked, sassing him right back. "Your flirtatious tone is a dead giveaway," he deadpanned before walking off. I rolled my eyes and wandered away from the other gym leaders, looking to socialize a bit with the other gym challengers. I was about to interrupt a conversation between two guys around my age when a voice shouted, "Look out below!"

Learning from the last time something was almost dropped on me from over 100 feet in the air, I scrambled backwards just before a giant Charizard landed just where I had been standing before. A man in his mid-20's slid off its back, and as he turned to face the crowd, everyone immediately cheered at the arrival of their Champion.

Leon grinned and waved wildly to the huge crowds of people in the stadium, purple hair and fur-lined cape billowing wildly in the gusts his partner's wings were creating. "Hello, Galar!" he shouted, and if it were even possible for the crowd to cheer even louder, they did.

"It's your Champion, Leon!!" He struck his famous Charizard Pose, and immediately everyone else copied his example. Even a few Pokemon on the Stadium field that had fingers made the sign. "I'm so happy to be here at the opening ceremony, and I'm beyond excited to see what this year's challengers can do!" More cheers followed his speech, embellished by huge arm gestures and blinding-white grins.

"As you know, all of the trainers here today will battle their way through the Gym Challenge to collect eight gym badges from all of our Gym Leaders. The select few that defeat them all will go to the Semi-Finals in Wyndon, to battle it out until only one is left standing! That lucky challenger will then face off against the Gym Leaders in the Finals, and the winner will get to challenge me, the unbeatable Leon, for the title of Champion!"

Just as he finished, a little hand tapped me on the shoulder, and I turned to see the little girl from Wyndon standing beside me in a ridiculous black and fuschia uniform. "I remember you," Marnie grinned, looking up at me. "It's Jolene, right?"

"That's right, sugar," I plastered on a grin and switched over to my Southern accent. "But I told ya, you can just call me Jo. Tell me, didja end up findin' that little Meowth from Wyndon?" She looked down at her high tops and murmured a sad "No."

"Oh, don't feel bad," I reassured her. "I reckon the little critter found its way back home sooner or later."
"I guess," she sighed. "So, you're doin' the Gym Challenge, then?"
"You bet I am, though I feel no bigger than a minnow in a fishin' pond with all these people. It's hard to believe that only eight of us are gonna make it to the finals."

"Yeah," she agreed. "I'll give you a little word of advice: Wait to challenge Milo. Once the challenge really starts, all Hell's gonna break loose down in Turffield."
"Oh, hush your mouth," I said in a mock scolding tone. "There's little kids here."

"Sorry, ma'am," she said quickly.
"Oh, don't apologise for nothin','' I insisted. "See, back in the South, my family don't care much for swearin'. I can't count all the times my momma scolded me for even sayin' 'Dear Arceus' in the same room as company."

"That does sound pretty bad," she chuckled. "The worst my bro would do would probably give me a little smack on the head and send me on my way."
"And please, no ma'am. I don't wanna feel older than I already am."

"Okay, Jo," she laughed.
"So, Marnie, was it? Are you fixin' to do the Gym Challenge too?"
"Somethin' like that," she admitted, scratching her head. "Truth is, I'm-"

"Thank you, Champion Leon, for that incredible introduction to this year's challengers," Chairman Rose's voice boomed from the loudspeakers, cutting off Marnie and sending the crowd into an even wilder frenzy. "Gym Challengers, if you would be so kind as to return to the locker room, the League will arrange for your rooms in the Budew Drop Inn tonight. Our staff shall escort you there once the preparations have been made."

As I left to follow the rest of the Gym Challengers to the locker room we had been waiting in previously, I couldn't stop thinking about what Marnie would have said to me had Chairman Rose not stopped her mid-sentence.

***********

After we emerged from the locker room, I was immediately pounced upon by a bundled hurricane of puffy jackets and blonde braids.

"Mira!" Maddie squealed as she ferociously hugged me. "I saw you on the opening pitch on TV, so I decided to swing by and say congrats on getting the letter!"
"Thanks," I squeaked out as she crushed my ribs. "I ended up actually getting one from Nessa. I dropped in on Milo pretty suddenly. Literally."

"Yeah, I heard," she let go of me. "A friend of a friend of my dad who knows a trainer with a Cufant who's cousins with the best friend of Milo told me old man he saw a woman fall off the cliffs in Turffield. I guess that was you, guv?"
"Yep," I groaned sheepishly. "That was me, alright."
"Cor blimey," she gasped. "You didn't hurt yourself, did ya?"

"No, thankfully. I was fortunate enough to land on a bunch of Wooloo when I fell," I lied. "Thank Arceus for that," she sighed, pulling off the woolen beanie she was wearing. "Say, Mira, after you defeat a few gym leaders, I wonder if you'd like to drop in for a spot of lunch someday. I can show you the best cafes in Galar, with a free ride, too!"

"That sounds lovely," I smiled, trying to hide my growing disappointment. Maddie seemed like one of those people you just couldn't help but be friends with, and as much as I would have liked to get to know her better, I knew it couldn't last. In a year, my father would pull me from Galar and I would never see her again. Better to not get attached to something that wasn't real.

"Sounds like a plan, then, love. If you've got one, gimme your Rotom Phone so we can swap numbers. Then we can chat about meeting up later!" After we swapped devices, Maddie congratulated me one more time about getting into the league, wished me luck, and started to leave before turning at the last second.

"Waitwaitwait! How could I forget?!" she huffed, removing multiple layers of jackets to check the pockets. "I know it's in here somewhere," she murmured, all the while removing various knick knacks and objects from her coats and letting them fly all over the stadium.

"Ah, here it is!" Grabbing my hand, she slapped something rather roughly into my hand. "Give me a ring once you send Milo arse-over-tits in your gym battle," she grinned before bounding out the door like a hyperactive Herdier in parkas. Looking down to the object in my hand, it was a small, red ribbon with golden edges.

Grinning, I pocketed the Focus Sash and exited the building, headed for the Budew Drop Inn, waiting for the day when I would, once again, head for the rolling fields of Turffield.