Fiona:

  Fiona balled her fist in frustration. It just wasn't clicking. She had been in this damn field all morning and she still couldn't get it right.

  She was trying to get her Heracross up to speed, but the lumbering Bug just didn't respond the way she needed him to. He wasn't disobedient, and he clearly understood what she wanted him to do. He was just… slow. Maybe she was too used to Thistle, who at times seemed to react even before she did, but with Heracross it was completely different.

  She gritted her teeth as he completely failed to react to what she was saying. He was strong, amazingly so, but he was displaying none of the energy he had back in the forest, when he had rushed to help Chloe.

  Chloe…

  Fiona released a heavy breath, shaking her head.

  That girl was… she was something else. Fiona had been convinced that her bubbly attitude the day before, when she had been stuck in the hospital had been an act. What had happened in Eterna had been a nightmare. Chloe had almost died, and it was Fiona’s fault. She had chosen that route. She had told Chloe to lead the way. She had failed to react in time.

  When Fiona had been let in to visit Chloe after they had been teleported out by a League Trainer’s Kadabra, she had expected, well, she wasn't sure what she had expected. Tears maybe? Anger? But no. She found the pretty blonde fussing over her hair. Fiona had been ready to apologise, but instead Chloe had nearly thrown herself at her, wrapping Fiona in a huge hug. Fiona had no idea how to react to that.

  Then this morning, she had seen Chloe bouncing down the stairs with exactly as much sparkle as she had back in Eterna. It was ridiculous.

  Fiona had been over the moon when she caught her Heracross, but now? The victory felt hollow. His strength meant nothing if she couldn't bond with him. None of the others seemed to have this problem. Yeah, Eleanor had a rocky start with her Mareep, but she had won him over soon enough.

  Troy’s random god damn Oddish was already a mirror image of the big lug. Yeah, it was useless, but Fiona had seen his Pancham. Given a little time, she had no doubt that Salad would be benching Golems. Even with that name. (Though she had to admit, it was kind of growing on her).

  Then there was Chloe. She had talked a Bounsweet into joining her and less than three days later it had evolved to protect her. How could Fiona compete with that?

  As much as she wanted to blame the Heracross, she couldn't. The fault was with her, not him. Hell, she hadn't even been able to name him yet. He deserved better. She had to face the reality that she wasn't as prepared as she thought.

  Fiona sighed, and recalled Heracross.

  “I’m sorry buddy,” she said. “You're doing your best. And I… I’m not.”

  A big nose poked her side. Fiona turned to see Star, glaring at her, his big eyes staring directly at her.

  “What?” She asked, and he pawed at the ground, shaking his mane with anger.

  “What do you want from me?” Fiona demanded. “I’m not good enough. I almost got Chloe fucking killed because I didn't think. I didn't even consider that shit might go wrong. I had no plan, just jumped in without a thought. It was my clever fucking idea, and no one even fucking blames me for it.”

  She wanted to punch the ground. She wanted to scream. She felt like shit. She was an idiot and everyone was too damn nice to call her on it.

  Star shoved her again. Hard.

  She went sprawling.

  “What the fuck?” She demanded, looking up to see him standing over her.

  He locked eyes with her.

  Then he glowed.

  Fiona’s own eyes widened, as Star was engulfed in light, changing. Growing.

  The light faded, and her pretty little Ponyta was gone. Replaced by a majestic, glorious Rapidash, long mane flowing in a wind that didn't exist.

  “Did… Did you just fucking evolve to make a point?” Fiona asked, gobsmacked.

  Star flicked his tail, now long and sleek. He looked her dead in the eye, and nodded.

  Fiona was, well she was speechless. Star had always been with her. When she had no one else, when she had been alone all those late nights as a child, he had been there.

  She reached out without thinking, letting her fingers trail through his mane. It was like touching warm silk; sparks tickled her skin. Her throat tightened as memories surfaced, nights when a much smaller Star had nudged her awake after she’d fallen asleep on a park bench, mornings when he’d walked her to school, silent but present. Star was her best friend. Her unconditional ally.

  If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  And now he had evolved.

  Just because she dared to doubt herself.

  “You…” She said, fighting the urge to sob. She had promised him she wouldn't cry. She had yet to break that promise. But Arceus. That little shit.

  "Fuck you Star," Fiona said, laughed despite herself.

  She wiped her eyes and stood. If Star was willing to evolve for her, then how could she just sit around? She had made a promise. She had sworn that one day, she would be the strongest trainer alive. That no one would ever forget who she was.

  She would fulfill that promise.

  Starting with Heracross.

  No. Not Heracross. He needed a name.

  He was slow. He was powerful. He had shielded them with his body.

  He was Tank.

  The sound of something crashing through the bushes interrupted, and she turned to see Troy stumbling into her training field, Salad on his head like a leafy crown.

  “Hey, Fifi,” he called, “Have you seen any… Woah! Your Pony had a glow up! Looking good, sparkle bro!”

  Star shook his mane with pride, and Fiona giggled. Trust Troy to ruin a moment.

  “Yeah. He wanted to win an argument,” she replied.

  “I bet he wins lots of things now!” Troy agreed. “You’re gonna smash that gym!”

  Fiona looked at Star, then down at her belt where Tank and Thistle’s Pokeballs sat.

  “Yeah, she said,

  “We fucking got this.”

  Eleanor:

  Eleanor tapped her pen against her chin, thoughtful.

  She was sitting, back against a tree, computer on her lap. Lumen was wedged up against her side so he could see the screen, and Echo perched on her shoulder.

  On the screen a battle was playing out. Gardenia against a rookie trainer. It was an older clip, she highly doubted she would encounter the Lombre that Gardenia was using, but it was still useful. Besides, there was a good chance she would have a different Lombre.

  She had been watching Gardenia’s battles all morning, taking notes, and observing her strategies. Gardenia was about control. She liked to test her challengers, push them out of their comfort zones. It was something she had to be prepared for.

  Gardenia liked to test her challengers. To force them out of their comfort zones. It wasn't uncommon for her gym to be the very first time a new trainer encountered status moves. Those moves of course, formed the core of her basic strategy. The Pokemon that Gardenia used, at least at the lower levels, were usually rather weak. However, they made up for it with a wide array of status moves, self buffs and endless cheap tricks that would frustrate and confuse an inexperienced trainer.

  Eleanor was reasonably sure that Gardenia used weaker Pokemon on purpose, both as a bait and a potential path to victory.

  Fiona would almost certainly exploit the hell out of that. Eleanor was willing to bet the other girl just intended to blast right through whatever tricks Gardenia could plan. It was probably going to work too. She had that insane Heracross, there was no way Gardenia would be expecting it.

  Then there were the other two. Troy, being Troy, was probably doing to do something super simple, nonsensical, and yet surprisingly effective. That was assuming that he wasn't planning to just have TJ wrestle everything. If Troy even had a plan that was. You could never tell with him.

  Chloe on the other hand was a wild card. She had talked about a strategy, sure, but Eleanor found it just as likely that Chloe would simply leave her Pokemon to their own devices. That was what she had done during Eterna and it had been startlingly effective. Chloe’s Pokemon were all just as crazy powerful as Fiona’s. She had no doubt that they would overpower anything Gardenia would throw at them.

  Eleanor didn't have that luxury, but that didn't mean she wasn't confident. She had a strategy, now all she had to do was pull it off.

  “What ya thinking about?”

  Eleanor startled as Troy spoke into her ear. Echo squawked in protest as she whirled around to find his face just centimetres from her own.

  “Troy! Don't do that!” She protested, flushing despite herself.

  She took a breath, trying to regain her composure. She hated the way she reacted to Troy. He wasn't interested in her like that. She had to accept it, and move on. Which was easier said than done with the way he insisted on constantly invading her personal space.

  Two months ago, when they had decided to take on the Challenge, she had finally worked up the courage to confess to him. She knew it was a long shot, but she had to try. Unfortunately, she hadn't realised exactly how bad her odds were of Troy liking her back. Turns out, her best friend was gay. He had been nice about it at least, but she still couldn't face him for a week afterwards.

  She shook her, refocusing back on her friend. He gave her a big, goofy grin.

  “Sorry," he said "I brought you a present!”

  Troy held out his hand and dropped a rock in Eleanor's lap. She stared at him.

  “Umm, okay?” she replied.

  “It's lucky!” he declared, “Haven't lost a single gym battle since I’ve had it!”

  “Troy…” Eleanor said. “This is your first gym battle. You can't lose battles you’ve never had.”

  “Exactly!” Troy replied. “Undefeated!”

  Eleanor rolled her eyes, but smiled in spite of herself. She picked up the rock, and handed it back to him.

  “Thanks,” she said, “But you keep it. I already have all the luck I need."

  Troy:

  Troy lay in the grass, watching the clouds roll by. TJ and Salad lay either side of him, the three of them relaxing together.

  His impromptu dance party with Chloe and her team had been good fun, but even Troy knew when to take a break.

  It had been a good day.

  Troy had gotten up early to get his work out in before spending the day making sure his team were holding up after Eterna Forest. It had been rough on a couple of them, and Troy wanted to check in, see if everyone was okay.

  Chloe has worried him the most, but seeing the way she bounced out the door that morning, he decided to check on Fiona first. The Galarian trainer was rattled after the forest, even Troy could tell. Troy didn't blame her, accepting that you have limits was hard, even for him. The fire in her eyes had dimmed, and Troy was hoping to fan those flames a little to help her out.

  So he had gone to find her, to see if she needed any awesome advice. He got there just in time to witness her Ponyta evolve.

  “Guess we're not needed bud!” he said to Salad, perched on his shoulder, as the two of them watched Fiona interacting with her team. It looked like she would be just fine. Still, it never hurt to add a little more encouragement, so he made sure to drop by and offer some. He couldn't wait to watch her battle.

  He visited Eleanor next. His friend would probably be freaking out a little. A bit of light teasing would help her relax, though he did need to be careful, it wouldn't do to give her any false hope that might accidentally keep her crush going. He felt bad when he had to turn her down, but she would pull through. She was a fighter.

  He found her taking notes, planning with her team. But not in the obsessive way he was used to. The Eleanor of just a few days ago would have been freaking out, but she now seemed… confident. Or at least was able to pretend. That was good. Eleanor was way better than gave herself credit for. Troy had always been impressed by her, it was half the reason he agreed to this journey, to push her.

  He didn't bother hanging around Eleanor for long, she was doing fine. Of course, the gym could break her, depending how it went, but Troy chose to have faith. Life was better when you believed in people.

  So he went to find Chloe. She worried him the most. He didn't know the girl well, didn't know how much of that sparkle was an act. He half expected to find her crying in a bush somewhere, instead she was hard at work. He watched her from a tree, enjoying the antics of her two Fairy Types. Chloe’s training philosophy was similar to his own. Motivate, guide, and enjoy the results.

  Watching her Steenee struggle was entertaining, but he decided to help Chloe out a little. He was confident she would work out a solution, but she deserved a little help. Besides, if the smile was a mask, maybe he could help make it genuine.

  The dance party has been wild, fun and noisy, but Troy still heard the genuine laugh from the blonde as they whirled about. She had left a little while ago, tired, but smiling. Troy had no doubts that her bubble was real after that one. He was glad. He had a hunch when he had first met the two foreign trainers, that they would be role models for Eleanor. It looks like he was right, they were already bringing out more in his friend.

  Troy was a realist. Oh sure, he wasn't a bad trainer, not by any means. But he wasn't special, nor did he have the drive. Instead he took pleasure in seeing his friends shine. They would take center stage, and Troy would support them. It was what he did. But that didn't mean he didn't have his own work to do. He would have to be strong enough to keep up with them, after all.

  “Right!” He said, sitting up, and turning to Salad.

  “Let's go punch that waterfall.”

  now Star's evolved. I'll have to be more careful in my edits, I've noticed that I have a habit of accidentally referring to Pokemon by their evolved forms on occasion, not helped by Star being listed as Rapidash in my notes.