Eterna City Gym is large and beautiful-- like a nature park, crowded with lots of grass Pokemon in every corner. Vines strung down from the roof, encrusting the open ceiling with ivy. The walkway is peppered with little bridges and long streams, all built to a size suited for Pokemon more so than humans.

Luce found himself enamoured by the sights.

This was much more than anything he'd ever imagined. In the games, they were a one-room structure that was either a structured maze, or a clock embellishment that served as the Gym puzzle. He was fairly sure those were similar in the manga as well.

There was a large, grassland battlefield in a raised platform near the end. That could be seen from the entrance, but the tall trees between the roads and the various notes of Trainers wandering about made it difficult to find the route immediately.

Looking up, Luce found the currently empty audience stands, but they were high, narrow bridges made of steel rather than rows of long seats. One could argue those were actually for gardeners to tend to the higher plants, rather than for the audience.

"Here for the gym challenge, kids?"

Standing at the fence of one of the bridges and holding onto the ceiling light for balance, is none other than the gym leader Gardenia herself.

Barry's jaw drops at that. "Hey, isn't that dangerous?"

Luce nods vigorously, because those bridges are high, and Gardenia was dancing the edge of that height like it was Tuesday for her. Barry did call her a tomboy, but this has absolutely nothing to do with how stereotypically masculine she prefers to act.

In response to that, Gardenia simply laughs, spinning in her spot twice before launching right off.

Barry and Luce made shrieks of horror, though the latter does so in a silent variant-- but Gardenia catches herself on a vine, yodeling in pure joy as she swings down a tree to the other, peaking at a new vine before swinging right down once more.

Chimchar squeals at the sight, hopping excitedly on Luce's shoulder before pouncing to Barry's, interfering in Starly' personal space but ignoring it pointedly. He looks back at Luce as if he was expecting permission to run ahead and do his monkey thing.

"Spitfire, no!" Barry says for Luce. 

Gardenia lands squarely before them, a chuckle at her lips. A Cherubi had latched onto her shoulder on the way down, chirping happily as Gardenia posed with her.

"That's one lively Chimchar you've got!" she's endeared, and in a similar situation Luce really wants to snuggle that Cherubi, "we've had quite an empty day today, so you can challenge the gym now if you want. I'm Gardenia, the gym leader."

Chimchar jumps out in excitement, but Barry lunges for it, holding it to his side.

"I'm Barry!" he introduces himself, "I've only got one badge for now. Oh, and this is Luce, he's a no-badge trainer. We're here to take the gym challenge, please!"

Luce nods in greeting.

"Great, the more the merrier!" Gardenia grins. "Onward to the registration board, shall we?" she says, and Chimchar cheers.

Starly makes an annoyed noise, because Chimchar is still obnoxiously in his personal space. When Luce offers his arms, Starly gives it a skeptical glance before rejecting it, opting to go for Luce's hat instead, perching on his head.

Well, that's progress.

"Trainer card here," Gym guide Jim swipes the piece of glorified plastic over the machine. "Single, Double, or Multi?"

Multi?

"We can do Multi?" Barry asks, surprised. "I thought that was only for trainers in the same badge level."

Oh, team battles with two trainers. Okay.

"Well, there's not much of a difference between none and first badge trainers except for a couple movesets she can use, so she can juggle those things around."

The previous Lucas only had minimal interest in the League itself, just the leaders and the aspect of strong trainers littered all across the world, with their own trials to surpass. Well, not needing to be obsessed with earning badges is great. 

Luce is incredibly satisfied with just the adorable Pokemon running around everywhere.

"Cool! Hey Luce, wanna do a Multi with me?" Barry hooks an arm around him, "it'll be like the ones we did back on Route 201!"

Well, that certainly sounds like it'll be more fun than doing it alone. But it's a little inefficient if you take into account their differing battle styles.

"I have to sign," Luce expresses, "I might get in your way, so let's not."

"That's not a problem at all!" Barry insists, "c'mon, Luce? It's a rare opportunity, y'know! And Spitfire's raring to go, too!"

Luce relents with a contented sigh. 

Starly mimics him, and he can't help but feel a little bad for the poor bird. It's hard to keep up with Barry's energy sometimes, really.

Luce raises a thumbs up, and Barry cheers in time with Chimchar.

"I'll be waiting for both of you at the end!" Gardenia pats them both on the back. "I'll look forward to it, alright?"

"Yeah, we won't disappoint!" Barry promises.

-

It's shaky at first.

Luce would shake the Soothe Bell in his hands, in a constant metronome. Barry would follow along, tapping his hand at his thigh with a smile. But Starly wasn't familiar with the silent commands, so he couldn't coordinate well with Chimchar.

A sharp whistle in time with a loud call of "now!", Chimchar lunges forward with a flaming hand. Starly dives down, wings cutting straight down.

Chimchar glances back for the next order, but the timing wasn't right. The Roselia shoots out a spiked vine in his direction, and nicks him in the leg with Toxic.

Barry responds immediately, calling out a "Wing Attack on Roselia!"

But in the process, he'd forgotten about the Cherubi he had been fighting. A spew of Leech Seed scatters around their feet, an entrapment of vines sprouting and entangling Chimchar.

"Spitfire!" Barry calls out-- he fixes a stern look on him-- and Chimchar looks back, not so sure how to interpret the meaning without signs.

Oh. Leech Seed actually traps you in reality, huh. Some things differed almost annoyingly from the game mechanics...

"This is bad. Roselia's going to use Mega Drain," Barry warns, reading the Roselia's posture. "Spitfire might not be able to take another hit."

Luce opens his Pokedex.

(Moves were more grounded in reality, so doesn't that mean named Pokemon moves are simply a social construct?)

"Fire," Luce orders, "lots and lots of fire!"

Barry gapes at it, "wait, Luce, you can't just bulldoze yer way through--" Chimchar interrupts with a loud wail, and his tail fire sparks back to life.

"Wha--" the trainers they were fighting are flabbergasted as well. The vines on Chimchar's feet are set ablaze, charring them through and into the ground as Chimchar explodes into a full body of flames with a loud roar.

With as much fire as there was, there was no way for Roselia or Cherubi, who were absolutely terrified, to come close at all, even with ranged attacks.

Luce smiles at that. "Blaze," the Pokedex reads, "ups Fire moves in a pinch."

Barry whirls at him, "doesn't mean you can just burn everything!"

"Slowly roasting," Luce offers. Then he makes the Pokedex read the description of the ability one more time, just to emphasize his point.

"Changing the way you say it doesn't make it not what it is!" Barry scolds. They were going to get charged for greenhouse fees, for god's sake.

Luce, instead of responding, simply points back at the battle. Starly looks back, cawing impatiently for his next orders.

(Y'know what? Screw everything.)

Barry thought he was the reckless one, but apparently Luce outbrazens him on all ends.

"Argh! Whirlwind!" Barry orders immediately, deciding that there was no point in worrying about that. "Whirlwind, spread the flames!"

And Starly complied.

It's not the way you're supposed to use Whirlwind, but really, who cares.

-

They won the battle, but Gym guide Jim had words to say about all the grass and trees they set on fire.

"Part of becoming a good Pokemon trainer is battling appropriately at the landscape you are given!" Jim chews them out. "Fire Pokemon in a forest is a hazard in itself, but a good trainer is capable of controlling the damage to the environment. Pokemon live all around, after all-- it's rude to destroy their habitat."

There's a myriad of water and sand Pokemon trying to put out the flames, and the grass Pokemon were already working to rejuvenate the scorched field.

"We're really sorry!" Barry shoves Luce's head down as they make their rounds to apologize to all the Pokemon in the area.

Chimchar, now rejuvenated after an Aroma Lady gave him a Pecha berry, bows his head in some imitation of the gesture. Starly simply nods at each one, looking more placated than apologetic.

"Just find one more pair of trainers and you can fight Gardenia, alright?"

"Understood! Thanks, Jim guide!"

"It's just Jim!"

They continue their gym challenge, Starly and Chimchar communicating over their shoulders. It's impossible to tell what they're saying, but Chimchar speaks animatedly, and Starly huffs every once in a while in consideration.

And somehow, Barry was joining in.

"It's two rings for dodge, a slightly louder sound on the direction," Barry tells his Starly, miming the motion of ringing the Soothe Bell. "Then a whistle, that's the sign to attack, Sarge. Other times, you keep your distance."

Starly chirps once, frowning.

"Yes, I know, you don't like dragged out battles, but you gotta work with Luce here," Barry says, "it's a Multi-battle after all. You gotta work together."

Chimchar adds his own input, to which Starly refutes again.

Sergeant had issues with being a cooperative sort. More likely, he had an issue with the 'together' part of the problem. Luce could empathize, so they just had to work around it.

"Battle at your usual pace," Luce suggests, "I'll match you."

Barry walks backwards so he can keep an eye on the signs as they conversed.

"You sure?" Barry asks. Their battle styles contrasted greatly, after all-- matching wouldn't be easy. "I rush ahead, you know. Spitfire might be left behind if you can't keep up with the orders."

"Spitfire can handle it," Luce assures him. He glances at his Chimchar, "right?"

Chimchar happily mimes back a "Battle! Battle!!"

Luce then remembers he hadn't complimented Chimchar for their first trainer battle victory, so he takes him off Barry's shoulder to give it the nuzzle of a lifetime.

Barry sighs contentedly. "Well, better than having no plan, I guess," he relents. "Alright, do as we planned this time, alright?"

Luce hastily signs a "what plan?" but Barry's already turned back on the road.

"Found our next trainers!" Barry declares, spotting them almost instantly in the distance-- wait, what? How long were they there? How did he see that? "Battle, please!"

-

Their next match is a breeze. 

Starly clearly likes being the vanguard rather than the support, and Chimchar found himself slotting easily into the support system, now that Starly was the one to create opportunities for him.

"See, Spitfire, you can wrap yourself in the fire from all that Ember, and then go charging forward! That'd be... Flame Charge!"

"And if you Rollout with it, it's a Flame Wheel?" Luce has to ask, incredulous. Nevermind the fact that Flame Charge isn't part of Chimchar's moveset-- the fact that it sort of makes sense is rather strange.

"And if you spew it, it's Flamethrower!"

Chimchar's eyes sparkle, actually believing Barry's claims. The next long moment is spent with him trying to burp out something larger than an Ember, and Luce sprays him with a Potion before he chokes up his lunch.

"If moves were so easy, we don't need training!" Luce chastises him, to which Barry chuckles, signing an offhanded apology.

"But it's fine, right? New moves should be discovered naturally, rather than with TMs all the time," Barry says, "stronger that way, right?"

Luce huffs at that.

"Speaking of naturally," Barry suggests, "you know the opening the Sarge leaves when he uses Wing Attack? I was thinking..."

Their journals were in their hands, filled up with logs of all their favourable battle sequences after each round. They would then discuss it, and set them as each separate pattern to be used at a time.

For Luce, this was part and parcel of working with signs. He had to go through planned patterns, because he couldn't coordinate as well as a trainer that had a voice.

But for Barry, this was a genuine hobby. He adored Pokemon battles, from movesets to strategies to tactical planning. It's in his blood, and he's proud of it.

As someone once said-- knowledge is the most valuable weapon in a battle, after all.

-

They make their way to the main stage, where Gardenia greets them with a smile.

"Took you guys long enough!" she cheers. Pointing upward to the audience that had gathered during their challenge.

Barry waves to them, recognizing the teenager and the old couple he'd met by the statue, pointing them out to Luce, who nods nervously at them. The gym trainers they fought were up there as well, cheering at their efforts.

It's a little embarrassing, to have such an audience.

"I'm excited," Gardenia says. The Cherubi was still on her shoulder. She whistled, calling upon a Roserade from the forest. "These are the Pokemon I'll be using. Think you're up for the challenge?"

Barry grins at that. Adjusting his hat, Luce signs out a resolved "of course!" at the same time Barry loudly declares, "been ready since yesterday!"

Jim raises his hand, "Gym Challengers, Barry and Luce, versus Gym Leader Gardenia! Two-on-two, no switch-outs," he explains the rules and restrictions once more, for formality's sake. "Ready? The battle starts..."

Before he could declare 'now!', the front door of the gym burst open. Abruptly torn out from their moment of excitement, Barry stumbles and crashes facefirst into the soil. 

"Gym Leader Gardenia? Big sis Gardenia, please, I need your help!"

All eyes turn to the Youngster at the door-- and Barry recognizes him immediately. "Hey, you're the kid that was in the Bike Shop!" he exclaims.

"Did something happen to Mister Rad?" Gardenia asks, stepping forward quickly, battle forgotten.

And that's when they spot the shivering figure in the boy's arms-- a little, injured Cleffa, curled weakly by his chest.

"I don't know! But Clifford came back like this..." he explains, harried. "I don't know where Cliff and Cliffette are, but the guards at the Galactic Building aren't letting me in! It's been three days since he went there, Big Sis Gardenia. I'm starting to think he's in trouble!"

In a town as small as this one, everyone knew each other around here. Hearing that their beloved, cheerful bike shop owner was missing and possibly injured-- now, that was a sore spot for everyone.

"The Galactic Building, huh," Gardenia mutters. "Understood. I'll head there right away," she promises, "for now, bring the Cleffa to the Pokemon Center."

"Gardenia! I'll go with you," a teenager-- Roy, the one that Barry had recognized as the same guy that told him about the statue inscriptions-- volunteers himself. "It might be dangerous."

"Oh, me too then!"

"I'll call some of the townsfolk!"

"I appreciate it!" Gardenia smiles up at him. Obviously, they were acquainted well-- people in their age group aren't common in this town, after all.

"We're going too, Luce," Barry says.

Wait, what?

At his surprised look, Barry gawks, "what's that face for?" Then he seems to have an internal conflict before insisting that, "I'm not playing hero or anything! It's just-- well, I'm worri- I mean, the bike! Yeah, my free bike's at stake here and you know how I feel about money," he hisses.

(Don't play the hero, he says. Let's go too, he also says. Talk about a hypocrite.)

Luce sighs. 

"Just say you're worried about him," he says with a judgmental side-eye at his best friend. "And you want to go help. No one will judge you for trying to be cool and brave and volunteering yourself."

"Oh, be quiet," Barry takes him by the arm, "Hey, Miss Gardenia!" he calls out, to which the older girl lifts her head from the crowd's efforts.

"Oh, you two! I'm so sorry we got interrupted," she raises a hand before her in a half-prayer to indicate apology, "I promise we'll have our match at a later date--"

"No, no, that's perfectly fine! We don't mind at all," Barry assures her. "But we were wondering if we could help in any way?"

Gardenia brightens up at that.

"Of course!" she takes his hands, "we'd appreciate it!"

Luce looks toward Chimchar, who makes his way out of the field to climb up his shoulder in confusion. Starly does the same, landing on Barry's head as Barry gives them both a short explanation of the new situation they were going to involve themselves in.