Author's note: I should be doing my homework right now, but… OH GREAT AND MIGHTY HOMEWORK GODS PLEASE SPARE MY MISERABLE LIFE! (*is shot and killed by homeroom teacher*)

I nervously fidgeted in front of the Striaton Gym, doing a last minute check to see if I had enough potions and berries. "I probably have enough, does twenty potions seem like enough to you guys?"

Behind me, Regal stood on the stairs, watching her teammates with her Queen of Sheba act, while Luke chatted to Thorn, who managed to look both bored and interested at the same time.

Regal nodded, and patted me on the arm with one of her vines. I sighed in relief. "Good. Anyways, we should be able to beat this gym, Luke should be able to handle the lilipup, and Regal and Thorn can help mop up whatever spots Luke left." They cheered in agreement.

Marching into the gym, I saw other people sitting down and having coffee, while at the same time a couple of heated battles were being fought nearby. "Wow… We have to eat here sometime!"

I gaped at a couple who were having tea while a panpour jumped at a purrloin, who dodged and tackled him back, throwing the panpour at the couple.

The panpour hit an invisible boundary, and bounced back. The two didn't even flinch. "What the…"

"Interesting, is it not?" I whirled around to face one of the waiters. I pointed at the battles, and then to the people eating lunch. "Oh, that. The Striaton Gym doesn't get enough funds from the League to operate all of the stuff here, so we also operate as a restaurant. There are Protect boundaries around the tables so that no stray attack hurts the customers."

I blinked. What?

"I assume you are here to challenge the gym leaders. In order to advance, you have to step on the correct button that is effective against the type shown on the curtain. There are also gym trainers that will battle you before you can face the gym leader."

I nodded. "Thank you!"

An hour later, I stepped through the last curtain. It hadn't been really hard, seeing as Cheren had drilled all of the types and type advantages into my head. I made a mental note to thank him later.

The gym trainers hadn't been too hard either, but I had stopped and headed back to the Pokémon Center after every battle to rest my Pokémon, and give them a fifteen minute break. I was rewarded for my efforts with a fully recovered team ready to crush the gym.

"Welcome to the Striaton Gym, how may I help you today?" The blue haired triplet spoke first. I blinked. If I remembered correctly, all three triplets were gym leaders. The blue guy was Cress, the green guy Cilan, and the last one was Chili.

I smiled. "I'd like a really hot battle with a side dish of awesome, thank you very much." Regal nodded her agreement, and Luke jumped up and down in pent up excitement.

Cress nodded. "Your starter is Snivy, am I correct?"

I nodded. "Very well, you will face Chili."

Chili nodded. "My pansear will crush your snivy!" He released a lilipup. "Psyche."

I smiled. "Hey guys, let's show them what we got!" Luke ran up, and I pointed a finger at Chili. He mimicked my motion, pointing a paw at Lilipup.

"Force Palm!" He ran forward, slammed his paw against Lilipup. A discharge of glowing energy erupted from his paw. Lilipup yowled.

"Bite!" Lilipup ran forward and clamped his jaws onto Luke's arm, and he shook him off.

I crossed my arms, and Luke did the same. "We're not going down yet! Counter!" A swirl of blue energy surrounded Luke, and the wave hit Lilipup, who fainted. I jumped up in excitement, and Luke repeated the action.

"Impressive. You and your Pokémon are in complete sync. But," Chili pulled another pokéball from his belt. "You wanted a hot battle, so that's what you get! Pansear, Incinerate!"

Thorn pushed Luke out of the way, and took the attack. She stood up on her hind legs, and I hit the same pose as her.

"We're not going down yet! Attract!" Thorn curled her tail around her paws, and gave Pansear the big eyes treatment. He blushed, and forgot about what he was going to do.

"Pansear! Don't fall for her female charms! Fury Swipes!" Pansear shook his head and continued staring at Thorn. Luke glowered from his spot near Regal.

Thorn smiled, and looked at me. I grinned back. "Fury Swipes." Thorn dropped to all fours, and looked at Pansear.

"Sorry sweetie. Nothing personal." She sent him flying with one paw, and then continued raining blows down on his head. Luke glared again.

Pansear shook himself off and got up. "Wow. You're even cuter when you attack like that." Chili hit his head, blissfully unaware of the little love feud going on. Thorn smirked, and rose back up on her hind legs to copy my actions.

"Again!" I swept my arm out in a flourish, and Thorn repeated the action before lunging. Pansear went down, and Chili sighed.

"You won. Take this badge."

I blinked as the badge was handed to me. "Don't I have to battle the rest of you guys?"

"Nope, just the one who has the type advantage against your starter, who didn't even need to participate."

I hit my forehead. "All those potions for nothing… Oh well, at least I got my badge!" I ran outside happily, only to trip on the stairs and fall face first on the ground.

"Ow…" I moaned, rolling over and getting up. For the most part, my prosthetic moved the way a normal leg would, but sometimes it would get jammed and wouldn't move. Hence my hatred of stairs.

"Seriously Touko?" I sighed and stood up, brushing myself off.

"Hey Cheren. Yes, I don't have anything better to do other than to fall down stairs."

He sighed. "Honestly, I swear you have no brain sometimes. Anyway, once you finish fixing your leg, go to the Pokémon Center. Fennel sent us all gifts." I nodded, and limped to the Pokémon Center, dragging my unbending leg behind me.

Plopping myself down in a chair, I studied the C-gear strapped to my wrist. "So this is Fennel's new model… I should use it sometime." I sighed, and unstrapped my prosthetic. I massaged my leg stump, flinching as I felt the familiar pins and needles from clamping it too tightly on. I bent the prosthetic, bending and unbending it to fix the jam. "I hate this thing…"

Regal hissed her sympathy. I smiled. "It's okay. Tell you what, tomorrow we can move on to the next town. For now, we should go celebrate our victory with food." I smiled. "Who thinks we should go to the Striaton Gym? I heard they have really good tea."