Challenging the gym, of course

"Let's challenge the Aspertia Gym!" Rosa proclaimed enthusiastically. "That's the best way to try out my new form."

"Are you sure about that?" you questioned upon hearing her idea. "You've only fought a single wild Pokémon so far, shouldn't we train a little more before trying to earn a badge?"

"That just makes it more of a challenge I can overcome," she countered with a confident smile before shifting to a slightly playful smirk. "Besides, I have to show off what I'm capable of to my trainer, don't I?"

"Well, looks like you're really intent on going for it," you said with a defeated smile, realizing that any attempt at talking her out of the idea would be futile. "Alright then, let's go get ourselves a gym badge."

"That's what I want to hear!" she grinned, giving you a thumbs up.

After stuffing the case with the remaining Type Chips back into your bag, you once again slung it over your shoulder before heading outside with Rosa and getting on your way to the gym. With Aspertia being one of the smaller cities in the Unova region, you never had to walk too far to get from your house to any place within. However, even over the relatively short time the two of you spent walking through the streets, Rosa quite enthusiastically showed her anticipation for the upcoming battle. You listened to her with a smile and the occasional chuckle, the energetic nature the Fighting Chip had bestowed upon her making her look very cute at times. Eventually though, you reached your destination and found yourselves standing directly in front of the Aspertia City Gym.

Located just south of the steps leading up to the lookout where you and Rosa had started your journey together, the gym was hosted inside Aspertia's trainer school. Upon entering the main hall of the large red-roofed building, you followed the markers guiding the way to the school's backyard, the training grounds for the students that doubled as the gym's battlefield. It did not take long until the two of you had made your way through the building, heading outside through the set of double doors that formed the entrance to the backyard.

The area behind the school building consisted of a mostly grassy yard that was surrounded by a line of trees. Various kinds of playground equipment as well as sets of tables and benches had been installed on the grounds for the students to spend their time in-between the various classes the school held. A paved path connected the school building to the training grounds at the center of the yard, a rectangular field of dirt with the outline of a battlefield painted on it. Surrounded by a knee-high brick wall and a green fence, it clearly stood out among the other installations present.

As the two of you entered the backyard, you noticed someone sitting at one of the tables and reading a book. Noticing your arrival, he put a bookmark between the pages before stashing away the book in his bag and getting up from the table. Now that he had gotten up, you could see that he was a young guy with black hair dressed in a pretty formal way with a white shirt and red tie, a pair of blue pants as well as brown dress shoes. Adjusting his tie, he headed over to you and Rosa to greet you with a friendly but nervous smile.

"Hello, welcome to the Aspertia City Gym," he began. "My name is Cheren, and I am the leader of this gym."

"Hi, I'm Nate and this is Rosa," you introduced yourself and your partner. "We'd like to challenge you for the gym badge."

"I already assumed as much, your Rosa looks like she's eager to fight," he remarked, noticing the look of determination in Rosa's eyes. "Alright then, follow me to the battlefield and we can start off right away."

"Great, we're right behind you," you replied as both you and Rosa followed Cheren along the path to the battlefield. Once there, the two of you walked to the trainer zone opposite to the one Cheren was going to occupy. When everyone had taken their position, Cheren reached for one of the two Pokéballs he had readied.

"As the leader of the Aspertia City Gym, I officially accept your challenge," he announced before sending out his first Pokémon onto the battlefield. "Go, Patrat!" From the light escaping the Pokéball emerged the same Pokémon that Rosa had fought in the clearing the day before. Standing at attention on the field, it waited for its opponent.

"Alright Rosa, time for us to earn our first gym badge," you said to your friend before you nodded at each other in determination.

"You got it!" she replied with a confident smile before stepping onto the battlefield. Facing the Patrat, she took a fighting stance, her legs bent with her left foot in front of her right and her hands balled into fists.

"Well then, our battle starts now!" Cheren exclaimed to officially start the battle.

"Okay, let's start off with Mach Punch!" you instructed Rosa for her first move. Immediately, her right hand started to glow and she dashed forward at incredible speed. In the blink of an eye, her fist had made contact with the Normal type Pokémon and sent it reeling back. While the Patrat regained its footing, Rosa returned to her initial stance and waited for her opponent's move.

"She's fast, we'll have to keep her speed in mind," the Gym Leader analysed as his Pokèmon recovered. "Patrat, use Tackle!" Upon its trainers command the small Pokémon charged at Rosa, ramming its body right into her stomach. While Rosa did feel the hit, she did not stagger and remained in her stance as the Patrat landed back on its feet right in front of her.

"Quick, while it's close, use Low Sweep!" you shouted. Rosa got low to the ground on only her left foot while stretching her right leg out to the side. In a swift, circular motion, her leg moved towards the smaller Pokémon with a powerful kick. Unable to dodge the move in time, the Patrat was hit by its full **** and sent flying into the fence that lined the battlefield. Dropping to the ground, it tried to get up one more time before staggering and falling again, remaining on the ground fainted.

"Patrat, no!" Cheren cried out at his fainted Pokémon. Reaching for its Pokéball, he held it out to recall the fainted Pokémon which soon vanished in a beam of red light. "You did your best, Patrat, you deserve to get some rest now." Stashing the ball away, he reached for his second Pokéball before turning to face you. "Your Rosa is very strong, but we're not going to accept defeat yet. Lillipup, let's turn this battle around and use Work Up!" From his second Pokéball emerged a small, doglike Pokémon which immediately stood ready to face Rosa. With a growl, a slight red aura surrounded it for a short moment as it raised both its Attack and Special Attack.

"We're not planning to lose this battle either. Rosa, use Bulk Up!" Not lowering her stance, your friend tensed up her muscles and a red aura similar to that of Lillipup surrounded her for a short moment. She had successfully raised both her Attack and Defense.

"If raising our stats isn't going to work, that only leaves us with the option to attack. Use Bite!" Lillipup dashed towards Rosa, opening its mouth wide as with a jump, it bit into her left arm. It wasn't very effective, but it prevented the smaller Pokémon from being hit by Rosa's Low Sweep that easily.

"Try to get it off your arm with Mach Punch!" you ordered, leading Rosa to once again perform a quick punch with her right hand. The Normal type tried holding on, but all it could do was decrease the distance it was launched back from the attack.

"It was a good try, Lillipup. Now use Tackle!" Cheren called out to his Pokémon. Having regained its footing, it once again charged at Rosa, this time aiming to ram itself into her stomach. You were prepared, however.

"Dodge to the side, Rosa, then use Low Sweep when it lands!" The human Pokémon followed your instruction, quickly moving her left foot back in an arch to the right and turning her body away, effectively getting out of the path of Lillipup's attack without breaking her stance. As it made contact with the ground again, Rosa shifted to her low stance once more before hitting it with another powerful kick, launching it to the side of the battlefield where it barely managed to land.

"Lillipup, hang in there! Try it with another Bite," the Gym Leader instructed his Pokémon in a final attempt to turn the battle around. The Lillipup did just that, charging at Rosa for a final time.

"Finish it with Mach Punch before it can land the hit!" Rosa dashed forward at the charging Pokémon, throwing another fast punch at it before its Bite could latch onto her arm again. Upon impact, it was sent flying back into its own half of the battlefield, crashing into the ground and remaining there as it too had fainted. You had won the battle.

"We did it!" you cried out in joy as you ran up to Rosa. "You did amazing out there, Rosa."

"Hehe, I told you I was strong enough," she said with a satisfied grin. "But you were also great, your instructions were on point."

"I'm glad to hear," you replied the smile. "We're a great team, aren't we?"

"We definitely are, Nate," your friend returned the smile before going to stand at your side as Cheren walked up to the two of you.

"That was a great battle we had," he told you and Rosa, already having recalled his Lillipup back into its Pokéball. "Both of you more than deserve receiving the Basic Badge." The Gym Leader held out his hand to present you with the badge of the gym, purple with golden borders and shaped to look like the spine of a book.

"Thank you very much, Cheren," you took the badge from the leader and inserted it into the badge case you carried in the inside pocket of your jacket.

"I'm certain that you will have many more great battles and come very far together," he continued. "Good luck on your ongoing journey, you two."

"We will give it our all, right Rosa?" you assured him before looking over at your partner.

"Of course we will!" Rosa exclaimed with a determined nod, though Cheren did not understand her words due to the effect of the Conversion Ball.