Not for the first time I questioned my choice of career.

Originally, I'd set out to earn gym badges all those years ago-but not for fame, not to challenge the champion of my region.

Just to be able to get to the place where I could find something...new.

In the end, I was approached by the League for my prowess not in battling, but breeding. Not to say I was a slouch when it came to battling, but I had a sort of pride to the teams I used being bred and trained to perfection.

Of course I eventually made the mistake of taking up the position of a gym leader, thinking I could instill a sense of unity in trainers.

You know, show them that a bond is strong, not just by control but by understanding.

Then regulations changed that idea.

I could still breed my team for the gym-I'd had a full roster of varying strength planned and sourced the parents from local trainers-not just for pedigree but to ensure I wasn't potentially taking a rare species from it's habitat by force.

By virtue of luck, the gym I'd...well inherited for lack of better term, was the bug gym.

Near the local professor, I'd be either the second or third along many new trainers routes, with a few potentially putting me near the sixth or seventh depending on their origin.

This meant my projected team-and the Pokemon that I'd considered my friend and almost a sibling for the better part of twenty years was forced to sit in the wayside.

She'd proven herself a powerful little thing when we'd fought the Champion to prove ourselves worthy,and that made them worry.

I was able to keep up my theatrics, the showmanship I'd honed with fiery scales, venomous spines and razor sharp pincers at my side.

But...it stung, pun intended, at the disdain my friends received.

I'd been forced to settle on Vivillion as my ace-a modest Scatterbug that had all the bark, but none of the bite as I'd nurtured them into their final form.

All so a trainer with a bird and beast may have a fair chance.

And now I held a Trainer who'd beaten the other seven-in their own words, 'Saving the easiest for last.'

So, with a breath as deep as a Shedinja's body cavity should one dare to gaze into it for too long, I sighed.

"So you thought to keep my gym as a trophy of sorts?"

"Well yeah," the trainer said, their swagger far too much for a child of nearly fifteen years, "Bugs aren't exactly hard to beat,so why wouldI fight you when I had other fish to fry?"

"Well, that old beach babe in the port may have a habit of leaving her Quagsire out of the fight to play nice, but I do believe I won't."

He blinked, confused as he mouthed the name back to me, gears turning in that little head of his.

"Wait, she had a-"

"As such, if you'll excuse a slight delay, I do believe I'll give you a proper duel."

I turned away, moving to the neatly hidden recess in the back wall of the arena-I'd rebuilt the entire gym into a more suitable stable for the chitinous folk that made it home, including a few environmentally controlled rooms for the more delicate bugs(and a Lurantis, little Orchid may not have been a true bug but she'd been so adorable as a Fomantis I couldn't help but keep her around).

I placed the three plain white and red balls into the recess.

"You do have a full team of six, correct?"

"Yeah..?"

The trainer was confused, and it was understandable. I had earned a reputation for being a bit too...nice, agreeable even.

I picked up six balls each worn slightly and chipped-Beast, Net, Heavy, Friend, Luxury, and the oldest of the bunch.

A Master ball, nearly faded white as a premiere ball.

"Normally I'd be dancing around, giving a grandiose speech about the trust and respect one gives and receives."

I held three of the balls in each hand, turning to the trainer with arms outstretched and coat fluttering like a Frosmoths' wing tips.

"But I think it's time you learned the meaning of those words. To so callously disregard an entire form of life? To insult my friends in such a way?"

I whipped one hand up, sending the Beast, Heavy and Luxury balls over my head and to my right with a flourish.

From the Beast ball the hulking, armor clad form of Goliath, a Golisopod I'd raised from egg to fearsome titan, his shell pitted and scarred from the trials of Alola.

From the Heavy, the sleek form of Bident, a Scizor, one who'd left my side only once during the entirety of my time in Kanto, and returned in scarlet shell and with blade turned to claw.

From the Luxury, Galahad. Venipede were a skittish breed, but as a Scolipede? Galahad had taken effort to tame, and even now I could see the wrath of an unused blade in those sharp eyes.

I sent the remaining balls to my left, spinning both my arms into a bow as the Trainers eyes widened.

From the Net ball, Gillian. The trainer gasped as the Armaldo rustled his feathers and grated the sharp talons of his arms against one another like knives on a a sharpener.

The Friend ball nearly shattered as the eager form of Ragia burst forth in smoldering cinder-the Volcarona had been my second partner and despite her age she still sent many a foe away with crisped pride and wounded ego.

Lastly, the Master ball, a gift given to me alongside the first Pokemon egg I'd ever seen.

In a flash of light and with a cry that rivaled the crash of thunder itself, my dearest friend and companion of over two thirds of my life, four prickly legs alighted on my shoulders.

Val had always had a temper, eager to snip and throw herself at anything that moved even as a Grubbin.

The Trainer stepped back as I stood straight, right arm staight and palm facing up as Val-no, her full name would best here.

"Well, child. I would ask your name, though I doubt my friends would care," Val skittered to my hand, her mandibles arcing with enough power to bring down an Abomasnow with ease.

"I am the head of this Gym, Alexander Guyvolt. And this is my oldest friend. Valkyrie, if you would?"

She buzzed up, the others chittering and clicking their anticipation in a chorus of chaos.

"It's time for some shock and awe."