Love in the Time of Turmoil

Chapter 17: A Blockade

With the arrival at Spikemuth this chapter, we get into some fun meat of the story. Please enjoy it. Chapter 17!

Chapter 17

A Blockade

"Something's wrong."

Marnie had joined Gloria at looking over her hometown, closed off from the world. Squinting a little, Gloria could see the amalgamation of people gathered at the gates of Spikemuth was a hodgepodge: from those who looked like Gym Challengers, to the funky uniforms belonging to Team Yell, and even some guys in suits emblazoned with the Macro Cosmos logo. It made Gloria's throat run dry, wondering why a town holding a Gym would just shut itself off like that.

"What was your first clue?" Astrid asked dryly, clapping both girls on the shoulder as she walked forward. Gloria gave a double take when she saw Absol and Butterfree at her side, each looking jittery.

"No, it's more than just the gate. There are so many people here..."

"Well, it's a Gym, right?" Ash said. He was now pushing them forward, his hands trembling. Not with worry, but some other emotion Gloria couldn't identify. "There are bound to be people here."

"Not in this amount. How long has the gate been closed...?"

"We should get a closer look." Bonnie's suggestion was the one thing they all agreed with. Rain pattered and fell around them, drenching Gloria's hair, but she wiped her eyes from the moisture as they approached the granite gray gate. Voices were soon becoming evident, along with the snarls and barks of Pokémon.

"Ain't no one gettin' through these gates on order of the boss!"

"You can't be serious!" one of the suited men yelled. "You are an official Gym of the Galar League, and as such must abide by regulations!"

"Well, why don't ya tell that bloody chairman to come down and tell us 'imself?" The men recoiled at that, though one of them held up a piece of paper, quickly smattered with the rain, as if it meant something. "Wha's that? Some little piece of paper for the loo?"

"This is a signed writ from the Dynamax Division of Macro Cosmos, demanding your Gym be opened to challengers or else Piers will be stripped of his title and the Spikemuth Gym will be moved to a more appropriate location."

"We don't take well to no orderin' around," a female grunt said. Her Linoone hissed, alongside another's Thievul. Many challengers backed up, not wanting to tango with the wall of Yell grunts that appeared to surround the gate in a secondary human barricade. "Piers done right by the League with his power, and no fancy-pants trashy woman gonna remove him from where he done right by us."

"H-how dare you?! Oleana is a great-"

"Whoa now, don't go starting something now." Gloria knew that voice, perking up just a bit. She and Marnie charged just a little ahead of the adults, ignoring the snapping of teeth from the Pokémon to push through the crowd and see what was transpiring at the front. Sure enough, after pushing enough of the retreating challengers away, Gloria could see the familiar Gordie, his large hand clasping to the official's wrist. In his hand was a Poké Ball. "Regulations or not, imagine the blowback on the League if you go starting fights with an official Gym."

"I'm sorry, Leader Gordie, but this has become a problem," the man with the paper said. A wind blew through with the rain, ripping it apart and sending it to the dirt and grass with a splat. The grunts at the front started to cackle with laughter, the one official piece of paper destroyed. It was a credit to the official that he didn't lose his cool, especially when the shadow of an unidentified Flying Pokémon nearly ripped it apart further before settling near the roof of Spikemuth. The official huffed. "With the Gym Challengers entering their later phases, and the events at Stow-on-Side, combined with Motostoke, the Dynamax Division has deemed it unsafe for the multiple Power Spots of the dual Gyms to be used on the same day as much as possible. This makes it mandatory for Spikemuth to remain open."