Catching Your Eye (Pokemon OCs x kpop F! idol)

III - The Key to Battle

As Dantin walked through the caverns that made up the Galar Mines, he couldn't help but admire his surroundings. The crystals embedded in the craggy walls shone in vibrant blues, reds, and yellows, mixing with the orange flickers from the lanterns hung on the walls to bathe the mine in a kaleidoscope of colours. It was a far cry from the Oreburgh Mine back in Sinnoh. Dantin passed by a minecart rail, which he assumed was for transporting coal, much like the automated systems in the Sinnosian local mine. However, he was only half-right; a dark-coloured cart did appear around the corner carrying coal, but Dantin soon realised this cart was a living Pokemon.

"Carkol!"

Everything Dantin saw in the mine filled him with an almost childlike intrigue. Sure, he had been to many places in Sinnoh, but it was nothing compared to the unsupervised region-wide journeys he'd heard some children took on their quest to become professional Pokemon trainers. This was a first for him. Fanta seemed to be enjoying herself just as much, looking into some of the glowing crystals in the walls, laughing at the way her reflection contorted in their glistening surfaces.

Two voices somewhere ahead in the mines demanded both Dantin and Fanta's attention, cutting their admiration of their surroundings short.

"Still, that doesn't mean you have the right to stop people from coming in here. It's a public area that everyone's allowed to pass through."

"What would you know, Kantonian?"

Dantin and Fanta shared a glance, both thinking the same thing: one of those voices was awfully familiar. The trainer made his way towards the source of the bickering, treading lightly, with his Pokemon floating closely behind.

"I know that those Wishing Stars you're collecting are a natural, limited resource, and you keeping all of them to yourself isn't gonna do anyone any favours."

As the trainer and Pokemon duo entered a cavern within the mine, the two speakers were revealed. As Dantin had suspected, the female voice belonged to Lee Gahyeon, the owner of the Nickit who stole his endorsement letter the previous day. She wore a bolero jacket over a white top and dark skinny jeans. And the other voice belonged to a young man, looking to be in his pre-teens. He wore a medium orchid daffle jacket extending over his knees. He ran his hand through his head of bushy white hair, a smug look on his face.

"Of course you wouldn't get it. Your endorsement came from a mere Gym Leader. Mine's directly from the Chairman himself. How could someone like you ever hope to understand the greater good he envisions?"

"Is... everything okay here?" Dantin spoke up, drawing the attention of both the Gym Challengers. Though he barely noticed, Gahyeon winced the moment their eyes met.

"Oh?" the white haired boy said. "Yet another Gym Leader-endorsed Challenger from another region. Come to add to my interruption, have you?"

"Interruption to what?"

Clearing her throat, Gahyeon answered before the boy could. "This kid here thinks it's his duty to collect all the Wishing Stars in this mine to help Chairman Rose with some "greater good", and he won't let anyone through till he's done."

"I don't think, Kantonian, I know."

"I have a name, you know."

"And so do I." The boy ran his hand through his hair again, like some sort of tic. "Bede. Keep that name in mind. You'll be hearing it much more, especially when I destroy all of you and become Galar's next Champion."

"Misdreav," Fanta sighed, rolling her eyes as she floated over Dantin's shoulder. If the two had been alone, Dantin would've quipped at how similar Bede's mannerisms were to Fanta, which wouldn't have slid very well with the Misdreavus.