[HIATUS]Going Down in History - Bede x Gloria | Pokémon Sword and Shield

Galar Mine No.1

Route 3 was no problem for Bede. He had plenty of training and Pokemon strong enough to take out any wild Pokemon.

When he approached the mine, a woman offered to heal his Pokemon. He took her offer then went inside.

It shocked him to see how the walls of the Mine glow. He could see wishing stars hiding amongst the rocks.

He walks around, gazing into several carts, trying to avoid gawking at the beautiful stones and attempting focus on finding wishing stars. A warm red glow catches his eye as he passes a cart on the rails. He picks up the rock. Upon inspecting it closer, he confirms that it's no rock at all. It's a wishing star! He puts it into his pocket and looks into the cart. There's another wishing star in there as well. He picks it up.

"Hey kid, what are you doing?" 

He nearly jumps at the sound of a woman's voice. It echos off the walls. 

"And what makes it your business?" He turns and scoffs at the woman behind him.

"I work hard mining here, and I'm not letting some kid steal my findings." The woman steps forward. She pulls out a Pokeball. "I'm really bored. Maybe I'll let you keep those two rocks if you could defeat me in a Pokemon battle." She says. Her face tells Bede all her thoughts. She really thinks she can beat him in a battle just because he's younger than her.

Bede pulls out his own Pokeball. "I'll gladly wipe the floor with you." He says.

Bede wins the battle. "What, sad you lost the battle?" He says with a smirk. "Maybe if you ever trained like I do, you would've had even the slightest chance."

The woman sighs. "You sure are one smug kid. Keep the rocks." She says in an annoyed tone and runs off to heal her Pokemon.

"Hmph. No one seems to understand the value of training." He says to himself, turns, and roams further into the mine.

There are plenty of wishing stars in the mine to please the chairman. Bede feels pride when his pockets begin to feel heavy, even though it is inconvenient at times. Every miner here just seems to be itching for a battle, annoyingly, but it still entertains him when they all lose to him. Soon he can see light ahead. He's getting closer to the exit. 

He notices there is a wishing star just laying right in front of the exit. It's convenient, but confusing.

Why here out of all pl-

He hears footsteps behind him. Another trainer. He turns around. It's that girl again.

"Coming this way? I advise against it." Bede catches a glimpse of her wrist again. The Dynamax band. Another wishing star for the chairman awaits him. "Any trainer with a wishing star is in for a beating from me and my Pokemon!"

Despite his warning, the trainer walks toward him confidently. As they step out of the darkness, the light of the exit lights up their features. The girl, with short hair, brown eyes, and a pink dress with a sweater over it, approaches him.

"Hey there! I'm Gloria. Didn't I see you at Motostoke?" She smiles warmly. Bede just stares at her, not interested in her cheeriness. She frowns. She took offense to that.

"You. You're the Gym Challenger endorsed by the Champion, aren't you?" He chuckles. Its amusing the unbeatable Champion would endorse such a person. "What a joke. You are aware that the chairman is more important than the Champion, right?"

"I wouldn't say that." Gloria interrupts. "But how amazing! We're both endorsed by someone really important!" She says, cheery again. Bede almost sighs in annoyance.

"I was chosen by the chairman himself, so that makes me more amazing than you." He says. "I suppose I should prove how pathetic you are and how strong I am!" He picks up his Pokeball for Solosis. He throws it out and the ball releases a bright blue light as Solosis appears. 

Gloria releases her Pokemon, the light from her Pokeball revealing a Raboot. It hops from foot to foot, excited. Bede smirks at her confidently. She smiles back. He chuckles. Fools roaming here hardly ever bring over 2 Pokemon with them. She should be an easy target.

"Solosis, use Confusion!" He snaps his fingers as he speaks.

"Raboot, Quick Attack!" Gloria points over at Solosis. 

Raboot flies toward his enemy at an extreme speed, kicking Solosis hard. Solosis continues with it's attack. Raboot wobbles on its feet.

"Raboot, use Flame Charge, you can do this!" Gloria shouts.

"Solosis, Confusion again!" Bede yells.

The Raboot hits itself in the face with flames. Confusion hits it again, leaving it vulnerable. It's trainer commands it to use Flame Charge one more time, causing Solosis to faint.

"I'm just giving your Pokemon a chance to shine, that's all." Bede says.

Gloria raises an eyebrow, but stops herself. She retrieves her Raboot before it can faint, sending out a Yamper. Bede sends out his Gothita.

"Use Nuzzle!" Gloria cheers.

Gloria quickly wipes out Gothita when she is paralyzed, to Bede's surprise. It almost impresses him. It annoys him too. This is a waste of his time, and he doesn't like the idea of being defeated.

Hatenna is thrown in, and Gloria switches her Pokemon once again and throws out a new one. A Zigzagoon appears from the flash of light. Bede groans quietly.

Dark type is strong against Psychic types. I can't switch out because I have no Pokemon left! I have a strategy for this... I know I do. Why am I so distracted? Gloria can't impress me. She clearly has very little training. Bede thinks as hard as he can. He must win this battle.

"Hatenna, Disarming Voice, quick! Let's clean this up!" He commands, snapping his fingers. Hatenna releases the attack. The fairy type move affects the Zigzagoon harshly.

"Ah! Zigzagoon! Use Snarl!" Gloria shouts. The move affects Hatenna just as bad.

Zigzagoon avoids the next attack and takes out Hatenna.

"I- what-" Bede stands shocked for a moment.

"I won. Hehe." Gloria giggles.

Bede looks away. "I see... Well, that's fine. I wasn't really trying all that hard anyway."

"Hmph. Well, that was unexpected. I suppose you're more able than I thought." He says. "Naturally, I'll remember your battle style and strategies now. I'm sure to easily defeat you if and when we face each other in an official match."

"Uh-huh. You're pretty rude, you know that, right?" Gloria says, tilting her head. "You're strong, but you don't have to be so... arrogant about it."

"Well, I have trained for a very long time for this, and it seems people like you don't understand the meaning of training, so I would think I would have the right to brag a little bit or quite a lot."

"People like me? And what do you mean by that?" She says angrily. Bede chuckles at her scrunched up face.

"People who have no chance at getting past the 3rd gym at the most. Now that we've established that, I won't waste anymore time on you. I've already gathered every wishing star in this area. Remember the name Bede. You'll be proud to have even battled me when you watch me become Champion after you give up." Bede says and chuckles. 

"Huh!?" He hears Gloria gasp in shock and offense when he turns around and leaves. He lets the woman standing near the pile of rocks outside the cave heal his Pokemon. He gazes over Route 4 and sees Turffield's stadium in the distance. He smirks and continues to move toward the town.