Distortion

•Turffield•

Y'all can fight me on this but every Pokémon owned by a trainer/gym has a nickname and I will take name suggestions (except for Hop, Bede, and Marnie's Pokémon)

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The battle began with Harlan sending out Neptune and Bede sending out a Solosis. He had Neptune use Waterfall, sending a gush of water into the small Pokémon. Bede scoffed and told his Pokémon, who he called Ectoplasm, to use Endeavor. He seemed to already know that he was outmatched, but that didn't stop the kid from trying. Harlan had to admit, Endeavor was a good move to use, as it cut Neptune's health down quite a bit, according to his Pokéball anyway.
"Alright Nep," Harlan said, "use Metal Claw."
The Prinplup clawed at the small jelly Pokémon, making it faint. Bede grumbled something to himself about how that was just pure luck, then sent out a Gothita. Harlan got to move first this time, telling her Pokémon to use Waterfall again, knocking the Gothita out. Bede harrumphed and sent out his last Pokémon, a small Pokémon he called Hattena.
"Celeste, use Round!" That knocked Neptune out, making Harlan run out and check on her Pokémon.
"We'll getcha to a Pokémon Center right after I beat this asshole, okay Nep?" The penguin Pokémon nodded and gave a weak smile before Harlan returned him to his Pokéball. She closed her eyes and stood up.
"Hm," Harlan said. "I say we're a bit late for Turffield, ay Hop?" Harlan released Coast, who looked down at Bede and his Pokémon. The turtle attacked with Giga Impact, knocking out Bede's final Pokémon but sending the Carracosta into a paralyzed position as he recharged. Harlan patted the ancient turtle and returned him to his Pokéball. "Alright then," she finally said, looking up and smiling at Bede. "Let us through now. We need to get to Turffield." Bede looked shocked but regained his smug and prideful aura.
"Whatever, I simply allowed you to win. I've already gathered the Wishing Stars in this area, so I suppose I can let you two through." And with that, he walked off.
"Great job Harlan!" Hop cheered, running up to his friend.
"Thanks, Hop," Harlan replied. "Not gonna lie, I thought he was gonna stop acting like a prick after I beat 'im but guess not." Hop glanced around at the cave around them, then at the exit where Bede had left the two.
''Well, the map says that just through that tunnel is Turffield, so let's head through!" Goddammit I need to loosen up, Harlan thought, Bede's too full of himself, but he's not much of a threat.
Just watch out for him, he could prove different, like me.
The fuck is that supposed to mean?
Don't worry about it, just focus on the task at hand, little one.
Walking out of the tunnel, the duo looked around at the small walls of stone, yellow fields, a PokéCenter, the huge, green Grass-Type stadium, a hill with etching on it, and little Pokémon running in the yellow fields of Route 4. "Dang, this place is pretty. The colors are-" Something slammed into Harlan's knees, knocking him off balance and falling backward.
"You good?" Harlan opened their eyes and looked up, seeing that Hop had caught them and felt their cheeks flush.
"Y-yeah, I'm good. Just took me by surprise s'all." She stood up, brushing herself off in embarrassment.
"Lou! Oh no, are you okay? You took that Tackle head-on, and you still fell and I just wanted to make sure." Looking at who was apologizing, Harlan recognized the Grass Type gym leader, Milo.
"Yeah, I'm good," the teen looked at the shorter man and smiled.
"Well, that's good. Hey, you're those trainers we met at Leon's, right? Hop and Harlan?" They both nodded. "I've been itching to see how good you Champion-endorsed Challengers are. Guess we'll decide in the stadium!" Milo pointed at the green building, where Challengers who had gotten there earlier walked through the doors. "Just head on through the route and you'll be there." He turned back to the Wooloo that ran into Harlan. "Come on now, Lou, back to the stadium with you! We got challengers to face!" The Sheep Pokémon bleated and followed the leaving Gym Leader.
He seems a bit too nice.
Shadorake, please, he was just being friendly.
Nice, in what way? The friendly kind, or the trust-then-betrayal ways, like Gladion and Lusamine?
Gladion had nothing to do with Lusamine's plan and you know it. Now stop, please. The first gym is stressful enough.
"Harlan!" Hop yelled, grabbing Harlan's attention and shaking his shoulders slightly. "You okay? You zoned out there for a bit." Harlan blinked several times,  before gently grabbing Hop's wrists and taking them off her shoulders.
"I'm good. How about we go to the PokéCenter and heal our Pokémon and get something to snack on?" Hop smiled and nodded.
"So," he began, putting his elbow on Harlan's shoulder as they walked towards the Center. "What do you think about camping in the Wild Area after we beat this gym? We can stop there for a while, then make our way to Hulbury, where the Water-type Gym is."
"Sounds like a plan," Harlan said, looking forward to camping and trying curry. The two walked into the PokéCenter, Harlan walking up to Nurse Joy and Hop walking over to buy some healing items for the gym ahead.
"Here are your Pokémon! Have a wonderful day." Nurse Joy handed Harlan's Pokémon back, who in turn gave a red-patterned PokéBean to the nurse's Audino. The brunette trainer walked over to Hop, the boy finishing up purchasing whatever he needed.
"I got Neptune all healed up," they said once Hop acknowledged them. "We should head over to the gym to get ready."  Hop nodded and the pair walked out of the Center. They were about to turn to go to the gym stadium when they were stopped by a little dog Pokémon. "Oh, hey, isn't that Sonia's Yamper, Cuisle?"
Hop's head turned to see a small, light brown Pokémon barking at them. Harlan watched as the little dog scampered back over to his red-haired trainer, who was a ways away, studying the hillside. Harlan looked to his friend as if asking if they had to go talk to her when the gym was right there and they were prepared for it. Hop raised his eyebrows and nodded, leaving his friend to scoff playfully and elbow his shoulder lightly. The duo walked over to the woman. "Hey, Sonia," Harlan said, crouching to scratch Cuisle's head, the Puppy Pokémon barking in happy response. "this little guy led us over to you. Didja need something?"
"I had you come 'cause I wanted to hear what you two thought," she gestured to the etchings in the hill. It looked like a kind of dinosaur Pokémon, with humanoid-looking figures below it and a swirl and lightning bolts in front of it.
"Somethin' with Dynamax probably? No Pokémon is that big by default unless it's a Legendary, Wailord, or Arceus itself."
Hop nodded, agreeing with him.
"I was thinking of the Darkest Day as another theory," Sonia paused, then looked at the teens. "Do you two know about the Darkest Day? I'm mainly talking about the Alolan kid here, but it might've been too nightmarish of a bedtime story for you, Hop." Sonia teased Hop playfully, who snickered in response.
"Well, here's the gist of it. A long time ago, a great black storm covered the Galar region. Giant Pokémon ran rampant. But my question is, what was that black storm they called 'the Darkest Day', and what connection does it have to Dynamax?" Sonia twirled a lock of her hair around her finger. "And I'm the lucky lady who'll be looking into that... Gran sure gives me a lot to do." She muttered the last part before turning to the teens, one of which was zoning out, the other was waving his hand in front of the other's face, trying to zone the other back in. Sonia snickered at the duo, wondering if what Leon said would be true in the future. "Thanks for your thoughts on the matter! As thanks, I'll give you a League Card."
That seemed to snap them both out of what they were doing as Sonia gave them a card; Milo's Card. "You two better be off to the Gym, then," Sonia said. "There are fewer trainers than when I started talking to you, so you'll have less time to wait." Sonia waved to the two as they walked towards the gym.

"You good?" Hop asked. They had gotten to the gym and changed, but apparently, Hop wanted to check with Harlan just before he went in. Harlan let out a quick sigh and looked at the slightly shorter boy.
"I'll be good. You go get your badge, hun." Hop looked at him, uncertain. "Hop, I'll be fine. If that Bede kid comes back, I've got my bat and Pokémon. You get your badge, and I'll go fall asleep somewhere." The purple-haired boy closed his eyes and snickered.
"Alright, hun, I'll be back soon with the badge!" And with that, Hop raced up to go get his badge. Harlan found the couches that were in the waiting area were really comfy. Shutting her eyes, she let sleep come to her, calmer knowing her Pokémon were safe in her bag but feeling more unsafe that she didn't have her bat.
A little bit of sleep was gotten, before he opened his eyes, and saw a familiar world of floating islands, waterfalls, and the void.
"My dearest Trainer," said Shadrake. "We must talk. I have words I must get off my soul."