Feeling of Glory -Sword and Shield (SLOW UPDATES)

Chapter 13- Water Battle

"Y-yeah!" She turned her head, heat rising to her cheeks again. Only, as she looked away, she noticed a pink-coated teen watching them both with wide violet eyes. As soon as he saw Gloria watching him, he quickly hid behind the collar of his coat and began quickly walking away.

"Wait!" Gloria called after Bede, starting to chase after him, only to be stopped by Victor as he grabbed her hand.

"Don't worry about him. He's nothing." His dark eyes hardened for a split second before relaxing. "You should go over to the Gym. I'll talk to him for you, okay?"

Gloria breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright. Thank you, Victor." She took a step back, smiled, and made her way over to Nessa's Gym.

"Good luck!" Victor called to her as she walked away. He waited until she left before opening a Poké Ball, a cerulean amphibious-like creature appearing from it. It had two transparent scales, one purple and the other navy, covering the right half of its face. Its hands were light green, as if it had mittens.

"Drizz?" The Pokémon asked, blinking up at his Trainer.

Victor glanced at him. "Come on, Brook. We should follow her and. . . support her." Without waiting for a reply, he began walking towards where Gloria had gone.

Brook hesitated, a frown on his face. "Zile."

Victor turned around, his eyes narrowing. "Brook, come on."

The Drizzile flinched, his pupils widening slightly. "Drizz. . ." He bowed his head and walked to Victor, following him to where Gloria had gone.

⚔️ 🛡

Gloria let out a sigh of relief as her opponent's Seismitoad fell to the ground. She smiled and returned her Pokémon, whispering a few words of praise.

"Well done!" Her opponent returned his large blue amphibian and walked to the Gym Challenger. "It's not everyday someone manages to best Seismitoad." He handed her a Potion. "Best of luck to you in your Gym Battle. Nessa's pretty tough but I'm sure you'll do fine."

"Thank you," Gloria replied. Nessa's Gym Mission was a lot harder than Milo's, consisting of a huge maze with towers of water. But she had managed to clear it, and defeat the Trainers with no problem at all. She was starting to have a bit more confidence in herself, and was beginning to think that maybe this battle wouldn't be so bad.

The man smiled. "Of course. Now go on and show Nessa what you can do."

Gloria thanked him again and made her way up the staircase, the doors opening up before her. The hallway leading out into the field was long, and Gloria took this moment to heal up Valiant while she waited for the announcer to introduce her name to the audience. She was still worried, but her training with her friends earlier had given her some confidence in herself and her Pokémon's abilities.

". . . And introducing our challenger, Gloria Shield from Postwick Town!"

Gloria took a breath and walked out onto the pitch, the crowd cheering and screaming as she did so. There was a few hundred more people than there were in Turffield's Stadium, but that may be partly because Turffield was considerably smaller than Hulbury.

"And now for our favorite water expert! Everyone, please give it up for Nessa Lomond, Hulbury's stunning Gym Leader!"

Across the field, a young woman walked out, her cerulean and black hair swishing gently side to side as she walked, like small waves. She had dark skin and a two-piece swimsuit/Leader uniform on. The top half had the water Gym logo on it, light blue in color. As she and Gloria met in the center, Gloria could see her bright blue eyes and apatite necklace, the same color as her irises.