We went to the Pokémon Research Laboratory in Wedgehurst, figuring that was where the Chairman was. Was his winning over Sonia a success, or did he get rejected? I guess it couldn't hurt to find out.

Ori eventually led me to the lab, where there was some sort of heated exchange going on.

"Yamper! Use Spark!" who I assumed was Sonia commanded the electric dog pokemon.

"Not so fast! Charizard, dodge and use Fire Punch!" Leon ordered.

All that could be heard from the laboratory was the faint sound of an explosion and Sonia panicking.

Ori knocked on the door, humming to herself a bit.

"May... we... come in? Or is this not a good time?" She whispered into the window, knocking again.

"Leon, stop it! I command you to stop!" Sonia shouted, and footsteps could be heard. Sonia opened the door, panting. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Leon and I had a pretty heated Pokemon battle, and it really left the place in a bad state! I humbly apologise in advance, the Lab doesn't usually look this bad." Sonia noticed me, calming down. "What do you need?"

"Well... erm... we kind of need our Chairman back. I know he's quite clearly busy a' this poin' in time, but we need 'im 'ere," I told her, looking her up and down for a moment.

"No problem, Marnie. I'll—" Sonia began. "You... what?! No, Lee's mine for the minute. I need to ask him a few things. Interrogate, if you will."

"We'll watch this unfold," I comforted her, the Professor clearly stressed. "I'm sorry for makin' this an inconvenience."

"No, no, it's alright. It's not too much of an inconvenience. If you want, you can stay here and wait, and if not — Route 1 is right around the corner if you wish to do some training," she told us what we had heard a million times before.

"I think we might stay here, thank you," Ori said cordially, sitting herself on an arm chair. "What do you think, Marnie?"

I nodded, sitting down on a chair to watch the jumbled mess that was the battle between Leon and Sonia. Her Yamper used Nuzzle and paralysed his Charizard, who gave her Yamper as a secondary effect to the obvious damage his move did. The Yamper used Wild Charge, which landed a hit on Charizard. Leon used a potion, and then Yamper took it down with a Play Rough.

Leon sighed in defeat, recalling his Charizard. He shook Sonia's hand, who smiled in response. They then talked for a bit. They brought up the battle multiple times, but more often than not, brought up love.

Leon then confessed his feelings to Sonia, and Ori cheered for him. Sonia giggled at the way in which he confessed, handed him a Milcery egg and he handed her some flowers. Sonia then said something about how she had always known that Leon had loved him from the very day they met. She then laughed and told him that she would always love him. Accidentally dropping the egg on the ground, the Chairman leant in to kiss the professor.

It was at that point I looked away, because I didn't want to embarrass the two lovebirds any more than I already had. I turned towards the door and jumped off the chair, running toward the door to push i t open. I then shoved the door open and leant against it, panting. I was blushing from embarrassment. I really shouldn't have been watching the two of them.

Later, a girl with pink hair and a guy with long blonde hair walked toward me, snickering. The girl smirked and pointed at me, whereas the the boy just shook his head, saying something to the girl. They both cackled and walked toward me.

"You," the girl pointed at me.

"You're Marnie, correct?" The boy asked.

I looked back and forth between the two, shaking with nerves.

"Of course she is, cousin. That telltale blank expression and that half-shaven head. It's clearly Spikemuth's Gym Leader," the girl hissed to her brother.

"Ohoho! It looks like she is alone, too! What luck!" The boy chuckled.

Fans?

"Why don't we give her a little taste of what our power is all about, cousin?" The pink haired girl snickered.

"I don't know about that. But, we can stop her for a little chat. That is... if she wishes to," the boy schemed.

Okay, they weren't fans. But what were they plotting?

"What do you think, miss? Would you be pleased enough to join us for an adventure?" The boy asked me cordially. "It doesn't matter the answer, it is just in the service of getting to know the Galarian gym leaders."

I was sweating and backed slowly into the door. I averted my gaze from the two as I thought about my options.

"Where we're from, there are Dojos and Towers, and no gyms," the girl snickered. "So, what do you think? Care to join us, dearest Gym Leader?"

"Don't worry, Klara and I will give you time to think it over," the boy seethed.

"Of course Avery and I don't expect instantaneous, knee-jerk reactions. Take your time, dearest Gym Leader," the girl, now known as Klara, murmured soothingly.

"Yes, take your time," the cousins sneered in unison.

The door to the lab burst open, Leon and Ori running out. The Chairman's Charizard and Ori's Machoke were not far behind. Them doing this flung me straight into Avery, who snickered.

"Oh look, it's the Chairman and Galar's most trusted teenager," Klara scorned.

"What, you two going to show us out again?" Avery snapped.

Leon blinked. "Again? What do you mean?" he asked, rubbing at his temples. He was quite clearly confused.

"So, it seems you have forgotten," Klara snickered.

"After all, you were not even Chairman when we were shooed out, Leon. Just a mere Champion, and Ori had just started her journey," Avery reminded the Chairman. "I simply cannot believe someone like you has forgotten something so crucial."

"I haven't forgotten, you two," a voice said from behind Leon. Sonia. "I thought you were long gone. You were forbidden to even come to Galar for five years, yet you now think it is all right for you to still be here?"

"Sorry ma'am," the cousins apologised in unison, skulking off.

Avery turned his head back for a moment to face me.

"We most definitely will meet again," he told me.

And then they were both gone, leaving me stunned.

Bede and Hop appeared next to Ori's Machoke.

"Who were those hooligans?" Bede asked.

"What was that all about?" Ori questioned.