5. Tamer's Challenge

[X] "We had a tamer come in to challenge us earlier. Since we're about to get our licenses, I thought it'd be cool to watch an official pokegirl match."

"Are you sure we're allowed in here?" you ask, looking around nervously. Red had led you and Gold to a tiny door tucked into a corner of the gym, paying no attention to the 'Employees Only' sign hanging over the entrance. 

"It's fine, it's fine." your friend insisted, tapping away at one of the monitors on the wall. "Dave lets me in here all the time."

"Relax, Blue." Gold said, nonchalantly leaning against the wall. "Red's mom owns the place, after all. If she says it's cool for us to be here, what's the problem?"

You sighed. "Well, alright then. So what exactly are we supposed to be doing?"

"Hang on a sec... ah, got it!" Red announced, just as all the monitors on the wall lit up. "Aww... they've already started."

On the screen you could see a pair of pokegirls battling it out in the middle of a room. Their tamers stood on opposite sides of the arena, one of them dressed in the uniform of a gym assistant. The other...

Gold straightened up suddenly, staring at the screen with an almost frightening intensity. "Well, well... who would have thought he'd show up all the way out here?"

"Who's that?" you asked, leaning slightly closer to get a better look. "He looks a bit familiar, but-"

"Simon Havok. Age: 19. Alpha pokegirl: Dragoness. Badges earned: Six." Gold paused as he realized that you and Red were staring at him. "What? I met him once at one of my parent's parties."

"So you know him? You talked to him?" Red asked, almost bouncing in excitement. "Ooh! Did you get his autograph?"

"It's not like we traded life stories or anything." your friend shrugged. "I only met him once at a fancy dinner thing. He's nice, but a little too high-strung in my opinion."

"High-strung? High-strung?!" Red repeated, looking almost offended. "Don't you know who he is? He's the Hero of Sympathy Bay! He was all over the news just a few months ago."

"Sympathy Bay?" you blinked as the words clicked. "Oh, isn't that the guy who finished off a Widow before it could reach the town?"

"Yeah! That's him!" Red pointed at the tiny figure on the screen. "He's a hero! I can't believe I actually get to see him! This is so... eeeeeee!"

You actually had to lean back a little to preserve your hearing. Gold smirked as he nudged Red aside. "Well, Hero Boy there is doing pretty good. He just won that fight in less then a minute."

"Wait, what? I missed the fight?!" Red yelped. "Quick! Save the recording!"

"Oh, he's already moving to the next room." Gold noted. You step aside slightly to give your friend some room as the two of you watched Havok battle against the next gym assistant, ignoring the sounds of Red frantically searching for something in the background.

"He's pretty good." you observed, noting the way he commanded his pokegirls - short, almost silent commands that were nevertheless obeyed nearly instantaneously. "His girls have been trained well." 

"He actually lost most of his harem in that Widow fight." Gold informed you. "These girls have been with him for only two or three months at the most."

"Really?" you asked. From the way he coordinated his girl's attacks, you'd actually thought that he'd been training them for years. Even as you watched, he recalled his injured Marble and sent out... "Is that his Dragoness? She looks bigger then I thought."

"Yep." Gold replied, smiling sardonically. "Scared me too, the first time I saw her. She's actually really shy. Kept hiding behind her master every time someone tried to talk to her."

You watched as the dragon type brutally attacked her opponent, literally tearing off an arm before the gym assistant surrendered and recalled his girl. "Shy, huh?"

"I got it!" Red announced, pulling out a CD from somewhere. "Now we can record - what, did he finish already?"

"Yep." Gold said. You could almost hear the smirk in his voice. "'fraid you missed the show, Red."

"NOOOOOOO!!!"

"Oh, quiet down, you two." you drawled, switching the camera view on the screen. "It looks like he's just reached the final room. He's about to start battling your mom now."

"Quick! Save the recording! Save the recording!"

"Ow! Careful!"

"Move faster, Gold!"

"Sssshhhh!" you hissed. "It's starting!"

"Oh, this is so exciting!"

[] Stick to Blue's POV

[] Switch to Gym Leader Scarletine's POV

[] Switch to Tamer Simon Havok's POV