Previously on Galarian Days...
After making it to Hulbury, Zander waits patiently for the Poison-type Gym Leader, Selene to finish a personal project of hers. Then, Zander challenges Hulbury Stadium, ultimately defeating Selene and earning the Poison Badge...
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Zander exited the stadium, seeing the sun already beginning to dip back down towards the west. "Wow, I've already collected two badges in one day, and it's not even nightfall yet. Things can't get any better for me, can they?" Suddenly, his phone started buzzing in his pocket. "Huh, wonder who that could be?" He answered and said, "Hello?"
"Hello, Challenger Zander," a familiar voice said. "This is Turner, miss Elle's personal assistant. You remember? The three of us last met back in Motostoke Stadium after the ceremony?"
"Turner?" Zander asked. "What are you calling me for?"
"Miss Elle is requesting your presence at the Captain's Table," Turner answered. "She wants to speak with you personally, as well as share a meal with you, so please come at your earliest convenience."
Zander's ears perked up at the mention of lunch with the chairperson, and his tail wagged happily as he exclaimed, "Lunch with the chairperson? Count me in!"
"Excellent," Turner said pleased. "The restaurant is just next door to the Pokemon Center in Hulbury, if you haven't left town already."
"I'm on my way!" Zander said before he hung up. He then made his way back up the hill to the Pokemon Center for a quick healing, then went next door to the Captain's Table to meet up with Elle and Turner. "Chairperson Elle, your guest has arri..." But while Turner was there for certain, instead of the platinum-blond, caramel-skinned woman in white he usually assisted, the caramel-skinned woman he was currently with had jet-black hair, wore sunglasses, a purple polo shirt, skinny jeans and brown sandals, which threw Zander for a loop.
"Ah, Zander, good to see you again!" the woman said in Elle's voice.
"Chairperson Elle?" Zander asked suspiciously. "Is that you?"
"Ah, I can understand your confusion, Zander," Turner explained. "You see, like the previous chairperson did, miss Elle prefers to dress casually when she goes out in public, so as not to be harrassed by the papparazzi. But unlike the previous chairperson, miss Elle makes sure no one but myself knows when she is out, further securing her privacy."
"It keeps the undesirables away, but the system tends to get lonely from time to time," the incognito Elle said. "But enough prattle about that. Come, join us! Hope you don't mind that we ordered for you already."
"Oh, I don't mind at all," Zander said as he got to their table and sat down. As soon as he did, a wait staff member came in with three platters of freshly cooked seafood, still steaming as they were placed on the table. While waiting for his plate to cool, Zander asked, "So, Turner says you wanted to talk to me personally?"
"Oh, just to ask how your Gym Challenge is going without Dynamaxing, is all," Elle said as she blew on a spoonful of her soup, then popped it into her mouth.
Seeing that as a cue to start eating, Zander picked up a fork and cut up a small piece of fried fish while saying, "As a matter of fact, I had just come out of Hulbury Stadium from earning my second badge when Turner called," then gently blew before eating it.
Elle swallowed her mouthful and said, "Really? Good for you!"
After some careful chewing, Zander swallowed his mouthful, then said, "Thank you," then cut himself another piece while adding, "Although, I am curious; what exactly did you mean back at Motostoke, when you said you knew there were two somethings amazing about me?"
"Well, one of them was your wild fur color, obviously," Elle said after a few more spoonfuls of soup, "and the other one was your even wilder moxie when you said you weren't going to use Dynamaxing. Not a lot of Trainers around here can make that kind of claim, and even fewer manage to pull it off. In fact, Dan told me earlier about how you handled Annie back in Turffield, and I was blown away by the news!"
Another swallow, then Zander said, "Yeah, well, Selene was no walk in the park, either. When you said the Gym Leaders you chose were going to give us Gym Challengers a challenge, you weren't just blowing sunshine up our-"
"Shut your muzzle!" Elle playfully said.
"What? I'm just agreeing with what you said at the ceremony."
"I can dig it."
"Speaking of what you said, miss Elle," Turner interjected, "didn't you promise to give Zander something the next time you saw him?"
"Thank you for reminding me, Turner," Elle said, "but after we're through eating. I don't want to risk getting bitten."
"Ah. Good thinking, miss Elle," Turner said, and everyone stayed silent until their plates were empty.
"Whew! I don't know what kind of fish that was, but it beats curry by a long shot!" Zander said as he got up.
"Glad to hear you enjoyed it!" Elle said. "In fact, if you liked that, they also sell cans of it right here. I'll go get one for you, but first..."
Elle held out her hand for Zander, and Zander decided to humor her by giving it a sniff before letting her pet him some more. But then, Elle took it a step further and pulled Zander into her arms, wanting to savor the feeling of his soft, fluffy fur, which he allowed.
"Already taken care of, miss Elle," Turner said after the hug, and he presented Zander with a Bach's food tin, and a small envelope on top of it.
Zander accepted the gift, and Elle said, "Well, thanks for spending some time with us, Zander! Don't forget to check Galar Mine No. 2 before you head back to Motostoke! Okrrr?" as she and Turner left the restaraunt.
"I won't forget!" Zander said, then pocketed his new food tin before checking the envelope. Inside was two League Cards, one of Elle and one of Turner, as well as a note. With his new cards in paw, Zander left the restaraunt as well and walked down to the marketplace, then sat at a bench and started reading Elle's card first. "Elle is the current chairperson of Macro Cosmos, having gained the position after the previous chairman Rose was sent to prison for restarting the Darkest Day. She is almost never seen without her personal assistant close by, as she claims the two of them are 'an amazing team.' She aims to change the Galar region and make it so she won't make the same mistakes Rose did, but to what end, exactly..."
Next was Turner's. "Turner is the concierge of Macro Cosmos, as well as Chairperson Elle's personal assistant. He was previously a desk worker at Rose Tower, but after the second Darkest Day was thwarted, Chairman Rose was imprisoned and Elle took over, she saw potential in Turner as more than just that and promoted him, which he is grateful for to this day. Some of the staff even went so far as calling him 'the Oleana to Elle's Rose... but with better people skills.'"
And finally, the note. "To Zander: In case we didn't get to talk about this, the next time you check into a room, look into a Bible for Isaiah 1:18. Just something to chew on."
"Odd," Zander wondered, but then pocketed the cards and note and made his way out of Hulbury and into the other mines. "Welp, time to navigate another sparkly dirt labyrinth..."
But what surprised him was that this mine was more spacious than the first one, with puddles of water and low hills instead of narrow, dry tunnels. And when Zander looked down the cave, he thought he saw a man doing exercises there, thinking it was another Gym Leader. "Huh. Remember when I said things couldn't get any better for me?" he asked himself. "Obviously, they can."
Knowing the drill, Zander navigated the mines, battled the Trainers there and strengthened his Pokemon, until finally he made it to the other side of the cave and got a closer look at the exercising man, and saw that he was right; dressed in an Electric Uniform and sweatbands on his wrists, ankles and head of spiky, brown hair was the current Gym Leader of Motostoke: Raphael!
"Up and down and one and two, and... that should do it," Raphael said as he finished up his sets. He then turned around and saw Zander standing there. "Whoa! Are you another Gym Challenger?"
"I am," Zander confirmed. "My name is Zander, and yours must be Raphael?"
"That's right!" the Lightning Retainer confirmed enthusiastically. "You're probably wondering why I'm here in the mines instead of at the Gym, aren't you?"
"Well, I was told to check the mines before I went back to Motostoke for my third badge," Zander said, "but continue."
"Alright," Raphael said, "short version, I got done beating another Gym Challenger like you, and I'm here doing my post-battle workout! Long version, that Gym Challenger gave up, and I've hit a bit of a slow day today, so I'm here burning some energy to keep from going bored out of my mind."
"Well, maybe I could help break that monotony some?" Zander asked.
"You're more than welcome to try," Raphael said. "Tell you what, meet me back at the stadium, and I'll take you up on that offer! But in the meantime, you can have this." He then gave Zander another League Card and said, "When you get there, may the better Trainer win!" before rushing out of the mines.
"Oh, I plan to," Zander said before looking at Raphael's card. It had all the basics: battle-ready photo, Electric-type Gym logo, uniform number 799 on a lightning bolt pattern, and on the back was: "Raphael is a man who gives everything he has in everything he does, be it workouts, Pokemon battles, or even self-care, he burns off energy and still has plenty to spare. This reckless behavior has gotten him into countless predicaments, but he always manages to power through and keep on going. (The Electric theme was aquired since just because it matched his lifestyle.)
Pocketing yet another League card, Zander was feeling good about himself as he continued...
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