Feeling overwhelmed by what had happened here, she got back on her Skiddo and quickly ran off towards Santalune City. The experience she went through was terrifying. How could a trainer spat such horrid insults at his Pokemon? She replayed the memory over and over again in her head and, this time, she was certain that the boy had changed. The look his Magmortar gave was of pure shock, confusion, and he was distraught. This meant that the trainer was much nicer, had given Magmortar a reason to call him his best friend or family. To go back on this and say such horrid things made Maria certain that something was causing the boy harm or changed the way he behaved.
As she arrived in Santalune City, it was getting dark and the dark clouds looming overhead were starting to spurt out little drips. She went into the Pokemon Center, rented a room, and returned her Pokemon and slept.
As morning arrived and the rain ceased, her internal clock woke her up at 5 o'clock. She got up, rushed outside after doing her morning rituals, and then sent herself to a nearby route east of Santalune City: Route 22, also known as Detourner Way. She started to train her Pokemon against the wild Pokemon and each other. Every once in awhile, she'll take them back to enjoy a nice meal and some rest before the training once again. She had done this several times in the span of 3 hours. By the time she was done and had taught the Fennekin Return and retraining her Skiddo in using Return, it was 8 o'clock. She assumed this was when the gym would open, but she didn't exactly know when it opened. She just knew that it opened when the gym leaders arrived to the gym and 8 o'clock seemed to be a fair assumption and she guessed that Viola was a normal person.
When she arrived, she saw a room filled with high quality photographs of Pokemon living naturally in the wild. In front of her was man next to a hole with a pole going down. The man welcomed Maria and told her that this is the Bug-Type Gym, and that sliding down the pole will allow her to reach the basement. Maria thanked him and asked if she could have Viola and the gym trainers make it difficult for her. The man spoke in his earpiece, saying that the challenger wanted a challenge, but she had no badges. After a brief moment, the man then said that Viola wanted to know what Maria's team looked like. Maria explained to the man that she just got her Fennekin and she had a Skiddo that her mother bred for her. He repeated this to his earpiece and waited a moment before giving Maria a thumbs up, telling her that the gym battle was going to be more challenging. Maria thanked the man again and skipped to the pole, held on, and descended into the basement.
As she made her way, she saw a huge spider web spanning from wall to wall. The area under the pole was the center of the web. The webbing looked sturdy enough and she dropped down. She noted how little the web gave way and the web wasn't all that sticky like she had thought. There were little water droplets that show the quickest way to Viola, with trainers standing on large wooden platforms that are suspended with supports that descend into the darkness. These platforms are large enough to hold a battle between two Pokemon, but they still had to receive caution, or else they'll easily fall of the edge. Some of the webbing looked thinned out in spots, so she assumed not to go in there. She wondered how many people had fallen down to the dark depths, only to be saved by some Bug-Type. She looked up and she saw vague shapes that reminded her of spider Pokemon. Some of them she saw outright as Spinarak and Galvantula. She guessed that the gym had its own security in Bug-Type Pokemon.
She managed to make her way through the webbing, a little afraid of the plummet if she were to misplace her steps. She finally found herself at the first trainer, and she was invited onto the platform. A young boy sent out a Ledyba, which buzzed excitedly. Knowing that Bug-Types were weak against fire, she threw out her PokeBall containing Fenneko. The Fennekin trilled happily and, before the Ledyba could act, Fenneko let loose bursts of fire at the gym trainer. The Ledyba pulled up a Light Screen, a glass wall appearing in front of him and blocking the embers from exceeding the glass boundary. Some of the heat still escaped through the glass and the Ledyba was affected, but not enough to cause issues. The Ledyba then shot forward in a Tackle, but Fenneko dodged out of the way. He then let loose a high pitched screech, which Fenneko was unable to dodge. Fenneko was now confused and the Ledyba charged foward, using Tackle and Comet Punch. The Fenneko, taking the hits, cloaked herself in fire and used Flame Charge at point blank, burning the Ledyba and knocking him out. Luckily, the wooden platform was fire proof.
Maria returned her Fenneko and continued through the pathway, going clockwise around the webbing as that was where the pathway was that led to Viola. Another young male trainer insisted that Maria battle him, and Maria walked up to the platform and sent out her Skiddo. The boy threw out his Spewpa and the Spewpa charged forward at the Skiddo. Arupain watched as the Spewpa quickly (but not quickly enough) got close for a Bug Bite. Arupain attempted to jump to the side, but the Spewpa was quick to react and spat out a string, causing the Skiddo to fall and get wrapped up in the String Shot. A Poison Powder was then shot out at the restrained Skiddo in a purple, toxic plume. Arupain released a grass seed that quickly sprouted into a Grassy Terrain. Grass covered the wooden platform and Skiddo's Grass Pelt activated, her leafy mane growing bigger and coating her entire body in damage dampening leaves. Skiddo held her breath as the powder descended on her and she struggled to get out of the string. Finally, she was able to break out after using Growth, her body growing a little bit after it glowed with power. With only having physical moves, the Spewpa was now intimidated and it wasn't likely that the Spewpa was going to do anything to Arupain until the Grassy Terrain disappeared. He tried to stall the Skiddo, but Arupain was using Defense Curl, curling up and then used Rollout. Arupain rolled towards the Spewpa at increasing speeds and hit the Spewpa once, twice, and then three times. Each time in preparation, the Spewpa would use Harden to lower the damage, but the third hit was enough to knock it out.
After returning Arupain, Maria walked back on the spider web and was issued into a battle with the last gym trainer. The young female sent out her Kakuna, and Maria sent out her Fennekin. Fenneko, seeing the cocoon Pokemon, laughed at it. It was a very monotonous laugh which sounded off, but it was enough to anger the Kakuna. However, the Kakuna couldn't move much but use String Shot. Sadly, Fenneko burned the string and then subsequently burned it to fainting by using Ember. The woman returned her Kakuna and replaced him with her Combee. Fenneko was returned and swapped out for Arupain, as Fenneko was getting tired of weak Bug-Types. Arupain watched as Combee used Gust and Air Cutter at the same time, gusts of wind and slicing blades of air was shot forth towards Arupain. She quickly activated Grassy Terrain again and the grassy pelt grew before Skiddo jumped out of the way from the Gust ad Air Cutter. A Tailwind was used by the opposing Combee and Skiddo watched as it got faster. Skiddo attempted to use Leech Seed and Razor Leaf, shooting a sapping seedling and cutting leaves, but saw that it got chopped up by the ensuing Air Cutter. Angry, Skiddo rushed forward and hit the Combee with a Return, hearts glowed about Skiddo as she ran and she used her love for her trainer to damage the Combee. Because Arupain was with Maria for most of their life, the damage reached its maximum and it knocked out the Combee in one hit.
Next was Viola. Maria returned Arupain and walked off the webbing to reach the large platform with a large tent and backpacks strewn about outside of the tent, with varying equipment in the tent. A photography stand was placed in the corner just inside the tent and photographs were strewn on a table in the tent. The platform was big enough for an epic battle, so Maria got herself ready. She released Arupain first, and Viola sent out her Surskit. The Surskit used Rain Dance immediately, a ball of misty clouds being made at the yellow antenna and being shot upwards caused a mass of clouds which then rained upon the battlefield. Because of Surskit's ability, his speed was doubled, allowing him to skirt on the puddles quickly and efficiently faster than when there were no puddles.
Surskit used Bubble immediately, and Skiddo used Grassy Terrain again and her Grass Pelt activated. Maria commanded Skiddo to boost up, using many Growths before using Leech Seed on the Surskit, which hit as Bubble didn't affect the seedling all that much. The Skiddo slowly grew while the Surskit barraged Arupain with Bubble and Mud Shot. A Psybeam and Signal was shot at the same time, a rainbow beam of bug energy mixed with the pinkish beam of psychic energy and it hit right when Skiddo used Defense Curl. Staying curled, Skiddo then used Milk Drink to restore herself with her own milk before rolling towards Surskit slowly. The Surskit rushed ahead with Aqua Jet before Skiddo unleashed Razor Leaves from her leafy mane, and then a vine quickly shot out of her mane when the Surskit fought through the cutting leaves. Surskit managed to use Bug Bite on the vine, causing massive damage, and he stayed connected with the bite, using Infestation and Giga Drain. The two moves whittled down the Skiddo, but it wasn't enough to knock her out, despite the last two battles without healing. Arupain then rolled faster, using Rollout to hit the Surskit, but it used Quick Attack, Aqua Jet, and Lunge alternatively to dodge out of the way and attack the Skiddo. Arupain, having enough, jumped out of her curled up position and used Return, charging at the Surskit with hearts. The seed having leeched off the Surskit's health through of all of this was whittling down the Surskit and, knowing it was going to be knocked out as he couldn't leap out of the way fast enough, used Water Sport and Mud Sport. Mud and water was sprayed everywhere to lower the effectiveness of Electric- and Fire-Type moves used later for awhile. The Return hit, and Surskit was knocked out.
Arupain was tired, and even though the Leech Seed helped bring back a little energy and heal her of her damages, she still was getting weary. Finally, Viola's ace was released and the Vivillon immediately used Poison Powder. Sadly, the powder was flapped at Arupain and she was unlucky enough to breathe in at the wrong time. The Skiddo coughed and wheezed before feeling a sickness cross over her features. She looked mighty palish green and she seemed to be holding a lot more firm to the ground than usual. An Infestation and Gust was used, the wind buffeting and the bugs eating away at the grassy mane. The Grassy Terrain ended, and the Grass Pelt stayed, but it was getting eaten away by the bugs, leaving her defenses lacking. The Vivillon swooped in and used Bug Bite on the back of Arupain, biting through the pain. As Arupain was leaping out and bucking, trying to get the butterfly off, the opponent let go and immediately started to struggle with a loud screeching noise being emanated. The Struggle Bug, and the ensuing Infestation and poison damage, knocked out Arupain.
Having her ace get knocked out and knowing that the water was still around to keep Fennekin's fire moves ineffective at best, Maria swapped out her Skiddo for her Fenneko. She used Magic Coat as Vivillon attempted to use her Sleep Powder and the powder rested on the shiny coat, keeping Fenneko from being affected. She then used Echoed Voice on the Vivillon, the blast of the voice knocking her back. Vivillon swooped in to use Bug Bite, but another Echoed Voice was sounded it was stronger than the last. Knowing what was going on, Viola ordered Vivillon to focus on dodging and use Powder. However, the third Echoed Voice, coupled with an Ember to cause the sound wave to feel hot, echoed throughout in a much wider range and with stronger force. The flammable powder, having been readied but not sent towards Fenneko, was heated up and exploded as the Vivillon was about to utilize its flammable properties on Fenneko. This almost knocked out the Vivillon, but Fenneko used one last Heat Wave, sending out a hot wave of fire around her and it smashed into the butterfly. Vivillon was knocked out and Maria had one.
Viola congratulated her and gave her TM83 Infestation and the Bug Badge. As she was passed her TM and badge, a bright light was flashed and Maria looked over to see a camera had captured her success and the item exchange. They thanked each other and the tent's back zipped open to reveal stairs that led back up to the ground floor. She returned Fenneko, ran up the steps, and exited through a hidden door from a room she had entered in first: the gallery with the pole going down. Maria was ecstatic, but she first must heal her Pokemon. She ran out of the gym and into the Pokemon Center, healing her two Pokemon fully before taking refuge in a cafe. She gave her two Pokemon a complimentary treat in drink form and she gave herself a drink. Arupain got a Roserade Tea while Fenneko received a Tapu Cocoa. Maria drank her glass of Moomoo Milk and was now staring up at the sky, smiling at her achievement. Knowing that none of her Pokemon (and her future Pokemon that she wanted for that matter) couldn't learn the TM, she was deciding on selling it or giving it away to someone who could put it to better use.
