Over the next hour and change, they progress up two more floors.

  On the second floor, Ran relies on Skorupi, who gets him past a Misdreavus after a hard-fought match that never feels like there's a real chance of it slipping out of their control. Like Croagunk, the poison-bug-type isn't knocked out and remains available to Ran as a usable option, but he does take enough of a beating to make calling on him for another battle unadvisable, to put it mildly.

  Not that Ran is really worried about that, as he's not planning to call on any of his pokémon more than once for the day's challenge. It's just an unofficial thing they're doing for fun and practice, after all. There's no need to risk overexerting any of them.

  On the same floor, Josie actually loses the first match she engages in, with Lady the Vulpix going down against a Graveler in a terribly one-sided match-up that Josie clearly regrets from the second both pokémon hit the field. Though the Fox Pokémon gives a valiant effort, there's little to be done considering both the type disadvantage as well as the sheer power disparity between both pokémon. Fortunately, Josie's next match sees Chief the Growlithe easily defeating a Pidgeotto, allowing Josie to keep pace with Ran and Doro without too much trouble.

  As for Doro, her second floor match ends up being between Quick, her Hitmontop, and an unevolved Mareep. It's little surprise then, that her match is by far the shortest of the lot. Not that she seems to mind, as she is happy to watch and cheer for Ran and Josie until they too have won their matches.

  On the third floor, they suffer more attrition.

  Ran starts things off well, with Aria winning in impressive fashion against a Beedrill. She's got nothing left in the tank by the end, but that she wins at all against the well-trained Beedrill of a trainer with five badges is more than enough for Ran.

  By the time Aria comes out victorious however, Doro has already lost Precise, her Hitmonchan getting absolutely battered by a Kadabra. It's an unfortunate match-up that is in no way an indictment of either Doro or Precise's skill, of course, but it does leave her with only Strong the Hitmonlee as a fully fresh team member.

  As for Josie, for her it's Chief the Growlithe who simply gets overpowered by her opponent's Umbreon in what actually ends up being a surprisingly close battle. Ultimately however, between the Umbreon's greater bulk and its superior reach, there's nothing Chief can do to overcome the stronger pokémon. She's better off than Doro at least, with both Ginger and Soot still fresh, but things still look a lot bleaker for their collective odds of making it to the highest floors at that point.

  Fortunately, both Doro and Josie win their next matches, with Strong the Hitmonlee dismantling a Sudowoodo and Soot the Houndoom burning through a Wigglytuff.

  As they head up to the fourth floor, just around noon, they actually briefly re-encounter the trainer with the Kadabra from before, who sulkily heads down, clearly having lost on the fourth floor and now leaving the tower.

  When they themselves make it upstairs, there's a grand total of two trainers waiting for them, one of them actually sitting on the stone floor, whilst the other is pacing up and down the room briskly. Both perk up noticeably at the sight of three people entering at once, neither wasting any time as they call out.

  "Four badges!" The younger of the pair calls, the older only a second behind him, "I have seven badges."

  Clearly, Ran can't help but think, they've been waiting for a while, going by that eagerness.

  "I have four badges as well." Doro declares, to the obvious dismay of the older trainer.

  "Same." Ran announces simply.

  Josie's answer is a bit more hesitant, clearly none too happy about her status as the least accredited person in the room, but she still speaks up honestly, "Three for me."

  The one advantage Josie's lower number of badges wins her, is that it easily secures her the attention of the younger trainer, as he enthusiastically challenges her. Josie, not one to balk in front of a challenge, eagerly accepts, the two trainers marching off to lay claim to a sufficiently large amount of floorspace for their battle.

  It leaves Ran and Doro to stand around idly for a moment, before Doro wanders over to the remaining trainer, who disinterestedly watches Josie and her opponent from a distance. Ran trails after Doro slowly, not quite sure what to do without an obvious opponent easily presenting themself.

  "How long have you been waiting?" Doro asks the older trainer, who shifts his attention to her grumpily.

  "An hour. Even worse, there's only about four people higher up. It's a slow day, apparently. This is why they should just make this shit official already, so we don't have to sit on our asses waiting around for hours." He replies moodily, before brightening for a second, "I don't suppose either of you feel brave?"

  "No thanks," Ran's friend rejects politely, "I have no fully fresh team members left. Under these circumstances, I believe my ascent has come to a halt at this floor, unless Josie defeats her opponent and he feels like offering me a match after their current battle."

  Ran isn't so hasty to reject the potential challenge, with Caesar and Golbat still fully fresh, there might be some merit to actually battling the other trainer even if he has a significant badge lead. However, before the idea can really become anything more than a passing fancy, the thought of Golbat reminds him of the last time he went up against a far more experienced trainer in Morton. Which is enough to douse all his enthusiasm for a potential battle against the older trainer.

  "We could battle." Ran says instead, speaking to Doro rather than the older trainer, who lets out a disappointed breath, before turning his attention once more to the battle between Josie and her opponent, which has by now properly started. Ginger the Rapidash is facing a Lickitung, of all things, which shouldn't pose too much of a problem, if it weren't for the pools of dirty water already covering the floor, that clearly show off its ability to use Muddy Water.

  It's actually a very close match, but Ran's attention is firmly on Doro, as he points out the obvious solution to their current conundrum, posed by the lack of potential opponents for them to battle on their current floor.

  "We could," Doro admits, "But all of my team members have taken some amount of damage at least, whilst you still have both Caesar and Golbat fully fresh. We both know what the outcome would be. Besides, I feel like it would cheapen what the Lighthouse Gauntlet is supposed to be about. This place is about battling new trainers and overcoming the unknown, not about battling someone whom you've already got multiple strategies and counters planned out for in advance."

  Ran has to consider that for a few seconds, before finally formulating an answer, "I see your point. Still, assuming Josie wins, that leaves two of us wanting to go up, for only a single opponent."

  "Indeed," Doro acknowledges slowly, clearly weighing her words for a few moments, before speaking, "I suggest we wait and see for now. But if no other trainers show up in the meantime, and if Josie wins, and if her current opponent wants to try to make it up to the next floor again, I suppose you have a stronger claim to the next match. Seeing as your team is in a better state than mine, currently."

  The conversation dries up after that, leaving them to watch as Ginger slowly starts to outclass her opponent. The Rapidash's speed is simply too great for the Lickitung to deal with, its Muddy Water attacks missing completely more often than not and only landing glancing hits a few times, whilst Josie has her starter slowly chip away at the Licking Pokémon. When its tongue picks up an enormous burn blister, the end of the match is firmly in sight.

  Before Ginger can land the decisive blow however, the three trainers that aren't involved in the match all look up as one, as the doors leading to the lower floor are pushed open, a new trainer entering the room. To Ran's surprise, he recognizes the younger girl who enters.

  She's too young to be anything but sponsored, with short light brown hair falling to the base of her skull and eyes that are only a shade or two darker than said hair. She's wearing an actual yellow raincoat that hides her clothes, as well as any other distinguishing characteristics, except for one. Because when Ran's eyes land on the deep purple headphones she's wearing, the pokédollar finally drops.

  They've never really exchanged any words, but the girl he's looking at challenged both Bugsy and Whitney on the same day as he himself did. Now, clearly, they've also ended up in Olivine at the same time.

  Ran's epiphany leaves him quiet for a few long seconds, in which the older trainer takes one look at the younger girl before clearly dismissing her, likely concluding that there's no way for her to have the kind of badge count where she'd accept his challenge. Doro however clearly doesn't waste any time having a moment of realization, simply approaching the younger trainer and introducing herself.

  "I am Doro Stuart. I have four badges." She announces, only for the girl to blink at her slowly, before finally pulling up on one side of her headphones, so that at least one of her ears is exposed.

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  "Sorry, I was distracted, could you say that again please?" The girl asks, at least polite in her words, if not, to Ran's mind, in her actions.

  Doro doesn't appear bothered however, simply introducing herself once more.

  This time, she actually gets an answer from the young, evidently sponsored trainer, "I'm Eugina Darby, I've got four badges as well."

  Those words are finally enough to spur Ran into action, as he walks forwards to stand by Doro's side, introducing himself as well, "Ran Carr. I've also got four badges."

  Before Ran can do any more than introduce himself, or really before any of them can say anything further, Josie's ecstatic shout rings out, the background noise of her ongoing battle falling away as she triumphs over her opponent. All three trainers turn to look at the spectacle for a moment, as Josie accepts her winnings before skipping towards their small congregation, whilst her defeated opponent broods sulkily, though he doesn't head for the stairs to the lower floors just yet.

  "Well that was fun! What're you guys up to, I figured the two of you would just battle each other?" Josie asks cheerfully, only for Doro to briefly recapitulate the point she'd made to Ran just a few minutes ago.

  "Eugina showed up at that point," Doro finishes off her explanation, "But before we could figure out more than that she also has four badges, you joined us."

  Josie nods gratefully to the dark-skinned fighting specialist, before shifting her attention to Eugina, as she asks a question that's also on Ran's mind, but which he's not gotten around to asking yet, "You're sponsored, right? Mind telling us by whom?"

  "Professor Elm." Eugina answers shortly, seemingly not a girl of many words. Not that she needs to be, as the sheer fact that she's managed to secure one of the three highly coveted Elm sponsorship positions is telling enough, as far as her skills go.

  "I'm not too familiar with Elm's habits, but if he's anything like Oak, he only gives out a single starter to his sponsored trainers, right?" Josie asks, her attention on the six pokéballs on Eugina's belt.

  "He does," Eugina responds curtly, seemingly growing annoyed by the questions, as she finally interjects with a question of her own, before anyone can say anything further, "So which one of you two is going to battle me?"

  Ran looks to Doro, who meets his curious gaze with an uncertain look of her own. After a few seconds however, Doro is the one to break eye contact, as she instead looks towards Josie's defeated foe, who still lingers, clearly waiting to see how things play out between their group and Eugina. It's enough of a signal for Ran to turn his attention to Eugina, finally answering her question confidently.

  "I will." He states simply, before gesturing invitingly for Eugina to lead the way onto the floor properly, setting an informal size for their battlefield.

  The young sponsored trainer does so without hesitation, confidently marching towards the opposite end of the floor before pivoting on her heel and dropping a hand to her belt. Mirroring her, Ran's hand also drifts downwards, hesitating for a moment between Caesar and Golbat, his two final fully fresh team members. After a moment's hesitation, he chooses Golbat over Caesar, in the knowledge that the next floor will be smaller and limit Golbat's mobility, already hindered by fighting inside, even further.

  While Ran sends out Golbat, he's surprised to see a Tentacruel appear on the other side of the field. The evolved Jellyfish Pokémon is one Ran actually did a lot of research on, in the years leading up to his journey, due to its secondary poison-typing, before ultimately dismissing it because of its aquatic nature. Clearly, Eugina made a different decision, as the large, intimidating water-type glares threateningly at Golbat, who matches its glare before throwing in an angry screech for emphasis.

  Despite the mutual animosity, the fight actually starts off rather slowly, as Eugina starts the hostilities with an unexpected move.

  "Rain Dance, Sponge!" She calls out, catching Ran off-guard as she goes for the weather move.

  Tentacruel obediently starts waving its tentacles around, the peculiar limbs glowing with water-type energy as it starts to create small clouds against the ceiling. It's an intriguing sight and one Ran has never encountered before as a trainer, but that doesn't mean that he'll give Eugina a freebie.

  "Air Cutter, Golbat," He instructs, eager to get some early damage in against a distracted and stationary opponent.

  There's probably some predatory instinct of Golbat that sees a distracted opponent and that desperately wants to close the distance and bite down, which would explain the visible drop of poison that falls out of his big maw. But Ran's efforts to work on Golbat's behavior prove their value, as the Bat Pokémon doesn't hesitate for a moment to obey his trainer's instructions, wings glowing with flying-type energy for just a moment before a cutting scythe of energy is sent hurtling at Tentacruel.

  Their opponent appears unbothered, unflinchingly continuing to wave about its tentacles, the clouds consolidating before, preceded by a slight rumble, rain starts to fall from the ceiling. At the same time, Golbat's attack connects cleanly with Tentacruel's large form, but the water-poison-type doesn't even do them the courtesy of visibly reacting to the attack, merely turning its attention from the ceiling to Golbat as if just now deciding that its opponent merits some consideration.

  "Acid Armor." Eugina orders next, to Ran's delight, as Golbat has a ready-made answer for such boosting moves in Haze.

  "Just keep it up for now, Golbat, keep chipping away at it." Ran instructs calmly, watching as his pokémon obediently fires off another Air Cutter.

  With the rain continuing to fall, Tentacruel seems well and truly in its element, showing off impressive speed as it manages to perform Acid Armor in a matter of seconds, its light blue 'shell' seeming to shimmer as its outer layer is liquefied. It doesn't do anything to stop Golbat's attack of course, which slams into Tentacruel moments later, but again, it doesn't appear particularly affected.

  Eugina calls for another Acid Armor, clearly intending to bolster her pokémon's defenses as far as they can go. Which would be a good idea, if Ran didn't have a way to undo all of Tentacruel's progress in moments.

  "Haze." He calls out, delighting in the childish pout that appears on Eugina's face when she hears him call for the neutralizing move.

  The result is amusing to say the least, as even as the protective layer coating Tentacruel looks like it grows outwards, a black haze sprouts out of Golbat, rapidly spreading through the room in spite of the falling rain. When the haze reaches Tentacruel, it seems almost drawn to the water-poison-type, black particles seeming to stick onto its coated outsides before seemingly dissolving, whilst eating away at the protective coating that covers Tentacruel.

  Within seconds, Haze fades away, only for Tentacruel to be left without its improved defenses. As Ran gets a closer look at the opposing pokémon however, there's something about it that has him squinting suspiciously. The Air Cutters may not have done too much damage, but looking at Tentacruel now, it seems entirely unhurt, as if it hasn't been touched at all.

  He's missing something, he can tell that much. He just can't for the life of him figure out what, exactly, that something is.

  All he knows is that, if Air Cutter doesn't even manage to chip away at Tentacruel, they'll have to change their approach.

  "Get in there Golbat, Bite!" He orders sharply, hoping to catch his opponents by surprise.

  Unfortunately, that doesn't happen, as Eugina doesn't hesitate to give Tentacruel an order of her own, as she instructs it to Wrap Golbat up. Ran can only watch worriedly as a worrying number of Tentacruel's many tentacles rise up into the air, waving threateningly in Golbat's direction, in clear anticipation of striking the moment the Bat Pokémon gets within range.

  Still, there's nothing else to be done, with Golbat's other moves either resisted, weak, or, in the case of Supersonic, potentially leading to a confusion battle, which is a lottery Ran doesn't want to enter unless he absolutely has to. So, he can only watch as Golbat wings forwards eagerly, fangs gleaming ominously as he prepares to bite down on his opponent.

  Before he can, however, Tentacruel's tentacles start to lash out.

  To Golbat's credit, he makes it past the first few tentacles, whilst managing to power through once they do start hitting. He actually gets within biting range, which he enthusiastically does, sharp fangs biting down harshly on Tentacruel's body and finally inflicting tangible results, as it wails in pain. Unfortunately, that's where the good news runs out, as Golbat doesn't manage to actually get away from Tentacruel after biting, tentacle after tentacle coming to rest on his body and wrapping him up further and further.

  "Bite! Keep biting until it lets you go!" Ran orders hurriedly, hoping to force Tentacruel into relinquishing its grip through sheer pain.

  "Keep squeezing and Bubble Beam, Sponge! The weather is with you, you can outlast it." Eugina instructs calmly, exuding confidence now that the momentum is firmly in her pokémon's favor.

  Ran can only watch as Golbat struggles with his wings pinned against his body, leaving him unable to really deploy his full strength as he tries to break free. At least Tentacruel's tentacles, wrapped all over his body, make for an easy target for his Bite, drawing another pained cry from his opponent, but it isn't enough to gain him his freedom.

  Even as Golbat struggles, Tentacruel repositions its foe slightly, pulling Golbat further away from its main body, before pinning the unfortunate Bat Pokémon against the ground. Then, its beak, normally obscured behind tentacles, becomes visible, as it looms over Golbat, before spewing out a stream of bubbles that is only cut off after long seconds, when it lets out another pained wail as Golbat once more bites down on the tentacles pinning him to the ground.

  It's only a temporary reprieve however, as before the bubbles can even dissipate enough for Ran to get a proper look at Golbat, Tentacruel is already firing off another Bubble Beam, once more hiding Golbat from view. This time, there is no pained cry from Tentacruel that forces it to cut off its attack. Instead, after a few more long seconds, it stops attacking without any urging, its tentacles seemingly slackening as it 'walks' backwards slightly.

  When the remnants of its Bubble Beam fade away, the reason for that decision becomes apparent, as Golbat's prone form lies on the ground motionlessly, clearly knocked unconscious. With a pained grimace, Ran recalls his pokémon, offering some encouraging words to Golbat's ball, before turning his attention to the triumphant Eugina.

  Her raincoat makes a lot more sense now, in retrospect, as whilst everyone else in the room is soaked to the bone, Eugina is entirely unbothered by the weather effect she let her Tentacruel create. As the rain finally tapers off, Ran moodily pulls his shirt, sticking to his skin, loose for a moment. Opposite him, Eugina simply lowers the hood she'd put on at some point, revealing her entirely dry hair and those purple headphones of hers, firmly in place on her head.

  Ran steps towards her, finally drawing the girl's attention as he digs around for the appropriate wager in his pockets. She takes off her headphones for a moment, moving to accept her reward and giving Ran an opportunity to ask the question that's bothering him.

  "What did you do to get your Tentacruel to heal up? I didn't notice any Black Sludge or Leftovers on it?" He asks, impressed by his opponent's showing.

  "We made it rain," Eugina replies calmly, "My Tentacruel heals when it rains."

  Ran actually has to do a double take at that particular revelation, "I'm sorry?"

  Eugina nods confidently, "It really does. The professor is researching it. From what he's been able to tell, a very small subsection of each pokémon species has a different ability, rather than what it normally gets access to."

  Before Ran can ask anything else about that particular extremely interesting revelation, Eugina shrugs, "Anyways, this was fun. Bye."

  Then she turns on her heels and, without so much as a wave to any of the other trainers, she's out the doors and up to the next floor.