Prologue

"Samurott, use Ice Beam!"

The heat of battle filled the stadium. Ryan had almost completed his League challenge. Soon the Kalos championship would be his. Battle always made his heart beat with excitement, and his battle with Diantha was no exception.

"Goodra, counter it with Dragon Pulse!" Diantha yelled.

Goodra and Samurott both charged up their attacks and unleashed them at the opponent. The two streams of energy met in the middle, causing an explosion. The smoke would make an excellent cover to finish this fight, and so Ryan moved in.

"Samurott! Use the smoke as cover to get close to Goodra!" Ryan instructed.

"SAMMMMM!" Was Samurott's reply. Ryan and Samurott had known each other since Ryan was 2 years old. Naturally, due to this, their bond was extremely tight.

Samurott got as close to Goodra as it could without being seen. However, Diantha had caught on to Ryan's plan and had Goodra use Rain Dance to settle the smoke. That was her fatal mistake.

"Diantha, you've miscalculated. Now, Samurott gets a boost to its Water type moves from the weather. Samurott!" Samurott knew instinctively what Ryan was going to do, and began charging up its ultimate move.

"Hydro Cannon!"

Samurott unleashed its massive column of water towards the opposing Goodra. Goodra was too slow to move out of the way, and was hit with a full force Hydro Cannon, knocking it out of the fight.

"Goodra, return," Diantha said,"You put up a wonderful fight, now get a good rest, my friend."

"Samurott, we did it!" Ryam shouted, pulling his lifelong friend into a massive hug."We beat the Elite Four and the Champion!"

"I must admit kid, your talent with Water type is very impressive. I've never seen such a team," Diantha said.

"Thank you," Ryan replied, recalling Samurott to its Pokeball, "that means a lot coming from the Champion."

"You know," Diantha said," you did beat the Elite Four. Jaxon, our Ground type specialist, is getting ready to retire. How would you like to take his place?"

Ryan was awestruck. Him? A member of the Elite Four? At the age of 17? It had never been done before.

"But... I'm only 17. I'm still in high school."

"I can make all the necessary arrangements," Diantha said," You can still be a student in high school, but you'll just be working a job as a member of the Elite Four."

When you had the Champion vouching for you, it was hard to argue with the logic. Soon Ryan was filling out the paperwork, and was meeting with his new colleagues, not as a challenger, but as a fellow Elite Four member.