Aerodactyl flew higher and higher into the atmosphere. Passing through a flock of high-flying Staravia and a lone Chatot, Roark and Aerodactyl leveled off, soaring above Pastoria. Roark was heading to Mt. Stark, but first needed to pick up a few things along the way. 30 minutes later, Aerodactyl landed on its feet on top of Roark's house. Roark hopped off, and tossed a Petaya berry to his Aerodactyl. The Pokémon snapped it up, then flew into a tree in the yard to nap. Roark grabbed a dusk ball and a great ball from a drawer in his living room. He ran outside, and called upon his Steelix. It burst from the great ball, and then dove into the Earth, and Roark slid down the tunnel that was left behind, making a dusty landing at the bottom. He was now in the Sinnoh Underground, a series of tunnels beneath nearly the entire region. He didn't want to take time traveling through the tunnels, so he commanded Steelix to go straight to Snowpoint city. He once again rode on Steelix's knobby back, as the Iron Snake pokemon drilled straight through the ground. The duo reached Snowpoint an hour later. Steelix drilled straight up, landing on the icy Snowpoint beach. Steelix was called back into its pokeball, and Roark promptly spiraled a dusk ball out of his hand. In a shower of shadows, a deafening roar erupted from the gaping maw of a large female Garchomp. She was the product of years of training, and was incredibly powerful. Using her, Roark was now the third most powerful gym leader in Sinnoh. Roark climbed onto her back and grabbed hold of her dorsal fin for support. She sped out over the waves, flying so fast that in 3 minutes, they had crossed from Snowpoint to the Battle tower. Garchomp was known as the mach Pokémon for a reason. He thanked Garchomp for her help, and then walked alongside her as they began to head towards Stark Mountain. They were walking for a few hours, battling the tough wild Pokémon on Route 28, however, Garchomp's Sand Veil ability allowed her to only rarely be hit by attacks. After she had defeated eight Hippowdon at the same time using and immensely powerful Aqua Tail, a noise resembling a helicopter combined with a mosquito rang out across the desert, and slowly dissipated.

"Run Garchomp!" Roark yelped as he raced in the direction opposite the noise.

A familiar voice called out a command-"Sand Tomb, before he can get away!" A large mass of sand rose beneath Roark and Garchomp's feet, and swiftly swirled around them, trapping them in sand, with only their heads sticking out. The sandstorm ahead of Roark, near where the odd sound had emanated from, was dissipating. As the swirling sand cleared away, the form of Volkner was running towards Roark, with his Flygon right behind him. Garchomp immediately broke free of the sand surrounding her, but Roark, not being an immensely strong dragon, was having some trouble. "I'm sorry for the sand," Volkner quickly apologized, "I just needed you to not run off before I could explain myself."

Roark began to protest. "Just let me go! You jerk!"

"Please wait, I promise I will tell you why I couldn't tell you that I was gay!"

"Fine." Volkner gently raised his hand, and Flygon's wings hummed. The sand fell back to the ground, and Roark began to brush sand from his clothes. "Why?"

"It's because..." Volkner paused, thinking of the right words.

"You STILL can't just tell me?" Roark impatiently asked, fuming. Roark turned around, tears welling in his eyes. "Goodby-" Roark began, with a hint of regret in his voice, but he was cut off brusquely as Volkner spun him around, and planted his lips on Roarks', pressing hard.