Natalia stood at the front of Violet City gym, taking in a few deep breaths before looking to the Mareep at her side. "You ready Electra? This is all you." She chuckled, and the pink sheep smiled. "Maaareep~" She bayed with enthusiasm. "Alright then... Here goes nothing!" She opened the doors, and walked inside. At first, she thought there was some kind of prank being pulled, because the gym was deserted. There was a single gate near the middle, preventing her from stepping out near the middle of the gym. Curious and a little peeved, she stepped towards the gate, and suddenly the ground shifted beneath her, rapidly propelling her and Electra up into the air. "AHHHHHH!" She screamed, waving her arms wildly and trying to keep her balance. The pedestal halted quickly to a stop and Natalia attempted to catch her balance again, but her legs were jelly and she ended up falling to her knees. A chuckle broke through her state of stupor, causing her to look up to the face of a blue haired boy. "Enjoy your ride...?" He asked casually. "Not... Really..." She felt dizzy and sick. "Sorry about that. I designed this gym for my bird Pokemon, and it gives some challengers the experience of a bird, being up so high, I thought it was a neat idea." Natalia stood and made a sort of snorting noise. "Did it ever occur to you that some people are afraid of heights? That would be giving you an unfair advantage because you're calm and they're more focused on the fact that one wrong move and they'd plummet to their deaths." She mumbled, glancing around nervously at the floor through the glass panels. Falkner gave her a look of pity. "Yes, I thought about that. But then again, one of the greatest lessons of being a Pokemon trainer is facing your fears. When you battle, you must let go of all distractions and just go for it! The only question is, can you do it?" He asked with a smile. Natalia got ahold of her bearings and nodded. Falkner then jumped off of the balance beam which threw her for a loop. But then he came back up, carried by his Pidgeotto and dropped down on a platform of his own all the way across the room. "Prove it!" He yelled, the smirk clearly audible in his voice. Electra stepped out in front of Natalia, fur sparking slightly. She was ready, which gave Natalia some confidence and together they broke out into a run. The beam of wood was long and wide, easy enough to make it across, however the moment Natalia looked down she froze and lost her balance, clinging desperately to the wood but still safely on top. "Maa!" Electra cried in worry, stopping and turning around as well. "I-I'm okay..." Natalia said weakly, obviously lying as she shook violently and refused to move for a while. Getting up slowly, she began to move across again, with more caution before starting to run again, and making it across. Falkner clapped lightly for her achievement. "Very good. Now, can you still let go enough to battle me? People say you can clip a flying-type pokemon's wings with a jolt of electricity. I refuse to allow people to insult bird Pokemon like that! I will prove here and now that the magnificent bird Pokemon are superior!" The Pidgeotto behind him flew up front, wings glowing a steel color as it came down on Electra, knocking her back and fluttering up in the air. Natalia grimaced, knowing the move hurt, but they had to press on. "Thundershock!" She commanded, and Electra shot a bolt of lightning towards the great bird, but it dodged rather easily. "You'll have to try harder than that! Sand Attack!" Falkner commanded, and the Pidgeotto flapped it's wings, blowing up a massive amount of dust. Natalia covered her eyes, coughing a bit as sand flew her way. "Electra! Can you see?! Shoot some sparks and try to light the area up!" She commanded, and saw a few flashes of light. "Steel wing!" Falkner commanded again, seeing the sparks as well. The dust cleared and Electra was struggling to stand where as the Pidgeotto was still in the air. However, it froze suddenly and had to work hard to softly make it's way onto the ground. Falkners eyes grew wide. "Oh no!" Natalia grinned. "Oh yes. Static. Maybe you shouldn't have started off with a physical attack! Thundershock! Let's go!" She commanded, and Elecrtra, with newfound hope let loose a series of sparks, hitting the great bird critically. "The wind is with us! We can still fly!" Falkner shouted, his Pidgeotto flapping it's wings and causing a large gust of wind to blow towards Electra who tried to dodge but got sucked into the vortex. It didn't seem to hurt her too bad though. "Hang on! See if you can break through!" Electra let a few loose sparks free and was able to tear through the wind enough to get out and let loose another bolt of lightning, finishing the battle. The Pidgeotto fell to the ground, defeated, and Falkner seemed to be speechless. At first, he stared blankly at the bird, then fell to his knees beside it. "Return... I'll heal you soon..." He said quietly, a red light capturing the Pidgeotto in its Pokeball and standing again. "... Oof... My dads cherished bird Pokemon... Taken down so easily... I guess type advantages can't be helped sometimes... But a defeat is a defeat. Take this." He handed her the Zephyr Badge with a smile. Natalia took it gladly, opening her badge case and placing it inside. "Here, I want you to have this too." He took a disc from his pocket and handed it over. "It's TM number 51, Roost. I think you can put it to good use." Natalia looked it over and put it in her TM case. "Thank you." She said looking around the building with a smile. She admired what he had to teach, and hoped he didn't stop. This time, she made her way back across the wooden beam with ease, taking the platform back down to freedom.