Finally in Metallica Island, Paul had to use a map to navigate himself to the Pokemon Center. Froslass was following behind him, in case he had encountered any Pokemon. She was also one of the smallest of his Pokemon and could keep up with his pace no problem. He tended not to have a hard time reaching his destination, but every tree and patch of dirt look exactly the same. There were no landmarks to look out for. He sighed, calling out his Honchkrow. Hopping on the back of the dark Pokemon, they ascended over the trees to see if he was able to spot the Pokemon Center. From the sky he clearly saw the Battle Palace. It wasn't his business to bother the Frontier Brain yet.

Looking around the area, he spotted a giant P on top of a wooden building. There was a clearing that was made specifically for the Pokemon Center. Descending back onto the ground, Paul returned the bird and continued his way to the Pokemon Center. It was better to travel on foot, at least he preferred it that way.

On his way to the Pokemon Center, he had encountered several Pokemon and trained with his Froslass. At his feet were a group of fallen Beedrill. They had chased him down for disturbing their nest. So, leading them far from their home, he took them all out with Froslass alone. He wanted to subdue them, but keep their precious Kakuna away from harm's way. Otherwise, they'd have more reason to attack him.

A loud blast caught his attention. Returning his Froslass, he ran over to the sound. It was a Pokemon Battle for sure. A Magmortar was in his sights now. Behind the fire Pokemon was a boy his age. He had a huge smile on his face. Adjusting his hat, the boy's smile only widened.

"You got this, Mag. Easy Peasy!" He laughed.

"What confidence you have." His opponent mused.

Onyx eyes shifted to the man on the other side of the field. This person was battling none other than Spenser, the Frontier Brain of the Battle Palace. Seeing that this boy with a red hat was using a Magmortar against Spenser's Shiftry made him thankful he had been training Froslass.

Paul tried to keep himself hidden as he watched the battle. A hand suddenly touched his back and he turned to see a plump man smiling at him.

"You must be the newbie around, Paul, right? Man you're a quick one." He adjusted his sunglasses and crossed his arms. "I guess the Battle Palace is your next destination."

The tanned teen wanted to ask, but decided against it. This guy seemed to have his information put together, even if he looked like a tourist. He only nodded, focusing on the battle at hand.

"You see, Luke still got two more Pokemon, while Spenser's down to his last one. Ain't that something?" The man said, eager to see the victor. There was no reason to underestimate either trainer. "The name's Scott, by the way."

Another silent nod.

Paul watched each attack being thrown. Magmortar was stationary for the most part. Fire attacks were always a direct hit, this Magmortar was quite skilled. He wasn't sure he'd compared it to his own Magmortar though. Paul wouldn't call himself arrogant, but he was more confident in his own Magmortar's abilities.

It surprised Paul to see that the two trainers had ran with their Pokemon to another location, he supposed away from trees so Magmortar wouldn't burn anything.

"I can assume you know your stuff, huh kid? Don't need to lecture you about the Frontier Brains, since you jumped right in." Scott laughed, "I look forward to seeing your battle with Spenser. I'll let him know you'll be stopping soon." He walked away, following the direction of the battle so he could continue watching.

The teen turned the opposite way to head to the Pokemon Center. He was thinking about the team he had assembled for Spenser's known Pokemon. Hoping he'd see the Frontier Brain's powerhouses first, he wanted it to be a battle that went down smoothly. As he entered the Pokemon Center, he was greeted by Nurse Joy, who happily took his Pokemon.

Sitting on the couch, he supposed he could kill some time watching television. It displayed a contest going on in Chrysanthemum Island. There he saw that girl that couldn't give him a break. Her navy hair now styled in ringlets and she wore a pink puffy dress that was a little more modest than her usual clothing.

She looked to be in a battle at the moment. A water type was pit against her own electric Pokemon. Paul wasn't ever one to watch contest battles, because of their nature, but he wasn't doing anything. As much as he hated to admit it, he wanted to see how her styles differed.

A Hydro Pump aimed at the small Pokemon. He watched as Pachirisu spun around the side of the water attack, it's cheeks sparking and then it let out a powerful Discharge. Paul leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs. The battle wasn't over yet, even after such an attack. The scoreboard showed that Dawn was losing this contest. Time was running out. He wondered if she could possibly pull it off.

Her opponent called out an Ice Shard, icicles were heading towards the Pachirisu. It was going to be over soon…

It was then Dawn ordered another Discharge and he watched the small body of her Pokemon being covered in a ball of the electric attack. It had stopped the Ice Shard completely, acting as another counter shield. Of course, what is to be expected out of Ash's companion? Still, he was surprised the tiny squirrel could manage such a move.

For a short while, it was back and forth between dodging and hitting. Both scores were going down rapidly. Before long, Pachirisu was close enough to attack with another electric move. When the Discharge hit for the last time, her opponent's Pokemon was knocked out, deeming Dawn the winner.

A boy ran in front of the sofa, trying not to block Paul's view. His red hat was something he recognized. It wasn't long when he realized this was the person battling Spenser.

"Aw, man, I knew I'd miss it!" He exclaimed, a small meat bun hanging from his mouth. He turned to face Paul, a worried look on his face. "T-tell me, do you know who won?" He asked desperately.

The purple haired teen narrowed his eyes, not really sure why it mattered to a trainer like him. "It was the one with the blue hair." Ah, her name escaped him again. "With the Pachirisu."

The person in front of him seemed relieved and genuinely happy. "Oh, thank goodness." He let out a small chuckle, "Today's just my day then, won my third Symbol and Dawn's actually here too!" The boy walked away, with more bounce to his step.

Paul supposed those two were friends. It wasn't really his business, but he didn't really care too much either. Watching this kid actually achieve his goal was enough for him to feel even more confident about his win tomorrow. If a goofy kid like that could do it, then his battle would be no problem.

It was early morning, as soon as Paul exited the Pokemon Center, the tourist man had approached him. He still had the same weird smile on his face, but Paul assumed he was going to watch his battle as well. Hopefully the pattern of him having an audience didn't become an actual thing. Knowing Paul's bad luck, it could very well be his reality.

"Looks like you're an early bird, Spenser's ready for your battle." He said, pointing to the direction of the Battle Palace.

Paul mumbled a quick "thanks", then walked towards his destination. There was no reason to talk to this man, he had one goal in mind and once that was achieved, he'd head back to Fuchsia City before the day ended. Though he was confident, there was no reason for him to start getting cocky. He knew exactly what Pokemon Spenser had. He didn't regret not watching how the rest of the battle went down yesterday.

A Frontier Brain was smart enough to not let type disadvantages stop them. Which is what made his battles with them more interesting.

At this point, he noticed his suspicions were correct and that plump man was following right behind. Paul chose to say nothing, even after they've gotten to the Battle Palace. They were greeted by an older man, Paul bowed to him, introducing himself.

"Please have a battle with me." He said, rather than asked.

"But of course." Spenser laughed, leading the two around the Battle Palace to an outside field. "I hate to waste such a nice day, but I suppose I can't run around like I did yesterday." Spenser said, "and I assume you wouldn't want to run around either." He chuckled, seeing how gloomy this trainer looked.

Standing on his side, Paul had faith in his Pokemon's abilities. The robot referee told them the general rules. A three on three until one side no longer had Pokemon.

Spenser called out his Claydol, which threw Paul off. Even so, Paul didn't expect the strongest to be let out so soon. Maybe Spenser thought he'd get an easy win with just that Claydol.

Paul threw out his own Pokemon, "Gliscor, Standby!" A white flash revealed his scorpion-like Pokemon. It was sitting nicely on it's tail, in case it needed to fly up.

"Guests come first, Paul." Spenser said, patiently waiting for the attack.

"X-Scissor!" Gliscor crossed it's claws as they glowed and released the power towards the Claydol.

As the attack got closer, Spenser smiled, yelling out "Teleport". The giant Pokemon vanished and found itself in front of Gliscor. "Now Psybeam."

"KNOCK OFF!" Paul quickly demanded. Black sparks surrounded a claw and it scratched the Claydol before Psybeam pushed back Gliscor. "Don't slack, jump up and use Guillotine!" Gliscor quickly regained it's composure as it launched itself into the air. As it's claw brightly shone white, Gliscor flew downwards.

"Teleport again, Claydol." Before impact, the Claydol had disappeared and reappeared behind Gliscor.

Paul smirked, "Turn around and use Knock Off with your other claw." Gliscor turned it's body and landed a direct hit on Claydol. He knew it was an effective more, so it was even better that he had succeeded.

"Charge up a Hyper Beam." Spenser knew his Claydol had more fight in it. Though it suffered a bit of damage, it was only a scratch. Using one of it's arms, an orange ball formed slowly.

"Keep your distance and use X-Scissor back to back!" Paul was satisfied to see he had time to attack relentlessly before Hyper Beam was released. However, he had only time for one hit to make contact.

An orange beam shot towards Gliscor, who didn't have a fast enough reaction to dodge. The Pokemon was hit badly and it resulted in a knock out.

"Gliscor is unable to battle. The first win goes to Spenser." The robot exclaimed.

Paul returned his Pokemon, now remembering the goofy kid had two more Pokemon to use while Spenser only had one. He came prepared, though.

"Froslass, Standby for battle!" She was a faster Pokemon than Claydol, even with teleport, his Froslass could keep up. "Hail!" He watched as the Pokemon began to glow and hoisted itself into the sky. Clouds formed and covered the sun, hail rained down onto them and his Froslass disappeared.

Spenser seemed impressed with the display. Without knowing when moves were coming, he could no longer rely on teleport.

"Ice Shard, Froslass!" The Pokemon appeared and sent her attack towards the Claydol.

Spenser didn't worry too much about dodging attacks. "Rapid Spin." He ordered. The Pokemon spun around, pushing aside the ice. He was using this as his defense now, since it seemed to have worked faster. Paul stood there and waited, since Froslass was hidden again.

When it had stopped spinning, Paul quickly commanded "Ice Beam!"

A white beam made it's target, the Pokemon was now frozen in place. He knew it was only temporary, seeing the ice block shake from side to side. He knew he had to act faster or else he'd lose his chance.

"Finish it with Shadow Ball!"

The dark ball was hurled towards the iced Claydol and because it wasn't able to move, despite the commands of its master, it was a direct hit. The block had shattered and the Shadow Ball forced Claydol to the ground.

"Claydol is unable to battle, Froslass is the winner!" the robot announced.

Returning his Pokemon, Spenser praised it and then sent out another beloved Pokemon of his. Venusaur stood tall and proudly.

Seeing he no longer needed a quick Pokemon, Paul recalled his Froslass and summoned out his Magmortar instead. Because of this switch, the hail had gone away and the sun came back.

Spenser now saw this boy had quite the arsenal of Pokemon on hand. It meant it was no longer time to play around. "Vine Whip." Several vines stretched out to attack Magmortar. Though it wasn't a move that was particularly effective, there were too many to dodge.

"What-?!" Paul was surprised to see how much power this Venusaur really had. He had no time to gawk, he needed to get out of that Vine Whip. "Fire Spin, Magmortar!" Holding out one of it's canon's Magmortar let out a large fire attack, repelling all of the vines back to Venusaur. He had taken very little damage, since it was mostly aimed towards the vines.

"We have to keep our distance, Razor Leaf!" Spenser commanded. A barrage of leaves quickly found it's way to Magmortar.

"Use Flamethrower on the leaves!" Paul used a move he recalled that girl had done when she had battled a Venusaur. The grass attack failed with the leaves now on the ground.

Looking up at the sky, Spenser smiled. "Solar Beam." With the sun shining, it won't take as long to charge up.

Paul's eyes widened, seeing the Solar Beam forming quickly. It felt like deja vu, but there was no way he could lift his Magmortar from the ground.

"Now Venusaur!"

"Aim your arms forward and use Flamethrower!"

The dirt around the field lifted and clouded both Pokemon. Both sides watched with intense eyes, wondered who had been the victor.

Seeing his Magmortar was still standing, Paul was the first to notice the leaves on Venusaur's back. They were both still in. "Fire Blast, hurry!"

A ball on the canon arm of Magmortar charged up and shot to Venusaur.

"Defend yourself with Vine Whip!"

The multiple vines covered the Venusaur in a ball. As soon as the orange ball made contact, it exploded and knocked down the Venusaur.

"Venusaur is unable to battle, Magmortar is the victor!"

Paul smirked, one more Pokemon to go and he had his second Symbol. He watched as Spenser sent out his final Pokemon. The Shiftry he had seen battle yesterday. His Magmortar gave him a look, knowing Paul wanted to use Froslass against Shiftry.

"Got it." He said, looking forward. With such an easy win against Venusaur, perhaps Spenser should've kept Claydol for last.

Spenser kept his smile, "Looks like you have a close bond with your Pokemon. I sense mutual trust. I'm glad." He praised, "I hope you can trust that I won't go down that easy."

Paul was a bit taken back by his words. Trust? He had expectations for his Pokemon, as if they'd let him down. They had no reason to. His Magmortar was confident in a second win. Claydol may have been Spenser's powerhouse, but Magmortar was definitely one of Paul's. He chose not to respond, instead he decided to start their final round.

"Magmortar, Smog!" Opening it's mouth, Magmortar released smoke over the entire field.

"Jump up and use Quick Attack, Shiftry!" As the Pokemon moved to the sky, it left behind a small trail of smoke. Midair, it flinched, purple sparks covering it's body. However, the Pokemon followed through with the attack, diving down to Magmortar.

"Aim upwards, towards Shiftry and use Fire Blast!" Though, the attack was too slow and Magmortar was tackled to the ground. "Pin Shiftry and use Fire Punch!"

Turning the tables, Magmortar used it's weight to hold down it's opponent. It's arm flamed up and further pushed Shiftry into the ground as it made contact.

"Get out of there using Shadow Ball!" Putting it's hands in front of itself, Shiftry launched the dark ball to force Magmortar off. When it was free, Shiftry was quick to return to it's side of the field. It flinched again as the poison took it's effect. Now at a safe distance, Spenser ordered for Shiftry to use Rock Smash. Aiming to the ground, Shiftry uses it's power to move underneath the ground. Beneath Magmortar's feet, the power was let out and rocks exploded everywhere, hitting Magmortar multiple times.

It was getting exhausted now, but Paul refused to let it fall in battle. Though, the poison had gone away and Shiftry was still well enough to battle. He had to think of something before Shiftry made another move.

Then it hit him. His next Symbol would be his soon if he gotten this right. "Fire Blast, Magmortar!" The canon arm fired the orange orb to it's opponent.

"Jump up to dodge it, Shiftry!" The Pokemon obeyed, avoiding the attack completely.

"Put your arm into the hole and use Flamethrower!" Magmortar shoved it's canon arm into the area that Rock Smash exploded. There happened to be a tunnel that led directly where Shiftry stood.

Spencer wasn't going out without a fight. "Shadow Ball!" Before Shiftry was engulfed in flames, it threw the attack to Paul's Pokemon. The Magmortar put it's full power into it's attack. It hit Magmortar, which stopped the Flamethrower. After the flames had went away, Shiftry fell to the ground, completely motionless. The condition of Magmortar was exactly the same.

"Both Pokemon are unable to battle. Spenser no longer has Pokemon to use, so Paul is the victor!" The Robot shot confetti out of it's head in congratulations.

After the two returned their Pokemon, Spenser approached Paul with the Spirits Symbol in hand. "You've battled wonderfully, Paul. I expect to see you do well in your next battles."

The teen bowed his head, "Thank you." He said as gratefully as he could sound. Though, it still didn't sound as genuine as he intended. While he had won another Symbol, it satisfied him more that he had learned a new technique.

Leaving for the Pokemon Center, their only spectator ran after him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, kid. You look like you can use this."

He was given a case to hold his Symbols. Paul took it, giving him a small "thanks" and then continued his way.

Scott smiled to himself and sighed, "What a fun kid." He said, half joking.

Paul stood in front of a videophone, his brother on the other line. He had traded some Pokemon for his upcoming battles. After receiving his Pokemon, Paul was about to hang up, but his brother wanted to talk a bit more.

"So… you haven't even been there a week and you already have two Symbols, huh?" Reggie asked, clearly impressed. "Make sure to call me before you challenge Brandon. I'll be there to cheer you on."

The teen nodded, he had no intention of taking his time collecting Symbols. They were only obstacles in fighting a true battle with Brandon. The same obstacles his brother had to face before that final battle. He'd make sure he was certain of his victory, his brother there as support would probably drive him to show Brandon, Reggie and himself what a true battle was.

"I'm going now. I have to get some rest and then head over to my next battle." Paul said his goodbye and left the videophone.

Getting back to his room, Paul began to dug around his bag for a book. He pulled out a familiar piece of paper that his temporary companion had drawn for him. Choosing to ignore it for now, he continued his search. He's find that paper again and throw it away later.

Taking his book out, he finally got to read in peace.

When he returned to Fuchsia City, it was late in the afternoon due to a delay. Something trivial like Pokemon migrating and they would be disturbed if the ship moved too much. His day had been wasted. But he still decided to travel through route 15. The Battle Dome was closer anyway, he wasn't going to rent a bike either.

It had been some time since he last step foot in Kanto. Only now did he feel a little nostalgic. When he had a Turtwig by his side. Since the sun was still out, he decided to let Torterra out. He ran his hand gently across his starter's head.

"I suppose you and I could have a walk together, huh?" He chuckled a bit, "It'll be a little harder now that you're bigger. You don't mind, right?"

The Pokemon grunted happily as they walked through the short grass and dirt. Paul thought of the walks they used to have, especially when his Turtwig evolved. He made sure there was enough sunlight for the tree on it's back. Paul knew his soft side for his very first Pokemon.

Eventually, they found a place by the sea to sunbathe. Torterra sat itself by the water, his trainer leaned against him, arms behind his head. There was no talking between them, though that wasn't too much of a surprise. It is said a Pokemon is just like it's trainer.

Thinking back to his time with the small Turtwig, Paul recalled their walk to Fuchsia City. Not wanting to take a bike then, they trekked through Lavender Town and down this place to get their fifth badge.

The grass beside them shifted, Paul slowly turned his head to find blue hair and a grin. The world was against him. Her Piplup walked over to Torterra, making small talk it seemed. Torterra was more of a gentle soul than he was, so it obliged, allowing the conversation.

"Hey, Paul!" She sang, looking at his relaxed expression over her shoulder.

Not even a minute went by and he was already annoyed with her. She didn't come over to greet him, he knew. It was his Torterra she was interested in. He opened an eye to glanced at her, before going back to ignoring everything that wasn't his own Pokemon.

Dawn saw that the boy wasn't in any mood to speak, so she snuck by him to pet Torterra. The affection she gave him was in place of her old companion's Torterra. Paul didn't exactly mind it too much, but he was a bit bothered it wasn't genuine.

"You're a sweetie, Torterra. You really can't judge a book by it's cover." She giggled as Torterra nudged her playfully. "No wonder Paul's getting cozy all over you."

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" He asked, a little fed up with her sweet talking his Pokemon.

Sitting up straight, Dawn put her hands in front of her. "I-I was actually wondering if I could tag along with you? If you're headed to route 13 that is… I'll be out of your hair as soon as we get to Gardenia Town!" She looked away, a bit embarrassed. She didn't mind travelling by herself, but she valued company a bit more. Though Paul wasn't the her first pick, he was someone she knew. He wasn't a complete jerk, he had shown kindness in his own way. She recalled him putting his own Pokemon in danger to save hers.

After a moment, he sighed, getting up from his spot. "As long as you don't bother me, I really don't care." The second her heard her cheer, he knew it was going to be a hard few days for him.