Thank you srgeman and cfraser for reviewing!

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Chapter 4-

The next day dawned bright and beautiful

At the Hoenn Region Pokemon League headquarters, Sophie was just getting down to the lounge where the rest of the gym leaders were. As soon as she got down there…

"Sophie!"

"Caroline!"

The two long time friends hugged and immediately got to talking.

"What are you doing here Caroline?"

"Oh Norman and I were out shopping and so I just tagged along to this little thing. So, how are the boys?"

"Oh it's the same old, same old. Tristan has been hanging around the house training all the time. He is still on that whole dual type pokemon high. And Adam and Evan have been helping out Calvin with his boats as well as being judges for my battles. How's May and Max?"

"Well, guess what? May is starting her journey!"

"Get out!"

"I know! I'm very excited for her. She says she is going around to all of the gyms. I hope she is able to make it to you!"

"Well it probably won't be for a while since she'll probably want to just start right up with Roxanne. Maybe towards the end of her trip or when she stops in to battle your husband!"

"Oh I am not looking forward to that at all. It is going to be so weird! Anyway, guess what happened to me the other day…"

The two went on like that for quite some time before Winona came in and called all of the gym leaders into the conference room. Once they got in there she called everyone to order.

"Okay everyone, lets make this quick so we can get back to our gyms. The reason we are having this meeting is to warn you all about the increasing criminal activity relating to two organizations that are calling themselves Team Aqua and Team Magma. They have so far just been stealing various artifacts from around the region, but we received a report that they could be behind some kidnappings of various people in pokemon academia."

"What is their purpose?" asked Roxanne.

"We have been unable to find that out. It seems though that Team Aqua does something relating to water and have been sighted with Crawdaunt. Team Magma is less clear because they have been sighted with Mightyena, which does not really relate to the fire connotation of their name."

"So what can we do?" asked Norman.

"Well, we should start with vigilance. If you see suspicious activity happening around your gym or in your town, call the league so they can send in some investigators. Also make sure that all your security measures for your gym are up to date. It seems like they are less inclined to stealing pokemon than they are information, but it does not hurt to be safe. I've got a preventative safety presentation on video that we are going to watch now. Then we are all going to meet up again after lunch to go over what we can do to try and stop these guys…"

--

The day dawned bright and beautiful. Gary looked outside with a grin on his face.

"This is perfect weather for winning badges. Tristan can't surprise me now with his dual-type advantage. I'll be ready this time around. NO one gets Gary Oak twice in battle."

Meanwhile, Tristan was having similar thoughts as he gazed outside, quite a few hours after the day had dawned of course.

"Gary is coming back today. I gave him a lot of information about my pokemon as well as pokemon from Hoenn. But it's one thing to have knowledge about pokemon and another to actually battle with them. I know I can beat him again."

After eating some breakfast, Gary headed over to the gym. He told Jen that he was here for his rematch and waited for Tristan to answer his challenge. Unfortunately, someone had already beaten Gary to the gym that morning. He decided to go watch what was going on.

As he entered, he heard one of Tristan's brothers shout "Delibird is unable to battle, Onix wins. The challenger has three Pokémon to the gym leader's one."

Gary couldn't believe it. He saw a teenager about Tristan's age standing there looking smug, while Tristan looked pretty angry. He watched as Tristan sent out his last Pokémon, his Lapras. Gary knew that Tristan was in trouble. Sure enough, Lapras was down after about two minutes with the Onix using Dig to miss the water attacks and using a relentless barrage of Rock Throw and what appeared to be a grass type Hidden Power.

"Lapras is unable to battle. The winner is Justin!"

Justin was smiling as he returned his Onix to its pokeball and started to walk towards Tristan. Tristan just looked stunned as he recalled his Lapras. Gary listened closely as they talked.

"Wow dude, that was a pitiful showing for a gym leader. Hope your mommy comes back soon to clean up your mess." Justin said.

"Thank you for that. Here is your Tundra badge. Have a nice day."

Tristan gave him the badge and then turned and walked out of the gym towards the house. Justin walked toward the lobby. Gary went down to the lobby as Justin was walking out.

"Are you here to challenge the gym leader?" Justin asked.

"Yes I am." Gary replied.

"He's a piece of cake. I didn't lose a single battle. Have fun." Justin said as he walked out the door.

Wow, what a jerk. Was that what I used to be like? Gary wondered.

Tristan sat down in his room and just stared at the wall.

"I can't believe I lost. Who am I to think that I deserve to be a gym leader. That guy was right. That was a pitiful battle. My pokemon deserve so much better than that. And I saw Gary in the stands. He probably thinks I'm a loser too."

Tristan called out the pokemon he used and apologized to each of them. They hated to see him so down and tried to cheer Tristan up. He was feeling slightly better when he heard a knock on the door. When he opened it, he saw Gary.

"Hey. How're you doing?" Gary asked.

"I can't believe I lost. I always saw myself going undefeated as a gym leader."

"You know that never happens. Gym leaders lose all the time."

"I know. It's so much easier to choose a type that you know is going to be strong against a gym leader's specialty, but it's so hard then be in the gym leader's position and have no idea what's going to be thrown at you. I know that's the downfall of dual types. Sometimes you get lucky and have a good matchup, other times you have your ass handed to you. I guess that's why there are no dual-type gyms. I had nothing for that Onix."

"True, there are no dual-type gyms. But you are a good trainer. Maybe there is a first for that type of gym. Maybe you are just the person to be able to pull it off. All I know is that instead of sitting here moping, you need to get up and get ready. Because I'm here to challenge the Azure Town gym leader, not some cry-baby."

Tristan smiled and stood up. "I accept your challenge."

--

Gary went back to the lobby to wait as Tristan got a new team together. Jen turned to him after 10 minutes and told him he could go in. Tristan stood waiting for Gary inside the arena. He had carefully selected his new team for this battle. He had always thought it stupid that most gym leaders used the same pokemon over and over again. It was so… boring. Tristan liked mixing things up and this was the perfect chance to do it.

"Alright Gary, you know the drill. Don't expect me to take it easy on you just because we're friends."

"I was thinking the same thing Tristan. The Tundra badge is mine today!"

Tristan's brother Evan stepped up to judge the match.

"This will be a three on three pokemon match with no time limit. The challenger, Gary will be battling with the gym leader, Tristan, for a Tundra badge. The challenger is allowed to substitute their pokemon during battle, while the gym leader is not. The last trainer with a pokemon left standing will be the winner. Are the trainers ready?"

"Yes." They replied.

"Then battle on!"

"Go Dewgong- and hop into the water!"

"Go Scizor!"

Tristan's Dewgong and Gary's Scizor were ready for a battle. However, Scizor was unable to get to Dewgong before it went underwater.

"Alright Dewgong, get things started off good with a big Icy Wind!" The effects of the Icy Wind were immediately apparent as Scizor slowed down dramatically.

"Dang it, there goes all of my speed attacks with Scizor. Oh well."

"Scizor, now that it's out, hit it with a Slash attack!"

"Dodge that!" The attack grazed Dewgong's back but still did damage.

"Come back with an Ice Beam!" The attack missed Scizor by inches.

"Scizor, use Fury Cutter!"

"Dewgong- don't move, let Scizor come close."

Scizor flew in at Dewgong as fast as it could given the Icy Wind effects. Just as it was about to hit…

"Aurora Beam now Dewgong!" The beam hit Scizor square on and knocked the bug to the ground, but overall did not deal much damage.

"Shake it off Scizor! Now do a Metal Claw! The attack connected with Dewgong knocking it backwards.

"Dewgong, counter it with a Water Pulse!"

Attack after attack landed as neither side backed down. Both pokemon were extremely tired.

"Scizor, finish it off with a Slash attack!"

"No! Dewgong, quick do a Water Pulse!"

The Water Pulse collided with Scizor causing it to not hit Dewgong head on but still get its tail. But the bug pokemon hit the ground and skidded to a halt and did not get back up.

"Scizor is unable to battle."

"Good job Scizor, you did your best. Return. Go Alakazam!"

Alakazam made quick work of Dewgong. But then trouble struck for Gary when Tristan sent out Sneasel again. The dark type had a huge strength against psychic types. And unfortunately for Gary, Tristan had it use Mean Look right off the bat so that Gary was stuck with Alakazam. It did not take long for Alakazam to be knocked out. Gary was down to his last pokemon.

"Well, I hope this works. Go Magmar!"

Magmar played on Sneasel's weakness to fire with a barrage of flamethrower's and fire punches that knocked the pokemon out while only taking a single Ice Beam attack that did minimal damage.

"Well, it comes down to our last pokemon yet again. Go Piloswine!"

Yes! Piloswine is way weak against fire types. But wait, it's also a ground type. This could be bad…" Gary thought inwardly.

"Magmar, hit it quick with a flamethrower!"

"Counter it with a Blizzard attack Piloswine! Make it snow like a nor'easter!"

The flamethrower died out in the onslaught of snow and ice. It started to take a toll on Magmar as the pokemon started to freeze.

"Come on Magmar. Find Piloswine and give it a Fire Blast!"

But when the blizzard cleared Piloswine was not where Magmar and Gary thought it would be. It had managed to make its way right in front of Gary!

"Now Piloswine, Earthquake!"

The gym trembled under the mighty earthquake the big pokemon unleashed. Unfortunate for Magmar, since it is weak to ground attacks. The fire type collapsed to the ground.

"Magmar get up, I know you can do this!" Gary's pokemon wobbled onto its feet. "Now give it that flamethrower of yours!"

Piloswine had no chance to dodge it and got hit full on. It took considerable damage.

"Piloswine, go in for the knock out with a Take Down!"

"Counter it with a Fire Punch, Magmar!

Both pokemon connected with their attacks and caused an explosion at the impact. When the smoke cleared, both pokemon were down.

"Magmar and Piloswine are unable to battle. The match is a draw!"

"Alright Piloswine, have a rest."

"Fine job out there Magmar. You did all you could."

"Gary, I don't know what to say. That was another awesome battle! Here, the Tundra badge is yours since you were able to knock out all of my pokemon."

"No Tristan, I want to win it outright. Keep the badge. I…I've got to go."

And with that Gary stormed out the door leaving Tristan feeling bad that Gary appeared to be mad at him.

--

Gary walked around the town for a while with a frown on his face thinking about the battle. He had never had this much trouble beating a person, even Ash! He was very angry with himself for failing like that. He needed to talk to someone.

Gary went to the Pokemon Center and gave Nurse Joy his pokemon, then went to the phone and dialed a familiar number.

"Hello, this is the Oak Laboratory, Tracey here."

"Hey Trace. Can you put Grampa on?"

"Oh, hi Gary! Sure, hang on for a sec."

"Gary my boy, how are things in Hoenn?"

"Terrible. I'm in Azure Town trying to win a Tundra badge, and I've been unable to beat the gym leader in a battle And he's just a substitute gym leader"

"Well, that sounds like quite some gym leader. Do you think you could beat the regular gym leader?"

"Without a doubt."

"What do you think the problem is?"

"I don't know. He specializes in dual types and they have so many different strengths and weaknesses from single types that I can't seem to get a hold on the battle. And he's a very capable trainer- he competed at the Indigo and Silver conferences and did really good in both."

"Hmmm. That is interesting. It sounds like you could really learn a lot from him. Remember Gary, it is not just about type difference in battle. Look at how many times Ash has shown us that. There is so much strategy that goes into a battle. It is like a game of chess. From what it sounds like, this gym leader has been a couple of moves ahead of you each time. You need to fix your strategy to be able to get back to being even with him."

"I'm just really disappointed in myself."

"Don't think like that! I know it is hard to lose. But you should not get down. You must allow a loss or failure to push you harder to improve so that it does not happen again! As a professor I do that all the time. Each failure shows me what not to do again, and ultimately pushes me to success. As a future researcher, you should get to know that philosophy well!"

"I suppose you're right! Thanks for the talk Grampa!"

"Don't mention it. Oh by the way, Ash is in Hoenn now. You should know that he decided to leave all of his pokemon behind except for Pikachu. Wanted to get off to a fresh start!"

"Why would he do that?"

"I might have told him that you did the same thing so that I could get him to leave his pokemon here so I could study them more." he said with a sheepish look.

Gary gave him a look of disbelief. "That's, kind of shady of you Gramps. But I do like that idea. I'm going to send you back all of my pokemon except for Umbreon. A fresh start will get me out of this funk and allow me to catch lots of new Hoenn pokemon."

"That's the spirit my boy! Send them over."

Gary retrieved his other five pokeballs and sent them back to Prof. Oak. After making sure they got there safely, he said good bye to his grandfather and hung up.

He walked around for another hour, thinking about what his grandfather had said. After a while, he realized what he needed to do.

I need to go back and talk to Tristan.

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