Sorry for the long wait, but anyways this the longest chapter so far, the next ones aren't going to be as long. There was a lot going on in this chapter. From now on all gym battles will be separated from a chapter where a Pokemon was capture. Also so you readers aren't bored by the same attacks in a battle I did give the Pokemon moves they shouldn't know due to levels, but the levels are gone.

Thanks to StormDragon666 for helping me, and a always I don't own Naruto or Pokemon. Review please.


Fight for the Zephyr badge.

Walking out of the Sprout Tower, Ino and Axel walked towards the town Pokémon Center for a quick break maybe they could skip training on route 32 and go straight to the gym. All they needed was a quick lunch break. While waiting for her Pokémon to finish their checkup, she sat at the center's cafeteria eating lunch. She tapped her fingers on the table rhythmically as she thought about what kind of battle strategy she should come up with for the gym battle.

"How many Pokémon does the gym leader even have?" She whispered to herself as she reached for her soda, and took a sip out of it. "Mimi, Nightowl, and Bruce may not be enough if we get overwhelmed in a sky battle. I can still count on Axel. I may need to catch another Pokémon again."

"Cynda!" Axel piped as he ran to his trainer's table. Ino sat on the edge of her seat as the small fire type jumped up into her. Ino held him and got up to go to the front desk and fetch the rest of her team as well. She left the Pokémon Center in good spirits.

"Today is such a nice day!" Ino said to herself. She put her hands over her head to block the sunlight from her face. "I just love spring time." she told Axel, who stood beside her. Spring was Ino's favorite season; with its warm days, it was both perfect travel time and training time. Not to mention the sun was always shining, with maybe a few rainy days. Now it was time to get more training done over in Route 32. Ino spent a cheery ten minutes making her way to the south side of the city and then the south exit. Once out of city limits, Ino called all of her Pokémon out.

"Ok everyone, it's training time!" She tossed out all her Pokeballs, and her three flying types all emerged. Ino clapped her hands once to get their attention. "I don't want a repeat of what happened on route 31 with Mimi and Nightowl eating every Weedle we came across. Sure it's part of nature…and I'm not sure we can even catch a Weedle over here…" the blonde crossed her arms. "I mean sure I'm not crazy about Beedrill but I really wanted that Ledyba." Ino said looking at Axel.

"Cynda…?" he squealed nervously scratching the back of his neck with his tiny paw.

"No biggie. Having a bug type Pokémon in a team with three flying types may not be a good idea anyways." Ino took her bag off and placed it down by against an old tree.

"So before we start any serious training, let's focus on finding a new member for our little family ok?" This got some excited shouts from her Pokémon. Looking around for a new addition to their team was easier said than done. Wild Pokémon weren't know to come easily, and she wasn't going to start training until she got a catch. So the first Pokémon she could find will be the new member of their team. "Anybody see anything?" Her Pokémon were looking all around, and in a few seconds, Bruce screeched and indicated behind Ino. She turned around and saw something scuffling on the bad she'd set down not a minute before.

"Hey!" She shouted, and a small purple mouse Pokémon ran away in fear. "Damn Rattata!" she shouted. "Nightowl, use peck on it!"

Nightowl's beak began to glow immediately and he dove down at the fleeing Rattata before it could give into a bush or beyond his sightline. It narrowly dodged the strike and was suddenly backed up against a rock.

"Now, use Hypnosis," Ino added, and Nightowl's eyes accordingly glowed red and faint red waves flowed outward from them. The Rattata took one awkward step forward, and then fell hard on the ground, dead asleep. Ino jumped in excitement. "Yes, perfect!" She grabbed a spare Pokeball, and tossed it down. It shook only once and was still.

"All right! Rattata is mine." The girl ran towards the now occupied Pokéball containing her new partner. She took a look at the button in the middle, which glowed in a faint grey light indicating the Pokémon was still under hypnosis effect. "I should probably try using hypnosis more often to catch Pokémon. That way they don't struggle too much. That earned her a strange look from her Pokémon.

Rattata: Fang (Male)

Ability: Run away

Nature: Naïve (strongly defiant)

"Don't look at me like that, as a trainer I have to make sure every attempt I make to catch a Pokémon is always successful." she remarked placing both hands on her hips. "I've already got five out of the six Pokémon I'm allowed to carry with me." She said walking back towards her bag and looked through is to see if anything was broken by the Rattata.

"Well the Pokédex is still intact; he just got into the Pokémon food" She said suddenly hearing a bunch of complains from the rest of her Pokémon. Ino let out a sigh as she lowered her head before turning around and look at the Pokémon behind her. "Relax guys there's still enough to feed you guys later. Now it's time to train, once our new member wakes up he'll get some training done too." They began their training battling Pokémon they encountered, and they passed hours that way, building up the power of their attacks and maneuvers. It was sunset by the time they were done, and by that time Fang the Rattata had had plenty of practice, too.

"It's getting late…so should we camp out or go back to town and stay there for the night instead?" Ino asked her resting Pokémon. They were all getting tired now, except for perhaps Bruce and Nightowl, who were nocturnal by nature anyway. "Well…I guess we'll camp here tonight. But before we sleep, I need to gather more fire wood." Her three resting Pokémon each got up and went on a short mission of gathering twigs and scraps of bark or branches. Ino placed the pieces on top of one another and lined it with rocks to keep it from spreading too far.

"Ok Axel, I need you to use Ember to start up the fire, please." Ino pointed at the pile of twigs. Axel promptly spat out an ember at the twig pile, and the fire was made. Not much time after, Ino set up her sleeping bag and made ready to go to sleep for the night. Before she could fully crawl inside it, a rustling off to her right grabbed her attention, and in seconds a group purple snakelike Pokémon tore out of the bushes towards her and her own Pokémon.

"Ekans at this time of night?" she said shocked. Fang got up instantly and made a mad charge straight for the center of the group of snakes. "Fang, Fang, come back!" But she couldn't stop him in time.

Fang charged at the nearest Ekans, which opened its mouth to spit needles of poison at him. Fang flinched upon impact of several of them. Nightowl flew towards another one and slammed it down against the ground. Ino made a desperate grab for Fang, who had stopped moving, and narrowly avoided the wild Ekans biting her wrist.

"He's poisoned! We need to go to the Pokémon center quickly! Axel, get rid of the Ekans."

Axel nodded at her, but a painful chirping sound interrupted him. One of the Ekans was wrapped tight around Nightowl and kept squeezing him harder and harder. Ino tried to return him to his Pokeball, but the Pokeball wasn't recalling him. She tried twice more, to no avail, and reality hit her and hard when she saw Ekans swallow her Pokémon whole. "Axel, use flame wheel!"

Axel charged at Ekans his body engulfed in flames. Ekans skidded backwards, but not fast enough. Axel fired a ferocious Ember attack midway at the creature that dared to devour his friend.

Ino took this chance to grab Mimi's Pokeball and call her back for her own safety. She tried to call out to Axel: "Axel, stop, we have to go take Fang to the Pokémon Center!" Axel growled without looking at her, and continued burning a second Ekans. "Axel, we have to, Fang might die from the poison!" Tears were falling down her cheeks by now, and her fire-type must have heard her tear-choked words. Finally he let the Ekans flee and came back to her, and followed her as she ran on shaky legs back towards town. The run felt long, far too long, with a poisoned Fang growing worse, and quieter, by the minute.

Ino ran into the Pokémon Center with the absolutely still Fang cradled in her arm. "I need help! Please! My Pokémon was poisoned by an Ekans!"

"I'll help it, ma'am. I'll make sure he gets healed," the nurse said, and took Fang from her. She gave a few more placating phrases, but Ino heard none of them. She stepped back and paced the lobby for what seemed like hours. There were no other trainers or civilians there to stare or ask questions, thank Arceus. She was alone with her thoughts and her endless waiting, and the Pokeball in her right hand that had at one point held her Hoothoot.

She couldn't help but feel guilty about it; She couldn't stop Fang from charging at that Ekans, and Nightowl had gone after him to protect him after Fang was poisoned in his foolish charge. And the image of that snake Pokémon's mouth closing over Nightowl's head and swallowing him whole would not leave her head.

"Ino…" The nurse called to her, and Ino whipped her head up to look at her. She stood in the doorway that led to the nearest emergency room. "Your Rattata is all right now."

At last, Ino's heartbeat began to calm down. "Thank Arceus…" she said, and placed her right hand on top of her chest.

"We don't want him battling for a few days, to be safe. Are there any other Pokémon you have who need to be looked after?"

"Um, yeah…" She looked over at her fire-type, sitting on one of the magazine tables. "Axel, why don't you go in for treatment, too?" Axel got up and wobbled over to the nurse without a word, or without a chip. Ino also handed over Mimi and Bruce's Pokeballs, and the empty ball of Nightowl. "Here are the rest of my Pokémon, too."

"I'll be back soon with them." the woman said, and went back down the hall the way she had come. She was halfway down when Ino realized she had given the nurse an empty Pokeball, and once she realized it she went right into the hall to chase her down. "Excuse me! I'm sorry, but…one of the Pokéballs is empty. I forgot." Ino took the empty Pokéball and looked at it.

"Is there something wrong?" The Nurse asked her. It wasn't often trainers mixed in empty Pokeballs with the ones containing their partners. At first, she didn't get a response. "The Pokémon in that ball, he died, didn't he?"

Ino had to wait, and take a breath before answering. "He got eaten by the Ekans. I tried to call him back into his ball, but it didn't work." She kept her eyes on her feet, and bit her bottom lip. The nurse set her other Pokeballs on a nearby counter and set her hands on Ino's shoulders. "A Pokéball will stop working once the Pokémon it ordinarily contains is dead. Afterward, that ball must be taken to a Pokémon Center to be properly disposed of." Ino didn't respond. "Once I give your Pokémon their checkup, I'll take care of this Pokéball."

The blonde nodded and watched the nurse leave again. She went back down the hall to the lobby area of the Center, and finally sat down in one of the empty chairs. This wait was not nearly as long as the first. The same nurse came back with all of her Pokeballs on a plastic tray. "Everyone's in good condition now, ready for your gym battle."

"Thank you," she replied, and took all the Pokeballs off the little tray. The nurse promptly left again, and Ino was left to arrange her Pokeballs on her belt again. She put each back in the slot each was used to by now, and then rubbed her eyes. Her adrenaline from running and pacing was all gone now and suddenly she had a fierce reminder that she was tired. Her Pokémon may be rested and ready for battle, but she'd been up the entire night. 'Battling while being tired is not the best thing I could do.' She thought. 'As a trainer all decisions in battle are up to me and I'm not letting my team down.'

Ino made the decision to stay at the Pokémon Center in one of their spare rooms for traveling trainers, and slept. A shower and change of clothes only came once she finally woke up; she'd been far too exhausted to tend to those things after she'd gotten the room. But it was morning now, a new day, and it was the day of her gym battle.

Standing in front of the tall building, she took a deep breath and steadied herself before opening the main door. Inside, she noticed instantly that the room was very large, which threw her off a bit; from the outside, this place didn't look…that big. On the inside you could see that the building was just one giant room, with a battle field in the middle. "Hana did say the gym leader was an expert of flying types. I wouldn't be surprised if this is good for flying type Pokémon." Across the room she saw a man staring straight at her, as though he'd been waiting. Across the big distance, Ino could make a lot of blue on him: blue hair, a blue kimono-like top that was cut short, and blue shorts over tall white stockings.

"Good day young lady, are you here for a battle against the gym leader?" He called across to her.

Ino nodded with a serious expression on her face; she extended her right arm with the index finger pointed at the man in front of her. "I'm Ino Yamanaka, and I'm here to challenge Falkner to a battle for the gym badge!"

"Cynda!" Axel piped, and mimicked his trainer's actions.

"Then you're here to see me. I'm Falkner, the gym leader of his town, and I accept your challenge!" He paced forward and Ino sensed she must do the same. They each stopped at a square lined by white chalk, marking the trainer boxes of the battlefield. Ino stopped there, and had barely taken a breath before she heard the sudden clanking of gears. The battlefield was lifting up and the high ceiling was splitting open down the middle.

"W-What the hell?" the blonde panicked. She bent her knees and tried to keep still as they rose higher and higher and the front door on ground level seemed small as a Caterpie. The battlefield came to a grinding halt near the massive ceiling opening. Falkner had barely flinched throughout the whole transition.

"A high elevation is best for flying-types to move around." Falkner exclaimed (and Ino noted he seemed much happier now that they were way up here. "Flying types Pokémon are the best…" Falkner spread his arms wide looking up at the sky. "A lot of people say that flying-types can be easily beat by electric-types" The gym leader looked towards his challenger. "But that's foolishness. Any trainer worth his salt knows that type advantage is not all it takes to win. I've made it my mission in life to show trainers the true power of flying Pokémon."

Ino looked at Falkner with a confused expression, her eyes where as wide as they could get. "You know, there's something familiar about your voice, have we meet before?" the blonde tilted her head trying to remember. "Have you ever been to Kanto?"

"No I haven't, you must be confusing me with someone else." The gym leader shouted over at her. Ino shook it off as meaningless, and tried to ready herself for the battle.

"So what are this gym's rules?" The blonde asked. Each gym had its own special way of doing things, as exemplified by the fact that this gym in particular liked to shoot its entire battlefield halfway to outer space. She just hoped that she didn't have to use more than two Pokémon. She was one flying type down, and it did not help the fact that this guy's Pokémon probably knew how to maneuver through this gym.

"The rules are simple here in Violet! I'll use two of my Pokémon, you're allowed to use as many Pokémon as you have on hand, and no substitution will be allowed to either of us." Falkner held up a Pokeball. "Get ready for my first Pokémon!" The gym leader threw a Pokéball into the air, and a Pidgey came out from it. It turned in the air to go back to its trainer, and landed on Falkner's forearm. "Valerio may be only a small Pidgey, but he is strong. Don't get cocky. "

Ino gave a low grown 'I can't substitute, well, damn it there goes my first plan.' She gave some thought to a new idea. "Ok then, Mimi, battle time!" Ino shouted throwing a Pokéball into the air letting her own Pidgey out.

"A Pidgey against Pidgey battle…" Falkner said. Her lashed his arm forward and Valeria flew strongly off, and hovered in the middle of the field. "Let's see who is better with flying types, then."

Ino took a quick glance at both Pidgeys; sure Falkner may know more about flying types than her, but she trusted Mimi and her speed, and that's all they needed to win. "The first to attack always wins; Mimi use Quick attack!"

Mimi let out a loud chirp and sped forward to charge at Valerio.

"Valerio, Gust!" Falkner shouted. Valerio flapped out of range of Mimi's strike, and then above her head. The female Pidgey was left looking around for her opponent or an oncoming Gust. Before she knew it Mimi was thrown to the ground by a gust of wind coming from her left. She flapped hard to keep herself in place, but the winds were strong. It took a lot of energy simply to keep steady in the air.

Falkner took his chance while the enemy Pokémon faltered. "Now Valerio, use Tackle" Valerio swiftly charged towards Mimi again.

"Dodge it, hurry!" Ino cried. Mimi tried to get out of the way, but Valerio was faster, and landed his attack. Now Mimi's flaps were less for steadying herself and more in desperation to simply stay in the air. Before either she or her trainer knew it, Mimi was under fire of a barrage of tackle attacks, coming from all directions. Mimi was endlessly struck after trying to steady herself in the air.

"Excellent agility, Valerio. Let's finish this up, now: use Aerial Ace!" Falkner commanded. His Pidgey flew high up into the air, before diving back straight down towards his enemy, who continued to flounder in the air like a weakened Magikarp.

"Mimi, get up!" the blonde screamed. Valerio would hit in seconds, in moments. "MIMI I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT, GET UP!" Finally, Mimi opened her eyes. As she took in a massive inhaling breath she flapped her wings up and down hard, propelling her to the side before she could be hit. Valerio narrowly missed nosediving into the ground and swept up a wave of sand and dirt as he flew along the ground to straighten himself again. Mimi now flew high above him, and the silhouette of her stood out above her opponent. She was flapping her wings powerfully now, creating a powerful twister of moving, cold wind. Valerio was caught up in it and thrown down hard against the battlefield's artificial ground. He drooped towards the edge and began to fall, but Falkner called him back into his ball before he could make it any further down.

"All right Mimi! I knew you could do it!" Ino waved her arms happily at their victory. "There's just one more battle to go and the badge is ours!" Mimi chirruped loudly at her in reply.

While they cheered, Falkner set aside Valerio's Pokeball on his own belt, and selected another between two fingers. alkner put away Valerio's Pokéball, and took out another one from his belt. "Don't think you won just yet, my next Pokémon is a lot stronger. Hayato! Take flight!" Falkner called out his last Pokémon, a Pidgeotto.

"Mimi, be careful, now…" the blonde warned, raising a hand slightly. 'Pidgeotto maybe Pidgey's evolution, but I know we can win.' she thought. "Let's win this, Mimi, same as the first one! Use twister." And, same as the first victory, Mimi made hard, heavy flaps with her wings to call up cool and fierce winds, and formed a twister that went zooming towards her opponent.

On the far side of the field, Falkner smirked at the oncoming twister. "Blow it away with Whirlwind." he said, barely above the gale. Hayato mimicked Mimi's hard wingflaps, making a second strong wind that tore the twister up and dispelled it. The new gale thrust Mimi nearly off the battlefield, hovering over several stories' height of empty space. It nearly did the same to Ino, reminding her that if she fell off the edge, there was no Pokeball to zoom her up into immediate safety. She barely heard Falkner's next command over the Pidgeotto's strong wind; she could only just see Hayato flying over. Ino's hair was blowing all around her thanks to the wind. Before she realized it, Mimi was screeching and being forced back into her Pokeball, and Fang was dragged out of his.

"What's going on?! Fang, why are you out?" The young trainer was surprised by the change of her Pokémon.

"That's the power of Whirlwind, it can force a Pokémon on the field straight back into its Pokeball again, and another will be pulled out into the wind." Ino remembered faintly hearing of the move before.

Damn it, Fang wasn't supposed to be out in battle, but she couldn't call him back or it would be an immediate forfeit. "Well, Fang…are you ready to battle?"

"Rattataaa!" Fang let out a roar, and the blond nodded at him. They would have to win this. Speed was what they needed; the faster this was over the better.

"Hayato, use Wing attack!" Falkner shouted. The first move was his, but Ino smirked at the opening it gave them.

"Fang, use Sucker punch." Fang sprinted forward. His eyes glowed, his front paws were surrounded by a dark aura, and he made a sudden vertical jump towards the bird Pokémon. His attack was maddeningly fast and landed before Hayato could land hi; the Pidgeotto was thrown back, squawking in pain.

"Don't think you can out speed us. Hayato, Quick attack!" Falkner ordered, Hayato coughed once, and dove for Fang again. The Rattata dodged the first and second strikes by leaping backwards.

Ino couldn't afford to let him wait longer, though. "Sucker punch!" She told him again. This battle seemed to be going her way after all; Sucker punch was a fast attack, and Fang was fast. With his new speed Fang hit Hayato a second time, but was tossed to the side by the Quick attack after landing his own hit. Fang nearly landed on his side, but caught himself like a feline, and hit the ground neatly.

"Alright. One more should win this. Fang, use Sucker punch again!" Ino commanded. This would be a surefire victory with this move. Fang made another dash for the waiting Pidgeotto.

"Roost, Hayato," Falkner called. Hayato's wings pointed upward, and he landed with a smooth ruffle of his feathers on the ground, surrounded by an aura of light energy. His ruffled and bleeding feathers smoothed over and the bloodstains melted into the air. Fang stopped his sprint and stood halfway to Hayato, staring.

"Wh—? Fang, what's wrong?" Ino called out to him.

Falkner sent her a small smile. "Don't think we're strangers to opponents who try Sucker punch. So long as your opponent isn't going to meet you with an offensive attack, Sucker punch is worthless."

"Well, fine! Since he's just standing there, use Hyper fang on him!" In an instant, Fang dove forward yet again. His jaws parted revealing extended front fangs, surrounded by light energy. Once close enough, he jumped to make his attack from above.

Hayato kept his eyes on the falling mouse Pokémon. "Use Aerial ace!" his trainer called to him, and he moved to obey. The Pidgeotto kicked off the ground, and Fang landed face-first with a quick cracking sound to either his skull or his teeth. He moved again a second later, thrashing left and right and unable to get his teeth unstuck from the floor. Hayato took his chance. He tackled the mouse Pokémon, slamming down hard on his side.

Fang's teeth broke from the sudden impact and he flopped once, twice, and landed nearly at Ino's feet. Ino stared at him; he just laid there still. "He's not even breathing." she whispered.

"What's your next move?" Falkner asked in an authoritative voice. "Are you quitting? Or are you sending your next Pokémon?" The gym leader stood there his Pokémon landed right next to him, waiting for their challenger's next move.

"Damn it, I thought we had it" she whispered holding the poor Rattata on her hands. She sat there quiet for a few minutes, and Falkner waited for her, but his patience was not endless.

"I'll ask you again, Ino, are you quitting the battle? I am obligated to accept your surrender if you're giving up. But if you keep going I will not go easy on the next Pokémon you send out. I have a duty as a gym leader to send only worthy trainers towards the Elite Four at the Pokémon League"

Ino glared at him, gritted her teeth, and began to scream. "It's your job to determine who is worthy! What kind of fucked-up job is this?" she glared at this so called gym leader.

"Do you think all trainers who set out to travel manage to challenge the Elite Four? They're powerful trainers, and battles are dangerous." Falkner crossed his arms, assessing the beginner in front of him. "Every year, hundreds of teens become legal trainers. They travel their home country, or a foreign one for their journey. Not every one of their Pokémon will survive a hard battle, and not every gym leader will go easy for them. Believe me on that one." He uncrossed his arms, and looked down at his own Pokémon next to him. "Trusting and loving your Pokémon is one part of battling. Strategy is another. And lastly, being able to let go and move on. It's not easy."

Ino kept glaring at him, and watched his stern expression turn into a broken, sad smile. "Not long before you, a trainer from Hoenn came to challenge me. He also wanted to challenge the Johto League. And in that battle, I lost my dear Natu." Falkner lowered his head; Ino couldn't help to do the same for her own lost Pokémon. There was a moment of silence before Falkner kept on.

"My father used to be the gym leader before me, he thought me everything about flying types, and one day I hope to be able to be the best flying type gym leader out there, and make sure every trainer that passes through this gym is ready to face the downside of Pokémon battles. And if they're not, then they can go back from wherever they came from."

"Well I'm not giving up!" Ino stood up. Dried up tears showed on her face. "I will miss Fang even though we weren't together for long. But I set out with a goal to become a trainer. And no one is going to stop me! Not you, no other gym leader, and I'm defiantly not backing down from any other trainer! My journey may have its ups and downs…" She stopped for a moment, determination flashing bright in her eyes.

"But as long as my Pokémon give it their all, I will not disgrace their sacrifice by turning back now, after just starting. We're finishing this battle, Falkner, with me the victor. Now, go for it Axel!" The blonde shouted while extending her right arm towards the battle field.

"CYNDA!" Axle roared. He lit the flames on his back mid-jump. As he sailed forward in his jump, Axel was surrounded by a strange blue light. It completely engulfed him, and grew around him. By the time he landed, the blue light had swelled to twice Axel's size, and faded away in seconds. "Quilava!" Axel once again roared as he landed his once squinted eyes opened to reveal his new red-irised eyes; his once long snout had rounded off, and his round body had become long, and triangular ears adorned the crown of his head. "Axel…you evolved" The blonde had a huge smile on her face Axel was not only bigger but stronger too. Now, he would win.

"What are we waiting for, Axel, let's get this battle started! Use Flame wheel!" the trainer ordered her newly evolved Pokémon. Axel charged at Hayato, with flames covering his body as he sprinted forward with all speed.

Now it was Hayato desperately flapping his wings to get out of the opponent's way, but he did not rise high enough. The Quilava jumped up high enough to slam into the bird's belly, but he wasn't knocked out of the air. "Hayato, use Quick attack!" Falkner instructed his Pokémon.

"Axel, use Smoke screen!" The trainer ordered her Pokémon. Taking a deep breath Axel let out a cover of smoke, blocking the bird's vision.

"Don't think that will stop us. Hayato, blow the smoke away." On command, Hayato flapped his wings to create a strong gust, blowing the smoke cover away from the field. Once the field was cleared, Axel was nowhere in Hayato's field of vision.

"Flame wheel." Came Ino's command.

"Lava!" Axel roared from above Hayato. Using the memento from his achieved height of his jump, he slapped the bird Pokémon from above with a Flame wheel, and crashed into the ground. A puff of dust and smoke appeared on their crash site; Axel jumped away, waiting for the opponent to get up and fly high again. Hayato did not get up. Falkner took out his Pokeball to call him back, but the red beam would not fire, nothing happened at all.

Falkner stopped tapping the ball, and began to walk towards his fallen Pokémon. "It seems Hayato has seen his last battle."

"I'm sorry." Ino murmured. She crossed her arms and grabbed her own forearms. The gym leader gave her a look before standing up. The elevated field clanked loudly again and began to lower at last.

When they were back at ground level, he told her, "Listen, this is the risk of battle. I accept this loss with dignity, for my Pokémon's sake and respect for my opponent." the gym leader took a small item out of his pocket and handed it to the trainer in front of him. "This is the Zephyr badge, as proof that you beat me. There's something else as well." He took a small disc shaped item from his opposite pocket. "This is a TM It'll teach one of your Pokémon roost"

"Thank you Falkner." The girl gave him a small smile accepting the badge and the offered TM. Falkner walked away from her till he was nearly across the huge room. "Don't worry about your Rattata, Ino. As gym leader it's my responsibility to make sure he is properly buried. He will be cared for."

"All right. Thank you again Falkner" Ino said. She bowed once, and long, before turning to take her leave with Axel following her. Once outside Ino looked up at the sky. It was only just mid-afternoon, and much of her morning had been spent sleeping, but that battle had seemed take up half a day or more by itself. "We got our first badge, Axel." the blonde weakly smiled weakly at her Pokémon, who returned the expression. "Both you and Mimi need a good rest, don't you? Let's head back to the Pokémon Center to chill for a while, 'kay?" She winked her right eye at him.

Ino stretched her arms while they walked towards the Center. This journey was not going to be easy, but she wasn't stopping anytime soon. They were going all the way to the Pokémon League, and it looks like there is another trainer with her same goal ahead of her.