Author's Note: I did it. I attempted a battle scene. Not the best, but I'm working on it ok! If you don't want to read it, feel free to skip to the first page break!


"Ancient power."

With an echoing roar that shook the gym's walls, several boulders lining the field levitated around the massive dragon type. "Now," Grant ordered. Sylvester's eyes shot back and forth between the boulders, running stealthily between them as they flew his way.

"Amazing Sylvy!" Serena cheered. Sylvester dug his claws into the earth of the battlefield, standing proudly as her last Pokémon in good condition. But even he was tiring out from finishing off Leader Grant's Amaura.

Ironically enough, she noticed the gleam in the tiny Eevee's eyes never faltered throughout its entire time battling so far. Tyrantrum was fast for being such a brute force, but it wasn't as fast as Sylvester. Maybe she could work with this. "Quick attack!"

Sylvester darted towards the target, zigzagging his way across the field as to maximize his momentum. Upon colliding with his foe at an incredible speed, Sylvester cried when his head hit the rock-hard opponent's body. Tyrantrum flinched, but ultimately was hardly fazed.

"Not very effect…" Serena mumbled, biting her lip harder than she realized. At a realistic glance, there was no way Sylvester could be on par with a powerhouse like the Tyrantrum.

But that didn't matter now. All that mattered was battling alongside Sylvester the best she could to hopefully prevent him from getting hurt.

"Shake it off, get away from it!"

"Okay, Tyrantrum, now use Thrash." Grant ordered. Baring teeth and claws in a snarl of vengeance, the dragon seemed to glow an angry red as it clawed, head butted, kicked, thrashed its entire enormous body toward Sylvester, who desperately jumped backwards with every swing.

They quickly approached the edge of the field. Serena had to act fast, or else she would have to watch Sylvester take a horrible hit. "Get behind it! Run underneath him!"

Sylvester huffed, quickly tiring out before dashing between Tyrantrum's legs while it was mid swing. Its eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected move, causing its large body to stumble forward a few steps.

If normal type moves wouldn't work, then dark moves were her last hope. "Bite!" Desperation filled her voice.

There was that gleam again - that distinct sparkle in Sylvester's eye as his teeth sunk into its foe's tail. Tyrantum's eyes squeezed shut, throwing its head back as it cried out in pain.

Grant grimaced, but recovered quickly. "Now's your chance! Thrash one more time."

"Shit - Sylvy, get away!" She practically pleaded, but Tyrantum had already smashed its tail into the ground beneath, along with Sylvester. Dust filled the air from where its tail made impact with the ground, leaving a small crater.

Her mouth hung agape. Her chest tightened, filling with a toxic concoction of dread and regret. "Sylvester!"

The referee hadn't declared a victory. The Eevee brought itself to standing within the crater in a wobbly posture, but nonetheless he was standing. Sylvester's wide eyes looked up to the tall dragon as the tiny normal type began waggling its tail like an excited baby Pokémon.

"Don't stop now; we're almost done!" Grant commanded. His light tone had good intentions, but it felt more like a condescending slap in her team's face. However, maybe he wasn't wrong. Serena didn't realize, but she had broke out into a scowl at the thought of him talking down to her, but more so at the thought of losing again.

Just charge in and deal as much damage as possible, she thought. That was her best bet at this point.

Easier said than done; how could Sylvester hope to land an attack when Tyrantrum didn't give him an opening?

It kept swinging, using the mass of its entire upper body to build enough momentum that would surely make for a match-ending blow.

It swung, one arm after the other nonstop as Sylvester dodged as fast as he could in his exhausted, weakening state.

But Sylvester's sparkling eyes finally dimmed when a boulder on the field disrupted his crucial footwork. Time slowed down as he stumbled, then crashed to the ground, playing out like a slow motion horror movie.

"Sylvester, no!" She cried desperately, ready to step in and end the match herself.

Sylvester looked up at his opponent as he tried desperately to pull himself to standing. He growled a curse at his foe as he futilely watched the dragon pull its arm back, preparing the final blow.

That is, until the Tyrantrum proceeded to punch itself in its own face with all the strength saved for Sylvester.

Serena blinked a few times, breath caught in her throat - she had been holding it for the past few seconds. "What the …"

"Damn it." Leader Grant cursed beneath his breath. "Confused already?"

That's right … From what Serena had studied, excess use of thrash could lead to confusion. "Yes!" She pumped a fist in the air. "Sylvester, get him with bite - this is our chance!"

His mouth pulling into a smile once again, Sylvester leaped to his feet with a rush of adrenaline running through his veins. Tyrantrum watched helplessly as the tiny Eevee landed another bite, one after the other. Grounding himself on his opponent, his claws dug deeply into Tyrantrum's thick flesh, blood beginning to gush out. It roared an angry cry, unable to do anything in its confused state but risk hurting itself once again.

Grant crossed his arms. "Don't give up! Shake him off and use dragon claw!"

The worn dragon type clenched its eyes shut, concentrating as hard as it possibly could with a razor-sharp pair of teeth digging into its side.

It stomped with such ferocity that the ground rumbled enough to nearly make Sylvester lose his grip. He managed to stand his ground, teeth breaking the tough skin on the rock type.

They were at a stalemate, and while normal type moves wouldn't do much, Sylvester was quickly draining the PP on bite. However, there was one move that Sylvester seemed to have mastered, albeit being a normal type move. Rapidly exhausting his bite attack, Serena deemed it her best decision. "Use return!" Serena commanded in a last effort attempt to end the battle.

Clinging to its opponent with all his might, Sylvester worked up all strength he had left in a final wind. For Serena…

Head butting. Kicking. Swiping. Every last-attempt effort made to win Serena the battle.

Tyrantrum cried out, readying his claws for its own final attack.

But it crashed to the ground after only managing a dragon claw attack at itself.

Dirt from the earth beneath them surrounded the battlefield in a shroud of dust and smoke and Tyrantrum's impact with the ground. Sylvester stumbled off his opponent, wobbling and cringing in pain, but still standing.


The referee's hand rose. "Tyrantrum is unable to battle. The winner is challenger Serena."

"… " She sighed in a state of bafflement, having hard time believing her tiny Eevee whom she found severely injured in a bush just weeks before could take down a fully evolved dragon type. "No… No freaking way."

'Serena I did it! Did you see me? We won!' Sylvester cheered, perhaps lacking in the zeal he would normally have if he weren't exhausted from battle.

Grant tipped his head, withdrawing his fallen partner. "You did good," he said to Tyrantrum. "Thank you." And with a smile, he approached the victor. "Congratulations Madame. You've proved yourself a tough trainer, indeed. I must admit, bond between you and your Eevee is rather remarkable. I believe that final 'return' is what won you the match. Indeed, I am honored to award you the Cliff Badge of Ambrette Gym."

The gym leader practically had to force the badge into Serena's hand, exhaling a stifled chuckle as he did so. She stood in a dumbfounded trance, mouth agape and heart still racing from the heat of battle.

And then she realized how ridiculous she must look.

"Sorry," She stuttered, clasping her hand around the cliff badge that pricked her skin with its cold metal coat. "Thank you. Really, thank you so much!" She practically bowed.

"I should be thanking you for the battle," Grant remarked. "The bond you have with your Pokémon … that is your strong point. Work with that to emphasize your strength. Even when events unfold unfavorably and all odds are against you, never stop trying to achieve your goal. However, I'm sure that's an idea you're already rather acquainted with."

"Well I certainly try." Serena's lips curved, radiating the pride of her victory that was finally starting to register in her head. She really did it, perhaps from pure perseverance, or perhaps with a bit of divine intervention. Now more than ever, she knew this is where she was supposed to be.


"I can't believe we did it. We actually got our second badge." Serena mumbled to no one in particular. Following a dirt road leading to the nearest city on the map, she hardly gave herself a chance to enjoy the scenery. She was much more intrigued by the second shiny addition to her badge case. Never had she felt so alive; so on top of the world.

'She's been staring at it for the past two days.' Chase sighed, following along behind her. 'At this rate I won't be surprised if I have to stop her from walking into a tree. She's not even meeting the other trainers' eyes on this road; I wanna battle already!'

'Calm down. Is the world's ugliest starter sad because he fainted against the Leader's first Pokémon?' Kristie mocked.

'I don't know, are you sad Kristie?' Chase replied, earning a snarl from the Squirtle. 'Don't be too hard on yourself. It's not like you had the type advantage against that big mean Amaura. Oh wait...'

'So did you!' Kristie scoffed.

'Tch, those damn ice moves threw me off! Okay, let's admit, maybe we both didn't do as well as we could have.'

A bitter grumble caught itself in Kristie's throat. 'Agreed, for once.' Kristie turned her head downcast, becoming increasingly interested in her footsteps. 'I think we're both just a bit too confident - and not in a good way. Let's just be glad Sylvs came through for us! Gotta admit, even I was pretty damn impressed!'

'For real,' Chase sighed knowingly. 'That was pretty sick bro.'

'Aw, thanks you guys!' Sylvester felt the heat rise in his cheeks. 'You give me too much credit.'

'Not at all. You were amazing. How did you take down that skyscraper of a Pokémon?' Kristie inquired.

'Well,' Sylvester pursed his lower lip for a moment before the widest imaginable smile spread across his face. 'I just… love making dragon types suffer.' His eyes beamed with the radiance of a thousand stars. His bushy tail waggled back and forth in pure excitement of the thought alone.

Silence ensued as Chase and Kristie exchanged a glance with each other. Truthfully, neither had anything they wanted to add to that off-putting remark and thought it best to let it be forgotten.

Fortunately for Serena's team, the shouting of a familiar voice interrupted the awkward silence. Unfortunately, the owner of said voice was no friend.

"Hey, I remember you." The figure stormed toward Serena, who pulled her nose out of her badge case in response. Her vision was enveloped in an overwhelming shade of red as the Team Flare grunt approached. "You're the brat who I battled in Glittering Cave!"

Indeed, Serena recognized the man immediately. Her body tensed up, legs unsure if they wanted to buckle or start running. But she stayed in place, heart pounding against her chest.

"What do you want?" Serena forced out in an unsupported breath.

"You hurt my poor baby Pokémon. You don't think you'd be able to walk off unharmed do you?" The grunt was now merely inches away and moving toward her still. She backed away, attempting to restore the distance between them. Her heart skipped a full beat when the grunt reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Stay away from me!" Serena shrieked, yanking herself away.
A blast of scalding water drenched the grunt from head to toe, causing him to immediately unhand Serena. She stumbled back several feet, allowing her to see Kristie mouth curled into a dangerous snarl. 'Asshole. Don't you touch her again.'

"Thank, girl." Exhaling a deep sigh of relief, her hand caressed the pressure mark the grunt left around her arm.

The grunt's mouth hung in an appalled state of rage. "Shit!" he screamed, running his fingers through his soaked hair. "You've completely ruined my uniform! Our righteous leader takes extra care to dress us so we represent him well, and you've made a fool of him!"

A cult? Serena thought, taking extra precaution to keep her three Pokémon between her and the deranged man.

"Now look at you," he spoke using dramatic arm motions that overemphasized her mere existence. "Walking among these historical stones, trampling on their sacred home without a care in the world." His tongue clicked against his teeth. "Such impotence. Just who the hell do you think you are?"

What in Arceus' name was he rambling about? Historical stones? Serena's eyes darted between her surroundings and the grunt. Indeed, there were massive stones lining the path and spread throughout the surrounding field. She hadn't noticed before; what was so interesting about stones when she could be gawking at her new badge? Tall as they may be, they were just bland sediments, no more special than any other rock she's kicked on the road before. Surely nothing worth fussing over…
"Tsk," he huffed, taking her silence for ignorance. "Of course you'd know nothing of the 3,000 year old legend."

"Legend?" She repeated instinctively.

"Ignorant fool!" Teeth gnashing and hair dripping, the grunt grabbed two Pokéballs and threw them to the ground. "You disrespect our leader and the sacred legend of old. I will end you!"

Two Pokémon appeared before her - a Golbat and a Mightyena. She knew exactly how strong this man was; she won against this same grunt before. Then again, she was with Calem. Hating to admit it, she wasn't sure she would have been victorious in her previous encounter with Team Flare if it weren't for him.

Cacophonous angry growls of the opponent's' Pokémon filled her ears. Their fangs looked huge, sharp - thirsty for blood. Just what did this man want?

"Why are you so insistent on fighting?" She asked, trying to hide the trembling of her voice.

"Unlike you, I have an honor to defend and a leader to represent. May Xerneas bless his judgment upon dealing with my previous failure in his representation." He bowed his head; Serena was sure he was no longer talking to her. That is, until his head snapped back up to meet her shaken gaze. "So let me redeem myself!"

She didn't want to fight. She saw no reason to, other than the fact he was undoubtedly a lunatic. And an asshole, but that was besides the point. Unfortunately, it looked as if he wouldn't allow her to leave, judging by his aggressive advancements just moments before. She tried to breath steadily, but her tightening lungs wouldn't allow it. A sensation of nausea overtook her; she strived to tell herself it was her imagination. This feeling had been visiting her more and more lately, so she had began to disregard whatever made her feel so trapped and short of breath in moments of heat.

Calem wasn't there to help her, but she had to own up to the challenge - if not for herself, then the keep her Pokémon safe.

"Fine." Cracking her knuckles, she steadied her position on the ground. "Chase, Kristie - are you ready? This is your chance."

The grass and water type looked to each other. This wasn't the time or place to argue, and they knew that. They readied themselves, putting all their personal differences behind them for the sake of victory.

Fangs bared and aiming to kill, Chase barely managed to dodge the Mightyena's crunch attack. In fact he only missed thanks to Kristie who didn't hesitate in pushing the grass starter out of the opponent's way.

He decided he'd save the thanks for later, even if it did settle sourly in his stomach that she was the one who saved him.

Her heart twisted every time the enemy came in with an attack, but felt as if she could vomit her insides up if Arceus forbid they landed an attack. That was part of battling, and the only way to avoid it was to win the battle. To protect her friends, she would do whatever she had to. And while Serena spewed out a litany of commands to protect her team, they fought tirelessly to protect her in return.

She didn't realize it; Chase and Kristie hardly realized it - but the furious man in red certainly realized the metamorphosis in Serena. The way Serena's voice stopped trembling, her hands stopped shaking, and her eyes burned in a fierce protectiveness as the young lady grew immersed in the battle, all intrigued the man, but frightened him nonetheless.

So when his Golbat hit the ground in an ungraceful thud joining his fallen Mightyena, he was quick to recall his team.

"Self-righteous bitch," he mumbled as if speaking to himself, but clearly loud enough so that Serena would hear.

I'm the self-righteous bitch? He's the one hurling insults I haven't been called since school back in Unova. She thought, although her desire to avoid any further conflict stopped her from speaking aloud. Still, the remark made her blood boil.

Hardly at all on cue, from the same path Serena came from, Calem sprinted his way toward the two.

"What's going on?" Calem demanded, catching his breath after running full speed to catch up to Serena.

"Calem!" Serena gasped - happy to see him, although he was quite a few minutes too late to help.

"You ... " the Flare grunt muttered while attaching his Poké balls back to his belt.

Without another word, the grunt spun on his feet and ran in the opposite direction.

"What the - hey!" Calem snarled, not hesitating for a moment before running after him. "Serena, let's go!"

"Uh, right," Serena nodded, recalling Kristie and Chase and following behind him. Truly she saw no reason to pursue the man, but then again - it may be wise to get answers from him. Clearly Team Flare was not going away, and their paths were bound to cross again in the future.

The Flare member was already far ahead - running away seemed to be his natural-born talent.

Calem came to a sudden halt. Upon catching up to her rival, Serena looked around furiously for the same reason Calem stomped his foot in rage.

"He's gone ..." Serena remarked.

"What the hell? It's a dead end!" He cried. A ring of impressively tall stones lind the end of the path. They stood so tall that there was no way the grunt could have climbed them so quickly. "What in the world ..." Calem crossed his arms, bringing one hand to his chin as he examined the area for any possible escape routes. However, his train of thought was quickly interrupted when reality set in that Serena was alone with the man.

"Serena." He broke the silence abruptly. Her head snapped towards him, startled from being so on edge with the latest Team Flare encounter. "I'm sorry. I didn't even ask - are you all right?" He looked to her, almost terrified of the thought alone. "Did he hurt you or your Pokémon?"

"No, we're all fine, but he certainly tried to get aggressive. Let's get out of here, yeah?"

He nodded, walking beside her down the single paved path. "... Shit. I'm sorry I didn't make it sooner."

"Don't apologize," she said. "If I can't protect myself, then I have no business traveling the Kalos region." She spoke with confidence, although she thought it best to not recall the fact that she wished so badly for Calem to fight alongside her. She knew exactly how afraid she was. But Calem didn't need to know that. She did handle herself just fine, after all.

"I know. It's not like you're so weak that you need anyone's protection, especially not mine." His eyes met hers as they continued walking. "I just worried, is all."

"You were worried about me?" She repeated, lips parted as she tried to stop gawking in disbelief.

"Well, sure. I mean, we are ... rivals after all, right? You have to keep me on edge - it's your job. The same goes for me." He turned his eyes away from her and back on the road ahead of them.

"Right. If something happened to me, you'd have no one to compete with. And vice versa."

"Exactly."

"But don't count on anything happening to me. We're going to be rivals for a long time." the corners of his lips curled upwards at her words, making her cheeks feel warmer than she would like to admit. However, she remembered something she needed to show him, and any unwanted thoughts fled from her mind. "Oh, and look!"

In a single fluid motion, she shoved her badge case in his line of sight, immodestly flashing the newest addition. "Guess who beat Grant!" Serena piped through clenched teeth that flashed in a proud smile.

"Oh, nice! Your badge looks almost as good as mine."

"Pfft," she rolled her eyes, returning her most prized possession to her bag. "They're exactly the same, dummy."

"Just kidding. Seriously, congratulations! Although I'm not surprised; I didn't doubt for a second that you would get the badge."

"..." She bit her lip, wondering just how in the world he could say such things with such nonchalance. "Thanks; that means a lot coming from you."

"I'm just aware of how strong you are. Probably not stronger than me, but you're certainly up there."

"Calem!" She swatted at his shoulder playfully. His smirk told her that this was absolutely the reaction he had wanted. "You were so close to being nice to me and then you just had to keep talking!"

"Sorry, sorry!" He burst out laughing despite trying to remain composed. "I don't know what it is about you, but sometimes I just can't help myself. But that does remind me, I have something to show you, too."

She found his wording strange, but the Pokéball he pulled from his bag distracted her enough to forget he said anything at all. "What's this?"

"This is the Pokémon from the fossil Jeremie found. The Ambrette Fossil Lab successfully restored it, although they didn't seem to have any new information on mega evolution, as I expected..."

"Woah. That's amazing!" Serena exclaimed. "It's a bummer that it didn't help us with mega evolution, but you can't say it's not incredible that they actually restored a Pokémon from a fossil."

Shrugging, he sighed. "I guess you're right, even if they did pretty much use us to advance their own research..." he trailed off. "But anyway, they're letting one of us keep it - we just have to decide between ourselves."

"What kind of Pokémon is it?"

"It should look familiar." Calem answered, releasing the Pokémon from its ball. She watched intently, holding her breath in anticipation as the fossil Pokémon appeared.

"That's..."

"This guy is called a Tyrunt, the pre-evolved form of Tyrantrum, like the one Grant had."

It was tiny. And adorable. Its eyes were round and wide as it cooed at both trainers.

"He's so cute!" Serena squeaked. "I can't believe he'll evolves into something as huge as Tyrantrum!" Already detaching her Poké balls from her belt, she began releasing her team one by one. "Come out guys - meet our possible new teammate!"

As her three Pokémon appeared before the rock type, they each eyed the potential new member cautiously. That is, except for Sylvester, who immediately broke out into a growl attack.

"Hey! Syvly - what in the world?" Serena ran to the Eevee, picking him up and holding him against her. "This is our friend! Be nice!"

'D.. dragons... I will destroy them.' The Eevee mumbled, his words muffled by her chest, but the Tyrunt was taken absolutely aback.

"I guess Sylvester isn't a fan," Calem remarked.

"No kidding," Serena frowned, promptly returning Sylvester to his respective ball, followed by the others. "I have no idea what's gotten into him - he's usually so sweet!"

"So what should we do? Will he be able to warm up to Tyrunt?"

With a heavy sigh and click of her tongue, she rose to her feet. "I think you should keep him." Serena said, unable to hide the slight disappointment. "I already have a team of three, and you currently only have your Braixen and Bulbasaur. Besides, I wouldn't want to upset Sylvester, or any of my friends."

"Seems fair - as long as you're sure." Calem said, not about to argue with her generous proposal. Serena nodded once more. "Well, welcome to the team, Tyrunt."

The small rock type chirped as Calem recalled him to his Poké ball. "So, have you had a chance to look around Geosenge? It's a rather peculiar place." Calem asked as they began walking once more.

"Geo- oh! I got so caught up with Team Flare, I didn't even notice I made it to the next town." Her eyes scanned the area as the path they chased the grunt down came to an end. Surrounding them was a small, rather gloomy city. It looked like it had some stories to tell - like the sort of place where urban legends are born.

"I had only just arrived when I heard the ruckus. I'm thinking about checking some things out, talking to some locals, that sort of thing." Calem said.

Before she could respond, a ringtone that they recognized as the holocaster rang for a few seconds in both of their bags.

Serena acted first, positioning the screen so they could both see. "It's from Trevor. He probably sent it to both of us."

After pushing 'play,' a hologram of an awkward Trevor greeted them. "U-uh hi everyone! Tierno and I have some big news regarding mega evolution. Meet us at Shalour City as soon as you can!"

The hologram disappeared and the screen faded to black. Serena and Calem looked from the screen to each other with wide eyes and dead serious expressions.

Calem cleared his throat. "Exploring Geosenge can wait, I suppose."

"Yeah," Serena affirmed, exhaling some of the anticipation that began building within her. "I guess I'll meet you there. I'm just going to run to the Pokémon center to make sure Chase and Kristie are okay after that battle."

"Good idea. See you soon, Serena. Don't keep us waiting too long."

Keep him waiting? She could hardly wait herself. She walked so briskly to the Pokémon Center, she practically broke out into a jog. Oh how she wished Trevor was more precise in his message; she couldn't stand not knowing exactly how much information he had.

Calem made his way to the next route, hoping to bypass as many trainer and wild battles as possible, just this time. He paused in his tracts when he saw Shauna sitting alone on a bench just on the outskirts of Geosenge. Surely it wouldn't take too much time to at least say hi. Maybe they could head over together. She was always cheerful - almost too cheerful. Her bubbly company would probably make the time pass faster along the way.

"Hé, Shauna. Comment ça-va? Are you heading to Shalour city too?" He greeted, taking a seat next to her.

But she didn't look at him. There was no response. Her gaze was empty as she never broke eye contact with the gravel beneath them. His heart twisted as he studied her face. Her downcast eyes were as dull as her complexion, matching the tight line of her lips.

"Shauna?"

Without a sound, she rose from the bench and walked away from him, not even acknowledging his presence.


Author's Note: I feel almost embarrassed to update after so long, but here it is, chapter 7! Sincerest apologies to anyone keeping up with this. Everyone goes through fandom shifts from time to time, finding new games to play or new series to watch. I recently became a huge fan of Fire Emblem Awakening, which is a fantastic game and a really fun fandom. Let me just say, fandoms come and go, but Pokemon is forever! I am not abandoning my roots, I promise!

That being said, I and inching my way into some heavier stuff with this chapter that I'm really excited to get into. Playing Fire Emblem absolutely broke my heart, but the tragic aspects of it really got me thinking about my original outline for this story. I want to make sure this story is worth it for not only me as the writer, but for you as the reader. Best wishes - until the next update! (Which will hopefully be sooner than this one was.)