Connecting Cave was a small cave, that Chris ventured through at a quick pace. Only a few Zubat stood in the way of Chris, but his Pokemon were much stronger from the training he did yesterday before the firework show, especially Fletchling and Froakie. Once they exited the cave, Chris was greeted by his greatest fear, heights. Route 8 was a cliffside that gave view to the south western ocean of Kalos. Chris followed an ancient cobblestone walkway which lead him to a skywalk, a bridge that arched horizontally around a cliff to allow a clear pathway for travelers. Chris scanned his surroundings to see if there was any other option in regards to get to Ambrette town. With no other choice, Chris ventured onto the bridge.

"Don't look down," he mumbled to himself. "Don't look down… Don't look down," he continued to repeat. Despite his attempts, curiosity overpowered him, and he looked down.

"OH JESUS! No I can't do this," he screamed. Beedrill and Eevee had never seen their trainer, their leader this frightened. Fletchling began laughing at Chris for being scared. Beedrill eventually joined in… then Eevee… and then Froakie. To see even Froakie laugh at him was the last straw to Chris.

"Alright…," he stated. "I'm getting across this bridge.." Chris closed his eyes, gripping the guardrail with his life. Before he knew it, he was on the other side of the cliff. Chris chuckled.

"Ha! Well that wasn't so bad." Chris then turned around, realizing a steep and narrow pathway was his only way down…and there was no guardrail. He turned to look at his Pokemon. Other than Beedrill and Fletchling, Chris returned all his Pokemon and began down the steep cliffside that was Route 8.

About an hour passed since Chris passed through Connecting Cave. Now he was in Ambrette Town. It was a surprisingly modern town with modern structures parallel to the beach, all of which was contrary to the images that appeared on Chris' phone. The town was previously a old and dilapidated. Now, there didn't seem to be a spec of old anywhere. At the center of the town was a circular building with a blue dome roof encompassing it. Chris approached it, reading the sign in the front.

'Ambrette Town Aquatic Museum, funded by the Lysandre Foundation,' it read.

"Wouldn't hurt to take a look," thought Chris.

As Chris entered the building, immediately he saw a crowd of people surrounding a stage that had a screen that stretched from floor to ceiling. At the center of the crowd was a man with large, orange, spiky hair barely visible because of all the cameras flashing. Chris remembered him from the Professor's get together back in Lumiose City.

"Kalos has always been a region known for its beauty," began the spiky haired man silencing the surrounding crowd. "But…, Ambrette Town was always a dirty town to me when I visited as a child." He paused briefly prancing around the stage. "Ladies and gentlemen…our beautiful region is slowly becoming more and more hideous by the moment. Humans are becoming wasteful, polluting this place…In my attempt to fight this ongoing destruction, I present the Ambrette Town Aquatic Museum… energy efficient and harmless to the environme-" The man now turned to face Chris.

"Excuse me," demanded the spiky haired man now walking up towards Chris.

To his surprise, the man had walked directly past him.

"Diantha!" he exclaimed. "How have you been?"

"Still lecturing people, Lysandre," she responded. Chris turned around now to look at her. She was easily the most attractive women he'd ever seen in his life, a model for sure. She had pale skin covered in a white silk jacket, gentle blue eyes, and short brown hair.

"What I 'lecture' people on is important," he said strongly. "You may not see it. But I fear this beautiful land will become destroyed quickly if we are not careful." Lysandre now turned to Chris. "Don't you agree with me, son?" Chris stared at him, standing stiffly.

"Uh… well…"

"Don't put him on the spot," said Diantha gently in the background.

"Well…," began Chris. "I don't have a problem with what you desire as long as you aren't harming others." Lysandre stared at him briefly. He then smirked, putting his hand on Chris' shoulder.

"You see what I see…I know it. What's your name?" he asked.

"Chris," he responded shyly. Lysandre now turned to the crowd.

"Thank you all for coming out… Please enjoy the museum for yourself." He now turned to Chris, looking at his Pokemon. "You're a Professor, right? I saw you at Lumiose I remember."

"I'm not a Professor," said Chris correcting him. "Professor Oak is my grandfather."

"I see...you must be a trainer I presume," he said looking at Chris' Pokeballs. The two stared at each other silently. Lysandre then smirked. "I hope I see you again sometime." He then left the museum.

Diantha rolled her eyes as she saw Lysandre leaving. She now looked at Chris.

"Lysandre can get a bit out of hand there. I hope it wasn't too embarrassing."

"I-It's alright," said Chris blushing.

"…So you're a trainer?" She asked looking at Chris' Pokemon.

"Yeah," responded Chris continuing to be shy.

"You get your first gym badge?" She then asked him, talking to him as if he were a child, which began to annoy Chris. Suddenly, he noticed Charlotte passing by him. She didn't seem to notice Chris as she walked past him. Charlotte looked different in Chris' eyes. She still had the same black dress on, but she scurried through the museum nervously. He felt inclined to follow her, and he did.

"I'm sorry," he said to Diantha while still looking at Charlotte in the distance. "I have to go."

"No problem," responded Diantha. "Au revoir!"

Charlotte ventured to the southeast exit to Ambrette Town. Chris checked his phone, learning that the route she was heading down was Route 9. As he chased after her, Chris noticed her traveling on a Rhyhorn across a very steep cliffside. Rhyhorn's claws made it easy to venture through the steep land. Chris returned all his Pokemon to their Pokeballs except Beedrill and Fletchling. He scanned his surroundings, then taking a step forward into the steep land. He successfully held himself, but on the second step he began slipping. Instantly, Chris pulled himself back to stable land.

"Maybe not a good idea," he thought to himself. His curiosity began gnawing at him, to the point where he had to see Charlotte. "What is she doing?" he asked himself. "Why does she look so nervous?" He knew she was onto something possibly deviant. He pranced around the stable ground, staring at the steep land.

"I got an idea!" he then exclaimed looking at the two flying Pokemon on his team. Beedrill gripped its legs onto Chris' right shoulder, which was facing the downhill of the cliff, Fletchling gripped onto Chris' left shoulder which faced the uphill of the cliff. Chris now began walking on the steep pathway, his two Pokemon elevating him gently creating a path for Chris to reach Charlotte.

The cliff came to an abrupt end, only a cave lay in front of Chris. The Rhyhorn which Charlotte used was laying outside the cave, resting. Chris knew clearly she was in there. Chris ventured into the cave quietly. Crystals within the cave established light giving Chris a glittering pathway. As he passed through the cave, he noticed more and more wild Pokemon scurrying around him. They seemed peaceful, so he continued forward not needing to use his Pokemon. Eventually, the expansive cave began to thin down to a single path, and it was then that Chris found the first hostile Pokemon. The tiny Pokemon charged directly at him, ensuing a battle.

An armored plated Pokemon with distinct blue eyes charged directly at Chris mistaking him for a Pokemon. The Pokemon began to ignore him once it realized Chris was human, but then it saw his Eevee, and immediately began attacking it. Eevee dodged and began scratching the armored plated Pokemon aggressively, but it didn't leave a single mark. Chris now had a clear view of the Pokemon.

"Aron," he muttered to himself. Beedrill tried poisoning Aron, but the Aron's steel type made Beedrill's poison useless. Fletchling tried pecking Aron, but to no success. The only Pokemon to have shown to do damage to Aron was Froakie, whom fired multiple bubbles at Aron in the distance. Aron was sent multiple feet back, then looking at Froakie, smiling. The Pokemon tilted its head downwards and began charging at Froakie. The timid Pokemon, fearfully climbed onto Chris' shoulder. Aron was now charging towards Chris. In a last ditch effort to same him hours of pain, Chris tossed his second to last remaining Pokeball at Aron. The ball hit Aron directly on the head, sealing Aron within the ball before falling to the ground. The ball twitched once to the left, once to the right and then came to a pause. The cave had returned to silence. Chris walked up to the ball, and tossed it revealing the newest Pokemon on his team. Aron glanced in multiple directions before looking at Chris giving him a smile. Chris sighed. The steel Pokemon began walking up to Froakie, but Froakie shyly kept distance from the newly caught Pokemon.

"It's alright Froakie," began Chris. "Pokemon like Aron love to battle. That's why it attacked us...Or we invaded his territory." Chris now looked down at Aron.

"I've read a lot about you Aron...I always wanted an Aggron when I was younger," he said. "Guess this Kalos trip has been better than I expected." Chris then handed Aron a snack. The iron Pokemon nibbled on it happily, annoying Eevee.

"He's a part of our team now, wait. The hell am I doing!? I gotta find Charlotte." In the distance, a loud thud could be heard. Aron began chasing off towards the sounds, which were more than likely Charlotte. Chris trailed shortly behind Aron.

As the noises grew louder and louder, Chris noticed that he and his Pokemon had begun to enter an abandoned mine.

"Aron," called out Chris quietly, but the Pokemon didn't respond. He then leaned up against a wall listening to a conversation on the other side.

"It's not here," said a masculine voice angrily.

"We found the fossils just like he demanded," responded a feminine voice, which sounded like Charlotte's. Aron now turned the corner, halting the conversation.

"It's just a Pokemon," said the man. Chris now turned the corner and saw his Aron. As he looked farther down the mine, he could see Charlotte and a man dressed all in red with red hair and red shades. Aron looked back to see Chris and now began charging towards the man dressed in red and his Pokemon, Houndour.

"Who the hell are you?" asked the man. Charlotte now turned around to see Chris.

"Chris?" she said confused.

"Sorry," began Chris. "The Pokemon gets a little energetic for battles."

"You caught an Aron?" she muttered in the distance. Houndour barked at Aron, whom was smiling at the opportunity to battle.

"Well take that thing out of here, I got things to do," said the man.

"Sure… Aron," called Chris pulling out its Pokeball. The Pokemon didn't respond, instead now looking harshly at the man dressed in red. It was as if the Pokemon recognized him. Now Aron growled, as it charged towards the man. Houndour stepped in the way, biting down on the steel Pokemon and then sending it back towards Chris.

"What the hell are you doing here?" demanded Charlotte.

Unsure of what was going on, Chris took a step back. Aron took to action, charging towards Houndour, getting underneath the dog Pokemon and then tossing it directly into the ceiling of the cave. This caused Houndour to faint, but it also caused the cave to begin shaking viciously. The man in red returned his Pokemon to its Pokeball and began to flee.

"You're on your own," he said to Charlotte as he sprinted away. Chris returned all his Pokemon to their Pokeballs except for Aron whom refused to.

"Charlotte!" called Chris."We gotta get the hell out of here!" Charlotte instead ran the opposite direction, reaching for an item of some sort. Chris raced towards her looking to see what she was trying to drag. It was two heavy fossils.

"Take one, I got the other!" shouted Chris with the cave still shaking rapidly. Chris picked up a fossil with a jaw on it, Charlotte grabbing one with a sail. The two now sprinted for the exit, the cave collapsing behind them. The avalanche of falling rocks behind them began catching up to Chris, whom trailed behind Charlotte. The exit was in sight, but Chris noticed the rocks above them were about to collapse. Chris dropped the fossil, pushing Charlotte forward causing her to fall out of the cave and away from the falling rocks.

As she picked herself up, she noticed that her fossil was still intact, but the cave had completely collapsed.

"Chris," she called out. "CHRIS!"

Chris coughed harshly. The falling of boulders had come to a stop, but things didn't look good for Chris.

"Aron," he called out praying the Pokemon was still by his side. The Pokemon gave a small cry. Chris was completely trapped within the collapsed cave. Despite this, he could feel Aron cuddle up next to him.

"I hope she got out… I mean I pushed her. She looked like she was out of the cave…," he thought to himself. Chris leaned back against the cave. Surprisingly, he was calm.

"She'll be back," he said confidently. "She wouldn't leave me in here. Why would she?" Chris then began petting Aron's steel body, which calmed the Pokemon.

"I got an Aron," mumbled Chris to himself in relief. "You like to battle don't you?" asked Chris to the Pokemon. Aron was silent. He then chuckled.

"Well...I've got seven more gyms to go...that's gotta be hundreds of battles along the way." Chris could feel Aron becoming more alert. "You do like to battle," he said. "Well...once we get out of this cave, we're gonna battle Aron, I promise." The Pokemon let out a joyful cry as it lay its head on Chris' lap.

Hours had passed since the cave collapsed. Aron began eating parts of the rock in an attempt to create a tunnel, but to no success. With each minute that passed, Chris became more and more paranoid.

"Is she gonna get help? Did she leave me? Who was that guy? Am I gonna die?" There was little amounts of oxygen left in the small space he was trapped in. He felt as if he were slowly suffocating. He panicked initially but calmed down overtime. Aron now returned to Chris' side, snuggling up to his side. Chris took one more breath before falling asleep… or at least he tried.

"I thought I was gonna be a Champion...," he thought to himself. "Everything was going so well...and this is how it ends?" Just as he shut his eyes, searing flames surrounded the boulders facing the exit to the cave. In a matter of seconds, the boulders that trapped Chris were turned to pebbles.

Multiple flashlights shined on Chris, blinding him. Despite his blindness, he could make out a single Pokemon, with a fiery mane… a lion. Now one of the men with a flashlight approached Chris.

"Found him!" he shouted. The man then found Aron as well. Chris, instinctively, returned Aron to its Pokeball as the man picked Chris up, carrying him out of the cave. As he was taken out of the cave, Chris noticed it was now nighttime. He also noticed that it was Lysandre from the museum earlier with the lion Pokemon directly by his side.

"Thank you," groaned Chris, but Lysandre couldn't hear him.

"Get him to a hospital," demanded Lysandre. Chris blacked out shortly afterwards.