A soft wind blew through Eljiah's hair as he stood on top of the tall pillar, in the center of the Cyllage City Pokémon Gym. Gym Leader Grant walked to one end of the platform, while Eljiah stood on the other end. Grant was holding two Pokéballs, containing his opponents for the battle. "As a fan of hiking and climbing, I feel sorry for you and the loss of your right arm. I wish you the best of luck with everything you will encounter on your path. However..." Eljiah felt how the wind got a bit stronger. "As a Gym Leader, I can't give you any advantages. If you want to win this, you'll have to give it everything you've got. In this battle, we both will use two Pokémon, meaning that one of your partners is not allowed to participate. Now, without any further ado, let's begin this battle!" Grant threw his two Pokéballs high into the air, and from it emerged a Tyrunt and an Amaura, two fossil Pokémon. With his remaining left hand, Eljiah took two Pokéballs and threw them toward the center of the field. Fennekin and Mienfoo appeared from them.

Eljiah didn't come to this battle unprepared. He knew that Grant would use two Rock type Pokémon, so Mienfoo's sudden appearance came as a great help. One of his Pokémon would also be part Ice type, so Fennekin could deal with that. Unfortunately, Helioptile would have to stand back for this battle. Mienfoo seemed to be frozen in place, with its eyes closed, but that was part of Eljiah's plan. It was using Calm Mind, so its next attacks would be even more powerful, while Fennekin would protect it from the others. Amaura used Aurora Beam, which Fennekin instinctively dodged, and the move struck Mienfoo behind her. She used Fire Spin on the Tyrunt, who in return used Bite on her. Eljiah was trying to follow everything that was happening on the field, but it was difficult. Mienfoo came back into action, and used Swift. Both opposing Pokémon were hit by it, but it didn't do much. Fennekin used Flame Charge on Amaura, which did a little more damage, but still nothing much. Eljiah slowly realized that his Pokémon were getting weaker more quickly than Grant's. If nothing happened, they would lose the battle.

Amaura used Thunder Wave on Mienfoo, making it fall to the ground. It tried to get back up, but Tyrunt jumped into the air and landed right on it. There was no way Mienfoo was going to fight anymore, so Fennekin would have to do it all. She used Psybeam on Amaura, but again it didn't do much. Amaura and Tyrunt looked at each other, and at the exact same time, they used Rock Tomb on Fennekin. A storm rocks rushed at her, burying her under the heavy rocks. Eljiah jumped up and immediately ran toward the pile of rocks. With one hand, he hastily started removing the rocks, until he could pick up his Pokémon. Grant noticed that his opponent had tears in his eyes, and he felt bad for going all-out on him. Eljiah dropped to the ground, still holding Fennekin close to him. "I'm so sorry... I shouldn't have let you do this battle. I should've known that it was too much. I only just found Mienfoo too, he wasn't even ready to battle at all. I was being overconfident, and now this happened..." He slowly put his Pokémon on the floor and stood up. "Grant. You've won this battle, and I know the rules, but please give me another chance. I can't stop here, I need to go on. My friend was kidnapped by Team Flare, I at least have to save her! Please, I'm begging you, don't let me fail this!"

The Gym Leader closed his eyes and turned his head. He couldn't look him in the eyes, it was too painful to watch. "I'm sorry, Eljiah, but a loss is a loss. I can't make an exception for anyone, not even you. I'm so very sorry for you..." He looked at his two Pokémon, and then at Eljiah's. "But has the battle ended yet? Is this already a loss? Sure, it may seem like that final attack finished your Fennekin off, but look at her now. I don't think she's willing to give up yet!" Eljiah looked down, and saw that Fennekin had gotten back on her feet. She slowly walked forward, and the air around her started vibrating. Eljiah stepped aside as Fennekin started glowing, and a bright white light made him cover his eyes with his arm. He felt a wave of heat coming over him, and when he lowered his arm, he saw that his Pokémon was no longer standing there. Instead, she had transformed into Braixen, Fennekin's evolution. Braixen was much taller than her previous form, and she now stood on two legs. With her hands, she was holding two wooden sticks, with the tip of them being on fire. She threw both sticks at the two opposing Pokémon, leaving a trail of fire behind them. They both made a full circle around Amaura and Tyrunt before returning right into her hands. Then, a giant flame emerged from where Braixen was standing, and it shot towards Amaura, who was sent flying by the effect. Tyrunt managed to break free from the ring of fire, and jumped at Braixen, ready to bite her. But right before he reached her, she pointed her stick at him, and a pink beam shot out of it. Tyrunt flew backwards and landed on Amaura.

Grant called back his two Pokémon, and turned to Eljiah. "Well, I have to say, I didn't expect that! I was pretty concerned that you weren't going to make it, but I wanted to give you that last chance anyway. To think that your Pokémon still had enough energy to evolve and defeat both my partners, that was amazing! You definitely deserve my Gym badge, so take it!" He handed a small badge to Eljiah, which he gladly accepted. "Now, Eljiah, I have something very important to tell you." He came closer to Eljiah, and continued to whisper, as if he was scared that someone could hear them all the way up here. "Not far from here, there's a cave with walls like mirrors. There are rumors that there is one wall that is unlike the others, in that it holds a special secret of some kind. Now, I'm usually a pretty down-to-earth kind of guy, but for some reason I believe there is truth to this myth. So please, if you go through that cave, take some time to search for it. Again, I don't know why, but I feel like whatever you might find there can only be beneficial to you." With that being said, Grant lead Eljiah to the exit of the Gym.