Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. If I did, the anime would remember its older fans. And I'm not just talking about The Origin Special.

"Speech"

'Thought'

"Past Tense"

"Rin...?"

Brendan expected a gym battle to be somewhat intense and hard, but he didn't expect Rin to get upset so easily like that. The light that enveloping her started to change her shape from a little pup into something of a wolf.

The light dissipated from the pokemon and revealed her new form. Rin was now practically three times as tall as she was before, she had developed something of a mane with her new long tail, and her eyes were very intimidating.

Rin had evolved from a Poochyena into a Mightyena.

"Rin, you evolved!" Exclaimed the challenger. His pokemon turned around and barked happily. The trainer shared an equally happy look with his pokemon. "Then use your fire fang attack!"

With great power, the Mightyena jumped up and latched her burning fangs onto Magnemite. This time around, she had type advantage and dealt a lot of damage as a result.

"Magnemite, use thunder wave on yourself." Commanded Wattson.

An electric current surged through the metal pokemon and forced Rin to let go. Quick footed movements allowed for a quick getaway for the dark type. Confusion easily plagued the challengers as Magnemite remained unharmed from its own attack.

"How come your pokemon isn't hurt?" Asked the bewildered boy. The eccentric old man started to laugh.

"That attack gives the paralyze status, and you cannot paralyze an electric type." Explained Wattson.

Brendan glanced at his pokemon and noticed a few electric currents coursing around her. Exasperation made its way across her face again, but she wasn't about to waver one bit.

"Hang in there for just a little longer, Rin. Use your bite attack!" Rin was about to lung forward, but her paralysis stopped her.

"Nice try, use volt switch." Ordered the gym leader.

Magnemite started to orbit closer to its target. Rin saw this and was getting angry at how she could barely move. However once the opponent was close enough, Rin broke through the paralysis.

"Now Rin!" A great surge of energy pushed the pokemon enough to attack with fire fang and defeat the steel type.

Wattson sighed and pulled out a pokeball. He couldn't help much but feel some kind of jealously at Brendan's youth, it did seem to give him some kind advantage. This somehow seemed appropriate.

'So this is youth.'

"Hold on for just a little longer Rin." Stated the brunette as he administered a paralyze heal to his weakened partner.

Seeing the pokemon and trainer working together like that made the old man laugh all over again as he sent out his final pokemon. This one was unique in that it looked like three Magnemite attached to each other. The evolution of Magnemite, Magneton.

"Alright, Magneton use your magnet bomb!" Small chunks of metal were pulled out of the ground and were aimed at Rin.

Quick feet allowed her to dodge the first couple of bombs, but the last three or so hit her and dealt damage. Intimidating growls echoed out of the jaws of Rin, the Magneton started to shutter as a result.

"Rin, use fire fang!" On command, the dark hound leapt up and sank her burning fangs into her opponent. The steel type levitated above the ground and shook her off.

"Use supersonic!" An unsettling noise emitted from the triple pokemon and barely missed the Mightyena.

"Now, use bite attack!" Commanded Brendan, his pokemon charged and tried to sink her jaw into Magneton.

But instead of landing a hit, she missed as the steel electric type separated into three pokemon for a few seconds. This action surprised the challenger, and the gym leader smirked.

"Thunder wave, now!" And just like last time, Rin was paralyzed and left vunerable.

'Dammit!' Thought Brendan as he looked at his struggling pokemon. He realized that this handicap left her open to attack.

'If only we had some kind of long range attack, but Rin doesn't know anything like that.'

"One more time Magneton, use magnet bomb!" Commanded the old man for one final blow.

Brendan cursed his luck again and quickly searched his thoughts for some kind of back door option that could help. A few more seconds of quick thinking rewarded him to the memory of that intimidating growl that made the opponent stop for a second.

"Rin, use that growl from earlier!" Exclaimed the challenger quickly.

However instead of following through with that command, the dark hound gave him an incredulous look. Giving a confused and slightly panicked look was all he could do in return.

Rin turned back to her opponent, who was readied to attack. Not knowing what to do for a situation was annoying, but losing again was even more frustrating.

So she ultimately let out the loud growl, only this time it was much louder and did a good amount of damage. Magneton stopped in its path and fell to the ground. Brendan and Rin had won this match.

"We did it, nice job Rin!" Cheered the brunette as hejolted to his pokemon and hugged her, in return she licked his face happily. He returned her to the pokeball shortly afterward.

"You did well out there." Commented the old man as he retrieved his pokemon.

Wattson then started to strut happily over to the winner to give him the spoils of his victory. Brendan was handed the Dynamo badge for the victory in the battle.

"Congrats lad, here is the Dynamo Badge." Brendan smiled and happily took it.

"But I have to know, what was that last attack you used?" Questioned Wattson, the victor could do little else but to shrug his shoulders.

"To be honest, I panicked and took a gamble." Stated the confused boy before shaking hands and leaving.

Wattson was left bewildered and scratching his chin about the battle that had just taken place. He moved back to face the giant electric current.

'So that is Norman's kid eh?'

Erica was outside training with her pokemon to hone skills together in the western route, Route 117. The area was fairly plain with trees and ponds. Amber was launching embers at the sea in an attempt to control a larger amount for the attack. Tetsa was also busy testing out her metal claw.

Their trainer was overseeing the process and was happy with how they were progressing with it.

"Alright you two, I think that a break is in order." Stated the blond as she walked over to her pokemon.

Both of them halted their previous exercises and rushed over to her. When Amber got close to Erica, she started to glow and evolve. The transformation was quick and made he taller, given her more defined feet, and arms with talons.

The newly evolved pokemon was so surprised at the sudden incident that she had to inspect herself to make sure that it as real. Her trainer was also surprised, but happily.

"Well, so you've evolved now." Stated Erica as she pulled out the pokedex which read Amber as a Combusken.

A few jealous glances came over from Tetsa, but none went unnoticed by the blond girl.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll evolve with enough training." Reassured the trainer as she rubbed her pokemon's head.

Pokémon advancing in their power and strength made Erica think about her previous adventure in Kalos again. Watching her pokemon evolve right before her was so refreshing, and the bliss felt even better when she thought about how far she had come.

Thinking even more about it led her to think about Wally, May, and Brendan. All three were trainers that were just starting out with promise.

'Brendan is a bit of a baka, and May seems to have promise as a researcher like Professor Sycamore.' Thought Erica, she pulled out an HM and thought a little more about Wally.

"Erica, please take this." Said Wally as he handed her the disk.

"Thank you, but what is it?" Questioned the girl as she took the disk.

"It is HM06, rock smash. I figure that you and Brendan could use it on your journey around here. Bye." The green haired boy left the building and headed out into the mall traffic.

'Perhaps he wanted to pay Brendan back for early training.' Concluded Erica as she stuffed the hidden machine away.

She stood up and her face morphed into surprise for a quick second before becoming a smirk. A faint and quickly repeating sound met her ears. Shifting her eyes to the left, she anticipated an oncoming action.

"Erica!" Yelled a voice from behind her. Memory served her well to remind her that it was Brendan.

Turning completely around and waving to indicate that she knew felt like the best option at the moment. The mood didn't seem well to damper his mood with the fact that she knew he was coming.

"Erica, what are you doing over in this route?" Asked the brunette as soon as he got to her.

"Now Brendan, you shouldn't pester a girl as a form of a greeting." Responded the girl in a taunting manner. Oddly though, he laughed instead of anything else.

Curiosity painted Erica's face, all of her training couldn't prepare her for this kind of reaction.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Because that is exactly the thing that my mom would say to my dad." Answered the boy when he calmed himself down.

It came across as a very odd coincidence to Erica that she would get a response like that. This guy was starting to remind herself less and less of her former mentor. Brendan peered behind Erica and saw her pokemon, his face instantly became shocked when he saw Amber.

"Woah! Erica, where did you get that pokemon!?" Exclaimed the boy as he ran over to examine her.

Amber, bewildered and nervous, looked to her trainer for help. Unfortunately, said trainer was laughing at the stupidity of her companion.

"Brendan, you can't tell that that is Amber? The Torchic that Professor Birch gave me?"

"Eh, really?" He took a closer look at the fire chicken, hopefully she wouldn't burn his face. "Hey, you're right!"

The boy jumped back up and pulled out a pokeball and released Rin from it. He smiled and hoped that his blond teacher would also share the same surprise as he did.

"Oh, so Rin evolved did she?" Questioned Erica as she walked over and stroked the Mightyena's long mane. Brendan slumped over a little as he realized the amount of experience between him and his teacher.

The trainers spent the next couple of minutes discussing varying facts about what had just happened in the span of thirty minutes. Brendan told Erica about the distress he made in getting Rin to use that attack.

"Rin must've learned snarl. Its a dark type attack that relies on sound." Explained the blond.

"By the way, Wally wanted you to have this for teaching him." She pulled out the HM to show.

Brendan was a little surprised that Wally gave them that gift for teaching them. He leaned back onto the grassy plain to look up at the sky.

'That guy seems a little too soft if he wants to go on an adventure.'

Erica looked over to her student's pokemon playing around the route. Her attention was averted to Rin, who was taunting Natsumi about evolving. Said taunt was met with embers to the butt, which in turn was met with a tackle.

"Brendan, you might want to do something about that." Stated Erica.

"Do something about-HEY!" He quickly jolted up and ran over to stop the fighting.

A feeling of nostalgia coupled with pride filled Erica as she watched her friend attempt to stop the fight. Brendan didn't do well to strategize from time to time, but he had luck and he believed in his friends without doubt.

'You remind me all to much about Brett.' Thought the girl as she closed her eyes with a happy smile.

The remainder of the day for the two was spent with Erica shopping throughout the giant mall. It was the blond's dream, and the brunette's nightmare. Pain fluctuated in both Brendan's body, mind, and partially his soul as well.

Ultimately, the shopping spree lasted approximately three hours, forty-nine minutes, and fifteen seconds. The factor that ended it was when Erica had purchased so many things that even she was having trouble transporting it all.

"Ita." Groaned Brendan as he dropped onto the table into the food court.

"Come on, it wasn't nearly that bad." Retorted Erica as she sat down.

She reached into her bag and pulled out a tiny ball. The brunette was a little baffled as to what it was till she pressed a button on top that immediately opened the device and sucked up the majority of items that she had bought.

A look of satisfaction spread across Erica's face, but her face turned into one of question when she looked over to her companion and saw his bewildered face.

"Is something the matter Brendan?"

"Why did you wait to use that at the end?" His upset frustration was showing.

"Well I didn't know till we were almost done, and the store clerk also told me that they are a one time use." The words came out in an obvious fashion.

Every fiber of Brendan's body wanted him to argue back, but he was just too tired to do a single thing about it. His friend leaned over to take a closer look at his exhausted body.

"Let me guess, too tired and weakened to do anything else?" She was rewarded with a silent and reluctant nod.

Erica was about to help him up when a young boy ran up to the table and whipped out a pokeball, gaining Brendan's attention.

"I challenge you for that seat!" Proclaimed the kid as he sent out a Slugma.

Immediately after that announcement, the brunette instantly gained a massive amount of energy, hopped out of his chair and sent out Natsumi. His face was ignited with vigor.

'So he is too tired to shop or move, but pokemon battles are an exception?' Thought the blond girl as she watched the battle. 'I feel like I've seen that somewhere before.'

So after another couple hours or so, because Brendan and his pokemon just love battling, the two checked into the pokemon center for the night. The room that they slept in was unique in that it had a bunk bed for once.

Despite the time that they had been together, Erica 'insisted' that Brendan take the top bunk. Obviously it was for safety purposes.

About another hour passed while the two remained in the room. A sleeping blond girl lay on the bottom bed, but the boy on top (not in that manner) couldn't get to sleep. Lost in his thoughts, Brendan was suddenly thinking about his skill.

'After everything that has happened so far, will I finally be good enough to take on Dad?' His gaze shifted to his open fist for an answer.

Thinking about the recent gym battle brought him to a particular thought. Wally's suggestion earlier, and Brendan's response to it.

'Why did I panic and say that I wouldn't have a shot with her?' Questioned the boy to himself.

Leaning over his bunk and looking down granted him a view of the sleeping blond. Both his eyes and his face were plagued with confusion, and determination as he gazed at his mentor.

'Yeah I'm positive...I bet I could beat her in a battle tomorrow.'

After making that proclamation, Brendan was able to sleep through the rest of the night easily. However, his face kept the same smug look even as he slept.

The next morning, the two prepared for a walk up Route 111. Erica had done a little more thinking during breakfast and came to the conclusion that one more gym battle could prep Brendan for a battle against his father.

Route 111 was a long route that was half covered by a desert. Gusts of wind on the desert sand would put to much strain on the human eye, so it was lucky for them that the next town that harbored a gym was closer to them than the desert.

"Hey Erica, is it starting to get hotter to you?" Asked the brunette as he wiped some sweat of his forehead.

"A little bit. Do you need to take a break?" She noticed that he seemed to be lagging a little bit.

At first, the brunette was a little surprised at his current situation and straightened himself out quickly. With much power, he strode past his senior.

"No don't mind me, I'm doing just fine." Said the boy in a confident tone.

Instead of showing any kind of surprise or concern, the girl just shrugged her shoulders and giggled a little. She followed behind her student as he continued his confident trek up the path.

Their peaceful walk didn't last much longer as Brendan quickly turned around and pointed a finger at Erica's face, catching her off guard in the process.

"Erica, before we continue any further, I challenge you to a one-on-one battle!" His proclamation echoed clearly.

However, the response that Brendan got wasn't what he expected. Erica cleaned her ear out with her pinky and positioned it to listen again.

"Come again? Did you say that you wanted to battle me?" Asked the girl comically.

This response was unexpected for the brunette. As a matter of fact, he was feeling insulted by this comical action from his usually serious teacher.

"You don't think I can stand up to you?" Questioned Brendan with a determined face.

"No, nothing like that. I've just always wanted to do that and this felt like the most appropriate time." Answered Erica. "If you want a battle, then we'll happily oblige."

Brendan nodded, determined for the chance he was about to get. The two trainers took approximately five steps away from each other before sending out both of their pokemon. Erica had sent out was Amber and the pokemon sent out by Brendan was Aqua.

'I don't want to win by type advantage, but it looks like it would be the only way I could.' Thought the boy bitterly.

"Aqua, use water gun!" A small jet stream of water erupted from Aqua.

"Jump using flame charge!" With powerful legs, the fire bird launched herself into the air and became cloaked in flames as she avoided the attack.

For a couple of seconds, Brendan was caught off guard at that clever tactic. However, he quickly regained his senses for another attack.

"Aqua, use mud shot!" The water type was startled for a second but regained his wits and started throwing mud up to his opponent.

"Use double kick!" As she quickly descended, Amber kicked the shots of mud that almost hit her. Her descent started to increase as she was headed towards Aqua. "Now rock smash!"

"You too Aqua!"

The two starter pokemon slammed their right arms into each other as they met at the ground. A momentary stand off silenced the area as the two struggled against each other, but it was ultimately broken when Aqua was pushed back.

Brendan was shocked at how his pokemon could lose a fist fight of any kind. However, he quickly decided to take advantage of the close range of his opponent.

"Aqua, use water gun now!" The water type understood what his trainer was saying and quickly opened his mouth to attack.

"Sand attack!" The Combusken kicked the sand right at her foot and into Aqua's face, preventing him from seeing clearly, much less attack.

This sudden change of tactics caught the brunette off guard, he did nothing but watch as his pokemon began to blindly swing his fins around. Erica decided to end it at this point.

"Do a jumping flip and then double kick."

Amber jumped up and did a flip in the process as she avoided her opponent's flailing flippers (puns, yay) and landed right behind him. With a swift turn of the foot, she double kicked the Marshtomp in the back.

Aqua stumbled forward a few steps before falling to the ground with swirled eyes, defeated.

Brendan was completely bewildered, and his face clearly showed it. But along with that face of confusion, anger had mixed in with it. Before even starting he knew that challenging Erica would be no easy task, but he didn't expect it to be so one sided.

'So...strong. And...are there more people out there like her?' Thought the boy as he retrieved his pokemon.

It didn't take much for Erica to tell what Brendan was going through at the moment. She walked forward and appeared somewhat serious. Leaning in close to her student caused him to blush.

"Remember your mistakes, they make you stronger." Whispered the girl.

"You mean my mistake in challenging you?" Asked the boy bitterly. In response, she pulled back with a somewhat disappointed look.

"No, I mean your mistakes in the battle." She gave him a quick smile before walking further north.

And once again, the boy was left bewildered where he stood. Only this time, he wasn't angry. Every part of his consciousness was plunged into curiosity at what she had just said to him.

Hoping for an answer, Brendan looked down to the pokeball that contained Aqua. He knew that the pokemon was resting inside and was feeling a little angry himself, but the trainer was paying attention to his own reflection.

'Well...I'll make sure...to get much, much stronger!'

He pulled a quick one-eighty (figuratively and literally) and charged forth to catch up with his companion. Inexplicably, a strange feeling spread throughout him. It filled him with great vigor and joy as he sprinted.

Thank you for reading this chapter, hope you liked it. You know the drill, leave a review if you had anything to say. In the next chapter, Brendan and Erica travel around Hoenn's north western edge to Meteor Falls, where they have another battle against their adversaries.