After Lappe's healing and Jack stocking up on supplies, the duo left the confines of the Pokemon Center to a report on the destruction of Viridian City and Pallet Town. The news wasn't giving away any names on who might have been responsible, but instead touched on how the flames which still continued to burn in the area glowed with a rainbow hue, similar to the flames of the legendary Pokemon Ho-Oh.

Jack had been growing more and more impatient as the news story ran on and he awaited Lappe's recovery. He knew who was behind the attacks, so it only irked him further that they were refusing to announce that it was the republic. They deserved whatever backlash was coming their way. If it didn't come from someone else first, then it would definitely be coming from Lappe and Jack.

The moment that Lappe was fully healed and placed back on the counter, Jack snatched the Pokemon by its arm and almost ran out the door. The story on the bombing had passed and was replaced with a report on the rapidly rising number of Pokemon infected with the Pokerus virus over the past week. However, for fear of hearing any more about the incident with Viridian, Jack was more than happy for once, to leave the waiting room and continue on their journey.

Turning almost immediately after exiting the building, Jack made a straight line for the Cerulean gym. Frozen sculptures lined the building's perimeter, and frosty air seeped from beneath the gym's doors. A security officer stood at the building's entrance and held up his hand, motioning for Jack to stop as he drew near.

"Sir, you know you're not allowed in here."

Jack swayed back, caught off guard by the comment. "W-what do you mean I'm not welcome here? I only just came to this city from Pewter. I just want to challenge the leader here and move on with my life."

The security officer shook his head. "No, not you. The man hiding in your shadow."

"The wha?" Jack turned around and, sure enough, Matt was there cowering behind him with a wide grin on his face.

"Hey there friend. Just lookin' to get inside y'know?"

"Sir," the officer began again, "you know that there's a restraining order in place now. You're not allowed inside the building any longer."

"But this boy," the old man stood tall, walking out in front of Jack and then swinging his arm out towards the boy, "this is my friend. I've already told him I was going to see him off to his battle with Kris you see? He came to me in the Pokemon Center and grew frightened of the girl when he laid eyes on my sculptures. I told him that she's not nearly as intimidating as the ice makes her out to be and that I would be happy to show him in and be his rock."

The officer stared at the man, his head tilted lazily to the side as his eyes glossed over, apparently having seen a similar routine at least once before. "Son," the officer looked over at Jack and then sighed, "is what he says true?"

Jack looked between the two as he chewed the inside of his lip. Matt's eyes were alight with a shimmering flame as he awaited Jack's response to the officer. The sculptor's eyes darted quickly between the boy and the officer, and his head gently nudged in the direction of this officer whose own eyes were clouded with doubt and irritation. Jack could tell that the officer had had just about enough of Matt's behavior and was ready to toss him away at the drop of a hat.

As ruthless as he could have been, as quickly as he could have cut all the ties between Matt and himself, Jack just couldn't bring himself to do it. Perhaps it was a sort of fear of the unknown, not quite sure of what this old man was capable of and knowing the limits of his own powers. Jack took in a deep breath and then put on a smile.

"Yeah, this is my friend Matt. He said he'd help me out in my fight, so could you please let him in with me?"

The security officer sighed and then placed his hand over his eyes, rubbing at his temples. "I suppose, if that's how it really is then I can't object. It's a shame a kid of your age doesn't keep better company."

Jack shrugged his shoulders lazily and then walked through the door of the gym. Matt followed close behind and taunted the security officer who shot him a deadly glare which most likely read 'I dare you to try anything'. Matt rushed to catch up with the boy who he'd used to make it inside the building and slapped his hand across the boy's back.

"Haa haa! I knew it! I knew I could count on you kid! I took one look at you and I just knew you were a trainer, I knew you were someone I could count on! I can't believe I'm finally back in here!"

Lappe rubbed at Jack's now bruised back as the boy scratched at his own neck. "So, what did you do in the first place to get kicked out of here?"

"Well, sort of a long story. The short of it all's that I was part of the construction team that renovated this place for Kris when she took charge. Me 'n her actually went on a couple of dates after the completion. I helped to make her up some nice lil statues of herself and her Pokemon, then she goes and dumps me when all's said and done! Needless to say, I tried to confront her about it and she starts screaming for help. One thing leads to the other, now I'm just not allowed around her pretty much at all. Which, is why I'm so thankful for you! I at the very least wanted to see her one more time in person and then also get back the Pokemon I left last time I spent the night here."

Jack nodded his head, wondering what kind of relationship this man and Kris actually had. Just a few feet ahead, a wall of statues dedicated to Kris and ice type Pokemon lingered. In the center of the row of statues was a recessed button, which after Jack pressed it caused the entire wall to shift into the floor. The room opened up immensely afterwards, revealing an entirely ice covered arena with a large glacier in the back of the room which had a woman standing atop it.

"Teal hair, blue eyes, skin tight yellow track shorts, black crop top and perfectly proportioned bosom… that's my Kris alright."

"Matt! What the hell are you doing here! What am I even paying security for if they can't even keep one measly old man out of my sight?"

"Look Kris, I just want my Pokemon and to talk about that night…"

"That night never happened! You used me you old geezer!"

"I used you? The hell do you mean? You used me to build you half this fuckin' gym!"

Kris' eyes narrowed and her mouth twitched, ready to blow Matt up with a strong line of words when she noticed the young boy standing just slightly behind him. "Who's that?"

"My ticket in." He whispered to himself before turning around and smiling at the boy. "This is Jack, a Pokemon Trainer here to take on your gym."

"But I'm not-" Jack began before being cut off by the flailing arm of the sculptor.

"So, you're a trainer huh? Well then, sorry for not making a great first impression. Really just wasn't expecting to see this old fart before his funeral. So, what'd he say or do to get you to bring him in here?"

Jack bit his lip, and diverted his eyes. He didn't know much about love or its trials, but he did know this was one conversation he shouldn't weigh in on.

Kris sighed. "Fine, what do you want old man? The sooner you can get out of here the sooner I can battle Jack and move on with this part of my life."

"I just told you, I want my Pokemon back and to-"

"You can have your Pokemon, if that boy can beat me in battle. And we're not ever going to talk about that night, so just give it up. We both had too many fermented pokeblocks for our own good and we both know what happened was a mistake, so just move on already."

"You can't hold my Pokemon ransom like that!"

"Oh come on Matt, have a little more faith in your 'ticket' wouldn't you?" Kris smiled, watching her words pierce through the sculptor.

"Fine."

Kris nodded. "It's a deal then. Jack, are you ready for our battle?"

Jack's eyes moved slowly between the two people in front of him. "Wow, so all gym leaders really are this immature. Here I thought it was just Forrest"

"Oh yeah, that's right I almost forgot. I was expecting a boy named Jack a day or so ago." The gym leader completely blew off the boy's comment and carried the conversation in her own direction. "Forrest had called ahead and let me know what was going on. You wouldn't happen to be that same one would you? I believe he said you'd have something for me."

"Yeah, hold on just a sec." Jack pulled the pack off of his back and tossed it to the ground. The boy haphazardly pulled everything from the bag and tossed it against the floor, searching for the note that the Pewter City gym leader had given to him. "Here it is." Jack walked up to Kris and handed her the note.

The leader opened the letter, quickly reading through what was written inside. "I see, most interesting. So that Totodile doesn't actually belong to you, huh? I'd be careful about that. It's great and all to have a moral code and try to friends with your Pokemon, etcetera etcetera, but there's people out there in this world that wouldn't think twice about stealing him away from you with a ball of their own. Anyways, I understand fully now what's going on. On your way here you should have grown a little stronger at least, so I'll set the bar higher for you than what I normally would."

Jack looked down at Lappe, wondering if they should tell Kris that they actually hadn't had any encounters on the way to Cerulean save for the underwater tunnel system. The Totodile simply shook its head, its gaze locked with Jack's and they understood. If they were to get strong enough to fight the republic, these challenges were necessary. They couldn't stick to the basic routine of a trainer, they needed to push themselves harder and accept whatever was thrown their way.

Finally, after a long pause, Jack nodded his head. "That's fine. We'll take your heightened challenge."

Kris smiled back at the two of them and then walked away. "That's just what I like to hear! Very well then!" The woman had made her way back to the glacier and had already started to climb up it. "I will give to you the challenge reserved for those trainers bearing at least three badges. While we're fighting, imagine that this is the halfway mark of your journey. You've already travelled over half of the region and met a great number of Pokemon and Trainers alike, and now, finally you come face to face with the mysterious and beautiful ice type leader, Kris! Your challenge begins now Jack and Lappe! Face me with all that you have and overcome your own limits!"