"Alright! Then let's start! Come out, Geodude!" Roark called out.

'A Geodude?' Leaf thought to herself. She'd battled them countless times before. She even had her own Golem, who was currently chilling out at Professor Oak's lab. "Okay, Popuri! Come on out!"

"The challenger is choosing a Flying type Pokémon?" The 'referee' looked taken back.

"Uh—huh."

"Okay… so… the battle between the Leader Roark and the challenger… 'Girl' now, uh… begins!"

"Your move first," Roark reminded Leaf.

"Popuri! Use Sing!"

Leaf's Swablu sang an enchanting lullaby, and Roark's Geodude promptly fell asleep. Several passerby, people and Pokémon alike, stopped and watched the ensuing battle with raised eyebrows. A Gym battle taking place in the road? Talk about odd…

"Great job! Now use Dragon Pulse!" Leaf cried.

The Swablu opened her mouth and a thin, focused beam of purple energy shot out at Geodude, causing considerable damage. However, Geodude did not wake up, despite Roark's encouragement.

"Use Dragon Pulse again!"

Swablu shot another attack at Geodude, but this time, he awakened.

"Now, Geodude! Use Rock Throw!"

"Look out, Popuri!"

Geodude picked up nearby rocks and tossed them at the Swablu. Popuri dodged a few of them, but one hit her particularly hard.

"You can still win! Use Dragon Pulse one more time!"

Popuri managed one last attack, and Geodude finally fainted. Popuri looked pretty tired, and Leaf didn't want to push her much farther. Rock types were a bird's weakness after all.

"You did your best, Geodude," Roark nodded as he returned his Pokémon.

"You too, Popuri," Leaf echoed as she recalled the Swablu.

"Now, it's your turn, Onix!"

Leaf considered a moment but ultimately decided to choose Vegeta.

"Vegeta, start it off with Surf!"

Vegeta's powerful wave caused a lot of damage, but it wasn't enough to slow down Roark's Pokémon completely.

"Whoa! That was tough! You nearly took out my Onix with one shot!" Roark looked impressed.

"Finish with Hydro Pump!"

"Not so fast! Onix, use your Screech!"

Onix's Screech attack was so loud that the sound waves knocked Vegeta's Hydro Pump attack backwards, rendering it useless.

"What the-!" Leaf cried. Vegeta's water had completely soaked both her and the Blastoise instead of the target, Onix.

"Looks like someone took a page out of his father's book," Leaf remarked as she shook her hands to knock off some of the water.

"Oh, my father used the same attack on you before?" Roark grinned. "It's a defensive move I learned from watching him battle."

"I noticed," Leaf said stiffly as she shook out her hat.

"Onix, now use Rock Slide!"

"Wash those rocks away with Surf!"

Accordingly, all of Onix's rocks were washed away by Vegeta's attack, and the Onix fainted.

"Wow, your Blastoise is pretty strong," Roark commented as he recalled his Pokémon.

"Thanks."

"Things are looking pretty bad for me," Roark remarked, but he smiled at the new Pokéball in his hand. "It's a good thing that I always save the best for last. Go Rampardos!"

A relatively large Pokémon with a spiky head appeared before Roark for battle. Leaf had never seen one of these Pokémon before, but she was certain it was a Rock type.

"Okay, Blastoise! Use Hydro Pump!" Leaf wanted her first attack to be a good one. That way, her Pokémon still had a good start, even if Roark tried to pull off some kind of trick.

Rampardos winced at the powerful attack but did not faint.

"Rampardos! Use Zen Headbutt!"

Psychic energy swirled about Rampardos' head as it smashed into Vegeta with great force. Vegeta flinched from the attack.

"Okay, Rampardos, use Zen Headbutt again!"

"C'mon Vegeta!" Leaf urged her Pokémon, hoping that he wouldn't flinch again. And this time, he didn't.

"Great! End this now with your Hydro Cannon attack!"

Rampardos fainted from the direct hit.

"Uh, yeah. The challenger, 'Girl,' wins the match…" The sunglasses man announced, unimpressed.

"Nice job, Leaf," Roark nodded as he recalled his Rampardos.

"Thanks! Oh, and thank you too, Mr. Sunglasses Man."

"What!" The sunglasses man looked irritated, "That's not my name!"

"Then what is your name?"

"Yeah… I've been wondering that too…" Roark admitted.

"My name is an absolute secret," the sunglasses man announced, "but I am known as the Legendary PokéStalker!"

"Legendary PokéStalker?" Leaf repeated in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?"

"Why would I kid about that?" the PokéStalker responded gruffly and walked away.

Leaf looked at Roark, and he just shrugged.

"So… are you… going to give me my badge now?" Leaf asked hesitantly.

"Oh, right, your badge…" Roark immediately felt all his pockets and then looked very embarrassed. "Uh… you see… I think all my badges are… inside the building…"

"Aw, man…"

"I'm sorry. I'll head back home now to find my keys."

"Hey, don't worry about it."

"You can come along if you want…" Roark offered.

"Okay," Leaf replied and hurried after him, thankful that he had offered. She didn't really want to just stand around and wait for him to get back.

It didn't take long to reach Roark's house. Once they were inside…

"Roark! Why are you back so early?" a woman's voice called out.

Leaf turned abruptly to see who it was.

"Hey, Mom! I just had a Gym Battle, and I needed t—"

"You brought over a new girlfriend?" Roark's mother asked, now staring at Leaf.

"No, Mom. That's the challenger." He shook his head."I'll be right back," he said to Leaf before he disappeared down a hallway.

"Uh, hi. I'm Leaf," Leaf said awkwardly, trying her best not to stare back at Roark's mother. She seemed like such a normal lady; Leaf had no idea how she'd wind up being married to someone like Byron… She had to at least be interested in mining, right?

"Hello," she smiled cheerfully. "You must be a good Trainer to defeat my son. He's gotten better than I am."

"You're a Trainer too?"

"Yes… I was fairly talented when I was young. In fact, that's how I met my husband… in a particularly tough battle."

Leaf bit her lip to keep from laughing. It was pretty funny to imagine Byron and Roark's mom deciding to get married after they finished a crazy-tough Pokémon battle...

'Oh, Byron, it was so dreamy how you used Iron Defense sooo many times…!' Roark's mom would say.

'Oh, yes, that's because I LOVE DEFENSE! And I LOVE YOU too!' Byron would shout out loudly like always and maybe even swing the shovel around for emphasis….

"Leaf?" Roark's voice snapped her back to reality. "I've got my keys." He held them up for her to see.

Shortly afterward, the two returned to the Gym, and Leaf finally received the badge.

Cheesy Pose Time! Yeah, right… Not this time.

But two badges in a row… it was a new record!

Leaf felt invigorated, and her walk through Mt. Coronet was relatively fast and easy thanks to her bright mood. She noticed a few Trainers here and there but decided to sneak past them in order to avoid battle for the time being; she was too eager to find Azelf!

oOoOoOo

"Wow, it's beautiful!" Leaf breathed as she took in the sights around her. Paved roads, evenly spaced buildings, a fair number of people about but not hordes of them like in Jubilife... It reminded her of a more modern and cleaner Cerulean.

After wandering about aimlessly for a while, she decided to take a seat on a bench near one of the water fountains. She pulled out her laptop and decided to check there was any Wi-Fi around here.

"Hey, Blade!" Leaf exclaimed as the eldest of her younger siblings appeared on the screen.

"Leaf! What have you been up to? You still got that Chatot I, uh… gave you?"

"Yup… Even though he's completely insane! What'd you give me him for anyway!"

"I told you; I found him abandoned near one of those global trading spots… He was drivin' me crazy, and you said he was 'adorable' so I gave him to you! You remember? The duct tape? That was the only thing keeping him from jabbering nonstop…"

"That was just too cruel; I don't care how crazy he is. No Pokémon deserves to be taped up like that…"

"You said you gave him a nickname?"

"Yup. His name is Blathers!"

"That's a… suitable name…"

"Don't remind me… so what have you been up to?"

He shrugged. "Eh, you know, the usual… Not much really. Not since I talked to you last. You?"

Leaf told him all about her time in Sinnoh and about Riley and the egg he had given her.

"He gave ya an egg? What's in it?"

"I don't know. He wouldn't tell me. Literally refused."

"Drapion. I hope it ain't another Chatot…"

"It isn't!"

"Well, let me see it. I might be able to tell."

Leaf carefully pulled out the little egg and revealed it to her brother. "So… any ideas?"

"Huh… Never seen anything like it… Hey! Put it next to your ear and listen. Maybe you can hear something!"

"Okay…" Leaf pressed her ear against the egg and listened carefully. "Hey! I can hear it!"

"What's it sound like?" Blade asked earnestly.

"Sounds like… a little Ducklett!" Leaf exclaimed happily.

"A Ducklett…?" he repeated in disbelief.

"Yeah!"

"Uh, whatever. Let me know when you finally figure it out…" He scratched his head.