I would like to take this time to thank all of my reviewers for their support. It means everything to me that people will take time out of their day to give words of advice or thoughts on the book. As always I hope you enjoy the chapter. Well enough of that. Onward to Chapter 14!

Chapter 14: Redemption is at Hand

"Now Snow Storm use Psybeam and Neeko you use Fire Spin" Arc commanded as he orchestrated the mock battle.

It has been a few days since Arc and Lily started traveling together. Arc intended on having his rematch battle with Lt. Surge tomorrow and he was chomping at the bit to get there. While he trained, Lily was busy caring for her Pokémon along with Dino who was actually eating calmly. It bugged Arc, but two days ago when they stopped for lunch Dino started acting very different around Lily.

"Alright guys let's stop here for lunch" Lily announced while dropping her bag.

Arc agreed and without thinking of the repercussions let Dino out of his Pokeball. Dino immediately ran to Arc and shook him like a rag doll as usual. After he was finished with Arc, Dino turned to face Lily. He charged her with his mouth wide open, but much to his and Arc surprise she stood there. Dino stopped dead in his tracks when she put a hand out defiantly signifying that she wasn't going to back down. Dino then lowered his head in submission and allowed Lily to walk up and pet him

Now Dino does whatever Lily wants and listens to her completely except if she tells him to stop his antics and work with Arc. In those instances Dino often just stares at him like he is hell bent on making Arc's life as miserable as possible.

"Hey Lily, do you need any help getting dinner ready?" Arc shouted from the field he was training in.

She shook her head signalizing that she had everything under control. He waved back and continued his training session. Lily watched and found Arc to be an interesting guy. He was rash and unpredictable on the battlefield, choosing Pokémon without any thought for type matching, but going off his gut feeling instead. At the same time however, he thought of his Pokémon and others before himself. She remembers him telling her about what happened with Dino and how he ended up taking a Flamethrower attack in order to protect Nurse Joy.

Arc then approached with Neeko and Snow Storm right behind him. They were breathing heavily and covered in bruises from their training. Lily watched as he walked past her and got Oran berries out of his bag and tossed them at Neeko and Snow Storm. He also tossed one at Dino who snatched it out of the air.

"They have had enough for today I think. I don't want to push them too much since we are going to face Lt. Surge tomorrow" Arc said sitting down next to Lily. "I know I already asked you, but are you sure you don't need any help?"

"No I am fine. You need to focus on tomorrow's match and it's almost done anyways" Lily replied.

Arc shrugged and watched her work. She was wearing a forest green dress that went just below the thigh on one side and past her knee on the other. The sleeves on the dress were extra-large and draped flowingly off her wrist. She wore her bronze colored hair back in a pair of long ponytails. Her brown boots were rugged and had orange accents on them that separated the boot from the sole of the shoe.

"You know, we have been traveling for a few days now, but we hardly know anything about each other. I mean I would like to know about who I am traveling with, how about you" Arc stated sitting back up accepting a bowl from Lily.

"Yeah I guess so. So… what would you like to know about me?" Lily questioned sipping the soup she had.

"Well how about we give some basic information about ourselves. We already know are ages, but how about home town, birthdate, favorite color, and a hobby of ours to start with. I will start. I am from Pallet Town, my birthday is January thirty-first, my favorite color is cyan, and I love fishing" Arc said stuffing his face.

"Okay, I am from Mahogany Town, my birthday is January twenty-third, my favorite color is lime green, and I like to swim" Lily replied.

Going back and forth, the two kept sharing details about themselves and telling stories late into the evening.

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The next morning was a flurry of activity for Lily and Arc. They accidently overslept after staying up too late, and now they had a bigger issue. Dino decided to pick a fight with a wild Aggron who was not all that thrilled with being attacked. The two heavy weights started going at it, putting Arc in the middle as he did his best to get Dino's attention.

"Dino, come get me! *Whistles*" Arc shouts desperately to get his attention.

The wild Aggron then charged at Dino making Arc leap out of the way before getting trampled. They collided with a thunderous sound throwing grass and dirt as they struggled to get an edge over each other. At first it seemed like Dino had the advantage, but that changed when Aggron was able to get underneath Dino and knock him over. Dino tried desperately to get back on his feet, but was getting clobbered by Aggron's Iron Tail attack.

Knowing that Dino wouldn't listen to any verbal commands, Arc rushed in and jumped on Dino's belly protecting him from the vicious attack. Lily watched in awe for Aggron immediately stopped attacking for a second.

"You'll have to go through me to get to him" Arc shouted putting his arms out to protect Dino.

Dino watched in amazement as his trainer did everything in his power to keep him safe. The Aggron then growled and resumed his attack knocking Arc clear across the field and charged after him. Lily ran to get Arc out of the way, but she was too far to reach him. Dino looked at Arc lay there unconscious and went into a mad flurry of rage. Getting back on its feet Dino fired a Hydro Pump that startled Aggron to say the least and made it stop its charge at Arc. Attack after attack, Dino was able to chase the Aggron away. He then ran over to Arc who was being held by Lily. Neeko and Snow Storm stood next to Arc as well watching Dino carefully. Under normal circumstances Dino would grab him by the collar and shake him, but not this time. Dino instead put his head down and nuzzled Arc trying to wake him up letting out small whimpers and growls.

Arc woke up about an hour after the incident at the Pokémon Center. His eyes slowly fluttered open to see Neeko, Snow Storm, and Dino standing over him with intense gazes. He then sat up with a start and looked at Dino with a surprised look.

"What the hell happened? Last thing I remember, I was trying to stop an Aggron from pulverizing Dino" He stated putting his hand on his head.

Neeko and Snow Storm tried to answer him by acting it out. Neeko acted angry and was doing mock attacks at Snow Storm. She then retaliated, firing mini Psybeam attacks at Neeko who ran away. Then they both pointed at Dino who stared at Arc with a toothy grin.

"Wait a minute! You two are telling me that Dino beat the crap out of the Aggron trying to protect me!" Arc said with amazement.

"It's true. I don't know how to exactly explain it, but your actions must have reached Dino in ways that I can only imagine" Lily said reentering the room with a cup of tea.

"That's amazing boy! Does that mean you fully trust me now?" Arc got to his feet slowly approaching Dino.

Dino nuzzled Arc affectionately before withdrawing his head. He then gave Arc a wryly smile and shook him by the collar like he used to, but without as much force as before.

"I guess old habits die hard" Lily laughed.

Dino then put Arc back down and the whole group left the center. The arrived at the gym within a few minutes and Arc made sure he put Dino back in his Pokeball before going inside. He found Lt. Surge sitting in the lobby reading a magazine and challenged him to a battle.

"Well it looks like the baby has returned boys. This time he brought his girlfriend with him" He laughed.

Lily blushed a bit looking over at Arc who was giving Lt. Surge a cold stare.

"Cut the crap Surge. First of all while I do admit she is attractive, Lily is not my girlfriend. Second are you going to accept my challenge or not and this time let's make it a three on three match" Arc spat.

Lt. Surge was taken aback a bit. He didn't expect Arc to have such a sharp tone, but he then smiled and accepted Arc's challenge. Lily stood there completely dumbstruck and thought "Did he just say that he found me attractive? Either the heat of the battle is getting to him or it's just me because we just met. How on earth can he find me attractive already...? Well now that I think about it, he is kind of cute and he obviously will do anything for those he cares about…"

"Are you coming Lily?" Arc shouted waving her down.

She trotted up to him and took a seat on one of the benches behind him. Lily then stated that this was the first Gym battle that she has ever watched. Arc gazed at her in amazement.

"You have been a trainer for three years, and you have never seen a Gym battle?" Arc asked.

She nodded and replied stating that she just wanted to travel and see the world. Arc understood what she meant. She was still looking for a dream or passion to follow. Lt. Surge took his place on the other side of the battlefield and sent in his Raichu to lead the fight.

"Okay baby! Choose your Pokémon!" He taunted with a snarky tone.

Arc did his best to stay calm. He knew that Surge was testing him under pressure and it was part of a psychological game he would play. Deciding to ignore Surge's antics he sent Snow Storm into the battle. She nodded and stepped forward glaring at the Raichu.

"Ha! I guess we are going to have a repeat of last battle" Lt. Surge laughed.

Arc kept ignoring him and called for a Psybeam attack. She flew forward and fired aiming at Raichu's head. Using the same maneuver as before Raichu used his tail to block the attack. He then followed with Thunderbolt which Snow Storm dodged using Double Team. Lt. Surge was a bit surprised since that worked last time. Flying with grace Snow Storm countered with Silver Wind buffeting Raichu and causing him to stumble. Without missing a beat she used Sleep Powder knocking Raichu out cold. Lt. Surge struggled to get a handle on the situation. With Raichu asleep he couldn't call any attacks or use any psychological moves. Arc laughed and commanded Snow Storm to finish it off with Psybeam. She flew up close and fired Psybeam at close range sending Raichu flying and knocking it out of the battle.

"Raichu is unable to battle, Butterfree is the winner!" The judge shouted waving his flags at Snow Storm.

Arc praises her for a job well done and calls her back to the sidelines. As she fluttered back Neeko jumped up and gave her a high paw before running out on the field. Lily watched astounded by the level of friendship Neeko and Snow Storm have, "They act like siblings" she thought and continued to watch the match. Her excitement was through the roof because not only was this the first gym match, but it's also the first time she has seen Arc participate in a serious battle. His passion for battling was astounding and a bit inspiring.

"Go Magneton" Lt. Surge threw his Pokeball enraged by his Raichu's loss.

Arc looked at the Pokémon at a loss of words on what to make of it. It was made up of three spheres each having two screws and magnets. It hovered above the ground staring at Neeko with a blank expression.

"Magneton. The Magnet Pokémon. This Electric/Steel type uses heavy gravitational power that allows it to float, and it can emit powerful magnetic and electric fields" Arc's Pokedex beeped.

For the first time in a gym battle, Arc's Pokémon had a type advantage and he planned to take full advantage of it. He called for a Slash attack pointing at Magneton. Neeko sprang forward with glowing claws and slashed at Magneton. It sat there and withstood the attack completely unfazed. Arc then swore to himself "That was dumb move. Normal type attacks don't affect Steel types that much".

Magneton and Lt. Surge then used Arcs hesitation to their advantage. Moving gracefully Magneton started glowing as it powered up for an attack. It then fired a mysterious beam of electricity at Neeko. Arc looked up the move learning that it was called Charge beam. Neeko managed to jump out of the way and retaliate with Fire Spin. Splitting its body three ways Magneton dodged the attack and fired Charge Beam again, but this one looked more powerful than the last one.

"Watch out Arc! Charge Beam has a chance of raising the Attack power of the Pokémon using it" Lily shouted from the sidelines.

Arc nodded and told Neeko to dodge it. Moving tactfully Neeko was able to get out of the way of the attack for the most part, but his right arm was caught in the line of fire. Holding his arm close Neeko did his best to make the pain subside and fired Fire Spin at the floating Magnet Pokémon. Magneton split once more dodging the attack and immediately followed up with Thundershock. Neeko was able to dodge once again, but just barely. His arm was proving to be a hindrance in his agility. Neeko moved away from Magneton trying to put some distance between them.

"Neeko use Smoke Screen!" Arc shouted trying to buy time for Neeko.

Black smoke billowed from Neeko's maw blinding the Magneton. It looked everywhere, but was unable to see where Neeko was.

"Now Fire Spin once more!"

Neeko fired under the cover of the smoke hitting Magneton dead center. It fell to the floor down, but not out of the fight. Getting back up it followed up with Discharge clearing the smoke leaving Neeko exposed. Glaring at Neeko, Magneton then fired Charge Beam for a third time intent on taking Neeko out of the battle. Unable to dodge Neeko fired Fire Spin, but there was something different about it. Instead of it being a swirling vortex, it was a blazing stream of fire similar to Dino's.

"Arc, I think Neeko is using Flamethrower!" Lily pointed out.

Flamethrower hits home, and knocks Magneton clear out the field and out of the match as well. Lt Surge glared at Arc and Neeko as he returned Magneton. He was sure that this would be a cake walk, and not him struggling to stay on his feet.

"Well done baby! You have trained your Pokémon well, but I still have one more Pokémon in store. Now Electivire go!" Lt Surge shouted.

Lt. Surge's last Pokémon was much larger than his previous two. Its massive shape was intimidating to say the least, but Neeko didn't want to back down. Arc understood that he wanted to continue the fight and called for a Flamethrower. Neeko fired, but much to his surprise Electivire blocked the attack with only its hands.

"You're going to need a bigger flame to do anything to this Pokémon! Now Electivire use Thunder Punch!" Surge commanded.

Electivire sprinted forward quickly and hit Neeko dead center sending him flying. Knocked back from the sheer force of the attack, Neeko laid there dazed and unable to move.

"Charmeleon is unable to battle! Electivire wins!"

Arc ran out on the field and scooped Neeko up in his arms. He praised Neeko for a job well done and handed him over to Lily.

"Watch him for me please. *Whistles* Snow Storm, feeling up to going again!" Arc shouted sending her into the battle.

She flew on the field and faced the Electivire. Her eyes narrowed and she fired a powerful Silver Wind attack. Electivire side stepped the attack and rushed her with clenched fists. Electivire then jumped and hauled off using a double Fire Punch on Snow Storm knocking her out of the battle just as quickly as Neeko. Arc ran out and got her as well and sat Snow Storm on the bench right next to Neeko. He praised her and walked back towards the field. He plucked the third Pokeball off of his belt and held it up.

"You know Lt. Surge I actually have to thank you" Arc stated as he stared at the Pokeball.

Both Lily and Lt. Surge looked at Arc confused.

"You see, after our last match I went to the mountains near Saffron City to train. While I was there I met someone who helped me with my training and catching my third Pokémon. Because of this, there is no way I can lose to you! Now Dino let's go!"

Arc threw the Pokeball with all of his might and Dino appeared on the field. The Dragon Pokémon roared exuberantly and faced Electivire. The two heavy weights started each other down. Arc was apprehensive of how Dino was going to behave since this was their first battle and Dino has never wanted to listen before. "I hope this works" he thought to himself.

"Dino use Flamethrower!" he shouted with confidence.

Dino snarled and reared up and firing a massive torrent of fire at Electivire. Standing its ground Electivire used Fire Punch to deflect the attack. It then sprinted towards Dino and used back to back Thunder Punches on Dino. Dino roared with pain and flew up in the air using Flamethrower. The attack hits home knocking pushing Electivire down to one knee as it struggles to withstand the attack. Dino was then commanded to use Dragon Dance. Flying with rhythm Dino started to glow red feeling the effects the move had on his body. He picked up speed and used Flamethrower once more. Electivire dodged and used Thunderbolt clipping Dino's wing. Dino fell into a spiraling dive from the attack and crashed right behind Electivire.

"Dino use Hydro Pump"

Dino responded firing Hydro Pump at Electivire's back. The move connected sending Electivire flying into the adjacent wall. Recovering from the shock of the attack Electivire got to its feet and taunted Dino.

"You are going to have to do better than that if you want to beat me baby. My Electivire is one of the best out there. Alright Electivire use Dynamic Punch" Lt. Surge laughed.

Electivire ran forward with white glowing fists attempting to hit Dino. Dino responded using Dragon Claw and the moves collided with explosive force. The dust cleared showing Dino and Electivire locked in a stalemate each one trying to get the better of the other. Dino tried to use Hydro Pump, but was blocked when Electivire used its other hand to push Dino's head up and cause it to rain.

"Electivire use Thunderbolt!"

"Dino get out of there now and use Flamethrower!"

Dino disengaged from Electivire just as it fired Thunderbolt and used Flamethrower to counter. The moved caused an explosion that blocked everyone's view of the field.

"Is it over?" Lily asked apprehensively, her whole body shaking from the intensity of the battle.

The smoke cleared and both Lt. Surge and Arc were astounded by the results. Dino was hovering in the air and Electivire was laying on the ground knocked out cold. Arc thought about it for a second when he thought "That Hydro Pump must have caused Thunderbolt to backfire" Arc then looked at the field and saw that it was completely soaked from Dino's attack that Electivire deflected.

"Electivire is unable to battle! Salamence wins and the victory goes to Arc the challenger!" the judge announces.

Arc leaped for joy and ran out onto the field to give Dino a hug. Instead of a hug though Dino roared triumphantly and shook Arc by the collar of his shirt. Lt. Surge walked up to Arc who was still in Dino's mouth and held out his hand.

"Well done Arc! You did well out there today. I hereby award you with this. A Thunder Badge."

Arc happily accepted the badge and pinned it to his collar along with the other two badges he had. Lily then approached and congratulated him on his victory.

"Thank you Lt. Surge. I really enjoyed our battle today. We better get going now" Arc stated heading towards the door. "By the way, Clif sends his regards"

Before Surge had a chance to respond, Arc and Lily left the gym and headed back to the Pokémon Center with Dino, Neeko, and Snow Storm hot on their heels. All three of his Pokémon needed and deserved some relaxing time. When they reached the center, Arc gave all of his Pokémon to Nurse Joy and then joined Lily in the commons area. He started reading Trainer's Weekly magazine when Lily caught his attention.

"Arc we need to talk" She stated flatly.

Arc stopped reading and looked at her with a quizzical expression.

"What did you mean when you said you found me attractive?"

Oh boy! Lily has Arc on the ropes. How will he deal with her question?

Arc

(Neeko) Charmeleon: Flamethrower, Slash, Dragon Rage, Smokescreen

(Snow Storm) Butterfree: Psybeam, Silver Wind, Sleep Powder, Double Team

(Dino) Salamence: Flamethrower, Hydro Pump, Dragon Dance, Dragon Claw

Lily

(Kappa) Totodile: Aqua Tail

(Smoke) Quilava: Flame Wheel

(Iceberg) Dewgong

(Waru) Krookodile

(Dusky) Mightyena

(Stratus) Altaria