Aureolin finally returned to Olivine too. He finally was able to go separate ways with Marty now.
"So there you go. Bye now," Marty said. Then he left on his Pidgey. Aureolin paid no mind to him. Though, he did wonder if he would have helped out if there was any trouble.
"Great job, Croc," Aureolin said. Then he returned her. Aureolin wondered if the gym leader was ready to battle. He entered the gym, but did not find Jasmine. Instead, he found a woman that appearance was tough, but feminine-ish. The woman has messy hair that was spiky at top and went a bit past her shoulders. She had a shirt with no sleeves on it and had a belt going across her shorts with some combat boots.
"Heh, looks like you were expecting someone else, huh?" a man behind Aureolin said. He adjusted his sunglasses. "Yeah, Jasmine decided to go looking for those crooks and get Amphy back. Real brave of her, don't ya think?"
"Yeah…" Aureolin said. He now remembered what happened when he first entered this gym. She must really care about that Ampharos, if she left the gym to go get it. He thought about losing one of his Pokémon, and it felt really devastating just thinking about it.
"Anyways, Jasmine left Savannah here in charge. Real sweet of her to offer her help. Just a heads up, she specializes in Steel type Pokémon, so it might not be good to use Rock and ice Pokémon. Good luck!" Aureolin looked at Savannah again.
"So are you gonna battle me, or you just gonna stand there?" Savannah asked Aureolin.
"R-right. Sorry…" Aureolin said. He ran up toward Savannah. "I'm ready to battle."
"Right then. This is a three on three match. Let's get started." Savannah sent out a Magnemite, while Aureolin sent out Rocky. Magnemite used SonicBoom, then Rocky used Magnitude. It was a weak one, but it really hurt Magnemite. Magnemite used SonicBoom again, but then it fainted when it got hit by another Magnitude. Her next Pokémon was another Magnemite. It used SonicBoom again, but was instantly knocked out by a decent Magnitude attack used by Rocky. Her last Pokémon was Magneton. Rocky was looking a bit worn out. Magneton used Mirror Shot and Rocky fainted. Jenna was sent out. Magneton used Thunderbolt and did some good damage to her. She used Ember and burned Magneton. But then Jenna fainted with another Thunderbolt. Spike was Aureolin's last Pokémon. Spike used Double Kick, but Magneton is still hanging in there. Magneton used Supersonic, but it missed. Spike used Double Kick again and Magneton finally fainted. Savannah looked down at the ground and returned her Magneton.
"…I failed lady Jasmine," she said.
The sunglasses man near the door walked up toward them and said, "What are you talking about Savannah? That was an excellent battle!"
"I lost… Jasmine would've done way better than me."
"Come now Savannah! That was a really close match!" But it still seemed as though Savannah was still upset.
"Here… I'm supposed to give you this badge." She gave Aureolin the Mineral Badge and some pokedollers for winning. She also gave him an Iron Tail TM.
"…That was a great match. Really challenging. Like all the other gyms I went to," Aureolin said. But she turned around and didn't speak.
"Please understand. This was her first match since taking charge. She must feel inadequate losing to the first challenger," the guy in the sunglasses whispered. Then he stopped whispering. "Anyways, I guess you're off to face Pryce now, huh?"
"Where did Jasmine go?"
"Ahh, worried about her and Amphy, eh? I wouldn't worry. She's an excellent gym leader and she has a strong group with her searching for team Domination. I'm confident they'll find Amphy, so you just concentrate on your own goals for now, okay?"
Aureolin nodded.
"Listen!" Savannah shouted. "If you ever see Jasmine during your travels, tell her… to be safe and that… I believe in her."
"I will."
"Thanks."
Just two more badges to go. Aureolin now was looking around town for someone to travel with again. Ariel was out with him helping. He started wondering what it would've happened battling Jasmine. Would he still have won? If she is stronger than Savannah, Aureolin thinks he wouldn't stand a chance. Then he heard a familiar voice behind him.
"Oh hello there Aureolin! Good to see you again!" Aureolin turned around and saw Rick.
"Hi Rick. How's Raichu doing?" Aureolin asked.
"He's doing good. Keeping that lighthouse lit up at night." Rick then frowned a bit. "It's too bad I couldn't go and help Jasmine. Would've loved to get Amphy back. But I got my duty here, to protect the city… I'm sure that's what she would've wanted." There was some silence. Then he looked at Aureolin and smiled. "Well, I should get back to work. Good luck Aureolin!" Then he left. Aureolin then went to the Pokémon center to heal his Pokémon and to look for someone to travel with. Then he saw a small boy and girl at a table that looked sad. The girl had long blonde pigtails and was wearing a white dress with a blue stripe at the bottom. The boy had messy short brown hair and had shorts and a small sleeved shirt. Aureolin walked over to them.
"Hey, you two okay?" Aureolin asked. The small boy looked up at him.
"My brother ditched us. He said we were only slowing him down, and now we are on our own," he said.
"And with team Domination running around… I don't feel safe just traveling around by ourselves," the girl said.
"We got Pokémon Lilly! We'll be fine!"
"We've only been fine so far, thanks to Vincent." The boy looked away and crossed his arms.
"…You can travel with me. If you want," Aureolin said.
"Ah! But you're a stranger!" Lilly said.
"Get away from us, pedo!" the boy shouted.
"Listen, I just want someone to travel with. If you too afraid of me, then fine, stay here!" Aureolin said. He then left the pokecenter. "Those kids wouldn't have been much help anyways," Aureolin thought to himself. Then the kids came running out.
"I got my eye on you! If you try anything to my sister, then Rex here will burn you to a crisp!" the boy shouted. A Growlithe came out and growled at him.
"…What?" Aureolin asked.
"Umm… My names Lilly and his names Timothy. He doesn't mind if you call him Tim though." She was carrying a Vulpix. Ariel friendly waved at the Growlithe and Vulpix. But Growlithe just growled at her, and Vulpix just starred at her quietly.
"Wait a minute… Where are you two heading?"
"Ecruteak city. Tim wants to challenge Morty," Lilly said.
"Ugh… I don't have time to wait for that."
"Oh come on! You're the one who suggested this in the first place!' Timmy said.
"Fine. Let's go." Aureolin crossed his arms and walked with Ariel at his side.
"Wait for us!" the two shouted.
They are now on the route heading back to Ecruteak.
"So, you never told us your name," Lilly said.
"Yeah! We told us ours! How rude!" Timmy said.
"You didn't tell me your name," Aureolin thought. He didn't look at them. "Aureolin," he said.
"Aureolin? Ha! That's such a girl's name!" Tim started laughing.
"That's so rude Tim!" Lilly said. But Aureolin just rolled his eyes.
"No wonder his bother ditched them," Aureolin thought.
"So have you been collecting badges? If so, how many you got? And what other Pokémon you got? Have you always been traveling by yourself?"
"…What?" Aureolin really couldn't keep up with all these questions. "One at a time, please?"
"Oh look a Meowth! I want it!"
Aureolin sighed.
"You can catch it Lilly!" Timmy said. Vulpix jumped out of her arms, ready for battle.
"Alright! Pokeball, go!" The Meowth broke out the pokeball. Aureolin face palmed.
"You're supposed to weaken it," Aureolin said.
"Shut up! She has caught Pokémon before! She knows how to do this!" Timmy said. Aureolin crossed his arms. The Meowth used Growl.
"Aww! It's just so cute!" Lilly said. Then it used Bite on Lilly's Vulpix. "Oh no! Vully!" Vulpix cried in pain. "What do I do…"
"You can do it Lilly!" Timmy cheered. Though Aureolin knew that at this rate, the Meowth is going to escape.
It then used Fury Swipes.
"Let's see…Faint Attack! No Quick Attack! No wait!" Lilly said. Vulpix started doing attacks, but just ended up confused. The Vulpix looked at Lilly. The Meowth finished the Vulpix off with another Bite, and then left. Lilly fell on her knees and started crying.
"It's okay Lilly. You tried your best," Timmy said. He knelt down to comfort her.
"I'm such a wreck! I only got Vulpix hurt!" Lilly cried out.
"Listen, you need to not panic, and you should focus on the battle. Now if you're ready, we should get going," Aureolin said.
"O-okay…" Lilly said.
"Wow. You're so insensitive!" Timmy said. Timmy and Lilly got up and continued toward Ecruteak. They finally arrived and went to the Pokémon center and healed their Pokémon. Then they went to the gym.
"Sorry, Morty went to go visit someone," said the guy by the door.
"What?" Timmy shouted.
"You know when he'll be back?" Lilly asked.
"Nope," the guy said.
"Well that's just great!"
"Let's just continue on. Mahogany Town has a gym, so we can head there," Aureolin said.
"That's a great idea Aureolin! Let's go to… There!" Lilly said.