Standing just outside the gate, I took in the sight of Route 5. I took a deep breath and stretched, the smell of the sea and the forest mixing together in a way that made me relaxed. I smiled as I walked along the pavement, noting all of the people and pokemon darting around, until I came up to Colress, who sat on a folding chair typing on a laptop. Hearing a rustle in the trees, I looked to see a few pairs of eyes looking out at me, and I smiled and nodded at them. The gym leader was on standby, watching everything to make sure I stayed out of trouble. And so I took another deep breath and let it out slowly as I carefully walked over to Colress, walking behind him and peering over his shoulder.

"What are you working on?" I asked, seeing a few charts on the screen. He turned his head and smiled at me as he pointed to some of the charts.

"Just some statistics. I hope you don't mind, but I wish to record our battle for research purposes." He asked, reaching into his sleeve and pulling out an oddly-shaped object.

"What kind of research?" I asked him. He smiled as he pressed a button on the object, turning it on. It unfolded itself into a small, airborne camera and lifted itself into the air with a propeller mounted below it. Colress turned back to his computer and clicked an application, and suddenly I saw ourselves on the screen.

"I want to know how to bring out the true power of pokemon. It's a very fascinating pastime of mine to watch pokemon battle in different ways. I've seen pokemon battle each other in the wild, I've seen wild pokemon battle those with trainers, and I've seen young trainers battle each other. I want to see just how far we humans can push pokemon and if we can do so to their limits. I will look at this video later and make notes to see just how much you and I influence our pokemon. Of course, if you are opposed to this, then I don't mind turning off the camera and simply battling you." He said, twisting his neck until he could look me in the eye. I glanced at the images on the screen, and I smiled.

"After the battle, can I have a copy of the video? I wanna be able to look at it later so I can adjust my strategy." I asked. Colress smiled as he nodded at me.

"Of course. When we are done, I will stop the camera and save it on a file that we can transfer to your X-Transceiver. Shall we dance?" He asked. I smiled and started walking away, turning to see him standing as well and setting his laptop down on the chair, and I got concerned for a moment.

"Hey Colress, how many pokemon do you have right now?" I shouted.

"Just 2 right now, Vixen. Why do you ask?" He yelled back. I smiled as I grabbed Sarah's pokeball and tossed it. The Shelgon appeared in a flash of light and I rubbed her shell.

"Sarah, go over to that chair please. We're going to have a battle, and I don't want the laptop on it to get broken in the crossfire. Will you protect it?" I asked her. She nodded and waddled over to Colress, making him tilt his head.

"My Shelgon is going to shield your laptop just in case things get crazy. I tend to use the battlefield as a weapon, so I am worried it will get caught in the crossfire." I explained. Colress smiled as Sarah took her place, and Colress produced a pokeball from his belt.

"I appreciate the concern, thank you. You have the first move, Vixen." He said as he threw out his pokeball, a Magnemite appearing in front of him. I smirked as I went over the type chart in my head, grabbing Sorrel's pokeball and throwing it. He emerged with a howl as his flames ignited, and I smiled. He was ready to go.

"Sorrel, use Flame Wheel!" I commanded. Sorrel ran forward, engulfed in fire, and curled up into a ball, allowing the momentum from his running start to propel him forward. He leapt up at the last minute and slammed into Magnemite. Magnemite wavered in the air before it floated down to the ground, too tired to continue. I blinked stupidly as Sorrel returned to me while Colress smiled, recalling his pokemon.

"Be careful, your face my stick that way. Magnemite is a new pokemon, and is not used to battling yet. I thought this would be a good way to introduce it, but then you pulled out a fire type. Don't worry, I promise my next pokemon will be more of a challenge." He said, tossing a second pokeball. The pokemon that emerged looked like a pair of gears that twisted constantly, and I took out my pokedex to scan it.

"Klink, the Gear Pokemon. Klink interlock their bodies and spin constantly to produce energy, which they need to survive." It said, and I nodded at it, looking up and smirking. It looked like it was a Steel type, so against a Fire type like Sorrel, it hardly stood a chance.

"Sorrel, use Flame Wheel!" I called. Sorrel howled as he leapt up, curling into a ball and engulfing himself in flames. Colress smiled as he adjusted his glasses.

"Gear Grind." He said. Klink flew at Sorrel with lightning speed and separated for a brief moment, slamming back together with Sorrel in-between. They began to rotate quickly, crushing Sorrel in their grip.

"Quilava!" He cried as his flames died down. I quickly pulled out his pokeball and held it up, recalling the injured pokemon with a flash of red. Colress chuckled at me as his pokemon returned to his side.

"You cannot rely solely on your speed or power." He told me, and I rolled my eyes as I grabbed Lola's pokeball.

"I know that, I got creamed several times before I learned that lesson. I'm just getting started." I replied as I called out Lola. She snorted and dug her foot on the ground, revving herself, and Colress chuckled at me.

"Really? Very good. Charge Beam." He said. Klink spun around quickly, generating a lot of electricity which it fired in a small, concentrated beam.

"Counter with Dragonbreath!" I commanded. Lola smarted as she threw her pink fire at Klink, and the two attacks collided for a moment, but Dragonbreath slowly started to overtake it. Colress raised a brow as he took out his tablet and wrote something down, and I didn't pay a lot of attention once my attack reached Klink. The pokemon squealed in pain for a moment before it spun around, continuing to twist.

"Gear Grind." Colress commanded. Klink rushed towards Lola, but I was prepared this time.

"Dodge it!" I called. Lola backed up and began to run, but Klink was more maneuverable than she was, and it locked in on her, clasping her sides between its twin bodies.

"Oh no you don't! Crush them with Crunch!" I told her. Lola snarled as she latched onto one of the Klink bodies, crushing it in her teeth and throwing it away. The magnetism of the pokemon made the other half of Klink fly away with the one she threw. Colress smiled again as his pokemon recovered.

"Charge Beam." He said. Klink spun around and threw its attack at Lola, though it was slightly bigger.

"Dragonbreath!" I commanded. Lola roared and launched her attack at the Chargebeam, and it took a bit longer for the attack to get overtaken again. Colress made a weird sound as he nodded and wrote in his tablet.

"What are you doing?" I asked him, somewhat annoyed. He looked up at me with a dazed look before he smiled and raised his arms in a 'T', declaring a time out. I blinked several times at him as he strode over to me, raising his tablet for me to see before he handed it to me.

"Tap 'Play'." He commanded. I looked down to see a 3-dimensional Deino in a battle simulation, and I tapped the 'Play' command as Colress requested. I saw the Deino model move through the motions of roaring and launching a pink line from its mouth, which grew bigger and turned purple. After the line finished turning purple, it became misty and broken up, surrounded by blue rings. When the animation ended, I handed Colress his tablet back and gave him a curious look.

"What was that?" I asked him. He smiled as he turned to Lola, looking her over closely.

"I think your Deino is ready to learn Dragon Pulse. It's like a more powerful and versatile version of Dragonbreath, but without the added effect of paralyzing your opponents. If you wish, I can help you teach it to her." He told me. I blinked and looked at Lola, considering the options before I smiled, turning back to Colress and nodding.

"Alright, let's do it. What do you have in mind?" I asked. He smiled at me as he turned to Lola, walking over to her. He took out a small collar from his pocket, and I gave him a suspicious look as he snapped it around Lola's neck.

"Don't worry, it will just help her concentrate her power until she can do it herself." He explained, standing up and moving back to my side. He turned back to his tablet, gesturing me to go ahead. I blinked several times and shrugged, looking around.

"Okay Lola, try using Dragon Pulse on that tree." I commanded.

"Klink." He said. I blinked as Lola prepared her attack.

"Uh, okay. Use it on Klink." I told her. The collar on her neck began flashing and beeping as she growled, throwing her head back and spitting out. A little bit of a purple mist emerged from her, but that was about it, and Colress tutted.

"Klink will use Charge Beam. It gets stronger almost every time it is used. Dragonbreath can only counter it for so long, if you want to overcome it you will need to turn it into Dragon Pulse." He told me as Klink prepped the attack. I nodded as Lola took a deep breath, launching Dragonbreath at Klink's Charge Beam. This time the two attacks were even, and an explosion occurred. I was running out of time, Charge Beam was going to keep getting stronger.

"Come on Lola! Put more into it! Turn Dragonbreath into Dragon Pulse!" I called. Lola snorted as she shook her head violently, spewing out another Dragonbreath that turned wispy. Kilink launched another Charge Beam at Lola, which pulverized her wispy Dragonbreath and slammed into her.

I spent the next hour or two coaching Lola on Dragon Pulse with Colress' guidance. I was mainly on my own with her training, but he did intervene every now and again with some input and suggestions, and by the time noon came around, we were able to take off the collar that gathered energy for Lola to use so that she could do it on her own. She hadn't totally mastered it, but we could rely on Dragon Pulse in a battle.

"Keep working on it, eventually you will be able to manipulate it to a point where you can use two forms of Dragon Pulse. The wispy breath weapon is the standard and most efficient form of Dragon Pulse, but with the right training, your Deino will be able to concentrate it into a ball of intense energy that she can throw, like Aura Sphere but deadly to Dragon Types." Colress told me after he recalled his exhausted Klink. He walked to his laptop and lightly patted Sarah before he picked it up. He sat down in the chair and started typing on it, and I smiled as I made my way over, recalling Sarah and looking over his shoulder.

"Need my X-Transceiver number?" I asked. He shook his head as he compressed the video file, clicking a drop-down menu.

"My computer can detect wireless devices. The video should be arriving on your X-Transceiver right now." He told me as the mentioned device beeped, confirming his estimation. I smiled and stood up, stretching my arms over my head while Lola walked over to us, panting from exhaustion.

'Okay, so he's not ALL bad. You should still be careful.' Lola told me, warbling. I smiled and reached down to pet her while Colress stared at some bushes. I looked in the direction he stared, trying to find whatever he was he was looking at, but my search failed as he turned to me with a smile.

"What were you looking at?" I asked him as he packed up his laptop and stood.

"Not sure. You should head back into Nimbasa, you never know what could be lurking in the brush. Your pokemon are strong, but you are still at risk. Until we meet again." He said as he walked along the road towards the massive Driftveil Drawbridge. I looked down at Lola and shrugged, recalling her into her pokeball and heading towards the gate as he had suggested.

And I promptly received a blow to the back of my head, my world turning black.

TBC

And down for the count. Next chapter is going to be extra special. Why? You'll have to wait and see. Won't be too long, I promise.

This chapter was hard to write for some reason. I can't put my finger on it, but that battle was just so odd in so many ways.