Hey guys! An update for you. I'm going to try and finish this story by summer's end. Thats why I've been updating a lot. I still have a ways to go and I want to thank my readers for reading.

Chapter 26

The Fuchsia Gym

"Where could they be?" Alice whined as she plopped down on the park bench. "They should have been here by now!"

Matt took a seat next to her, worn out. The rest of the group was standing around. It was noon; the group was waiting for Brian and Maria to make it to Fuchsia. The group had arrived in Fuchsia a few hours ago and had been looking for Brian and Maria all day.

"It's been four hours." Jason said. "I'm tired of waiting for them!" He stood up. "I'm heading to the gym."

"That's impolite, y' know" Alice said to her cousin. "We told them we'd wait for them here."

"There probably running a little late, that's all." Akira said.

Shinx was standing next to Jason, while Blitz was resting on Akira's shoulder.

"There is no point in me wasting valuable time." Jason said. "Let me go get my badge and then I'll come right back."

"Jason go head." Matt said, and then looked at Alice. "Listen, I saw this nice restaurant when we were leaving the Pokémon Center. Let's go there for lunch and give Brian and Maria a call to meet us there."

Alice looked down and reluctantly nodded. Matt smiled then looked at Mal, Akira, and Kelly.

"You three are coming too." He said.

"Only if you're paying!" Mal smiled.

"Sure. Why not." Matt nodded.

"I'll go too." Akira nodded.

"Yay! Free food!" Blitz cheered happily.

Alice and Matt stood up and went over to Akira and Mal.

"I'll go with Jason." Kelly moved closer to Jason.

"You do that." Alice said a bit coldly and started to walk off.

"Bye guys!" Matt said as he walked after her.

"Try not to lose." Mal said to Jason then went after Matt and Alice.

"Good luck Jason." Akira said to him.

"Bye Shinx." Blitz said.

Akira turned around and went after the others.

"Bye guys." Jason called out to them.

When the others were out of sight, Kelly wrapped her arms around Jason's arm and leaned against him.

"You're cousin hates me." Kelly said as they started walking.

"She doesn't hate you." Jason replied.

"She does. Her and Everlynn were friends."

"Don't worry too much about it. Alice was never good at holding onto her anger. She'll be over it in a few days."

"I hope you're right." Kelly sighed.

Jason sighed as he remember the events that had transpired this morning. Everything had been nice and calm as they had started riding the bikes down Cycling Road. During a conversation, Jason had accidently let it slip that Kelly and him were together. Alice had exploded after that, Jason had never seen her so mad. She called Kelly a few inappropriate things, and then ridiculed Jason, saying he was an idiot and had made the biggest mistake of his life in letting Everlynn go. It took Matt a long time to get her to calm down. Jason sighed one more time. Love was complicated.

"Kelly…" Jason said after a few minutes of silence. "You know I love you, right?"

Kelly laid her head on his shoulder.

"Yes I know….I love you too." She replied.

Jason smiled a bit and laid his head on top of hers.

…

A figure watch Jason and Kelly from a distance. He was following them as they made their way to the gym. He was far enough behind them to where they wouldn't notice that they were being followed, but close enough to where he wouldn't lose them. He pulled a photo out of his pocket then looked back at Jason.

"That's him." The man said to himself.

…

"This is it." Jason said as he looked up at the building in front of it.

The Gym had a sort of Japanese Feudal design. Shinx had a determined look on her face as they looked at the building.

"No point in just standing around." Jason said. "Let's go."

Jason and Kelly held hands as they went to the door of the Gym and opened it up. Shinx jumped onto Jason's shoulder as they door closed. The Gym was just a huge, empty room. They two looked around, but didn't see anyone there.

"Where is everybody?" Kelly asked.

"I don-"

"Can I help you?" A voice said to the side of them.

Jason and Kelly both jumped from surprise. There was a person next to them who wasn't next to them before. She was a young woman with purple hair that was up in a ponytail. She was dressed up in ninja style clothing.

"Y-Yes…" Jason said. "I'm here to challenge the Gym Leader."

The girl looked over Jason and Kelly.

"Just you?" She asked Jason.

Jason nodded.

"Very well." The girl said. "But I have to tell you, this gym is a little different from the other Kanto Gyms."

"H-How so?" Jason asked.

The girl smiled a bit. She went over to one of the walls and pulled a lever. The Gym started to shake violently. Kelly had to hold onto Jason to keep from falling. Stone walls started to rise out of the ground. The walls were at least fifteen feet high. Jason looked at the walls with his mouth agape.

"It's different because you have to make it through this booby trap infested maze while avoiding attacks from the Gym Leaders Pokémon and look for two keys that will unlock the door to the Gym Leader. Simple enough." The girl smirked. "You still want to challenge the Gym Leader?"

Jason looked at the stone walls and gulped a bit. He nodded.

"Okay, you may only take two Pokémon with you through the maze." The girl said. "Pick your two and call them out, then give the rest to your friend."

Jason nodded.

"I'll use Shinx and…" He reached for a Pokeball and called out Gardevoir. "And Gardevoir."

Jason grabbed the other four Pokeballs and handed them off to Kelly.

"I'll keep them safe for you." She said to Jason.

"Thanks" Jason nodded then turned to face the girl

"Okay. Follow me." The girl started walking and Jason and his Pokémon followed. "The rules are simple; you have to make your way through the maze, avoiding non-lethal booby traps and the Gym Leaders Pokémon and find two keys to unlock the door to the Gym Leader. You're only allowed to use two Pokémon, but so is the Gym Leader. If your Pokémon faint while you're still in the maze then that's it for that Pokémon. You may also try and faint the Gym Leaders Pokémon while still in the maze, but that's never been done before. If at any time both of your Pokémon faint then that's it for you. Understand all that?"

"Yes." Jason nodded. "No one has ever fainted the Gym Leader's Pokémon while they were still in the maze?"

"Nope." The girl replied. "No one has."

Jason smirked. He'd try to be the first. The girl led him to the entrance to the maze

"The Gym Leader has been notified of you and will be waiting for you. You may start when ready. Good Luck to you." The girl bowed and walked away.

Jason sighed and looked into the maze. There was plenty of room to move around, but that could also mean traps. He looked over and saw Kelly waving him good luck. He smiled at her then looked back at the maze.

"Come on guys." Jason said to his Pokémon.

He started to walk forward, His Shinx walked after him and his Gardevoir floated next to him. They moved cautiously, watching their surroundings. Gardevoir was using her Psychic powers to sense if anyone was trying to sneak up on them. There was no time limit so Jason took his time, checking the corners as they went through the maze. He was looking at the floor as they walked, looking at the tiles, trying to see if there was anything out of the ordinary. Suddenly Jason was knocked backward. He hit the ground and slid a few feet.

"Shinx!" Shinx cried out and ran over to Jason.

"I-I'm fine." Jason smiled back at her and stood up.

Gardevoir floated over to him. Jason looked back to where he had been thrown from. There was a hole in the floor and there was a spring trap in the hole. Jason sighed. Shinx jumped onto his shoulder as they started walking again. Now he knew the traps could be anywhere. He started to walk in zig zags, unsure of where the traps could be or what could be around the corner. He took a turn around corner, there was a loud explosion and the area was covered in smoke. Jason closed his eyes and covered his mouth, coughing a bit. He ran forward without thinking, then suddenly tripped and fell face first into the ground. Gardevoir used Psychic and blew away all the smoke. Jason flipped over and looked at what he had tripped on.

"Voltorb!" The red and white sphere at Jason's feet cried.

Jason's face turned pale as the small Pokeball like Pokémon started to glow white. Gardevoir quickly used Protect, shielding herself, Shinx, and Jason from the explosion attack. Dust was thrown up as the smoke from the Explosion clear. Jason quickly got to his feet.

"Thanks Gardevoir." Jason sighed in relief.

The roof slid open; Jason looked up and almost screamed. Voltorb were falling from the ceiling. Jason tried to back up, but the ceiling above him kept opening and dropping Voltrobs. The Voltorbs exploded upon impact to the ground.

"AAAHHHHHHHH!" Jason cried as he turned around and started running through the maze, explosions happening around him.

Jason tripped and fell on a trip string trap. Voltorbs were about to fall on him, but Gardevoir teleported all of the Voltorbs away. There were a few explosions outside the Gym. Jason sighed.

"Thanks again Gardevoir." Jason looked up at the shiny Pokémon and smiled.

She smiled and nodded back. Jason sat up, dusted himself off and they started to walk again. Jason sighed deeply as he looked around the maze. The stone walls were a steely gray and the floors where a pine green color. Jason was tired, filled with worry and fear. His Pokémon seemed in the same mood. Jason was actually a little afraid of what could be around the corner. He sighed when he saw a treasure chest after a few minutes of mindless walking. He went up to the chest and opened it. In it was a silver key. He took it out of the chest and put it in his pocket.

"One down. One to go." Jason said to his Pokémon.

They looked at him and nodded. Shinx jumped up to Jason's shoulder. They started walking again, but something suddenly flew into Shinx and knocked her off Jason's shoulder. Jason quickly turned around, seeing Shinx on the floor and a Crobat flying around quickly. The four winged bat Pokémon shot forward towards Gardevoir, but she used Flash to blind the bat Pokémon and caused it to fly up and out of sight. Shinx got to her feet, still feeling the effects of the Crobat's Wing Attack, but still rarin to go. Shinx ran over to Jason.

"Come on guys." He said to his Pokémon.

They took off in a run through the maze, almost falling in to a few pitfall traps. Gardevoir had saved Shinx by using her Psychic powers to catch her and lift her out of the hole. After a few minutes, Jason spotted the key. It was on top of a pedestal on an elevated platform out in the open. Jason smiled and took off running up the elevated platform. As he took his first step onto the platform, a long white line shot towards the key and pulled it off the pedestal as a cage fell and trapped Jason on the platform. Jason ran towards the bars, trying to grab the key as it was pulled away by an Ariados. Shinx and Gardevoir were outside of the cage. Gardevoir was about to teleport Jason out of the cage, but she was suddenly hit by Crobat's Night Slash attack. She'd taken considerable damage. Shinx fired a Thunderbolt attack towards the Crobat, but the bat Pokémon quickly used Protect to shield himself. Shinx started to chase after the Crobat, but was suddenly stopped by a String Shot attack from Ariados, Shinx's feet where strung together and she fell to the ground. Gardevoir recovered and used Extrasensory to blast away the String Shot strings and Shinx was freed. Shinx rushed forward and tackled the Ariados. Crobat was flying towards Gardevoir, but this time Crobat was stopped in its tracks by Gardevoir's Psychic attack. The Pokémon was gripped tightly and firmly. Shinx jumped forward and struck Crobat with Iron Tail. Crobat was released from the Psychic and went flying. Shinx the used Thunderbolt attack and hit Crobat with a huge burst of yellow electricity. Crobat fainted as it hit the ground. Ariados Jumped over to Crobat, lifted it up onto its back, and then used its String Shot attack to catapult itself over the wall and out of sight.

"Shinx! Gardevoir! Get me out of here." Jason said.

Gardevoir teleported next to Jason and then teleported him out. Jason looked around for the key, hoping that the Ariados dropped it. Shinx came running up to Jason with a golden key in her mouth. Jason took it from her and put it in his pocket. They started walking again, looking for the door. Shinx lead and found the door. As they were heading towards it they were suddenly attack by Ariados who had struck Gardevoir with a Shadow Ball attack, then suddenly disappeared. Gardevoir dropped to the ground, fainted.

"Gardevoir no!" Jason cried as he went over to her. "Th-Thank you for all your help. Now take a rest."

He called her back to her Pokeball, then picked up Shinx and headed to the door. They were two locks on the door, each painted a different color. One gold, one silver. Jason put the keys into their color coded locks and the door opened. The door slid open and the next room was a dimly lit room with a battlefield. Jason slowly made his way into the room. The lights flashed on as he neared the battlefield. There was the girl waiting for him with the Ariados next to her.

"So you are the Gym Leader." Jason said. "Should have guessed."

"I'm the Gym Leader, Janine." The girl smiled. "I took over as the Gym Leader when my father was promoted to the Elite Four. You did pretty well. Even fainted one of my Pokémon already, but I fainted one of yours."

"Yeah, so now it's a one on one battle." Jason smirked back.

Shinx jumped out of Jason's arms and sparks started bouncing off and around her body. Ariados jumped forward and used String Shot on Shinx. Shinx used Discharge to deflect the strings. Ariados jumped back to avoid being zapped.

"We'll just see." Janine smirked.

"Shinx use Quick Attack." Jason ordered.

Shinx rushed forward and knocked back Ariados.

"Ariados use Signal Beam" Janine ordered.

Ariados fired a green and purple beam towards Shinx. Shinx jumped up and avoided the attack. Jason was determined to win after he and his Pokémon had gone through that maze. Shinx showed that determination in her movement and attacks. Ariados jumped forward, its horn glowing a sickly purple. Shinx was struck with the horn. She was knocked back, had taken serious damage and had become poisoned. Jason didn't let that faze him.

"Shinx use Thunderbolt!"

Shinx fired a huge burst of electricity at the Ariados. Ariados was completely engulfed in the electricity. It had been the hugest and most powerful Thunderbolt attack that she had done. After the attack cleared Ariados laid fainted on the floor. Janine was in total surprise. Shinx flinched a bit from the poison, but then smiled. They had won.

"We did it!" Jason ran over to Shinx and lifter her up into his arms.

Janine smiled a bit when she called back her Ariados. The Gym started to rumble again as the stone walls of the maze fell back into the ground. Jason looked over at Janine, who was approaching him.

"Not too bad Challenger." She said with a slight smirk. "Looks like I have a lot more training to do. Here you've earned this."

She held out a pink heart shaped badge.

"That's the Soul Badge. You've more than earned it."

Jason smiled and took it.

"Thank you." He nodded in gratitude.

"You're welcome. Why don't you come back someday for a rematch. Next time you won't have to go through the maze." Janine said.

"Sure. Thank you again." Jason waved as he headed back to the main room of the gym.

Shinx laid resting in his arms, the poison still slightly hurting her. She looked up at him with a sad expression.

"Don't worry Shinx." Jason said. "I'll take you to the Pokémon Center right away."

Jason stepped out into the main room, it was empty once again. He saw Kelly waiting back at the entrance. He quickly started to run over to her, but every time he took a step it seem that Shinx would get hurt by poison.

"Hey." Kelly said when Jason approached her. "So how'd it go?"

"Good, but…" Jason looked down at Shinx. "We just need to get to the Pokémon Center."

Kelly nodded and the two of them left the Gym. The Pokémon Center was just next to the Pokémon Center. Shinx got treated quickly and was better in a matter of minutes. Jason had his other Pokémon healed and then they left. They were headed back to the park to wait for the others.

"So how'd you like the maze?" Kelly asked with a slight smirk.

"It was unexpected." Jason smiled back. "But nothing I couldn't handle. How did you do?"

"Good." Kelly smiled. "I managed to avoid her Pokémon the whole time."

"I tried to but that Crobat just wouldn't leave me al-"

"Mr. Malone." A voice said from behind them.

Jason turned to look back. There was a man, in a black trench coat and a black hat that covered up most of his face.

"Yes. Can I help you sir?" Jason asked.

"No, I just wanted to meet you. I was a huge fan of your mother's back when she was champion. She was a great Champion." The man said. "I heard about you and your friend's battles against Team Rocket. It's great to have such heroic youth in the world."

"Thank you sir, but it's not big deal. I just did what anybody would do." Jason paused. "Who are you?"

"Let's just say that I belong to a group of your fans." The man smirked. "I wanted to give you this to show my appreciation."

The man reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a Water Stone. He tossed it to Jason and Jason caught it.

"Hopefully that will help you. Bye" The man turned to leave.

Jason was still a bit confused as the man walked off.

"What just happened?" He said confused.

…

"Mission Accomplished." The man spoke into a headset that was hidden by his hat. "Mister Malone got the Water Stone and I expressed our gratitude."

"Good work." A voice replied.

"You sure this boy can do it? I saw his Gym battle and he was struggling for a bit."

"He'll get it done. Now get back to Neoterra. We have our own Menace to deal with here."

"I just don't see why we don't get Nick and Jason to get rid of each other. That'd be a hell of a lot easier."

"That is the plan. Get Jason to take care of Team Rocket, and then we get Jason and Nick to take out each other. Now stop complaining and get back home."

"Yes sir."

…

"That was weird…." Jason said. "I have a group of fans?"

"I guess so." Kelly laughed a bit. "…weird."

They were both headed back to the park to wait for the others. Jason thought back to earlier and he didn't want to face Alice again.

"K-Kelly?" Jason said.

"Hm?" She looked at him.

"I got a crazy idea." He said. "Let's leave the others."

"Wh-What?" She looked at him with shock.

"Let's finish this journey, just me and you."

Kelly looked Jason in the eyes. He was set on them leaving.

"O-Okay." She nodded.

"Great!" Jason grabbed her hand. "Let's go to Saffron."

"Yeah, so you can get your fifth badge."

The turned around and headed for the coast.

So now Jason left the group that he has been traveling with since the beginning. Whats going to happen to Jason and Kelly? What will Alice and the others do now? Where are Brian and Maria? Until next time.